Bali Memoir 2006
Thursday, October 26th, 2006… This is actually for my own keepsake and for some very close friends but might as well share it with you. Some of these were written real-time while some were written or added on as an afterthought at one point or another.
We arrived in Bali 10:30pm local time Saturday eve (October 14) and was picked up from the airport by the hotel service car. Flight was smooth and on-time, hotel is ok (Suriwathi Hotel), it’s so-so but for the price that we got, and with the beach only 5 minutes walk away, it’s PERFECT! We were off to a great start. NICE! J
We spent the whole day Sunday walking around the area where we’re staying, which is in Kuta-Legian area. Lots of local handicrafts, sarong, imitation bags, etc can be found but a lot of the stores were closed. Sunday evening we hooked up with a friend’s friend (Ruffian – he’s an Indonesian Chinese) who brought us to Jimbaran and treated us for dinner; we had seafood by the beach. The food was fabulous! We ate so much! J We went to hard rock café afterwards and stayed well until after midnight. My newfound friend offered to lend me his car, even though I don’t know the way around, it would have been fun! But since as I mentioned, he’s a newfound friend and all, I chose to decline his kind offer. (too bad… I’m too kind…=P)
Another friend (Mike - Australian) brought us to Uluwatu Monday, visited a temple and some surfing spots. The view from the cliff by the temple overlooking down into the long stretch of beach is magnificent! - Although we had to walk under the blistering heat for quite a distance, it was well worth it. J We then went down to one of the surfing spot, went into a cave, got some pictures. Imagine this, when you walk out of the cave, there’s a small opening that leads to a tiny short stretch of beach – so we proceeded to walk towards it, I was holding my camera on one hand prepared to capture lots of pictures. As we were on the way though, we didn’t expect that waves would come in, but as it was, BIG waves kept coming in, until we got soaking wet! When the waves started coming in, my first instinct was to shield my face with my hands. WHOA!!! The camera (which was a gift) got soaking wet as well. As I am typing this, I’m letting it dry, hopefully it will function properly again come tomorrow morning. Hold on… Ruffian just called… he’s taking us out again for dinner. YEY! YUM YUM YUM!!! Gotta go change. Laterz. . . .
Just got back from a sumptuous Lombok meal. Lombok is another province of Indonesia which is near Bali. It’s half an hour away by plane and 4 hours away by ferry. We ate Ayam Taliwang, Plecing Kangkung and Sayur Bening. I love the Plecing Kangkung the most. It’s SOOOOO spicy but it’s soooo good as well. Ha ha I’ve always thought, eating spicy food is like torturing myself, but what the heck, it tastes so good. I’ll worry about the consequences later. =P
Tuesday morning, I tested my camera. WAAA!!! It’s still not working. I’ve actually been putting off buying a new camera as well over the last few months. Same as my phone, it has now gotten to a point wherein I don’t have any choice except to really get a new one. I don’t know whether to weep or to rejoice. =P It’s all up to me really isn’t it? REJOICE!!! Yehey!!! J I might go and grab myself the latest model from Canon.
Tuesday’s Itinerary: Taman Ayun, Bedugur, Alas Kedaton, Tanah Lot.
1. Taman Ayun is also one of the temples in Bali, nothing much to see there.
2. Next is Bedugur, which also has a temple, but it’s by the riverbanks, the view was spectacular! And the air, gosh, all of us wanted to bring home the air. It’s so clean and fresh it’s like cleaning our lungs, especially after we’ve inhaled most of the polluted air in Jakarta - Jakarta is now one of the top most polluted cities in the world. So you can just imagine how grateful we were catching some fresh air in Bali.
3. Alas Kedaton is what they call the Monkey Forest, and indeed, there’s so many monkeys inside, as well as bats. They were just all over the place. I would have loved to catch one of those bats and take it home – I heard it tastes good – should really try it one of these days.
4. Tanah Lot is where you go to if you wanna see the sunset. Well, you can actually see the sunset from anywhere in the Kuta Beach, but the landscape in Tanah Lot is breathtaking.
I had a bit of a problem when I bought some things in Tanah Lot pasar. As soon as I walked into the pasar, I saw some bali stuff that I want to bring home for my family. Seeing that the Ibu was so kind and all, I then proceeded to bargain and bought a lot of things. I told the Ibu she has to give me the cheapest price, else, if I walked on and find out there’s other cheaper prices, I’d come back and look for her. Maybe she didn’t understand me or she was just really hoping that no one would give me a lower price – but alas, someone did gave me a lower price, not only is it lower, it’s half the price. At first I didn’t plan on going back anymore – most of the time I tend to let go of small things like that because I don’t want the headache it causes on both parties. But the more I found out about the prices, the more upset I got. My friend asked me not to go back anymore as it might cause trouble among the stall owners - I was just too upset I couldn’t simply let it go. I walked back and demanded to have my money back – she didn’t want to, of course, what do you expect? In the end, I got more items to sort of even out what I paid for. She was not happy about it, but neither am I. So if you ever go to Bali, just make sure you ask around first before you buy anything. J
To make up for it, I had a few pictures taken with a 30kilo snake coiled around my body – marvelous!!! J
To end the night, I had a quiet dinner with Mike (UK). It’s simple western dinner for me tonight, good ambience, good company, good food. J We each had a glass of cocktail, mine was aptly named Moonstruck. It’s coconut liqueur, with vodka and I can’t remember what else. All I know is that I ordered it because I liked the color. Ha ha
By the way, today is also the day when I got really sunburned. Ow! Ow! Ow! =P G’night!
Wednesday dawned bright and clear. Itinerary for today is Ubud. This is where I was told that you can find a lot of museums and galleries, and also see traditional Bali dances. I am sooo itchy today because of my sunburn. Ooooo. To take the pain away from my sunburned skin, I had my hair row-braided. Wait, there seems to be no connection between the two at all, is there? Ha ha But really, the whole process of the row-braiding was painful. Since I have a lot of hair, (as most hairstylists say, I have the hair of three people combined) two m-ba’s worked on my hair - so they were pulling here and there – which made it painful. It came out pretty well though, what do you think? J
First place we went to in Ubud is Sanur Beach, it’s a quite spot, not as crowded as Kuta beach, the crowd there consists mostly of the older generations. Next is The Blanco Renaissance Museum, it shows the paintings of Don Antionio Blanco who hails from Catalonia, Spain, but was born in Manila. What I noticed is that his paintings are mostly nude women, and some are really extreme. Next we visited the palace where their previous King stayed. We weren’t able to see as much as we wanted to because most of the rooms are prohibited areas. We were only able to take a glimpse.
We had lunch at Bebek Bengil, which when literally translated means Dirty Duck. I tried the duck, it’s so-so, not as delicious as I thought it would be. My friends had hyped it up so much that I expected too much. And it’s expensive to boot – but my friends told me I just gotta try – and so I did, albeit my empty pockets. =P
Last itinerary for the day is the Kecak and Fire Dance. Kecak is the most unique Balinese dance which is not accompanied by any orchestra but by a choir of a hundred men. It portrays an old ritual dance. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as my other friends did, I think it’s mostly because mosquitoes were feasting on my blood. Eaagh!
Met a new friend and had dinner with him (Sebastian - Holland) and Mike. I’m always excited to meet new friends from all walks of life. You never know when you just might need them or who knows, you’d be the one giving a helping hand. J
Olah… it’s very late now, my roommates are already sleeping soundly, snoring even. No itinerary for tomorrow, just gonna laze around, and maybe do some shopping – AGAIN! J G’nyt!
Yawn! Friday morning we went really early to the beach to get fresh air and do some yoga and tai-chi. Afterwards, we went right back to bed. He he he We spent the whole day Thursday and Friday really just lazing around, did some dips in the pool, played some cards, drank some wine, good fellowshipping. J A guy (Max) moved in next door to us and we got to chatting. He’s from Australia but his dad is Chinese Malaysian and his mom is English. He toured me around town on his motorbike in the evening and we had some drinks. When we said our goodnights, he actually kissed my hand. I was surprised and find it quite fascinating because I don’t find a lot of guys like that nowadays – very gentleman. Chatting with him, I had a great time learning new things yet again. Eniweiz, I have an early day tomorrow for white water rafting and who knows what else. Ta-ta!
Well… white water rafting was uneventful, it’s not quite as exciting as I thought it would be cause it’s low season in Bali now, so the water is pretty low and slow, what would normally take rafters 30 mins, it took us 1.5hours I think. We even stopped at one point and all of us got down and frolicked around in the water. The hard part was going down and back up from the route. *puff puff* Had a nice BIG lunch and then went on to see Kintamani – which is a volcano that last erupted in 2004, it’s pretty much very alive. Last is another temple but this time, what made it a little special is that the former president of Indonesia has a sort of a vacation house there. Of course, as expected, people were not allowed inside, we just saw it from the outside. And there was this long tunnel, of which I don’t know what it’s used for – I can’t help but take some photos. Ha ha
In the evening, I went out with Max again and this time, we watched a transvestite show. I’ve seen the ladyboy presentation in Thailand but this is altogether different. This is more, I don’t know, lively maybe. It’s more fun. J Or maybe it’s because I was having so much fun with Max. But do check it out when you go to Bali.
It’s already 1am now and I need to wake up at 6am to go with Max to a surfing spot – it’s a good time to learn a little bit about surfing. J I hope I can wake up… Ciao!
As it turned out, I only slept for 1.5 hours, I was afraid I won’t be able to wake up so I kept tossing and turning on my bed. I finally got up at 4am and showered and got ready, although we’re not scheduled to leave until after 7am. I am 3 hours early! Golly! =P Nothing much there though, I just watched Max and other surfers do their thing. J Some people may find it boring but I find it really interesting. J In the afternoon, we watched the sunset in Kuta-Legian beach. In the evening, Max treated me to a cozy Chinese dinner. By this time, after all our chatting, it feels like we’ve known each other forever.
Monday.. ah… the dreaded Monday, we leave Bali today. Bali is also famous for their spa, so we left this activity for the very last day, before we get back to reality. Glorious! Simply glorious! That’s all I can say. I did took some pictures but I can’t share it. Ha ha
Max and I parted ways today. It was a bittersweet parting. We both had a great time, but, we don’t know if we’ll meet again. No one knows for sure, only God knows. J But I really really do hope I’ll meet him again… soon. I find him intriguing as he has a complex mind.
Well, there it is. All in all, it was a pretty splendid holiday!
Jiggy-jig-jig, Jiggy-jig-jig, jiggy holiday… J
P.S. You can check out the pics in the Bali 2006 folder as soon as it is made available.
