Good Times!!! Been back for about a week now. 1 week is definitely not enough.
Firstly, a big shout out to my Balinese buddies, Fauzan, Joe, Manok, Danny, Made and the rest of the Pit crew. They were kind enough to come pick us up from Ngurah Rai airport with 2 cars. Yeah, there were about 8 of us on one flight, plus all the boards, 2 cars was just nice. On the fisrt day, we wasn't able to do much really. We arrived about 2pm and by the time we checked in, it was about 5pm. But that didn't stop us from hitting the surf at Kuta beach tho. Wavehungry city boys...and girls...hehe.
The next day we headed down to Serangan. After that, it was back to Kuta beach. The day after we rented a Kijang coz the local guys had only one car available. It was about 100,000rp per day. Not bad in my opinion. We started off early in the morning and headed down to Balian. It was about two hors from Jalan Legian, where we were staying. Oh what a beautiful place this is. The surf there was super heavy (by city boy standards). I didn't feel confident in hitting the surf so I stayed out and shot some pics and watched the surfers that were in. Hats off to David G, Mun Hoe and Joel, the only three KL boys who braved the surf. Fauzan got a couple of good rides too but even he came out early and admitted that it was pretty heavy out there. Once everyone was out, we packed up and headed to Medewi which was about an hour away from Balian. The surf in Medewi is very similar to our cherating break (left break). There were lots of rocks there and the fact that I saw many surfers wearing booties didn't really make me jump for joy. Apparently there are many sea urchins there so it's not a good idea to walk around in the water. Neverheless, some of us went in and it wasn't too bad. The waves were ok in size but the problem was that there were many surfers. And being a point break, that wasn't a good thing. However, I waited further down (as I usually do when theres a crowd), and managed to get some of the leftover waves. Getting out was an issue cause it was all rocks but I managed, not without getting a couple of scratches and dings on my board.(Note to self, remember to ask how to get out also nextime).
The rest of the days, I pretty much surfed Kuta beach and drank lotsa bintangs. Still, it is my favorite spot next to "Playground" at Nusa Lembongan simply because it is just the right size and power for my level of surfing. Also, I love chasing rights and lefts and learning to read the waves. Not to forget being able to come out and chill with a bintang while watching some really good surfers. All this can be found at Kuta beach.
Overall, during this trip, I really felt that by being a city boy and living 4 hours away from the closest break that progress is rather difficult if not impossible. Waves any bigger than head high and heavy is really a test to ones mental and physical capabilities. However, I do still enjoy surfing very much and plan on surfing till I can't surf no more. It is my dream to someday live near a surfing beach and be able to surf daily.
Next, Singapore...
