20100309 Bali - Day 4

Day 1, we departed from USJ 3 to LCCT at 6:30am.
Day 2, we departed from the hotel at 8am.
Day 3, we departed from the hotel at 10am.
Today, we checked out and departed from the hotel at 11am.

We rented the car+driver at IND 250k for 5 hours. Mathematically, this tells that the charges were not linearly correlated to the hiring hours. IND 350k for a 10-hour ride but IND 250k for a 5-hour ride.

Waiting at the lobby for the driver.

Actually, we have no "agenda" today. The driver brought us to "see" expensive hotels such as Hyatt at Nusa Dua.

Then, we went to Uluwatu to see more puri. Entrance fee to the temple = IND 9 for 3 people. The monkeys there are good snatch thieves. One monkey approached the driver from the back and snatch his cap from his head. At Uluwatu, we met an Indonesian chinese lady from Medan. We had a good chat in Hokkien. Hm... seems like Hokkien is widely spoken in my Bali trip.

Since we didn't have an itinerary, the driver suggested that we go to Dreamland. Oh...oh.... we're cheated. The place is still under construction and we're the water-fish sponsoring the construction. Entrance fee = IND 15k. Nothing there but a small patch of beach. I hid at the restaurant, ordered isotonic drinks to avoid myself from melting under the scorching sun.

The isotonic drinks really refreshed my mind. Suddenly, I thought of airport tax. We need to save up some rupiahs to pay the airport tax. Took out wallet, count count count... aiyah... ngam ngam only.The driver brought us to yet another place to "see" patung-patung Vishnu... entrance fee = IND 35k. The hot weather made any trips unpleasant. We requested to be driven to the airport at 3:30pm. Hah...hah... the driver had to make a U-turn at the entrance coz we refused to visit the patung-patung Vishnu.

At the end of the day, we tipped the driver IND 50k.

Bali airport is a lousy airport. Our flight was scheduled at 7:25pm. We reached the airport at 4:30pm. The counter was not open for check-in. Hence, there's no point we went inside coz passing the scanning station means we couldn't bring in any water bottles. But, there's no chairs at all at the lobby/waiting area. Huh... we paid IND 150k per person for the airport tax and yet they can't afford to put some chairs up for the passengers. Where did the money go?

Ding dong ding dong... we finally aboard AirAsia to balik kampung. On the plane, I die die also wanna clear all the Indonesian Rupiah notes in my wallet. After filling our stomachs, I still had some money left. So, we browsed thru the catalogue to buy stuff simply becoz Rupiah is worth nothing to keep. I guessed everyone onboard had the same thinking. Merchandise items Mama Peh wanna buy were all sold out. Finally, I bought a pair of Valentine's T-shirt.

20100308 Bali - Day 3

Was an early bird the day before. Today, begin journey rather late, at 10am.

Went to a garden, entrance fee = IND 9k. After visiting the Besakih Temple, all temples look the same to me now. Oh... btw, Pura = Besakih.

There's an Ole-ole Bali restaurant in Sunway Pyramid in which I find the food there is quite nice. From the driver, I was told that ole-ole = souvenir. In Bali, they have their own language. And their national language is Bahasa Indonesia.

This garden has a moat, just like a castle in UK and a palace in China. The moat is full of water-lilies now.

Had lunch on the way uphill. Today, we're smarter. We had heavy hotel breakfast and just ordered some light bites. A plate of spring rolls and sweet and sour fillet with rice cost IND 94k.

After lunch, we continued our journey to a botanical garden. The weather was cooling at the mountain. Nice greeneries, nice weather for a while, then, it rained. Entrance fee to the park = IND 33k.

There's a commando training ground. You can see a guy hanging between the trees in the photo below.

I have no such courage. Better 脚踏实地.

Cactus farm.

Interesting lover's tree, or tree in love?

Then, we went to Lake Batur, again have to pay entrance fee of IND 35k. There, we bumped into a group of Taiwanese tourists. One of the guys was very friendly and kept talking to us when he overheard that we spoke Hokkien. He told me that I have to visit Taiwan.

See how Mama Peh pry open the wall using her qi-gong. Hah...hah...

Hello Kitty vs Doraemon umbrellas. Sigh... 老还童.

At 6pm, we reached Tanah Lot. Have to walk thru the street of shopping booths to reach the seaside. Huh... hot weather, crowded, full of tourists. My ren-duo-phobia kicked in. How I wish I could just lie down in my hotel room.

Batman kena tangkap!

20100307 Bali - Day 2

Left see, right see, can't see why this hotel is a 4-star hotel. Breakfast by the seaside is something the Mat Sallehs enjoy, I guess. Probably, we're Penangites. Mama Peh said, "aiyoh... waste so much money to fly here and have breakfast by the seaside. Grandpa's apartment in Penang Batu Ferringghi is by the seaside, FOC also we seldom go."

This is the backdoor to our hotel room.

Each and every room has a unique statue. This reminds me of my 2-month kindergarten experience. I still remembered that my school bus number plate was 8848. Everyday after school, we'd line up at a signboard with the number written and a picture painted on the board. The teacher asked us to remember the picture of our bus, in which I found it very difficult to remember. Why couldn't we just remember the number? Of course, that time, I dared not "challenge" my teacher. Now, I still remember the 8848, but have no idea at all about the picture.

To avoid the heat, 8am, we left the hotel for Besakih Temple. "Compelled" to buy sarong to enter the temple. 3 sarongs for IND 200k.

Entrance + parking fee to Besakih Temple = IND 35k.

Mama Peh had a motorbike ride from the parking lot to the entrance of temple, cost IND 50k.

Praying material. The distinctive part is, josticks are lying flat, in contrary to the chinese way of vertical placement.

This old lady is preparing the praying material.

Kintamani volcano. Before I came, my office-roommate told me not to have the "cheating" buffet lunch at the volcano. It's expensive and the food is not nice.

On the first day, I told the driver that I don't wanna have buffet. Early morning, I told the driver that I don't wanna have buffet. Still, the driver brought us to have buffet lunch, at a restaurant overlooking the Kintamani volcano and Lake Bator. The sub-quality buffet lunch was very expensive. cost us IND 314k. Oh, upon entering the mountain area, need to pay IND 15 as "entrance fee". There's no toll booth or whatsoever. Just a guy collecting money from every car going uphill. Hah...hah... this is Indonesia, lagi boleh land in which M'sia is following its footsteps.

Buah salak.

We arrived late at the restaurant. All the open air dining tables were fully occupied. We had to dine in the stuffy and kok restaurant, still paying the same amount of money.

After lunch, we passed by terrace padi fields on the way back. Compared to those in Sapa, Vietnam, small wu meets big wu.

But here in Bali, it's more commercialised. Restaurants overlooking the padi fields were built.

Stop by a town called Ubud for shopping. Bought some special souvenirs, heh...heh...heh...

After a full day, we strolled along the seaside at the hotel. No doubt, people in Bali are very pious. Can see people pray anytime, anywhere.

Sigh... evening sun is infinitely good, just that it's close to the dusk. (夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏)