Bali 12/15/22012

If you want to get to paradise, it takes a long time to get there. We woke at 6 am on Wednesday morning, 12-12-12 to finish the last minute packing and headed to the airport for a 1 pm flight to Tokyo. After flying 13 hours, we had a two-hour layover and got back on the plane for a 7 hour flight to Singapore. The planes have flat bed seats, which are interesting as they are arranged at an angle and feel like personal pods.

Between Tokyo and Singapore we were so ready to sleep. When I tried to put my seat into a flat position the seat belt got stuck under the seat. The flight attendant got my seat belt out and I tried to get my seat to lay flat only to find that it was stuck and would not move in any direction. The flight attendant returned, pushed the reset button to no avail. Now there were two flight attendants taking my seat apart with no luck in getting it to work. A third flight attendant appeared and I was told that they would be right back. I think they had to radio the mechanics on the ground to find out what to do. Now I had three flight attendants disassembling my chair and working on the control panel. They could not get it to lay flat but they did get it to move again. By this time I was so tired, I told them it was fine, I just wanted to sleep. In the morning the flight attendant asked if I would like him to put my seat back up and I was most happy to let him deal with it. I then sat down to find that part of the seat belt was again lost under the seat. The flight attendant returned, fixed the seat and asked if he could give me some miles for the inconvenience. I told him that I would not refuse them. I gave him my “skymiles” card only to have him return and say that the number was not being accepted. He took Jon’s card and it worked fine. Wouldn’t you know Jon got the miles for sleeping through the entire episode. I guess the moral of the story is that new things are wonderful … if they work.  

We arrived at 3am (Singapore time) on Thursday the 13th, fell into bed and slept until noon…too late for the breakfast menu so I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and we headed back to the airport for a 
3 hour flight to Bali. The Singapore airport is enormous and full of beautiful orchids and Christmas decorations. Everything is decorated in white and silver and quite impressive. Looking forward to our return to see the city.

Arrived in Bali at 8pm (Bali time) so when we got to the hotel it was dark and we couldn’t see much. There is a definite style of architecture here and I am looking forward to seeing the Temples, rice fields, beaches and why this island is often referred to as paradise.

Our room is included in our cruise package. We have a garden view room (villa) that has an outdoor patio, small pool with a fountain and a bedroom with a high ceiling made from bamboo poles. All of the hotel personnel are in native dress. This morning we are both tired and went back to bed after breakfast. Today is going to be a lazy day. Will have to explore the hotel and the island “mañana”.