Greetings,

Woke up early today after having the best sleep I’ve had in Bali. Heck, this was the best sleep I’ve had since I can remember and I’m not talking about one of those 15 hours after running yourself to the ground. There are no 24 hour internet cafe’s here so I could not feed my addiction of following the market and as a result, passed out early.

Besides swimming and chilling, not much to do where I am in Pemuteran, Bali except play with the local children. As a result, that is what I did for most of the day on this very different Christmas Eve.

The children are super cool and very into what myself and the other 3 guests at this small bed and breakfast are up to. Played soccer with them for a few hours in the blazing heat. Good fun was had by all. Also learned, in these countries, if you hit a ball into a tree, don’t just grab it and shake. I grabbed leaves with hundreds of massive red ants and they fell all over my face and body, biting like it was going out of style, at least the kids found it funny.

I bought way too much fruit and nuts yesterday as I perfected my bargaining skills at a local market, the kids were more than happy to help me “finish it off”. They did so with great vigor and zeal, might I add.

When you leave the tourist areas in Bali, or most other places, people are just as friendly except they have nothing to sell you. They just want to say hello and chat. Being a gregarious character who often speaks to most everyone he passes on the street, I quite like it, in fact I’m all about it. It takes me forever to walk anywhere as I just end up hanging out, having a smoke and shooting the shiz with people in a mixture of hand signals, half sentences and smiles.

It is quite different being this far from the hustle and bustle of what I’m used to. The reality is, much of the world still lives like this. The more time I spend in developing countries, the more I enjoy my time here. Everything is so laid back and it’s cool seeing people without much willing to share it all when all too often back home, there are people with everything willing to share nothing. Treuly (sic) pathetic in my opinion.

Tonight, we will delve into a 40oz of vodka we bought for ~$15US while singing Xmas tunes, ok the former is true but not so sure about the latter. Staying here a few days or until the ladies I’m traveling with wish to leave. Either way, I have nothing but time and am enjoying the “easy life” of hanging out where it is so hot, you are are “thissssssss close” to complaining about it until you think of your friends and family, freezing like frozen dinners. The term “hot shower” gives me chills.

My next destination will be somewhere, probably a city with a quality internet connection where I plan on staying for ~1-2 weeks and doing lots of web related tasks that are just “itching to be done”. Not sure where, but definitely somewhere in Asia, I love it here and am extremely glad I “got up and left”.

Really doesn’t feel like Xmas at all here and I’m totally cool with that. I’ll have you know, Thanks Giving is hands down my “favorite holiday”. Why? Simply because it has great food, family components and no mindless consumerism. I despise mindless consumerism.

I have a photo from Singapore and will make an update on it at another time, it’s a huge Santa with “Make it a visa Xmas” or something absurd like that. So many people overspend this time of year then spend the first 6 months trying to pay it off, why? Just remember, “debt is the death of you“.

I digress.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

The above photo is the current view from this outdoor internet cafe.