e-travels with e. trules

padangbai, bali, indonesia we're staying at the padangbai beach homestay. "padang", glass. "bai", bay. padangbai, glass bay, the still-undeveloped fishing village on the still-pristine east coast of bali, still far away from the tourist hordes of kuta beach, legian, seminyak (the beverly hills of bali), and even its hindu-bali cultural heart, ubud, in the rice fields of the wet, rolling center of the island. in just over 2 weeks, we've survived da wife's dengue fever in kuta and my head-on motor bike collision in amed. we've joined in monkey chant celebrations in ubud, had mis-adventures at b

padangbai, bali, indonesia and that's the way it goes down. first thing the next morning, the 3 princesses climb into the drivers' car towards kuta, LA, & medan - without even a word to me. i'm stuck in the corner, air con-less room with gout. my wife has delivered a second-hand message to me that she wants a divorce, and she hasn't spoken to me since she packed her bag and moved to room J. i've tried to make amends. but with no success. i hear her laughing with the girls, but it's a stone cold wall when it comes to me. she packs the rest of her bags in silence in the morning. she doesn't

padangbai, bali, indonesia now we're at made's house in mimba village. where all the other bules are living, scattered here and there, amongst the local balinese. where all the other bules own property. or... more accurately... don't "own" property legally, but have nevertheless wangled their way through the corrupt indonesian bureaucracy to be... "living the dream." we're sitting around another wooden table and the scrolls of paper are rolled out again. i've just met made 5 hours ago, but he's already shown me the entire investment overview of both padangbai and mimba village. we've seen the

padangbai, indonesia [caption id="attachment_1484" align="alignnone" width="300"] Padangbai's Elusive "White Sand Beach", good luck finding it[/caption] "next?" i have no idea. but it's clear that i'm not in charge anymore. i get on the back of made's motor bike for the 2nd day in a row, and we roll past padangbai's white sand beach for the 2nd day in a row. up over a little hill and down into... mimba village. "follow the yellow brick road." "follow the yellow brick road." i feel something is drawing me there. perhaps it's some kind of... balinese "magic". c'mon, trules! in this modern

[caption id="attachment_1485" align="alignnone" width="225"] Pak Putu, Padangbai village chief[/caption] may 24, 2012 padangbai, indonesia i spend another rough night, bolting upright every 2 hours or so, not knowing where i am when i awake, until i discover myself enmeshed inside of my gauzy mosquito net and notice the still-empty space next to me, usually occupied by my lovely wife who is now far away in medan. at about 4 in the morning, 4pm boston time, "doctor bobbha", my childhood psycho-pharmacologist friend, awakes me with a call. he's now living outside of boston "amongst the rats",

padangbai, indonesia i spend the afternoon lazing around the homestay. there doesn't seem to be anything more to do. i've sort of painted myself into the corner. or been painted into the corner. my mind rubberbands back and forth between congratulating myself that i've just cut the cost of my 3rd act property acquisition dream in half by becoming partners with the town's village chief, and -- castigating myself for my totally blind trust in people and a situation that i have little understanding of, and absolutely no control over. i mean, what am i doing here all by myself, buying a half-bu

may 27, 2012 padangbai, bali damn bank of america. and damn my own cheap, new york inner jew. the two of them, combined, have me locked out of my own bank accounts in lala land. how am i gonna come up with the 20 grand for my newly-purchased mimba village "villa"? because that's exactly what i promised pak putu, dani and made. "no problem, just give me your bank account and routing number and i'll make an international wire transfer." they look at me and smile blankly, like i'm talking chinese, or maybe american business-ese. but money they know, and in a few hours made has gotten me the requ

padangbai, bali pak putu's dressed less formally today. he's standing there at the small pool being repaired in casual tan trousers, sandals, and a brown t-shirt with a balinese scarf draped backwards over his neck. his ponytail is still tied back neatly, but it seems darker today than yesterday. maybe the night has magically revived his youth and vigor. i have a feeling he's gotten up earlier than usual because it's still hours before he'll put on his pressed balinese sarong with his pressed white t-shirt to take on his more formal role as village chief. dani and made call him over to the br

padangbai, bali ok, the decision's been made. time to get the 20 grand for the purchase of my new balinese banana and coconut field into the bank account of my new "partners". still, the problem is goddam bank of america (bofa). their complicated, multi-layered online security system is "protecting" me from accessing my own money. i call a spade a spade: bofa is fucking "blocking" me. my local branch manager in echo park, mr. villarosa, has proved entirely ineffective. he hasn't even returned my phone call, which he promised to do 2 days ago. it's clearly time to take matters into my own han

may 29, 2012 padangbai, bali made and i are at the denpasar airport, bali's only domestic and international air connection to the outside world. da wife is flying in from medan, sumatra, her home town, for 2 days before we both fly back to our routine lives in LA. we've delicately mended our infamous "divorce" rift by phone, and i've prepared my padangbai troupes to roll out the red carpet for her. i've told them that as a young tourist-trade employee, fresh out of high school 10 years ago, she was not treated very well by the local balinese. "sure, dey smile so nice for de tourists, but dey