My first lie in for the better part of two weeks and I still ended up getting out of bed at 9:30 as I just couldn’t sleep any longer. I had some plans so that wasn’t a bad thing.

First up, I finished the book I was reading and went to the nearby bookshop to swap it and another I’d finished for one more to tide me over. The book shops round here, in case I didn’t mention, are great. A little pricier than I’d have expected but jam packed with stuff I really want to read. The trade-in prices are quite fair, too.

I treated myself to an McD’s for lunch, then got one of the lads at the hotel to take me to Carrefour so I could try and get a replacement camera. There was only one dealership selling Olympus’s (Olympi?) and it seems that the new version of the camera I have that just broke won’t work in the underwater housing I have. It’s just too big and the buttons are in the wrong place. Great. Maybe I’ll have better luck elsewhere, but in Bali I’m limited to here or a trip to Denpasar.

My next mission was to find a decent, well-recommended and cheap tattooist. I won’t say what I’m getting, but after a haggle over price at one nearby I’ve got an appointment for tomorrow evening. Photos after the event! The guy’s catalogues of past work are impressive, but the clincher was an Aussie family who were leafing through the books. Dad had two arms-ful of work from this shop, all several years old and as clear and colourful as the day they were done. The price wasn’t as cheap as I’d imagined, but still less than back home.

Tonight’s plan is to meet my Brazilian friend, Fabio, for dinner, then to watch the football at one of the nearby pubs. I believe we’ll be watching Arsenal (hopefully) embarass the mackem filth. Tomorrow I may be watching Evertone embarass us, so perhaps I shouldn’t shout too much.

Oh, and beer will be involved. You betchya. I’ve not had a real tankful for over two weeks. I just need to make sure I’m sober by 7pm tomorrow night when some nice man starts jabbing an ink-filled needle into me.

*update*

After the fact/beer… We were joined for dinner by Fabio’s Chilean room-mate and a Canadian girl from my place called Valerie. Fabio and I went on to watch the football as planned, and what a turgid affair it was. Come on Arsenal – how can you only manage a point against the great unwashed? Good grief.

To lighten my mood, as Fabio left when the game finished I was accosted by a couple of very tall Irish gentlemen. They recognised me from China Beach around 2 1/2 months ago! I’d played volleyball with them on my little afternoon trip from Hoi An.

They were on their last night in Bali before heading Oz-wards, so I tagged onto their group which also included a lass from Newcastle and two German girls. We made our way to DD’s which was showing the Man U game, then on to another couple of bars and then the Bounty club. I made it back to my room around 6am armed with a large bottle of strawberry milk.

Don’t ask. I just like strawberry milk.