Traveling to any country certainly opens your eyes and propels you onto quite an intersting path not to mention huge learning curves. Here are my latest Balinese lessons:

Lesson #217. Don't drink 2 glasses of watermelon juice and eggs for breakfast then nibble on a hand full of prune-like Tamarind fruit before lunch unless you really want to have your system cleaned out by mid afternoon.
Remedy: Gobble as much cheese as possible - stinky, soft or strange - it's all good.

Lesson #218. I know that "Hati-Hati" means 'be careful' - but NOT 'be careful and don't you dare walk through this mud puddle that's really a 2 foot deep ditch'!!
Had a typial Balinese downpour during one night.. As I ran out to the internet cafe early in the AM - which was closed due to no electricity, BTW - I took one step into the harmless looking mud puddle and sunk to my knee.... good thing that I was wearing waterproof flipflops!

Lesson #219. Don't tell your driver that you, too, love UB40 reggae music unless you want to be blasted out of your seat for the next hour with "Red, Red Wine" be-bop!
Swanny had a whole book of CDs and UB40 was in the player in no time flat -with his fingers flying to make the necessary sound adjustments. I think that the base was literally bouncing the car up and down like a jacked-up hoopdee! And, yes, I'm still humming that tune!

Lesson #220.Just because you think that it really looks like a tube of tooth paste, doesn't mean it is!
The small convenience store had exactly what I needed - I grabbed the travel sized tooth paste tube and ran back to my hotel in record time. The smooth slimy, yet minty, tasting paste got a bit fluffy in my mouth when I added water then suddenly realized that shaving cream also comes in little tubes just perfect for travel.