Kuta for the day

I took the shuttle bus to Kuta it is about an hour and a half by shuttle bus, stopping first in Sanur. It costs about $12 USD round trip by shuttle. I just went down for the day returning at 4:30 pm. I like to look at the shops and restaurants and the DVDs are a lot cheaper in Kuta so I stocked up on some movies to watch on my laptop in my hammock at night. Got some software, stopped in the big department store and looked at all of the fashions, shoes, perfumes, etc. I had a funny experience they really don’t have many restrooms available so I had to go to the fourth or fifth floor of the department store where you go through the locker room for all of the employees. They all wear identical uniforms and almost all have their hair swept up in identical buns like flight attendants. They all have on makeup, which is not very common with the locals I know in Ubud.

I took a picnic lunch of guava, mini bells, and some pomegranate juice to the beach and sat in the shade under some trees. After lunch I went down by the waves and sat in the sun but it was very hot and the beach sand was full of debris so I did not stay too long.

The second time I went back to the restroom at the end of the day it was the time for the shift change and hundreds of employees were crowded into the locker room… it was crazy. I took a photo and they all smiled at me and laughed… all except for the the security guard who looked me in the eye and shook his head no… I quickly put the camera away. They were frisking all of the employees as they came out of the locker room to return home. All of the women for the new shift were quickly putting on makeup in the mirror. It even seemed like the makeup was standardized; pale-pink eye shadow, bright pink cheeks and lipstick.

On the shuttle back to Ubud the only other passenger was a girl ironically from Colorado. We talked the whole way and when we got to Ubud I walked with her to show her the street where her home stay was located pointing out all of the good museums, restaurants, and getting a fresh avocado juice before sending here on her way.