Big Roar of the Lion...

That is if you make the mistake of touching any venom containing tentacles of the Lion fish. I took this image from a book. The one we saw was about 20 feet away and it's tentacles were black. The creature immediately caught my eye. I wasn't sure if it were a large shrimp or a lobster. Later I found its true identity.

So Much Beauty Everywhere

It is no wonder that the Balinese have such a lovely, peaceful demeanor when beauty surrounds. Even my breakfast, Bubur Ayam--a hot rice porridge with hints of chicken in broth, a boiled egg and topped with fresh Sambal Bali, a mixture of freshly chopped lemongrass, shallots, red chili and ginger with a touch of oil looks sumptuous and bursts with flavor on the tastebuds.

Under the Sea...

Yesterday, after talking with some of the friendly folks at the Bali Diving Academy, I am learning more about some of the showy creatures I saw on our snorkeling trips. I was nearly enticed to take part in a scuba refresher course and go diving. But nae, snorkeling is just as good with less worries. I was loaned an Asian Pacific Reef Guide book to help with identifications. Little did I know that the odd and unusual fish with about eight protruding finger-like spines at the third snorkel site, called Post One was a lion fish and extremely poisonous. If we had misbehaved and broken the rule of "No Touching Anything," we could have possibly suffered some grave consequences. Shooo-sha!

The stars I mentioned seeing, fall in a category known as Snake Sea Stars and are named merely, Blue Sea Stars. I also saw beautiful giant clams embedded in coral with their iridescent blue, green and purple sides facing up. Surprisingly they are called Boring Giant Clam--but certainly not to me. When I looked closely, I could actually see small breath-like movement. At that moment, I had the realization that everything I witnessed was alive. There were also various colors of parrot fish--some dark blue with red lips, angel fish and a fish that to me looked similar to an angel fish with a long, white, thin thread of a dorsal fin that angled upward. It had bright white, yellow and black stripes with a somewhat protruding nose. That one was a Butterfly fish. Some of the coral were in reality sponges of various types, shapes and colors. Other fish were Round Bat Fish, Sailfin Snappers, a few small Barracuda plus too many more to name. The sea is really brimming at these sites around the island and thankfully protected, as it is part of the nearby National Park.

Today is a Good Day to Die!

Ok, my choice is that it not be that day, but if it were so, I would feel content that I have lived a good life. It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood! It's gorgeous here in Bali, even when it's pouring down rain. I took this image yesterday afternoon. It often rains heavily later in the day. Today we experienced another awesome snorkeling trip out to Menjangan Island. Snorkeling off the island is literally like swimming in a humongous tropical fish aquarium. Again, such a variety of brilliantly colored fish and various types of coral on the reef. Many of the fish are swimming along in schools. There are also unusual to my experience, periwinkle blue sea stars that cling to the surface of coral in great numbers. Schools of small silver fish with hundreds in the group flutter about like snowflakes in the air on a cold winter's day. Snorkeling is oh--so much fun here! I just love it! Why creatures ever left the sea is beyond my wildest dreams. It is so much better below the surface than on dry land. At the very end of our dive we saw a huge transparent jelly fish about the size of a large mixing bowl undulating along with determination. Of course, since we don't have an underwater camera, we only have our memories to share.

Falling Out at Naughty Nuri's

The last thing I remember is the weight of my head. As it quickly felt too heavy to bear, I said to Paul, "the sooner we get out of here the better." Not words he wanted to hear, I'm sure, as a rack of ribs, hot from the flames of the open pit grill had just been set before him.

The last thing I saw was a spoofed advert, adapted to fit the existing collection at Nuri's--a renowned expat joint north of Ubud. This one read "Eat, Pay, Leave." Clever copywriting, for sure, as are all the others. This layout of course, an exact replica of the original bookcover for Eat, Pray, Love--about a woman's year-long travels to Italy, India and Bali.

Reawakening, I sat up to a short, round, dark-skinned and doe-eyed waitress who non-chalantly handed me a bottle of cold water. She then placed a bag of ice on the nape of my neck. Ahhh...as I recall, that felt really good. Dumbfounded, I said, or maybe I just thought, What happened? Several people stood over me, as they do a person who has just fainted. One very kind local man, a chef and restaurant owner named Greg who lived in Seminyak offered to drive us back to our guesthouse. Since it was raining and we were on a rented scooter we gladly accepted it.

For Paul, the experience was somewhat harrowing. Especially since earlier in the day he had given me little sympathy and occupied himself with what for me seemed like hours of endless photo editing and retouching for his future show-and-tell Picassa bonanza/extravaganza. All this while I laid on the bed motionless, feeling dizzy, weak and disoriented. In these moments I hated Bali--even the sound of crickets and frogs were unbearable and sounded more like a loud rock band echoing off the stone walls than what one usually loves about being in the jungle of Bali.

So having me nearly fall into his plate of ribs in a daze, my eyes open and expressing no signs of life--unlike the verbally exaggerated and opinionated Bonnie that he knows--freaked him out and made him go into fight or flight mode. He told me later that he had laid me down on the bench and rushed to the counter and requested an ambulance be called. Poor Paul. I hate that it had to come to this, but I am glad that the reality of my illness was now really apparent.

The heat and humidity of Bali is more than I had remembered during my Esalen massage training just three years ago. It is really hard to take when you are not used to it and your immune system is weakened from traveling. Now, almost a week after this episode, and only after seeing Dr Soma, a skilled acupuncturist in Pemuteran, my energy is resurfacing and I am feeling more like myself again.

Arrived Singapore 22:00

So clean, so civilized. Even airport bathrooms have wipes with spray sanitizers for the seats. Oh My!

Ok, I change my mind about moving to rural India. I must have been under the spell.

This may come as no surprise, but Paul already has all our meals planned--first stop 24-hour hawker stands, just one taxi ride away.

More to come!

All is well, just having a quiet relaxing day...

No pictures or words now. Just having a quiet reflective day, reading and relaxing after morning in the wonder room and lunch at Roma's kitchen.

Paul did go to the culmination of a three-day Shakti ceremony in the nearby village of Alankuppam last night. After hearing chanting being broadcast over loud speakers drifting into our airspace early in the morning and beginning around midnight, as well as other unidentifiable sounds of merrymaking he decided to investigate. At one moment as the crowd thickened he found himself in a shower of one rupi coins that were being thrown. As he held his camera high to capture the chaos the lcd viewfinder was struck by a flying coin and destroyed. I will withhold my comments here.

Hey, isn't Ganesha supposed to be the destroyer of obstacles? Funny, as I just realized I am constantly telling him that all the photography is taking away from his ability to be in the moment and have an authentic experience.