By a strange twist of fate i ended up with two options, the first was to join Michael and Wenjun for our agreed date to Bali, or the second one to join the president of World Marketing Association for a Chinese New Year Celebration in a 5-star hotel in the centre of Surabaya. Well, it is quite obvious that i went for the second option! What it meant to me was that i had to catch up with with Michael and Wenjun in Bali the following day, thus i had to catch a plane the following morning, they took a bus according to their schedule, but the journey by bus usually takes around 11 hours as opposed to 30 min by plane, so that i was behind just a few hours As i had only one day for arrangements, my flight became quite expensive, however on the other hand, it doesn't happen to often to meet the president of World Marketing Association, other valuable businessmen from Asian business scene and also some honorary consuls of many countries. Yeah, it cost me a fortune to get a flight on the last minute, but is was definitely worth it! I would do that again if i had to!
The celebration was taking place in a 5-start hotel on the occasion of Chinese New Year Eve celebrated this year on the 14.2.2010, which was the Valentine's day. Well, you certainly ask how come i got this invitation..? Well, it was a big coincidence, the president of World marketing Association happens to be the honorary consul of the Czech Republic! And one AIESEC person accidently mentioned my name in front of him that i was taking an internship in Surabaya and he was so eager to meet his first Czech person in Surabaya and hence i was in!! Yeah!! How cool is that!! The hotel was amazing, dinner was spectacular and on top of that i was given the original edition of "Marketing in Turbulent Times" by Phillip Kotler who happens to be the best friend of this honorary czech consul! Wow... i was speechless!! And the final straw was the fact that i have met there an absolutely gorgeous woman! We are still in touch, we went out for a couple of times and had a wonderful time together. Something tells me that this is not the last time i saw her, when i graduate from UQ, i definitely need to see her, either in Indonesia or any other country as she wants to work overseas as well. She is currently employed in the Marketing Association, however we want to plan the future together, so who knows... Too many things were happening...!! I am so stoked that i attended that event.
Well, the following day i caught a plane and got to Bali! I was only three hours behind Michael and Wenjun, which was perfect. Hmm, as soon as i landed in Bali, i immediately noticed certain differences between Bali and other Indonesian cities. Lots of tourists, predominantly Australians (i would say more than 80% of all tourists), local people not as kind as in other cities and constantly trying to rip off foreigners. I took a taxi to get myself to our hotel and then to meet Michael and Wenjun on the nearby beach! Well, the beach was vastly disappointing, lots of rubbish on the beach as well as in the sea! While paddling in the sea, one plastic bag, another one and so forth.. Also, lots of vendors hassling you all the time. I was wondering, this is Bali??? In Bali, commercial places are good just for shopping, not sunbathing or enjoying the beauty of Bali. The following day we decided to rent scooters and drive around the island of Bali and suffice to say that it was much better. Beautiful places, spectacular views, amazing rice paddies, local way of life, palm trees everywhere. no foreigners around, black sandy beaches, magnificent temples, very kind people, beautiful lakes, very freezing mountains (yes in Bali) where i got drenched many times while riding a scooter resulting in having a cold these days :(. We also went diving and because i have a diving license i was allowed to dive deep enough to see shipwrecks...so cool! Our entire stay was concluded by clubbing, which is an absolutely must experience. Drinks are sort of cheap and there are only foreigners in the clubs. Our last day we spent in the hotel to recover ourselves from the last night. Just a few hours before coming back to Surabaya we decided to try local traditional massages. I got a big guy to massage me, whereas Michael got a sexy and skinny woman to massage him, not fair, hey!? :)
In summary, Bali is great, but if you happen to go there, don't go to the commercial places, otherwise you will be heavily disappointed! There are lots of places that are worth a trip, but unfortunately they are not really mentioned on internet! Go figure! Or contact me and i can give you some feedback.
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