Hello Bali

It is day #2 in Bali and I feel completely ready to spend 2 months here... We actually arrived on Weds night, but when I got to the immigration counter, the official asked me to wait a minute. My first thought was, crap, what's wrong with my visa/ passport... My mind went to one time when trying to enter Jakarta, the immigration officials stared at Phil's passport for a full 45 minutes (Phil reckons it was closer to 15, but my faded memories borne out of frustration do not lie). But on this occasion it turned out to be 11.59pm and my official wanted me to wait until the time ticked over to midnight so he could wind his date stamp forward a day and give my visa an extra day of validity in Bali. How lovely is that? He said that every day on his beautiful island is precious. Amazingly upbeat and poetic for someone pulling the midnight shift. Sadly, Phil's immigration official one lane over was a little less contemplative, so he missed out on the 'extra' visa day.

**Reading over my shoulder, Phil has suggested I include a reference to how I can now escape the company of GOMP for an extra day, but I think that is giving him too much editorial control. Get your own blog!!

As predicted, I am missing the cat, who has apparently not been playing nice at Phil's mother's place and is now confined to his old bedroom in solitary for her own sake and that of the other cats... oh dear...

I had forgotten that the apartment has its own resident cat who is gorgeous. No idea what her name is yet, but here is a pic - she even has her own sunlounge. Purrrr...




So far, I have done at least some of the things I'd been dreaming about for months, including breakfast at Warung Ocha, walking along the beach at sunset (sunrise has alluded me thus far) and 3 hours at the spa for a hair spa and mani/pedi. I have swum in the pool, read 2 books and bought a giant bean bag chair for DVD watching purposes.

Phil has not yet had his fill of the Balinese national dish of Babi Guling or suckling pig, so that's the next stop. And then I'm going to have my feet encased in paraffin wax, ahhhh....