Freedom of movement
Forget socks, shoes, long sleeves, and while you're there, throw away your watch too. Your body moves in a different way without layers of clothes, or at least that's the feeling. Only downside is you might be tempted to do more physical activities, like exercise, go for a jog, things like that. But so far apart from few exceptions I've been able to keep the focus. Being barefoot most of the time also means you actually feel the ground you're standing on.
Shower under the stars
The balinese-style bathroom I had in the hotel in Kuta was a little world on its own. Main carachteristic is being on open air. Discovered the pleasure of a shower under the tropical rain, or even better, a shower under the stairs. An open air bathroom makes you realise: it's never going to be cold here!
Sounds
The sea is constantly around me. The sound of the waves never leaves me. From having lunch to sleeping, from having a beer to cheking my mails, the sound is always there. It will be strange when leaving this place not to have that constant soundtrack around. On top of the waves my lullaby when in bed at night consists of frogs, geckos (did you know they make such a loud noise? I thought it was some giant night bird! Also i think they're called geckos because they go: geeeeee koo!), water from the pond, crickets and other unidentified flying insects (UFIs).
Food and drinks
Yes, if the snapper or the crab was alive when you ordered it, it definitely tastes better. I saw a boat called Catch a Snapper, while a restaurant is called Wrap a Snapper. My diet consists 80% squid though, I just love it. Bananas fried in coconut oil? Yes, please. Lombok in Sasak language means chilli, so I'm making sure to have lots of lombok while in Lombok (like having a Kilkenny in Kilkenny?). To drink, rice wine, or even better palm wine. In a tall glass put ice, squeeze a couple of wedges of lime, add a couple of spoons of honey, then add the palm wine and stir. Dash of tonic water optional. The also have a cocktail called Malaria Killer, I rely on my pills for that though.
Arachnophobia
Spiders and various insects are very tough, and have quite a personality. Normally you can blow an ant away, but here ants hang on to you, used as they are to tropical winds. A lizard or any other reptile will normally run away if you make some noise, like stomping your feet. Here they look back at you as to say: got a problem? The spider in my room deserves its own poem, so here it is:
The spider in my room is so big and tough...
..I've thrown a sleeper at him, he threw it back!
..I offered him a cigarette.. he accepted!
..He wears sunglasses even at night!
..He uses the leftovers from my dinner as a starter!
..He saw himself at the mirror and got a fright!
..He wakes me up at night when crawling around bumps into things!
..He crawled more than the Google spider (or so he says)!
..He came to the hotel on his scooter!
..He flies around with a bubble from the gum he's chewing!
..When he's in I sleep at my friend's place!
..I only saw half of the sunset!
..I wrote this poem for him!!!The one in the pic it's not actually him, but will give you an idea nonetheless. Of course I'm exaggerating, it's not that bad here with insectsssaaaahh.. ahhh.. heeeelp.. ahhh...fhdfgjhgkfjgjdff gfdgjdfksghfds dsfgdfglfsdgdfgsfds
More Lombok stories...
