Bali retrospective

As Dorothy said...’There’s no place like home’.    I am home and whilst I really like Bali, I am glad to be home where everything works well; the paper appears on the front lawn every morning, all my appliances work and my local supermarket can supply me with everything I need from IT stuff to a side of beef.  And my bed is pure luxury!

In Bali the power outlets are not accompanied by a switch. When a power cord from an appliance is inserted in a socket (at least in our hotel) , a large blue flash and a ‘pop’ occurred.  It seemed that this ‘cooked’ my laptop battery and it would no longer accept a charge.  It still worked when I removed the battery and plugged it into the power outlet directly, however the power adaptor no longer showed a reassuring green light at power-up.

Since returning to Australia both the battery and the charger have decided they like it here and have settled back into their normal routine.

There are a multitude of adaptors for Indonesian power outlets to suit the many countries visitors arrive from. This one is a semi-universal adaptor, however it does not have a secure slot for the three-pronged Australian power cord and I had to tape the Aus cord into the adaptor to stop it falling out. 

The price on the side in Indonesian Rupiah is about $1.50 Australian

Whilst we were in Bali, cousin Val and I had numerous occasions where we were referred to as Mum or Dad; husband and wife.   We always replied with ‘we are just good friends’ which always elicited a response ranging from “Oh OK’ to giggles or winks.  One lovely young waitress at the breakfast area at the hotel couldn’t suppress laughter and an embarrassed expression every time we went for breakfast.

Val is a little older that me and she has looked after me before.  This pic, some 70 years old has me in the kids’ pram being supervised by Val.  It was taken in an era when photographers were advised to stand with the sun behind you which almost always made the subject squint and the photographer’s shadow appear in the photo.  Don’t believe me?..Dig out some ancient photos of the era.

                 Photo taken at our grandparents' farm some 150 miles south east of Perth.

I took some shirts to Bali which were no longer comfortable for me to wear.  I intended to give them to hotel staff and did so to a fellow who serviced my room.  He was very thankfull, and later that evening returned and as I opened the door walked in to my room to thank me again.  He didn't seem to want to leave and when he eventually did leave after a few minutes, I had the  feeling that he was thinking that I was 'one of the Girls'.