BALI, Indonesia

Hey there, from the 18th through the 24th Dan and I were in Bali. It is an island located in southern indonesia known for its night life and tropical get away. Most of the visitors are Australians. It was a 2 and a half hour flight from Singapore. We arrived in Kuta on Saturday night the 18th and headed to a resort for the first two nights. Kuta is the heart of the night life in Bali and is located on the southern tip and is also known internationally as one of the best places to go surfing. Upon unloading our stuff we headed to a local bar called Uncle Norms, more relaxed type of bar then most in Kuta. Sunday we rented some surf boards on the beach and hit the waves. We were using the bigger boards, not the short boards, so within a short amount of time, both Dan and I were getting up no problem, it was alot of fun. The pic to the left is of me holding the money I converted to rupiah, the bills are 100,000, and I just so happened to have a little over 2.9 million in my hands, no big deal or anything.

Monday we decided to rent some mopeds to get around the island for

the next four days. Because of safety and liability issues most people opt to rent a driver and a car for the day, however we were looking for some adventure and freedom and a cheaper method of transportation. I never thought that I would actually be driving in the crazy no rules indonesian traffic. However after driving for four days, I have a new respect for their rules or lack of them when it comes to driving. Basically larger vehicles have the right away, and little vehicles like mopeds can weave in and out of traffic but use theirs horns with the larger cars help to do so safely. The horn is method of communication rather then a way to away to show your anger. The reason why I think they are doing it right, is because everybody has to be an active driver, no traffic lights, no stop signs, no rules. You communicate with the cars around you and everybody is alert, and so you are always ready for something to happen. With that being said it is quite a tiring process. To the right you can see my moped.

Monday night we stayed in Ubud, its a pretty large city. We only had reservations made for our first two nights in Kuta, so we didnt know what it was going to be like getting a room. However as soon as we arrived in Ubud, hotel managers were riding around trying to get us to come to their hotel, so we could barter as we rode along. It was very efficient, and after going with one and checking out the room, we batered even farther getting the room for 120,000 when he wanted 300,000 for it, they were really hard up for cash, and we found the walk away to be very effective. By the way 9,500 is about 1 dollar US. In the morning we got our free breakfast delivered to our room. Their were monkeys all around us on the roof of the hotel and running along the telephone wires, it was pretty crazy. Dan didnt want his papaya and so in a matter of seconds of him standing up, a monkey dropped from our roof and started eating, it was pretty funny (pic to the left). After breakfast, we checked out a temple in Ubud, and as if we hadnt seen enough monkeys, we went into a monkey forest to see hundreds more.

We then headed out for Mt. Batur with the plan of stopping along the way to see the rice paddies which can be seen to the right. They were pretty magnificent. Now, one of the down sides of riding a moped is that cops can pull you over for no reason and ask for millions of dollars if you dont have a international license or an indonesian license. (They are quite corrupt although they have been doing a good job taking out terrorist groups in Bali) Anyways, we read up about how to handle this situation before we left in case we encountered it. Dan read somewhere that you can try to convince the Police that your license from the US is international. So low and be hold, as we were climbing the mountain on our mopeds, we come around a corner, and there was 5 officers motioning us to pull over. After stopping we showed them our insurance, which thank goodness was in order, and then they told us that we didnt have the right license, and so we started our attempt to convince them otherwise. It was pretty humerous, although at the time, we were trying to keep a straight face, but the fact is they really didnt have a clue if it was or not, they just wanted money, but after 15 minutes they gave up and said we could continue on. We were pretty thrilled, although we had only about 100,000 in our wallets and the rest in our bags, so they wouldnt have gotten much.. We arrived at Mt Batur and instantly a guy names Tobali befriended us and showed us around, basically took us to his friends restaurants and hotels, but it was all good, he was really helpful and it was all cheap. He spent the whole day with us, taking us to the most sacred

indonesian temple on Mt Anung.

Wednesday morning we woke up at 330 am and were driven to the base of Mt. Batur, a 5 minute drive. Mt Batur is an active volcano and famous for its sunrise views from the top. We had to pay for a guide earlier the day before, since it is all monitored by the government. (another way to get money from tourist) Our group was compromised of a french couple, a german couple, two french girls from london, and another french guy (alot of French!). It was a really good group though, and we all became friends pretty fast, picture of group is in the photos link at the bottom. It was a very strenuous hike and we pretty much sweated all the way through all of our clothes (just t shirt and shorts at that time). It took about 2 hours to get to the summit, and we all got there around 6am, however we couldnt see more then a few feet because it was literally in the clouds. It was also really cold, but that was ok since we brought dry clothes and a sweatshirt, so all was good. Our two guides cooked eggs on the steaming rocks which was pretty neat and really tasty. We then started down a different, longer way with the hope of seeing a good view, since at this point we still hadnt seen the inside of the volcano. About 800 ft down from the summit, it cleared for a little bit so that we could get a pretty good view, everybody was pretty excited. The crater was HUGE, and actually a Sweden kid fell down and died last spring, (first death on the mountain) and so they told us about that, and showed us where it happened. About 6 hours from when we left we arrived back at the base, said good bye to our trek mates and then headed back to the hotel to pack up so we could continue are trip up to the Northern part of the island at Lovina Beach.

We spent a night at Lovina beach, watched a Bali Dance Show and did some swimming, and then thursday morning we started our trip back south to Kuta. Along the way we stopped at the Gigit waterfall, which was refreshing and then tanah lot temple on the south western side which had some pretty good views. We arrived in Kuta around 4pm thankful to be safe and without any incident with our bikes. The renters were also really relieved I think, since we had worked up a deal for a little bit more dough, that we wouldnt be responsible for anything, even the theft of the bike, they just wanted cash so bad they signed our agreement and probably prayed that nothing would happen. Thursday night we once again spent at Uncle Norms, they always have live music after 8pm which was really nice. Friday we went to the beach to get thrown around by the waves some more and decided to try our luck with the short boards which didnt go so well, but was fun none the less. We then hired a driver to take us to a temple on the southeast side and then the airport after that. The pic below is of me at the temple. Whenever you go to a temple you need to rent one of the little dresses as you can see, so we always looked pretty goofy.

Overall it was a really fun trip. One thing I wasn't expecting though, was the begging for our business, they dont understand the word NO, and by the end you just learn that you just ignore them or give them a wave of your hand. Although some, girls who wanted to give us massages, would follow us all the way down the street, rubbing our arms, as if we were going to change our minds, it was kind of annoying, but I guess part of the culture. I think Todd, the husband of the french couple that we climbed with summed Bali up pretty well, "Theirs three religions here, hindu, buddhism, and muslim, but they all have the same god... the RUPIAH." But with that all being said, everybody we encountered were very friendly, and one guy even took the time to draw us a map of Ubud, because we kind of got lost. More pics can be found here. I have got a pretty busy week coming up here with some midterms, so I probably wont post for another two weeks. But until then, have a good one, Brett

A Little Update

Hey there, Just thought I would write a quick update since it has been a while. This last Saturday we finally got our student pass which is shown to the right. It was quite an ordeal, they are quite particular about how things are done. We had brought a picture of ourselves since we were told to, but it was not adequate even though we had followed all the passport photo rules so we had to go get another one (looks a little more scary then my other one), in the midst of all the chaos at the immigration building. But after about 2 hours we were official with this card which is now scanned every time we cross through customs, making the process very fast. I'll finally be able to feel like a local at customs, wont have to wait in the long lines. After getting our passes we got some lunch and set out on an adventure to get Dan a backpacking backpack. We ended up at a place where there was a bunch of shops selling backpacks via bartering. We spent the rest of the afternoon bartering with the owners before finally making a decision. I brought my backpacking backpack from home but felt the need to get a small hydration pack as well. I had a general idea what the backpacks went for but was not positive, so when we got back to our rooms we looked online at an outdoors website and found out that we had done a pretty good job, Dan saved 30 US on his backpack, and I 10 US. It was a pretty good feeling. Not much other news though. Next week we will be leaving for Bali Indonesia which is about a 2 and half hour flight form Singapore. We will be there during our semester break and will be leaving on the 18th and returning on the 24th. We plan to do some surfing and then travel around the island, with the hope of climbing one of the volcanoes called Mt Batur.

Ill post again when we get back from the trip, hopefully with a bunch of pictures,

Until then, have a good one,

Brett

Closing Ceremony for Youth Olympic Games in Singapore

Hey there, Yesterday night (Thursday) we hit up the youth olympic games closing ceremony in downtown Singapore. We got tickets about 2 weeks ago for 15 dollars each. Upon arrival we got an official olympics canvas party bag which included a lit up hat (pictured at bottom), flags, food, noise makers and other little light toys. It brought back memories of birthday parties and the included party favors. Anyways it was a really neat ceremony and very motivational, although it was pretty warm and humid. There were shows and fireworks put on by Singapore and then the normal olympics closing ordeal and then China the next summer YOG host put on a little show. Some more additional info: The actual stage is a like a barge which floats in the bay. It is able to be moved around on the water and is called the float @ marina bay. The winter YOG will be held in austria 2012 and summer will be held in China 2014. For those of you who dont know this was the first youth olympic games ever, the people in Singapore are pretty proud of it. If you want to see more pics of this outing click here.

We dont really know yet what we are going to be doing this weekend, but whatever it is, it will be pretty chill. Ill plan on posting again in a week er so.

Until then have a good one,

Brett

Bintan, Indonesia

Dan and I went to Bintan Indonesia over the weekend starting on Friday the 20th. We wire transferred money to a man who owned the resort about a week before we left and then shortly after we started receiving emails about our reservation. They sounded very happy to meet us and said that there would be a man at the ferry terminal to give us a ride back to the resort. We left friday afternoon around 130 and started our journey to Indonesia, we had to ride a bus for about a half hour, then the train for about a half hour and then a bus again for about a half hour before we reached the ferry terminal on the eastern side of singapore. Upon waiting to board two ladies came up to us and asked if we were going to Yasin Bungalow Resort, which we were. They were very friendly and happy to meet us and happened to be the weekend manager and one of the workers. They told us there was another 7 visitors on the boat as well and that we should just look for them after we got through customs. We then departed Singapore at 630 bound for Bintan. Two hours later we arrived at the TG Pinang port in Bintan, made it through customs and hopped in to a van with 7 other guys from NUS who were german exchange students, as well as the resort driver, and the two ladies. It was about a 45 minute crazy drive to the resort. The city is packed with motor bikes and everybody weaves in and out of traffic at very high speeds, it was a little bit nerve racking. Upon arriving at the resort we found out that there was about another 20 exchange students there from SMU, another college in Singapore. We then spent the rest of the night and into the wee morning hours hanging out with our peers at the resort bar and diner along the beach. There were students from Germany, Canada, Malaysia, Spain, and France.

We woke up saturday morning to go snorkeling with a our new snorkels that we bought the day before at a Scuba Shop in Singapore. We went out pretty far to where there were rocks in the water, we didn't see anything huge, however did see a bunch of really cool fish and different critters. I dont know what most of the fish were called, but did see the yellow and white striped coral fish. They all seemed so calm and didnt seem to mind us which was neat.

The downside of this adventure was that I underestimated the morning sun and got a pretty burnt back and neck, although after lunch we spent the rest of the day hanging out on different beaches along the coast with sunscreen on. To get to different beaches we were transported for free by the resort in the vehicle to the left. We then hung out with the other exchange students (The night manager is a DJ and had music blasting all night) and then hit the hay. We had lunch sunday and then the resort took us to the port for departure at 130. The ride back was real interesting, since the night we arrived we hadn't seen all the shacks along the road outside of the city. It is definitely a poverty stricken country, although they all had big grins and waved to our driver. The city was packed just as friday night and was interesting watching the driver maneuver around everybody. Our boat left around 140 and we were back at our residence in Singapore by 630. The trip was a good get away, although we were happy to get back through customs in Singapore and then finally back to our rooms. Overall we spent 125 US on the room, visa, transportation, food, and drinks. It was a pretty cheap get away. More pictures can be found if you click here. The pictures at the end are right before we got to the port, they dont really do justice to the craziness, but through them in anyway.

As far as this upcoming week, we start tutorials, which are break away classes. There is alot of homework that I need to get completed before them. On Thursday Dan and I got tickets for the closing ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games, which should be neat. I will let you know how it goes.

Until then,

Brett

Downtown Singapore Clarke / Boat Quay

Hey there, I had my first week of classes last week. I am taking Statistics Engr based, Mechanic of Fluids, Environmental Engr and Micro Biology, and an art and history class. All of my teachers are really good and are real good at keeping their students attention, so it should be a good semester in the academic department. Last night (Saturday) Dan and I went downtown to see a part that we havnt yet. Its along the Singapore river and goes by the name of Clarke Quay and Boat Quay and is really where all the night life occurs in Singapore. We walked around for a little bit and then got some drinks and sat on the "bridge" which is in the center of Clarke Quay and where alot of our fellow classmates meet up and hang out for the night. While we were sitting there we noticed triangles flying over the river just a little ways up the shoreline. We decided to check it out and and found out it was actually rc planes made out of kites with led's all over them to light them up. They had a store near by that sold them and had info about them, so I picked up a business card so I could look at them back to my room. They are really cool, and if you want to watch a movie of them or see pics click here. Supposedly 3 years ago for Singapore's 42nd national day, they flew 42 of them over the harbor. Anyways I found it all real interesting. If you want to see more pics of our adventure at Clarke Quay click here. I probably wont post again until a week from this monday. We are planning on going to Bintan Indonesia next weekend which is about a 55 min boat ride south of Singapore.

Until then, peace,

Brett

Singapore National Day August 9th

Monday night Dan and I headed downtown to help Singapore celebrate its birthday. 45 years ago on August 9th Singapore became independent. It was a pretty cool celebration with a lot of music. There was even an air show that completely blew my mind, I have never seen jets do such rediculous maneuvers so close to buildings. There was then a firework show which was quite brief but full of colorful fireworks being shot off from 9 different locations around the bay but mostly in the center of the bay. At the conclusion of the show, Dan and I moved to the waters edge to take some pictures as can be seen to the left. If you like to see more pics of the night click here.

We started class today, tuesday which went really well. I really like the professors that I have met so far. With that being said though, I will probably not post again for about a week. Hope everybody is doing good.

Thanks for reading,

Brett

PS: it has been brought to my attention that my Sentosa post may have been a little misleading, the island it self was not man made, although the island has been enlarged, the only man made part to it is the beach.

The Singapore Zoo, Little India, and China Town

On Friday Dan and I went to the famous Singapore Zoo located 3 transfers and a hour and a half bus ride away. The Zoo has no fences, and most of the animals are free to roam around, meaning some will even come up to your feet. Its really cool! The more dangerous animals such as the lions have a little moat between them and the path, although the moat seems awful small... The Zoo also has a night safari which starts when it gets dark, around 7pm. So before the night safari we went to KFC and got a family dinner since we were both famished. We surprisingly finished all of the food. We bought tickets for both the zoo and the safari since we had came so far to see it. However what we didnt understand is that we bought walking tickets only. So when it came to getting into the vehicle we were told that we could only walk, however as we were exiting another staff person came up and directed us to a vehicle. We tried to explain that we didnt have the ticket to do so, but because of the language barrier he was confused and so were we, so we just took the ride. It was a pretty cool ride, the path it took was actually separate from the regular zoo and so we saw animals that you dont see in the zoo such as the laughing hyena. Afterwards we walked the path which was incredibly humid and hot since the night part of the zoo is located in a rainforest. All in all though it was alot of fun, minus the bus rides. More pics of the Zoo animals can be found if you click here.

Sunday we went to Little India and China Town. The smells and craziness of both places was mind boggling. We walked around Little India to experience the India culture as best as possible and then went to Mustafa which is a huge shopping center located in Little India which is basically 5 Sams Clubs on top of each other, starting 3 floors below ground. This place has everything you could ever need, it was amazing and quite confusing. It should be noted that the Indian community is pretty close knit in Singapore and so many come here to shop no matter where they live in Singapore. China Town was a short train ride away from Little India, so we decided to check it out. It wasn't quite as exciting as Little India

but had a lot of food to offer, so we had some meat (kind of like beef jerky) which was really good. I also took a picture of a fruit called a durian, which has a spiky shell and a very distinct smell. It is only found in South East Asia. Some people love the smell, I am one of those people, and some cant stand it, therefore it is prohibited in any public transportation or public area. A professor at ISU recommended that I try it, and since I saw it today I thought I would take a picture of it, but have not yet tried it, but I do plan to. You can find more pictures of our Little India and China Town trip if you click here.

Later,

Brett