Ubud November 2011

Homaigod. I've been so lazy to upload and update pictures. Vietnam 2010 trip is still unfinished LOL.

tak ingat la ni apa

So! I am just back from Bali (again) 2 days ago, but I'll only be updating the trip that I had last November, which I devoted solely to Ubud. I went alone again, but I've already made arrangements for my stay with a nice guy from the travel forum. Also scouted the hotels, just in case I needed to exit his house in an emergency or something.

My host was kind enough to arrange for my transportation as my flight was at night and it was also an hours' drive to Ubud from the airport. (Of course I paid for it, but the fact that he had the foresight to ask me about it was awesome). He had a reallllllllllly... realllllllly nice house, it was a one room villa and oh my god, it's just a little paradise on it's own. I did not see that coming! I was so lucky!!!

Day 1: Goa Gajah, Yeh Pulu


I texted several forum members to meet up. One girl said she was in the area but decided to explore on her own. Another guy responded enthusiastically, and quickly enough we met. However, after a few minutes conversation, the guy's creepiness was getting to me ("Your skin looks so smooth, can I touch it?" where he instantly lightly touched my forearm. Oi takut!!!!)

I instantly texted the other girl and annoyingly insisted we meet up. Luckily she agreed and all of us decided to go to Goa Gajah.. although I've been there before, I didn't mind going again as I loved the serenity and otherworldly vibes of the place. Upon arriving, me and the girl (Jen) discovered some footpaths that looked enticing and deciding to go there. We came upon a foresty area and a beautiful secluded river! So cantik.

cantik beautiful place



After that, we went to Yeh Pulu which is walking distance and discovered some weird local fruit. Sorry but I forgot to take a picture of it. Jen and the other guy were constantly bickering but I felt it was more of the guy being showoffy and stubborn about miniscule stuff. I kept making faces at the absurdity of his arguments, although I felt he was an intelligent and adventurous guy.


Yeh Pulu


paddy terraces surrounding Yeh Pulu




hai kenapa la tempat ni semua cantik


Ganesha


The guy then said he wanted to walk back, and myself and Jen said we'll take the bemo back. It was quite cheap, around 10,000Rp, so we hailed a bemo. After we got on, the bemo started moving several hundred meters where we saw the guy hailing our bemo! Ceh! Aparah!!! When he got in we asked why didn't he walk and he said "No, I just said I'll walk while waiting, not saying I'll walk all the way, although I don't mind if I did". Padahal all through our conversations memang dia cakap nak walk back. Tahpape. Haih.

As soon as we arrived in Ubud he immediately left us and kitorang pun tak kisah as me and Jen were getting along really well at this point. I had rented a scooter because my host house was deep in the village, and we walked around the town for a little.


temple beside the longkang.. had to walk down the steep steps to view it

We watched some Legong Dance at the Ubud Palace. It was so nice and it had dramatic background of the palace arches.


Barong, evil character (if I'm not mistaken)



After dinner we went to Havana Cafe but no one was dancing. So I went to Bunute and danced with some LA -style dancers (the LA instructor gave me a good almost Cuban salsa.. I had to give him credit for this) and went back to my hosts house deep in the village. Pitch black roads and passing by cemeteries.. haha so scary..

Day 2: Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi


In the mornings I usually start the day with conversations with my host. He was very intelligent, although a bit imposing on his opinions and didn't like me debating him (lagipun my debates are never based on facts rather just my observations and just sometimes trying to broaden perspective by looking at the issue from a different view, bukan aku saja-saja nak argue dengan orang)..  and I felt he didn't ask me much about ME. But it's fine,  I was learning to be a good guest and tried to focus the conversation on him. It happened to be he was Jewish and from New York, so I got a lot of information on history, Tibetan culture (ye tak kene mengena dgn Jews or NYC), Israel and New York. I would say  I came home with an interest in Israel and a different perspective on the nation.

It was a rainy day, and I was a bit lazy, so I set off at 12 noon, which was quite late. Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi were a bit far off, so it took me a long ride to get there. However, the rain forced me take shelter for about 45min-1hour and I was quite bummed to be wasting all my afternoon with my stupid decision to ride all the way to Gunung Kawi, moreover starting off so late :( It was 3pm by this time.

However, I met a nice shopkeeper who lent me his rain coat and set off to Tirta Empul.
Tirta Empul was a bit boring, but there were quite nice views there.


Ponds of water in the temple

There was an area for you to dip in the pool to cleanse yourself but I didn't take pictures.


Worship


Residential Palace grounds (i think)

After that, went to Gunung Kawi.. OH MY CANTIKNYE TEMPAT NI!!!!!!






can't get enough of this place


Carvings on the wall


Carvings from across the river

Terlalu cantik ok! Gunung Kawi is a very ancient temple and very beautiful place.

Returned the raincoat to the shopkeeper and met his family! The adventure documented here: http://sexy-underwear.blogspot.com/2011/11/ubud-bali.html


No words can describe the view I saw that day.. this picture barely does the setting any justice.. it was just too mystical for me.. beautiful, enchanting, inspiring.. I was totally in awe

I said goodbye to the family, mak dia siap bagi timun, mangga and buah-buahan sebagai bekal. Comel tak??
Went back to Ubud town and met Jen (girl from yesterday) for dinner. She wanted to go for some nice ribs in  Nuri but I wanted to go salsa, so we decided to just have dinner in town.  After that, we went to Havana Cafe and I had a BLAST!!! The waiter and waitress knew how to dance Cuban Salsa, and I also danced with a lady salsa instructor named Dania from Jakarta... it was so nice! We even danced Son.... oh i'm so lovin the life. Dania shared some stories of her working abroad in Holland as an au pair and salsa instructor.. it's so cool and I wish I'll be able to go out to the world and do that.

Jen was having a good time watching all the salsa action and I hope I'm able to influence her to take up salsa dancing :)

Day 3: Saying Goodbye and Painting Shopping
I read in the Lonely Plant on some areas of Ubud in the villages where I can buy paintings directly from the artists, and I did just that. I spent about RM400 maybe for 7 paintings and boy! was it heavy! Belatedly realized how heavy it was to carry it via scooter but I managed! Ai memang terer!!!

I said good bye to my beautiful hosts house...


Flowers


His yard


My view sitting on the chair

His house was surrounded by paddy fields.. in the mornings I'd hear ducks quacking and birds chirping and all sort of nature noises. It is really beautiful..  I wish people would get away from Kuta and experience all this with their hearts and soul....




Depan bilik Jen pun nice view, but not as nice as mine! muahahaha


Falun Dafa