Low down in Bali

On a recent work trip to Bali, Indonesia, my cohorts and I were in a cab that came to a stop at an intersection. It was night and the interior of our cab was bathed in a red glow form the traffic light outside. Motorbikes came to a puttering stop beside us. The cars from the opposite direction were moving in a steady, straight flow. My Bangladeshi companion's reflex reaction kicked in as he asked our driver why we weren't moving. I pointed out the red light and it took a few seconds for him to register that people here were obeying traffic rules. Red meant stop the car; it wasn't a decorative ornament.

This was a pleasant change from the usual race grid of Dhaka streets. It wasn't a kill or be killed routine. People were on scooters all over the place. Women in short skirts, men in short tops and a couple of children possibly on a joy ride. The difference was all the two-wheelers were moving fast as they can, but in a straight line. Not cutting across the car's front bumper. I'm assuming the people in Indonesia don't watch the Fast and Furious franchise, because in Bangladesh everyone wants to be like Paul Walker's character in the horsepower fuelled movies. Except Paul Walker died in real life in a car accident. Real life is a bit of an ass that way; it doesn't follow movie rules.

The adherence to traffic rules was a strange phenomenon after spending years in a country where such rules are like the warning labels on cigarette packets: necessary yet overlooked.  And the result showed in the way their cars looked. I was amazed to spot quite a few gems all over the place. There were mostly two categories of cars. Old, customized machines and new, compact rides. In the former category pretty much everything was available. I saw a KE70 Corolla hardtop with over fenders and a mirror straight body. It was rolling on lowered shocks and some kind of dished rims that made it look like a poster out of a stance magazine. Too bad my phone wasn't fast enough to snap a few shots.
Old EP82 Starlets, Ae111 Corollas, every possible variety of pre-2000 Lancers, everything was straight, shiny and lowered. I drooled over a 95 Honda Accord in the opposite lane with dark blue paint, original lip bodykit and a wheel arch to tire gap ratio of about less than a finger. The car collection there is a lot like what we have in Bangladesh, except in pristine condition. Old cars that look like they just came out of the showroom.
And then there were newer rides. Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz. Tiny, compact, popular like biriyani in Dhaka's Old Town. I spotted quite a few of these all over the place, sporting 16-plus inch wheels and lowered suspension. You're right if you guess they have great roads. Speed breakers do just that, they break the speed, not your spine. Compact hatchbacks feature prominently on the landscape. Denny Watarang is the owner of one such ride, working as a restaurateur. He currently drives a 2013 Honda Jazz which was decked out with really sharp looking 17 inch alloys. Why, I asked. He says, 'why not?”

He doesn't 'race', but he likes to have his car look just right. We got to talking and he invited me to have a go in his little Jazz. Now I drove this tiny car in Dhaka, but not one with such a cool stance. It was surprisingly easy rolling, a little tire rumble form the heavy rubber and I couldn't turn the front wheels completely lock to lock cause the tires rub a little bit. But those aside, the car was pretty compliant over the minor bumps. Denny explained how a lot of people don't have much access to the really cooler cars but that doesn't stop them from trying out the cool techniques on whatever they have. Lowering is easy, albeit a bit of a pain over the hilly areas where the roads aren't as smooth. The looks are a good payoff he thinks, against the slight loss in practicality.

Anisa Made (pronounced Ma-day) loves her 125cc Honda scooty. It's the ultimate freedom. Sharply styled, sips fuel, zippy enough and comfortably carries two, usually her boyfriend.  Where we have our rickshaws, they have their scooters. I couldn't help think in Bangladesh, we'd be cutting corners and racing with these as well. Anisa mentioned that there are the occasional 'wannabe's who want to be fast but the majority prefer to go quick in a straight line. “We grow up on and around two-wheelers so we know how easy it is to fall and how easy it is to get hurt badly,” she said. What? You mean Bangladeshi's don't learn after falling once or twice that it will hurt if they do it again? So difference between a Balinese and a Bangladeshi: we don't learn from pain.
Note: Next week, watch out for a piece on lowering… in Bangladesh.