Enter MY puny Mind.Y.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

knock knock...

back from bali... slacked 3 days... wanted to take a look at the nature in Bali... in the end, all i got to see was jux kuta beach n loads of ang mohs... but the sunset was enuff... worthed the trip... hahaha, n the shopping of course!!!! woohoooo... surf wear's so cheap there!

anyway, with all the money spent, let me pen something down b4 i forget everything dat happened there...

uneventful flight to Denpasar... apart from the fact dat i realised today dat i lost my jacket there... haizz... the formal jacket dat i've not put on for a formal function thus far. LOST. well, another excuse to shop for a prettier one... was impressed when they sent an english-speaking guide along with the airport transfer. realised later there was a conspiracy. he tried persuading us to sign up with them for a tour... but well, failed. crapped n said he's giving me a better price jux coz i'd muttered some bahasa indo. hello, wake up the idea! n coz i thot i din hv loose rupiah, i didnt offer him any tips. so after the failed persuasion n zero tips, he gave me a slap on my arm... my flabby arm! WAT the?!?!?!?!

anyway, it was soo soo soo dark when we got there, we din get to see how the exterior of the
hotel looked like. was kinda shocked when we arrived at the lobby coz i see no possible signs of rooms. later realised they had a sprawling estate... only 2 storeys... nice envt. this is where we slept... under the stars...

went jalan-jalan after we left our barang in the hotel. most of the stores were already closed. so all we saw were many hotels, some bars, restaurants galore, n plenty of ang mohs. i've never been to a SEA country n felt so out of place b4. no wonder the terrorists bombed bali. i totally understood y. on our way back, we bought our very first roadside packed food. the best actually in all the days there... our very first nasi campur from bali consisted of plenty of rice, tempe, veggies n i cant rem wat... with 2 tahu stuffed with veggies which were v v yummy... all for less den a dollar.

Day 2 was started off at the beach... took a stroll along the beach. GIGANTIC waves n lovely water... not the most spectacular beach... but better den sentosa n there were REAL waves... not like the puny ones dat some ppl manage to "surf on" at sentosa. how lame! plenty of surfers n wannabes... steph tried surfing n loved it! when i finally hv enuff money, i'm gonna buy a surfboard n head somewhere for a week jux to surf surf surf. hahaha, even though i havent tried b4. sat along the beach n was pestered by plenty of vendors who came to peddle their sarongs, bracelets, etc but they usually left after i said, "tidak mau."

but well, some persisted... n they managed to get me to paint FLOWERS??!?!!? onto my nails n well, henna an 'M' on my leg. rather cool actually... but i was sane enuff enuff to do without the hair braiding which would hv caused all my hair to drop.

steph was so fren fren with her instructor, i swear he almost cried when they bade their final farewell on the street along our hotel... now no wonder his eyes were so merah...

den we started on our expedition to the surfwear shops... i think we visited the surfwear shops at least 10 times the whole time we were there...

while steph was surfing, i sat n chatted with some of the vendors... very hardworking and warm folks... the surfboard rental uncle was telling me he rents out surfboard in the day n works in another shop at nite... we conversed in both bahasa indo n eng... thank God for my lessons in indo lang... helped me clique better with them n i could understand their livelihood n struggles so much better... he shouted out my name on day 3 when i was out jalan-ing again... which totally freaked me out lah... to hear ur name being screamed out on the streets in a foreign place... but was so sweet to know someone rem u...

after talk talk talk n walk walk walk, we stopped by a beachside stall for bakso which is meatball... n some other foodstuff... kinda like our yong taufu... here's the ah lian n her food...

then we also tried nasi campur no. 2... this time we could choose the dishes... hers was good... the sate was tender n juicy... the sweet potato leaves with turnip i suppose was yummy n crunchy... n the mango juice was heavenly... dilapidated stall... breaking waves... surfers in the backgrd riding on the waves... if only i could do this once a week... cooling sea breeze... gentle indo conversation in the background...

watched the sunset in the evening... magnificant... it was so beautiful... watching the ppl stroll on the beach... some with their loved ones... one with her dog... a naked indonesian little boy playing so carefreely while his father fished in the vicinity... surfers with their boards n BODS... forlorn-looking guy in pink blocking my view while i was trying to snap romantic photos... beautiful. i could jux sit there forever... then darkness descended...

Day 3 came after 9 hours of sleep! shiok ah!!! havent slept for a good 9 hours for donkey months!!!! wanted to take a cab to Ubud but kena persuaded by this tour operator to go with his van... well, on hindsight... rather good deal... wanted to bring us to barong - traditional balinese dance performance but i declined... cannot fall into mould of typical tourist. din stop by at celuk to see silver too... their designs v not v contemporary. so went straight to Ubud but saw many stone n wood carving stalls along the way... lovely lovely designs n handicraft... when i finally hv enuff to operate a hotel... i'd return to make purchases...

saw many sawar (rice fields) along the way too... sometime in my life... i must take sabbathical leave n live on a rice field like a farmer... i must i must i must! my dream lifestyle!

went to the monkey jungle n witnessed monkey business... rather pointless but took a pic with a little monkey who climbed onto me... i must smell like his mummy! gosh... my motherliness transcends species. now i wonder... is it good news or bad? it bit my finger when i tried getting it off me... no harm done until it scratched my beautiful face. naughty monkey. spank me!

den off to more shopping shopping shopping... many more pura (temples) in Ubud... lovelier architecture too... wish i could trek more... instead... spent more time bargaining... hahaha.... they totally abhor me! with my hard-handed bargaining antics... one of them was complaining to her peers n i had to pacify her abit... n steph made me ask the price of a veggie shredder... a piece of wood actually but i asked bout the shredder by mistake... costs less den 50 cents... duh! din want it but at the rate the price fell... i couldnt help but buy it in the end.

den saw a less smart angmoh who accepted the price a vendor offered instanteously! i could hear the glee in the seller's voice when he din attempt to bargain. i was so tempted to help him slash the price!

after shopping, eat again... so few warungs around!! bought from another wandering food seller... got nasi campur 4 i fact... nasi campur 3 was from another of our jalan-ing expedition... this was bad... rice with beehooon... uurrggghhh... n so little other food...

after lunch was groggy but went to denpasar n hahaha... splurged in the supermarket... the locals were dumb-founded at our buying... all food items... 2 huge bags of them... had 2 hand-carry them man... embarrassing... all my tim-tams n kerupuk... kekeke... den took a risky ride on a bemo (i think)... kena "chopped" by the drivers.... uurrggghhh... retribution ah... but at least they got us back safely n we tried their public transport...

chatted with the driver who shared that he used to work in m'sia... n managed to save enuff to build his own home... with 26 million rupiahs... which is S$1300... was kinda scary initally during the ride coz he took a shortcut which was rather secluded... n then the road was shut n we had to go down a steep slope in a v rickety van... phew, we made it afterall... took a photo for them while we were waiting for the jam to clear... den while they were posing, the other vehicles started moving n we got honked at... hahahahaha... sorry, olympus moments r more impt!

denpasar was very much the home of most balinese living in the city so i din spot anything interesting but got to take a good glance at their way of life... n was good time of bonding n sharing with the bemo driver n friend. though they ripped me!

hee hee hee... den at nite, it was surfwear madness!

man... too much too much talk... shall rest now n continue later...

7:31 PM

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