When I got home I made the sudden decision to cancel my surf lesson for the next morning. I still had sore shoulders from “PADDLING HARDER!” on Thursday. And I decided that I really wanted to take advantage of Louis Sears’ workshop in Ubud. Louisa is a highly respected and experienced yoga teacher from Byron Bay, Australia. My friend and temporary roommate J. invited her to stay with us for a few days last week so I got to know her a bit. Since J. is assisting at the workshop, I had the inside track on the special “expat price” (only 150,000 rp. for 3 hours). So on Saturday I woke at 6 am for the 45 minute drive to Ubud. It was beautiful to see the sunrise over the rice paddies and mountains and witness so many Balinese busy at their morning markets. It was a glimpse of the postcard Bali that I don't get to see very often. Just after I arrived at the workshop, right before 7am Bali time, the terrible earthquake in Yogyakarta occurred. I didn't learn about it till much later in the day. Though I didn't feel it, my driver swore that his taxi shook for a minute as he was parked outside the hotel.
The yoga class was intense, especially as there was a shortage of mats and I had to practice on the bare floor. (I had a strong intuition when I was leaving my house that I should bring my mat, but I ignored it. Yet again, I relearned this lesson: ALWAYS listen to strong intuitions like this, otherwise you regret it!) Anyway, Louisa’s style is to encourage her students to hold poses for a really long time while focusing on the breath. I love this kind of practice – deepening the postures along with my inward focus even as it gets really uncomfortable. Sometimes you break through and reach another place and that is bliss. During headstand, she suggested a better position for my forearms which will certainly help me. After class I had a delicious brunch at Indus with Louisa, J., and an American woman that lives in Jakarta.
After brunch I headed back to Seminyak and got ready for my boss’s party in Kettiwel. Selmat (my new driver) picked me up at 5:30. On the way up, we picked up my friend C. in Sanur. Since C. is a single mom and doesn’t get out much, I thought this party would be a treat for her. And I think it was. Since my boss is moving to Pettitinget next month (with his 2 sons and pregnant wife), this was his last blast at this big beautiful beachfront house which just happens to sit on a surf break (hey, my boss is Australian). So he and his wife went all out. There was an impressive spread of fresh seafood (which I dove into immediately) and great music. I had a fun time socializing with friends from the office and meeting new people. A couple of single male colleagues from Jakarta were there, and one of them, a steady and stalwart Dane, made the moves on C. She was into it and I’m rooting for her that it might develop into something. During the party I got a call from Y. who told me about the earthquake. I hadn’t heard about it and was under the impression that noone else knew either – that it had just happened. Boy, was I surprised to return to the party and find that everyone already knew but nobody had happened to mention it to me all day.
I left the party on the early side, to C’s chagrin (and the Dane’s, who did his best to get her to stay). I wanted to get a decent night sleep in order to be in good form for the diving trip to Nusa Penida that I planned with my roommate L. So I woke up "pagi pagi" yet again in order to be ready for the 7:30am Bali Scuba van pickup. I was a little worried about the weather, as it was overcast in the morning and had rained alot the night before. But we lucked out. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we had some awesome dives.
The first one was at Manta Point, where I had been only a few weeks before and witnessed three mantas enacting a kind of underwater ballet for a full hour. This dive was even better than that. After a lackluster beginning, with poor visibility revealing a few Darth Vader like mantas swirling remotely in the murky depths, the sun suddenly broke through and sent cathedral like shafts of light cascading over the dive site. Then nine mantas arrived and began swooping all around us. This time their elegant magnificence was revealed in all its glorious detail, thanks to their proximity and the improved vis. It was truly exciting. This photo was actually taken during my last Manta Point dive, so it doesn’t quite capture the detail and excitement of this one. But imagine these three meter wide creatures gliding past you and maybe you get the idea.
For the second dive we went to Chrystal Bay with the hope we might see the elusive Mola Mola (giant ocean sunfish) . These big creatures are usually visible only in “Mola Mola Season” which is August through October. During that time, dive operators in Bali operate special Mola Mola viewing expeditions which make the sites really crowded. Nusa Penida is one of the few places in the world you can see these amazing creatures. Well we were lucky enough to see one hovering by the reef as cleaner fish did a number on him/her. It was pretty huge, maybe a meter wide and three meters long. Unfortunately, I was focused on holding on to the coral and calming my thumpety-thump heart since I was having flashbacks to last week’s dive debaucle. Had to hold on to the divemaster’s hand as well. Jeesh, I’ve just got to get used to diving in currents, otherwise I shouldn’t bother trying to dive in Komodo! Anyway, it was still a banner diving day, since we saw tons of Manta and Mola Mola too.
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