Bali-riffic, Bali-stic and wish i tak Bali-ked

My dear yoga partner attempting The Crow (betul ke Nini?) out of the blue

On our last day at Green T House Villa, in the quiet village of Lodtunduh, Ubud

What a way to say goodbye. A roadside cremation in progress, if you look closer,you'll see the skull (on top of the burner). Morbid, disturbing but...that's how life moves on for the quiet Balinese.

The quiet Balinese has great respect for everything around them

Again, the cremation. Not-so-traditional, judging from the gas and generator. This is a simple ceremony, unless, you can afford a hugggeee ceremony or if you're a VIP or from the Brahman caste which would be more elaborate with trimmings, a big bull or bird minus the banana trunks. I hate to say this but with one glimpse, you could've mistaken it for a some BBQ party....

At the Jatiluwih Red Rice field. An ancient rice grain, rusty red colour and full of flavour. Mount Batur volcano in the horizon. Notice the what-use-to-be-lava-flow slope on the right. It lies dormant but still active.

Hmm...if the Mount Batur were to erupt, where would i run to....or should i stay and admire the lava flow?

Checking out the parameters of the Villa...contemplating if i should walk through the padi field. Would it be considered as trespassing?

Sempat yoga tu....

Simple brekki, before we whipped out the Maggi bowls :) Hubs had the carrot juice while I, went for the Kayu Manis drink. DAUN kayu manis tau.

A serious tumeric, honey, lemon and cili drink matched with a plate of Tiramisu Torte

Our 1st guesthouse, Kunang-Kunang. The one thing separating us with the padi field is the constantly flowing 'terusan'

Mr. Barong prancing around

My liver tonic drink. Hard & green (still trying to recall the contents, I think it's celery, pegaga, apple ) :) + the oh-so-cool coconut drink

Greeted by the lush padi fields right by our doorstep of Kunang-Kunang guesthouse, Ubud.

At the Lotus Temple

One of the artworks we're waiting to bring back home. Tokay was outstation.

Another one.

A visit to this restaurant is a must because of....

...this. The deep fried Gourami and I should also try to steam rice in banana leaves next time.

Andri trying out the rocks at Padang-Padang beach. Sorry, no surf dudes available at this time.

Then it was off to our Spa at Zen....blisssssss... The black space you see in between those geometric designs on the floor....is actually water.

..and now....I am back... *grumble*....

Tanned, on the nose, neck and arms.
It was an amazing holiday, with some unexpected yet rewarding events.

I hardly slept the night before the trip. Occasionally waking up to check the clock. Yes, I HAD to sleep, because earlier in the day, i was on a roll, in and out of the office TRYING to clear up as much work as i can and on top of that, I stayed back till 9pm to take care of some group discussion in the office. Dozing off once in a while and hoping time will speed.

Reached home in a flurry, packed...unpacked again..and packed. Looked for the smallest clothes just to fulfill that perfect 'small bag', thought and also bickerred about on what size of an extra suitcase should we bring. Of course, we took the biggest. Then again, it was still not enough to fit in the goods we bought :)....

Flight day. Dad sent us to KL Sentral on the way to work. Overworked with excitement. I couldnt help looking at my watch. We're 2 flight hours away from Bali.

Bali is beautiful. 3 nights there is definitely not enough.

We spa-ed, rock-climbed, walked the arty streets of Ubud over and over again, watched the Barong dance ( the REAL Barong-Rangda was out of our reach due to distance), ate authentic Padang food, breathed in the lovely smell of jasmine and frangipani incense in the morning air, stared endlessley at the padi fields right infront of our room at Kunang2, did shopping (of course), jadi mat and minah herba (loaded up on all sorts of heaty and cold jamu/herbal drinks), visited Mount Batur, Jatiluwih rice-fields, Padang2 beach, Tegalalang wood-carvers and Denpasar. As this is our 2nd visit to Bali, we avoided Kuta's busy and rip-off shoppers paradise :)...and opted for the village life and artsy ambience of Ubud (for the 2nd time too).

Among the new things we experienced was our discovery of Bali's red-rice. Of course, we did bring back some, to replace our usual consumption of brown rice AND the glorious abundance of keropok Malinjo. Of course, we bought that too. Oh and not forgetting a new tonic drink I discovered, Kayu Manis drink, nope, it's not your average cinnamon-stick-pop-into-a-glass-of-tea. The drink was made by, simply, blending the LEAVES of the cinnamon tree with a hint of honey. The tree was right infront of our eyes. The lady walked pass us, to the tree, plucked the shoots and popped it into the blender and that was it. Taste? Okay, an acquired taste but yeah man....it was the perfect energizer to start the morning with.

We ended our trip to Bali, departure day, with a last minute shopping spree at Tegalalang. However, along the way, things got even more interesting. It came as an answer to my curiosity through out the whole day. We came face to face with a cremation in PROGRESS....in....burning progress.

Pak Koko, our driver told us that TODAY was a GOOD day for cremation ceremonies everywhere. Which explains why we passed by lots of 'chariots' in and out villages.

We are expected to visit Bali again, end of the year. We just can't get enough of it. But before that happens, we've already got our seats ready for Jogjakarta (Borobudur) this August. I have begun counting the days, again and checking out what's good to buy there.

As I write/edit/draft this, I am trying to invoke a bit of Bali with a bit of what i brought home. The Sight (of wood carvings, lampu and an 8 ft, 3 tiered payung), Smell (heavy scent of a Bali Frangipani incense stick on a slow-burn filling the air on this lovely cool Saturday morning) and the hypnotic and calming Sounds of the soft deep bassy Gamelan (I am soooooo happy i bought some Bali gamelan music after sooo long!). Even hearing the chattering of neighbouring indon maids in heavy dunnowutchamacallit accent is bringing me back to Bali. Even.....talking to my office cleaner, an Indon (yet to ask her where she's really from) hasn't been the same. I sometimes wonder how lucky they are to come from such a beautiful place.

Yeah...the video is 'terbalik', not sure how to 're-adjust' it. If you readers DO KNOW, DO tell me ok.

This is where we stayed on the last days of our trip. The video will give you a tour of the villa, we would have our breakfast outside while the cook makes our brekki and...plucks the fresh leaves (beside the garden) to prepare our herbal drinks. The pool down there has an infinity edge. You can rest your head on it while enjoying the view. The occasional padi farmer will walk by and smile as he turns into the fields walk-path....

*sigh*....

Bali was an eye opener. Everytime i come back here, I begin to know more about their culture, learn to appreciate the arts and everything authentic and aesthetic. It's amazing to see how Ubud, esepecially, is FULL of creative people from woodcarver, lampmakers, metalsmiths, street artists and the amazing ability to recycle. Sometime's I wish, i had something to be proud of in Malaysia :)...unfortunately, I was just so proud of Bali.

Thank you Bali, for a wonderful time. We shall meet again.

(update, 8th October, 2007. This is one trip worth forgetting. Sorry, it just is and so is anything nice and sweet that happenned from a year back.Serious.)