Back in Bali

Malaysia was good and we loved our hosts - Wai and Vidya, staying in their school, walking to Dim Sum for breakfast, loved the milk tea. Lai Mun and her comfy spcacious home, five hour drive to Penang for three days and seven hours back with holiday traffic - very pleasant company so the time slid by. Came back with some stuff haven't found here - though we haven't gone way out of our way to find. Stuff like zip-lock bags, real Japanese green tea - sencha and genmaicha. We find the former here sometimes but not dependably. Big cue tips like got in Japan that ran out. Puer tea. Got a couple of prayer rugs from an Indian store. We loved the Chinese section in Georgetown. More on that later maybe.

Cable car up Penang Hill went to the English place for scones, tea, a lawn, view, atmosphere. Not open that early. Had to walk down to a slicker place with pop music and a view - of clouds - clouds which dissipated briefly to reveal the city below translucent, like in a dream.

Back home here in the dark walked to the beach, everything pretty dark and people-less, cut through the dim lamp-lit upscale Segara Village Hotel grounds down that walkway in the image, seduced on the way to a cheaper meal to a table by the live gamelan band and angelic dancers. Sound of waves. As a monster was emerging to join the dancers a wind came, building quickly to strong gusts then drops, more drops, big and many. Mixed fruit juice (no sugar, no ice) in hand trotted to cover inside the roofed, open-walled bar with thumping pop music, like disco, Foiled again but went with the flow. Watched the downpour and ate seafood salad. Enjoyed the last eight days break from from the usual. Tomorrow back to the routine.