Life in a year full of Saturdays

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Bali (Ubud) - Indonesia - Scar

Bali (Ubud) - Indonesia

07 March – 09 March 2020

Ubud is the perfect foil to the nightlife carnage of Kuta. It’s your serene tonic to the tourist shaken core of the ‘downtown’ area of Bali’s popular visitor hub. Imbued with finest of Balinese qualities, its tropical rainforest & terraced rice paddy fields are dotted with Hindu temples and shrines, setting this location as perhaps the most idyllic, authentic and iconic of locations in Bali. There’s a feel about Ubud, a calmness and an ambience whose atmospheric presence has tones of mystery and tranquillity. It’s uplifting, and that surge of elation has its unique sense of being just in this particular spot. Bali has other places of course, wilder, more chaotic, more hedonistic, but none as enchanting.

I need to write this entry a little backwards as one of our highlights of the location was the fabulous stay at Villa Naga Putih. Without question, the most phenomenal of property I’ve had the pleasure of staying at. With it tropical jungle setting, a few kms away from the centre of Ubud, its sprawling 2700m2 of space, fashioned across three levels, was almost too much room for the six of us. In fact, it was too much room, so much so that we had to consciously set ourselves the task of visiting other rooms on the property just to fully appreciation and experience the whole. It was epic, there’s no other way of describing it. It’s places like these that quite often prompt you to allow yourself, momentarily, to indulge in atypical notions of partaking in creatively driven lifestyles that could somehow manage to sustain your existence in a place such as this. Like somehow the setting itself could conjure up an untapped quality that could perpetuate your dream state lifestyle. Of course you know it’s absurd, but, you also know that there are people out there that have managed to do it. It’s nice to dream…and you only need to live in just one of the many dreams you have to consider yourself as a success as an ‘alternative’.

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Our exit out of Seminyak earlier that day took brought us to Tegenungan Waterfall as the first order of business. A nice enough location just outside of the town of Tegenungan Kemenuh village in Gianyar, some 10kms south of Ubud. It was a suggestion provided by Komang, and a reasonable one at that, but in all honesty, its more than difficult for both Inga and I to fully appreciate the beauty of a waterfall these days. Without question our frame of reference, against which we compare any waterfall we see, is the mighty Iguazu Falls on the Argentine/Brazilian border. Everything simply pales by comparison. A pleasant enough stop of course but not nearly postcard worthy. Almost not photo worthy, but not doing some would seem unnecessarily supercilious and slightly conceited on our part.

Tegenungan Waterfall - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

We had lunch at the Dirty Duck Diner in Ubud. Not nearly as seedy and unsanitary as it sounds, in fact, quite the introduction or re-introduction to Ubud. Sitting in open air dining pavilions amongst luscious greenery that typifies the surrounds here, ordering anything but the speciality, the Balinese crispy fried duck, would be an absolute travesty. And whilst the food was fairly good, for me the highlight was simply the restaurant surrounds. Beautiful, captivating, divine. This was what I wanted from Ubud. Calmness in a tranquil sea of green.

Dirty Duck Diner - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Later that afternoon we headed of to one of the now many places that offer ‘sky high’ swings that allow you to soar high above the exquisite natural jungle & terraced rice fields settings. Set on platforms positions on terraced hillsides you get the opportunity to sail out into the open air, allowing you to take in majestic views and set yourself up for some more than instagrammable photos. The swings themselves have a harness which you’re required to strap yourself into but that doesn’t really diminish from the thrill of flying out over the valley on a wooden plank tied to rope! It’s pretty damn cool!

Tegalalang rice terrace swing - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

The next day, our penultimate day on this short excursion, involved a massage for the girls, a bit of a walk around Ubud centre and then a wonderful late afternoon, early evening dinner at the Bridges Bali restaurant. My brother-in-law managed to chose this place from a myriad of online recommendations, and I have to say, he hit the nail on the head. For atmosphere, scenery and service, this place was impeccable. It’s one of those places that I’d be happy to stay at for hours, getting intoxicated from the tropical perfumes, ambience and my choice of concoctions from the bar. Simply exquisite and far too short of an experience for my liking. Alas, when you have a place like Villa Naga Putih to return to for the evening then complaining is simply not allowed.

Bridges Restaurant - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Villa Naga Putih - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

Bridges Restaurant - Ubud - Bali - Indonesia

That my friends was it however.

The next day Inga and I left mid-morning and jumped a flight back to Melbourne. Several weeks later COVID-19 had forced itself into our psyche, had changed our way of live and blunted nearly everything else that we took for granted. For the majority of us 2020 is going to have a gigantic asterisk next to its name. We were forced to adapt and morph into introverted hobbits – peering out of our apartment windows, watching the days take place in front of our eyes without ever truly being part of it. Life will get back to normal, or, some form of normal relatively soon, but the scar that COVID-19 will leave is something that will be visible for a few years to come.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Bali (Seminyak) - Indonesia - Before the deluge

Bali (Seminyak) - Indonesia

04 March – 07 March 2020

If somehow the memories I have of our Bali trip managed to travel forward at the speed of light until now, then by comparison, I think I may have aged dramatically, if not physically, then without question, psychologically. In the same manner that Einstein’s theory of special relativity predicts that the person ‘left behind on earth’ would age significantly when compared with the person flying into the future, aka (space), on their anti-age defying machine of light speed.

Truthfully, the nine months from March until now have felt like five years in the age of our COVID-19 ravaged reality.

These days, as I peer out of our apartment window, looking down onto Flinders St, I find it completely empty, bar for the occasional Uber eats cyclist or an emergency service vehicle on its way to another crisis. This is the end-of-days scenario that we use to admonish ‘Doomsday Preppers’ for anticipating. In its early days collectively we all thought that just like any other melodrama that has emerged via our pixelated idiot boxes, that the Novel Coronavirus would somehow disappear in the manner of SARS, MERS or Ebola. I think part of the contempt initially was that somehow we were immune to any sizeable global catastrophe. Bad things, global troubles, were only ‘real’ and identifiable in the guise of the tangible, things such as armed conflict, terrorism, natural disasters. As the now emeritus Donald J Trump said in this oft repeated snippet, ‘You know in theory when it gets a little warmer it miraculously goes away’. Going on further, and to reiterate my initial point on how long the decade of 2020 feels, he goes on to say, ‘We only have 11 cases and they’re all getting better’…. that was on February 10^th, 2020….

…Roll forward to 10 December 2020, exactly 10 months later and the US Coronavirus statistics read like this;

15.2 million cases
286,000 deaths
200,000 + cases per day

Aside from the sheer stupidity and ignominy of a leader making such bombastic comments, the numbers offer more to the reality than our collectively conflated denial back in the day was willing to grasp.

On our way to Bali - Melbourne - Australia

Now even Aiden can say, 'I've been to Bali too' - Melbourne - Australia

Our last family trip before the COVID tsunami hit us

Before the deluge, the onset of the pandemic that halted economies, travel, social life and much of everything that has modern day humans we had taken for granted, we'd planned a getaway to the island paradise located to our north-west. A getaway not just for this Australian trio, but also, for Inga's family who would be meeting us in Bali before returning with us to Melbourne in order to have their first experience of the Great Southern Land.

Inga and I were making our first visit to Bali after a four-year hiatus. In that time we had circled the globe a few times, gotten engaged, then married, relocated to Australia and had our first and only child to date, Aiden. When you summarise it all in just a few lines like that it makes you realise that a hell of a lot occurred in that time-frame.

Villa Gupta - Semiyak - Bali - Indonesia

Kudeta - restaurant and beachclub - Villa Gupta - Semiyak - Bali - Indonesia

Semiyak - Bali - Indonesia

Generally the Australian perception of Bali is that it’s that locations where bogans go to have their international holiday. Giving them the ability to say that they’ve been overseas. Famously epitomized in the Redgum song I’ve been to Bali too, the lyrics, ‘Bali T-shirts, magic mushrooms, Redgum bootlegs, I’ve been to Bali too’ inevitably the images that many of us conjure when we think of those other Australians making their way to the island. And sure, there is some of that style to be expected of Australians in Bali, especially in Kuta, but Bali can, and does offer so much more. I can say from personal experience that I(we) have only scratched the surface of both the beauty of the people, their land, and all that it has to offer. So in that sense I’m not ashamed to say that not only have I been to Bali too, but, I plan on returning a number of times in the future.

Rock Bar - AYANA Resort - Jimbaran - Bali - Indonesia

Balinese Temple - Tanah Lot - Bali - Indonesia

Flying into Denpasar on a typically balmy Bali evening, we were met by Komang, our driver and guide from four years earlier. A friendly, genuine and somewhat understated individual, he typified to me a lot of what the people here seem have within the fabric of their DNA. Not anything brash, or overt, but a sincerity and openness that is not manufactured for a purpose. Once again, we had asked him to be our guide for the next few days once again, this time playing host a slightly extended family audience.

Balinese Temple - Tanah Lot - Bali - Indonesia

Bali - Indoia

On this occasion we had rented out Villa Gupta for our time in Central Seminyak. A tranquil, gorgeous, three -bedroom abode where we would spend our time between our comings and goings. A truly great place, perfect a bigger group like our and in all honesty, much better value than having to book three different rooms in a hotel or a resort.

Nusa Dua Beach - Bali - Indonesia

OMNIA Dayclub - Kabupaten Badung - Bali - Indonesia

For the next couple of days we spent most of our time either in Seminyak or on the most southern coastline of Bali. In this regard, there wasn’t an overwhelming urge to undertake mass sightseeing but we did all get an idea of the key elements that make this island such an overwhelming favourite for so many people.

OMNIA Dayclub - Kabupaten Badung - Bali - Indonesia

Hard Rock Cafe - Kuta - Bali - Indonesia

Being from Australia, this part of the world is relatively familiar to me, in the sense that it’s proximity gives you a sense of awareness for it. Coming from Latvia on the other hand must feel like your stepping into a totally different universe. A paradise that inspires a tropical state of mind. Coming from a land where the average annual air temperature is just +5.9 degrees, Bali must truly be a tropical splendour.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) - Hitting it off

Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

13 September - 15 September 2019

As one of those travelling families that have utilised Abu Dhabi merely a point of transit of the years, getting to be familiar with the International Airport, for us, was akin to establishing familiarity with the city itself. Which is to say, we really haven’t discovered a lot about the poorer/richer cousin of the brash & dazzling Dubai. Somehow on this occasion the feeling we took away was a place that was more engaging and more interesting. I couldn’t tell you the reason for that, we didn’t take in tours of discovery or undertake any culturally insightful events, we had a simple stay at the Bab Al Qasr hotel, a decent view, some sheesha, cocktails and relaxed vibe. Maybe that’s all that was needed. A little time reflecting on another great holiday, and figuring out where the next might originate.

Ready to roll - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Rock Star moves - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

The next day we were at the airport, ready to make our way back to Melbourne. Typically going the rigmarole of checking-in is laborious and boring at the best of times. With a 6-month old it becomes a challenging event, which makes it all the more frustrating when Eithad lets you know that the confirmed seats you have for the flight does not actually guarantee that you’ll get onto the flight. Typical, it seems for Etihad, as this has happened to both my parents and myself in Abu Dhabi previously, Etihad overbooks its flights, by what seems to be a far larger percentage that is common to industry practices. These means therefore that even if you turn up to the airport on-time, your chances of getting offloaded with a fully paid ticket are relatively high. An absolute nuisance and frustration, and a lesson to be learned in terms of drilling in the process of compulsory online check-in. For us, the day delay wasn’t a major drama other than the fact that I was commencing a new job the very next day, and so, re-arranging flights out meant that our new schedule had us in Melbourne at about 6:30am on Monday morning. For any of us that may have arrived home on a long-haul flight and committed ourselves to the torment of heading into work the same day, you know the pain, your working day is nothing short of torture. Still, Etihad gave us $600USD credit each and complimentary accommodation and meals, so not an entire disappointment.

Bab Al Qasr hotel - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

The Royal Palace from the Bab Al Qasr hotel - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

Bab Al Qasr hotel - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

Having talked up the Formula Rossa ride at Ferrari World for the past four weeks, the additional day gave us the opportunity to introduce Inga to the fastest ride on the planet.

There are simply no words and nothing that can prepare for the adrenalin rush the first time you accelerate out of the terminal. Touchpoints you thought that you may have had to any other roller coaster disappear when your body is thrust into the back of your seat and you gasp for air. Reaching 240kph just before you climb vertically into the Arabian sky feels almost surreal as you reach the apex of your first drop and the rest of the park is spread out before you.

For those that want to know the stats, 1.7 G-force at launch, 4.8 G throughout the ride and 0 to 240kph in 4.9 seconds – they’re some serious numbers.

Inga in the second row, red top - Formula Rosso ride - Ferrari World - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

Ferrari World - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

I was happy that Inga got to share the experience because I had been talking up the ride for a while and I know that she didn’t quite believe that it would live up to the expectation – in her words, as she walked towards me after the right ended, ‘Oh wow…wow…I couldn’t breath …I didn’t expect that’

…Exactly

After our afternoon at Ferrari World we headed back to the airport hotel, had some dinner and crashed out for the night.

The good 'ole Krompir Salata - Airport Hotel - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

Out over the Indian Ocean

The next day, thankfully, we boarded our flight without any drama and I made it into work for 9:00am start o Day1 at Australian Unity.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Dubai (United Arab Emirates) - you still owe us

Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

11 September - 13 September 2019

This story commenced with what was to have been a wonderful NYE in Dubai as we ticked over from 2017 to 2018. The NYE that died painfully, as captured in that post, was meant to have met its inevitable crescendo with a typically extravagant Emirati fireworks display that would be set to ignite the cockles of our deepest hopes and dreams, inspiring in us a year of endeavour and achievement. That's what all the good marketing had us believe.

At the stroke of midnight however all that anticipation and excitement floundered like the flaccid phallus of a 70 year old man that left his blue pills in the overhead baggage compartment of his last flight.

What we had been advised in the immediate aftermath of the greatest of letdowns was that for this year...just this year...Dubai had elected to for a light show, rather than its globally renowned fireworks display. What's more, that light show could not be seen from the Shangri-La Hotel, located on the opposite side of the Burj Khalifa, the focal point of NYE celebrations in Dubai.

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

I was livid of course. The Shangri-La had known of this for weeks. Long before I had purchased tickets for the event, and additionally, had sold the event as one of the best vantage points to witness the famous NYE fireworks and festivities of Dubai.

On returning to Belgrade I made the Shangri-La well aware of my grievances and we both settled on two free nights accommodation at the Shangri-La, at a time of my choosing, and, a dinner for two, inclusive of a bottle of wine at their iKandy outdoor restaurant/poolside bar. More than 18 months after the event we had decided to cash in our chips.

Dubai isn't a city for everyone. On my first trip to the burgeoning centre of wild ideas, grand inspiration and engineering marvel, I left feeling more bemused than anything. Admittedly that first time was in 2006, and now, 13 years later, the growth steroids consumed by the emirate has transformed it into a monolithic characterisation of what capitalism does when it runs rampant on the back of petrodollars, human exploitation...and...wild ideas. There's a lot about how the system operates that probably should have me questioning my ethics but if I did that to absolutely everything in my life then where would I be?

View from iKandy @ the Shangri-La - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Where else would Inga be at 9:00am?

This is Inga letting me know exactly where she is

So really, Dubai is like a wondrous Disneyland without sinful overtones that would have align to a town such as Las Vegas. It's grand, in many ways brash, it drips with money and privilege, sucking you into its realm of both the possible and impossible. For those that love a hot dry climate, then this place has it in spade. For those that love sheesha, great cuisine, cocktails bars, shopping, exploring and about any other touristic venture you can think of, then my, this is a place for you also.

When evening descends in Dubai the night scape scene morphs into something resembling the dystopian city of LA out of Blade Runner. Not that Dubai is at all sinister or a place where you wouldn't want to spend time but there's something imposing and imperial about the long line of buildings presiding along Al Maktoum Road that both excites and imparts an atmosphere of mystery. It's enigmatic, puzzling at times but full of possibility, and to me, that a great quality for a city to have. Why wouldn't you want to go out and discover what a place such as this has to offer? A city doesn't have to be aesthetically pleasing to be engaging. I personally would rate Dubai as an attractive city, but, it has so much to keep you occupied, and sometimes that's all you need.

Shangri-La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Shangri-La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Shangri-La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

With all that said, having a 6 month old on your books means that you're restricted into what, where, when and how you can enjoy a place like this. On this occasion we mostly spent our time in the Shangri-La with only the odd excursion outside of the front doors. This was to be expected. Still, it doesn't diminish how I feel about Dubai now, nor will it dissuade me from making my way to this part of the world again soon. In my books, its a cool place to be for a time.