I was about to post a different blog, but it appears that we lost a cable that connects our camera to the computer, again. So, here is something i put together from my memory of the 'lost blog' - the one I erased last month...

I will post the new blog within the next few days.

I'll explain this in a minute...

This is a short and unofficial introduction to the people of Bali- for those of you who are planning to explore this part of the world, it can give you an inside look at some of the things you will learn after spending 3 months in a Southern Asia country.

One thing you will soon notice after arriving in Bali, is that the women here perform the hard-labour work. This is amazing to watch, and very humbling. These women work for under 3$ a day, and many women work for just over 1$ a day. I've seen women carrying everything from bundles of 25 foot long bamboo trunks on their heads, to baskets of agricultural harvesting and even livestock.

 One woman, who is particularly amazing, has discovered that the mud at the bottom of a particularly fast-flowing river is in demand from the local construction companies... so she spends her days jumping off a riverbank with a bucket on her head, collecting this mud one handful at a time. Literally, she jumps with an enormous basket on in one hand, while holding a smaller bucket in the other. She holds her breath as she enters the water, and then disappears into the river. When she surfaces, she has scooped up a handful of precious mud in her little bucket, and she then places this mud in the larger bucket that sits on top of her head. She will continue to dive down to the river bottom and repeat this process until her large bucket is filled to maximum capacity, at which point she exits the river, climbs up a hillside path that she has worn into the landscape from these repeat trips, goes up a steep and wet rock staircase, and deposits the mud onto a pile at the edge of the bridge. She fills her buckets for about 8 hours a day, almost every day of the year. (Photos courtesy of Sandesh Poin)

She literally throws the last bucketful into the air and makes it perform a perfect flip. That's truly maximum capacity 

I weight lifted and tried to "bulk up" for years- and I couldn't get back muscles like this woman.. 

I remember thinking to myself after watching a woman balance over a dozen construction bricks on her head "And what do the Balinese men do that's so special"

To answer my own question, the Balinese man can do EVERYTHING. Or at least he will try. If you ask a Balinese man if he is able to perform a certain task, he will say 'yes' before you even hint at what it is. You see, a Balinese man cannot afford to turn down a potential source of income. Since they have not yet figured out how to clone themselves, the Balinese man has become omnipresent by forming a conglomerate of 'friends' in which they network and share 'clients', taking a commission off any sale that they potentially 'booked' for their colleague. You can say to a taxi driver "I need help building my spaceship, all I need is carbon-fiber and ____" before you can say 'Unobtanium', the taxi driver will say "Yes!" with certainty and confidence that will leave you almost considering the possibility that he could somehow manage to locate the Unobtanium. In fact, you actually have to be careful what you say, because if you mention that you want or need something, a Balinese man will pick up on it and take immediate action.

A few weeks back, I looked at my phone and noticed 4 missed calls, all spaced within a minute of each other. It was our driver, Nyoman. Days before, Simone had mentioned that she thought there were Chameleons in Bali, and would like to find one if it were possible. Well, its not possible. There are no native Chameleons in Bali, and its illegal to sell exotic animals here- punishable by very serious prison sentences. Regardless of the dangers, Nyoman had put the word out to his 'friends' that there was urgent need for a Chameleon, known locally as a 'Boomlong'. When I return Nyomans call, he answered the phone- completely out of breath and sounded excited.

 Nyoman said: "DAVE! I climbed up all the stairs to your house- are you and Simone home?"

I said; "Um, yes. Why?"

Nyoman: "I have Boomlong!"

Wow, I did not expect that to happen.


So I walk out the front door to welcome our exhausted taxi driver/exotic animal dealer, who is holding a cage that contained one very distraught and aggressive reptile- which was not a Chameleon. A friend of his had managed to capture a reptile that looked like a Kimodo Dragon mixed with a crocodile, while clearing a field behind a local resort hotel. The only characteristic that this lizard possessed that resembled a Chameleon, was the fact that it was indeed a reptile. Other than that, no similarities whatsoever. This hissing dragon has a tail that was about 2 feet long, and it had a head like a snake and the body of a salt-water crocodile. It really was quite frightening. I exclaimed our disinterest in adopting this ferocious dragon, and our taxi driver actually took it quite well.

NOT a Boomlong... but it's surprisingly obedient with the pink leash/mouth bow tie combo

It's really quite amazing to see how efficient these men are when it comes to networking and multitasking. Just recently, I had a Fedex package that went MIA somewhere in Indonesia, because it required payment of import tax and did not have a complete address. Naturally, I called Nyoman and told him that i have a job for him. I only gave him my tracking number and my name, and less than 24 hours later, the package was hand-delivered to me, from him. I have no idea how he got this package, but I had no doubt at any point that he would accomplish the task. He is also the man who helped us get our local Balinese drivers license. That was a fun experience... It took a 20$ bribe to the police chief to ignore the fact fact that we were not here with business Visas, and the test we took (in a local restaurant outside the police station parking lot) already had all the correct answers circled.
My favorite part of the experience: Question #15 on the license test.

As much as the answer D sounded tempting, I really needed this drivers license so I circled A and handed in my exam.

Another thing that you will learn about Bali, is that there is a very limited vocabulary used here. The Balinese dialect of Indonesian language is quite pleasant sounding, and relatively simple to acquire. A great example of its simplicity, is that there are only 4 male and 4 female names in the Balinese culture. Literally, if you call out the name "Ketut!" in a room of 100 people, on average, 25 people will say "yes"

Names in Bali are simple;

Wayan, Putu, Gede for 1st born male child
Wayan, Putu, Iluh for 1st born female child

Made, Kadek for 2nd born male child
Made, Kadek, for 2nd born female child.

Nyoman, Komang for 3rd born male and female children

Ketut for 4th born male or female children.

The 5th born reverts back to the list for 1st born children.

That's just a fun fact for you.

Well, since I have no access to my photos, I will save the best for last... I figure that I will post 2 more blogs after this one, before I leave Bali. The next will be full of pics, with stories surrounding most of them.

Thanks for checking in, I'll be back soon!

Love and Light to all 

5 days in Malaysia

Right now, we are on a bus that's leaving Singapore, heading North on a 13 hour road trip to the N. East coast of Malaysia. Our destination is a city called Kuala Terengganu. From here, a quick powerboat ride can take us to over a dozen secluded tropical islands, including Palau Tioman and the Perhentians. These islands are known for being the breeding grounds of endangered sea turtles, and it's suspected to be the resting grounds of stashed gold and stolen jewelry that was abandoned here by pirates centuries ago... Both Simone and I are PADI scuba certified, so we plan on renting our own diving equipment and jumping off a boat to explore the underwater world in search of marine life and buried treasure.

Scuba Simi- Always ready for action

... And I like to go with the flow

 *Update: While crossing the border at the Malaysia/Singapore Immigration checkpoint, I was almost abandoned at the crossing- on the Malaysian side. If it weren't for Simones persistence and powerful speech to the driver about respect and common courtesy, I would have been left there for certain... with all my belongings on the bus.

... but we made it, and the adventure continues...

 Coastal Malaysia is a very tranquil and tropical location. Full of beautiful beaches and landscapes with exotic animals and rare wildlife that can be seen in their natural habitat. 

Rarely a single person on the beach here, it's a great place to go if you like privacy

As visually appealing as it may be, Malaysia is not the place to visit if you are interested in healthy eating while on vacation. MSG is in everything- I wouldn't be surprised if there was MSG in household products like hand lotion or even laundry detergent. Its been on every menu and food ingredient label that I've seen since arriving here. The other major issue is that the service here is not flexible. Substitutions or modifications to an order will be ignored or become miscommunicated, so don't bother asking for a custom dinner- because if its not exactly as described on the menu, you cant have it. Just point to a picture on the menu to make your order. You'll get exactly what you see in the photo- flies and ants included. 
Dinner on the island can be quite good, you just have to select the right location. Almost every establishment along stretches of a beach will offer a coconut wood grill which they fire-up nightly at 7pm. Seafood is displayed either on tables or in canoes (seriously) and its quite a sight to see- very similar to a marketplace layout. You can have an entire 3lb Red Snapper with a salad, white rice (brown rice is not an option) and fresh fruit, all for less than 5$ U.S.

 Tip: Search for the restaurant that displays their seafood on a bed of ice. Since arriving in Asia, I have come to peace with the fact that natural eggs do not need to be refrigerated. That was a tough one for me. However, I am at a loss for words when I pass displays that are simply layed out on a wooden table in 80+ degree heat for hours, featuring chicken, beef, shellfish and fresh caught fish.  One evening, after passing a 3rd seafood restaurant that displayed its 'catch of the day' as if it were a used book sale, we arrived at our favorite safe-spot at the end of the beach.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any crazier than what I just witnessed, our waitress took our order and proceeded to blow my mind.

Waitress: (To Simone)  "How would you like your chicken cooked? Medium, Rare, or Well-Done?"

Simone: "Um, cooked like a REGULAR chicken... You can have a chicken cooked rare?"

Waitress: "Oh yes! Or medium if you prefer"

Simone: "I'd like mine cooked like a normal, safe to eat chicken. Not rare at all- fully cooked please"

That really happened. If i wasn't there, I would not believe it myself

so....

Breakfast for me everyday here is 1tbs of Maunka honey, about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a bowl of watermelon, and a coffee (or 3) ... Malaysian coffee, prepared correctly, is world class.

Lunch is vegetables and a Malaysian version of Thailands famous Tom Yum soup, and dinner is grilled fish, salad and rice. (kingfish, red snapper or dorado has been the best choice this trip)

I have not eaten meat, except fish, for a good portion of this Asian adventure (sorry Sanjay;)... And now its decidedly my diet of choice. I've seen too many locals and tourists with parasites and food poisoning from cross-contamination and improper food storage- my body doesn't have any vacancies for an Amoeba to call home. Plus, I had a special moment of clarity while driving the streets of Bali, behind a motorbike transporting baby pigs to their certain death. I feel it's best to keep my diet as un-denatured and light as possible, and always (where possible) organic. Maybe in a couple years I'll have balanced all the time I spent over-consuming animal products and protein supplements in attempt to become un-proportionately muscular. I have no idea of my body weight these days- I haven't stepped on a scale since leaving Los Angeles. I'm guessing that I'm under 165... which is 50lbs less than I weighed during the peak of my lifting days. When I return to Bali, I'll try to find a pic from my earlier years and compare it to now, over 4 years later. These days, my not-so-little younger brother has taken over the title of biggest and strongest Catudal. Well, he's probably always been the strongest;)

Arriving on the jetty at Palau Perhentian, the 'small' island

    



It's now day 4 in Malaysia, this island we are staying on is about 15 miles off the coast, less than an hour from the Thailand border, and about 2hrs from Vietnam and Cambodia. Last night there was a tropical storm that sounded like a war was going on... Lightning and thunder mixed with a heavy rain that felt as if we were standing under a waterfall. Apart from that, the weather has been sun and blue sky all day, every day.


We went scuba diving today...
Simone and I went diving  2 weeks ago in Bali. It was stunning and peaceful- and uneventful. I guess I got spoiled with that being my first deep-dive experience in open water. The conditions were perfect, and we were guided by 2 'Divemasters'- one of whom has been running his own school for over a decade.
 In Malaysia, I learned that there are less strict safety standards for scuba diving. Our boat driver seemed intoxicated, and our guides were both very nice girls, but looked about 16 years old. On the ride out to the dive site, the boat driver knocked over his fuel tank and filled the rear of our boat with gasoline... While he was turning around in circles looking for a solution, our guide declares that we have reached the site and instructs us to gear up. Good, just get me out of this floating time-bomb...  Entering the water using the James Bond-style backwards entry, Simone was the first off the boat. As soon as she hit the water, I noticed that she was rapidly floating away from where we were anchored. Keep in mind that we had taken a 30 minute ride away from the island into the ocean... We were FAR offshore. So now we have Simone in the water getting sucked away by strong current and a boat filled with gasoline. Simone manages to fight the current and swim back to the boat, where the guides call an impromptu group meeting to discuss the logistics of the dive.  Now all of us are in the ocean, and we're clinging to the side of the boat to avoid getting swept away by the current. The plan was to make it to the anchor line and pull ourselves down the rope with our hands, to the ocean floor. Getting underwater was a relief, because this was a surface current and it became only a mild pull at 30ft deep.

Looking upwards while diving is my favorite part. It'sa feeling that you can only truly understand if you've been down past 60'

The rope climb downwards was creepy... every foot deeper became darker and colder and quieter.  

About to reach our depth, one of the girls loses her flipper. We are now at 60' depth, where the current picks up again... She manages to tether her vest to her 'buddy' and they continue the dive with us. Meanwhile, Simone is struggling to maintain a consistent depth, and continues to float towards the surface at a dangerously fast pace. (Going upwards too quickly is the #1 no-no in scuba diving)
Simone has to fight and power-swim just to stay at a safe depth... It turns out that fighting the surface current had used a large supply of her air, making her oxygen tank light, and she was not wearing an appropriately weighted belt for this dive- possibly my fault.
The guide aborts the dive (using panicked hand-signals) and instructs us to follow her to a rock ledge that would become our shelter.
So Simone had to hold onto an underwater coral ledge at 25' while her guide kept her from floating upwards. I did my best to anchor Simone at that depth by using a free hand to grip the rock wall, and Simone gripped my forearm while I deflated my BCD vest to create the heaviest possible weight underwater. After a mandatory 5 minute decompression rest at the 20' depth, we were ready to safely swim to the surface.

Our dive that was scheduled for a 50 minute bottom time ended up lasting only 20 minutes from start to finish- we were all about to run out of air. On board, the driver had managed to bail out most of the gasoline, but the floor still had a layer of slippery petrol residue. After we were all in the relative safety of being out of the ocean, one of the guides exclaimed that she needed a cigarette... Did nobody else realize how dangerous it is to have a fuel leak on a boat??

 The girls looked worried that Simone had a scare underwater, and asked her how she was feeling. Simone replied; "I'm just upset that I couldn't take good pictures of the fish," and scheduled a dive for the next day. It's really hard to scare this girl.... If the boat had caught on fire, she might have been a little worried- maybe.


These picture were taken 3 weeks ago in Bali... there was not much opportunity to snap underwater shots this time... Diving in Malaysia really tested our nerves and our scuba skills.

Getting a close-up on a white-eyed Moray Eel

Exiting the wreck- It was a US cargo ship sunken by a Japanese submarine in WWll

Simone loved being in the middle of things

      
So now we are in a new hotel that has wifi. Our power goes out every 1/2 hour or so, but the Internet connection is solid. Malaysia is beautiful, but the service standards are extremely low. While living in Bali, we came to discover that it was not by any means a clean or sanitary place- but we loved and accepted it because it's peaceful, magical, and very friendly. It's very clear that the Hindu people are content with tourist activity and they are accepting, outgoing and respectful. So far, Malaysia has left us feeling slightly uncomfortable and unwelcomed. Questions and requests go unanswered, polite suggestions and comments are ignored or interpreted as slander, which leads to even more unfriendly interactions. Maybe this sounds worse than it actually is, but the truth is that there is a massive discrepancy in friendliness between local and tourist here in S.E. Asia, when it comes to the Hindu or Muslim dominant regions.

On a lighter note, we have a great adventure coming up. In Bali, we became friends with some very interesting people who have been traveling the world for many years. Sandesh, who has been living mostly in India and Asia for the past 30 years, once traveled on a ship through the Indian ocean all the way down and around to the south Asia seas, living on islands off the Indonesian coasts. The captain whom he lived on board with is now returning to Bali and will be taking Simone and I on his boat, the 'Wanderer V'. This is a classic wooden ship that was built  in New Zealand for the famous world sailor and Author, Eric Hiscock. 
Eric died (on the boat) in 1986. Years later, Ignazio Mannu, who is our captain, purchased the boat for his own adventures and sails as a private chartered captain around the world. We are privileged to have this opportunity, and we will be at sea for 2 weeks as we travel from Bali through the Komodo islands, towards Australia on the Flores Sea.

Simone is concerned about pirates. Being a caring boyfriend, I asked Sandesh if there is any worry of pirates in the seas that we will be sailing. He replied; 'Well, yes, there could always be pirates... But be assured that the man you are sailing with is more of a threat to the pirates than they are to him... The man is crazy-  the ocean has been his home from the time he was 12 years old, you'll be safe with Iggy... He wouldn't let anything happen to the Wanderer V."

We anticipate quite an adventure coming up... This has been a dream for both of us for a long time. I'll keep you posted!

Love and Light to all

Ahhhhhh, blogging again- finally.

I had a tough time getting back to writing after I erased my last 2 blogs by accident, and lost over 20 pages of memoirs and memos with a simple swish of my finger. Damn ipad, that hurt.

Talking about pain, I'm going to start this blog from the most recent notable events that have occurred, (Chinese torture) and the rest will be in no particular order from experiences of the past 2 weeks. But first, here's what's happening now.

We're in Singapore, it's our 3rd day here and I still feel like I'm stuck in a parallel universe, or outer space... Singapore is a very interesting city.

A boat on top of a hotel... Very interesting

Infinity pool on the roof of the 'Boat'

The reason why we're in Singapore was to meet the Japanese healers that we first met in Los Angeles 2 weeks before starting this Asian adventure. These are very special people, and we are happy to consider them close friends of ours. Noah and Noriko are exceptionally enlightened. They posses powers that help the world increase or restore it's positive Karma by raising it's consciousness. Noah was born with the gift and power to heal and connect with nature, and heal people's negative karmas that have become imbedded in our souls from lifetimes ago. Noriko is the translator for Noah, as he literally cannot speak a word of anything but Japanese. Noriko is fluent in both English and Japanese, and she seamlessly translates Noahs words with a sweet and soothing voice that makes me wish Noah would keep talking for hours.

This is Noah

This meeting with them was different from the last, because it was both a healing, and an eye-opening update on recent world events. I can't go into full detail of what was revealed to us, but I can tell you that many natural disasters that have occurred recently are not so natural. If you know about HAA£P, then you might know what I'm talking about. Let's leave it at that... I don't need the government monitoring my blogging activity. Oh yeah, and the lost underwater world of Atlantis really existed. We met 3 people who used to live there. Long story..

Our friends from Japan. The two in the middle (top/bottom) are also from Atlantis.

If you think that I'm crazy but are still reading, have a look at these pictures. This is really crazy.



The Japanese healers took us to visit their friend who is a Chinese healer and herbal doctor...

Im happy that she seems to be enjoying this. Or maybe she was smiling because she knew what was about to happen to me...

After meeting with the very amazing Dr. Tan Lee Kee, She told me that I'm very healthy and only had one problematic issue... A stiff neck. This was diagnosed by feeling my heart beat, stroking my forearm several times, patting me on the head about a dozen times, and kneading my bicep muscle for several seconds. Impressed, I agreed with the doc and said "right on! What's the cure?"

The cure was torture. Delivered by an evil little woman using only a wooden stick, tiger balm, and plastic suction cups. My consultation resulted in me getting my ass kicked by a 58 year old Chinese woman. She was 5'1,  weighed under 120lbs, and she had a Kung-foo grip that would make Chuck Norris jealous. If you don't know anything about Chinese Medicine, then you might have never heard about their ancient technique called 'Scraping' or 'Cupping'. Scraping is exactly what it sounds like... A wooden tool that looks like a hair comb is dug deep into your skin, and scraped in downward motions directly on affected areas of muscles and nerves. When a blockage is found, the scraping intensifies in speed and pressure, and a new tool comes into the picture. This new tool is also wooden, and it looks like the tip of a drum stick. It gets pushed directly into the nerve blockage and is kneaded deep into the muscle, creating a world of pain that I can only describe as crippling. I couldn't make a sound, I couldn't even move- although I tried to escape by shrinking in my seat, on several occasions. The only thing I could do, is try to go to my 'happy place' and bite my teeth, waiting for it all to be over. When it was over, she instantly went to her torture kit and the cupping began.  Before I had a chance to get my voice back, I had the first suction cup attached. It was uncomfortable, but it was nothing like the scraping.

 I've been treated by an amazing acupuncturist in Los Angeles who has used the 'cupping' technique in conjunction with traditional acupuncture to alleviate the pain of a chronic nerve injury that had begun several years ago from a snowboarding accident. In LA, the cupping experience was both relaxing and effective. It was performed with a glass dome with a wick on top. When the wick is lit, the fire creates a sort of vacuum, and creates a gentle suction 'cupping' effect on your skin. This brings blood flow to the muscle fibers and to the surface of your skin, opens your pores, and allows the suction and the heat to detoxify and create greater blood flow to areas that have sustained an injury or trauma. In Singapore, cupping is very different.

I should have known that the clinic I was invited to would be using bizarre and stern methods of treatment- because only 2 steps into the lobby, I noticed several items for sale that were anything but normal. On the counter next to the cashier, there was a box of birds nests. These were not ordinary birds nests... They had been hand picked from the cliffs of coastal islands surrounding the South China Sea. They were prescribed to be eaten, 1 nest per day, to alleviate asthma symptoms and to improve sinus functions. I couldn't help but ask the cashier if she was aware of the bird flu epidemic that originated in Asia... I mean, seriously... The symptoms for bird flu are pretty close to those of an asthma attack. I doubt that either condition will become improved by eating a birds nest. Also, when something is perched high up on the cliffside of remote islands... It's probably unreachable for a good reason.

Seriously, just leave it there. It's not worth it

Right below the birds nest (Which cost 225$/8 nests) was something even more expensive, and even more bizarre. I picked up a plastic cup about the size of a large shot glass, which appeared to be full of dried coconut shavings. Just as I began to get excited that my beloved coconut was getting medicinal recognition in a doctors clinic, I noticed the price tag and instantly realized that these were not coconut shavings. I asked the translator that was traveling with us that day to find out what was in the plastic bottle. She replied; "it's shavings from a Rhinoceros horn"
Stunned, the only word that came out of my mouth was "why?"
She replied that it was good for lowering cholesterol, and can prevent heart attacks. All I could think of was how badly I wanted to tell her "so do coconuts"
However, I wanted to be open minded- and I knew that I had no chance of changing thousands of years of tradition with one argument in the lobby of a Chinese herbal doctors office, I agreed to disagree and took my seat. My consultation was next, and I needed to keep cool so that my pulse wouldn't alter the doctors initial diagnosis.

So, there's not much more I need to say... The pictures pretty much explain that experience. 

The next day, I found out that Singapore not only has a river with boats running through their underground shopping center, but they also have a Wakeboard cable park. Score for me! I used to spend many days of my Montreal summers at 'Le Beach Club' which was Canada's first Cable waterski center. I just turned 29, have not been on the cables since I was 24 years old...Happy to see that I still got it!

Something about this helmet just didn't feel right... It wasn't pink enough 

Ah, much better. Now i'm ready for action

I took a few falls that day, but had my share of soft landings as well. Im headed back there in an hour or so...hopefully we will figure out our camera and get more clear shots.