Lyd's escapade: March 2011

12 facts about my recent Bali trip with the ladies:

1. Many locals and ang mohs thought that I'm a SINGAPOREAN!!! This is so unbelievable...I had to tell the locals that they are my country men!!! "Merah putih mas...Garuda di dadaku!" Tes and her sister were mistaken to be from Malaysia!

2. The room in Tune Hotel is the smallest single room that I have ever stayed in. Measuring roughly 2m x 3m, it's just enough to sleep and bathe. However, I LOVE the King Koil Mattress and the rain shower! It's really enough to wrap up a tiring day. I'm amazed at the control system, which limits the usage of AC, based on how many hours of credit that you bought. It's a very safe hotel indeed, with card access system and electronic safe box at each room.

3. Tessie and I went to Bali on a mission...this was what we captured at Kuta Beach on our first day in Bali!

We left Bali after 3 days with an unaccomplished mission, haha...we are not as lucky as Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat Pray Love!

4. Bali beaches are not the best beaches I have ever seen. We went to Kuta Beach, Tanjung Benoa Beach, Padang-padang Beach, and Dreamland Beach. The weather probably made it worse. Bali was pretty gloomy when we were there. It was either raining or the sun was completely covered by the cloud. The beaches are dirty and I couldn't stand the locals who did force-selling of souvenirs or services. I did not even dare to wear my swimsuit, not to mention bikini...you can sense the eyes of the locals (beach boys and uncles) all over your body. Even with just T-shirts and shorts, the 3 of us were already ogled at and approached with small talks. The most common remark thrown at us, "Aduh cantiknya...", "Mbak atau ibu ya?", "Honey, I love you!", "Darling, duduk sini..." The only way we could shut them off was by saying that WE ARE MARRIED!

Kuta Beach - We were standing at the spot where swimming is prohibited during high tide!

Kuta Beach - Random Yoga pose, I love the background!

Kuta Beach - Freedom!

Tanjung Benoa Beach - 3 of us posing after doing water sports

Padang-padang Beach - View from above

Dreamland Beach - my most favourite beach!

5. 2-hours full body massage at Cozy Spa was damn shiok! By the way, the package was called "Take me to the moon." Indeed, it successfully took me to the moon, that I had to be tapped twice by the masseuse to bring my soul back to my body on earth, when she needed me to turn over.

6. Rafting at Ayung River (the longest and largest river in Bali) is the best outdoor experience ever. We shared the same rafting provider as another 3 British guyz. As the 6 of us alighted from the car that fetched us at our hotels, the locals at the rafting place threw this question to the angmohs, "Which one is your girlfriend?" The angmohs were polite enough to say that they just met us and we are nice girls!
The river is located further down the cliff, and we had to precariously make our way down the steep and slippery nature stairs. The moment we were pushed off from the river bank, there was no turning point. The rapid, accompanied by occasional paddling, carried us through the next 2 hours. We hit the rocks couple of times, and when our 'boat' was stuck there, we had to sit on top of each other and shake the 'boat' away from the rock in a very funny manner, that just looked WRONG. There were many waterfalls along the way and we had the chance to paddle our 'boat' towards them. Water splashing was so common everytime we met other rafts along the way. The 3 angmohs were so energetic, that the 3 of us could take a break from paddling sometimes. We even called one of them "BAGONG" due to his body size and enthusiasm!

Getting ready...

Resting at the mid-point

posing with the genit Mas Sakata

the river water's very refreshing!

We really posed in front of the cameraman!

Whenever we reach the part of the river, which was very still and safe, we were allowed to jump out of our boat and float along the flow, in a sleeping position facing the sky. I was so worried that I could hit some rocks or tree branches that grew very low, but besides that it was so peaceful to be floating away with the clear blue sky right above me.

7. We did water sports at Tanjung Benoa. The package that we booked for covered 3 games: Parasailing, banana boat, and flying fish. Unfortunately, when we reached there, we were informed that Parasailing had been canceled for the past 2 months, due to bad weather condition. As a result, it would be replaced by some lame game, called Rolling Donut. We were quite pissed that the agent that we bought the ticket from did not inform us about this when we bought our package.

It had been very gloomy lately in Bali, and true enough, when we were about to start our game, it poured!!! I was prepared to fall sick, but luckily the rain stopped when we were on board the banana boat. The experience on banana boat was like riding a motorcycle if you are sitting at the back. If you are sitting in front, right behind the 'driver', you could be jumping up and down on your seat as he tried to create humps and bumps along the way. I hated it when he turned over the banana, and we had to release our grip and fall into the sea. Three of us were so prepared for this that we wore goggles throughout. We were the only one there who wore goggles there though,haha...By the way, beware that the 'drivers' may ask you whether you want to continue for another 10 minutes for a sum of money. This is their illegal way of getting money, without their company's knowledge.

Next game was rolling donut! It was lame but exciting though...each donut can carry 5 people. Unlike banana boat, each one of us occupied one hole (just enough for our butt) and as the speed boat sped up, my butt was misplaced up to 15 cm i guess!

The most fun game among all is flying fish! I was in a sleeping position on my back and the speed boat dragged me to the middle of the sea. Then, the fish that i was sleeping on suddenly flew over the water, just like a kite. That's the best moment, but it lasted for 3 minutes at most.

As we were sitting by the beach waiting for our turn to do each water sport, as usual we were approached by the beach boys, with the usual flirting. Then came a group of young Japanese girls. Suddenly, all of them turned to Japanese girls instead, and the 3 of us were so thankful for that few minutes of 'freedom'. The moment the Japanese girls left on banana boat, they turned back to us! Haiz...I really can't stand them!!!

That was flying fish at the background with the very flirty Mas Bali

8. A trip to Kintamani was supposed to be an enjoyable one, as you enjoy a peaceful afternoon overlooking the beautiful Lake Batur, just next to Mount Batur. Mine was a total opposite. The moment I stepped down from the car, i was drowned in the sea of local sellers, who were enthusiastically selling anything on their hands, from key chain, T-shirt, wooden craft, earrings, necklaces, etc. As i made my way down to the spot where many took their photos from, i was followed from behind, countered from the sides and front as well. One lady, who was selling key chain, kept on following us and pushing the key chains against our arms, forcing us to buy. She didn't relent amidst our repeated statements telling her that we are not interested to buy. The key chain was very cheap, about 15 cents each. We could easily buy it, but the way she sold those key chains made us even more unwilling to buy from her.

Mount Batur

Lake Batur

We sat down for a while to enjoy the scenery, but we couldn't enjoy it fully. The moment we sat down, a girl approached us to sell tattoos. She stood just next to us, holding a folder with different tattoo design and kept on asking us to get her draw tattoos on us for only Rp 5000 ( 70 Singapore cents) per tattoo. I told her thousands times that I wasn't interested. But she persistently stood there and mumbling the same sentence again and again. Then her friend joined her, trying to sell flower hair clip. I wanted to scream at them, "GIVE ME A BREAK!" and at the same time I pitied them. I was so pissed at the whole idea of force selling, that even with the begging of these 2 girls, I couldn't be moved! When Tessie's sister, told them again firmly that we were not interested at all, they stomped their feet and walked off in anger!

9. A visit to Bali will not be complete without a visit to the temple. We went to Pura Besakih,the biggest Hindu temple in Bali. At the junction where we entered the village, where the temple is located, we were stopped by a group of locals. They stopped every car who is entering the village to ask for a 'fee'. Whenever they see angmohs in the car, they will charge an extremely high fee. I was so disgusted by them, simply because they just sat there playing dominos and stopping every car throughout the day to ask people for money.

When we reached Pura Besakih, there was another fee that we had to pay. Another group of locals were standing at the entrance. They offer personalized tour to the temple. One of them, told us, that there is a standard fee for foreigners, but for locals, it's up to us how much we want to pay them. We were handed a book to put our name in and the amount that we would like to give. I saw the angmohs paying between Rp 400,000- Rp 500,000 ($57-$71). I was so tempted to just pay Rp 50,000 ($7), but was reminded by Tessie's sister, that if the locals saw the amount we paid, they may not be happy and they have the power to do anything to us inside the temple later on. She was so right! We can be mystically cursed, or even raped, deep inside the temple, where there's nobody! I relented...we paid Rp 150,000 ($21) in total.

Peek-a-boo!

The temple is very magical and mystical! Too bad we were there when the sky's covered with fog, and we couldn't see the wide nature panorama from the temple. Our guide claimed that you can see the ocean from the temple. Luckily, the guide that accompanied us throughout, is a very nice Balinese, who explained to us many things about the temple and the tradition that the locals usually practice. We gave him tips, on top of the 'entrance fee' that we paid earlier, as we know at least this money goes directly to his family, and not shared with his other friends.

10. The locals say that once in Bali, we have to visit Garuda Wisnu Kencana. Without taking a photo there is like without taking a photo with Eiffel Tower when you are in Paris. So we decided to drop by, just to take photos.

Garuda Wisnu Kencana is a massive, unfinished statue in Bali that currently exists in pieces. The statue (if completed) would depict the Hindu god Vishnu (or Dewa Wisnu, as he is known by the Balinese) riding aloft on his winged mount Garuda.When we were there, we were informed that there is an on-going effort to complete the statue. That's where our entrance fees go to!!!

By the way, I need to complain here as well. Pardon me for so many complaints, I really wanted to highlight how shameful I am to find out that my countrymen are doing all sorts of things to squeeze the tourists. I already paid for the entrance fee, so when I had to use the toilet INSIDE the GWK park, I assumed it to be FREE. Ok, actually I expected that I had to pay. A man was manning the toilet from outside. The price to use the toilet was posted on the table in front of him. There were initially 2 different charges, Rp 1,000 (15 cents) to pee and Rp 2,ooo (30 cents) to shit. But on the table, what you could see is the Rp 1,000 sign being covered by the real Rp 2,000 note. So this man was charging the same price for pee-ing and shit-ing!!! I queried him and he insisted me paying Rp 2,000! WTH!

11. Watching Kecak dance and sunset at Pura Uluwatu is a must-to-do in Bali. We followed what most Bali visitors have claimed. Being Kiasu, we booked our Kecak performance ticket from an agent, way before we reached Bali, only to find out from our driver that we had been cheated. We were so used to being 'cheated' in Bali, that we couldn't be bothered anymore. Everytime our driver rolled down the car's window, we expected some payment to be made! Anyway, we were greeted by aggressive monkeys. Being warned earlier, we have kept everything that can be snatched. Initially i thought the monkeys will just snatch any items and return it upon you feeding them with fruits. I was wrong! I saw one monkey snatching someone's spectacles, and he started MUNCHING the spectacles!!! OMG!!! The victim could only stare at the monkey helplessly.

The leftmost monkey was the one, who munched on the spectacles!

Pura Uluwatu, perched majestically on the edge of a steep cliff

Our driver, who is only very familiar with Pura Uluwatu, was finally of use throughout our trip. He brought us through a very slippery and muddy walkway towards this place where the view was so magnificent!

It's so pretty, yet scary when you look down!

The kecak dance was very entertaining! You have to be there early to chop the best place, as you will be drowned by this amount of tourists!

This's just one-third of the stage!

While we were lucky that it did not pour when we were up here, we couldn't see the best sunset in Bali as the sun was hidden behind the thick clouds! While waiting for the kecak dance, we talked about what to expect if the same setting is set up in Singapore. If it's raining, in Singapore, there would be a button that you can press, and the shelter will come in automatically, so you can still enjoy the performance, RAIN or SHINE!

That's Hanoman in white!

I was amazed by these bare-chested men, who served as the chorus throughout the performance, making a wondrous cacophony of synchronized "Chak-achak-achak" clicking sounds, while swaying their bodies and waving their hands. The Balinese girls can really dance VERY WELL too! They can stand in a very sexy posture, with their butts protruding out and their fingers were so long and agile!

12. The last thing to talk about is the yummy FOOD, that we ate throughout our trip!