Thursday, September 27, 2012

Bali and expectations

Eat your heart out, we are in Bali!

Why so many people are working their asses off throughout the year to afford themselves some exotic holidays?

a)      to impress their peers
b)      to solve the problems of the miserable life in three week vacation
c)      to absorb all the wisdom they missed so far
d)      or just to boost the pleasures of their lives a notch more

OK, as nobody (especially not me!) admits a, b or c are proper answers, so d is the answer.

Ad a) For instance, I would never do something just to impress somebody. Stupid! Really stupid! Probably, dear reader, you are much the same.
I would rather very casually remark in conversations: “Oh, this coffee is almost as good as at Costas’ in Doha…” or “This meal is close to Anka’s reunion feasts…”, or “Changi in Singapore is The Airport and not that “Schlamperei” in Frankfurt…”
Those who’ve been there and done that will nod approvingly; those poor devils who have never been anywhere or done anything will just stare at me, quasi God of trendsetting.
Yeah, here we go…:)

Ad b) If I manage to salt away a couple of thousands of Euros, change the climate, environment, everything…  yes! My problems will dissolve, my closest will really appreciate the effort and money I’ve put into this curing holidays. I will be understood, loved, respected by people I care about.
The only slight problem with this method is, it doesn’t work.

Ad c) I know wisdom is just waiting for me. Frankly, she is really anxious to embrace me!
With all the tasks from my job, family obligations, social obligations, there is just no opportunity for wisdom to get in touch with me.
Well, pure wisdom can choose to meet me (or not) when I am watching my maid cleaning the windows, when I am trying to make my rebellious computer to work again, while enjoying a delicious spicy meal or when I am meditating somewhere below the surface…

Ad d) I enjoy most if not all of the moments in my life.
From a walk in the rain to the empty waterfront, smell of fresh coffee during the break, a road trip with my friend on a weekend, shopping in a village store, hectic and amusing activity at work…
And to boost the feeling “Life is good…”, I just immerse into Bali way of life for a while…
Yeah, d should be the answer leading us to Bali or any other holiday destination :)

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Just diving

Master Divers of Bali

This slightly faded photo is another proof that longer you dive, longer you live.

    - combined age of our BCDs probably exceeding your age, dear reader
    - combined number of dives a nice 5 digit number
    - combined age of three of us would make Methuselah look like a baby
    - combined pleasure of our diving together is..., well. not bad at all…:)

When the goal is pure, good diving advanced age is inconsequential.
When the goal is pure business, we come to some controversial concepts.
Is generation I (infants) our next target group for selling scuba pleasures?
    a) if we extrapolate tendencies of some scuba diving training agencies, this is a solid fact
    b) as every minute three hundred infants reach age of six months (suitable for an infant scuba course) it is a fantastic business opportunity
    c) as every generation has shorter attention time span, generation G (Gold fish) has now maximum attention time span of 140 characters (on Twitter), we can reduce dive times even more with generation I – profits will soar like eagles…
    d) or group F (Free Spirits) is our target group, be it young students, middle aged travelers, retired and still alive people...
As for many things in life there are at least two schools of thinking also on this subject.

A huge group of vultures in our line of business would jump to a, b and c answers as a starving hyena on a wounded antelope. Most of them have already sold their souls for a dollar, so they have to make another dollar somewhere else…

The other school of thinking would say “Go very, very gently on youngsters when offering SCUBA diving. Diving is really more a state of mind, than anything else, however, physiological consequences for still developing and growing body can be rather unpredictable and psychologically kids act very different from adults...

And who is more eligible to provide proper answers, medical experts or sellers of diving pleasures, is up to you to decide.

SCUBA diving shouldn’t become just another activity to brag about.
You simply do it.
For you.
SCUBA diving can temporarily beam you to another, much bigger part of our small earthly universe. Through levitation in the blue waters you absorb serenity, freedom, peace… and changes within you are subtle and yet very powerful.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Snorkeling in Bali

I feel good...

Is snorkeling a mortal sin?

a) as long as you are just warming up for some good scuba diving, no
b) as long as you do it between two scuba dives, no
c) as long as you look as meditative as this girl, no
d) as long as you don't try to speak into your snorkel, no

I sincerely hope you will not take this post as an attack on the snorkeling society.
I’ve been accused of being snorkeler-hater too many times. Can you believe, for all the wrong reasons...

Truth is, I love snorkelers.
Imagine July and August, with too many (at least for my taste) boats scattered around beautiful Menjangan island.
Divers in my group become a touch less enthusiastic at the thought of seeing more divers on a dive than fish. However, I carefully select a dive spot with a couple of boats already positioned there. No scuba tanks on these boats, just snorkeling gear. Other dive boats are avoiding this spot and looking at overpopulated spot as Dracula would look at garlic sauce.

All the happy snorkelers remain on the surface and in the midst of high season we disappear into the blue all on our own.
Thank you, unknown snorkelers!

And then, there is a special girl sometimes enjoying snorkeling in tropical Bali sea, sometimes in cold Arctic (or is it Adriatic?) sea, and with a mind-set and understanding of scuba diving any experienced diver would envy.

And there is a guy, who experienced rather stupid start of his scuba lessons and is a diver in his heart, but sticks to snorkeling.

And there is a number of our snorkeling guests, making our trips even more joyful and memorable.

And at the end of the day, there is always a hope for snorkelers to see the light.
And start scuba diving.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Can you rely on Balinese people?

Same, same...but different...

Question is can you really rely on them for keeping their word, being punctual, faithful, honest, diligently doing a job for you...?

a) ever
b) never
c) sometimes
d) most of the times

At least it's safe to ask these questions about Balinese people.
Imagine you ask the same questions about yourself...

As the next guy also Balinese people respect and like reliability.
After a handshake on an important business deal if you get a text message “Sorry, deal is off” wouldn’t you be slightly annoyed?
Or looking forward for a meeting with an old friend and receiving a message “Sorry, I'm busy” - probably you wouldn't be too happy either.
In a nutshell, people too full of “Oops, sorry...” are usually not on a top of our desired companions list :)

In long run, in most cases you somehow get what you give.
Person full of empty promises will experience rather more b's than somebody true to his word.
If you are as good as your word, well, you will likely meet a lot of reliable people (not just Balinese).

Yes, I know, you are still waiting for the exact right answer to our initial question. If you are just thinking of hiring a guide, doing a booking for a hotel, buying a ticket...
Or if you are thinking about investing here or doing business in Bali.

If you accept the fact that all the above answers are correct, you will not be disappointed.
However, in Bali you can always rely on a good dose of warmth and laughter – and at the end of the day this counts a lot :)