Bali, Indonesia 2007

There is waaaaay too much to write about Bali in one sitting, so I will give only a synopsis of my trip. It was truly life-changing experience that I will never forget....Here goes...

First and foremost, Bali would be just any other island in the world, without its people. However, its not, because the people are amazing. They are the most gracious people I have ever come across. They are constantly telling you "Thank you for visiting my country" and "please tell your friends and family about Bali, so that they will visit too." They will do anything you want, and are happy to do it.

Night 1 and Day 2 were spent in a town called Nusa Dua, which is an area of Bali strictly for the resorts. Some of the nicest resorts in the world can be found in Bali and they come at a very low cost. To put things in perspective, Most run about $100 a night or would be the lowest tier of a reward stay (which is why we went this route). Anyhow, we were put in this huge 3-room hotel room and we basically sat poolside and beached it for the day. Later that night, we had dinner at Jimbaran Bay which is a popular place to go watch sunset and eat on the beach. Literally about 100 restaurants in a row where you eat on the beach and can be serenaded by a little Balinese guy singing a butchered version of "New York, New York" since we told him we from the US.

Next 3 days were spent in an interior town called Ubud. My parents came to Bali 2 years ago and stumbled upon a house for rent in the middle of the rice paddies. My mom has gushed for 2 years now about how great their experience was at this house. So I contact the guy and before the trip and arrange the deal and transportation. So he picks us up and drives us 45 minutes north to Ubud and along the way is literally any home furnishing you could imagine, in any material you could imagine. Balinese are known for their handiwork, so carvings are particularly popular. People pay thousands of dollars to have this stuff sent over to the US for their homes. So we arrive at the house and its smack dab in the middle of the rice paddies. Small streams running on every side of you as part of their irrigation system. Immediately out of the car are 4 Balinese ladies, completely nude, washing their clothes in the stream. Sorry fellas, that's it.So we go in the house, which is surrounded by a wall. Its a 3 story house completely open on all sides, made of bamboo with a thatch roof. Imagine (pics later) a 3 story tree house complete with a maid/chef, security guard, 4 bdrms, 2 bath, with a lookout tower. As glamorous at that sounds, it actually was a bit of a wake up call. The transition from 5-star luxury to the Swiss Family Robinson's abode, wasn't exactly easy.

Every morning about 530a, about 50 roosters all at once would let out their first cry. This would continue for at least the next 3 hours until it was too hot for them to belt it out. Each morning, I spent the morning awkwardly sitting on the toilet to avoid the 4 inch spider that hovered in the web above. The perils of a completely open air bathroom i guess. Another highlight was chasing off the carpenter ants and dodging the bats that circled the inside of the house each morning.

We spent those 3 days exploring Ubud, and all that it had to offer. Its truly the culture mecca of Bali that stays true to their religion, as oppose to praying to the gods of tourism. We were fortunate to be in Bali during on of their most important holidays, Galungan. Equivalent to our Christmas in the US. Each house was in charge of putting a large bamboo pole outside of their home as an offering to the visiting Gods. As well as each day, taking a small offering to their nearest temple. We saw a traditional Legong Dance, the monkey forest, local temples, Batur Volcano, towering rice paddies. It also kicked off the shopping, which is amazingly easy on the bank account. We bought a ton of local crafts, including my very first M. McConnaughey bongo drum.

Prices were as follows:
Beer = .50
Dinner = $2 - $15 per person
Intricate carving = $5 - $15
1 Hr. Long Massage = $5
Room and Board (which always included a large breakfast) = $20 - $40 per night
Taxi Ride = $5 - $10
Motorbike for the day = $5

Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.

Upon leaving Ubud, we headed back down to the Beach to the town of Kuta. Kuta is like any other typical popular beach destination. It had the commercial stores, the nightclubs, the retired surfers, etc. It was however a lot of fun... lots of shopping, restaurants. surfing, and dodging passing motorbikes. It was also the place of my first surf lesson, which turned out to be a trying experience. All I can say is, Its not as easy as it looks! I picked it up though and it was a lot of fun.

We toured other local towns like Tanah Lot, Seminyak and Legian, which all offered a their own slightly different flavor of Bali. All along the way continuing to accumulate more and more luggage to carry home.

The final two days were spend in Tejung Benoa, which a another strip of Bali playing home to major resorts. Staying in these places is definitely not my first choice, but its hard to pass it up when it comes at no cost and equipped with a working air conditioner. We stayed at the Conrad Resort which was amazing. All of the traditional ways of a hotel stay are disregarded in Bali. When checking in, they ask you to go sit down at a table, which is immediately followed up by a waiter serving you a drink on the house. We were taken to a very nice room that when you stop off of your back porch, you can walk down steps directly into the pool. Anyhow, when it comes to service, these people cut no corners. Each night in the lounge, a huge spread of finger foods were laid out with an open bar followed by some sort of Balinese cultural performance, including the Kecuk Dance, another very traditional Balinese ceremony.

The last day we rented motorbikes and toured the southern part of the island. We set off for the Temple of Ulu Watu, which is on a huge cliff that overlooks the Indian ocean. Our guide into the temple told us to take off all of our jewelry, sunglasses, etc., because otherwise the monkeys would steal it from you and you would never see it again.

Later that night, we boarded a plane from Bali on the night of July 1st, landed in Guam on the morning of July 2nd, then landed in Honolulu on the night July 1st, then a plane from to LA which landed back on the Morning of July 2nd, then finally to Houston to Austin later that afternoon.

That's about it...with a lot of details left out. I am pretty sure the nearly 500 pictures and videos that I took will tell a better story, but I thought I would give my lowdown first. Again, I can't stress enough that the people of Bali are what make it special. It is definitely someplace I would like to revisit time and time again.

You can view pictures from the trip here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/MarshallMHill/Bali2007

Safe and Happy Travels...

Denver Reunion - 2007

Fenway - Yanks vs. Sox

Dominican Republic 2007

Puerto Rico 2007

Whistler!!

Kaboody FEST 2007 in Whistler..

Jackson Hole

Weekend trip to Jackson Hole, WY

Road Trippin' to AZ

Road trip from El Paso to Arizona...

D.C. always a good time...

Weekend in D.C.

Panama

Trip to Panama in Summer of 2006

St. Louis...Gateway to the west

A weekend trip to St. Louis...

Bienvenidos a Miami

This was our 2006 Boys trip to South Beach...miles away from ordinary...

The Windy City

Next stop: Chicago! I know what you're thinking... Chicago in January??? Yeah, Chicago in January!

I was running really late to the airport, and there wasn't a chance in hell I was going to make it on time. Well, as it turned out, Old Man Winter gave me a blow to the gut, when arriving to the airport in Austin. The smiling American Airlines agent, so eager to say, "I'm sorry sir, your flight has been cancelled(snow storm) and we have you booked on the next flight, SATURDAY MORNING!"

So, this meant waking up at the crack of dawn and catching the early bird to the Windy City.
Which is known as the Windy City, not for it's weather, but for it's boastful politicians shortly after the Great Chicago Fire. It is also sometimes called the Second City (2nd best to New York City). If you walked down the street in NYC, everyone would be decked out in wool coats and nice shoes, but Chicago prefers the Ski jacket and tennis shoes style to keep warm.

I arrived to Chicago on a beautiful Saturday morning. The grounds were white with snow and the sky, a clear blue. I made my way to Bita's hotel, where we could finally head out to settle who served up Chicago's finest deep dish pizza. Giordanno's served us our first pizza of the weekend, which actually turned out to be our last. It's a must when visiting Chicago though.

I have still not had a chance to see a game at Wrigley, but I did get to see the outside of the historic stadium. Lights for Wrigley Field were originally suppose to be installed for the 1942 season, but because of World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Phil Wrigley donated them to the government. Legislation was passed
to keep lights our of the stadium, but MLB insisted, so in 1988, it was decided they would install lights at Wrigley Field.

After walking around Wrigleyville, we headed back towards downtown and came upon the barren Chicago City Zoo. The animals that were ok with the winter weather were out and about, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. The zoo, however, is in the middle of the famous Lincoln park. The park had a blanket of snow covering it from the night before, but it was a really great site. I can only imagine how nice it is in the summertime.

Saturday night we had a great sushi dinner(Papajin) and enjoyed drinks with Woo and Sarah, some of Bita's good friends. From there, we headed to The House of Blues to see the Neil Diamond cover band, SuperDiamond. The crowd was a mix of 20 somethings to baby boomers all dancing to "Sweet Caroline" and "America." An interesting experienece to say the least.

So after three visits to Chicago, I am convinced it is a really cool city. However, after all of the visits falling in the winter, I am going to go back next time in summer...its just too damn cold.

The Granddaddy of em all!!!

With winning a National Championship, comes a lot of pressure, which makes this kind of thing even more hard to write about. I have had a ton of people ask me how it was in person, and the only answer I have been able to give is "Amazing!" I still don't feel like Amazing is doing the game and the feeling justice though. So here goes...

After about a month of scouring Ebay, Craigslist, and avoiding scams to send money to the UK, we finally found tickets for reasonable price. When I say reasonable, I mean we didn't spend $1k each. 2006 Rose Bowl Tickets were being touted as the single most hardest ticket to buy in the history of North American Sports!

Tuesday night, meant LA or Bust and after some delays at the airports, we were LA bound via a brief stop in Houston. I have traveled all over the world and have never seen so much support for a sports team. Every 3rd person in all of the airports/flights was decked out in burnt orange. We arrived in Ontario, CA around midnight and headed over to pick up our rental car. Jokingly, I ask the clerk whether she has any Burnt Orange cars in stock. "As a matter of fact, I do!" This was an obvious sign of good things to come.

Wednesday, January 4th, 2005: Game Day.
In all of my life, I have never been so excited and or nervous about one particular event. The Rose Bowl, The Granddaddy of them All, the National Championship Game! My first call of the morning is from Cody, asking whether he should go with his game day shirt from freshman year (a now funny shade of peach) or a true to the color, Burnt Orange. My immediate response, "This game is so much bigger than a shirt, Cody!"

We headed out to find our tickets around 10 a.m.. At this point, I am still nervous, because it is the day of the game and we still do not have the tickets in our hands. As were walking to the hotel, cars are honking at us and asking us for tickets, just because we are wearing burnt orange. Finally, we arrive at the door that our Rose Bowl tickets are waiting behind and at last we have our tickets in hand, hologram and all. Next stop: Pasadena.

After commuting via foot, subway, train and bus to get there, the old bowl they call "Rose," is finally in sight. We did have a brief scare along the way where Bita thought she had lost her ticket during the commute, which almost brought both of us to tears. That's all I am going to say about that. Cody and Kate had arranged a tailgate that was put on by the Texas team doctor. It was my first and probably last time to tailgate on a golf course. Thousands of people and cars trampling the grass just goes to show how much more important this game was.

It's really hard to put the excitement and energy surrounding the game into words. It was shoulder to shoulder, Cardinal to Burnt Orange, for about a mile in each direction of the stadium. There were people walking around with hundreds of dollars in the air and single tickets were going for $2400, making my tickets that much more priceless. We headed into stadium plenty early to make sure our tickets were real and that our seats were empty. To our surprise, we found ourselves sitting smack dab in the middle of about 50,000 USC fans with the nearest Longhorn about 10 rows away. It was going to be a long night if the Horns didn't show up to play. After LeAnn Rimes sang a stirring rendition of the national anthem and a deafening B1 Bomber fly over, the game ball was parachuted in and the Greatest Game of All Time was staged and ready to begin.

I will spare the details of the game, if you weren't one of the 68.5 million that tuned in, I suggest buying it on DVD. The final 6 minutes of the game were the most intense minutes of my life. A roller coaster of emotions, that left me completely drained in the end. All of the memories of being of a Texas fan came down to 4th and 5 and all my wishes granted by the legs of one, Vince Young. The USC fans were left stunned that their 34 game winning streak had come to an end and the Texas fans ecstatic that our 36 year wait was over. The USC fan next to us handed me a $20 bill and said, "Go buy yourself a bottle of champagne and celebrate, You two are great fans!" We celebrated over In and Out burgers instead.

I am going to repeat myself and say that words just don't do the game and the experience justice. It will forever be one of the most memorable experiences in my life. I left with the feeling I had just checked off one of the "things to do before I die." Light the Tower Burnt Orange, we are coming home National Champions!

My home away from home ... NYC

This past weekend's trip to NYC marked my 5th trip to NYC this year. It is truly my favorite city next to Austin. Having lived there for a summer, it gave me the appreciation that New Yorkers have for their beloved city. Each time that I visit something else is uncovered within the city and within myself. I can't really explain it, but those who have been or have lived there, should know exactly what I am talking about.

Anyhow, flying stand-by this time around proved to be much easier than previous visits. I caught the early bird out and just so happened to run into my knee surgeon on the flight. He and his wife were also headed up for a weekend in NY and the Duke/Texas game. I am pretty sure that I paid for both his wife's mink coat and their weekend getaway.

The highlight of Friday night was managing our way into an old prohibition bar, The Back Room. It is disguised by a sign out front that reads "Lower Eastside Toy Co.," but the big black man standing out front clued us in that we had found the right place. It turned out that a 20 spot and little cleavage was enough to get the 4 of us in for the night. All the drinks of the bar were served in tea cups and saucers and towards the back of the bar was a bookshelf that doubled as a door in the "secret VIP room." Unfortunately this night, it was going to take more than cleavage to get us into the room, because Benicio Del Toro was having a private party in the back.

On Saturday we woke early and had breakfast at a small diner(Bonsignor) in the city, where Bita ended up wearing her coffee. Saturday also meant the second round of Cody (lived in the city for 3 years) versus Kate (been in the city for 3 days) arguing over who knew the city better. From the diner we decked out in Burnt Orange and headed to the Meadowlands for the Duke/Texas basketball. I won't go into detail about this, but let's just say it was ugly. Vince Young did make an appearance before his date with the Heisman ceremony.

Later that night, we headed to SoHo for a loft party called Christmakkuh. Showing up early proved worth it, because it was packed with 300 plus by midnight. It was a good party, but short-lived, because it became a shoulder shove contest. We ended up schmoozing our way into a club called Table Fifty. Lots of dancing to tunes from Kanye to Culture Club. Check it out, if you are in the area.

Sunday morning we woke and decided finally settle the bet on who made New York's finest pizza, John or Ray. So John fed us lunch, but Ray still has a place in my heart. We spent the remainder of our day fighting crowds at Rockefeller, hunting for bargains at H&M, and strolling through Central Park. The serenity of Central Park is always present whether winter or summer and it turned out to be the favorite part of my trip.

To my surprise, Vince Young sat in front of me on my way home and all I could muster up was, "Hey Vince, Are we going to beat USC?" He responded, "Yeah, we'll get em." Music to my ears and a perfect ending to my last NYC trip of the year.

Rockin in Little Rock

This weekend I decided to take a short trip to visit a college friend Mark Warner who is currently living in Little Rock, AR (not by choice). I set out early on Friday in effort to beat the afternoon rush to the airport, and had no problems getting out on the Austin to Houston leg of my trip. As I was boarding the the plane, sitting there in 1st class was Eric Estrada. Also better know as Ponch!

Mr. Estrada has come a long way since the days cruising the streets on his bike in "Chips." He was sporting all of the lastest fads (Mickey Mouse watch, 5 strands of power beads, 3 gold chains, and a blue jean jacket). It was like 4 decades wrapped into 1.

After the short flight to Houston, I had to stand-by for the next flight to Little Rock. I missed the first flight by 1 seat and then couldnt get on the next two. 4 hours later my name was finally called for the 730 flight to Little Rock. They actually bussed us out to the runway, stored my bag under the plane, and loaded us on. After finally sitting down in my seat, I was breathing a sigh of relief, when I hear "Passanger Hill" being called out over the PA system. When flying as a non-revenue stand-by, this is NEVER a good sign. Before I knew it, I was being pulled off the plane and driven back to the airport, bag in hand.

After about 20 games of Sudoku, I finally got to Little Rock about 10 on Friday night and was more than ready for a beer. We headed out to the bars in an area called The River Market. In the heart of it, runs President Clinton Ave.

Prez Clinton is not the only famous celebrity, because while Mark and I were drinking beers in Little Rock's most popular Piano Bar, in walked Scottie Pippen. Yep, he was as tall and as ugly as he is on TV.

I also got the priviledge of going to my first and last University of Arkansas football game. Unless they are playing the horns of course. Don't get me wrong, the people of Arkansas are some of the nicest people I have ever encountered in my travels, but some of the worst dressed. I have never seen so many people wearing camoflauge and sequins at any place in my life. Quite the site and only the Hog fans can pull it off. The photo below can further explain what I saw.

Needless to say, my trip to Arkansas was an unforgettable one and it made flying stand-by worth the price once again.

Evolution of Milktoast

Welcome to wide world of Milktoast. I am sure you are asking yourself, "What in the #$%* is Milktoast?!" Well, I really have no idea myself. The nickname was given to me by my Uncle David in high school and it has just served as my screenname ever since. I have since looked it up in Webster's and found out that the word actually exists, but is spelled, Milquetoast. Anyhow, this is how Milktoast was born.

We were on our way to a family vacation to Destin, FL and while driving down I-10 (which now, I am sure is considered Hurricane Highway) he decided that we should all have nicknames for the week long trip. My friend John Groberg and Jenny Cannoles had come with me on the trip, so they of course, we lucky enough to get nicknames as well.

The naming process:
In HS, Groberg had the tendency to mumble and some of the things he said could not quite be understood. So when my uncle asked John what his last name was, my uncle mistook it for Homer. So Homer's nickname was Homer.

In 1997, a very popular song on the radio was by the Outhere Brothers titled "Boom Boom Boom let Me Hear You Say Way-ooh" and the lyrics went like this:
boom boom boom let me here you say way-ooh
me say boom boom boom now everybody say way-ooh
boom boom boom let me here you say way-ooh
me say boom boom boom now everybody say way-ooh

So with that song coming on the radio every ten minutes, my uncle decided that our friend Jenny deserved the nickname "Way-Ooh."

With Jenny and John both sporting their new nicknames, this left me. Based on the criteria that my uncle used to name the two others, I had no idea what to expect, other than something really ridiculous. Well, the next thing out of Uncle Dave's mouth was, "The other day I was drinking some milk and eating some toast." A light bulb appeared above his head and there it was, my nickname for the 1997 Hill family vacation...Milktoast. Not to be confused with Milquetoast.

MMH