Saturday Night Fever

The building work caused the temporary loss of the ice bashing stick and the limes are already squeezed. Improvise with garlic/chilli bashing stick and hope that double bagging and the T-towel will prevent any flavour cross contamination.

Supping the delightful (only slightly spicey) gin concoction a few moment later we have an earthshattering discovery. Bill and Ben aren't Bill and Ben at all - but Jill and Ken !! We move our chairs a little further away from the wall in case they lose their stick while inflagrante.

OK, OK we've been trying to get out more. We had a run of luck during the last round of the Restaurant game. Adrian landed on Community Chest which allowed us to accompany yet another LEC to Pondok Sari for dinner (P: This is LEC soon to be headed your way) although we did have to shell out a few bok. And I drew that coveted Chance? card - You have won first prize in a PR contest, collect Babi Guleng at Diana's exclusive establishment including rather moreish vodka & lime. If you refer to the "Key" for eateries in the lid of the game you will note that normally to cover the rent if you land on Puri Ganesha you need to have already built 2 hotels on Jalan Pemuteran.

Adrian taught Antonio Banderas and his brother to dive. Not exactly but 2 Spanish born Mexicans living in California. Considering English is their second (third) language they did rather well - maybe because the PADI materials are in American English. In any case he had a bueno time with them.

And I taught a lovely Indian lady to snorkel. Bearing in mind she was several years & kilos beyond her prime and couldn't even swim it was big smilies all round. And resulted in on-going invitation any time we like to their house in Bollywood.

Pak (Captain) Saria is suffering from seriously high BP not helped by a bout of gout. Cherries are very expensive here and red cabbage doesn't exist at all. Doesn't seem right to recommend red wine under the circumstances so putting him on a diet of aubergines. Temporarily captainless, all the boys now line up to drive reef spirit (please please).

Apologies for my continued lack of illustrations but my husband won't let me near his other (our only remaining) camera.

See how they run

Renovations have started on both the main block and the satellite kitchen, yes I said kitchen the knock-on effect of which is (pause for fanfare) Hurrah & huzzah, we get Our own kitchen. No longer will we have to share with the Reef Seen staff and their funny habits.
Phase 1 is gutting the main building. Unfortunately this results in all the wildlife (Tikus) being homeless and looking for a new place to squat. Spencer/McInnes defences on Bikini Black Alert (shame Amanda's is turquoise). Phase 2 is to erect a summer house as a temporary equipment room and Phase 3 is the extension to the bar to create the kitchen. Now, no-one here has a clue what is needed so the Boss and the builder (using some form of telepathy) come up with a cunning plan on the back of a fag packet. As soon as Amanda gets wind of this she goes ballistic and starts ordering people about and making scale models. As she calms down I find her deep in thought no doubt designing our own kitchen and the occasional wry smile tells me she can think of nothing else other than when can we go shopping for a fridge, cooker, Oven !*#@?.
Phase 2 goes off without a hitch but Amanda, only recently healthy after her fever fell down its steps and is now sitting ankle akimbo with an ice bandage. But just try and stop her diving - compression's good for sprains isn't it? she asks.
Phase 3 Construction stops for 10 minutes as a girl in a bikini walks along the beach carrying 2 coconuts at about chest height. I can't quite work out what the workmen are saying but it's probably along the lines of 'look at the coconuts on that'.


Now it's 3 months old Erva's baby's feet can touch the floor. We were invited and duly donned our most respectful dress but were almost beaten when it came to riding the bike. Its step-through design means the rider can mount normally even in a tight skirt which he is not used to. The Pillion on the other hand risks a long prison sentence unless she adopts the Bali method - sidesaddle. Once there I'm disappointed to see the child being carried everywhere and not being allowed to enjoy his first day rolling around in the dirt eating worms (as is the norm in England - well, in our house anyway). We have tea and cake and say hi to the few people we know then leave - respect paid.

On my last Open Water course I had a lovely English couple (so I got to tell jokes and use long words) and snorkelling out from shore we could see lots of detritus in the water. Two tiny black things floated in front of my mask which on closer inspection turned out to be baby Sea horses. Wow! In all my years of diving I have never seen them - how do I tell my students that they will probably never see anything like it again?

The detritus was a precursor to another shedload of rubbish that was washed up which requires the whole team to clear up. The 2 diveguides, myself and 2 of the girls don wetsuits and snorkelling gear for the in-water attack while the other girls (who don't like the sun because it makes their skin dark!) and boys roll up trouserlegs and stay close to shore. The in-water girls make a nice pair, Masiti has removed her glasses to use a mask and therefore can't see anything smaller than say another person. She stays close to Dewi who acts as spotter/rest-station. The next day more rubbish is washed in so we go again. Most of the plastic is on the surface so we arm ourselves with whatever we can to net it: Other plastic bags, purpose made dive bags and Amanda uses a plastic crate. Today's influx has brought many unusual creatures in with it such as Sargassum frogfish (remember we had those last year too) and tiny flying fish together with a host of weird critters that live on the flotsam and jetsam that usually stays out in the open-ocean. No more sea-horses though.

Crock O'Shite

The front seat of Chris's car is probably the most comfy chair I've sat on in a year (the rear ones being in the most uncomfortable category) So I was actually enjoying the 40 minute ride to Seririt.

Once there we turned off the main road to Singaraja, under an archway up a lovely bougainvillea lined lane to a brand new facility - The Building of Pain. Well not really but that's how Rumah Sakit translates literally. It is in fact a very nice hospital. I am accompanied by our sweet masseuse Masiti for introductions and translation services although my sedikit bahasa is sufficient. I'd missed the bit where she told them I'm 30 (I love her).

Only a couple of other personal details were written down, Amanda, Female. OK hop on the gurney.

They take temperature and note it's high - 38.8. Mmm, yes, that why I'm here although it has at least come down a degree. BP 90/60 - strewth they think, that's low. Strewth I think, that's high. They believe me.

Then they very expertly take a phial of my best red stuff and say just rest for 1/2 hr. Wonderful. This is also the most comfortable I have been for a long time.

I look up. Its lovely pristine cream walls and ceilings are joined by a delicate plaster cornice. I could be in England... Except for in this beautiful brand new edifice to health and technology there are three black dots on the ceiling approximately 3.5 inches NE of where the pole is now holding up the curtain. And when they do draw the curtains round me so I can read my good book in peace, now the sweet doctors and nurses can't get round the back of the desk without significant imposition into my bay. Which of course all of them have to constantly. I love Bali.

Results ready. Not low enough to tell - come back and do it again tomorrow. OK.

So I do, on my own this time as I'm deemed capable of communication. Oh you should understand I have a driver of course.

Results - you're fine, bye.

My fever has now being going on for 6 days and I yo-yo between so, so cold, shaking like one of those little plastic toys you get in crackers that hop all over the table going clackety-clack until they fall on the floor, to a rather good imitation of a raclette stone - tzsssszzz!!

I think they've told me I haven't got dengue or typhus or malaria but no idea what it is just hope the drugs kick in soon (even if Adrian googled one lot and they're for beriberi eek).