Bali Hai

Finally made it to Bali. I've already found myself adapting to the culture and uniqueness that is bali.

The flight: It was, as most good flights are, uneventful. We made it safely and China Airlines wasn't half bad. The 14 hour flight gave us plenty of food, AVOD and Asian people. Including Vinay. The best part of the trip was Vinay getting special "kosher" meals. Apparently they looked at both of us and decided Vinay looked more like a Jew.

We've been in Bali for a few days. If you've ever been to Bali, you understand how difficult it is to be in an internet cafe. Not only because of the incredibly high speeds of the Bali internet services, but also because it's Bali. And Bali is best served outside, at the beach, eating and drinking to your hearts content.

I'll do a better job of posting my experiences and detailing them later, but let me give you a brief overview of our vacation so far.

Food:
Great and cheap. If you like noodles, you will love it here. The noodles are tremendous and cheap. When I say cheap I mean $2 USD for a plate and beers are a buck. The local beer is a pilsener called Bintang and understandably, the morning are what we call the Bintang Hang. We were at a club where the local boys get you beer and service for 15000 IDR or about $1.50 USD. Apparently the IDR is closely matched to the USD, so this is one of the few places in the world where the dollar still works well for travel. I can't imagine how the Brits must feel.

Surf:
Bali surf is awesome. There is no limit of beach boys/touts willing to give you a surf board rental, or really anything you want (or don't want) including prostitutes, but more on this later.

Partying:
I never met a drunk Aussie I didn't like. Thankfully, there are millions of them here.

I will continue posting more later.

Sunday Glorious Sunday

This Sunday I was able to spend some quality time with my couple, Peter and Tara. We signed up for a Laguna Culinary Arts class months ago and today was the day. The class is called Sauces for Meats II. Naturally, we did not think about wasting our time with Sauces for Meats I, if such a class even exists, and went straight to the second level.

Our instructor chef was Octavio from Aliso Viejo. He was a relatively friendly chap with a great, big mole on his forehead. Naturally, because it was a cooking class, I wanted to say guacaMOLEy a lot-but I kept myself in check. Guacamoley! Holy Moley.

We began the session with class introductions. Most of the class was female, except for me and Peter, the entire class was female. Most of them looked like they were not only great cooks, but great eaters as well. Fun, large, excitable women... it made for a great class.

We got basic instruction on knife skills. At least enough instruction to avoid cutting off any digits. I learned some knew ways to cut shallots (onions), peel garlic and hold a knife. But, just the basics. Another class I had taken got more in depth with "knife skills" and I employed them with ferocious abandon.

The sauces we made consisted of reducing a concoction of sorts into a smaller, more viscous version of that concoction, seasoning to taste, straining and adding brown roux. Much of the stuff I won't have on hand in my kitchen like the brown roux (although it's easily made, apparently) and the demi glace, or what we call "gold" in the kitchen.

Oh, there was also a lot of Thyme in our sauces. And naturally, there were many Thyme puns going around the kitchen-"Do you have the thyme", "I don't have thyme", etc. It was funny in the atmosphere of Chef Octavio.

Here is the list of sauces we made:

• Lamb Thyme-Garlic Sauce
• Mustard "Robert" Sauce - our group called this Bob Sauce
• Marchand de Vin Sauce
• Orange Grand Marnier Sauce

My favorites were the Bob Sauce and OGM sauce. They're great for everything! Afterward, we fired up the grill and had our own throw down.

After the feast and a glass of wine, I was beat. I rested and relaxed, and let me friends Peter and Tara have some alone time. Next class: Sushi I

Friday in the OC

Yesterday was Friday in the OC. That means different things to different people. End of the work week, chance to cut loose and party, a time to relax. For me, it depends. My recent domestication in the OC has meant I like to kick back with friends, go check out a new restaurant or a tried and true sushi spot. But yesterday was different. The work was hard, the hours were long and the gym was rough.

After work a friend and I decided to get a surf in at our local surf spot. It stays light out until 7pm now, which, is awesome. Did I mention how much I love daylight savings time? Well, the surf wasn't great. I'm typically not a surf whiner, but it just wasn't worth getting wet, and that's unusual. But that's partially because we had plan B figured out before we knew plan A wasn't going to work. Plan B was a visit to Mutt Lynch's.

We have friends staying on the boardwalk for a month while their house is being remodeled, so we swung by. They were hanging out with their two beautiful, blonde children, but unfortunately couldn't make the trip to Mutt's. I don't blame them. I'd make the most out of my three story beach front, boardwalk house for a month too!

We continued to Mutt's down the boardwalk and took in all the glory that is Southern California. Birds, Beach and you name it :)

Upon arrival, we immediately ordered two large beers. These goblets of glory are the social lubricant required after a long work week and a great catalyst for amorphous discussions about the future of technology and communications. We had two each. Had we had a 3rd, we might have solved world hunger but alas, our own hunger was calling and I had sushi plans with my friends, Tara and Peter at Ten.

We walked back to the G-ride along the boardwalk-sun setting, buzz mellowing, dogs and people jogging. This was the beginning of the Friday I needed.