Happy New Year from the Philippines

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

From the Philippines

Spent most of my 2007 portion of my Contribution Adventure tour in Philippines, traveling, visiting friends, and assisting with Landmark Eduction.

Will spend my New Year's eve with friend Aljor and other Landmark Education friends in Vegan, an historic Spanish town in Northern Luzon. Will be staying at the x-Governors house and swimming in the pool, maybe ride in an old house drawn cart.

I love you all and wish you were here so I could share my adventures with you in person.

Kisses and Hugs. May your New Year be filled with Happy Fireworks, and Abundance of all kinds.

XOXOXO

Sinagag Express

Lahug, Cebu, Philippines. I love cheap tasty food. A great fast food chain here in Cebu is Sinagag Express. My Cebu friends make fun of me because I call it Synagogue Express. The food served here certainly is not kosher. Sinagag refers to fry, as in fried meats such as pork, chicken, or beef “tapas”, or sausage or hotdog “salogs”.

I skip all the gut lining red meats and order the tanigue salog. This is a slice of tuna served on a sizzling plate with rice and an easy over egg on top of the rice. I like to flip the egg over onto the hot iron plate to cook the nearly raw top. Then I eat the egg with some of the rice seasoned with a dash of soy sauce. Yummy. I then proceed to the tuna.

All types of Filipinos drop in here to eat, or walk past on their way to somewhere. This is a great people watching spot, the equivalent of a doughnut shop in America. There are taxi and truck drivers, construction crews, telemarketing girls, policemen, late night disco dancers, and midday uniform wearing schoolmates. They all come for some fried meats & rice. This is the basic staple of the Pinoy diet.

The guys working at the Lahug franchise are friendly and competent. They want me to buy my own franchise (for which they probably get a commission). They claim their 24-hour Filipino cheap eats spot grosses at least 20,000 pesos a day. I told them this chain would do well in USA. They want me to hire them to work in America. I told them ok and worked thru the numbers with them. I converted minimum wage from US$ to pesos and they were so excited to get paid so much. That is until I also began to convert the normal expenses in USA for rent, utilities, food and transportation. I ended with their expenses totaling within 200 pesos of their theoretical USA salary. The conclusion was that they would have to come back to Philippines to enjoy a higher standard of living.

Yep, that’s why I’m here. To enjoy the cheap eats and higher standard of living that everyone can afford here in SE Asia.

LCP Revisited

Dumagete, Philippines-. I was curious to find out how much of the Landmark Forum my friends at Little Children of the Philippines remember and use after 5 years.

“Hello dong!” was the familiar greeting I received entering the administrative office of Little Children of the Philippines. The head administrator, Carmenia Benosa, welcomed me into the air-conditioned office. We talked and caught-up and she rounded up most of the 8 Landmark Forum graduates that I had sponsored to fly to Manila, stay in a hotel, and take the Landmark Forum in May and September 2002.

After our group photos, I expressed my interest in checking on their use of their Landmark Education. Some agreed to meet with me for dinner. Thus began a series of mealtime lectures and informal seminars that I lead over the course of the next couple weeks with them on the island of Negros in central Philippines.

In my 1st dinner meeting it seemed they remembered the nice hotel room, the meals and discussions together. So I arranged a 2nd meeting to review the Landmark Forum syllabus with them. Only a few came to this review.

I quickly came to two conclusions. One, that it does not work to 100% sponsor people to attend the Landmark Forum; they have nothing at stake for their lives and so do not listen deeply enough to apply the Landmark Forum to their lives. Two, that without a follow-up 10 session seminar series structure, people will not expand the distinctions of the Landmark Forum in their lives, and that their past will simply come back and displace their Landmark Education.

I also began my awareness of the gross lack of Integrity inherent everywhere with everyone here in the Philippines.

Ultimately I came to see where I failed to be Responsible for causing their Landmark Education to persist for them. I gave-up on them, rather than persisting to find a way to represence them to what they had learned during their Landmark Forum.

So I arranged another meeting. I offered to take them on a weekend vacation where we would have serious discussions and inquiries. We went on a series of long bus rides, and short stays and finally I arrived at the realization that they were tolerating me so they could have a nice vacation. They had no real interest in Landmark Education, and were not enrolled in me as a Leader of Landmark Education. Enrollment was missing.

We meet at a shopping mall food court where I took responsibility and put in Enrollment. I apologized for leaving them without a 10 Session follow-up seminar and abandoning them after the Landmark Forum. They were touched and finally listening. I continued with a couple shares of breakthroughs I have gotten using my Landmark Education. I asked them what would they like to revisit or what aspect of their life they wanted to discuss. Carmenia was interested in Integrity as a way to improve communication and results in their organization and in dealing with low Integrity families. I gave a short direct discussion of distinction Integrity using bicycle wheel example. They were really interested. We discussed real examples in their inter-staff communications. They saw the value in usefulness of this distinction. We agreed to meet again.

In our last Seminar dinner meeting we met at Food-Net a favorite restaurant and found a nice table outside. I began with the Not Listening exercise from the Advanced Course and the Communication Assess to Power course. They were so astonished and excited. I then gave my personal focused practical basic seminar so I would leave them with some tangible useful distinctions. 1st I briefly revisited Integrity as a foundation for workability. Then I gave them my killer communication distinction I got from GK a Seminar Leader in Malaysia, that it is Communication that Causes Workability. Finally I gave them the ordinary reasonableness thinking vs. unreasonableness. Ordinary thinking is:
Good Reason + No Result = The Result. Versus being extraordinary requires Being Unreasonable as access to producing breakthrough results.

So I left that final meeting Empowered that I had been a Contribution. They were empowered with new distinctions. And we all had fun inquiring into the Being part of being human.

Fisherman’s Net

Lahug, Cebu, Philippines-. I love outdoor dinning. Seems to me there is never enough outdoor dinning, especially here in the tropics. One place I found with friendly attractive girls, ok affordable food, best value fresh fruit shakes, and live entertainment is Fisherman’s Net. This place is actually 3 places. There is the street front covered grill area; the indoor fancy aircon restaurant, and the back garden setting area. My favorite is the street front outdoor grill. It has a cover band of 3 young babes and a big guy that play a couple nights a week. The girls are sexy but the sound system sucks (too loud & drop-outs) as is normal here in SE Asia.

“Hi Sir”, is the greeting I always get from the single guy there. But it is the big sexy smiles I get from my waitress Catherine, the enthusiastic fruit shake girl, and the cashier girls that keep me coming back. They are so cute, have young vibrant energy, and actually provide pretty excellent service, which is a not so common combination.

I was first infatuated with the fruit shake girl because of her bubbly personality and her excellent mango or avocado shakes. Then I fell for the great body of the young cashier from Bohol. Finally the broad smile, dark skin, slim body, and bright mind of Catherine intrigued me.

I was hanging out across the street at the Sinagang Express late one night. I like the inexpensive meals and the friendly workers there. Suddenly I see Catherine approaching. It was after midnight and she had finished her shift and was walking home. She came in and sat next to me with her broad sweet smile. We began talking. “What is your passion, or hobby?” I ask. “I don’t know”, she lies at first. I notice her hair is down instead of bunched-up in the hair net at her work. Wow, thick long black wavy sexy hair! Then she begins to open up. “I like Chess”, she admits. “Wow you must be smart” I reply. “I have a friend in America who is a Chess Master”, I exaggerate slightly. Actually Larry was listed as some level of Master at one point in his long years playing chess. “Are you good at it”, I ask. “There are guys that play where I walk past on my way home. I stopped to play them and won all five games”, she offers to illustrate her prowess. “I like to play chess on the Internet, I won 3 of 4 games last time. But I don’t have time or money to play.” I discard my dirty thinking about chest and playing on the Internet, and proceed in a normal conversation.

We talk more and agree to a date to go disco dancing. I gave her 100 pesos and told her to play chess on the Internet with it. She smiled and took it. Next time a saw her she said she had won 4 of 5 games on the Internet with the 100 pesos.
We had a great time dancing at 2 discos with her friend. Dropping her off late at night, the taxi took us to her shantytown neighborhood in middle of a field a half-mile from the main road. I asked to see her house. She seemed embarrassed but agreed, but would not let me inside. I enjoyed seeing the simple bamboo, plywood, & tin roof structures under the clear night sky.

I told her I liked her and she then replied with the words all guys hate to hear, “I like you too but only as a friend”. Ouch! Ok, well she is smart and young and saving herself for college and her ideal husband. And whatever.
I eventually moved to another part of town, so don’t see much of Catherine or her restaurant anymore. Still sometime I make the effort to stop by and get those smiles, visit my “friends”, and have a tasty mango shake, and get caught in the simple charm of the outdoor grill at Fisherman’s Net.

Insights from 1st LF in Cebu Philippines

Cebu, Philippines-

The 1st Landmark Forum (LF) occured in Cebu, Philippines Oct 12, 13, 14 & 16 2007. I had assisted on and off from end of July and full-time during the LF. This is a brief summary of my insights while assisting during the the weekend of the LF. I had many others prior to the LF which I'm still coming to grips with. The summary of the what's so with this LF will come in a separate entry or you can possibily find it on www.ilovepossiblity.info .

Insights:

1. I'm 'in-the-stands' NOT 'on-the-court' in my own life when I'm complaining or opinionating about others or myself or my surroundings. This basic fundamental distinction from day 1 of the LF is that conversations about a game (weither basketball or your life), like what spectators speak 'in-the-stands' makes no difference on the outcome of the game; vs. conversations that are the game, like what players & referee speak 'on-the-court' IS part of the game. Thus I'm 'in-the-stands' in my own life when I'm thinking or saying Cebu is a filthy city, or I'm too fat, or my sisters & brother should lose weight. This just allows me to avoid being responsible for causing something in those areas of my life, even if the causing is simply accepting and appreciating them just as they are.
2. When I know something & others don't, I think that they should know it and they are stupid. This I'm superior to you attitude allows me to hide my insecurity that others will find out how stupid I am. This is a combination of Racket distinction and the Already Always way of Listening distinction from the LF. In the AlreadyAlways listening topic Looking Good & Avoiding Looking bad is distinguished as a hidden context that runs our lives. So when I look good & others look worse than me I get to survive; Or at least my identity does for a short time.
3. A simple idea for me can be a major Out-of-the-Box breakthru for others. eg. Breakthroughs don't have to be big result type events. So its Day 1 and we didn't have any gold paper to print the LF Assistant nametags. So I say to the others well we can just print the nametags with golden color fill background. They looked at me like I was a genius and cryed out, "Yhee, breakthru out of the box thinking by James". The truth is I had seen my friend BJ already print Nametags this way before in Thailand. So to me it was neither out of the box or new. Yet it solved the problem immediately and simply and for the others it occured as breakthru thinking. So an idea that occurs as a breakthru for others is still a breakthru, even if I don't think so.

Ruthless Compassion as Contribution

To have a breakthrough one must cause an Interruption for oneself.
Susie Bragg, Landmark Education Introduction Leader


I've stopped tolerating.

Stopped tolerating out of Integrities. And stopped tolerating Being Nice. This on-the-court choosing to stop tolerating is distinct from knowing out of Integrity causes unworkability, and Being Nice runs my life. Those knowings make no difference in my life or my Being Contribution & Adventure.

But when I catch myself about to say "oh its ok" when its not, or "I'll not say anything and just be nice & pleasant" when I know I should say the point that's really on my mind, or "I'll just suck it up and live with it" rather than hold someone to their promise or to do their job; and when I catch myself and I choose to stop tolerating how its going... Then my experiencing real breakthroughs in my life becomes possible. I experience my power, freedom, & self-expression when I speak-up and stand for Integrity & workability.

But don't believe me. Try it for yourself. Stop tolerating. Don't worry about being mean or nasty. You would be mean & nasty later anyway out of built-up resentment & frustration (esp. with yourself). And you can always clean-up and be overly nice if it doesn't work being straight & standing for Integrity...

Creating 1st Landmark Forum in Cebu

My Possibility of Empowering Leadership is reemerging. This is a powerful way to be Contribution.

Cebu, Philippines –
Possibility is in the air in Cebu. The venue for the LF weekend and the LFES were easy to locate, great quality. “Cebu is a small world, everybody knows everybody” says Lianne Sala the local Cebuano LF Graduate standing for the LF to be here October 12, 13, 14 & 16. She and a small courageous yet influential group, including her sisters & mother, are sharing and standing for their friends, family, and local businesses to participate in this historic 1st LF in Cebu, and 2nd city in Philippines to have the LF. So far many people have registered and momentum is gathering.
We have had successful introductions at two well known local businesses and more businesses introductions and regular Home Introductions to the Landmark Forum (HILF) are scheduled. HILFs are Wednesdays 7:30 to 9:30pm, and Saturdays 3-5pm at Lianne's family home.

I am providing some training for this Team Cebu. We have had trainings on:
- Listening, Vivid Sharing.
- Landmark Assisting Program

I am excited and on the court. I already have guests and other people communicating with me for attending introductions or hosting an introduction.

Contribution Trip Notes - Transformation of Philippines Expanding

{Pictures to follow}
Dropping into the Philippines Landmark Education office/ after being away for 2 years I notice something has shifted. There is an abundance of new assistance all busy preparing production supplies or computer lists or phoning. And there is an air of intentionality and ownership that I do not remember before.


My friend Aljor Perras, the Center Manager & Registration Manager & ILP Weekend Leader & Seminar Leader, greets me and we catch-up quickly. Soon I'm assisting in my old familiar role, making Registration Fulfillment calls to complete participants Landmark Forum Information Forms & Hello Calls.

Transformation is alive & real here in Philippines. This is the Largest Landmark Forum (LF) in the Philippines! Turns out to be 184 participants starting on Friday July 20, 2007. And they have a LF scheduled for Cebu in October. Cebu is the 2nd largest city & in another part of the country.

And Aljor is not doing it all. There is Mylene as Course Supervisor with an abundance of CSA(s). Gids as Production Supervisor with several PSA(s). Lianne has has taken over Registration Fulfillment from Miguel as he does production. So many new faces as Iintroduction Leaders & Introduction Leader Program participants and assistants. Turns out there is 2 Introduction Leaders Programs running concurrently here.

I listen to one woman's "too busy" concern and acknowledge her commitment to the love & relationship with her daughter. And tell her it is the too busy conversation that she honors instead of promises to her daughter that is her barrier to experiencing the success she desires as a mother. She calls me back to thank me for our conversation and confirm her attendance at LF. She did in fact attend the LF and even put her name tag in the Interested in Assisting basket at the end of the weekend. Best of all was seeing her hugging & crying with her daughter on Sunday night, Day 3 of her LF.

Other highlights:

• Zeline De Leon assists again in Registration Fulfillment/ Admin with me. Another of the original heroes from 1st LF.
• Insights on discounting my contribution. A participant drops out during Day 2 of LF. I see that I failed to have him complete his LF Information Form so he had nothing at stake. I start to blame myself. Then I interrupt this and see that I'm discounting the 45 others that I DID complete their Information Forms and/or their Hello Calls so they were powerfully set-up to attend & complete their LF. From this I see that taking on an Accountability in playing a big game includes that risks of failure, and the the joy of success resulting in full Aliveness in living a life of contribution.
• LF Evening Session (LFES) has 531 guests. This is a major breakthrough for the Philippines.
• The LFES is attended by Emelia Marcos the former President's widow.
• The LF In Action Seminar has 97 people registered so it will be the largest Landmark 10 session Seminar series here in Philippines to date.
• Day 1 create All is Well and Day 1 normal kaos & "I'm too small" fear with my Registration Fulfillment Accountabilty goes amazingly smooth.
  
• Day 2 I create being Generous and have inspiring interaction with 3 street kids giving them Happy Meals, which they take home to families.
  
• Day 3 to LFES I take on Being Peacful & Enrolling. See how much I make things & people wrong. Practice giving up that and allowing peace to arise. Wonderfull complement to Being Enrolling as is allows me to really listen & get in other people's world.
• Coming FULL CIRCLE, the LF Leader was Poorani who I assisted at her LF here in Jan 2003, and with her as she Lead a LF in Orlando earlier this year.
  

[More story(s) to follow.]

Lembongan - Snorkel boat trips

Seems everyone has a side business selling snorkeling trips here on Nusa Lembongan. Buying bottled water at a small shop behind my bungalow the shop owner says he has 4 people already lined-up if I go it will be only 50,000 Rp ($6US). I agree to go, as this is a bargain compared to the normal rate of 75,000 Rp.

Next day at 10am the two couples and I wade thru the shallow lagoon water in front of Agung Bungalows and climb into our wooden outrigger motorboat and off we go. The shop owner, turned Captain, informs us that we can climb up on the roof if we want which I do to enjoy the view & avoid the sea spray.

This is the standard tourist snorkel trip: 1st stop is Nusa Penida for a drift snorkel along part of the wall and onto the reef flat in front of the village of the same name, Toypeka. Nice corals & cooler clear water. Mostly small reef fish but I spot a large triggerfish.

I point out a banded sea snake to the other tourists and one woman, named Asia, gives me her underwater camera for me to free dive down and photograph which I do including a picture of my finger on the snake as its head is safely in a coral crevice.

It was off this wall in 2003 when I free dived down about 50 feet to visit my scuba friends and saw a giant Mola-Mola (Oceanic Sunfish) that was about 3 meters long & high (10 feet). This deep-sea fish was probably 1200 lbs and came up to the wall to be cleaned by cleaner fish and to be petted by the dive master.

We start talking and begin a relationship that lasts for our stay on the island. Asia & Rich are Aussies with great stories of Darwin & Northern Territories. Chris a Canadian working in Australia and Ashley an Englishwoman, are the other couple.

Next stop Mangrove. This is a shelf reef area just outside the channel entrance to the mangrove estuary that covers the NW corner of the Lembongan. Nice easy reef with good coral and less current than Nusa Penida. Some sweet lips and Angelfish but all the fish are skittish here due to spear fishing.
We enjoy the wonderful views of the island and ocean on way back to our starting point. I get some good photos of where I’m staying at Tarci Bungalows and nearby Agung Bungalows.

Contribution & Adventure Trip Notes - Nothing is possible, and not difficult

I awoke this morning and realized it is Sunday. And 1 week from Day 3, Sunday, of a Landmark Forum in the Philippines. This week will be the 5th time that I will assist full time at a LF in the Philippines.

So when looking for a Context for today what came to me was "Nothing". Not your ordinary nothing, as in "what are you doing? Oh, nothing" meaning not anything particularly noteworthy. This Nothing is very noteworthy. It is the Nothing that allows for anything to arise and be possible in reality right now. The enlightened Nothing that all participants in the Landmark Forum experience on Sunday, Day 3 of their Landmark Forum.

But what I immediately had to deal with was my resistance to, or avoidance of Nothing. My inner voice said "oh Nothing is too hard, too significant, too big a thing to be in all day. You can't do that". So I told self "you've been in Nothing before, you can do it again". Then I noticed a fortune cookie fortune from the day before that had fallen onto the floor next to my bed. Picking it up I read it. It said," Nothing is impossible, only difficult". I corrected it to read:

"Nothing is impossible , or difficult". What I meant it to read is: Nothing is possible, and not difficult.

Then went out for my day. Wanted to fix my sandal so ask hotel manager lady where I can fix it (rather than I already know at the local market there should be a shoe repair guy). She directed me to Mr. Quickie shoe repair at a large shopping mall where I'm now posting this. The girls at Mr. Quickie (interestingly no men work at Mr. Quickie) loaned me a pair of chinellas (flip flops) while they quickly repaired my sandal.

Then I read my email. I got an email from June Paley a Landmark Introduction Leaders Program Weekend Leader. She has been coaching me by email. In part of her email in assisting me with an ongoing inquiry she asks me, "what are you committed to?" I had several immediate reactions or thoughts but still came up with "I don't know". This was immediately followed by "and I should know". I replied to her saying I would keep looking for what I'm committed to.

10 seconds later, the next email I read led me to a transformational essay by Laurence Platt on Living in I don't know:
http://laurenceplatt.home.att.net/wernererhard/livingin.html

Reading that inspiring essay I get the automatic & inauthentic phenomenon of the "and I should know" that follows my "I don't know". Then I'm suddenly free with my "I don't know" and I'm moved to tears by the experience of living life as an inquiry; just being with and bringing Nothing to "I don't know" allows for life to naturally and easily unfold. A profound access to Contribution and Adventure.

And an expression, or manifestation of the context of Nothing...

James Traveling from Bali to Philippines via KL

Flying tonight on Air Asia from Bali to Kuala Lumpur Malasia for overnight at airport. Then morning flt to Philippines.

Assisting at LF next week in Manila area.

Salamat Tingal Bali, Bye Bali. Sampai Jumpa, see you later.

Nusa Lembongan – Snorkeling & Deep Conversations

Went snorkeling with 2 couples and became good friends sharing meals & trips & late night conversations about life.

Chris is quite enlightened and interested in taking the Landmark Forum. Rich is an "Observer" and enjoyed starting and listening to our inquires about life & happiness. Asia has the underwater camera. Ashley(?) was good listener and sport.

More details later...

Nusa Lembongan – Being a Local

Asked Mrs Argus to assist me to dress-up in my traditional Bali ceremony outfit. She referred me to Belong, a local man hanging out with us at the Argus Shipwreck Bar & Restraunt. He quickly wrapped me in the two sarongs, purple sash, and udong (head band).

The other westerners asked me where & why I had this outfit and eventually I got around to sharing how I had inventing Being a Local. Thus I experience a relatedness and ability to contribute & be contributed to no matter where I am. Robert, an Australian tarzan look alike, gave me a ride to the village temple/ dance area on his way to watch a Rugby match at the islands only sports bar.

I arrived and like the other tourists was taking pictures over the temple wall of the islanders gathering for the Kuluningan Ceremony.

“Come with me” I hear a strong confident voice say. Turning, I see a smartly dressed middle aged villager motioning for me to follow him. I think, oh of course, I’m a local. So without saying anything I follow him around the wall, over the steps, and sit down next to him in the dirt inside the temple among the couple hundred villagers. I follow his example & adjust my sitting to the cross-leg position like all the other men of the village.

He introduces himself as “Ricky”. Then answers questions to the other villagers in Balenese. I imagine their dialog like: Villagers- “why did you bring this guy in here?”, Ricky- “he has proper dress like a local so is entitled to be here”. That settled, the village men & women surrounding me smile at me and settle in to looking forward or talking. Just like that I’m accepted as a local.

A woman with a fussing infant moves from the crowd to sit on the entrance step right behind me. The cute little kid proceeds to playfully push on my back with his feet. I occationally bump the knee of the guy just behind Ricky. I try not to stare at the cute young woman with her mother just to my front left. Mostly the women are in family groups on the left and men on the right.

The music & ceremony begins and Ricky gives me flower pettles & instructions for praying. “Use flower not 1st time but on 2nd & 3rd & 4th”, says Ricky. He seems unsure about the 5th time and starts to ask another man, but the music pauses to signal its time to pray. Up go the hands together and then to the forehead and back down. Ok that’s 1st time. Now 2nd time and I see the flowers pressed between the fingertips going up and rush to put my pettles in place; “Put flower in hair”, instructs Ricky after hands come down; so I stuff my yellow pettle in back of headband like the guys ahead of me. 3rd & 4th time again with quick prayer and stuffing flowers in hair. Seems like no flower for last cycle; just as well as I’m out.
[Pictures later]

Then comes the blessing holy water. As the priests & priestesses wade thru the sitting people they are springling drops and then pouring water on people. More instructions from wise Ricky, “hold hands like this”, as he demonstrates a cupped right hand on top of left hand. “Drink 3 times then put rest on head”, he continues. He skipped the part about raised palms on knees to accept the sprinkles. Proably too opvious to explain.

The priests cames and did whole blessing of a group of 3 women in front of us and then it was our turn. The sprinkles, I had to adjust from cupped palm to accept sprinkles properly then back to my cupped position and dripple, sip, dripple, sip, dripple, sip as we were holy watered like 3 potted plants.

Then I almost did a big fopaw. Immediately following the holy watering a silver bowl with yellow rice grains was presented to us. Hands went in to get their share to stick on foreheads & necks. I instinctly reached with my hand and stopped myself just as Ricky started to say something to me. I lowered my unclean left hand and reached into the bowl with my right hand. A collective sigh arouse around me followed by the unspoken, “I told you so not to have stupid westerner in here”. Surviving this near disaster the ceremony continued until all were holy watered & rice adorned.

Then it was over. Ricky, I & the back row hurried out to make way for the crowd exiting the inner temple. Ricky explained that he brought me inside because I had proper attire. He pointed out his house nearby and suggested I get a good spot to photograph the following dances.

Then we parted. And I was back in the mists of tourists. But somehow I was now also I part of the local community. There seemed to me the villagers didn’t look at me like they did to the tourists there. I talked with some other villages and they related to me like a local.
Invent a possibility, share it, and be it. Then it becomes real in the world.

Nusa Lembongan – Beach Kung Fu

Stopping at a local beachside Warung for lunch I got to talking with a village man. Turns out he is owner & instructor for Lembongan island Kung Fu martial arts and volleyball schools. I knew volleyball is big on the island as there are many volleyball nets set-up around the island. But I never thought about martial arts on a small island.

Soon a couple young boys in black kung fu outfits appeared. One boy is so peaceful & quiet until I try to photograph him. Then he is all smiles & joyful. He & his friends display & enjoy getting their photos taken.

The Kung Fu Master informs me that “only 40“ are going to Bali next week for a competition. There are more than 40 students on this small island! Gee then probably ¼ of the island has some martial arts training. I guess they don’t worry about terrorists here.

Later I get photos of the whole school practicing their forms on the beach at sunset. There are boys, girls, and adult men with varying belt colors.
Wow, kind of like a Karate Kid movie!

Nusa Lembongan – Manta Point

Flying along underwater just an inch off the back of the giant Manta Ray I thought, “I can fulfill a fantasy”, so I reached ahead and grabed the firm rubbery upper edge of his wide open mouth. But reality instantly ended my fantasy. Upon feeling my touch the Manta accelerated with such power & quickness that I knew I could never hold on. As he shoot ahead I saw that he was trailing a long string or fishing line from his left wing. A sense of shame came over me for being so rude & selfish with the poor trusting Manta. I apologized thru my snorkel hoping that I did not chase him away from his needed visit to the cleaning station here at Manta Point of Nusa Penida.

This was one of more than 8 Manta Rays that I and many scuba divers observed at very close range. I say more than eight because the low visibility limited my range of vision so I could only count 8 in my vision at one time. But I am sure there were several others just beyond the 9 meter (30 foot) visibility. The low visibility was due to dark clouds, strong surge currents & sand sediment from large ocean swells crashing on the nearby rocky shore.

The Dive Master knew right where the Mantas were. I just followed the diver’s bubbles until we reached the “big rocks” he had told us about. I was beginning to doubt that I could see them in the low visibility, but then told myself “I think it must be pretty hard to miss a big Manta ray even in these conditions.” Then, like on cue, a big dark shape glided in below me. My 1st gaint Manta Ray glided less than 2 meters under me then up around & over a big rock mound near the surface.

I followed the Manta to the top of the rock mound and soon was surrounded by a squadron of silent sea gilders. They ranged in size from some smaller 1.5 meter (4 foot), some medium 2 meter (6-7 foot), and couple really big ones 2.5 – 3 meter (9-12 foot). They glided over the rock one or two at a time. Once over the top of the coral encrusted rock they would flare open their mouth & gills to allow the smaller wrasse fish to come in to pick off parasites or algae or whatever else cleaner fish do. Occasionally a fish would bite too much and the large animal would twitch & flip a wing tip to accelerate leaving the little biter. Their funnel flaps where usually twisty curled but occasionally during cleaning they would be out in feeding position on either side of the wide mouth.

They had individual white markings or in the case of one large dark Manta almost no markings. So they were easy to identify by size and markings.

My line trailing Manta returned to get cleaning and even seemed to offer me another opportunity to swim with him. I was out of breath from a recent dive & having trouble with the strong surge so gladly thanked him without following.

Other fun behavior the Mantas exhibited including rising up at approaching another Manta then turning aside to just barely miss colliding; like two macho guys bumping chests. They swam with very little effort. Small flaps of the wing tips was more than I could do with vigorous kicking of my swim fins. I noticed that sand had settled on most of their backs proably from the sandy water in this small cove. I swept some sand off training edge of one large Manta’s back and felt small stiff hair bristles there.

As the morning progressed, more & more SCUBA divers surrounded the floor of the rock mound. Rather than fleeing to open water it seemed that the Manta’s out smarted the divers by hovering closer to the shallow shore break, right in the foamy water just a couple meters from the shore. Except for the heavy surge making it difficult to manuver, this was great for me as 6 or 8 Mantas would be surrounding me right at the surface.

Once in position alongside or just behind a Manta I could slip over to just behind him and kicking swim up into his draft. Then with arms out stretched ahead I could just glide along like one of the small cleaner fish for as long as my breath would hold.

My cavorting with the Mantas was abruptly ended by a tug on my swim fin. The Dive Master let go of my fin & signaled me to swim back to the boat. There all the divers, out of air, were already waiting for me. Time had stood still. More than an hour had pasted and it seemed like only a few minutes.

Next stop Crystal Cove. There I had good time snorkeling the clear water & good coral, dodging many small jelly fish & large dive boats, exploring the nice beach, and viewing the topless Balanese woman doing laundry in the fresh water river flowing into the sea.

The SCUBA divers on my boat had a very lucky day as they encountered & photographed 2 large Mola-Mola (Oceanic Sunfish) along the deep wall at the edge of Crystal Bay. They showed me the pictures & said the fish was at least 2 meters tall. I had encountered a 3 meter fish myself on my previous trip in 2003, so knew how excited they were.

Still Crystal Bay was anti-climatic for me. Flying with the many large Manta Rays at Manta Point is one of the most outstanding Adventures of my extensive underwater life; and surely one of the great Adventures of my 2007 Contribution Adventure World Tour.


Side Bar – Recommended Dive Operator is Drift Dive, located on Lembongan Island at the beach in the main village. Contact staff members Ketut or Kadek at 036624495. They have a fully equipped dive shop and fast fiberglass boat with capacity to carry eight or more SCUBA tanks. Trip included simple lunch (Nasi Goreng or Mie Goreng) and bottled water. Cost for snorkeler when have 2 or more divers is 150,000 Rp ($18). Divers pay about 700,000 Rp ($80) for two dives. Other area dives are less because it is a long 45 minute trip to Manta Point from Nusa Lembongan compared to 15 minutes to most other Nusa Penida sites. Other dive operators from Bali offer this trip too but will be more expensive or a much larger group as they travel much farther.

Nusa Lembongan – Tarci Bungalows & Agus Shipwreck Bar

Arriving at Tarci Bungalows on Nusa Lembongan I’m warmly welcomed by the staff & Mrs. Agus with my old finger shake. I’m embarrassed on two counts. First I don’t immediately remember them yet they remember me. Second, I had quit & forgotten about my finger shake habit, and in fact been advised to quit it by several leaders whom I admired. So here was a piece of my less mature past still alive here. On this remote island came real evidence that who I am is a result of enrolling others so that they have that listening of me.

My Bungalow is #1 with great view of ocean, beach, & restaurant from the 2nd story balcony. In the day the dark rectangles indicate the seaweed staked out in the lagoon. The shallow reef edge separated the seaweed farms from the crashing surf. At twilight & into the night farmers & wading fishermen create a peaceful romantic setting as their lanterns drift about on the calm lagoon.

The attached Agus Restaurant and Bar is main hangout for the local characters associated with this family beachside establishment.

“But why?” jokes Ming, Kiwi middle-aged surfer that settles here for much of the year. He also sky fishes with a kite and fishing rod.

“We were playing for small Bintang”, states Mark, losing another chest game against a Lembongan islander. He is an Aussie middle-aged surfer Johnny Weissmueler look a like.

“Hey, good morning-g”, Mrs. Agus cheerfully greets me.

“Fruit salad only, papaya & banana with no pineapple”, says Komang Ace headwaiter & excellent customer service staff guy. The staff all know my breakfast routine. My dinner is usually grilled tuna, salad, sautéed vegetables followed by more fruit salad.

The staff all have other side jobs or family responsibilities. One waiter, Wayan Samba, also was a boat captain on one of my snorkel trips, and helps his parents with their seaweed farming. Made Grobag hangs about always ready to joke with guests or locals.

This place is like home for me. Owners, staff, & regulars treat me like family. Snorkeling & diving around the island is excellent. Can affordably rent bicycle, motorbike, or kayak. And world-class manta ray & Mola-Mola encounters are readily available. Great views, great food, great company in relaxed beach environment. My total for 11 days of bungalow, breakfasts, & dinners is 1.9 million Rp, which is about $220. But then I got the family discount…

Sneek Peek - Nusa Lembongan

Some quick pics from this Island paradise off the coast of Bali.

Beach view on Nusa Lembongan.







My lodging at Tarchi Argus Bungalows, Nusa Lembongan island.










View of Mt. Agung volcano Bali from Lembongan island.




Sunset view from my bungalow.








Micro-Loan girls who made Contribution volunteering with micro loan NGO in India.








Some Future stories:

• On Being a Local
• Manta Point
• Beach Kung Fu Kids
• Snorkel Boat Trips
• Invasion of the Christain Surfers
• What do you want out of Life & other conversations with Rich & Chris
• Characters of Argus Shipwreck Bar

Great value beach town of Padagpai Bali

Wanted to get in some good snorkeling and ocean yet return to Ubud for the big Galungan ceremony so I went for 2 days to Padagpai a small harbor town on SE coast of Bali. Looked and around and found one of few beachfront ocean view rooms in town for great bargain of 40,000 Rp (about $5).










Found great seafood & other eating values in Padagpai. Scenic views of beach, harbour, ocean & islands from Kerti 2nd story restaurant across from beach, also at Blue Lagoon beach. And the Best Brownies in SE Asia at Topi Inn & Restaurant. I made exception to my no sweets diet for Topi's all natural 100% local chocolate & no flower brownie. Excellent!

Colonic Toxin Cleanse at Ubud Sari resort

As Contribution to myself and for restoring the Integrity of my well-being I did a 6 day "Total Tissue Cleanse" at a Spa resort that specializes in this here in Bali. Ubud Sari resort has various packages for 3 to 6 days in length and from basic without accommodation to all-inclusive with pampering facials, body wraps and various massages.

[Add pictures later]

I did the 6 day basic $314 package. This included daily Colon Hydrotherapy treatments by a experienced Nurse named Yani and her assistant technician Yanti, 3 sets of herbal supplements/ vitamins/anti-parasite bills each day, and one 1 hr foot reflexology massage. This is accompanied by limited fasting & lots of water & ginger tea during the entire 6 days and the following day. Also free dry sauna, herbal steam sauna, cool water jacuzzi, and hot showers with towels & sarongs are available as much as you like during all 6 days.

I ate a lot up until the day before anticipating going hungry.

But in reality I never really got hungry on my diet of fruit for breakfast, fresh fruit juice for lunch, fruit juice or lite vegetarian soup for dinner. Talking with another fellow faster, we wondered why we ate so much before. And even now 1 week later I am eating vegetarian & fish meals and very little carbs. I find it unnecessary to finish even half my rice and have given-up bread & chocolate. I even no longer add sugar to my tea or coffee. I never thought I could drink coffee black before and now I am. I just find sugar repulsive now.

I also maintained a very active adventure schedule the whole week with trekking, all day bike or rafting trips. Never ran out of energy anymore than I normally would have.

So I asked Yani questions during my treatments and there is a nice clinical chart display of potential unhealthy colon configurations on the wall. Their website & brochure describes the problems a unhealthy/plugged/spastic contracted colon can cause, and the benefits of colonic cleansing. I did this to detoxify my body & allow my colon to function more effectively. This will allow my free diving & exercise period to be more effective so that I can maintain enough sustained exercise for 2 -3 weeks to lose weight & get in shape. I also suspect my family suffers from effects of unhealthy colons and am experimenting to see if this will be beneficial for them.

Yani explained that different people's treatment goes differently. Some clean out whole colon in 1st couple days and rest of days are clear. Some like me are late releasers and major stuff not loosen enough to come out until days 5 & 6. I really felt a corner of my colon unblock & flow out kind of like an ice dam melted and suddenly the ice begins to flow. Ontologically I did have to generate being unattached & relaxed before the dam melted.

My pregnant looking lower abdomen did reduce some (mostly gas) but not as much as I thought it would. And as far as I can tell I did not really lose any weight. This seems rather illogical but perhaps I drank a lot of water just before I stepped on the scale the last time.

Anyway I have a calmer sense of myself and higher integrity with my digestive system and body. I also noticed I have much whiter healthier looking finger nails now, but that could just be all that time in the steam sauna. I'm mostly impressed by the major shift in my diet that I have naturally manifested with seemingly no effort. I really don't crave any foods except vegetable soups, fruit juice, and fish.

Well am soon going to Bali coast and then to Nusa Lembongan island for major free-diving & snorkeling to lose that extra 30 lbs and get in tip top shape. That will also be major Adventure.

Bali Legon Dance

Some pictures of Legon Dance performance at Royal Palace Temple in Ubud, Bali:




This performance is really a series of modified & shortened traditional dances.


Balinese dance and accompanying Gambolin music is characterized by quick jerky disconnected head & eye movements and stylized slower walking like dance steps.


I bought my ticket from one of the young ticket hawkers so he could make a small commission (my price is same as at the gate).

Contribution Trip Notes - I Manifest Responsibility

Ubud, Bali, June 28, 2007 - Today I Manifest Responsibility, insights, compassion & relatedness.
I wish to credit the Dali Lama for this posting and today's insights:

This morning I read "The Essence of Tibetian Buddhism" with my breakfast of fruit salad. When the Dali Lama was sick he said 'I have manifested illness today'. Wow, this is so great! I instantly got Responsibility as in the Landmark Education Charter at a whole deeper level: The willingness to be cause in the matter of ones's life, ultimately it is a context one chooses to live.

Cause in the Matter of one's life... Everything that shows up for me is my life and if it shows up in my life and I choose to be Responsible for my life then I also choose that it all shows up because I MANIFEST it to show up. Cause in the matter = Manifest. So great! I love this word Manifest!

So 2 or 3 days ago I manifested a sore throat then a drippy nose & some mucus in my lungs. Looking at this deeper I see that I manifested illness symptoms (I am not really ill) to stop my Strong suit of moving-on, so that I can rest & complete my internet uploading requirements; that is to be whole & complete.
From this insight I can have Compassion for my body & "self" that I manipulate myself back & forth to gratify my needs & wants for survival.

I also Manifested Raining today in order to have opportunity to breakthrough my attachment to sunny weather. So I looked at the rain newly, and the gray sky, and the exciting waterfall in the ravine, and the doves finding shelter under palm fronds. And my attachment to the sun and my complaining about the rain faded away. A relaxation, peace, and freedom arouse in its place. Then like magic, the rain subsided and the sun that had been missing for 2 days returned.

I Manifest breakdowns as opportunity for breakthroughs! Can life really be this simple & this powerful? YES, it already is (or rather you already are). But you must be Willing to be Cause in the matter of it ALL.

Galungan & other Ceremonies of Bali

Imagine having Christmas twice a year! Plus Easter every month, and prayers each morning at home and again at work. Then you begin to get the busy worship & ceremony schedule of the Balinese.



Galungan is their Christmas like occasion. They prepare a long bamboo with curved tip, covered in palm leaves with rice & intricate woven palm frond art pieces hung from it. This is displayed in front of their family compound sort of like a Christmas tree in the front window. The straight part symbolizes strength and the curved part symbolizes respect.


On Galungan morning the families go to the community temple, the women toting the day's feast on their heads. This is also an occasion to dress-up in their best traditional outfits.















Once inside the temple the food is blessed and sprinkled with holy water by the high priest or priestess. This process is repeated to bless each person. They then gather their offering/feast and proceed back home.












In the afternoon the children gather in small performance troops and go house to house performing a Barong dance & gonging similar to Chinese Lion Dance. They are rewarded with small amounts of money. So this is like Trick or Treat and Carolling combined.
[Photos to follow at later time]


Other Monthly lunar Ceremonies at local temples are occasions for villagers to parade to & from the temple with their offerings & musical instruments playing.