Jl. Seminyak: The main street where I live in Bali

Stepping out of my gang (alley) in Seminyak gets me onto a busy street called Jl. Seminyak. This street isn’t that wide, the actual road is only about 10 meters, but it recieves a lot of traffic, at certain times of the day. Fifteen years ago, Jl. Seminyak was not busy, as most tourists had no reason to come up here. I remember back in 1993, a friends picked me up on his motorbike and took me to the ‘hippest palce in town’, Goa Cafe in Legian. Now its all changed, with Seminyak being ‘expat central’ and other areas such as Kerobokan, Umalas, Canggu attracting long term foreign residents.

Walking back from Cafe Seminyak this morning, at 8am, the street wasn’t too busy and I could cross fairly quickly. during rush hour, the road is choked with taxi’s, motorbikes and cars. You have to time your move when crossing, otherwise your path will be blocked by fast-approaching motorbike. My strategy when crossing a road is ‘slow in, fast out’, meaning the most dangerous place is the road surface, so I look for an opening, and get across it quickly. Of course locals take an entirely different view of crossing a road. For them the road is their living room, so as soon as the first toe touches the road surface, no need to look, hurry or worry about anyone else. Simply take your time and meander across the road, letting the traffic worry about you.

Elegant penjors still hang over Jl. Seminyak, a leftover from Galungan. Petrol racks come out early, feeding the hungry local motorbikes. Glossy shops selling interior design items or western styled clothing open a little later, around 9am or 10am, realising us ‘bules’ often party late and get up slow.