Turdy Moccasins, mature sucks so much and summah summah! Sing Can Can!

     Upon leaving Bangkok Thailand, we hopped on a four hour flight to Denpasar Bali, practicing our Balinese along the way.  Terima Kasih (turdy moccasins), matur saksima (mature sucks so much) and suma suma are the phrases proven to be most useful since we've arrived. Thank you in both Balinese and Indonesian, and you're welcome.  The Balinese are very kind people and haven't been too critical of our pitifil attempts at communication in their beautiful language. Gary has his favorite beverage words mastered well; Bir and kopi. I've also worked on my favorite phrase, Sing can can; no worries.  It's funny to see the surprise and appreciation on the faces of each Balinese i've spoken those words to.  Time here is truly marked by the crow of the rooster, no one is in too much of a hurry.  We're not surprised when our meal appears forty five minutes after we've placed the order.

     Our first night in Bali, we thought we'd spend a quiet night in Legian to get our bearings and start fresh the next morning.  Instead, we found ourselves in the midsts of tourism hell. Potbellied Germans and Aussies littered the sidewalks in every state of drunkeness, like teenagers during spring break 1988 in Daytona Beach.  Gyrating to really bad 70's rock revival music, played by non-english speaking, pseudo-waiter/rockstar balinese bands. "Sweet Home Alabama" blasted at 0200 from the crowded pool at out hotel; this was definitely not the Bali we'd signed up for. The best thing about our first night in Bali, was the amazing meal we were served at a little Warung(local's restaurant) called Yogya.  The food served at this tiny, hidden place down a side alley was phenominal.  We sipped cool Bintang beers and devoured delicious plates of Gado- Gado and Nasi Campur. The kangkung(water spinach) was spicy and superb and they made the best peanut sauce we've ever tasted. I didn't even tell Gary I had ordered vegetarian until half way through the meal and he loved it.
     We hailed a taksi the following morning to escape the bedlam that is Legian.  One hundred- thousand rp. ($15) and an hours ride, found us in the sleepy little town of Sanur at a quiet little place aptly named, the Watering Hole.