Cambridge, UK 2008. Isn’t that nice?     (C) PJ Croft 2016

I think I’ll try the walk down Jl. Sudamala to the beach today. It’s a bit cloudy and nicely cool this morning.

I’ve just been watching an NHK doco on Japanese Mitsubishi sales of e-rickshaws in SE Asian countries (while my brekky digests!) and it was fascinating. These are trishaws with an electric drive and batteries. What a good idea. But there were two points.

First, it reinforced something I’ve noticed for a long time, the dominance of English as the language of the world. In everything we see, from Middle East wars to UN communications to many African countries, English is used. Of course, if it wasn’t used, we probably wouldn’t be seeing it on screen unless it’s important enough to require captioning.

But English has become the Lingua Franca of the world. There’s irony for you – Lingua Franca means “language of the Franks” from the old tribes in France, or Frank-land as it was known, Land of the Franks.

In this doco a Japanese salesman from Mitsubishi was working in Nepal trying to get the trishaw drivers to convert to his e-trishaws. He was getting a bit of opposition from the bicycle trishaw riders because they saw them as a threat. But in their meetings they were all speaking English. Between a Japanese and Nepalese. Wow.

Second, they showed the sales guy in a meeting back in Tokyo discussing sales and strategies, and he got so emotional that he was crying, sobbing. In a sales meeting! Amazing. Different strokes.

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I’ve been setting up Skype this morning and of course it uses the camera in the laptop to send my image to the viewer. But my image is terrible! It’s because the camera is set into the lower left edge of the screen, so it shoots me from below my chin. I hate it! I’m really not happy with this. I might have to get an outboard camera that feeds in by USB. How could Dell have made such a basic mistake?

The only way I could overcome this at the moment is to prop the laptop up high so that the camera is pointing down. How am I going to do this?

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 That was a good walk. I did as I said, I walked down Jl. Sudamala to the junction with Jl. Cemara and turned right. As soon as I got round the corner, it all became familiar territory. That’s the way I used to walk in 2010/11 when I was in the villa.

So I called in to see the Villa Frangipani, the first time I’ve been there in five years. All closed up, but looks much the same. NB: the door to the generator cabinet was unlocked and ajar. I suppose the ‘lektrik’ people need access to the meter? That generator would be a prime target for thieves, though.

Anyway, just as I was walking away, a van pulled up outside the villa and a load of Aussies got out and went in. So it’s rented, then. That’s good.

Back down the lane, and across and down the lane to the beach. (First time I’ve walked that lane. Shame on me. I should have done it in 2011.)

I noticed the nice restaurant, Mama Putuh’s was it? has closed down. That’s a pity. Gardenia is still going though.

Got to the beach and the breeze was beautiful. So many prahus!

Yoohoo, prahu. A forest of prahus.   All images (C) PJ Croft 2016

Walked to the left (north) and by now was feeling a bit bushed. I wanted to sit down, but it’s all private hotel seating! I wandered along, breathing and sweating and a waitress inveigled me in to the Prama restaurant. Just a coffee, I thought. A lemon juice, cafe latte, little biscuit, basket of Italian bread and butter, a BLT sandwich and chips later, I staggered out. I hadn’t had lunch! It’s OK, I won’t need dinner either.

I really have cut out one meal a day for many months now, and it’s working. My weight has really gone down.

That’s 1 Jan 2015 to 26 Feb 2016, 10Kg exactly. (The big drop was when I had a urinary tract infection. It was quite severe – I was unconscious for about five hours at one stage. I’ve managed to maintain that loss, though.)

I must ask the desk here if they have any scales they can lend me because with the extra walking, the sweating and the reduced food intake, I hope I’ve lost even more. my watch bands are loose.

By the way, I just placed the order for that Invicta watch. It’ll take two weeks to be delivered and I’ll be home by then. Sob!

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Anyway, back to the walk: it gets better. I got talking to the waitress, Suci (and pointed out that she sounds like Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar – she hadn’t heard of her but she has now). Anyway, ……….  it turned out that she’s not Balinese, she’s from Timor Leste. Isn’t that interesting. She walked me all the way out to Jl. Cemara through the hotel and we talked about Timor Leste – her grandfather was a king on the island. Wow. Her family has lost its status there now and she’s had to come here to find work. But landing a job at the Prama is a good start! She’s only been there a week.

I made the point that Timor Leste should be working flat out to get Aussies to come there for holidays instead of Bali. She says they all speak basic English, and they have beautiful beaches. But I never see any offers for holidays there. Pity.

The small meal at the Prama restaurant wasn’t any more expensive than this place, Rp.133,000 A$13.36. Suci persuaded me to book for a dinner Balinese music performance tomorrow night at the restaurant. For the buffet satay three course dinner with music performance, Rp.150,000 a bit over $15. Bargain. So I signed up. I’m looking forward to it.

Then walked back to the Taksu, not far, and that’s my exercise for the day. Very satisfying. I’m really glad I did it. The new camera/dilly bag worked well. I might have finally found my new bag.

By the way, it shows the improvement. Last Friday and Saturday I was virtually crippled. My sacro-iliac or whatever it was had me crying out in pain. But now, apart from a pain in the upper hip, I can just about walk normally. Good.

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That’s the good news. The bad news is that another lesion has appeared on my leg, making three. It’s all a bit messy, oozing. I have to clean it twice a day and renew the plasters. I’ve got the Betadine cream now and that inspires confidence. Hospitals always seem to like Betadine.

I’m taking daily photos of my leg to show progress, good or otherwise, but it’s too gory to show here. And even though the sparkling pool is only a few paces away, I can’t go in, bugger it.

Fuming. Mt Bromo 1989  (C) PJ Croft 2016

Lots of rain last night and this morning, and a beautiful cool day. Cooler than Perth!

All set for our three day tour of the east and north coasts next Monday. First stop Candidasa, next day Amed, then to V’s village near Lovina to drop her home and then back to Sanur for me on Wednesday afternoon. I’ve asked to do some slow driving around the local towns and villages near Candidasa, and, from Amed to be driven around/over the mountain to Trunyan on the south side of Lake Batur. At last I’ll be able to see it.

I’m hoping for a nice, relaxed trip.

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I took the KK bus to Galeria again today to buy a few pharmacy things (e.g. Betadine cream and large waterproof dressings). I asked for cephalexin antibiotic. They sell antibiotics but didn’t know that one. I wasn’t going to accept an unknown substitute.

I have one course from home in my bag, but I’ve been holding off using it. I’d like to have a second course available. But with two weeks left of this trip, if I started my course now, it would easily cover the remaining time. I guess I’d better start it.

The lesions are about the same today, no better, no worse. I just have to make sure to clean and dry them, apply antiseptic and fresh plasters and hope. Two weeks to going home. It’s annoying to have to avoid the pool.

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Of course I couldn’t help stopping off again at Gramedia to look at their magnificent range of bags. I passed on a few possibles, all over $100, then just as I was about to give up, one caught my eye:

The one on the right. Cost, A$45. That’s my 26 year old bag on the left. The new blue one is meant as a camera bag and takes two cameras, with dividers. I’ve removed half the dividers (right) and it takes my two cameras neatly. In fact, it may even be a substitute for my old bag in its own right. It’s about the same size and would hold what I need to carry. Hmmm.

So I’m very pleased with this. At the price, it’s brilliant.

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While browsing the KK bus brochures again, I noticed that the maps have changed and now show the Swiss Bel-Resort as the mid-Sanur stop, not Oasis Lagoon. OK, that would suit me as I want to get off near Hardy’s. My map showed the Oasis, and they wouldn’t stop there for me on Monday. I assumed my map was old and they’d stop at the Swiss Bel-Resort today.

Nope. It doesn’t matter about my  polite requests, they won’t stop at either hotel, nor at Hardy’s for me. What the hell? I was the only passenger! We stopped at the Jalan Bypass stop and waited there for ten minutes while no-one got off and no-one got on. I was annoyed that they wouldn’t stop for ten seconds outside Hardy’s for me.

I’m going to make a complaint. This is ridiculous. Their maps show two distinct stops in Jalan Tamblingan, but they won’t stop at either and won’t give me a reason. Stupid.

Lake Batur 1983. That tiny village on the far side is Trunyan. It occurs to me that I might get a chance to go there on this tour next week. That will be very satisfying because I’ve wanted to go there for a long time.   (C) PJ Croft 2016

Well, things are moving ahead at a fast clip. I’m doing a three day tour of the east and north coasts of Bali with my new friend next week. The timing works out perfectly for both of us because that’s when I was thinking of going, and it dovetails with a commitment my friend has too.

I just have to find a driver. I know two guys and I’ve asked the hotel to quote me as well so that I have a point of reference on the cost. Still waiting to hear from them.

That’s Lake Batur again. Those lights in the distance are Trunyan. I took this shot from Kintamani on 21 December last year at 5.30am.    (C) PJ Croft 2016

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My sleep has gone to the dogs. Once again last night, I dropped off very quickly and woke about 2½ hrs later, and that was it. Just dozed from then on. At least it means I’m getting to listen to my favourite Radio National programs via the internet. With the three hour time difference with Sydney, the BBC Business Report comes on at 2am, and so on. I probably shouldn’t, in fact I definitely shouldn’t be listening to the radio, but …

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My leg is a bit better. The lesions are dry now after applying the iodine based dressings (waterproof plasters, I mean) and I’ve got an antiseptic called Rivanol which was recommended. I’m using that, and there’s been no worsening. That means I’m holding my ground. I hope to see some healing now.

But unfortunately, it seems as if the chlorinated pool water is the cause of the problem. It dries the skin something terrible, and that leads to cracks which get infected.

So no swimming! Booger. I’ll need to do more walking, then, and that’s a bit painful in my right hip/back. It’s getting easier, though.

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I received a copy of a warning yesterday: bag snatch thieves are operating in this area, specifically in Jalan Danau Poso, which is the street I walk along sometimes. I was there yesterday.

It’s the obvious method, biker and pillion passenger come up alongside you and the pillion guy grabs your bag and yanks it away. In my case the bag is slung across my shoulder with a very heavy duty strap so I doubt they’d get it off me, but it would be pretty violent. It would pull me off my feet, for sure, and that would be bloody and painful. I’m pretty heavy and I’d go down hard on these rough surfaces. Ouch. it hurts just to think about it.

They’re probably after easier targets, like women with their bag only over their right shoulder. Easy pickings. I’ll certainly keep the warning in mind.

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I’ve had news from a friend in Perth who’s had surgery to fix blocked leg veins that were causing her a lot of pain when walking. She points out that it’s possible my leg veins might be causing poor blood flow to the leg, which leads to the ulceration I’m getting.

Very valid point! I was diagnosed with a bad vein in 2013 by ultrasound scans, and the vascular surgeon mumbled that he might need to fix it. But when I saw him the next time, he said, “Nah, we’ll leave it alone. Come and see me if you’re having trouble.” So I haven’t been back.

But I think I might follow this up. I hate this susceptibility to ulcers and cellulitis. It’s scary and as I said, it means I can’t swim.

The appointment with this vascular surgeon in 2013 was quite annoying. Very annoying!

It was for a date in March, after a two month wait! That was bad enough. I was staying down in Margaret River at the time, about 250Km south of Perth.

So on the appointment day, I got up at 5.30am and left at 6am for the drive to Perth. I drove non-stop and arrived in plenty of time for my 11am appointment. I arrived in his office right on time.

But I waited and waited and waited! I finally got in to his room at 12.05pm, an hour late. He looked at his notes, made his diagnosis and said he wouldn’t do anything, and that was that. It took about 5 minutes! $200 please, or whatever it was.

I felt like telling him I’d driven for two hours to make this appointment, then waited an hour in his waiting room, only to get less than 5 minutes of his time. Grrrr. But I kept quiet. As usual.

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 The more I look at this watch:

… the more I like it. I think I’ll order it. Amazon’s price is A$155 including postage to my home address. I’ll have to replace the strap with a metal one, though. You can’t let leather straps get wet, which is a bit hard to avoid.

Dummies, Solo, Java 1989    (C) PJ Croft 2016

Damn, damn, damn. Ulceration has started again on my left leg. I’ve got two circular lesions about 10mm diameter, with a third one starting. Why? Why do I do fine at home (i.e. unbroken skin), but it flares up here? It can be due to too much sitting, but I reckon I’m much more active here.

One answer, of course, is the pool. I don’t swim at home, and I’m swimming almost every day here. I need to swim, it’s the water walking exercise I need, but I might have to give it up.

I’ve got iodine strips and Betadine plasters and I’ve covered these skin breaks thoroughly. I’ve got an antibiotic but I haven’t started it yet. Maybe I’d better. I don’t want to have to go to the hospital. It might be that I have to go home quick smart. I’ll see what it’s like tomorrow.

Another thing is that after relief for over a year, my leg itching is back. This is terrible, unrelenting itching that scratching doesn’t help, and risks breaking the skin. I was just thinking a couple of months ago how good it was to be free of it, but I spoke too soon. Why does it happen, why here?

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Oh well, look on the bright side. I’ve sent an email written in very complimentary terms, shall we say, to the lady I met yesterday, and asking to meet her again. I’ve suggested I could go to visit her at the village she’s in near Lovina. Maybe.

Plus the doctor suggested that massages would be good for my back pain, so I might take advantage of the hotel’s massage parlour. They’re a bit expensive – the cheapest is Rp195,000 (A$20) for 1 hour. Maybe I’ll try it here then seek a cheaper version down the street if I think it makes an improvement.

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Funny. I got a fortune cookie slogan at the Chinese restaurant the other day: “Don’t take yourself so seriously. No-one else does.” Yeah, right.

Then when I picked up my laundry this morning, the woman’s T-shirt read
“Don’t overthink things!” That’s a profound thought for a Bali T-shirt, and an odd coincidence.

My laundry, by the way, cost Rp35,540 for 1.8Kg. That’s $3.64 ! Cheap, cheap. That’s for four T-shirts, five pairs of jocks and a pair of shorts. Bargain. I gave her Rp40,000 and said keep the change. Big spender.

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Another contender for a watch purchase. Not expensive, A$116. Just window shopping. Notice the left handed knobs and buttons. I can understand that – my wrist often accidentally pushes the buttons on the right.

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A reply to my special email has just come in. I’m almost afraid to read it 🙂

Well, I did read it of course and I’m practically floating. I think this is the start of something big. This is just the beginning, of course, so I can’t say much more. We’ll see what happens.

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Wow, 38C yesterday in Perth, 40C today, and this is autumn. A report in the Guardian says February’s world temperature rise was an ‘unprecedented’ 1.5degC, calling it ‘alarming’.

Malaysia is going through a major heatwave, with temperatures hitting 38C. With humidity, that would be a killer.

Yet people still deny climate change, including Marco Rubio, who wants to be President of the USA. What an idiot.

I’m takin’ a sickie today. I’ve got a note from my doctor.

Seriously, I had emailed my GP in Perth asking if it would do me any good to come back early, or whether I’d be better off staying here. I got her very comprehensive reply this morning and she confirms – stay, get bed rest but importantly, do the pool water walking. That’s good because I think that’s what’s fixing me up.

She also suggests a gel called diclofenac. By coincidence, I have a tube with me, it’s Voltaren. I brought it because my right shoulder and arm are painful, so it’s a happy outcome. I’ll have a hunt at the Apotek round the corner. She also recommends Tramadol for pain relief. I know about that one and I need some more, so … Looks like things will be OK.

More water walking soon, but I’m engrossed in a program on NHK TV about a Japanese motor mechanic, getting right into the mechanical stuff. This is interesting.

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From my mate with the sense of humour:

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 Well well well, interesting day today.

First, I caught the KK bus to Galeria and had another look at the bag I saw – when? Yesterday? Anyway, to cut it short, I bought it.

Nice, eh? Price was A$122.  This is what it’s replacing.

I bought that at Tangs in Singapore in 1990 or ’91. I still like it, but I like the new one better at the moment. We’ll see how it works out.

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Then I caught the KK bus back, intending to get off at the Oasis Lagoon hotel next door to Hardys. But they weren’t going to stop there, and nothing I said would persuade them otherwise. I said, “Why can’t you just stop outside Hardys and let me off, then go on?” Sorry sir, we don’t stop there. Bloody hell, their minds work in mysterious ways here at times. So I just came all the way back to Taksu.

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But ………..  on the bus I got talking to a woman – we were the only passengers.

Well, we talked and talked and talked. It turned out that she’s from Austria, and lives in Bali most of the year, at a village near Lovina. She rents a villa and has a car here. She’s got to know a family and is quite involved with them. She was in Sanur to meet them, and they were going back to Lovina this afternoon. But she had to wait, so we continued our conversation in the coffee lounge.

Cutting it short, she’s from Vienna and has done quite a bit of work overseas. She’s retired now and on her own. I think we found quite a lot in common and when it came time to part, I had no hesitation in hugging her. She’s very nice. I got strong vibes that she’d like to meet again, so … Ya never know in the big city.

Her name’s Veronika, by the way.

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I can’t find the one on the right, but the one on the left is available for about A$120. Just window shopping. It’s web mail order anyway.

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I did another 20 laps of water-walking in the pool today. Back still hurts but it feels more like a muscle pain now.

Mt Bromo 1989. I rode one of those horses across the lava plain in the pre-dawn fog.     (C) PJ Croft 2016

Another Sat’day night and I ain’t got nobody,
I got the money ’cause I just got paid.
How I wish I had someone to talk to,
I’m in an awful way.

(Sam Cooke © ABKCO Music Inc.)

Bromo Dawn 1989      (C) PJ Croft 2016

Warung Blanjong yesterday. They gave me so much fruit I couldn’t finish it.

Serious. But first, laugh at this:

“After fighting for 11 months, last month Immigration Minister Peter Dutton intervened and grated the girl’s visa.”   Did he sprinkle it over his spaghetti bolognaise?
[ABC News]

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I’ve realised what my hip pain is. It’s not the hip, it’s the sacro-iliac joint. Look it up in Wikipedia and it will tell you that there’s not much that can be done to cure it, only ways to manage it. That doesn’t sound good.

The pain is bad enough that I can hardly walk at the moment. It’s good in the pool, so I’ll work on that (what a life). But if it doesn’t improve in the next few days I might have to think abut going home early.

I might have to go to the BIMC Hospital too. I take Tramadol for pain but it’s not very effective. I might have to ask for stronger pain relief. The cost for my first visit was over $200 last time. Ouch, that’s pain in the wallet. No travel insurance cover for medical either, and even if I did have medical cover, this is a pre-existing illness. They get you every way.

I’ve emailed my GP asking her if it would do me any good to cut and run from here, or whether rest and pool time is better.

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Soryu Class sub

Japanese subs. Should we or shouldn’t we? At first I thought the Germans would be the best, or better still, US made subs, since interoperability would be best if we both have the same equipment.

But it’s been in my mind that if we bought Japanese, we’d get superbly made boats that would be extremely reliable and would almost never break down. That’s been my experience with Japanese electronics.

When you think on this, that would be like having one or two extra subs. Why? Because experience with the six Collins subs is that at least one of them is always laid up for repairs. If we can get four working and at sea, we reckon we’re doing well. That’s like having only four subs with two unreliable spares, not six.

But the Japanese subs would be so reliable that if we bought 12, we would have 12 available at virtually all times. That would be like having two spares at all times compared to the Collins subs. That’s a powerful argument.

The news says Japan is desperate to get us to buy so that we form a bond in the western pacific area against China. That’s also a powerful argument, to me. So I say, buy Japanese! However, I’ve also always said that the choice should be left to the submariners themselves, the officers and crew. They are the ones who know their equipment, not some department head in Canberra who’s never sailed anything except a desk.

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10.30am: I was thinking of going to the Galeria to buy a Kura Kura bus pass, but I think I’d better give my back time to improve. I’ll stay in and swim and rest today, I think.

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Sent to me by a mate with a good sense of humour.

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Did 20 laps of the pool today. It’s 25m long, so that’s 1Km. It’s not strenuous but I think it’s doing me good. It must be. The pain seems a bit less.

Those red areas.       (C) Spine-health.com

It’s inflammation. Treatment is ice packs for up to two weeks, rest, and anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen. I can’t take that as it interacts with blood pressure medication, but I’m taking a different anti-inflammatory daily anyway.  Plus, take pain relief. OK. I just have to wait.

Only an hour to go to the end of Nyepi and I can open the curtains.   (C) PJ Croft 2016

Had a good sleep from 9.30pm to 1am last night but couldn’t sleep after that. It’s OK, I’ve been up workin’ on this addictive machine for a few hours. I’m fiddling with the screen resolution because the native 3840 x 2160 pixels makes some programs text far too small. I’m now at the usual 1920 x 1080 HD resolution and that fixes the problem for those two programs, but I much prefer the Ultra HD native resolution. The makers of those two programs (ACDSee Ultimate 8 Image Browser and Xilisoft Video Converter) should make their text scale properly. Fat chance.

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Problem: my right hip and the area behind it (right lower back, upper bum) is now so painful that I can hardly walk. I’m wincing with nearly every step and often gasping and crying out with the jabs of pain.

Huh. When I approached the reception desk this morning in obvious pain and difficulty, young Sabrina (yes, that’s her name and she lives up to it – nice pair! 😉  ) said, “Good morning Mr Croft, how are you?” I said, “Not good, I’m in a lot of pain.”  I may as well have said I was turning into a coconut because she completely ignored my pain and continued to ask me what I wanted with a big smile. (It was batteries for the TV remote, by the way, which I got.)

I’d ignored the hotel breakfast buffet at Rp85,000, $8.50, and gone to the warung just around the corner for brekky.

Mixed fruit, mie goreng, lime juice and coffee came to Rp114,500 or $11.45! I’ve learnt that lesson – use the hotel’s breakfast, it’s much better value.

So anyway, this hip pain is a big problem. What am I going to do? One good thing is that water-walking in the pool is completely painless, so I can do that for exercise. It’s enjoyable as well.

It occurred to me that if I were brave, I could rent a motor scooter to get around on. I think I could cope with it. They’re light and step through and have electric start these days. Hmmm.

But at the moment, I’m a bit confined. The pool beckons.

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Interesting article on the ABC about the US election, and it points out that in the USA:

the real wages of most workers have been stagnant for the past 50 years, but S&P 500 company CEOs now earn 204 times the pay of their average workers …  [ABC News]

It’s another obscene situation. The rich are just plain greedy. The more they have, the more they want, and it’s at the expense of ordinary employees.

I don’t advocate militant unionism where union leaders take out their frustrations on companies, but I do advocate a much stronger union stance to force companies to pay proper wages and to keep them up with inflation. If that means industrial action, strikes, so be it.

In my former employment, we engineering staff suffered a 25% reduction in real terms over the 1980s to early 1990s and we never regained it. I wanted to take a tougher stance, but so many of the guys wouldn’t join the union. If we’d gone on strike, these guys would have undermined us, even though they were in the same wages position as we union members. I was pretty angry at times. But it’s all in the past now.

It was interesting that several of the guys who didn’t want to join the union before all the redundancies happened in 1999 changed their views and joined when they were under threat of being laid off. Yeah. And a couple of the guys who were adamant that they wouldn’t have anything to do with unions still took the redundancy payout package that the union negotiated for members. Oh no, when money was involved, they abandoned their principles and took the cash. I spit.

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This is frustrating. I got an Amazon offer email for the above watch at US$99.99. I find it fairly attractive, especially as it has a compass function. It’s called the Invicta Aviator.

I stewed on it for a few days and this morning I thought I might order it. But when I went to the web site, the offer was gone and the price has doubled to US$200. Sorry, no, that’s too much. Missed it. Booger.  Anyway, in the specs it says it’s 12mm thick and weighs 16 ounces. That’s half an inch thick and half a kilo in weight! I think it would have been a bit much.

I was in the big shop at the Galeria on Tuesday and came across the Tumi bag section. Why is it that we are so attracted to carry bags? It’s not just a women thing with handbags, it’s a man thing too. I’ve got about a dozen all up, I’d say, including two specific camera bags. I bought a Tumi bag at Xmas which I’ve realised ain’t that useful, and now I’ve got the hots for another one. It’s like this:

But not this one – I couldn’t find a picture of the one I saw, but it’s much better. Phwoooaaar. I want it. Phwoooaar, it’s expensive. US$335. I’ve got to resist. I’ve got to go back and have another look …

But I’ve also got to remember that the bag I use all the time although it’s 26 years old is the best bag I’ve ever had. There’s no way I’d ever throw it away. I bought it at Tangs in Singapore in 1990 for about $50 or thereabouts and it’s lasted all this time. Hmmm.

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5pm: I’ve been into the pool and I did 18 laps of water walking today, a lap being up and back. It’s not strenuous exercise, I’m not huffing and puffing, but it stretches the muscles and makes ’em work. Not bad.

While I was there, I had to listen to three Aussie blokes and a sheela (honorary bloke), all wearing the obligatory Bintang singlets and with tattoos, sounding off about Oz and the world to a Dutch guy. Of course, hyperbole was in order and house prices were “nothing less than a million dollars” and cars are “real expensive”.

Well, they’re not, actually. Wheels did an article last month pointing out that cars are about 25% to 45% cheaper in real terms than they were 20-25 years ago. They gave specific examples, which I can’t remember here, but you can buy a Yaris or a Micra or other small cars brand new for around $16,000. That’s very cheap by any standard.

But then the conversation got on to refugees and how Germany was destroying itself by taking so many Syrian refugees. They all get given a house, ya know? And then they all group together – implying that they form ghettos full of crime and no-go areas for whites.

All get given a house? Bullshit. Bullshit! What a load of tripe. But they know, y’know? Like, it stands to reason, y’know? Sick!

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5.30pm: Dang, I’ve just been down the street (very slowly and painfully) and I broke my own rule: I didn’t carry a camera. I saw two great shots; one was of guys dismantling a huge barong or legong figure from the parade yesterday. It was like they had murdered it and were chopping the body up. You’ll have to take my word for it.

The other was two young boys double-dinking (Aussie term) on a small bike, but having great fun at it. Missed the shot. That’s my rule, always carry a camera, because ya never know.

I was looking for a mini-mart with an ATM, but I found the first without the second. I had to use my VISA card. It was OK.

One very interesting thing: a small shop called Bag-cool (I think — something cool), “A Museum of Vintage Bags”. How unusual. That’s the great thing about Bali, it’s full of surprises, nice ones.

Peace and quiet at my hotel.     (C) PJ Croft 2016

It’s 0845 and we’ve been through the total solar eclipse. What a disappointment. It was hardly visible here, just a slight dimming of the light. I’ve seen eclipses before and this was a fizzog compared to the others. Oh well, I’m only young, there’ll be plenty more in my lifetime.

I had the camera set up on the patio in time lapse mode, but I stuffed it up. I didn’t set the number of shots, leaving it on 1 shot at 06:14am. Yeah, well that’s what I got, one shot. Now it’s working, and it’s taken a shot every 10 seconds for the past half hour, about 900 shots. This was the eclipse period, so I’ve got what I wanted but it’s not very exciting. I have a 1min. time lapse movie, but it’s nothing. Oh well.

It’s Nyepi day, but in this hotel, you wouldn’t know it. The restaurant staff are banging and clattering and all the cleaning staff are out on the pathways talking their heads off. Obviously, big hotels are exempt.

Last night was the Ogoh-ogoh parade and I was hoping for a good photo spectacle. I walked from here to the corner of Poso and Cemara and Tamblingan, where a crowd was gathering but nothing happened. I was expecting to hear the music and drums — I heard nothing but the never ending snarl of motor bikes. That gets on my nerves after an hour of it.

Apparently all the action was along Jl. Danau Tamblingan outside the Hyatt hotel compound at the end of the red line below. Too far. My hip is really hurting and I couldn’t walk the extra 500m  –

The distance from the Taksu (left pin) to Poso corner is 530m. That’s my limit at the moment. So all in all, Nyepi has been a big disappointment so far.

Jalan Danau Poso, the road to the meeting place.   (C) PJ Croft 2016

Satay. Aaaah, that smell!    (C) PJ Croft 2016

Pensive child.      (C) PJ Croft 2016

Jl. Poso      (C) PJ Croft 2016

Gathering dancers       (C) PJ Croft 2016

By the truckload.    (C) PJ Croft 2016

This is the timelapse at about 8.15am until 9am. There’s not much solar eclipse, I’m afraid.

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I forgot to mention – most businesses closed down in the afternoon on Tuesday, the day before Nyepi, and that included ATMs! Yes, no cash available on Tuesday afternoon. Luckily I had about $26 worth and didn’t need to use it, but I spoke to an Aussie couple who were wailing and worrying. Nothing to be done about it, sorry.

That also meant the Kura Kura buses weren’t running either. No wonder we waited half an hour with no show at the hotel. I had to share a taxi to the Galeria shopping centre. I had gone to the Galeria specifically to buy a Kura Kura bus stored value card, but the counter was closed. Booger.

After walking back from the Poso/Cemara corner, I had a late dinner (just a club sandwich with a fruit juice) in the hotel’s restaurant and was able to book the $12.70 cost to my VISA card.

The two restaurants in this hotel are managed by a separate company, so you can’t book things to your room. That’s a bit inconvenient sometimes.

7pm: Aah, now it’s all happening. I was engrossed in video editing wen the phone rang. It was the front desk asking me to close my curtains. When I looked out, pitch blackness. Everything was closed down, including both restaurants. I thought they were going to be open and I’d said I’d be eating, but apparently it was only up to 6pm. Oh well, that means all I’ve had is breakfast today, apart from beer and crackers. I’ve got plenty in the room so I’m not going to starve, but boy it’s quiet now, and dark outside.

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Crumbs, the hotel guests (Aussies, natch) are paying not the slightest notice of the need to keep quiet. The women are cackling! Cackling loudly in the pool. Ugh!

I feel like a swim, but there’s a big group of blokes who seem to be having a drinking session in the pool. I don’t like the look of it. Too loud, too ugly for me. Russian and Aussie voices?

5pm: I went in and it was like a warm bath. The pool gets full midday sun. I did 12 laps of water walking, taking about 30 mins, then one lap of breast stroke until I got a leg cramp. It’s good exercise.

Crikey, there was an incredibly ugly fat Dutch woman constantly blocking my way while she obsessively pushed a ball underwater then let it burst to the surface with a great splash. It just went on and on and on. I got the feeling she was trying to attract me, but no way, lady. Not interested.

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Wow, have a look at this photographer’s web site: http://www.andyyeungphotography.com/Portfolio/  Click on Slideshow for a spectacular set of images. He obviously jealously guards his pics so I dare not show too much here.

He’s Hong Kong based and has a new viewpoint to show, especially using a drone for those HK tower shots.

I’m pleased to say that I’ve been to many of the places he’s photographed. I’m finding travel pretty hard now, though, and my right hip is really hampering me at the moment. I can’t walk like I used to.

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Unfortunately I’ve discovered the first drawback to this room: a hard bed. I can’t sleep and the bed is making me toss and turn. At 2.30am I’ve got up and dropped the aircon temp from 27º to 25º and I’ll try again soon.

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I’ve made no secret of my left wing political views. I despise the Liberal Party and all who sail in her. All they know how to do is to destroy, to dismantle, to waste the opportunities that government gives them. The NBN is the latest example. Labor saw that as a nation building program to give the entire country a world class fibre optic network operating at 100Mb/s and as future proof as possible in such a rapidly developing field.

But bloody Malcolm Turnbull set in to criticise it, to try to set himself up as an expert who knew better, telling us he would save time and money. Has he? He has not. The system he has imposed is massively inferior, well below world standard, anything but future proof, will cost just as much and take just as long. He has wrecked the nation building plan.

What’s brought this diatribe on? An article in the Saturday Paper on John Howard’s years.

“… when you talk to public policy experts, the picture that emerges is one of a rather inert government that had a very thin record of reform, that left Australia more divided, that entrenched privilege and inequality, and that left the political and economic landscape littered with mines primed to blow up under successor governments.”

“They [the Howard government] had three things going for them,” says Jeff Borland, professor of economics and labour market expert at the University of Melbourne.

“First, the continuing benefit of the economic reforms of the Hawke–Keating years. Second was a Reserve Bank which by the ’90s had a clear understanding of the workings of the economy and had, in Ian Macfarlane, an outstanding governor. Third, they had favourable economic conditions.”

Aside from introducing the GST, Borland says, they did little in the way of positive reform. [The Saturday Paper, 5 March, Mike Seccombe]

It was yet another period of wasted years, as happened under Malcolm Fraser. Do-nothing years. That’s the pattern: Labor governments build, introduce major reforms, inspire with new ideas, bring the country with them. Liberal governments do the opposite, tear down the reforms, sabotage the ideas, divide the country.

“Howard, [Hugh McKay] says, exploited groups such as refugees for political advantage. Howard was the man who refused to apologise to the Indigenous Stolen Generations. His was the government that changed the Marriage Act to stipulate that it had to be between a man and a woman. He was the one who fostered the intolerant religious right within politics. He drove out moderate forces.

“He left us a meaner society than we were, much less committed to egalitarianism and to our moral obligations,” says Mackay.

It’s happening again now. John Howard was an out and out racist. The way he banned his party people from taking part in the Stolen Generations March and refused to make an apology was despicable. He said it would cause legal problems. Well, the Labor government made the apology, there were no problems and nothing but good will. This government has divided the country once again. Oh, what a waste of breath.

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I’ve realised that this hotel is one of the three stops for the Kura-Kura bus in Sanur. It has its terminus at Mal Bali Galeria in Kuta and stops at the top of the Jalan Bypass, then the Oasis Lagoon Hotel next to Hardy’s, then here, then back to Galeria. Ideal for me. I’ll buy a season ticket tomorrow (today), I think.

Google translate tells me kura means spleen, but kura-kura means turtle. And they say English is illogical 🙂

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I watched another movie last night – Carol. It was another superb performance by Cate Blanchette, but apart from that I was bored stiff. If you like a love story between two women, go for it, but I could hardly finish it.

The best bit was right in the very last seconds, though. The young bird tries to get back with Carol but Carol isn’t giving her a second chance. You had your chance, baby, so that’s it. Magical look from Cate Blanchette.

Then it went into the bin.

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 9.30am: Yeah, another bad night. Fall asleep easily, wake two hours later and that’s it. I feel knackered now, although I’ve had a very nice swim. I had the pool to myself and did about a dozen laps of water walking. It’s 1,6m constant depth all the way, and about 25m long.

This is a very nice hotel, one of the best I’ve ever stayed in, I think. The size of the room means you don’t feel cramped, the sliding doors open onto the patio, which itself is quite large. There are green palms all around the patio. Not so big as to feel impersonal, but big enough to have all the modern touches. I’ll definitely stay here again. The hard bed is the only minus point so far.

Oh, and tiny, tiny bugs (?) or midgies that bite. Not too bad.

Red dragonfly     (C) PJ Croft 2016

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