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Tuesday, March 7th, 2006
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1:08 am - Bali Day 6
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| Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
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8:17 pm - Day 5 [Ubud & Kuta]
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| Tuesday, November 29th, 2005
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3:11 am - Day 4 (Cont) [Ubud]
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| Thursday, November 24th, 2005
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11:57 pm - Day 4 (cont) [Ubud]
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4:58 am - Continuation of the Bali trip ..
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dis is longgg over due .. but I tot I would finish it off before starting about my trip to China ..
Day 4 in Ubud Bali
Fishie woke up really early in the morning and went off on his morning walks taking pictures of the surrounding area whilst I continued to sleep ... hehehe .. here are a few pics of Ubud which fishie took:
I finally got up and met fishie at the breakfast table ..
(tried to offer myself as breakfast, but fishie was nottttt interested .. *sighh*)
he was more interested in the surroundings ... which was lovelyyy
Breakfast arrived .. nice simple morning meal .. I truly enjoyed it ..
and yes .. this is the lovely little car which brought us all over Bali :
THen fishie brought me to the places which he discovered earlier in the morning ...
The natural feel of the buildings just facinate me !
Then we went for a walkabout in the curiosity shops which is all abound ...
This orchestra was really cute !!
(to be cont ..)
>OO(<"> (">)
current mood: accomplished
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| Sunday, May 15th, 2005
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2:04 am - A lovely holiday: Day 3: 25th April 2005 (Part 2)
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Once we reached Ubud, we immediately got tickets for the famous Kecak Dance.
This is a very interesting dance as its present form is NOT a traditional dance at all.
The story behind the dance is one based on Hindu pantheon mythology (that of Prince Rama and his wife Sita and the story of how love, dedication and trust will triumph in the end) which has a timeless appeal. The original dance steps are lost and the present form were choreographed by a Dutch artist who was invited to settle in Ubud by the then Prince of Ubud.
This artist being totally gayy .. totally REDID the entire original dance. He stripped the entire MALE cast to merely loin cloths and had all these sweaty nearly naked swarthy farm bois squirming and writhing all over each other whilst chanting themselves into a trance of swirling sweaty hormornal maleness under the hot tropical skies lit by erotic oil lamps which cast passionate light over the hot sweaty muscular men ! kekekekekee
so, even BEFORE we got DOWN from the car, I snapped tickets for the dance near where the Ubud Tourist center intersection from the window of the car ... cost was of no significance ... HHAAHHAHAAA ... (no la !!! all prices are fixed and they go to the village council fund).
Ubud is a place where such cultural dances and temple activities are well regulated and prices are fixed. AFter all, it is the cultural hub of Bali and still controlled by the present Prince of Ubud.
So with the tickets safely in my hands, fishie and I parked the car near the temple which was having its grand anniversary celebration which occurs only once every 420 days (what a wonderful blessing!!) and we walked around to look for accomodation.
We were a bit tired from all that driving around, and especially fishie (my poor darling fishie !) and we parked near the temple, walked up a street .. saw a nice little "warung" or foodstall ...
and then we turned down the little hillock .. and we saw this little place :
we checked out the room:
oooo lobellyyy DOUBLE beddd !! kekekee
nice little desk and a nice nice bathroom:
I was already sold by the sight of that gigantic double bed !! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
But honestly, the price was really very reasonable and fishie got us an even MORE reasonable price as fishie decided to stay in Ubud for 2 nights ! yippieee !!! more pics of the place next morning :P :P
Since the Kecak dance was not going to be so early, we decided to walk to the warung for some drinks .. there was not enough time before the dance for dinner, so we opted for a late dinner and some tummy filling drinks first:
so we went back to that warung and we found out that it is called "Balina Lagoon". Dunno why... there is certainly NO lagoon nearby seeing that Ubud is a very inland town ! (hehehhee)
we had dis very interesting drink .. it was a banana frothie wid EGG yolks and topped wid chocolate hot fudge !! kekekeee
Pleasantly refreshed, we walked around the town which was totally abuzz with excitement as they were celebrating their grand temple anniversary. A temple anniversary is celebrated every 210 days (The Bali or Pawukon Calendar is 210 days long) .. however, the grand celebration only occurs once every second anniversary following the Pawukon Calendar.
So fishie and I were indeed lucky as we reached Ubud at the height of the temple grand celebrations as Ubud being the cultural epicenter, its celebrations are totally authentic.
Some pics of the temple happenings:
(the gamelan players taking a short break)
(preparations of the assembly hall for a special performance later)
(a lull in the offerings being made in the main temple)
(and for your attention PLEASEEE !!! I felt the signboard pointing at ME and my micro shorts ! kekekkeee)
After a walkabout, we were soon being escorted to our transport to the village for the dance. The transport is part of the ticket as the dances are performed at diverse villages in their respective temples.
The Ubud balinese take their cultural dances very very seriously.
I was totally disappointed that modern modesty has "covered" the men in sarongs instead of loin cloths ! HAHAHAA ..
(note that some of the bois have their heads lie and writh in the crotches of the other men .. kekekee ...totally GAYYYY)
This dance is unique as instead of the usual background of gamelan music, this dance is performed in its entirety with the chanting of the male dances.
The chanting is effortless and rhythmic and set against the sultry night sky, the beauty of the aged temple architecture, the romantic storyline and overlaced with the dancing of the flames reflected on oily bare bodies, the over all effect can be rather hypnotic! HAHA
All too soon, it was over, fishie found it rather bland as the one he saw previously was more intense. Fishie said that he will bring me to the one he witnessed the next time we are in Bali :P :P (I luppppp my fishie !! :X:X:X:X)
After we were sent back to our Hotel area after the dance, fishie and I returned to the Balina lagoon(less) warung for dinner .. we had a simple dinner
I found the food here totally TOTALLY to my taste as it was not over spiced, nor over salted and the best thing was ... it did not leave me with any feeling of dehydration and for me, that means there is hardly any MSG in the food.
I fell in love with the food there and fishie immediately booked a Smoked Duck set dinner for the two of us for the following night. (They needed a 24 hour booking for the set dinner with a cash deposit ! :O :O !)
All throughout dinner, we had witnessed many many people all dressed up in their temple finery rushing to the temple for the celebrations slated for the night .. and what with the cresendo of sounds down the street, fishie and I traded knowing looks of "ok .. time for some temple crawlinggggg" kekekeke
Here are the post dinner temple crawl pics:
(simplified Barong dance or "Barongan" going on at the assembly hall they were preparing earlier)
(slated for the night was the wayang kulit, very close to the one which is popular in Kelantan)
(the people of Ubud thronging the streets)
Fishie and I did a quick walkabout the nearby shops before bed:
(it is so safe here in Ubud, that nobody will steal the goods even if left on the side walks of the already closed shop)
(these lovely plants would be totally GONE in other parts of the world, if left alone undefended like this in store fronts)
anyways ... it was soon time for bed .. and fishie and I were extremely grateful for that lovely lovely little hotel we found in Ubud .... that lovelyyy beddddd :P :P :P
so that ends Day 3
I lupppppppppppppppppp my fishie :X:X:X:X:X
>OO(<">(">)
current mood:  loved
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| Wednesday, May 4th, 2005
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11:54 pm - A lovely holiday in Bali: Day 3: 25th April 2005 (Part 1)
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The morning of day 3 was an exciting one.
It was terribly exciting coz it was the day we were done with the package thingy and we were on our OWN ! kekekee
After breakfast at the hotel cafe (where I was given a stern warning from the head waiter not to fill up my water bottle from the buffet table the next time I was there ! kekeke) fishie and I went looking for a nice little car to rent.
We chanced upon a lovely vehicle to rent just outside the hotel and we got it for a reasonable price.
After we secured the car, fishie and I decided to relax a bit after breakfast and went swimming in the nice nice hotel pool. No chlorine smell and the water is nice and fresh .. I wonder what kind of water treatment system they are using ... your hair and skin dun feel so dried up and "gunky" like when u go swimming in public pools here in sg ..
After our checkout, we said farewell to the froggies in the hotel:
we collected our car and off we went .. it was thrilling !
Fishie was quite pleased with the suzuki 4 wheel drive we got which was just nice for the two of us as it was a new vehicle and quite an ok drive. Fishie was telling me that he had terrible terrible cars before ... so this was a nice pleasant surprise :P :P
On the suggestion of fishie's wifey, we called in at a place which was a favorite of fishie's wifey and friends .. aptly, it was called :
(hehehee)
(scene from outside the warung)
(in the warung dining area upstairs)
(the bamboo clad walls)
(Avocado & shrimp cocktail)
(Fish satay, noodles and fried rice with lublyyyyy prawn crackers .. kekee)
After that we were soon speedingg along the highways and byways on our way to the picturesque town of Tanah Lot where the famous sea temple is situated ...
(terraced rice fields)
(a stray yucca in Bali ?? kekeke)
Rice fields abound ...
After going through a market like area where many many little shops ply their wares, we reach the simple entrance of the Tanah Lot temple ..
This entrance is a typical balinese entry portal. It is actually a stylised "split temple" as if u push the two halves together, they form a complete "chandi" or temple.
Notice that the the inside of the split halves are totally smooth and unadorned .. as if at any time, they will be pushed back together again to form their original united form.
This is very apt as the entrance to a temple, it is as though by walking through the two halves, you enter into the heart and soul of the temple ..
so this type of portal is used also as entrances to homes, gardens, palaces etc etc ... as though the doors to these places are "split open" to welcome you into their inner hearts and sanctum.
Once through the portal, you are greeted with an inner wall:
(please note my utter confusion as to whether to turn left or right .. HAHA)
This inner wall also has a significance, together with the narrow portal, the inner wall is normally quite close to the opening of the necessarily narrow opening of the portal. So to enter into the temple grounds, you will have to "squeeze" through the narrow portal and u will be immediately faced with the obstacle of the inner wall and u are forced to make an abrupt right or left turn.
According to Balinese mythology, the evil spirits cannot turn at 90 degree angles and so they will be prevented from entering these places by the narrow gates and the inner walls. And what with the various faces of the guardian Barong all over these walls and portals, it takes a very determined evil spirit to get through these maze like portals ! HAHA
Now u knoe why my brain was thrown into utter confusion when faced with the inner wall !! HAHAHAA
Once I got through those infernal walls (kekekee) I was greeted by the fresh salty sea breeze over the manicured temple gardens ..
(a temple official going *tsk tsk tsk* at my inappropriate dress sense)
Soon I was rewarded with the lovely sight of the temple :
It was low tide so one could walk to the temple .. but we did not as the tide was coming in fast and furious .. from the travel books, this temple looks like it is floating on the waters during high tide ...
but .. looks like the sea was determined to wash me away since I was wily enough to get through the protective gates ... kekekee .. so one more defiant stance and we beat a hasty retreat ...
Soon we were back in the car and fishie was totally facinated by the ripe paddy fields .. we stopped at some to have a closer look ...
(if I remember correctly, Oriza sativum I think ... )
Our main destination that evening was the lovely town of Ubud ...
We have ARRRIVEDDDD !!!!
ok .. going to end here for now .. a bit tired and tomolo got to wake up early early ...
I luppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp my fishie :X:X:X:X:X:X
>OO(<">(">)
current mood: loved
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7:08 pm - Harlowwwww !!
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Welcome welcome to my traveltales jounal ... this will be quite heavy in pictures so BE WARNED !!! kkekee
I will continue to update my seaweeds and I will link to this when I have those "heavy" pictorial moments to show show :P :P
yes .. here too I will
lupppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp my fishie !!! kekekeee
>OO(<">(">)
Ps: Note that I have backdated the earlier portions of the Bali trip so they appear before this post :P :P
current mood: loved
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| Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005
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11:55 pm - Lovely Holiday: Day 2: 24th April 2005 (Part 2)
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oooo !!!
It was lovelyyy meeting up wid ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) glacier_x again today ! Wah liao ! he looks so handsome now wid his shortshort nearly army boyboy hair and he has slimmed down ... so cuteee !!!!
We had a nice walk about @ Orchard and as usual we went to eat at his favorite Pasta Mania @ Cineleisure.
After which he politely asked me to go away for a while whilst he goes to a toilet at the infamous Heeren ... kekekekkekee .. now .. why Heeren ??? hehehehheehehee
anyways .. it was really really nice to catch up wid him .. I am so proud of him .. he is going to be a top notch full range teacher liaoz !! :X:X:X:X:X
heheheehe .. ok .. let's continue my memorialization of the lovely holiday fishie took me on :X:X:X
Day 2: 24th April 2005 (Part 2)
After lunch at the highland volcano, we travelled downhill to a quaint little plantation which grew balinese coffee, cocoa and vanilla. I never knew that vanilla could be grown in the tropics and much less that it is an ORCHID ! :O :O :O
The vanilla essense comes from the orchid pods and they are dried up and fermented.. fishie says that the process is a well guarded secret as it is quite a complicated process, hence natural vanilla essence and scent is usually quite expensive.
True enough, when I asked the owners and workers of the plantation, they were pretty evasive about how the pods are processed, but were very excited when I asked how to use the already processed pods .. HAHA ..
Here is the sign board to the plantation:
This is bali coffee fruit:
Here is of course a pic of this gorgeous hunk holding a cocoa pod .. HAHAHA
Here is the man at the plantation roasting the coffee beans. The aroma was really lovelyyy :P :P (aroma of the roasting COFFEE !! not the man !! HAHAHAA)
Here is the interesting vanilla orchid plant .. and that hunk again (who seriously needs botox for those eyes !!) .. kekekekekeke
Free coffee and cocoa at the plantation .. we were mean ... we din buy anything although we drank this AND a cup of ginger tea .. kekekekee
Soon we left the plantation and passed fields of ripe paddy ready for harvest:
Our next stop was the cultural epicentre of Bali, the lovely town of Ubud.
Ubud was one of the strongest principalities when Bali was ruled by kings, and until today, although the royal families have been long deposed, the Prince of Ubud still weilds considerable cultural and religious influence on the people of Ubud.
The past reigning royal family of Ubud were true patron of the arts and various western artists like Spies and Bonnet were invited by the Sukawati royal family to visit Ubud and many such artists were so captivated by the artistic sense of the people of Ubud that they took up residence.
Their influence on Bali art especially in the strong colours used (where previously sepia tones ruled) and the scenery of ordinary daily life (where mytical stories and religious scenery abounded) stands testimony to their work.
Our first stop was naturally the palace and palace temple of the Prince of Ubud:
The unimposing gates (above, notice the stone Barong at the top of the gates entrance ?) belied a lovely peaceful garden and complex of small buildings and "bale" (or "Balai" in the Malay equivalent) These are like pergolas which are situated in auspicious sites around the palace enclosure.
Each Bale served a different purpose, there were bale for royal audience, bale for the gamelan etc even one with a small fridge to sell cold drinks to tourists .. yes .. even the Prince of Ubud needs to work to eat !! :P :P :P
I managed to get a pic on one of the royal seats before I got chased off .. kekekee
As described earlier, there are images and stone reliefs of the Barong, the protector from evil at every opportune place ... quite nice to see it actually .. here is one which looks decidedly tired from all that protecting of the Palace grounds :P :P
This lovely koi moat surrounding one bale in the more quiet quarters of the enclosure gave me a distinct suspicion that one of the later Princes of Ubud visited Japan ! HAHA
After the quick visit of the palace, fishie and I hopped over to the famous Ubud market, this is the center for handicraft and souveniers .. it is a fabulous place ! as I entered, I could feel the sounds of the piece "At a Persian Market" welcome me. The market was a riot of colours and a plethora of spices, food, clothes, cloth, pottery, silvercraft, bronze, and what not .. I was at a lost as to where to even start !
Here is the entrance:
The side:
a shop selling incense and aromatics:
and a pottery shop selling fishie's favorite froggy pottery :P :P
We did not have much time at Ubud as it was part of the guided tour, but not to worry, fishie assured me that we will be spending at least 2 nights and 2 days in the town of Ubud during the self extension of our stay !
So I bid farewell to the traders at the market and this lovely lady who was on her way to the temple to give her temple offering with a fond "jumpa lagi !!" (see u again !!)
A fitting end to the Ubud whirlwind tour, the palace temple gates :
We returned down south to Kuta and dropped off the couple who were on the day tour wid us. Our package included a sunset dinner on the beach at the town of Jimbaran so we continued our journey south.
I thought it was going to be a simple buffet dinner at some restaurant abutting on the sea .. but I was wrongggg ...
The dinner was on the BEACH itself and our table was the furthest out from the restaurant! We were rightttt at the furthest end !! GASP !! the tour guide really knew how to make the end of the day tour special !
The welcome drink was this HUGE cocunut .. I thought it was an OLD cocunut, but strangely, the meat was that of a young coconut .. soft, smooth and lovelyyy .. kekeke .. it was a refreshing drink for the end of a long day .. :P :P
As the airport runway was nearby (it is a thin sliver abutting onto the beach further away) was saw planes land and take off into the night .. it is a lovely sight seeing the boats floating on the sea and the modern "boats" floating in the air ...
Here are the beach scenes from our table:
(the thin strip of land jutting out from the right of the picture is the airport runway .. if u look carefully, u can see one of the planes making its U turn on the runway, justt at where the jetty hut roof is)
The tour guide's timing was impeccable ! Just as we were nicely settled down and refreshing ourselves with the drink, as though scripted, the natural drama enfolded before our eyes .. and we had front and center row seats totally unimpeded by other diners ... the magnificent Bali sunset @ Jimbaran ...
Once the beach oil lamps were lit, dinner was served .. a lovely meal of bbq fish, shellfish, prawns and fish satay served wid crackers .. oh yummmmm !!!
We settled in for our lovely dinner and watched the night life start on the beach .. with the winds blowing and the sounds of the waves, there was hardly any need for talk .. we just sat back, relaxed and let nature enfold us ...
Dinner came with a cultural show as well and it was quite interesting ... but soon it was time to go as the driver and the tour guide were waiting, although they were more than happy to wait even longer, we felt that would be not so nice ...
The driver and guide very happily and politely drove us back to the hotel where these lovely things were waiting for us .. kekeee
and yup .. ya ya .. I finally found a presentable pic of the rooms .. yeah .. SEPARATE beds !! HAHAHAA .. after all .. it was a HOLIDAY horr !!!! kekekee
THere ...
that ends Day 2 .. it was a lovely lovely start to the holiday and I was really looking forward to hiring our own car so we could drive around and go to Ubud and other places again ...
I luppppppppppppppppppppppppppp my fishie !!
:X:X:X:X:X:X:X
> O O (<">(">)
current mood: loved
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| Monday, May 2nd, 2005
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11:49 pm - A lovely sunday & a lovely holiday (continued)
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Had quite a nice day yesterday :P :P it was a nice lazy sunday which was spent having cereal breakfast wid fishie & wifey .. then we went for the opening of a furniture mall nearby which served us lovely buffet lunch and ice cream !! kekeke ..
After dat fishie and I went to Daiso @ IMM to buy nick nacks and after that off we went to the Botanical Gardens to witness the innauguration of the Shaw/SPH/SSO "Gift of Music" series of concerts.
It was quite a nice evening in the park listening to a variety of music .. although fishie and I found the water plants around the new Shaw Performance Stage @ Palm Valley in the gardens quite interesting .. kekekeee .. we had to wait until the buggy bearing the ministerial presense of Mr Mah Bow Tan pass us before we could *ahem* express our appreciation of the water plants in a more concrete manner .. kekekeeke
Here is a pic of a portion of the crowd who sat on the grassy knoll facing the new stage:
Came home tired from the day and I slept early .. goodness .. slept before 10 pm !! wah liao !
ok ... next installment for the Bali holiday ..
Day 2: 24th April 2005 (Part 1)
It was lovely weather on day 2 and fishie and I woke up to a nice sunny morning. We had breakfast at the hotel and my first and most important job was to steal more drinking water from the buffet table .. HAHAHAA
We had breakfast here at the hotel cafe:
our table overlooked Jln Legian which connects to Kuta and somewhat terminates at Kuta beach
After breakfast we were met by our tour guide who took us on a guided tour of Bali. Since I have not been to Bali before, fishie thought it would be good that we go on a guided tour so I could see the guided "highlights" of Bali.
We climbed into a small private bus kinda thing and there were 2 other singaporean tourists who joined the tour as well. They were a nice married couple, and gratefully, they did not bring their 5yo kid along.
Fishie and I sat at the back so we did not have to entertain the tour guide as he gave his non stop narration of the sights and scenes rolling by as we meandered though the streets and byways of Bali .. kekekee ... (luckyy .. it was soo tiring to have to keep nodding and nodding and smiling and smiling .. HAHAHA)
Our first stop was to watch the "official" dance of Bali, this was good as it set the theme for the entire trip. Bali is very Hindu but with an animalist balinese slant to the religion. To the Balinese, everyday is an eternal cycle of fights and battles between good and evil forces which pervade around us.
All this can be traced to the story which is depicted in the Barong Dance
Here is a pic of the Dance Programme:
Evil is personified by the evil witch Rangda:
and protection from evil is personified by the mythical animal called the Barong:
The Barong is something like the chinese lion dance animal .. two persons don the costume and perform the dance.
The fight between good and evil is never ending and an interesting facet of Balinese theology is that to them, good and evil are never absolute, the good characters will have some negative traits and the evil characters will have some redeeming qualities.
In any battle between good and evil, although the good will triumph in the end, the good party will also suffer losses in the battle.
The lesson here is that fighting is a lose-lose situation. so.. DUN FIGHT !! heheheehe
More pics of the dance:
After the Barong Dance (which left quite an impression on me), I noticed that at every entrance and portal, there will be an image of the Barong as a protector against evil. Far from being demonic, I now see it more of a guardian and helper. So I was determined to get a Barong image as a souvenier ! kekekeke
Next stop was a very old temple which necessitated our donning of a sarong. This was incredibly funny for me coz as usual I was wearing my shorts and tank top and the tourguide tied my sarong for me in such a way that it left this large SPLIT along the front which kept flapping in the wind and exposing my legs !! HAHAHAHAHAAHA
you should have seen the *rolleyes* of fishie !! HAHAHA
HEre are some pics of the temple and me in my strangely matching sarong ! kekeke Next time I go to Bali I will bring my Prada high heels ... very CMI wearing something so sexy and silky wid SAF issue running shoes ! HAHAHAHA
(you can see the stone carving of the face of the Barong right on top of the temple inner doors)
The intricate wood carvings found at the temple really enthralled me:
Next stop on the tour was to the hills near the hilly town of Kintamani. Here is where the fabled terraced paddy fields are to be seen. I felt that I was in a coffee table book or post card ! The scenery was fabulous !
(yes, this is what was under the sarong ! kekeke)
(ok ok .. here is one with the unspoilt and unadulterated scenery)
After the photo-op at the rice terraces, we climbed up further (until my ears were popping due to the drop in air pressure) and we reached the look out point with this lovely view of the still active volcano:
The black stuff is the cooled lava which the locals use as building material.
A pic of the crater lake (the non active part of the volcano)
We had a nice buffet lunch at this restaurant pearched on the hill side overlooking these magnificent vistas:
more pics of food we had there .. this is where I had my first taste of balinese satay .. fish satay ..
As mentioned earlier, the Balinese are very aware of the pervading spirits and they take it as a very real part of their daily lives .. so at every restaurant and home, there will be special spaces allocated and set up for mini temples and offerings are placed every day.
Here is the restaurant's little temple: The entrance to the temple enclosure is on the left of the picture, I am sitting under a smaller shrine where they place the morning offerings to the gods. The winds were so strong here and the tempreture was quite low due to the altitude .. *gosh* I was shiveringggggg and kept hogging any spots of sun !! HAHAA (I should have kept the temple sarong !! HAHAHAA!!)
Will end here for now, coz going out to meet up wid glacier_x soon .. I continue Day 2 tonight :P :P :P
I luppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp my fishie :X:X:X:X
>OO(<">(">)
current mood: loved
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| Sunday, May 1st, 2005
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11:44 pm - A lovely holidayyy :P :P
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