It is the fifth night that I am spending in our little abode at the top of a hill in Jimbaran. It is not huge, but it is big enough for us. I am currently typing from my PC that has been set up the study, R is next to me, chatting with his business partner online. It is another quiet night, except for the air planes that fly by twice each evening.

Our ’square’ house has a living room, a bedroom, the study, and an empty room meant to be the dining area. The toilet is next to this dining area, and its door is next to the door of the dining area. To enter the kitchen, we also have to step through the door of the dining area and take two diagonal steps to get there. But if you take about 10 steps forward, you reach a really small room, which we intend to transform in to a maid’s room.

Outside the main house, there is what we call the garden. It is essentially a sand pathway where we can park the motorcycle, abd there are some plants, as well as a pond. Much has to be done to transform the garden in to something that we prefer. For now, it is alright as it is.

As 95% of Bali’s population of Bali are Hindus, there is a small shrine in almost every Balinese abode for making offerings to the spirits of the island. We are both Catholics, but because we respect the religion and culture of the country that we are residing in, we are getting someone to come and perform the offerings for us.

The street where we stay is quiet. We have three immediate neighbours, one each to the left, right and back. Then there are two diagonally opposite us on the left. Further down the road on the way out, there are a couple of villas and a few other houses.

The neighbours on our right are noisy from early in the morning to late afternoon – I get back at them with our bedroom hysterics *winks*. The neighbours on the left are pleasant and we just greet them when we see them even though we do not really know them. We have no contact with the other neighbours.

We have a stray cat – named Fiona by the previous tenant (R’s business partner) – who visits us every evening, and has been getting more than some from the other male strays cats; there are a couple of frogs who strike up a symphony when the mood hits; geckos tend to appear in the toilet, and mosquitos are kept out of the house by the netting that R has fitted on the windows.

While we have a stereo; the computers (we are working from home) with Internet connection; a television; a refrigerator; flush toilet & bath tub; DVD player (mine from Singapore), we do not have a washing machine. For now, all our laundry is sent to the laundry – we pay about S$6 to wash a pile of tops, bottoms, underwear and towels, and they come back pressed and folded neatly for us too!

In the long run, we hope to have a live-in maid to help us with the laundry and upkeep of the place. This means we have to redo the kitchen and put in a washing machine as well.

After all that is said, it is early times yet. Will update again with links to pictures once I’ve taken them, as well as news on what I have been up to for the first week.