It claims to be the original Irish bar in Bali, and the first. How those can be different I am unsure. It doesn't serve draught Guinness, and although it plays fiddle dee dee music between the band's sets, the band (same band, three times a night, every night) has never played an Oirish note, not trodden on Oirish soil, have never heard of poitchin, or EU subsidies, or eurovision or the Holy Father, or anything remotely Oirish. In international terms, it is the...

What a delicious day.... As my inwards started to right themselves, I wanted to get away from the tat shops and see more of the island. I found an outfit providing 'real Balinese countryside experience tours', run by an old guy raised on a farm who subsequently taught himself English and realised that the odd tourist wanted to get a handle on the real thing. His syllables were sometimes out of order, and his accent was a cross between those of Yoda and the wor...

I've already waffled on the topic of Balinese driving. But here's a gem for car lovers I couldn't let slip through the net. Have a quick look at the photo attached to this entry. It looks like oversized sample bottles for sale at the roadside. Actually a diversity of reused bottles are available at nearly every roadside emporium, no matter how incongruous. Furniture seller? Yep. Clothing shop? Probably. Money changer? a fair chance too. What is it in these em...

Please excuse the brief radio silence. As watchers of Facebook will know, this is partly because I have been enjoying the wonders of Balinese cuisine with increasing brevity as Bali Belly struck. I was keen to spare you the unpleasantness. That said, this little episode has not been without a few moments... Momentarily I lost 3 kilos in two and a half days (that's six and a half pounds in old money). Obviously it was predominantly due to dehydration, so I had ...

As the Pet Shop Boys (ft. Dusty Springfield) once sang, what have I done to deserve this? Ignoring trade press, all the magazines printed in the world examine one issue: how to be more attractive. How to look good? How to look better? What suits you best? Why is he attracted to ybeing favoured aperture of the genre being the multiple choice quiz, which, ladies, is not written by skilled psychologists who might cost a bomb, but by the girls from the office armed ...