62 Fashion

19 May - 02 June, 2010

For Sale; Mini Malibu Surfboard. Great condition. 6‚10’ light, brand surfboard with nice design. Rp. 3.5 million negotiable. Call 0813 3746 8531 . Denpasar. [124]

People catch our spirit just like they catch our colds: by getting close to us.

For Sale; Extreme elec. guitar 6 string Rp. 3.500.000, Behringer amplifi re V-tone gmx 210 Rp. 4.000.000. Contact Andre 081 5577 8884.

Canggu. [116]

I go at what I do as if there were nothing else in the world for me to do.

Bali Advertiser

Jl. Laksmana No. 60 Oberoi Seminyak - Kuta

(across from SKS and Champagne Bar) Phone: +62361 737 819 E-mail: rolandbali@yahoo.com

C/G/I-21 April 10 C/G/I-21 April 10

GREENSPEAK

by Ibu Kat

NOCTURNE

After several weeks in sanitized urban Canada, where even a tiny spider on the wall is cause for alarm, I returned to my cottage at the edge of the jungle in Ubud with relief. What an adaptable species we are, I thought sleepily as jet lag propelled me towards the bed and I nodded to the big tokay who lives behind a picture in my bedroom. The concept of lizards in the bedroom would be outrageous in Vancouver. In the 25th fl oor apartment my 90 year old parents had recently rented (after fl eeing the comfortable assisted living facility they’d settled in after selling the family home last year) there was not so much as an ant to be seen. I slept in the small white cube of a bedroom far above the ground, dreaming of my lush garden at home and its many creatures.

As always after a trip, I was very glad to be back in Bali. I prepared for bed and the dogs bounced into the bedroom to flop down in their usual posts. Outside, the parrots grumbled softly. A few metres away the jungle welcomed me back with rustles and squeaks and sighs. There was a huge splash in the pond, as if a small whale was sounding among the water hyacinths. I went to sleep with a smile.

Hours later when the night was darkest, all the dogs started to bark at once. Upon investigation, they’d been

A whole new cast of characters takes the stage after dark here in Ubud. We are all used to the lovelorn vocalizations toads and frogs, but my friend Susan reports that every few months she is kept awake by the koi in her pond, which thrash and splash in an excess of amorous ardour that can go on for days.

Once I was woken by strange noises, and went out to fi nd Kipper the pit bull in enthusiastic sexual congress with Kalypso on the dining table.

disturbed by a couple of glossy rats chasing one another along the top of the bathroom wall. I reminded myself to talk to the staff again about the merits of acquiring a small python. They were still quite resistant. (“If I saw it, I would have to scream and run,” explained Wayan Manis.)

Back in bed and reaching again for sleep, I recalled some of the other nocturnal visitors I’d encountered over the years. Once as I was reading in bed I noticed all the dogs staring onto one corner of the room. I squinted to see what they were looking at, and a long, snake-like shadow rose against the wall. After locking the dogs in the offi ce, I returned with a broom. There had never been a snake in the house before and I was hoping the intruder would prove to be something else. Indeed, it revealed itself a moment later. Rolling out of the corner on a moving frill of legs was a large, blue-tinged centipede.

Gentle reader, do your utmost to avoid being bitten by a centipede. There is something quite horrid in their venom that not only causes a large, painful swelling, but the twin entry points of the wound turns the fl esh to jelly for a few days. (By the way, there only three creatures on Bali that leave two fang marks when they bite -- the snake, the centipede and the spider.)

Centipedes move with astonishing speed; there was not a moment to be lost. I grabbed a big book, dropped it on the intruder and jumped up and down on it a few times. Centipede legs fl ew out in all directions. When I was quite sure it was fl at, I scraped the remains into a glass jar and carefully washed the fl oor. The next morning when I showed the jar to my staff, the vestiges of the mangled centipede were still moving. “These are very hard to kill,” said Nyoman, taking it into the garden and carefully chopping it into small pieces.

My patio has been the arena of many nocturnal adventures. A few days ago I came onto the patio in the morning to fi nd a large splat of half-digested wild fi gs on the fl oor, evidence that a fruit bat had been hanging out there. The next morning there was another splat in the very same place, which thoughtfully avoided the dining table and the cushions. I became intrigued. Judging by the volume of evidence, either the bat had been very large or it had brought several of its friends back to party. That night I caught the visitor in the act. It was quite a small black bat, hanging by one foot from the ceiling while liberally decorating the tile below. Wayan said that bats were seldom alone, and probably a group of ten or so would gather here later to sociably digest their fi gs to- gether. Not wanting my dining room to become Fruit Bat Central I turned off the light, asked the bats to leave, and they never came back.

The dogs killed a civet in front of me on the steps one night, where it had unwisely followed a juicy bug. Once I was woken

by strange noises, and went out to fi nd Kipper the pit bull in enthusiastic sexual congress with Kalypso on the dining table. I had to dispatch a green pit viper which Daisy had dragged in from the garden at three o’clock one morning.

Another

time I found two big tokays on the table locked in a death battle which had, by the look of the carnage, been going on all night.

I used to tell my family and friends about the wildlife that shared my space, but they were always so horrifi ed that I eventually stopped. How could I live like that? they wondered. Why didn’t I seal up my windows and install air conditioning so glacial that no self- respecting reptile would take up residence in my bedroom?

Well, I could. But what fun would that be?

Dragons in the Bath, a collection of Ibu Kat’s stories, is available in Bali from Dijon in Kuta, Ganesha Books at Biku in Seminyak and Ganesha Books and Periplus Books in Ubud. It can be ordered nationally and internationally through www.dragonsinthebath.com <http://www.dragonsinthebath.com>

E-mail: bali_cat7@yahoo.com Copyright © 2010 Greenspeak You can read all past articles of

Greenspeak at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz

French Designs

Your Shoe Shop in Bali

Jl. Raya Seminyak No. 57, 0361-732 834 so4shoe@yahoo.com

C/G/I - 30 Dec 09

C/G/G-2 Dec. 09

C/G/I-10 March 10

WANT YOUR

BALI ADVERTISER DELIVERED BY MAIL ?

Mail delivery is available within Indonesia for only Rp. 450,000 per year.

Inquire about rates for other countries.

;edjWYj ekh

e\\_Y[ je

i_]d kf! Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84