Brians Bali and beyond

My journey continues in Bali for one more week after Amy set sail for PNG. I spent the last week of Bali in beautiful upcountry Ubud, going to yoga classes and meeting wonderful folks to tramp around with for the last week. One night I ended up going over to where my buddy Nico was staying for a little party, and as it turned out the couple that owns the house had just come back from staying for a month in Kipahulu, Maui, a trip they take every year. So I kind of felt right at home being around great folks and good food, it was just like the parties on Maui! ...Since it was still raining a lot the ocean around Bali was pretty dirty from all the garbage folks throw into the rivers, and I was dying to get in the water so the next day Nico, Maria, Divert, Meghan, and I went for some good old fashion exploring to find a river we could swim in! It was a successful misson, with waterfalls, calm pools, and even a spot where the current was so strong that some of the girls had to jump across and grab my hand so I could swing them to my side or else be swept away never to be seen again... well not quite, but it was fun and exciting. I also tried my first ever acrobatic plus acroyoga classes, very fun and very sore. As my Indonesian visa came to an end I hopped over to Kuala Lumpur, where I found this great little hostel in the Chow Kit district called Hostel Cosmopolitan. This became my home for a week and a half while I got my China visa and my underwater housing for my camera. The language of Indo and Malay are very similar, so this transition was easy, plus the flight only cost $22.00US! The city is pretty cool, well actually it's hot as hell in the day time but nice at night, and that's when it really comes alive. The street markets set up at around five and stay open until morning. I hooked up with three different Couchsurfers while I was in town, went out for a drink and picked their brains on what it is I should check out in their City. They were all really great and helpful and I'm very grateful that that online community exsists... If you don't know ab out it yet google it sometime. (couchsurfing.com) I never did find the nice chill places to hangout at; all I did find was this one street full of bars and clubs that seemed to cater to the older business type. There was the Beach House, The Aloha Club, etc, I thought that I would at least be able to go into the Aloha club for free since I did have my Hawaií ID on me, but no deals for whitey... the folks there didn't even know what Aloha means!
At this point I would like to point out that if you're ever traveling in South East Asia, just know that you'll automatically get an invisible tattoo of a dollar sign on your forehead. For many locals it's all they can see of you. For others, not so much. Try not to let it bother you. Also, If you're like me and you like being somewhere nice and not having a bunch of other tourists around, travel when the world is in a recession - turns out to be good deals and not so many people traveling.
I had planned to stay in KL for three weeks but decided that was too long - I bought a ticket to Manado on north Sulawesi. My plan was to take a boat from Manado to Bunaken, a smaller island off the coast, and maybe do some diving and snorkeling. At the Manado airport I ended up paying for this guys 25.00 entry visa because he was making a big deal about exchanging his travelers checks - they only had the rates for the previous day and he thought that was highly unfair - it was very annoying hearing him wine about it. So this guy, who's from Germany, two foot massagers from Sulawesi (yes, that's quite a valid profession in Indonesia), named Melli and Lisa that I randomly saw on the monorail in KL, then again at the airport(!) - we all got a ride into town together, where the German and I got a room. I wish I could remember his name, but I think I've just blocked it out. Anyway, we stayed just long enough for him to get some money to pay me back for the visa, room, food, and a malfitted underwater housing I'd bought for my camera before I found an even better one.. worked for his. When we finally did get to Panarama on Bunaken I found my sweet little hut, and I was home! Anyone that wants to go on a vacation and do some diving, snorkeling, and a lot of lounging for almost nothing should go to Panorama. Run by a local family, who happens to also have a fishing business, which means fresh fish for lunch and dinner, plus wonderful sunsets and it's only $15.00US a day, 11.00 for me but that's just because i did a little gardening and painting while I was there. They all thought I was crazy to be working while I was on holiday, but it had been six months of holiday for me so far, and plus the land has potential and I was just trying to let it out. The first week there was spent with four more Germans, plus the dive instructor that was also German so there wasn't that much English being spat around, so I didn't end up staying up all night and drinking like everyone else. One, because I didn't understand anything and Two because I had not heard anything from Amy in almost a month so my mind was constantly worrying. (This was incidentally when she was on a remote island village with no means of foreign contact) So I ended up staying up and meditating and doing a little reiki to sooth my mind. The second and third week brought some new folks that spoke English and we all had a very merry time hanging out. Everyone there at Panorama was great! I went on 8 dives and probably 6 snorkel trips. I spent three weeks there just chilling and relaxing, and I can't wait to go back.
After that I flew back to KL for the night and then off to Guangzhou, China for the weekend to go hang out with dear friends Tasha, Javier, and Vinny. China was a Blast. I didn't know any words or really anything else but this address Tasha gave me of the hotel that they'd be staying at. Two hours off the plane I had somehow got to the hotel, checked in and was perusing out some good ole' Chinese TV. The area of China we were in is very polluted, I only saw blue in the sky for ten minutes during the four day stay. Air quality aside, China is awesome, with cheap everything and lots of it. If you happened to walk past the Adidas store on one block, don't worry keep on walking and you'll most likely come across another one. Same with Nike and all those other big ones. All we ended up doing was chilling out and drinking and eating. It was really good for me to be around some friends from back home - it had been 7 months! On my last day there I found a really cool place to stay in the middle of the city. I'm not sure what it was called but it's on this little Island that's surrounded by two rivers, at night on the sides of the river are all these different strands of light doing all different things, ferries lit up going up and down. Very romantic, couples walking and sitting along the rivers boardwalk, for a moment I thought that this must be how Paris is. A lot of the buildings on the island were colonial so that made it even more so.
Flew back to KL for two days then off to Borneo to meet up with Amy!