Working my way backwards along todays events, earlier this evening I saw some searchlights poking around in the clouds down towards the beach so I went to investigate what I thought might be newsworthy for the Forum. I headed off in the direction of said searchlights and before long I was within a surging mass of people slowly progressing through the Kuta Art Market lane. Long before we got anywhere near Pantai Kuta sign it was obvious that Nyepi wasnt over by a long shot. As we approached the end of the shops the vista broadened to include what looked like the Melbourne Royal Show times ten.Knowing that a lot of the Agoh Agoh had been parked down on the beach , to get down that way I had to go past about 10,000 locals who were all enjoying the spirit of the season with 100's of street vendors supplying the food and drinks, other vendors selling toys and illuminating plastic wand things, carnival rides for the little kids, and since I had walked past this scene earlier this morning, a huge stage, worthy of a rock concert had been erected and was brilliantly lit with enough illumination to see just about every goggle-eyed member of the audience and trust me , they were not taking their eyes off the proceedings.
As i got there it looked like they were having the "battle of the bands". On stage were {according to my version of events} opposing bands with incredibly intricate costumes , one lot in mainly gold hues, the other in mainly reds with a lot of golden embellishments. As they left the stage they paraded past my position and I noticed they were all wearing what looked like real gold ear-rings and gold adornments in their head pieces. As they past the throng of locals they were all given claps and slaps in appreciation of their performance. I had noticed, as the gold team were playing, whenever the cymbalists rose to belt their cymbals together, the crowd went nuts.
After this performance came the Balinese dancers who also proved to be a crowd favourite, not least for their beautiful costumes. Next came the parade of the Beauty pageant entrants, any one of which I would be pleased to take home and introduce to my son, the bachelor, if only he would let me match-make.
Leaving this area behind me, I joined a stream of people heading south towards where I knew the Agoh Agoh had been parked after the procession that took place the previous evening through the streets of Kuta. I took some photos of them lined up in that area, still amazed by the amount of artistic creativity employed in their designs. Not being certain of the plans for their future, (I think they get sent off to the gods in flames) and not being certain of the timing of this
event, I departed back towards Kuta Sqaure for some shopping and to find an unsuspecting victim who would then have to listen to the topic of my choice until I took pity on them and let them escape my assault on their shell-pink ears.
This is a funny bit I just remembered.Earlier this morning I corralled a young bloke in Yullia's Kitchen , where I go about twice a day for my beloved Segafredo coffee. He told me he was from London but was currently living in Melbourne because of a Love interest, but because of visa requirements he had to leave Australia for a couple of days and then re-enter Australia under a different kind f visa. Anyway, not having been to Bali for a number of years, he thought he would come to Bali to serve his 2 days away from the lucky country only to discover upon arrival late on Tuesday afternoon that he would be confined to quarters the next day (Nyepi) and then he would be flying out early afternoon the day after. To make matters worse, he had paid 150,000 Rp for the pleasure of staying in a place with no aircon, pool, food and I expect, for the money, probably didnt have solid walls. At least the poor buggar got to meet me!
As you may have realised, I like to grab people from the street and give them the opportunity to spend some quality time in Bali with me.I believe it is very enriching for them. Well, the tables got turned on Tuesday night when I spotted a couple who seemed to fit my bill, (get it) only for his lovely wife Val to say to me, after we had discussed AFL "You dont recognise him do you?'. Now having already met, earlier, down the street, such luminaries as "Erik Bana", "Robert Redford", as well as half the cast from the recent OSCARS, I cast my mind back to our introductions , to recall his first name of Ian. Upon closer inspection I had to admit to the lovely Val, that I couldnt add to his full name. When she told me his full name, the penny dropped. (The suspense is killing you), Ian Nankervis, the ex Carlton player. Not the ex Geelong Ian Nankervis. (There were two of "em). I looked at him, and probably quite rudely, said, "Christ, how old are you?' To which he replied "72". My response was, "Christ you look better than I do". Which is high praise indeed. I then bent his ear a bit about how I spent 2 hours sitting next to Gary Ablett Snr. back in 2007 in the departure lounge at the Ngurah Rai airport. I think Ablett still has the ringing in his ears from that.
Anyhow, having got off the topic of all things Bali, I might retire to the pool for a dip and see if there's anyone about who's up for a chat.
Oops!. Nearly forgot, hey Nose hair, you might want to change your monicker. I got a good one for ya. I got talking to one of the locals the other day who was on his way home from his job in one of the stores. His name, on his name-badge, was/is Herianus. Think about it and let us know.
Talk soon. Billthefencer