So today was full of firsts and adventure. Not the adventure I had planned but good experiences all. I woke up early and went for a jog on a path by the beach which was great. I really enjoyed the jog because I'm feeling a little flabby from the airline food and the lack of regular exercise. But more than that it was nice to be up at that time because the only people out were locals. There were families at the beach, locals out for walks, vendors setting up for the day, people preparing offerings, etc. And everyone was friendly and pleasant. They were not yet in 'sales' mode. If I walked down that same path now (afternoon) I'd be accosted the entire way with vendors trying to sell me rides, and tours, and souveniers, and get me to eat in their restaurants. So, like grocery shopping yesterday, the morning run was very pleasant. I'm going to get up early each day and do that. Then I unexpectedly changed rooms because my internet connection stopped working and I really wanted to keep sending you all these journal entries. That was a little bit of a hassle because I was all unpacked and settled in the room but it took surprisingly little time to move across the courtyard and the internet connection was worth that. So then I headed out for the day. I had rented a car and planned to drive myself around to a few places for the day and then have dinner at a restaurant up the coast that was highly recommended by both Greg's dad and several guidebooks. So I signed the contract and headed out. This was my first time driving on 'the other side of the road' so I was a little nervous but the driving went really well. All those years of shifting from the passenger seat while driving with my dad as a kid really paid off (thanks dad!) as well as a tip my parents recently got when they had to drive in New Zealand (keep your passenger in the hedge/curb). So driving went very well. Navigating while driving however did not go well at all. The maps are very rudimentry and my knowledge of the language or local towns is basically non-existent so after a few minutes I realized I would never find my way out, let alone back. So I turned around and headed back. That was when I got to experience another first - my first time bribing an officer. I stopped at a red light and was pulled over for a completely bogus charge of not wearing a seat belt (I really was Mom, you just couldn't see it and I looked like an easy target). The conversation didn't go that well and there other charges thrown around and a lot I didn't understand (English here is not really like English at home) but about 15 minutes later and 50,000 rp (about $6) lighter I left with my driver's license back (originally told I needed to leave that!) and no ticket. I'd heard from an Indonesian friend that bribes were commonplace but the guidebooks had warned more about poor drivers than greedy police officers so I wasn't expecting this. But all in all it went well and I learned a lot from the experience. (Stop worrying Dad. I was in broad daylight on a busy street and I handled it well. I am safe and sound and much wiser for the experience.) So by then I was worn out and went back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon of lunch, sunbathing (another first - I tried topless sunbathing. I figured why not? A few others are doing that here and so why bother with the strap lines? And no, there are no pictures of that in my albums), a workout in the gym, and a relaxing evening by the pool. Tomorrow I have a driver hired to take me out to all the places I intended to go today. So more adventure tomorrow!