May 27-28, 2026
Yesterday afternoon when we returned to our Bali hotel room, we felt shaking. Ooooh, an earthquake, another reminder of our location on the Ring of Fire. That is the last straw. Aimee insists we head home. We had a final meal with our travel companions.
This morning we took Grab to the airport. This time we paid for the Premium ride. Still only $7 for a half hour transfer. The Bali airport is named after a heroic soldier killed battling the Dutch during the war of Independence. His picture also graces the back of the 50,000 Rupiah note. On takeoff, we get a great view of 10,000-ft Mt. Agung, the active volcano that periodically gives Bali grief, but also makes the soil so fertile.
During the flight, I am served a lunch of smoked salmon salad and a spicy shrimp curry. I think Aimee and I were getting tired of Indonesian food because we were only served dumbed-down non-spicy food. We were the only ones in the group who liked spice.
It is a long process to get home from the other side of the world. After landing in Singapore, we take the Skytrain to our departure terminal. Humorously the shuttle goes right down the middle of the Jewel shopping center giving us a chance to view the central waterfall again, albeit only for a few seconds.
Since we are going with the wind this time, our flight back to San Francisco is less than fifteen hours. I take advantage and have a couple Singapore Slings, while feasting on the Singapore specialty of Chili Crab. We land in refreshingly cool weather. And because we crossed the International Date Line, we landed at precisely the same time as takeoff. We got our lost day back. It is late so we spend the night at a nearby hotel.
We head to the airport the next morning early for our noon flight home. We signed up for an airline credit card last year and got two free passes to their lounge. We used them today. Good thing we had them because our flight was delayed three hours. The lounge has nicer chairs, and free food and beer. It is still a long day just to make this short last leg. Finally on board, we take off and fly over the city giving me a nice view of the Golden Gate bridge before hitting the cloud layer. The skies clear when we hit the desolation of the Mojave desert. We circle south of Tucson on our approach passing over a huge Pecan farm, the largest in the world with over 100,000 trees.
Aimee and I are both happy to be home. The humidity was a killer that we are no longer used to. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were both nice modern big cities. Indonesia was full of traditional culture. Bali especially so. I am still amazed that virtually every home had a significant household shrine.
Unfortunately everywhere we went was crowded with traffic jams. Who knew so many people lived in this part of the world.
