Ending the 4 days trip in Bali

The last 2 days of the trip on Bali paradise island. We went for water rafting in a river of which I could not recall the name now. I have the tendency of having a hard time to recall name of places these days. That is really bad. How should I pick up a language then if my memory is that bad! OucHh! Anyway, for this water rafting that we had, my personal comment, view was really good due to the resorts they had along the river. Challenges, I almost wanted to say 'none'. On second thought, there was a lil'. After all, this was my second time of water rafting and the first one, had it in Sg Padas of which is much fun and not over commercialised. Perhaps, the one we had in Bali was rather commercialised.


After the water rafting, we were back on our journey for... shopping! Gee... for me, it's really too much of shopping I must say. On top of that, at least 90% of the things were repetitive. Hence, does not really fancy the shopping session. We dropped by in Tanah Lot, and there goes another massive shopping session. Whew... Anyway, there were many different experiences in each of these places. Earlier in Ubud, it wasn't a good place to bargain and ended up not buying for you'll get some really bad looking faces or worse still, scolding... whoops! As for other places we go later, the locals were much better and friendly. such as Sukawati. Bargain all you want! In fact, I happen to be in about 1 or 2 stalls which do not require any further bargain. Because they simply offer the best price, of which my cousins had to bargain for more than 10 minutes for the same price. In fact, when I buy more, they gave me discount without having me to ask! I do miss that 2 stalls for they were really nice people.

Now, on the 3rd night, first taste of nasi padang in Bali. We were there late, hence, most of the dishes were gone! Little choice, yet, I still enjoy it. Nasi Padang has always been one of my most favoured food ^.^ And not to be forgotten, they have Factory Outlet Sales next door and the discount was up to 85% for all branded sport goods! Well, I didn't buy.. Yup, I didn't. Had too limited time to have a thorough look on the displayed.. it was already 9.30pm when we managed to enter the outlets. Now, we were rushing to our new sleeping place, the Ellie's place.

It was indeed a great place! Quiet and pleasant! They served wonderful breakfast alongside with melodious music... I couldn't agree more that it was a great place to lie down and have a good nap or read a book! That, I call the best way to be back to yourself, a moment of self-reflection ^.^

Over the last day, we checked out and had our very first walk in Kuta area. And voila, it's shopping time again. I did not buy anything and simply walked and walked and walked and walked... But... I had an ice-cream... the hazelnut with rum! It was incredibly tasty! I wish I get to taste it again... yum... no, this shouldn't be the right sound for it. It should be 'sluRp'! ^.^

Later, we headed for massage and SPA. One thing to take note on, 1 hour massage is never enough! Do not restrict your massage hour! Maximised it... at least 2 hours is a must for a good and relaxing massage. As for the SPA, not much of comment. Perhaps the scrubbing was good... can still feel the softness on my skin now.. after 2 days ^.^ But I guess at current time, I enjoy the massage better than the SPA ^.^

The massage and SPA somehow marked the end of our journey in Bali for this round. And some personal thought to chip in... as we travelled over the island where most call her a paradise... I had a moment of self-reflection.

I saw uncountable masterpiece on the island and all these, were produced with perfect passion! However, they were not sold at an any much higher price, comparing to some 'masterpieces' that were well recognised, with their creators' name on.

Was it mainly because there were mass production although each of them were supposed to be unique in their own way, that the value were ceased? Many did mentioned that art is priceless! When it comes to places like Indonesia where many beautiful artwork produced, the people behind these were forgotten... at most of the time. I find myself to be one of the many who behaved the same. At this particular moment, I learn that at most time, I've been complacent too. I complained and judged, but I sometimes forgotten to reflect it on my own. It's good to have a moment of self reflection... indeed.

People behind these art shall deserve a good respect from me... if not us. I learn to appreciate every single tiny thing I encounter, once more... Thank you, Bali ^.^

Day 2 in Bali

Day 2 in Bali. Apparently, 2 hours after updating the post of Day 1, we were awoke again for the very great morning! Three hours of driving from Kuta to Lovina, northern of Bali for... Dolphins and sunrise! That three hours just happened to be our sleeping time in the car all the way throughout the bumpy roads. Seriously, if we were to be sold to somewhere else, I guess we wouldn't have know it for we were sleeping like a baby.

When we were there, and here we come! The sunrise, the dolphins! I recalled that we used to be taught on the right word to describe a group of dolphins... now, dear teacher, I can make a very good use of the word for the very first time. I saw many schools of dolphins! Oops, did I use the word in the right way? I really can't say that I saw a school of dolphins for we really saw many dolphins everywhere this morning! On the surface of the sea water and right beneath our boats as well. It was great!

What more after the sunrise and dolphins? Breakfast of course! Simple yet filling American Breakfast and English Breakfast. By the way, the orange juice we had was rather salty. One, we asked for orange juice without sugar. Two, we suspected that it was salty due to the water source which could be from the sea ^.^ We don't know for we didn't ask.

Next, we headed to Kintamani for the volcano mountain view. Simply good ^.^ And... before that, this morning from 5.30am onwards till noon about 2.00pm, I was still walking on my barefoot! Haha... ooh well.. that's an insane thing to do. When we visited the garden where we can get Luak Coffee, the walking paths were filled with sharp tiny stones everywhere. Phews... sweat! ^.^

Finally after that, I manage to get a new pair of slippers. Finally...

Next thing, we were in Ubud and had our lunch. I was having my own share of lunch at Bumbu Bali while my companions were trying out the Babi Guling dishes next door. Ain't too sure how it tasted, again, but the outlet was incredibly crowded!~ As for my side, simple and nice vegetarian dish with jackfruit and tempe. That dish was really good and... I'm missing it now.

After the lunch, there goes our whole evening! Shopping! Lots of thing to be packed now. So, guess I shall keep things posted tomorrow evening (if there is wifi available in the hotel we are going to check in tomorrow). Else, let's catch up later when all of use are back in Malaysia ^.^ Ooh by the way, it's another adventure tomorrow! Water rafting! ^.^

P/s: Monkeys are all over my sane mind now... goSh... ^.^

Day 1 in Bali

Right, we've touched down in Bali! Our first day and we were greeted by a great local tour, Casena. Apparently, some of us missed his name and called him Caseno accidentally ^.^

Now, for day 1, we checked in to Almaris Hotel in Legian. It's a decent and new hotel, this is the 6th month of its operation, as what Casena told us. Well, this round, as usual, wasn't completely planned on what, where and when! But, everything turns out perfectly good up to now.

After checking in, we headed to Padang Padang beach where the movie 'Eat, Pray, Love' has taken its shot here. This was the place where Julia Roberts was seen having a great party night on the paradise island. Basically, those huts we saw in the movie were built mainly for the movie. After the shooting, everything was taken off. Thus, they are not available there anymore.

However, many people are heading to this very beach which had appeared on the cinema screens many months before this. I guess about 95% of the visitors are foreigners, including ourselves. Except that we weren't there with our bikinis but about 90% were there with their bikinis and sun bathing. Ooh yes, many were doing the surfing there as well. How I wish I am doing that too!

Next, we headed to Pura Uluwatu from there. Here, we grabbed a quick snack food, the local satay! It's made of pork. Well, it contains the pork and liver as well. Don't ask me how it tastes, if you have ever had a meal with me, you know that I can't have meat in my mouth ^.^ But I saw everyone was enjoying the food ^.^ So, it must be good.

And there we go, entering the temple area! No shorts, but cloth was provided to cover all those who were in shorts or hot pants. This place was filled with monkeys. No intention to feed any of the monkeys, but I must admit, they are much alike a human, they have naturally gelled hairstyle! Phew! Cool!

Before we entered, we were warned that no earings, no necklace, simply, no anything to enter this area. Yes, we were warned! It offers a wonderful sunset view over the cliffs... but what do you know next? One of the many handsome monkeys hugged my leg, and my natural reaction was to kick the monkey away, and the next thing... when I lifted my leg, the monkey pulled off my slipper! Argh!! Now, I don't get the slipper back anymore. So, I decided to leave the other side of my slipper there. Tips here, no shining, shimmering, fancy stuffs to enter this area! Don't put yourself at risk! Eew... why would a monkey hug me? "-_- For the sake of the shining deco on my slippers! Good job! Now I really fall in love with the monkeys... And so, I was walking on bare foot from 6pm to 11pm today ^.^

Before we leave the place, we saw another monkey catching a toad and played with it. How? The monkey actually squeezed the toad and pulled its leg! We thought the monkey was trying to tear the toad into parts.. but it wasn't. Casena was telling us that the monkey was playing with the toad. Indeed, when the monkey let the toad go, the toad stayed there and not moving anywhere. I was saying, perhaps this is the way that the toad loved to be stretched and massage... well, we must agree that human is not the only living being who enjoyed worldly stuffs these days :P

Final destination of day 1, Jimbaran for seafood! Wonderful night view and ambiance for a romantic dinner! I couldn't agree more to this! Ain't cheap but it's a great place for a dinner on the beach with waves and cooling wind, fine sand... simply back to nature ^.^

Alright, I guess I could have written more. But, will just have to put a stop at the moment. Will have to wake up in about 2 hours for a long journey on dolphin watching activity tomorrow morning. Cheers friends ^.^