In Bali...a Day Late

I have safely arrived in Bali after a pretty arduous 35 hours of travel. The first snafu occurred when I was dropped off at LAX and went to the ticket agent and was not in the computer to check in for the flight. After insisting that I was going to Tokyo that day, I pull out a copy of my itinerary and find out that I was a day late for my flight. The mistake was made because I glanced over the ticket too fast and saw that I arrived in Tokyo on the 29th...thinking that I was also leaving on the 29th as well. I guess I forgot about a thing called the international date line and forgot that I lost 14 hours of my life once I crossed it. Luckily, after a $100 fee, I was back on track--only a day later. I am glad it did, because I was without a cell phone and being stranded at LAX did seem like a good time after a whole summer of anticipation of leaving.

I really don't feel like writing about the air travel because there is nothing interesting to talk about sitting in an airplane for 12 hours and being miserable. The one observation I would like to share is that they feed people entirely too much for how little calories that they burn while sitting in the air. I was offered over 5 meals in all of my travel, none of which were of note.

I am still getting acclimated to the area and the time change. The Internet here is also pretty spotty so I will try to post 3 times a week. I went to a few of the restaurants with Karen over the past few days and have met some of the locals. I start cooking next week and I am very excited to get in the kitchen and start learning!

The picture is of a town called Ubud, which is a very hip tourist location in the middle of the island. It is where 3 of the restaurants are located. My next entry will be a write up on Cinta Grill and how I will be starting at that location.

The Adventure Begins!

I am flying out today to go to Bali! Extremely excited, but not looking forward to the over 35 hours of travel time I have to get there. The day I land I will be hiking the tallest peak on the island, so expect some nice postings and pictures ahead.

I do plan on updating this web page 2-4 times a week, so make sure you stay posted. The summer was just slow going because, obviously, I was not there yet to tell my story. Stay tuned....

Cheers!

The Chef Knives

On the night before my Harvard graduation, my mother and father hosted a celebration dinner at East Coast Grill in Cambridge (my favorite restaurant). In attendance were my mother and father, brother Brian, John and Val Higman, and Karen and Guski. At the time, it was already finalized that I would be going to Karen and Guski's in Bali to learn how to cook in their restaurants ((BGF)). Karen's congratulations card read very simple: "Congratulations, come to Bali with a 10" Chef Knife and a Paring Knife. I will teach you the rest."

After a few weeks of research (and talking to Karen) I went with the Shun Elite Series Professional Chef Knives. According to Karen, they are the best knives in the world and are highly used and respected by almost every professional chef. They were a little pricey, but I figured since I would be using them everyday that they would be well worth the cost in their value. Also, all things considered, these are nice enough to last me my whole life.

When they arrived in the mail I was almost stunned. The knives themselves are absolutely beautiful. Handmade using the Japanese "Kasumi" Method (the same method used for making samurai swords), the process involves taking a long piece of Japanese carbon steel and folding and sharpening it over high heat for a total of 34 times. And at 34 razor sharp layers, these babies can slice. They also boast of cutting edge of 18 degrees making them much sharper than the best German Knives that have blade edges of 22 degrees. When you look at the side of the blade you can see the spiral layers of the metal reflect in the light. The handle is a black PakkaWood that is highly polished and smooth to grip. They feel incredible in the hand. I cannot wait to use them.

Driving and the AAA International Drivers Permit

I went into AAA today to apply for my IDP (International Drivers Permit) and I was a little stunned by the application process. I basically walked in, showed the lady my CA drivers license, handed her 15 dollars and 2 passport photos, and I walked out with a permit to drive in over 160 countries. The permit itself just contains a translation of about 40 pages in many different languages to what my license in the United States allows me to do--drive a motor coach that weighs less than 7,000 Lbs.

However, after seeing firsthand how people drive in Bali when I was there back in 2001, I cannot see my driving skills learned in the States translating directly over to being able to drive in Bali just because I now possess this magical piece of paper that AAA issued me. Cars drive on the left side of the road (usually) in Indonesia and the steering column is on the right side of the car. Add the round-a-bouts and the twisting jungle roads, and I might see a steep learning curve.

Lonely Planet Writes:

"Driving as a tourist"

"Tourists often comment that the roads in Bali seem a madhouse, and this frightens people away from driving. Most local people in Bali have never had a driving lesson. They don’t need to, as you can get your driving license without taking a test (but its cheaper if they take the test). The road skills people have, are earned by ploughing headfirst into traffic, and muscling their way through, like everyone else is doing. This can be a hard concept to learn, putting the western idea of ‘road rules’ aside, and taking up a ‘law of the jungle’ approach, but that’s how it is."

My only saving grace is that speeds in Bali rarely go above 40 km/hr and the people are friendly. So I guess we'll have to wait and see.