Sanur, Bali: Day One

Monday, July 14: If it is 3:00pm on July 13 in New York, 12 noon on July 13 in California, and 3:00am on July 14 in Sanur, Bali, it can only mean one thing - World Cup Finals! We found a sports bar named Flap Jaks, and at 3:00am we joined about 200 other people from all over the world to watch the World Cup Finals. We sat with two Canadian women, who were decked out in their Argentina shirts, and a guy from Germany. While the Canadians, and we, were rooting for Argentina, we really didn't care - it was the experience that counted. The German, on the other hand, while trying to portray his German aloofness, wasn't decked out or even cheered much - he just sat there with a smug expression. When the game went into extra time, there was a marked decrease in the excitement level of the crowd, which kind of matched the decrease in the energy level of the Argentina players. The German players were so much bigger and stronger and the Argentinian players were like little gnats that just kept buzzing around! Oh, if only Messi or Higuain had converted early on - different game. Well, maybe I did care who won!

The hotel has a beautiful spa and they made us an offer we couldn't refuse - two massages for the price of one in a shared room. We signed up for the next three days - we are on vacation, after all. The hotel also wanted to help us celebrate our anniversary, so they gave us a special wedding cake.

After our mid-day massages, we spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. There was a destination wedding - a couple from Australia was getting married on the beach and they must have had 40-50 people in attendance. It reminded us that our next big trip, other than forays to Walnut Creek and our new house in Concord, will be Audra and Robi's destination wedding in Cancun in November.

The beach is very pleasant although the weather today was a bit cooler and cloudier than we have been experiencing. We are hoping that tomorrow warms up a bit. The hotel is beautiful - very green and lush, with lots of idols, deities, and statuary that add to the environment. It also has about five pools and the ever-present beach!