Day 52: Ubud, Bali (February 28, 2011)

Today I realized I must be a little bit lonely, but it resulted in me aquiring two groups of single-serving friends (well, hopefully multi-serving friends!).

While I was at the hotel's desk, extending my stay because I like it here, a woman next to me was arranging a driving tour of the island.  I had been looking at a brochure of driving tours over breakfast, and it's something I wanted to do myself.  So I finished my business real quick, then I followed the woman to her room.  I caught her and her friend on their balcony, and I yelled up "Hi!  I overheard you arranging a driving tour!  Would you like some company?  I'd understand if you don't!  Why don't you ask your friend and get back to me!"  Then a huge grin.  She paused for a moment (probably in shock at my brazeness), then looked at her friend and they both said "Why not?"  So I joined them and the one lady's husband for a while, and the conversation was very fun and easy.  So tomorrow the four of us are taking a driving tour together.  Or else I'll get stood up, but then I can write about what rage and disappointment feel like, right?  ;-)

I am never this forward about inviting myself places, and certainly not with complete strangers, so I chalk it up to not having enough social interaction lately.  I can go a long time with only my own company, but apparently even I break down once in a while and want to talk to other people.  Please don't think I'm crying myself to sleep with homesickness or anything, because I'm definitely not.  But I haven't had a substantive conversation with a person in the same place as me since Sri Lanka.  I felt like I was babbling, and maybe I was, but I hope it came across as enthusiasm and not loudmouth.

In the early afternoon, I went to a nearby spa for a treatment.  I opted for a facial ($9 with tip!) because while my skin is doing alright, I've been covering it with either sunscreen or bugscreen or both and I thought it could use a good scrub.  The spa is not on the main tourist drag (yay) but is instead in the middle of some rice paddies.  Apparently, there are little paved pathways through a lot of the paddies around here, you just have to know where they and where they go.  The spa was nice; the treatment room had 3 walls and a ceiling, but was open to the air so it was very fresh and pretty.  I'll probably return for a massage later this week.

Walking back, I decided to explore more of the rice paddies, and decided to follow the pathway until it either hit a dead end or dumped me somewhere.  It wound up dumping me into someone's living room.  Well, not quite... it took me to a swimming pool, which I thought belonged to a hotel, so I walked past the pool and through an archway and into what I assumed was the hotel's reception area.  Nope, it was some guy's living room and he was napping on the couch.  It's one of those rooms that's partially open to the world, so I snuck out into the yard without waking him, then I snuck around the side of the house and hightailed it back the way I came.  Oooops!

You can just see him, sleeping on the couch.  Sorry, Mister!  /chagrin/

As always, it was hot today so I went for a dip in the pool, leaving my towel and shoes at a nearby table.  This couple, a little older than me, came along and planted their stuff and their bodies at the same table, even though there were other tables.  I was like "WTF?" (inside my own head, that is) and was wondering what if anything I'd say when I went for my shoes.  And I wondered if I even had claim to the whole table just because I put my towel there.  I considered just sitting down and putting my feet on the table.  But then the fellow started talking to me; turns out he's Canandian and American, and he apologized for barging in on my table.  He was so nice and easy to talk to that my initial irritation evaporated.  I wound up talking to the couple -- Ricardo and Karen -- for several minutes, then joined them later at a nearby cafe for desert dessert (dangit, I have to look that up every time).  They've both traveled a lot, especially Ricardo, and I had fun swapping stories with them.  They've been in Indonesia for a while now and tomorrow start a two month stay at a rental house nearby.  They invited me to join them for an evening later this week.  I hope they do, they were very interesting.  And I don't think that's my loneliness talking.

I have an early start tomorrow, so I'm off to bed now.  Which means I'll putz around for an hour, answer email and read the news for two, then read my book for another one, which means I'll go to bed at 12:30.

And I almost forgot!  A lot of people have told me they like reading about what I eat.  So, here's today's lunch at a japanese restaurant (yeah, I know, wrong country, but japanese food is one of my favorites and I've been without for 2 months now).  It's radish in soy and sesame sauce, eggplant in ginger, and tofu in miso.  The radish was my favorite, which I didn't expect.  My drinks are sweet tea, and a balinese rice wine, which tasted a little like saki, only sweet and a tad lemony.  It was really good, especially on a hot day.