As Alvin opens the window of our 3rd floor apartment, on our first day back in Ubud, Bali, I see something out of the corner of my eye, fall from the window onto the floor. "What was that?" I quickly ask, almost not wanting to know. "Oh, don't worry Alvin responds, it's only a BAT! OMG, now if there's one thing (or maybe two) that I'm afraid of, Bat would be at the top of my list. I rush outside while giving instructions not to move the bat until after I'm long gone, but still within ear shot, I ask Alvin for a play-by-play on the status of the Big Black Bat. "Is he moving, is he flying, is he in the bag yet?" Alvin tells me that he gently eases "The Bat" away from the wall and slowly serenades him into a small white muslin bag suitable for Bat catching, what else???

He tells me that he appears to be extremely content in the bag and doesn't think that he wants to go anywhere. Alvin says that the Bat's probably going to stay with us and I tell him that there's a vacant apartment up the street with my name on it.

I guess that did it, the bat disappeared as quickly as he came and once again there was peace and quiet in our 3rd storey apartment tucked up a narrow little street!