The Bali itch

It's that time of year again, everyone is thinking about that one or two weeks off; where to go, how much your going to drink, sleeping late and 'meeting new people' cough cough. Having Bali less than two hours away from this very office is a daydream inducing thought indeed. Many of the people I know in Indonesia are actually based in Bali and getting messages from them informing me of the latest party nights, great swells and hot hot weather is more distracting than a one legged giant playing the bagpipes!

You must be thinking about now 'but he's not moaning his whiny ass off about something'. Ha well here it is, I get that getting a tan is not high on the wish list of most Indonesian people, but really, when you go to the beach is there any need to be dressed in jeans, shoes, shirt and jacket? I can fully appreciate the religious aspect with regards to women's attire, but that is another rant all together.

I don't know if this is the case here, but in Europe people generally use the summer holidays as a great excuse to go shopping, this serves two purposes, 1- the obvious, and 2 - when your on hol don't you want to totally forget everything that you have in your normal life, and that includes putting on the same clothes. Nothing beats the feeling of new clothes, and when better to enjoy that than when you are at your most relaxed, recharging from the hard year? maybe some shorts, possibly a tee-shirt go bule gila and grab some flips, go crazy people and have some fun doing it!

Having spent the summer in Bali last year I was always surprised to see thousands of people flooding kuta beach for the sunset. OK, not that surprised it's a beautiful place to watch the sun go down, what did throw me slightly was being surrounded by a throng of 10 - 20 young people all chattering away in indo and in broken English asking for "a photo with mister". I don't get it. No really I don't get the whole thing, if anyone could enlighten me please post a comment.