Another great lesson... (Part 1)

*** Warning: This is gonna be a very long post. Be warned! ***

Part 1 of my experience in Bali

For those of you who know me well, you will know that I am absolutely in love with Bali. I can't seem to get enough of Bali. People don't get it. My friends don't get it. Even my family doesn't get it. But what I do get is this sense of calmness and peace whenever I'm there so I've resorted to having my holidays there once a year. My annual retreat.

Last year was an exception though as I was there twice. Once for holiday and the second visit was to attend EBS. You can read all about my experience in EBS here. I learnt so much that I decided to come back as crew. After all, it's also in the giving back that lessons are to be learnt.

I had forgotten all about crewing until I received an email early this year reminding me to submit my flight details to the organiser. I didn't even have my flight tickets booked yet. I was still lucky enough to score really cheap tickets though. Under RM300 for a return flight, meals and travel insurance. Viva Air Asia!

And this time I thought I'd just coincide my annual retreat to Bali with EBS instead of flying there twice. Happily bought my tickets. 8 days in Bali! My longest trip ever.

Just few weeks before my trip, I found out that the day after I arrive was Hari Nyepi (Silence Day) in Bali. Clever me forgot to check the calendar and thought that I had gotten the deal of the century with the cheap tickets from Air Asia. No wonder!

I have all these great plans for my trip. I was gonna stay up in the north and take a boat out to see the dolphins at Lovina. I was also gonna visit the ancient village of Trunyan and its cemetery. Checked with Wayan, my good friend in Bali, and there is no way we'll be able to make it to Lovina. Trunyan is still doable.

So my new itinerary will be to check in to a hotel nearest to the airport with free wifi and pig out for a whole day. On the morning before EBS starts, we'll head off to Trunyan. Sounds good!

Just before my trip, I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Urichuck and his son, Dave from Canada. En route to EBS to be a mentor, Bob stopped by in KL for a momentum session with XL members in KL. That's part of his giving back.

We had decided to hook up in Bali before EBS to maximise our trip there. After all, Bob and Dave flew over 40 hours to be in this region. Nothing fixed but we'll just go with the flow.

I decided to read up more about Hari Nyepi and this is what I learnt. Every year on the first day of the Balinese Saka calendar, the whole island of Bali shuts down. And I mean shuts down completely, totally. It's basically no lights, no sex, no work and no play for 24 hours. From 6am till 6am the following day. Even the airport is closed for 24 hours!

So what do they do for 24 hours? I had a chat with Wayan when I arrived in Bali as we were having dinner to find out more. Celebrations actually start the day before Hari Nyepi. Families prepare meals as no work is allowed. There is a huge party on Kuta beach the night before. We were caught in a massive jam between our hotel and Kuta while searching for a place to eat.

For Wayan, personally, he refrains from talking for 24 hours. No chats with his family, no phone calls. He spends the day meditating and fasting. If possible he won't even reply to text messages on his phone.

At dinner, we also decided on our itinerary for Friday. Pick up from our hotel at 8.30am and proceed to XL Vision Villas to pick up Bob and Dave. Then off to Bu Oka in Ubud for brunch. We thought it would be nice to introduce Babi Guling, a traditional specialty food of Bali, to our friends from Canada. After brunch, we'll head to Trunyan and we'll be off to Le Meridien for EBS right after. Sounds like a plan...

On Hari Nyepi, it was a total day of relaxation for me. Had late breakfast and stuffed myself full coz I wasn't gonna eat much the rest of the day. I'm not a big fan of hotel food especially when it's prepared with limited supplies of raw material. Went back to sleep after breakfast and basically just spent the day taking naps in between tv shows on cable.

I was lucky that Harris Tuban came with free wifi and 60 channels of cable tv. Wifi wasn't very reliable on that day probably coz almost everyone at the hotel were stuck in their rooms and was clogging up the bandwidth.

Oh, and while at breakfast, I actually saw 2 policemen dressed down in black with the keris at their belts patrolling the streets to make sure that everyone is at home or in the hotel. Anyone found out on the streets will be issued a summons and fined. It's serious business.

And the lesson to be learnt here? Well, we create all this hype about Earth Hour and how great it is that major cities around the world are switching off their lights for 1 whole hour. Big deal!

When I experienced Hari Nyepi here in Bali, it's amazing to know that they have been practising this for centuries. A total shutdown for 24 hours to reflect on the year that has passed and to ponder on the year to come. It is in this 24 hours of solitude that true appreciation is given to all that they have. If only the rest of the world can follow suit and not make a big fuss about it when they do. And I believe if the whole island can shutdown completely for 24 hours, especially when tourism is the core of the island, I am sure that the rest of us can do it as well. After all it's only 1 day out of 365 days in a year. And if we, the rest of the world, can come to a common understanding and adopt this practice, I believe that all of us will learn to appreciate life so much more...

To be continued...