Pink and Undecided: religious place

Bali Getaway Part 2 : Tanah Lot

Hulloooo again!

This is the second post in one day, that's new right? Hahahaha... I can't stop myself though, i had to post that give away post ASAP (just because) and it's such a short post anyway, it shouldn't count :p.

Carrying on... How's everybody's day? Mine started off not so good *___*. I woke up very groggily from all of the cough medication my hunny kept on shoving my way *arghhh i think those meds are causing me heatiness now! My lower lip's cracked, super painful!!! I almost never experience cracked lips before hikhik* but i already missed a yoga class yesterday so i really wanted to go for hot exercise, so i crawled into the bathroom and got ready, and then we got stuck really BAD in a horrid traffic jam!

WTF -____-. I feel like we've been transported to Jakarta suddenly. Stupid people only start working on the drainage culverts once the rainy season's on full blown! &%^@&*%&*%#! I was super duper annoyed!!! Decided to make a *very hard to do as well coz all the close by area were jammed* U turn and go back home because we're only halfway there and it was passed the starting hour for the class already.

Had i insisted on going we'd probably arrive more than halfway through the class. One class costs around IDR 57.500 okay, why would i want to pay so much for a few minutes (the class is only 1 hour long) of exercise??? Okay lah i'm stingy, but really, what's the point??? Very grumpy because i could've spent the 45 minutes we spent being stuck in the stupid jam sleeping -___-. Yeah, i napped already so i'm feeling better now, but that's 45 minutes of my life i will never get back!!! *Dramatic* *dramatic* *sorry ah i think i'm PMSing hard time*.

I notice i ramble on a lot more around my PMS. Haih. (I wrote this earlier in the afternoon, mood's now 100% improved after going for a weekly movie date with hunny *watched a Chinese movie, The Four 2 which was pretty awesome, much better than the first installment!*, have a long-craved for steak dinner *it was cold and not as nice as how the restaurant's standard usually, but it wasn't horrible and we had the nicest waitress and it curbed my meat-crave for now so all's good* and followed by more cropped tops shopping at Magnolia. Sigh to more shopping-two packages from online shops also just arrived :p-but it made my day ahahaha). Okay lah, enough already :D, let's continue one our Bali Getaway Part 2!

Went to Tanah Lot after Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

We anyhow go there because hunny Googled and people usually recommend going to Tanah Lot after Bedugul (it's pretty much the right way to go back to Nusa Dua, i might be wrong because i'm horrible with directions :p). When we almost reached Tanah Lot (it was 5.30 or so already), hunny was like "Errr, i dunno if the place's still open or not lo, it might close already when we reached". WTH right, why he only said that then???

I immediately Googled and thankfully Tanah Lot's management's been extending their opening hours until pretty late in the evening and even started holding Kecak Dance performances there (you need to pay more to watch it though, i don't remember how much but it was pretty expensive for local standard), so phewwwww!!! We only arrived just a few minutes shy of 6 O'clock but it was still pretty light.

Like Jakarta, i find the sun sets later in Bali than in Surabaya. You know, in Surabaya at 6 o'clock confirm to be very dark already. Why am i writing in Singlish? #slapsself. I watched too many of XiaXue's Guide to Life earlier when i was putting newly washed clothes in my closet *i really really hate doing it and always postponing until i'll have like, 5 or 6 baskets containing super high piles of clothes FML, at the same time i also do not want the maids to do it because i will never ever find what i'm looking for if they do, and i also dislike people rummaging through my wardrobe zzz* and i tend to pick Singlish back up right away. Oh i can speak Singlish like a true blue Singaporean hahahaha. #Undecided hates that very much.

Oh yeah, if you noticed my legs (from the part 1 too) looking huge in the pictures, that's not how my legs really are normally okay! I somehow always suffer from excessive bloating *mainly on my legs and fingers* after a flight. Yes, even after only 55 minutes of flying evidently! FML. That's why lots of my trip pictures showed me with super fat legs. WTF.

Hai! Welcome to Tanah Lot!

The picture was not centred and there's a cropped person in the actual centre because that guy took FOREVER to have a picture taken. I mean... really??? A GUY??? Can you be any more vain??? I have to force my hunny to have his picture taken, you know! So inconsiderate, lots of people also lining up to have their pictures taken you know! I got so annoyed i just told hunny and Baby Boy to stop there before entering and quickly snapped this picture. And the guy postpone the picture taking again because they were behind him hahaha. WTF he thinks it's his private gate or something? Go take pictures in front of your own home if you do not want other people to be in your picture! It's a friggin entrance, and it was one of the busiest tourist attraction in Bali! You want to hog the space for yourself for how many hours??? Sorry ah, i got super pissed again remembering this person

I super like this picture even though it was blurry, so cute!

The way to the Pura (yes, it's another temple, just offshore from the sea this time!) was paved and lined with shops on both sides. I always always pick the wrong footwear (i guess because i favor cuteness over comfort? That's not true either, i never gave it much thought when packing, i just think it'd be cute for my outfits and appropriate *in this case a slipper must be the perfect footwear for an island holiday, rite???* but never pause to think whether it'd be comfortable or not!) and the jelly slippers with huge bows on them that i wore started to cut through my feet :(... On the first day! FML!

Almost there

The sun started to go down already, that's why it's getting dark in the pictures as well :)

It was when the tide was really low and you can actually explore much further than usual

Look at the craters :D

Baby Boy spotted that rock and started to insist on going to "the ship"

Do you see the rocky thingy at the back? It has some caves in it *or was it one?*, and there's a "sacred snake" (it was a white snake, if i remember correctly) living inside. There are a lot of pawang ular or snake charmer (doubles as the temple keeper) that would guide you there. I touched the sacred snake once when i was little (that was the first and last time i've ever touched a live snake willingly), it was supposed to bring you good luck. Too bad Baby Boy took too long to play around the "ship" that when he finally asked about the snake, the cave's already closed and the keepers all came out

I stumbled around *wrong footwear, remember? Jelly slippers-very slippery when wet. Not suitable for rocky beaches!!! Why can't i seem to remember that???* so i was super scared and walked like a grandma, climbing up the path to the ship-shaped rock. This is the view from higher part of the beach

Baby Boy was pretty disappointed when he realized that the "ship" was not enter-able hahaha

The wave was pretty violent and it's especially apparent in this spot, unfortunately my camera cannot snap a quick movement *LOL, one snap takes about 5 to 10 seconds to process :p* so i could never catch the high waves and this was the best i got hahaha. Don't worry, my hunny sulked his way into a new (and super expensive) Samsung semi DSLR camera (NX 300?), will show you later *in a different post*

See that tall rock people were standing at? Baby Boy insisted on climbing it. Of course, it's pretty high and he had to be helped a lot by his daddy. I was really worried because of its height *compared to Baby Boy's height it's really really high okay* and Baby Boy's pretty prone to falling like his momma, but boys gotta be boys right? And i always wanted him to be more outdoorsy and nature loving so i swallowed my fear and let him be

Ta-dahhh!

So serious, wonder what he was thinking about?

Of course, i went to panic mode again and screamed to hunny to hold him tightly -___-. I annoy myself sometimes

Then soon it was very very dark and time for us to head back! On the way in i saw some souvenir shops that were having a sale and we stopped by one to check it out. Nothing much to see, we ended up buying snacks (and Baby Boy insisted on buying a key chain, i had to steer him away from the fugly and way overpriced pirate skull one and made him chose a more special one. It was a komodo dragon in the end if i'm not mistaken), oh did i say that i bought only one dress in Bali? I did, but for once i was actually attracted to a Barong loose tee (not made from your usual cotton tee material but from very thin, cooling and comfortable tye dye cloth)-it something that is very quintessentially Bali-to wear at home. I was never ever interested in house wear before, is it another sign of aging?

Oh, also watched people bickered because a local woman was trying to cut the cashier line *giggles*. A foreigner actually addressed her first saying "Excuse me? The line's over here." (she was standing at the wrong end of the line, like waiting for a chance to cut in) but she pretty much ignored him. Then a brave auntie started screeching at her *giggling some more gleefully, i am happy not having to be the loud bitch for once!*. The lady tried to argue by telling the cashier she's been queuing for a long time (still ignoring the auntie), then the auntie cut her off "Hey, we've been here before you! WE've also been queuing for a long time already!". Then the manner less woman scurried off to the back of the lane mumbling unhappily. My hunny's such a perfect gentleman, he actually let her queue in front of him (because she already queue-at the wrong end!-before him). I would never do the same.

While daddy was busy browsing the store, Baby Boy cam-whored

One more

And that marked the end of Day 1! We slept like babies that night. now that the air conditioner's working well! Check in later for the next day, we're going to Bali Zoo!

#Pink

10:31:00 PM
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Bali Getaway Part 1 : Pura Ulun Danu Bratan (Bedugul)

adventure

Hellow, everybody!

Yes, after procrastinating to no end (as usual), i finally succeeded in forcing my lazy ass to blog about my little family's Bali getaway :). Unlike usual, i won't be blogging about it per day since the last two days were spent doing practically nothing, instead i'd be blogging per place hehe. We went on a total tourist mode too, visiting lots of touristy places. I guess we were over-compensating our last trip to Bali (which we spent to none of those touristy places but roaming expensive and luxe eatery instead. You can read about my December 2012-January 2013 Bali vacation in my January-February archive)

Starting with Pura Ulun Danu Bratan on Day 1. In case you're not aware, Indonesia has the biggest Moslem population (in a country) in the world, but uniquely-Balinese are mostly Hindu (and that makes this exotic island even more special!) and they are very religious, you can find Pura/temples in every nooks and crannies of Bali

But of course it won't be exclusively talking about that one place but also other stops we made along the way, etc. And complains, and moanings. LOL. In fact i'm gonna start with one. Or two. First was about our Air Asia flight. There are currently only two flights from Surabaya with Air Asia, morning flight (which we couldn't take because Baby Boy still had school-we left on Thursday, we already pulled him out of school for a total of three days as it is) and late evening one. It was supposed to be around 7.30 PM so i figured we'd be at the hotel around 10 (flight from Surabaya to Bali's only 55 minutes, but Bali time's one hour ahead of Surabaya)-plenty of time to rest and get comfortable.

Fat chance. A few weeks before the D day (we booked the flight months before), Air Asia sent a confirmation e-mail about the flight's delay. ZZZZ. Instead of 7.30, we'll leave at 9.15 now WTF. And to make matter worse? When we were already in the flight's gate waiting to be boarded, the flight was postponed even further. We ended up flying around 10 PM ZZZZ. L and her husband were in Bali at that time as well and they kindly offered to pick us up in the airport (because they were also staying in Nusa Dua area, which is a more secluded area quite far from the airport) but we had to call them as soon as they announce the added 45 minutes delay (EFF delays) coz we definitely didn't want to be a burden! It was getting late as it was!

In the end we arrived in Bali at midnight-local time zzzzz. Took a taxi to Nusa Dua (which was almost 30 minutes away from the airport) and checked in to Mercure Nusa Dua (in case you're a new reader, we got free hotel vouchers from their New Year's lucky draw) at 1 AM on Friday 27th November instead of the 26th *LOL*. Bad lucks still hovered around us, because even though they kinda upgraded our room (which was supposed to be a Junior Suite Room to a VIP one. It was really spacious with extra parlor and all that had a couch that could be pulled into an extra bed. We ended up pulling off the huge mattress from the couch to our bedside and it became Baby Boy's comfortable bed for three nights), the air conditioner was broken!

We called for them to fix it and they did try, it was almost 2 AM and they thought they solved the problem (they didn't) and left, and i ended up not being able to sleep almost the whole night (i even moved to the parlor and slept on the couch because the air conditioner in the parlor worked better than the one in our room). Didn't help that hunny snored like a lumberjack-hard-at-work on my ears. Thank God Baby Boy slept soundly through the night!

I woke up pretty early in the morning with a jump because Baby Boy was hovering around me scarily (i am a light sleeper *sigh*). We called receptionist again and demanded for them to fix the air conditioner, and they finally did, hallelujah! (and the next two nights i spent shivering in cold *LOL*, the irony!) We then went to get ready to finally go out *Baby Boy was very excited and kept on asking when we're going out*, and then the air conditioner flooded! LOLOLOL. Thankfully they managed to completely fix the air conditioner by the time we got back. Now, i am not angry or anything, and i am thankful for the free room, but seriously. It was a pretty horrible start for our little holiday *LOL* (Btw, i didn't take any pictures of the room, but it looked a lot like our room old room back in December 2012, only much bigger)

We managed to have a lot of fun ever since, but that didn't mean that our luck was not still making fun of us because our stupid rented car's AIR CONDITIONER also decided to go bonkers on us! It started off very fine, but suddenly it blows only hot air! WTF. In the end hunny realized that it works fine whenever he's speeding, but there were quite a few jams we encountered that day and that's when the air conditioner would stop working! Before he figured out the problem, i told him the air conditioner was bipolar (being hot and cool simultaneously) and made US bipolar (happy one minute when it's working, and angry the next) FOL. Hunny managed to keep us cool (by stepping on the gas continuously) ever since he realized what the problem was and we get a new car latter that day *sigh* so everything did went well in the end.

LOL, so typically me-6 paragraphs before actually starting to the point of the entry hahahaha. Complains pretty much finished (for now) though, i promise. So, we didn't have any plan on where we wanted to go like, at all (i only know i wanted to have dinner at Bubbagump at some point because it's like our must-go restaurant whenever we're in Bali, it's a bit of a special place for the two of us. We went there for the very first time on our first real honeymoon years ago :) and it holds a special place in my heart ever since) and we thought we'd just wing it. Of course, it didn't work that way and we ended up confusing ourselves so we did some Googling in the end and pretty much worked out a little (rough) itinerary on the spot haha. I guess being educated in Tourism did have a factor in that!

Decided to go to Bedugul (or what's known as "the cold place" in our family haha) in the end, and while passing Denpasar-we passed by Babi Guling (Suckling Pig) Candra, one of the well known BiGul (and so far probably the best-for us) in Bali. And if i only have Bubbagump in mind, hunny only had BiGul Candra in his! So we abrubtly decided to stop by and have lunch there because we don't know if we're ever gonna pass it again in our trip *with our messy IT and all*.

Hunny, looking decidedly happy at the prospect of having a yum yum BiGul hahaha

Just feed Baby Boy cold medication (just like his momma, he eternally suffers from flu zzz) so he was very sleepy, but one mouthful of BiGul (that's apparently very spicy for his standard-which i didn't realize because i eat chillies like candies) his eyes popped wide open FHL

I don't understand why everything seemed to be so spicy for him now because we ate there once before and he finished everything on his plate, so we had to order plain pork meats (which arrived in HEAPS, we were pretty stunned. Ended up da bao-ing half of it, but it turned BAD when we unwrapped it later that night! Moral of the story, don't buy the plain meat by itself maybe? It was pretty pricey too, but there were a LOT of meats there) and i had to force fed him *LOL*.

I don't usually have breakfast and lunch seperatedly (i have brunch instead coz i usually wake up pretty late when i'm at home hehe) so i was still very full from our earlier breakfast at the hotel, plus i am not a huge fan of BiGul like hunny so i just ate a few spoonful of Baby Boy's left over. Another one of mummy role *LOL*, i rarely order food during this trip because i'm always worried Baby Boy would hate his meal (happened a lot) and i'd have to eat it instead *sigh*.

Continued our journey afterward, and it was pretty far! Took us about two hours? And we already had a very late start (but then again, we have a late start everyday because we always took our time to relax in the hotel and get ready. Isn't that the perfect holiday anyway?) with lots of detour, we arrived at Pura Ulun Danu Bratan (which i couldn't remember ever visiting even though i must've at least once or twice when i was little. I always go to the resort/water sport area (read this) whenever i go there with my family so i wasn't even aware of this Pura (temple) in the same area.

It is now rainy season in Indonesia, and Bali's weather's been quite perfect for us (but if, like most foreigners, you go there for the sun and warmth you might want to come in summer instead. I know we keep on saying we have summer all year round, but that's not 100% true) because it was never too hot, cool enough for me to constantly shrug on that chiffon outer wear in that picture above, everyday! And i brought my sunnies for nothing because the sun was always hiding behind the clouds :).

But even though it was not super hot in all of Bali, Bedugul's another matter altogether. It's COLD (at least for tropical creatures like us) there! Pretty much similar to Europe's spring weather when we went there in May :p. It was just finished raining (but it rained again when we left! That's what i meant about the weather being perfect, it kept on raining whenever we're inside the car and stopped whenever we arrived at our destination!) so it was very misty and foggy! Super pretty and surreal, i didn't even feel like we were in Indonesia haha.

I just kept on thinking of how this place (and the aura) seemed to be very Twilight-ish, like it wouldn't be too out of place if suddenly Edward dashed through the trees hahaha

There's a sign (and it's also a well-known rule) forbidding women who are having their period (my period decided to show up on the day we're leaving for Bali and stopped just a day before we left FML) to enter the Pura itself so i was forever panicking if i'm stepping on the forbidden part already! I wasn't alone, stumbled into another lady who's voicing her own concern as well and her family told her it's the Pura (the one surrounded by the walls) that was off limit for her (me as well!) and not the park itself

As usual, unfocused eyes GAHHH so annoying

Hunny told me it's super pretty without the fog when you can see the beautiful lake stretches out immediately after the temple, but in my opinion it's even more beautiful when it's half hidden (actually you can't really see the lake at all beside the tiny part seen in this pic from all the fogs) because it then looked super mysterious, mythical and even more special!

Then hunny saw this little fella. It's so cute, it got embarrassed every time its got food inside its mouth it'd run away backward *there's an open door leading to a big and closed park or something at the back part of the cage, i guess the cage itself only works as their feeding place?*

Baby Boy got so excited when he saw this huge fish, began climbing it and insisted on cam-whoring with it

I oso wan. Originally planned to "kiss" the fishie but its so low down, i can't do it without throwing myself on the ground (and i was already so embarrassed because it was quite crowded and people kept on watching us zzz)

Baby Boy kept on asking to ride the water bike (the horror!!!) but it was not operating, the ticket selling booth was not even open! It'd be crazy to ride it in such heavy fog anyway!

Baby Boy then saw a little path leading further in and kept on calling me to go in. It's the less visited part of the place *i guess, i could be mistaken* that we probably wouldn't even think of setting our foot in *not even sure if it's off limit because of the very small entrance-but it's not because once we got in, more and more people also went in. Or did we cause that? LOL* and i'm glad we did coz it's so beautiful!

When hunny was busy taking our pic, a friendly local (errr, aren't we locals too?) approached us and asked us in English (people refused to believe we're Indonesian in Bali, they were determined that we're Japanese/Korean, even Koreans thoughts we're Koreans and tried to speak in Korean to us *sigh*-this happened in Vietnam, Macau and even Singapore too...) "Do you want to take pictures? Three of you?". We were so stunned and i was afraid she'd be embarrassed if we replied in Indonesia so we just stammered "Errr no..." and scurried off with an apologetic smile. She probably thought we're super shy Japanese or something *LOL*

There's a swamp or someting in the further corner of this place and we spotted some little sampans, when i tried to take some pictures hunny scared me by pointing out a sign of "Women who are having their period are forbidden to enter" in front of another entrance. I'm 100% they meant another (i guess) Pura further back and not the whole meadow! Alas, he scared me so much i insisted we leave the secluded part as fast as we could.

And continue cam-whoring at safe spots. Why do i look like a geisha/Chinese lady ghost so much in my pictures whenever i'm wearing flowy materials? *sigh*

Ribbit!

It was starting to drizzle again by then, but Baby Boy really didn't want to leave the place yet *he's having a lot of fun, and he wasn't ready to go back to the car after more than a two hours drive even though he was sleeping most of the time hehe* and kept on finding excuses to prolong our stay.

Like insisting on taking a pic with the giant eagle, pretty far away from where were standing zzzz

And then insisting (after i said no already) on trying out the jungle gym nearby for a little bit, so i gave up and let him be

While i cam-whored a little bit more

I guess the rain *it was more of a drizzle but still...* started to chase the mist away because everything seemed a little clearer then

Look how beautiful the scenery was. And everything's taken with a half-broken pocket camera teehee

I guess i am quite taken with floral photography now, ever since Gardens by the Bay!

Then Baby Boy called to us because somehow he got tangled and stuck in the globe-like monkey bars -____- how did that happened??? And then we dragged him to the car because the drizzle started to intensify (plus we have a plan to visit another place, and it was around 4 already!).

But of course when he saw this weird fishie statue (s?) he insisted on taking a picture first (he's every bit as narcissistic as his mummy)

And that was our little visit to Pura Ulun Danu Bratan! Stay tuned for the next place!

#Pink

PS : I'm in a fantastic mood right now, because we've just booked our tickets for our next trip! Yes, the three of us once again, to Hong Kong (in February 2014) this time! Can you believe we scored IDR 4.600.000 (that's less than USD 450) for return tickets to Hong Kong for 3 pax??? Fantastic or what! That was only possible because Tiger Airways' having an IDR 1 promotion (to Hong Kong, have to pay for the return tickets that's why ended up paying IDR 4.600.000, including baggages etc!). We also scored IDR 750.000/pax tickets for my parents to Singapore! So if you're interested to go to Singapore/Hong Kong, you might want to check out this promotion! Lemme know if you booked your next trip because of my tip :D!