Bali de Sixth

My 6th return obviously came with lots of expectation having seen, felt and heard life on an island where majority of the population are under the status of poor ( as compared to us lucky buggers in Malaysia). Where here people call homes are what we call shacks back home.

But that is the way life is, where developing nation thrive to be develop. Just like people coming from the kampungs thriving to be 'somewhere' develop like the Mat Sallehs we watch on TV. That is how people and nation behave.

Of a sudden, I realized Bali has grown up quite a bit from the very first day I set my foot here. Somehow in the amidst of Balinese originality, things have changed. People have seen, heard and certainly experience 'the other side' of life that they construe it as better, so much so that they strive to live towards that.

Towards life like KL, that instant noodle city fested with MSG and undeniably interesting amount of other preservatives to keep it good and yummy when anytime someone is hungry. What it gives? Empty calories and nutrients. Is it delicious? You bet. But instant noodles are bad for health if you consume it long enough, that is what I am trying to say.

That is the very reason I go to places like Bali as a retreat from the overdoses of instant noodle. That over induced salty but tantalizing noodle life.

And to some extend, I am experiencing spikes of effects from the acceptance to culture exchanges. I tend to get lesser and lesser of the essence of Bali from the people these days. Their honesty, frankness, simpleness and friendliness.

Like just this afternoon some taxi driver acted like the KL driver wanting to charge us Rp 30k where going by meter, it costs a mere Rp. 15k. See what I mean.

Then I found, this hotel where I put up is nothing more but a gold digger in disguise. Like, to play tennis on the wall by my self cost Rp. 150k for an hour. Like for a bicycle ride of an hour, it went something like Rp. 100k. Like getting online means USD 13 for 24 hours. Like there isn't any wi-fi for free even at the lobby. I mean, in today's day and edge, there is no free wi-fi? Gotta be kidding. Even a backpacker hostel that cost USD20-30 a day gives free wi-fi in Malaysia! And I'm paying USD 190 per room per night. Where is the logical sense in that? And I'm supposedly to be in Bali where it's a tourist haven.

I could only phantom that someone there on that management team in Hyatt is of 55 years old and doesn't know what Internet and cyberspace means. It has to be.

No. Don't get me wrong. I'm merely comparing. I lived in Westin the last time and I had nothing of this sort, if you get my drift. I am made to feel everything is just about money. How personal and wonderful tourism has blossom. The Management here has indeed forgotten about 'the extra mile.'

Darn these people!

Even the breakfast we had in this place in Bali Collection, supposedly an American breakfast menu, It costs Rp. 80. When it came, I wondered if really my grandma, the Chinese old lady with just a mere idea of Mat Salleh breakfast made them instead. 4 slices of bread cut into halves just like the local bread made from a local bread factory called Roti Cap Gandum coupled with a pack of very melted butter which I could see through the layer of oil, 4 skinny cut yet oily looking hotdogs definitely fully pan fried all the way which were initially from 2 standard hotdog Ramly sized sausages, a folded scrambled eggs probably made of 2 eggs and, yes, the usual orange and cuppa tea. Sigh.

And like in our every trip, our quest of bakso is always on. We have tried umpteen gerobaks where we can get our hands on and as often as it is, we come out very happy people once the balls and noodles are comfortably salsa-ing in our tummies.

Unfortunately though, I realized this time around, taxi drivers in particular are shy about who Balinese are. They are embarks to share with us their hawkers, their street food, their authentic them. Over and over again, they prefer us tourist to dine in somewhere where western food is served, where they think they can't go wrong, where even their nasi campur and mie goreng which has been modified to some extend to suit the foreigners' taste bud.

And that itself, saddens me. To some extends it angers me. Because they felt they are never better than the Mat Sallehs, that they feel what they have by the road side could never measure up to those beef patties and pizzas. That when people eat, they have to eat the Caucasian way, not the Asian way.

And yes, I digress with fundamental sadness. Sadness even to my little self that we Asians always think we are not good enough, that we Asians are unrefined and coarse (though I am in agreement to much extend but having said that, it boiled down to our lack of exposure and education, we should do good once we have an entire generation of literate). That we are and could never be as brilliant ( but we have).

And yes. As I piece this into one thought, I am taking acceptance that somehow, like it or not, we are already weak by being shy to be who we really are. We fail to be who we are. Regardless. We are even shy carrying those rich legacy of our forefathers and bettering ourselves with other people's better.

What is so wrong about squatting by the dingy looking stalls, challenging our taste buds just so we can understand what Bali is? What is so wrong that if we Asian need to eat spaghetti and pizzas in Europe and hotdogs in America that they can't do the same here?

We Asians are just too nice. Too accommodating. Too humble. Too stupid too. That is really why. Sigh. But as I say, like it or not, that is the way it goes. That is the way until one day, some one gets up and realized it's all of a mockery and it's time we Asian start learning from the best and keeping of values hard fasten in our simple hearts... We should start being smarter ...