Expat life: Seminyak Bali

Expats in Seminyak Bali, tend to be the ‘long termer’s’. No need to get overly excited with your situation, or stay out till 4am every night celebrating, after all, unless you are stinkin’ rich you’ll have to go to work the next day.

Painting the house:
Like most expats I have things to take care of daily, and other things that are in the back of my mind, that I tell myself ‘I’ll do that soon.’ One of the things I want to take care of is painting the house. Our house has a white interior and exterior, which due to the heat and humidity, looks steadily worse as the year rolls on. Last year I got the landlord to provide the painters, while I provided the paint. 5 kilos of paints goes for around 75,000rp, not bad, and a couple of cans will cover most of what needs to be done. The landlord, Nyoman, however, didn’t want to pay for the workers this time. Picking up a painter won’t be hard, but I would like the owner to show some appreciation that I’m fixing up her place.

Painting the garden wall:
Mosquitoes love shady places, so Ika and I have cut back our bushes (no you dirty people, the bushes in the garden) to limit the mozzie population around ‘bug hour’. It works, but reveals more of the ugly grey wall behind. Someone suggested a long time ago that I paint the wall blue. Today I decided to get some blue paint. There is paint shop at the top of Jl. Seminyak on the right side, (very local). The staff brought me 1 kilo of dark blue paint, not the 5 kilos I needed. They offered shaky direction to another place which I could not find, so I rode down to ACE Hardware. ACE is the place for rich fat boys like John Madden, and in Bali, you’d better be rich! A 5 kilo can of paint will set you back around $40!!! No way am I spending that on ungrateful Nyoman’s pad. I’ll find some paint and a local to do it….. just not today.

Expat food stops:
Seminyak expats have their favourite food stops, and occasasionally add a new one. I have recently added a new one, the former Warung Roadkill, at the corner of Jl. Seminyak and Gang Palawa (across from Jl. Dhyana Pura). Its the usual deal, plate of white rice, and you pick items from the stuff on display. Today I had spicy tuna, Balinese green beans in yellow shredded coconut, beans and carrots, eggplant and sambal. That plus a Fresh Tea was 25,000rp. The food was great! and I recommend this place (can’t remember the new name) for a handy Seminyak Indo food stop.

Expat exercise:
Talking to a guy from England today, who tells me he lifts, runs, rides and swims, everyday, I had no choice but to get back into exercising. My chest infection, plus burned feet, have given me enough of an excuse so far. Now they are clearing up, so I had to get down to the gym. Right now I’m like a piece of spaghetti. I couldn’t do a proper workout if you paid me, but heeding the words of uncle Nick (No curls, no girls. No press, no dress. No squat…you get the idea), I jumped into some weighs and feel better for it. My English friend recommended Padma gym, cheap and good with pool.

Expat eccentrics:
Plenty of people who have gone troppo, either in looks or actions. The guy who I sat next to in the internet cafe today, told me about another guy who uses the cafe regularly. “He didn’t sign out, and when I sat down, there was a screen full of pictures with him in various states of ‘happiness’.” “I showed the staff here, and they all thought it was funny.” He told me what motorbike the guy rides. I don’t want to blow his cover, I just want to make sure I don’t open up a browser, and get a screenfull of the ‘Expat Package.’

So its a merry old life being and expat in Bali. Some people appear to be cruising, but I also see others working quite hard on making a living.