Back in Bali

Well, we're back in Bali. After a great two months, some in Europe, some in Canada, we are settling back into life here for yes, another year.

Stay tuned for updates.

We're still trying to find a house - staying somewhere temporarily now - but kids are back at school (Greenschool.org) and have settled in fairly nicely.

That's all for now.

P

A film we shot in Lombok

This past weekend we had a few days off so we went to Lombok with the Thompson family...

While there we shot this film:

Durian season (and ultimate season)

From April in Bali

I like this photo... That's me with a durian, a smelly, yummy fruit found here in Bali (and around Asia). Two weekends ago we were playing in a Ultimate tournament in Denpasar and the disc went over this wall... I climbed over, threw the disc back, and discovered a truck selling durian. I happened to have some money on me and bought one. A great halftime snack! Kept our opponents away (though sadly not everyone on my team partook). Fantastic.

East Java Mountain Bike Trip

Greetings all...

Peter here: This week I went on a four day bike trip, starting in Bali and ending in Malang in East Java. The highlight was a 20km climb of Mount Ijen, an active volcano (that was on Tuesday). Here are some pictures from the trip (video coming soon):

Badra's wedding

Our friend Badra got married on Thursday. It's a romance fit for a fairy tale... which I will elaborate on at a later time... but for now, here's some pictures I took at the wedding.

A cobra pays us a visit...

Yesterday Janet and I were going about our business at home and we heard Nyoman, one of our staff, yelling at the cat. Janet asked her what was going on, and Nyoman said: "cobra!" The cat was investigating a small cobra who was next to a tree about 5 metres from the house. So...I ran and got the camera (with the long lens) and here's a few pictures of the snake. It was a small one, about 3 or 4 feet long, and though they are poisonous and venomous and all that, they really aren't super dangerous unless you corner them or attack them... or if you're a cat and go right up to them, like our cat Jesse did. Nyoman took a long pole and scared the snake away, and all was well... though we walked a bit carefully in the yard the rest of the day!

From Cobra!

Update: This from a friend, who sent the cobra pic to the leading snake expert in Bali. Here are his comments::

Oh yes, this most certainly is a common spitting cobra (Naja sputatrix). But at 3-4 ft long, I would say that it was not 'small' but rather 'big' - certainly a fully grown adult! A 'small cobra I think of as under 20 cm /8 in, up to about 30-35 cm / a foot long., in which case it is a hatchling or a yearling. So the cobra you saw was considerbly oldr than that. I wonder why you never saw it before? Has its original habitat been disturbed (building, land clearance??).
As for not being super dangerous, I would add that these cobras are probably the main cause of snakebite death and long term injury to peple and animals in Bali. So it might not be a good idea to tell people once more to treat them with respect and stay well clear of them. A spitter can and will spray venom up to 2m, and aim for the top of the dark moving shape it sees (= your head and eyes). While the venom will not harm you if it gets on your skin or clothes, any venom entering a cut, graze, scratched bite etc, and especially the eyes will cause envenomation. If sprayed in the eyes, wash continuously under running water (if there is a tap0 or irrigate with bottles of clean water for about 30 min, and then get to a hospital. If washed out sufficiently, and certainly never rubbed, the eyes should suffer no lasting damamge, although thy will be very sore for a few days
---

From Cobra!

Janet was not so happy...

From Cobra!

...but brave Nyoman scared the snake away with a long pole.

From Cobra!

This past week, the kids had their March break.
Emmet went on a school trip to West Bali,
where he camped on a beach for five nights
and lived close to nature (accompanied by Blair,
who arrived a few days before and went on the trip
to shoot video for a commercial for the company
organizing the trip). Janet and the twins
also went to West Bali, but stayed at a high end resort nearby...
pictures from both of those trips coming soon (we hope).

Peter, on the other hand, got a little work from UNICEF shooting
schools in Papua, on the island of New Guinea... Indonesia's
eastern most province. Here's a few pictures from his trip
(click on any picture to go to a photo album).

From Peter goes to Papua

Above: on lake Sentani.
Below: some locals.

From Peter goes to Papua

Below: Shooting in a school.

From Peter goes to Papua

Emmet turns 13!

Yesterday was Emmet's birthday. He has reached teenage-hood...
Amazing.

A few days before his birthday, he became a certified scuba diver.
He worked hard over the last month getting this certification,
studying and practicing and diving. So congratulations to him.
He can now dive up to 18 metres... and today, as a birthday
present, he went for a dive. Here's a video of him scuba
diving:


And here are a few pictures of Emmet diving over the past few months.

This one was taken today... he dove up to 18 metres.

From Emmet 2010-2011

Geared up:

From Emmet 2010-2011

Fish:

From Emmet goes diving

Eels underwater:

From Emmet goes diving

Grade 2 in two minutes

Peter here. I made a video in Myles and Austin's class this week...

Nyepi - When Bali comes to a standstill

Hi everyone, Janet here...with a quick post about Nyepi, a holiday we celebrated on Saturday. Nyepi is the Balinese new year, and this year we welcomed the year 1933 according to the Saka calendar, one of two Hindu Balinese calendars observed. The holiday consists of a few different components... culminating in Nyepi, a “day of silence”, observed by everyone on the island, including us.

The day before Nyepi, the Balinese make large evil-like monster effigies made from paper-mache and bamboo, named ogoh ogohs. They symbolize the evil spirits we encounter in life. The purpose of the ogoh ogohs is to invite the evil spirits out from where ever they are hiding to inhabit the monsters. Here's Emmet with an ogoh ogoh in Ubud.

From Ogoh Ogoh

On the eve before Nyepi the monsters are paraded through the streets (some are so large they take 20 men to carry). In the early evening villagers meet at local crossroads displaying their ogoh ogohs. Two at a time the effigies meet and fight at the intersections (where many evil spirit hangs out and cause accidents), while the locals play loud gongs and cymbals or hold burning torches.

From Ogoh Ogoh

The next day, starting at 6am, the entire island of Bali shuts down. Anything that is considered to inhibit this day of contemplation is forbidden. Literally. No one is allowed on the streets, the airport closes, hotels are in lock-down mode, and the cable tv network switches off. No one is allowed to travel anywhere for any reason. The idea is that after drawing out the evil spirits with the celebrations of the night before, everyone stays in their house and 'hides', and the spirits are tricked into thinking everyone has left the island, and leave themselves.

Traditional Balinese will fast and have a day of silence, meditation and self-reflection. No electricity, no working, and no lights (or very low). The rest of us bules (foreigners) basically hang out at home and keep quiet (we watched a few movies, etc). If this minimum observance isn’t followed, a visit from the local ‘pecalang’ (security) will remind you to turn off your lights and stay in your family compound.

On Thursday of this week the twins had a Nyepi ceremony at school, and afterwards we decided to photograph every ogoh ogoh we saw on our drive from the Green School to our home. We saw 24 in total. Click on the arrows on the photo below to nagivate through a slideshow of ogoh ogohs! If you click on the play button it will take you to another page with the slideshow.

The Hindu Left

Driving in Bali is an adventure. One of our favorite examples of this is what our good friend and neighbour Andy Slavin has coined, ‘the hindu left’ (not the same as the Christian Right). This unique driving phenomenon happens routinely at intersections, where the normal instinct to look right over one’s shoulder before merging into traffic is neglected. Destiny is destiny. It mostly happens at T intersections when scooters (and sometimes cars) turn left without looking to the right to see if there is traffic traveling straight. If you look closely at those driving scooters you will see that some expats/tourists have picked up on this mad custom. It should be noted that to obtain a driver’s license in Bali one needs only $20.00, ID, and time to fill in a quick form at the bureau. No test needed. It should also be noted that last year there were 541 traffic fatalities in Bali. That is about 8 times more deaths than what the city of Toronto averages (70 or so) for a population roughly the same! Here's the video:

Tennis in Bali - a short video

Avocados!!!

One of the great things about living in Bali is having food grow in our yard.
We have banana, lemon and breadfruit trees... to name a few.
But by far our favorite is the avocado tree, which has been giving us huge avocados for the past 2 months or so. Here's a picture of the tree, which is just above our kitchen, and a short explanation of how we harvest the avocados...

From Avocado tree

From Avocado tree

First, you need someone to climb the tree. Wayan, our gardener, is always up for the task.

From Avocado tree

Once up, he reaches out and picks the avocado...

From Avocado tree

...and then throws it down to me on the ground.

From Avocado tree

We usually pick about four at a time.
They're huge. And make great guacamole, and a specialty here, avocado juice.

From Avocado tree

A giant spider builds a web

Greetings all. Peter here...
Last week I was doing some yoga in our living room (yes I've started doing a little yoga here in Bali)... and I noticed this huge spider, about 10cm across, building a web. I took out the camera I shot a little video... it's only a minute long. In the second part if you look closely you can see the web coming out of the spider.

Janet's parents visit Bali

Our guest house has been busy! Two days before Peter's parents left, Janet's parents arrived for a weeks stay. Here is a guest post from Wes and Mary.

From Mary and Wes visit Bali

How wonderful to have been able to travel to Bali to observe the life style that Peter, Janet and the kids are enjoying. Such a departure from Toronto!!! So many highlites for us: from enjoying the bamboo guest house, to being a little overwhelmed by the fascinating beauty of the big house. I will never eat rice again without thinking how labour intensive it is to grow, but also just how beautiful rice paddies are which contribute so hughly to the richness of the Balinese culture. The compounds and temples, just numbers alone, were so interesting, not to mention the traffic and all the motor bikes!!!!

From Mary and Wes visit Bali

Our driver, Agus, is such a special person and will never be forgotten. Our meals in the house and out were delicious, with Wes's birthday dinner being outstanding. It was wonderful to see the kids and to tour the Green School. Our host and hostess made our stay so welcoming and just could not do enough. Not their fault that we both fell!!!!! This is certainly a very special place and lucky for us, they went and so did we. The bike ride was scary but fun Janet - and thanks for insisting I go. If I was asked to rate our stay, I would say 10 out of 10, and that's hard to beat.

From Mary and Wes visit Bali

ALL JUST AMAZING. MANY THANKS.
WES AND MARY

Peter's parents visit Bali

From Audrey and George visit

Here is a guest post from Peter's mom. Audrey and George were here in Bali from December 30th - January 23rd.

--

We arrived in Bali and were struck first by the heat and humidity, which continued throughout our three and a half week stay. We stayed with Peter and Janet in their beautiful bamboo guest cottage, and were thrilled to be able to use their house as our base as we travelled around the island. We saw a good part of it, and had an absolutely amazing time.

Of course the highlight of our visit was spending so much quality time with our 3 grandchildren. Of our 649 pictures, it's likely 500 feature Austin, Myles or Emmet. When we were ïn residence, we loved having Myles and Austie climb into our huge canopy bed with us at 6am each morning.

From Audrey and George visit

We travelled all over the island- to the east, to Padang Bai where we went snorkelling on a boat, and swimming on a lovely white sand beach, and to Candidasa, where we went down a tiny steep slope to a surprise white sand beach, complete with warungs (food stalls), showers and beach chairs and umbrellas. We went to the north with Peter to the edge of the volcano, and down into the crater where we swam in hot springs amongst natives...(Peter loves to be the only bule). We went to the north east, to more mountains beside a huge park, where we stayed in an enchanting villa complete with an outdoor shower that was so much fun. We hiked to a waterfall en route to the north, and stopped at a coffee plantation for lunch. We went to the south- twice- to Legian beach, where the big waves are, and many surfers spend their days just playing their hearts out. We went to the south west, to the most photographed place in Bali, Tanah Lot- a historic temple situated in the sea. And we went over to Lombok by ferry with Peter, Myles and Austin, and spent 4 glorious days there, 2 on a remote island called Gili Nangu, where we slept right beside the waves, and 2 at the southern tip of Lombok at a beautiful unspoiled beach with a great Novetel hotel on it. We spent some lovely days in Ubud, in the heart of Bali, and hiked some gorgeous trails (we went up the Sari Organic path a record 3 times, we liked it so much). We did some great shopping and had fun bargaining, we had some terrific meals at very unusual restaurants, we wandered through the Monkey forest, we travelled on the back of Peter and Janet's scooters (or at least I did), and we had two lovely days at a very beautiful 5 star hotel in Ubud.

We had 4 different drivers in Bali: of course Peter and Janet were our favorites, but Agus and Eka were a terrific source of information, and as they took us around different parts of Bali, we learned a great deal about the customs and the ways of the Balinese. We saw ceremonies everywhere- lots of funerals, special temple activities, cremations, and many people making offerings everywhere- even around Peter and Janet's home. We loved walking over flower petals to get into the house! And on our last evening there, we had a special birthday party for Janet's Dad, complete with musicians, dancers, and many more flower petals spread around the house. Amazing

We loved the Indonesian food; George and Janet took a cooking class together, and as I write this, he is making his favorite Nasi Goreng.

From Audrey and George visit

And of course we loved the heat. The rainy season lived up to it's name, and we had rain most days, sometimes accompanied with very violent thunder storms, but the rain didn't interfere with our plans most of the time, and no sooner did it stop than the sun came out. It was very hot and humid throughout our visit.

The surprise for us was how populated the tiny island of Bali was, and how commercial it was- with stalls selling just about everything all along the roads. The roads are narrow, and the traffic is intense, so getting from one place to another was sometimes challenging, but it was all part of the atmosphere, and great fun to soak it up. We found we sought out places that were less travelled, and more rural, and when we viewed our slide show last night, it would appear we accomplished that, as our pictures show us on beautiful beaches and magnificent green rice paddies-virtually by ourselves!

Finally, we enjoyed visiting the Green School, which has to be seen to be believed. George, Janet and I spent a great morning in Grade 2, where we taught the students in Myles and Austin's class all about Canada. It was a red and white day for everyone.

Makasi to Peter, Janet, Emmet, Austin and Myles who were so hospitable, and with whom we had such fun. It was a trip we will never forget, and we are so glad you invited us to come and visit.

Vietnam

Happy New Year everyone!

I realize we've been a bit slow with the blog lately... and for you die hard readers out there, I apologize.

We've been on the road a lot over the last 3 weeks, and life is just now getting back to normal (as normal as it can be while living in a place where you have rats in your kitchen and the occasional monkey in the yard).

Anyway, Peter, Janet, Myles and Austin went to Vietnam from December 16^th -30^th (Emmet went home to Canada, maybe you saw him?) We started in the North of Vietnam, in Hanoi, and worked our way down to Saigon. We traveled by plane, train, bus, boat, and scooter... you name it! Below is a quick take on each of the places we hit, and a few photos (if you want to go to a album of our photos from Vietnam click on any of the photos and it will take you there).

Here's a video from our time there:

From Christmas in Vietnam

Hanoi: beautiful but cold and busy. Was 12 degrees (celsuis) when we arrived, which after 6 months in Bali, is cold! We bought some new clothing, Christmas shopped, and headed out of town to...

Sapa: Probably our favourite place. The Vietnamese alps. Big mountains, great views, and yes, cold air. Got down to zero at night while we were there. We dressed for it (no bad weather just bad clothes) but were definitely not expecting it to be so beautiful! Amazing place. Interesting hill tribes, some nice hikes, and a fun way to get there: by overnight train. The way home, not as fun: Austin puked off the top bunk onto our luggage below (luckily not onto anyone).

From Christmas in Vietnam

Halong Bay: We did an overnight on a Vietnamese junk in Halong Bay. Lovely. Met some nice Aussies and Spanish folks, and enjoyed the beautiful rock formations. As Myles said: “Look, another rock island!”

From Christmas in Vietnam

Hue: Met up with our friends from Bali (from Vancouver) in Hue. Stayed at a gorgeous French colonial hotel 100 years old. Town was a bit ho-hum. Had Christmas morning in hotel and a bizarre massive buffet for Christmas eve. Boys were happy to see their friends and got cool Vietnamese lego from Santa.

Hoi An: Another favourite place: Beautiful ancient town known for it's many (many) fine tailors who make clothes to measure. We got some clothes made and had some good croissants (the French left the recipe when they went home). Twins played soccer in street with locals.

From Christmas in Vietnam

Saigon: Peter and twins there for just a night, but Janet stayed and waited a few days before going to Hong Kong to pick up Emmet. She liked it. Especially liked the bike trip she did in the Mekong delta.

And that's it! Vietnam in a page! Stay tuned for news from George and Audrey's visit (Peter's parents) as they arrived in Bali on the 30^th of December... we went to Lombok. Amazing place.