I’m writing this next installment of my companionship saga at the San Francisco airport. My daughter dropped me off here an hour ago. I whizzed through check-in and security and am currently waiting for my first flight, a 12-hour overnight flight to Taipei.
The fact that I’m flying to Asia tonight is just starting to become real. And it will become even more real when I walk on that airplane.
For a moment, I’d like to return to my friend Joanie’s expired passport dilemma. (If you didn’t read my first post in this series, you may want to go back and read it now.)
Because she is an optimist at heart, Joanie has bought her round-trip ticket to Bali. She is packing her bag, texting me things like, “Do I need to bring a plug for my electronics?” (Yes, it has two prongs.) She is laying out her clothing by color on her bed, deciding what color scheme to choose for her clothes for this journey. (What a great idea!)
And she’s waiting to see if a renewal for her passport arrives in time.
Getting a rush passport is challenging when you live in rural Hawaii. Joanie had to Fed Ex her renewal application through a courier service that will deliver it to Washington DC. And the privilege of this “rush service” was going to cost $500.
Gulp.
But Joanie was determined. She wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity to go to Bali.
So she got all the paperwork done, and was all prepared to set the process in motion Monday morning. But then trouble hit.
She sent me this text:
“This passport service company that works with FedEx (and I chose them because FedEx is reputable) told me that I needed to drop the package at a FedEx location today by 3 PM for the overnight service.
“I left my house at 11 AM following Google’s instructions to the main Hilo FedEx shipping center.
“But Google was wrong. It took me to a boarded up industrial building on the outskirts of Hilo airport, outside the fencing.
“So, I googled the second FedEx location in Hilo, a drop off inside OfficeMax. I went there. I verified that this was priority overnight mail, and that it would get to Washington DC by tomorrow. They said their last pick up was at 10 AM so I would have to go to the main FedEx ship site. That’s where I had already tried to go unsuccessfully.
“Armed with verbal directions to the main FedEx ship site, I found it inside the confines of Hilo airport.
“I dropped it at the desk and confirmed that it would go out today. “No,” she said. “Our plane left at noon.”
“It was 12:30. I would have made it if Google had the right directions to the FedEx ship site.
“So, the passport application is arriving on Thursday in Washington DC, which gives them one business day to turn it around because the state department is not open on weekends.
“And there we have it, mercury retrograde in blazing neon lights, laughing at me.
“Still trying to thread the needle.
“Anyhow, my package will arrive in DC on Wednesday. They have Thursday and Friday to take care of it. They’re a federal office and they’re closed all weekend. Supposedly, I’ll see it Monday or Tuesday. And that is what they call ‘same-day service’.”
Joanie’s plane from San Francisco to Bali departs at 1:00 AM on Wednesday.
And so, we wait.
Regardless of when (or if) Joanie arrives, I now have a week on my own, have readjusted my expectations, and am excited about the adventure.
I’ve decided to spend four of those nights in the village of Sidemen.
Sideman village is located at the Karangasem Regency in the east part of Bali, 1,400 feet up, on the slopes of Mount Agung, the highest mountain in Bali. Sideman is famous for its textiles, silver, and natural beauty.
I’d booked a few days there between the two back-to-back writer’s trips I led last summer, but alas, I tested positive for Covid the day I arrived in Sideman, and spent my whole time there sick, masked in bed, trying not to give my friend Eileene Covid. (Thankfully, I succeeded—she didn’t get sick).
It wasn’t until our final day in Sideman that Eileene and I finally went outside—for a long walk on the main road and then down a steep windy hill until we came to an outdoor children’s dance school and spent a lovely hour bantering with the children and watching then dance. Further down the road, we came to a restaurant with a panoramic view of Mt Agung. It had great food, and we learned it was a retreat center. I took a card from the owner thinking, if I ever come back to this village, this is where I want to stay.
But of course, I lost the card. My searches on Google hadn’t turned up anything that looked familiar. It was a long shot but I texted Eileene: Do you remember the name of that great place we had dinner our last night in Sideman?
No luck. Eileene was just as clueless as I was.
So I gave up on finding my dream hotel.
But then, I had a brainstorm: Google maps to the rescue!
In my saved emails from last summer’s trip, I found a receipt from the hotel Eileene and I had stayed in—the one I’d holed up in. I located that hotel on Google maps, used my fingers to widen the view, then traced the walking route we’d taken to get to the dance school and the retreat center. And voila! The missing name suddenly popped up on my screen: Subak Tabola Villa.
I went to their website and recognized the place right away.
Unfortunately, it’s high season in Bali and Booking.com told me that the 14 rooms at Subak Tabola Villa were completely sold out for the potential dates I had available.
Darn! So close and yet so far.
Late at night and early in the morning, I started scrolling to find other guest houses and hotels in the area, but most places were booked, and the ones that were available didn’t feel right.
I found myself repeatedly returning to the Subak Tabola Villa website with its beautiful images and gamelan music playing in the background. I just couldn’t let the place go. So, on a lark, I sent a Whatsapp message to the link listed on their website. I must have hit the timing exactly right because they texted immediately, saying they’d check with the manager and get back to me.
The next day they wrote again, letting me know that the family room was available: a giant suite with two bedrooms, big enough for eight people.
But I was just one person. I’d be swamped in that room—and the price tag went with a family.
After more whatsapp messages back and forth, explaining that I was just one person, they offered me a substantial discount on the family room. And let me know that they had another “deluxe” normal-sized room available for two of the days I wanted. It just goes to show you—don’t believe the booking sites. They only have access to a limited percentage of available rooms. Always check directly with the hotel.
I spent another day pondering which dates and room to take.
And then they wrote back one more time—this morning—to tell me they’d jus had a cancellation. They suddenly had one of the rooms I wanted for the entire time I wanted to stay there.
I texted back immediately with a big fat YES.
I’m going to Sideman!
