Action In Relaxation

I know you’re going to get sick of posts about Indonesia, especially Bali, but I had to come back for round 3. Shaun and Meggie came to Asia to meet up, so I knew if I was going to be a proper friend/tour guide/3rd wheel I’d have to take them to Bali. It has become my home in Asia; of my 5.5 months of travel, I spent almost half my time here.


I’ve never stayed in a hotel/villa/home as nice as our accommodation here; but don’t think for one second that our five star status stopped Shaun and I (and usually Meggie) from acting like wild Balinese five-year-olds. The three of us enjoyed spectacular views, infinity pools, and grandiose food while jumping through waterfalls, off of trees, and cruising the travelator (diagonal outdoor elevator). Dharma and Adi joined us at The Ayana for a good night at the Rock Bar and sushi; with the world famous delicacy of garlic clove, smothered in wasabi, and wrapped in ginger. I must again say thanks to Shaun for footing the bill, and to Amex for the hospitality upgrade.


Shaun and Meggie left way too soon (guess they’ll have to come back) and I was out of the entourage and back on the streets to fend for myself; this is when Dharma took me in and gave me a roof over my head. I was in awe at his garage which included a car, motorbikes, chickens, chicks, roosters, ducks, and his dog Chang (who supposedly has an STD *is that possible?). From Dharma’s house in Denpasar I headed back to Kuta to look into future possibilities for business, housing, long term visas, and had some great meetings with a general contractor/architect, beach soccer players, government officials, food/surfboard/beverage vendors, land owners, MBA travel guides, zoning officials, and the lovely staff at Kedin’s.


Time always flies in Bali and 2.5 weeks was a blur. Enjoy the pics.


Already back in the states for the holidays,


Tyler

K.


So I was going to keep the posts coming on a weekly or bi monthly basis and make sure they were all spic-n-span polished with well thought dialogue photo galleries and video, professional style. But. I still have quite a bit of catching up to do for the past month or so (Indo #2, Kuala Lumpur, and Southern Thailand).


I am currently scrapping the professionalism and posting videos, thoughts, and whatever else real time to keep you on your toes.


This is a formal and legally enforceable contract I {Tyler} owe U {The Reader} Three (3) posts on 1.Indonesia Round Two, 2.Kuala Lumpur, and 3.Southern Thailand. These defined “Posts” will be pictorial and narrative representations of my first hand experiences in previously stated locations; and such Posts will be postdated to their appropriate and most accurate happening times. I sincerely promise to notify you of their posting upon individual completion of each Post, concordantly, vis-a-vis, ergo…


Enjoy the videos, I couldn’t wait any longer to show you all.

Hey all,


Indonesia round 2, the throwback post.


I’m currently writing this from Indonesia (round 3) before headed back to the States of America that are United under the pursuit of life, love and happiness. Home. I realize “home is where the heart is”; but every time I come back to Indonesia I feel my right atrium being more and more full of Indo blood. The US of A will always have my left ventricle though.


Indo round 2 was a fleeting month from mid-September to mid-October. I parted ways with Ryan in KL, shed some tears on the flight, and was then comforted by a beautiful view of “Airport Lefts” surf spot while landing in Denpasar (Kuta Beach).


Directly from Kuta, I headed to the island of Lombok to meet up with Matt “Abacabar Pop Star” Rowland, a soon to be lifelong friend and STN connection who charges waves, charges life, and charges his soon-to-happen shoulder surgery on his credit card (no thanks insurance). Matt and I were going to spend a couple weeks in Banko Banko (Desert Point), where he was previously doing humanitarian work. To make a long story entertaining to read, he tore his shoulder (badly), and was now staying with Howie Antrang and Co. Matt and I spent a week with the Antrang family where we relaxed, ate tempe (my new favorite), ate fish curry, ate, ate, and had a jubilee time. The Antrang’s were extremely hospitable! (that is an understatement) I can’t wait to go back. From Lombok, Matt flew home to Hawaii, Howie stayed home, and I headed back to Kuta solo.


My solo-dolo time was spent around Kuta beach and Uluwatu, where I experimented with being (semi)productive while in a vacationer’s paradise. The result was the creation of this blog, as well as the pursuit of other business ideas (yet to come, God willing). Through my frequent trips down Poppies One Street (on my way to “the office” a.k.a. free Wifi and 20 cent ice cream cones at McDonalds) I was able to establish and affirm some great relationships with the ever smiling, greeting, and friendly locals. This helped ease any thought of loneliness as well as continue to hone my skills in Bahasa (Indonesian language).


Personal highlights from this time are:


1. The MBA crew: “Bagus” Agoos, Loy “the Lobster”, “Hulk” Hogan, Dekrit “Schwartzeneggar”, “Casi”Opik“ia”, “Luca” Toni, and more


2. My McD basketball friends: Dharma and Adi


3. The Beach Boys: Patty, Sigala, Simba, Tom, Waves, Reef, and Sand


4. The 5 o’clock Footballers: names never matter (or get remembered) here, just faces, feet, shouts, and playing styles


5. The Fruit Ladies: Pudu, Putri, Dia, Kaka, and Ade


6. Thomas’ Family


My last week was shared with Emily, who arrived unbeknown to Indonesia, ready for adventure, psyched for the beach, carpe-ing the deim, smashing volleyballs, scootering lazily, and smiling the whole way. I’ve had a few questions from people about “the girl in the photos”, so I figured I’d give you all the details:


Emily Lyn Carle
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 130 lbs
DOB: 6/22/87
SSN: 526-39-6234


The rest is just pictures so please enjoy.


Love and Friendship,


Tyler

Text-based Travel Mates,


Indonesia part 2, so much to write about…All I can write to (re)introduce this place is…wow, this country really has a place in my heart/mind/future.


After the boat trip, us “Colorado Boyz” returned with the rest of the STN crew to Kuta Beach, Bali. Kuta is the biggest tourist town in Bali and amidst the chaos of scooters, surfers, tourists, and American restaurant chains (Pizza Hut, Hard Rock Café, McDonalds), Kuta felt like home. This homeliness was largely based on the relationships with local people that were built through consistent interaction including: morning fruit purchases of Mangosteen and Passionfruit (Pudu and Pudri), surf hoots and hollers followed by soccer kickaround sessions, bizaar/fun/loving/smartass comments to local vendors, and chickenfighting/airplane/jungle gym/wrestle sessions with local rascalmonkey kids. Kuta highlights include:


* Circus on The Beach night that included a 5 level human pyramid that consequently inspired a $5, 1.5 hour, full body massage


* STN banquet with local cuisine, friendly guests, and Balinese dancers how loved to pose for 2+ hours of photos with kooky surfer tourists


* Day trip to Ubud monkey temple, where Kevin “young hercules” Sweeny got his bag of 30 Bananas snatched by a 2.5 foot tall 35 pound toothy snarly gremlin (a mere 2 minutes after purchasing them outside the temple) to which he responded in pure fear and prancing excitement


* Incredible 5 star, $8 dinners at TJ’s Mexican food and The Balcony where favorite dishes were sampled, loved, shared, and repeated following nights…Chili’s eat your heart out (and then charge me $15).


* Scooter chaos: picture thousands of people playing a game of transportation charades, who have just pulled the action card of “fish swimming through a tunnel”


You have now earned the right to look at our pictures from Kuta, thanks for reading!

From Kuta, 8 of us stragglers stayed in Bali while our friends returned to Hawaii, Sweden, Bangladesh, California, and Florida. We decided to take our show on the road and head to Uluwatu (30 minutes south of Kuta), soon to be known as Paradise or Shangri-La or El Dorado or Nirvana or Heaven (depending on your religion/ethinic background/cultural upbringing/sensitivity level). All of you who weren’t completely offended and are actually still reading, Uluwatu is indescribable, it is __________.


We stayed at a homestay called Thomas’ that fed us meals of our choosing and gave us a temporary palace (without a/c, or warm water) overlooking completely transparent water, 3 world-class surf breaks (Uluwatu, Pedang Pedang, and Bingin), and a local laidback vibe where worries (and Blackberries) have never existed. At night, this view lost nothing with an unadultured night sky mirrored by hundreds of gleaming fishing boats, and our lovely addition of night-time festivites that included: a guitar and water jug jam session, freestyle battle, freestyle game of “Sit Down!”, and of course the game of Farkle.


That should be enough to introduce these photos, please enjoy (if you don’t you should probably go to the doctor)


Colorado Island Boyz,
Tyler, Ryan, and Jason

Ubud Monkey Temple from Tyler Elick on Vimeo.


Monkeying Around. For some reason you say dumb things w/ a monkey on your shoulder, proven scientific fact.  These little guys were like wild animal russian roulette. One second they’re cuddly and nice, and the next they are either peeing on your leg or trying to gnaw on your skull. This guy was nice…at least while the camera was on.

Patient friends,


So much has happened in the last three weeks that I’ll be writing about Indonesia in 2 doses (just to keep you wanting a bit more after this email). The first portion of our trip was spent with Surfing the Nations, a humanitarian Christian organization based on the North Shore of Oahu Hawaii. To learn more check em out at www.SurfingTheNations.com, they are a group of truly amazing people with a very unique perspective and purpose (that’s my plug).


Jason and I started our journey from Kuala Lumpur to Bali with a delayed Air Asia (yuck!) flight and late arrival to Bali (10pm). We followed Ryan’s prescriptive directions , and arrived to his welcoming screams, hoots, and hollers of joy to finally have his travel companions join him, rather than follow in his footsteps (if this sentence doesn’t make sense please read the last post where Jason and I missed our Australia flight and subsequent Kuala Lumpur arrival to meet Ryan).


The details of the STN boat trip were vague so we set off with what little knowledge we had; a street name “Poppies One” and the name of the hotel “Ayu Beach” that the STN crew MIGHT be staying at. After a good hour and a half of Indonesian scavenger hunting, which included the random yelling of our contact’s names “Chris Rehrer! Tom Bauer!”, we stumbled upon our 4th hotel of the night to be greeted by Tom Bauer (picture a flowing white haired Moses in boardshorts). Upon our late arrival we were welcomed as one of the family and informed that the boat trip was leaving the next morning at 7am; what a close call, whew!


The Surfing the Nations group was comprised of charging Hawaiian loc dogs (shoots!), crazy fun and hilarious Swedes, smiling and occasionally biting Bangladesh boys, laidback Californians, eager Floridans who only know how to surf Hurricanes, and us landlocked “Colorado Boyz”. The group was about 50 people distributed between 4 boats, where you live/play/eat/sleep/dance/jazzercise/jam session/scope/swim/and overall enjoy the paradise that Indonesia so naturally provides. Our boat was the guys boat, rightfully named the Coconut Boat. Through the seven days there were many activities, places, and events that can be much more efficiently addressed in a list so enjoy my efficiency/laziness as I number the days:


1: Leave in afternoon, go to nearby island Noosa Lombongan and surf Shipwrecks at sunset, learn to jump off boat with surfboard and catch first wave in Indonesia a 3-4 foot mellow and peeling right, “Welcome to Indo”


2:Arrive in Lombok and surf Desert Point which is small and full of longboarders and party waves. Evening jam session with Jason, Ryan, and myself including reggae riffs on the guitar and freestyle lyrics. Including a fiberglass boat roof that imposed an uncomfortable late night itch followed by a 3am shower.


3:Lombok in morning with bigger surf at Desert Point, tiring swims in the ripping current to access flips and backflops off of our neighboring boat. Gili Island in the afternoon which included soccer with the local kids and walking the island with a couple of them (Harry, Danny “ladies man”, and Johnny) who scaled 30 ft coconut trees for us to enjoy as a refreshing beverage to compliment our island sunset; I really wish I had a camera for this moment (this is what traveling is all about, enjoying the locals lifestyle and connecting with people)


4: Sumbawa Island where we cliffed jumped in beautiful Yoyo’s cove and I performed my 2nd wonderful backflop off a rather high cliff. I was a little out of it for the rest of this day while we sailed to Scar Reef, but do remember night time when the always optimistic and radical Alan found an 8 foot poisonous sea snake in his bed. Upon our discovery and congegration, our boat’s noise was overcome by the sound of roman candles firing double-fisted off a neighboring boat, which was reprimanded by the 3rd of 8 shots and was followed with the phrase “I can’t stop em, I can’t stop em” (hilarious, thanks Tyler Bitner). Ryan also happened to comment that the surf had been so mellow and relaxing that STN should be Stoneskipping the Nations.


5: Swell hits Scar Reef and turns on a wave machine that produces constant lines of 14-18 foot reeling and hollow “bombs” that you could easily drive a VW bug through. It was amazing to witness these waves and the crazies that tamed them it; this was also a full celebration of Jason’s 23rd birthday which also included a baby bird feeding of Chris Rehrer and a reggae dub man-choir version of happy birthday that Jason called “my best happy birthday song ever!”


6: Scar Reef is still pumping in the morning and I decided to muster the courage and commitment to charge after one of these monsters. After much contemplation I dropped in on a solid 10-12 foot set wave, planted my feet while racing down the face of the wave, and was suddenly “closed out” on my bottom turn and instantly thrown into the most powerful whitewash I’ve experienced (like an American 110volt washing machine plugged into a 240volt international plug and set on the “angry” setting). After multiple flips, spins, and the powerful muffled roar I found myself inside for 5 more set waves, sitting a mere foot above jagged reef, humbled and powered by the comradery that Chris was also stuck inside with me (misery definitely loves company, which also suppresses the onset of panic). It was a great event and intense experience and in the words of Chris, “awesome” (no he’s not a sadist, it truly was amazing to experience, although I’d rather make the wave and not do it again).


7: Commute back to our port and enjoy the rolling ocean and times shared through music, surfing, soccer, hanging with locals, and living life to the fullest.


I’m getting too wordy with this email and will now direct you to the pictures; or if you’re like me, you scanned this email, realized it’s long and you’ll read it later (which you won’t) and will go straight to the photos below.


We are alive (fully) and breathing (sometimes underwater). Thanks for caring,


Tyler, Jason, and Ryan (our latest addition, aka. “Newbie, New Guy, and Wolfie”, honestly he’s never known by any of those names)


SAME PICS AS BELOW/BEFORE