NFL Week 14: Bali

Our attention this week turns to Bali, where we went last October (2012) with another family from Guangzhou – and Don and Mike and their wife flew in. This was a destination that caused some disagreements in the review afterward – was Bali really the tropical paradise that it is made out to be?

Let’s just start off by saying that the place where we stayed was unbeatable. We rented out a property that had 3 separate “houses” on it, with 4 master bedrooms and another kids’ sort of bedroom. The place had a pool, and was staffed with a cook and cleaners/housekeepers during the day, and security detail 24 hours. Oh, and it was 100 m from the beach, with an unobstructed view. Even 15 months later, the memory of that place still is stunning.

 

The week started with me watching NFL football at 5 am on the lounge chair by the pool (with the security guards absolutely perplexed as to what I was doing) as the waves could be heard lapping on the shore closeby. Pure relaxation for me.

(The vacation started a bit differently for Don, as he spent the majority of 4 hour flight from Hong Kong to Bali in the airplane bathroom. He got over the bug in 2 days and made a solid recovery).

We didn’t venture off the property until the 3rd day – when I took the boys and their friends to the water park. When heading off the property, you got the feeling that you left paradise and are now in a typical Asia country. Traffic was horrible across the island. People everywhere walking/biking on the streets. Roads that twisted and turned and made no sense. Every outing off the property took an hour, at least.

Midweek, we took a day long adventure to head to the volcano in the middle of the island and bicycle down. The bike tour itself was wonderful – great weather, multiple stops to see a Indonesian’s family’s home, a rice paddy and several processions on the local streets where we were traveling. (Apparently, it seems that there is a reason to have a festival on every day of the year, so this is a common occurance). My bike riding skills were put to the test ; I had a child seat in the back of the bike to carry Martin. He was a fine passenger until the last 2 hours;I started feeling this “thump” of a dramatic weight shift every so often. Martin was out cold – and he’s flopping around back there with the ride. It took a while to get used to the sudden random shift of weight going on back there!

The adventure itself took about 5-6 hours, which was the length of the round trip car ride to and from the volcano. Yes, I exaggerate, but not by much. It took a good 1;45 to get there and 1:30 to get back….The total distance was probably about 15 miles from the villa to the volcano…that’s the most frustrating part.
The week flew by with swimming in the ocean and pool, eating and drinking plentifully, competitive 6-person Hearts games (don’t mess with Michelle) , and massages. But it ended on a sour note - again involving leaving our little slice of heaven of a villa.

We sometimes had to walk to the ATM for cash for groceries; there are no sidewalks on the strees where we stayed; instead, there was a concrete drainage ditch on one (or both sides) of the street – and there is no protection from the street to the ditch. The ditch was a good 1 foot below street level, was about 2 feet wide and had “water” in it that was the color of Hershey’s syrup.

Well, on the last trip to the ATM, I crossed a driveway intersecting with the street; in trying to walk back on the street, I got distracted and missed the road, and my foot went into the sludge while scraping the concrete on the way down. So not only is my foot covered in goop, the concrete caused a nice open scratch in my foot/shin – that then went into the water. Gangrene, anyone?

I guess I don’t see why Bali is just “paradise” to many – if we consider the island. The island is not naturally beautiful, and it’s congested and a lot of stores with tourists crap stuff. But oh, the place we stayed. If people refer to that – an idyllic villa – as Bali paradise, well, yes, I can be on board with that.

No real neat segue to the Browns this week – maybe the beatdown this week will be a bit better than the concrete scraping above – but I do recall the last time we played the Pats, at home in 2010. This was a game where the back up QB, on the road, took a knee- as the losing team! Somehow the Mangini-led Browns beat the Pats by 21+ in a November game in Cleveland. I’m pretty sure that won’t be happening this week.

On to the games:

Bal 27, Min 21. Can the Ravens actually lose this game? The Vikes are playing well – but Baltimore will eke this one out at home.

Cin 23, Ind 20. I have a feeling this will go down to the wire with Luck having the ball.

Oak 20, NYJ 16. I’m done with the mess of a Jets team.

Phi 31, Det 24. Does anyone give the Philly D any credit at all???? It’s like Foles is playing defense too, with the media attention.

Mia 20, Pit 17. I think this Steelers team is way overrated – but you knew that.

TB 27, Buf 20. What a demoralizing loss for Buffalo last week. I think they will be playing with a hangover.

KC 27, Was 23. No idea here. I hate both these teams.

Atl 23, GB 20. Rodgers is still out; the Falcons are full of vets that still are going to play hard.

Den 31, Ten 21. Will the cold get into Peytons’ head? Not going to touch this.

Az 19, StL 16. I still like Jeff Fisher…I’m a sucker.

SD 27, NYG 13. I still don’t believe the Giants are any good……it was Jeff Triplette who gave that game away to the Gians last Sunday night.

SF 27, Sea 21. Let down game for the Seahawks and nothing to play for, and a desperate SF team that is playing better.

NO 31, Car 14. I’m riding the Saints at home until I fall off.

Chi 34, Dal 33. Neither team has a good defense; should be a shootout.

Best bets: 16 of them. Last week: 4-9; overall: 93-90-5

Ind +7
Oak +3
Phi -3

Mia +3 1/2

TB -2 1/2

Buf/TB over 42

Atl +3 1/2
KC/Was over 44
StL +5 1/2
StL/Az over 41 1/2

SD -3

NYG/SD under 48

SF -2 1/2

Sea/SF over 41

NO -3 1/2

Dal/Chi over 49

Supercontest: Last week: 2-3; overall: 32-29-4

Ind +6

Phi -2 1/2

Atl +3 1/2

SD -3

NO -3 1/2