PART THREE - LONE TRAVELER - BALI (28 JAN - 1 FEB 2010)

DAY THREE - 30 JAN 2010 (SATURDAY)

8.30 am. I checked out from Tune Hotel, Kuta. Alfian (he is 10 years younger than me) was waiting for me with his car together with his cousin, Farel who will be the driver for my tour. He has just arrived in Bali from Padang and Alfian intended his cousin to learn the road in Bali and act as an apprentice for him. I didn't mind the company as long as I am paying at the same agreed rate and all through out the journey, Farel did a fine job as my photographer.

My first stop was at Tune Hotel, Legian. I dropped the bags (now had become two with all those shoppings yesterday) at the hotel. I was disappointed to learn that, Pura Besakih, the oldest and the biggest temple in Bali is closed to public since Hindus here are celebrating a holy day (which was actually a Thaipusam day in Malaysia). Other than Besakih, two other places I have not been is in Lovina (further north of Bali which is famous for its dolphins) and Uluwatu, south of Bali. Since Lovina was out of the question because of the distance, I opted going to south Bali instead. Going to south Bali, I passed through Udayana University, one of the biggest university in Indonesia. The place is so huge and I was made to understand this university offers 100 undergraduates and graduate degree programs, the expert staff come from all over the world.

My next stop was at Tanjung Benoa which is famous for its water sports and activities such as diving, para gliding, cruises and such. Since I have no intention for that sort of thing, I stopped here to take my late breakfast.

Many boats here going to Turtle Island

Another view for Tanjung Benoa

I had the opportunity to visit the oldest mosque in Bali. The mosque, a Chinese temple and a Hindu Temple (Pura) are located very near to each other marking the religious harmony of its people here.

The renovated Mujahidin Mosque, Tanjong Benoa

Next stop was at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, famously known as GWK. To enter here, you have to paid Rp.50,000.00 if you are a foreigner. Since Alfin declared that I was from Riau (which speak slightly like Malay) I only had to pay Rp25,000.00.

This 240 hectares cultural park is so huge and so many thing to see. The park have a Lotus Pond, Festival Park, Amphitheater, Street Theater, Exhibition Hall, Panoramic Rest, souvenir shops and off course the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue. At present, 3 statues (Wisnu, Garuda and Wisnu's hands are located at 3 different places.) Once completed, the building will be 150 meters tall with its wings span 64 meter across. Made with 4000 tons of copper and brass, the statue will resemble Lord Wisnu riding on the back of mythical bird, the Garuda.

The way to the statue.

The roof top where the replica of GWK lies.

The replica of GWK

The statue of Wisnu

A huge one that is...

The statue of Garuda, the second piece of the puzzle of the whole statue

Another view of the Garuda..

Another pic..

Another small replica of GWK, imagine how big the complete statue will be, huge!!!

Below are other pictures at GWK..

The fountain near the Amphitheater

The lotus pond

I missed the show, but I managed to see the procession afterward

Met a new unusual "friend"

The nice Festival Park, there will be a show that nite...

Other activities on the park..

The starting of 'the flying fox'...ada berani?

The end of the flying fox route...wonderful view..

I also managed to watch a Hindu ceremony being held near the statue of Visnu..

The priest in front chanting prayers..

The ceremony behind me...

Next stop, Dreamland beach, located in the complex of Pecatu Graha Bali (Kuta Golf Resort Link). It is a huge complex complete with a golf course, a new resort and high end housing project and has now become the new surf spot for surfers around the world.

The entrance to Dreamland

Another pic..

The road to the Dreamland complex

The long walk to the beautiful beach..

Stop for awhile, capek deh..hehe

At last, the beach....

hot weather, nice beach

A few tourist started to surf...

One the way back I saw this advertisement...

Feeling hungry anyone? hehehe

My next destination will be Padang Padang Beach, nearby Dreamland. This once a quiet place has become famous after being selected as a location for Julia Robert's latest movie, 'Eat, Pray, Love' last October 2009. I fully understand why this place had been chosen. Its is so beautiful and exotic and you would probably spend your days just lying here for hours...

To go down to the beach, you need to pass a dark cave

A small cave

Out of the cave at last

The beach..

ermm.. I am here...not them...hahaha, plenty of 'that' here...

One wrong step will be fatal. The rocks here are hard and very very sharp.

An interesting event took place at the beach. One of the important ceremony was being held here i.e. a ceremony to pay respect to the spirits of the mountain. I was informed, a "petanda", one of highest priest in Bali in a rare occasion was leading the ceremony.

I was told not to touch the 'offerings'

The 'petanda' citing prayers with a small bell in his hand.

Another view of the 'petanda'

The group of people, dancing towards the beach and back with the offering at hands

Another view of the proceeding..

The next and the best place of all is of course, the Pura Uluwatu, one of Bali's 6 sacred temple. Its location is on the most south western of Bali and it is believed to be the guardian to ward evil spirit of the ocean. Being sacred, you need to wear a sarong to enter here. One very important tips here is that, its not advisable to wear spectacle, hats or sun glasses. Why? I saw it myself when one of the monkeys here snatched a cap from a young boy and to have it back, you need to 'pay' to someone ( I suspect to be the master of those monkeys) for him to 'persuade ' the monkey to return back the cap. Utter sham..

Nonetheless, the view here is indeed breathtaking and spectular.

Funny sarong..see the sharp cliff?

Different angle..

Another view, one step back I am gone..

This side of the wall.. look at far end of the cliff..

Tada.....I was already there...

Another pic, to show how high the cliff is...

The small pic before was taken from the pura behind me..here I am at the same place..

The sea look so near...it is not...

Later I was in Jimbaran beach for dinner. By now I can't take anymore pictures, I need to recharge my battery. Here, I ordered seafoods and invited both Alfian and Farel to join me. From our conversation, I was informed that Alfian married a Hindu's wife and converted her to Muslim years back. Farel intends to open a shop selling 'murtabak' (here called 'cahaya bulan') a delicacy from Padang once his wife and children moved in from Padang to Bali next month. I was guarantee free dinner by them if I come visit Bali again in the future.

Later, I was sent back to the hotel. After bath, I walked to the Legian beach nearby in about 3 minutes walk. Just like Kuta, Legian beach also has it own charmed and along the beach there are rows of high class restaurants too but unlike Kuta, the place is not as busy and noisy. I love Legian beach better than Kuta. The golden sandy beach and the big waves is just mesmerising. Near 1.00 am, I got back to the hotel and rest.

End of day 3, I intend to rest and relax tomorrow...see how it goes...

PART TWO - LONE TRAVELER - BALI (28 JAN - 1 FEB 2010)

DAY TWO - 29 Jan 2010 (Friday)

I had my breakfast in KFC again (open 24 hrs). Since I have decided to go on touring tomorrow, today will be my shopping day. There are so many shopping places to go depending on your needs. The administration of Bali has shrewdly divided parts of Bali to certain area of industrialization. There are places where in that area it is specific for wood carving, only and the next, silver craft, batik, glasses, statues and painting and so on. Since its is not scattered, it is easy to go to the specific place and buy it. My first stop will be shops that sell paintings. Its was for my office mate and the best place to go is in Ubud area nearly 2 hours drive from Kuta. After bargaining with a few cab drivers, I managed to secure one with a reasonable rate.

The cab driver like most of them in Bali was a chatty guy, willing to give all sort of information to any tourist or 'parawisata' as they called it in Indonesian. He suggested for me to visit Semarkuning, the biggest art gallery in Ubud where all the famous painters and its painting are made. It was indeed a beautiful place and all the beautiful paintings too... the only problem was that, the cheapest painting will cost you millions of Rp and the budget given to me was too small to mention. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed looking at all the beautiful and fabulous paintings.

Afterward, I went to Windhu Sari, a big souvenir shop near Batu Bulan. I have been here before and this is the place to shop for local product with high quality with reasonable price. Most tourist were from Asian countries such as Japanese & Korean and almost all the shop assistants here can speak Japanese. Here, I bought a few souvenirs for my staff and friends.

At Windhu Sari, pic taken by one of the workers...

Then, I proceeded to go to Sukawati Market, where here like Ubut Market, you need the will power to bargain fiercely or if not, will be at the losing end. I did not stay long here because it is an open market and the weather was unbearable hot. My next destination was to shop at Kampung Bali at Mertanadi Street, another local market with a roof. Here I bought a pario as requested by my friend, a high quality painting and dried fruits.

Picture taken by my friendly cab driver..

Nope, I did not buy the 'thang' behind me..hehehe

Later, I asked the cab driver to send me back to Kuta area, especially at Centro Mall.

At Centro, I went to a karoke place the last time I was here.

My dinner, something that you cannot find in Malaysia

At Centro Mall, I bought a few items for my family. Feeling very tired, I took a cab back to the hotel and had an early rest.

I took this picture at Centro as I like what it says...hehe

End of day two in Kuta. Tomorrow I will check out from Tune Hotel Kuta and will be checking in in Tune Hotel Legian. Also, Pak Alfian, the younger brother of Pak Indra will picked me up for my tour in south Bali.

PART ONE - LONE TRAVELER - BALI (28 JAN - 1 FEB 2010)

DAY ONE - 28 Jan 2010 (Thursday)

6.30 am took a cab from my house and went to KL Sentral. Took a bus to LCCT and finished checked in by 7.50 am. Ate breakfast at Marry Brown. The flight to Denpasar took off exactly at 9.00 am, reaching Nugrah Rai International Airport at 12.00 pm. Unlike in Jakarta, there is no time difference between KL and Bali so there is no need to do time adjusting. From the airport, I took a Bluebird cab to Tune Hotel, Kuta (the local pronounce it as Tun) and since I arrived early (check in time is 3.00pm), I left my bag there for a nominal fee of Rp7,000 and walked towards Kuta town since the hotel is just a walking distance to the Kuta area.

Bali is not an unfamiliar place for me. I was here in 2008, also staying in Kuta area and so I know the way around here quite well. Feeling hungry I had my lunch in KFC knowing that most of the fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald, Pizza Hut, A & W are 'halal'. Nonetheless, don't expect the menu will be the same as in Malaysia. All menu do have local foods such as rice and soups in it. The taste? varies depend on your taste bud.

Went back to Tune Hotel and did my check-in. For such a small sum, the hotel is just perfect for me. It offer all the basic things splendidly.

Affordable and comfortable plus good location

After taking a small nap, I went out to Kuta area but now exploring the beach and the international shops nearby. As usual, the beach here were full of people from all over the world. Kuta itself is the the busiest place in Bali.

Not my fav beach, but it has its nice ambiance...

Strolling by the beach, I reached Hard Rock Cafe nearby and bought two T-Shirts. One for myself and the other for my friend. One down, two to go....yup things to buy as per requested by friends and colleagues. Next, I entered a Croc shop and bought myself a Croc sandal. Buying the sandal was the best decision since I will be doing lotsa of walking during my visit here. My next destination was to the small shops near the beach in which there are rows and rows of shops selling pirated DVDs and CDs at an amazing low price.

What to do next? Spa off course. Bali is famous for its spa. There are so many spa ranging from a small size to huge ones all over Bali, even one in the air port. Insomuch, the prices for any spa treatments are so cheap to compare to any other places. So, upon a friend recommendation, I entered SMART, a spa near KFC. There were so many packages to choose. I chose hot stone aromatherapy massage followed by facial treatment knowing very well, hot stone massage is quiet expensive in KL. The 1.5 hr massage was a bliss and I love it very much. While getting ready for the stone, the male masseur then covered me up with a batik sarong, rolled the prayer mat and did his 'asar' prayer next to me. Bali is 99% Hindus and seeing a devoted Muslim was a pleasant surprise. Silently, he then proceeded to do the hot stone treatment to my body. Afterward, the facial treatment was done by a female therapist. I must confessed, not unfamiliar with facial treatments, the such of Leonard Drakes and others in KL, this was the best facial treatment so far for me. Normally in KL, the therapist will leave during the face steaming or while waiting for the mask to dry, here, during those two activities, she will massage your head, hands and upper body meaning for 1 hour, she will not leave you alone and you will be pampered non stop....pure bliss...

The middle shop is Smart SPA

Afterward, I walked alongside the street in Kuta area again and stopped by at a Minang food court near Centro, one of the biggest Mall in Bali. It was drizzling on and off in Kuta. While having my dinner there, I had a chat with the owner of the shop named Pak Indra who came from Padang a month ago to Bali. Upon his suggestion, I agreed to appoint his brother as my tour agent who has being doing the business for 12 years here on Saturday. Having been to most tourist places here from my earlier trip such as Kintamani Volcano, Ubud Rice Terrace, Bedugul, Tanah Lot, seafood at Jimbaran and watching the Barongan and Kecak Dances, now, I intend to go Pura Besakih and Uluwatu, two places I have yet to discover.

Next, I stopped by at an Internet cafe near the Minang food court. There were too many foreigners (the local called them as 'bule') inside, most of them were from Australian boys and girls. After awhile, I left and walked again to Kuta beach and then walked straight back to the hotel to rest.

Tomorrow will be my shopping day as Saturday will be my touring day....

LONE TRAVELER - BALI (28 JAN - 1 FEB, 2010)

Yup..there was me on top of a cliff...what was I doing there??? the story will yet to be unfold...I just got back, let me unpacked, unwind and I will tell all in my next post....OK?

ROSES

Blossom, my darling blossom
be a rose of roses unchidden
and purposeless
a rose for rosiness only
without ulterior motive
for me it is more than enough
if the flower unclose

D.H Lawrence.

SENILITY PRAYER

GRANT ME THE SENILITY TO FORGET THE PEOPLE

I NEVER LIKE ANYWAY,

THE GOOD FORTUNE TO RUN INTO THE ONE'S I DO,

AND

THE EYESIGHT TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

HAPPY 55TH BIRTHDAY, DEAREST SIS...

10.1.2010 was my sis's birthday...her 55th..and we all (except her oldest daughter) celebrated her birthday at Outback Steakhouse in Bukit Bintang...

My sis and me

The main course, after the appetizers....

My present for my dear sis.....

One for the family .....

Still lovey dovey after years of marriage, happy birthday sis...lots of love

After the celebration, I rushed back home to get ready for AJL 2009....the crowd in Stadium Putra was overwhelming....I agreed to most comments that this was one of the best AJL to date despite many young entries and less mega stars (such as Anuar Zain, Jaclyn Victors or even Dato's Siti to name a few) contenders...One thing I like about TV3 is that, they really do know how to handle mega shows like this in such a professionally manner due to their vast experience in the business comparing to Astro's half baked and horrible concerts... On the other hand, the only set back will be the long advertisements...but in AJL 24, TV3 was smart enough to bring Nabil, Angah and the girl from Raja Lawak whom I can't recall her name in between breaks and their antiques brought the house down....

Are you happy with the result?...Honestly, "Pergi" might not be the favourite for the nite..but many agreed Aizat will win in one of the top categories but not that particular song... the winning is to me too sentimental psychically and mentally and down rite controversial too (taking into account Fatimah Abu Bakar was one of the juries...yeah a long shot to spark an issue that is).... Best song? ermm.. Many wanted Bunkface to win too.. I think they did sound great..... Yuna...she was also one of the favourite that nite...my wild imagination was this, once the competition was over, you can see Stacy pulling her wild hairdo and screaming out loud " I was sweating like Hell, dancing like a lunatic and what do I get??? Nothingggggggg.."..uurwghhhhh... and then Yuna passed by and with her smirk and wicked smile said out loud "Even my ear piece dropped in my 'tudung' and I can't hear the monitor, I can still win, honey and I don't have to scream at all..."... Anyways.. kudos to TV3 for the nice show. My only complaint, do print the tickets according to the seats, you moron...

At the main entrance of Stadium Putra...