Bali 14-03-08

The itinerary for the day was a bit more relaxing. Only 2 places were planned for visit. Most of the time was spent on traveling from one place to another place. We started off our journey at around 10:30 and arrived at Bedugul around 2 hours later.
After the long journey, we stopped at Ulun Danu Temple. It was a beautiful temple as it is sited on the shores of Beratan Lake, which seems to rise out of the lake. After taking the photos of Ulun Danu Temple and Taman Ayun Temple, we took a speed boat ride to tour around the Beratan Lake. It took around 20 minutes to round the Beratan Lake by speed boat and cost 80000 Rupiah for 4 persons. It was so breezy and cooling though we were sitting under the sun. The water of lake was so cold. It was a very good experience as I guess we will not get such an opportunity back in Malaysia.

Ulun Danu Temple

Ulun Danu Temple

Kush-kush hota hai

Taman Ayun Temple

Taking the speed boat ride

LKC and LPC at Beratan Lake

LKC and LPC at Taman Ayun Temple

After the ride, we headed for buffet lunch (again!) at the restaurant few minutes away from the lake. Nothing much special on this buffet lunch as we were having similar dishes like nasi goreng, mee goreng, keropok, satay, fry vegie and etc.
After lunch, we dropped by at the Candi Kuning Market for some shopping spree again. Candi Kuning Market is a traditional vegetable and fruit market which is located few minutes away from the lake. Various types of fruits and vegetables can be found like strawberries, buah salak, mangosteens, durians and etc. We bought some local potato crackers, a box of strawberries and 2 pairs of sandals for my mummy dearest. The strawberries only cost around RM2 per box, it is even cheaper than buying in Cameron Highlands. 2 pairs of sandals only cost 35000 Rupiah (approx RM12.50 for 2 pairs), it is even cheaper than made-in-china products!!
After the shopping spree, we continued our journey to most well known sacred temple in Bali, Tanah Lot Temple. We were supposed to witness the beautiful sunset at Tanah Lot Temple but the weather was not on our side. Firstly, the sea was at high tide, which disallowed us from going near the temple. Secondly, the rain started to pour for around 10 minutes and it was so cloudy after the rain. The thick cloud blocked the sun so we ended up leaving the place early. Didn't get the chance to see the beautiful sunset at Tanah Lot Temple *sob**sob*.

Tanah Lot Temple

Tanah Lot Temple

Batu Bolong Temple

There is another market nearby Tanah Lot Temple. We walked around the market again. We were too tired to see the same things being sold at all the markets. Seah Nee and I stopped by at a tattoo stall and both of us had a tattoo each, which last for around 2 weeks. I had a butterfly tattoo drawn on the back of my neck.

"Tattooing" the butterfly

My butterfly tattoo...nice!!

In less than 15 minutes, disaster happened to my butterfly tattoo. My lovely tattoo became out of shape. The ink dispersed before it dried up. LKC helped me to wipe off the ink and thank god, the butterfly shape was still visible. Luckily I only paid 10000 Rupiah (approx RM3.50) for this tattoo. The photo above was the only remembrance for my intended tattoo...sigh!!

Before wiping off the ink..."yat pat yeh"

After wiping off...another "yat pat yeh"

After jalan-jalan, we went to a Chinese restaurant, Teuku Umar Garden Seafood Restaurant for dinner. We had crab meat corn soup as starter. As for the main course, we had fried chicken, deep fried fish, bean curd and potato leaves. The meal was so-so only, but at least we get something different from buffet.

Crabmeat corn soup, deep fried fish

Beancurd, fried chicken, potato leaves

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. After taking shower, LKC and I walked around North Kuta while Sze Wei and Seah Nee went for the 15 minutes free massage. We took a cab to Legian for shopping and supper. We stopped by at the Bali Bomb Blast Monument to took some photos. The bomb blast occured on 12 Oct 2002 and took away 200 over lives, 30% of the deceased were Australians. Next, we passed by another Surfer Girls outlet and saw a fashion show. The models were not those professional models that you see on TV. They looked more like transvestites...oopss.

Bali Blast Monument

The fashion show

We stopped by at the MegaStore at Hard Rock Hotel where both LKC and I bought a souvenir t-shirt each. I paid for these t-shirts since LKC paid for the whole trip...hehehe...less than 10% of the total trip. We headed to Sailfin Restaurant for our supper. We had another luxury supper on that night as we had another lobster (249000 Rupiah) for our supper and carbonara pasta. LKC ordered Green Sands - Bali Shandy, by mistake. I had margarita lemon and Seah Nee had Long Island Tea, 45000 Rupiah each.

Cheese baked lobster

Green sands

Margarita

After supper, we went back to hotel and continued our drinking session by the pool side. We played 15-20. The next person sitting next to me had to pick up a card to determine how many slips of beer he/she required to drink if I guessed correctly. At first, both LKC and I were so strong. We defeated Seah Nee and Sze Wei. We had around 8 cans of beer, they drank almost half of it. After that, we changed the game and played Big 2. The person who held the most cards would require to drink the beer. In the beginning, we were still leading. There were only 2 cans left and we thought both of them will sapu it as well. Almost at the end of the game, we ended up sapu'ing the beers as LKC got a "13 fried" and I got fried also. All of us went were drunk but it was a very memorable night. Shall organize this kind of activity more often.

Bali 13-03-08

We woke up as early as 07:30 to get ready for a full-day visit of the Bali Island. Started off the day with American Breakfast Set at the hotel. Both LKC and I had the same breakfast set throughout our stays in Casa Padma Hotel (3 days). They do serve us with other menu such as Indonesia breakfast (nasi goreng/ mee goreng) and cereals set. After experiencing their nasi goreng on our very first meal in Bali, it would be better to play on the safe side.

Bacon with scramble egg, croissant, white bread and wholemeal bread, orange juice and tea

We left the hotel at around 08:30 and the first agenda for the day would be the Barong and Kris Dance at Batu Bulan. This performance represents an eternal fight between good and evil spirits. A Barong (it made some stupid sound, kiap-kiap-kiap) represents good spirit and Rangda represents evil one. Frankly speaking, it was kinda waste of time as the whole performance took us around 1 hour and we did not know what it was trying to deliver. Anyway, as a tourist, we need to know a little bit of their culture.

The Barong and Kris Dance

Next, we headed to Celuk Village which is famous for Gold and Silver works. Their handworks were so detailed and neat. We wanted to buy a piece of silver engraved with a Balinese dancing lady but our bargaining skill failed. The salesgirl offered us 25000 Rupiah each and we tried to ask for 30000 Rupiah for 2. The salesgirl did not want to layan us and put the frames back to the wall and walked away. We tried to walk away in hope that she would call us back to accept the deal but she never do so. Sigh...so embarassing.

Sticking the bead one-by-one

Very fine masterpiece

Then we headed to Mas - the woodcarving centre. We thought that it was a woodcarving factory where they would show us the woodcarving process. In fact it was not a factory, it is just another " souvenirs shopping centre". The goods being sold there were all end products, which means it had already been finely carved. I bought 2 packs of the Bali Coffee and a pair of sandals for my niece.
The next agenda on the list was the Kintamani tour. We stopped at somewhere to view the magnificent view of Mount Batur - still active volcano. We couldn't enjoy the view much as it was quite misty that time and also we were bugged by the local people begging us to buy the souvenirs from them. Even when our tour guide told them we were not interested and to allow us to take the photos first, they still kept bugging us. We did not say anything when they approached us and they bargained the price themselves. We quickly ran back to the van in hope of escaping from them but our mission failed. When Wayan tried to close the door for us, the group of locals blocked him from doing so. These locals consisted of young (as young as baby) and old. The mums were carrying the baby and begging us to buy from them. I remember very clearly that there was girl, should be less than 12 years old, was trying very very hard to beg us to buy from her. She even put the souvenirs on my lap in hope that I would buy from her. Her determination was so strong, she kept on decreasing the price and begging (in very very sad tone) us to buy from her. At one point, I felt like buying from her as I appreciate her enthusiasm and at the same time pitying her. At the end, I did not buy from her as I knew we will be surrounded by them if they see me taking out the wallet.

The misty Mount Batur

Statues built for Nyepi Day celebration

Since it was quite misty and couldn't see the active volcano, we headed to Restoran Suling Bali for buffet lunch. Again, we were "bugged" by the locals during our lunch. They showed us their products from the outside of the restaurant through the glass windows. We quickly finished our lunch and went to the back of the restaurant to take some photos. Thank God, the sky was so clear after lunch. We could clearly see the volcano and the view was just too magnificent.

Looks nice? Not at all.

Back view of the restaurant

Mount Batur volcano

Look at the volcano...don't look at LKC's big tummy.

Next, we stopped by at some farm. Wayan became our geography teacher by showing us different types of plants in the farm. I wasn't a good student. I wasn't paying attention by the teacher was teaching. I was busy taking photos of the plants. I have the photos of the plant but I do not know the name of the plants. Sigh.

Forgot the name...wasn't paying attention...pai seh

Vanilla and buah salak

After the geography lesson, we rested at a small hut to enjoy the drinks served to us and also the cooling weather. We were served with drinks like Mocha (Bali Coffee + Cocoa), Bali Coffee, Cocoa and Ginger Tea. They even gave us some buah salak to try. LKC bought a box of 5 sachets ginger tea from there. Quite costly if I'm not mistaken, around RM2 per sachet.

Resting at the hut while drinking something hot on a cold weather...superb!!

Clockwise from top left: Mocha, Bali Coffee, Cocoa and ginger tea.
Middle: Buah Salak

Coffee bean (before), roasting the coffee bean

Vanilla and bunga cengkih

After the geography lesson, we headed to the holy springs of Pura Titra Empul at Tampak Siring. It is a traditional Balinese water spring temple.

Titra Empul

Titra Empul

On our way to Pasar Ubud for shopping spree, we stopped in the middle of somewhere to snap some photos of the paddy field. The paddy was grown on the hill slope, unlike the one you seen in Kedah.

Very comfy for the eyes

We continued our journey to Pasar Ubud, which is the center of Balinese paintings. I bought some souvenirs, a small painting and some photo frames from this market. It was so tiring shopping at this market as we had to bargain and bargain for every single item.
Our dinner was supposed to be covered in this trip, but Sze Wei's friend recommended to try the Crispy Duck. We did not go to the originator of the crispy duck as it was fully booked for the night, so we opted the more relaxing one (according to Wayan), "Bebek" Tepi Sawah Restaurant. The restaurant was located next to a paddy field, which made the environment so relaxing. We ordered two sets of crispy duck (56000 Rupiah each), one set of smoked chicken (35000 Rupiah) and a set of grilled prawn (58000 Rupiah). The crispy duck just tasted like the ayam kampung goreng, the one we have in Malay food stall. The duck was deeply fried till crispy. It was a bit too dry by eating it alone. The set was served with sambal and fried onion oil. I think the smoked chicken that I had tasted better than the crispy duck. Anyway, it was worth trying.

Tepi Sawah Restaurant

Crispy Duck

Smoked Chicken

Grilled prawn

We arrived at the hotel at around 19:00. We received 15 minutes free massage from the Bunga Bali Spa at the hotel. Since it was still early when we arrived at the hotel, I went for the free massage. I received 30 minutes of free massage as LKC wasn't interested in it. Oh man, it was a very great session. I could hear my bone "klik-klak"ing when the masseur massaged my back.
After the massage, LKC and Sze Wei went to cybercafe to online, while Seah Nee and I walked around the Kuta street. We were looking around for the hair braiding stall but it had already closed. We ended up at the bead accessories shop and bought some bracelets. After walking around the Kuta street, LKC and I jumped in to the swimming pool for swimming. The weather was so hot and it was so refreshing "soaking" in the water while having a can of beer. Both Seah Nee and Sze Wei did not bring their swimming attire, they just sat next to the pool playing 15-20 and drinking beer.
After shower, it was time to makan. For supper, we went to Warung Rama Restaurant, just few steps away from our hotel. We had a luxury meal for supper that night. We ordered a set of mixed grilled seafood, which consisted of lobster, prawns, squid, fish, fries and salad, and a beef steak. The mixed grilled seafood cost 299000 Rupiah (approx RM100) which was really cheap and really very yummy. The beef steak cost 55000 Rupiah. We had beers and played cards before calling off the day.

Mixed grilled seafood

Beef steak