I've forgotten how to cook...

Having not cooked for god-knows-how-long, I finally did so last night. The last time I cooked for Bunny and her family was on Christmas Day, where I whipped up a so-called ‘traditional’ Christmas meal comprising roast chicken with rosemary and lemon, and honey-baked ham with pineapple and orange. This time round, because Bunny was craving for authentic Chinese food, I did my best to come up with hearty home-cooked dishes.

And this was the end-result of having not cooked for almost 2 years now:

I made a chicken stew with Chinese wine, mushrooms, black fungus and wolfberries (a recipe which I accidentally came up with a few years ago); stir-fried Kailan with loads of garlic, steamed sea bass with spring onions, ginger and parsley, and sweet corn soup with carrots. It’s been awhile since we had a nice home-cooked meal together, and I ended up eating almost three bowls of rice!

I love seeing people stuffing their faces with the food I cooked. Heh. That’s the reason why everyone grows fatter and fatter except for me!

###

Richard says he’s going to make goat stew tonight. YUCKS!

Mum's Birthday Dinner @ Goodwood Park

After many days of deliberation, we finally settled on buffet dinner at Goodwood Park to celebrate my mum's birthday:

Photo-whoring while waiting for my mum to return



My brother and his "fruit salad"


Closely knit - well, not really


See the resemblance? Bunny and her sister says we look alike and I look like my brother in drag. Haha.



Getting bored and frustrated with too much photo taking.

Dinner was ok and the food was mediocre. I enjoyed the appetizers though, but the spread was really quite limited. Mum kept saying that I should be bringing her out for dinner at least once a month and explore various venues. Oh well.

After dinner, Bunny and I proceeded to Teri's place for mahjong. Both of us didn't lose at the end of one round, and it was a good thing because that covered our cab fare. Hehe! At around 2am, we went to explore another room where Bunny started jamming on Teri's drum set:

Not bad for someone who has never taken any lessons before.

Playing the drums at 2 in the morning! Geez. It's pretty fun though; maybe Bunny should go take lessons.

12.07.07 - One Year

It's our one year anniversary today. *beams*

We decided to have dinner at Morton's Steakhouse to celebrate not only our first year anniversary, but also Bunny's new job at Mediacorp!!! I've always known that she could do it. Hahaha! That silly Bunny was so skeptical all this while!

Anyway, dinner at Morton's was great. Generous portions is an understatement to the amount of food they serve in just one serving. The steak was so well-seasoned, it's unbelievable. Not to mention the size of it! We ordered a single porterhouse portion to share and were struggling at the end. I think the steak was huge enough to feed almost three mouths.

We started the dinner with a beer for Bunny and an Amaretto sour for me (winks at Zon), followed by their signature onion-egg bread, which was larger than Bunny's head:

It was simply just too much, so we packed the rest of the bread in a doggy bag and it's now sitting on my desk waiting for me to finish it off.

We shared a crabmeat cocktail appetizer, which was the tiniest dish of all. But the crabmeat was fresh and tasty.

And here comes the mother of all steaks:

Ok, the pictures don't actually show how gigantic the steak was, but trust me, it was humongous!!! I've never seen such a large slab of meat on a plate in my life.

After the meal, we had their signature chocolate souffle cake and each time the chocolate oozed out, both of us went "Oooo", "wahhh..." and "wahlau". Hahahaha!



We exchanged presents after dinner, where I presented my second work named "Quintessentially Us". The first book I made was a visualogue called "Quintessentially You" for her birthday. This one is a scrapbook though; similar yet different:

Bunny flipping through her present.

To respect to our privacy, I shall not divulge the contents within.

It was such a nice and peaceful evening, when it got disrupted by this ang moh man. Three of us were in the same lift and when we were stepping out, we heard him make a remark saying that we were "freaks". Then I turned around and said "fucker", but he brisk-walking away. He looked a bit drunk. By the time we reached the taxi stand, we started having a staring contest. Bunny and I didn't even have time to react, plus we didn't want this to ruin our evening. But when you come to think of it, an expatriate in a five-star establishment muttering such remarks is really unacceptable. Nevertheless, we didn't create a scene.

After that, we called for a cab from Premier taxis. We were informed that it will arrive in 5 minutes, but we waited for almost 45 minutes and NO cab showed up. We called other companies, but kept getting cut off because there were either no cabs, or we couldn't get through. Sigh. So this morning I wrote in to Premier taxis with my complaint and the 'service' which they 'provided' us with last night, or the lack of it.

On a lighter note, CONGRATULATIONS to Bunny on her new job at Mediacorp as a copywriter/producer for radio and TV! Hahahha! I've always known she could do it and once again, she has proved me right! All the best to you, my Bunny!

Climate Change (Asia Nat Geo)

I was having lunch alone in the pantry just now, so I brought along Asia Nat Geo to read and I came across this article:






I headed straight to the scanner, scanned it in, did some cropping, printed it out on A4 paper and stuck it on the noticeboard in the pantry. I don't know why I did this because it's usually the 'committee' who does this, but when I first saw this article, I just knew I had to display them somewhere for others to read.

Even with the recent spate of warnings on global warming and climate change, a lot of people are still unaware that this global change is occurring right in front of their eyes. Damn, they're even experiencing the drastic changes, yet a lot remain ignorant!

The office environment is the greatest contender to environmentalists because of its high energy usage and it really is a shameful sight when I see how paper is wasted in the office. Not that I'm a 100% pro-environmentalist myself, it's the tiny things I do to stop wastage.

Yes, we're all lazy and just to make our lives easier, we end up harming this planet we live on. She's given so much to us; I think it's time we paid our dues.

My Funeral Song

Speaking of funerals and death, Bunny, Grace and Zon have all experienced the sudden loss of someone they knew recently and all of us have launched into 'morbid' conversations, discussing how we want our funerals to be.

We've shared ideas and although I've mentioned how I wanted mine before, I think I didn't mention what song I want to be played during my procession. And after reminiscing and trying to recall what song I wanted previously, I now remembered that I want Svefn-g-englar (Sleepwalkers) by Sigur Rós. This song has touched my heart for many years; don't ask me why. I don't know.

It runs for over 9 minutes and you've gotta be real patient:

"Purple people!", said the fat cat

I had such a wacko dream last night. I have strange dreams every single night, but I remember this dream vividly, maybe because of the significance of it.

We were in a room and Grace was teaching some kids. I was her assistant. She made them watch a documentary and there was a (fat) cat in the room. After the documentary ended, the cat spoke and this was what it said, "Why are the people purple in colour?" (It was referring to the people in the documentary). Grace and I stared at each other in amazement and burst out laughing because the cat's voice was just so strange! I think we were both so amused by how the voice sounded like, that we didn't answer the cat's question. We were also very puzzled because we didn't know that cats were THAT colour blind, or that cats actually saw us as purple.

After that incident, it was my turn to assist the kids in the second part of the lesson and I had no idea how to start. I felt nervous and started panicking, and that was when I woke up.

So here's the interpretation of that strange dream I had last night:

Cat - To see a cat in your dream, signifies much misfortune, treachery, and bad luck. However, for the cat lover, cats signifies an independent spirit, feminine sexuality, creativity, and power.

Purple - Purple is indicative of devotion, healing abilities, loving, kindness, and compassion. It is also the color of royalty, high rank, and dignity.

Children - To see children in your dream, signifies your own childlike qualities or a retreat back to a childlike state. It is an extension of your inner child during a time of innocence, purity, simplicity, and a carefree attitude. You may be longing for the past and the chance to satisfy repressed desires and unfulfilled hopes. Take some time off and cater to the inner child within.

Classroom - To dream that you are in a classroom, symbolizes that you may be learning an important life lesson.

Television - To dream that you are watching television, represents your brain, mind and its flowing thoughts. It shows how you are receiving, integrating, and expressing your ideas/thoughts.

VCR - To see a VCR in your dream, suggests that something needs to be or has been carefully documented. There may have been something that you have overlooked. It refers to memories and lessons of the past and the insights you can gain from it. The dream may also be calling attention to the impression you leave behind and what others may think of you.

I guess the VCR bit is relevant to what I wrote about last night - my old blog, my life documented from 2003 to 2006.

Even after all the interpretation, I still don't really know what my dream meant.

How I've documented my life since 2003

Bunny and I went to Lido last night to catch Transformers and while I was queuing up at the popcorn stall, I bumped into a Melbourne friend whom I met AGES ago. Let me see, I think we officially met each other in 2000 through a mutual friend. I remember it was the IRC days (winks at Zon and Richard) and we met through a pool game at Charltons - Val is her name. I know some of you might remember her.

Anyway, the point of this entry is not to reminisce on my good/bad old days in Melbourne, but she brought up something - my old blog. We chatted for a bit before she caught up with her friends and the next "important" question she asked me was, "How come you're not on LJ anymore?" And I was stunned because I had totally forgot I was rather 'active' in LiveJournal prior to switching to Blogspot. Why she brought that up is no mystery. Besides our occasional chance meetings in the city, we found each other on Friendster and that's when we started reading each other's blog because we were both on LJ.

So here I am, with my ass plonked in front of my brother's half-dead PC with my old blog loaded in the next tab. Honestly, I don't really want to venture more than 2 pages of my blog entries because it really isn't a wise thing to look at your past and start criticising yourself for what you should have or shouldn't have done. However, there ARE a few interesting entries and now that I'm reading my past posts (which isn't really too long ago, maybe a year or so?), I think I've learnt something about myself again.

I realised I kept talking and talking about my uncompleted masters, and then afterwards about my last trip to Melbourne, my new job, how I was suffering from mild insomnia, and so on and so forth. So whiny! Tsk. I'm annoyed at myself now. Well, at least I have the lucidity to put my life in order now and to finally, finally let go of my emotional baggage from so many years before. I've been in a self-destructive mode for almost the past 7 years of my life, although of course not to the extent of drug addiction or anything along that line. Right now, it seems as if a veil has been lifted and things are orderly (I like order), even if I'm not really doing something I love, but it's almost as if I'm reaching a state where I can tell myself that I'm in control now; I've always been.

Last night, my mother asked me if I knew any lawyers so that she could finalise the divorce. D-I-V-O-R-C-E hasn't been in my dictionary for the longest time and when she brought it up, it brought me back to the turmoil I know I've always been through - what about dad? Divorce is easy now because there are no issues with custody or property; it's just not easy for the eldest child, your daughter. But I shall not spell out my woes.

Hmmm, I meant to re-post a horoscope reading from my old blog because I found it very accurate indeed and I wanted to archive it here, but I must have gone off topic. I'll do it next time I suppose.

Although I really hate reading some posts in my old blog, I can't bear to delete it. 2003 to 2004 posts were darn boring; most of the entries went like this, "Can't believe I couldn't wake up for the 9.30 lesson. Had coffee with XX and XX. Met XX for dinner. Decided to start on my work tonight". And then it gradually progressed to longer and longer articles, and finally to other interesting topics which covered a bit of political issues, current affairs and of course, criticisms on Singapore and Singaporeans. Ha!

Ok. My old blog address is http://www.livejournal.com/users/karrot_22. I can almost hear your thoughts, "Talk so much but never give us her old blog address."

Catching up with C.E.

CE stopped by Singapore over the weekend and continued her return flight to Melbourne last night. Moo, CE, and I met up at Upper Thomson Rd for dinner and chilled at Liquid Kitchen for a while. Was nice catching up with her and I think she put on a bit of weight. Hmm...

The waiter was such a bad photographer

Monkey face #1

Monkey face #2 - she never stops making monkey faces

Met CE at the airport for dinner the next day and I was shocked at how much she ate! We ordered fried rice, claypot veggies with vermicelli, prawns, cheese baked clamshell thingy, I had a soup, she had two Tigers and we had two mango puddings, which she ate most of it (one and a half portions to be exact).

She was booked on a midnight flight, so we just bummed around by shopping at Cold Storage and had a drink at Pacific Coffee before she went in at 10pm.

Now I can't wait for MY turn to go back to Melbourne! Hahaha! Can't wait to see my daddy, Jun, Zon, Richard and the rest! *prances around* Pity I won't be staying for long.

...and all its fucking cognates

After watching Angelina Jolie's interview at The Actor's Studio, I went searching for other interviews from The Actor's Studio and stumbled upon Hugh Laurie's interview. I enjoyed this interview very much, due to a few reasons: he's British (and I had no idea till I watched this), I like the British accent a lot and he plays Dr. House in the TV series House, which is incidentally one of my favourite drama series.

Many people don't enjoy watching House, but I really liked Season 1 a lot and have yet to watch Season 2. Maybe I like it because Dr. House has such a cynical character, indifferent to his colleagues and sarcastic by nature. I seem to find his satirical jokes humorous, although others might not.


Anyway, here's an excerpt from the interview which I thought was quite funny:

(James Lipton will usually ask a series of questions and here's how it goes)

James: What's your favourite word?
Hugh: Marsupial
(what the...? bahahahaha!)

James: What is your least favourite word?
Hugh: Whatever (rolls eyes)
James: Ditto. Ditto's also a least favourite word of mine.

James: What turns you on?
Hugh: Eye contact

James: What turns you off?
Hugh: Financial advice (look of seriousness all over his face)

James: What sound or noise do you love?
Hugh: I love the sound of the acoustic guitar being played badly
James: Why badly?
Hugh: I can't explain it. It's a physiological response...I'm like a Labrador lying on its back having its tummy tickled. I, I, just...it physically does something to me i absolutely love.

James: What sound or noise do you hate?
Hugh: Ringing telephone

(this is the bit)
James: What is your favourite curse word?
Hugh: Fuck, fucking, fucked...and all its fucking cognates (in a very matter-of-fact tone)

James: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Hugh: I would like to be a singer in a rock and roll band

James:What profession would you not like to participate in?
Hugh: Financial advisor

James: If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the gates?
Hugh: No hard feelings.



You just have to watch the clip to get the full British effect and if you have the time, try to watch the entire interview not only because it's interesting, but also because Hugh himself is pretty comical, the British way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBohWfYC8G0&mode=related&search=

Hmm, I might just be the only one who finds this amusing.

Sunday Tennis

It's been awhile since we've played tennis outside of Thomson. Someone from RQ (Red Queen) arranged a tennis session at Seng Kang, so we went down for a 2 hour game, or rally, since we didn't play an actual game.

Posing outside the court


Elevated tennis


There's an LRT in the background




"She's got the motion..."

Today's game was pretty fun, compared to how we played on Friday night. Urgh. If only everyday was a Sunday...

Henna from Bali

During our trip to Bali, both Bunny and I got a henna tattoo each (she did 2 and I did 1). Because nothing is permanent and forever (even REAL tattoos), I've decided to leave the memories here instead:

Balinese symbol - represents OM (symbol of God)

Bunny getting the same OM symbol done, but a more elaborate one.

We came to this conclusion immediately after doing the tattoos - we can't do real ones because we're perfectionists and we'll never ever be happy with the position, the design, the colour, the angle, and so on, and we'll probably regret for the rest of our lives. Hahaha! So painted ones are fine with us, because we can't commit to permanently inking our flawless skin.

Ahhh, Bali. Sigh.

Left or Right

Natalie forwarded this email to me and I decided to post it here:

First, identify yourself as right or left brain person:

1. Hold your hands together, as if you were praying. Look at your
hands. If you see

Left thumb is below the right thumb ---> left brain
Right thumb is below the left thumb ---> right brain

2. Fold your arms in front of you (as if you are angry)

Right arm above left arm ---> left brain
Left arm above right arm ---> right brain

Based on 1+2 (order important), below is the interpretation of your
personality:

Right-Left
==========
Considerate, traditional, indirect type

can instantly read other's emotion, and respond
friendly by natures. Although not very into taking initiatives in
moving forward, but this person
will always take a step back in supporting others. Stable personality
and considerate, give
others a being protected feeling. But the weakness is they cannot say
no; regardless how
unwilling they are, they will take care of others.

Right-Right
===========
Loves challenges type

Straightforward. Once they decided on one thing, will take action right
away. Very curious, and
love challenges. Dare to face dangers without thinking through
(sometimes foolishly). Their
weakness is they don't listen to others, will filter in only what whey
want to hear in a
conversation, and very subjective. However, because of their
straightforward attitude, they tend
to be fairly popular.

Left-Left
=========
Dedicated, cold, perfectionist

Very logical in all aspects. The only way to defeat (or win over)
him/her is through reasons. Has
a lot of prides, and feeling strongly about doing the right thing. If
they are your friends, they
are very trustworthy. However, if they are your opponents, they will be
very tough to deal with.
Because they can be very "anal" as a perfectionist, they usually leave
a bad impression of being
hard to deal with when first met.


Left-Right
==========
Likes to take care of others, leader type

Has a cool and keen observation ability to see through situations, yet
still can be considerate in
others needs. Because of their cool and calm nature, and strong sense
of responsibility, they tend
to become head of a group. Popular among people. However, they may not
be able to help themselves
in meddling because they want to take care of others too much. Very
concerned about how others
view them, and always on alert.

###

Geez, I didn't realise that the grammar was so bad. But anyway, I think you'll get the gist of it and I'm too lazy to make corrections to the paragraphs above.

I am a right-left personality type - a pretty boring person. What about you?

Little White Pills

The pills I took to delay my period over the Bali trip have totally screwed up my hormones and my mood swings are totally fucked now. I can be light-hearted for an hour or so, and I’ll be back to being all emo and depressed, with me trying hard to hold back my tears.

And just to inject a bit of excitement, I get bouts of anxiety attacks with my heart beating at such a fast rate I can barely breathe. On top of that, I get butterflies in my stomach because I’m feeling nervous half the time.

And I get all this just by sitting at my desk at work. Last night, I managed to meet up with a few friends. Throughout the whole time, I was fine but I still suffered from small anxiety attacks, and my stomach was hurting from being too nervous, so much so that I had a hard time making sure I was behaving normally. Even loud music and crowds did not succeed in distracting me.

This morning I came into the office all bubbly and cheerful. It’s now after lunch and I’m feeling all jittery and emo again.

Since I’ve stopped the pills I’ve been worrying so much, it’s unbelievable. This is a major fuck up I tell you. It’s screwing me over and I’m trying hard to function properly.

I swear never to take the pills again.

No Such Thing

"Welcome to the real world", she said to me
Condescendingly
Take a seat
Take your life
Plot it out in black and white
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
And the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
Is still hiding
Up my sleeve

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie that got to rise above

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track
Faded white hats
Grabbing credits and
Maybe transfers
They read all the books but they can't find the answers
And all of our parents
They're getting older
I wonder if they've wished for anything better
While in their memories
Tiny tragedies

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side

Back from Bali

We came back from Bali and the first thing we did was to play tennis on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

For the first time in my "tennis career", I've finally managed to get a few points on the scoreboard. As of today, the score for today's match between Bunny and I was:

6-0, 6-2

Har-har!!!

P.S. I can serve now!!!

P.P.S. Bali post coming up...

Bali Trip - May 2007

This is going to be a loooong entry.

Having waited for almost 5 months, Bunny and I finally went for our Bali trip (her 3^rd trip this time round)! I was a bit uncomfortable with the place at first, but I grew to love it and we were very upset on the last night, knowing that it might be her very last trip to Bali and it might even be my first and last trip there.

We spent 5 nights and 6 days there, allocating two days for inland day trips with a private driver we had hired, and the rest of the days were spent visiting the beaches along the western coast of Bali, as well as spending a few hours in spas. I was so attracted to the handicraft that I now regret not having bought more while I was there. But when I think of how the Balinese handicraft won’t fit with my room nor my house, I’m glad I didn’t overdo it and have tons of ornaments and knick-knacks left aside. Perhaps when I get my own place, I’ll make a trip there to buy stuff for the house. Dream on. Another main attraction was the Balinese architecture. I loved looking at their houses, stone carvings, doors, statues and statuettes, and etc.

Here’s a breakdown of our Bali trip:

We arrived in Bali after 10.30pm, which was rather late. So we didn't get to do much besides changing the room to one that was on a higher floor (because a palm tree was blocking our pool view and it irked Bunny) and paying a visit to the minimart nearby.

View of the pool at night



View of the room from the balcony


The service there was great - the people were friendly and accommodating. We even received a yummy chocolate cake as a welcome snack!



View of the hotel from the breakfast area

Day 1 – Seminyak Beach

On the next day, we headed to one of the beaches there. There were lesser people here and although the hawkers continued to pester us, it wasn't half as bad as Legian Beach, which we went a few days after.

Bakso - We've yet to figure out if this is the real bakso we saw on TV, but I suspect it is

The waves weren't exceptionally big, but we did manage to bodyboard a bit. I'm pretty lousy at it, but Bunny managed to fly all the way to the shore and many times as well!

She's going for the waves again

My turn

Wee!!! (My 23482737th failed attempt)


I give up

After relaxing at the beach, we went for another form of relaxation - a full-body massage, body scrub (lulur) and flower bath with herbal tea and cookies at Sicilia Spa:

We loved the setting of the spa. It had a rustic feel about it - not the usual air-conditioned spa with modern decor.

Rejuvenated

It was both me and Bunny's first spa treatment of our lives and it was indeed memorable to have experienced it somewhere else and not in Singapore.

After our spa treatment, we walked back to the beach to catch the sunset:

Speaking of sunsets, this was our first attempt to catch the sunset in Bali. Bunny told me numerous times that Bali had the best sunsets in the world. However, the period when we went for the trip was considered as the cloudiest months throughout the whole year, hence we didn't manage to see a big and bright orange yolk setting over the horizon. Damn.

After our first failed string of attempts on catching the sunset, we traipsed all over Seminyak looking for Made's Warung, a restaurant that served local cuisine:

I ordered nasi campur (which I think is their version of our "economical rice") with gado-gado


And of course, Bunny washed down her nasi goreng with her favourite Bintang beer

That night, we took a cab from Seminyak to Legian and walked ALL THE WAY back from the top of Legian, down to Kuta and to the hotel, which was situated at South Kuta. That's a hell of a distance I tell you, especially with the condition of their pavements! It was an amazing feat and we were both surprised that we had actually walked that far! I managed to snap some pictures along the way:

The memorial that was erected in remembrance of the victims of the Kuta bombing on 12 October 2002


Kuta Square, where Bunny's favourite surf shops are


Two models posing as mannequins. Note: do NOT pay attention to that ang moh chick behind them

Day 2 - Kintamani Tour

On the second day, we went for a private day tour which brought us inland to visit the factories, temples, Ubud and the volcano. Prior to arriving in Bali, we had managed to book a driver online via TripAdvisor.com. However, on the actual day itself, he arranged for his brother to bring us on the tour instead. His excuse being: he had to attend a wedding ceremony. Nonetheless, his brother was quite a good tour guide; he also talked to us about their culture, beliefs and even told us the story behind the Barong and Kris dance.

This was our itinerary for the day:

- Traditional Balinese dance (Barong and Kris dance)
- Batik factory
- Wood-carving factory
- Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave)
- Kintamani (lunch with panoramic view of Mt. Batur and Lake Batur)
- Gunung Kawi (unfortunately, this was NOT the Gunung Kawi I had in mind)
- Rice terraces
- Ubud
- Sanur
- Seafood dinner at Jimbaran

The first stop our driver brought us to was to watch one of Bali's traditional dances, called the Barong and Kris dance:

That's the Barong

Our next stop - the batik factory. This was where I bought a batik painting of a Barong which was hand-painted onto a piece of fabric.




3rd pit stop - wood-carving factory. We didn't buy anything here; everything was way too expensive, and way too pretty too:

Exterior of the wood-carving factory

Wooden masks adorn the wall next to the entrance

One of the many huts located within the compound

Entrance to the shop where they sell all sorts of wooden knick-knacks. Pity I didn't manage to take a picture of some of the items for sale inside as one of the guys was following us around.

Wood-carvers doing what they do best

Next stop - Goa Gajah



This place was pretty interesting for me. Being the archaeologist I've always wanted to be, I was really fascinated by this place. This ancient temple situated around a carved cave entrance, is a main tourist attraction, bringing busloads of tourists there all the time. According to their religious customs, we had to wear sarongs to cover our knees.


Recent excavations carried out in 1954 unearthed bathing places in front of the cave with six female figures, representing. nymphs or goddesses holding water spouts. Like any other temple in Bali, Goa Gajah has springs and pools of holy water. This one looks dried up though.



There was a raised stone platform at one corner of the compound, with many rocks stacked on top of one another. I found it to be quite a strange sight, fascinating too. So I started taking heaps of pictures of them and I've yet to find an explanation as to what it used to be and what its purpose was.





Here's the famous Elephant Cave, with carvings of a monstrous Kala head looming above the entrance of the cave:



Goa Gajah probably dates back to the 11th century and was a hermitage for Buddhist and Hindu monks. I wasn't able to take any pictures inside the cave, but if you walk into the cave, you'll find that it was a small T-shaped structure with a statue of Ganesh at one end of it. The chambers within the cave are thought to be meditating cells or possibly living quarters for the priests or hermits. The cave itself wasn't very huge though. The stone carvings are thought to be created by the mystical Kebo Iwa, who fashioned the chambers and carvings with his powerful fingernails, a feat that took him one night to accomplish.

It is still unsure if this site was a Hindu or Buddhist site, as both scriptures have been found here. However, a statue of a goddess found at this site suggests that this might have been a Buddhist site before it was taken over by the Hindu.


Highlight of the tour - Kintamani

It was approaching lunchtime and our highlight of the first day trip was to have lunch near the volcano. The driver brought us up to Kintamani, which is a strategic viewpoint that overlooks Mt. Batur (Gunung Batur) and Lake Batur. It was so bloody chilly and windy up there that both Bunny and I ended up freezing our bras off.

We had buffet lunch at a restaurant called Batur Sari

This picture does look a bit fake huh?

That's the volcano

And that's the lake over there

Mt. Batur is an active volcano and is the second highest mountain in Bali, following Mt. Agung, which is the highest volcanic mountain. Mt. Batur erupted thrice - the recent eruption was in 1984.

I read somewhere that you can actually "lava ski" down the slopes!

Back to sea level - Gunung Kawi (Tampak Siring)

After coming down from Kintamani, our driver brought us to Gunung Kawi. Sigh, it was quite a disappointment for us, not then, but right now because after further research, we realised that this was NOT the Gunung Kawi we had wanted to visit. This is the Gunung Kawi with spring water temples. The one we wanted to visit has 3-4 storey high stone sculptures, caves and holes where monks used to reside in. Urgh. Why must they both be named Gunung Kawi?

Anyway, we took tonnes of pictures here too:

Entering Gunung Kawi - we had to cover our knees and tie a silk sash around our waist.

Tampak Siring (the real name of this place) is built around a sacred spring. An inscription dates the spring back to 926AD and there are fine carvings and Garudas on the courtyard buildings. The temple and its bathing spots have been used by the Balinese for thousands of years for good health and prosperity.





Quick pit-stop at rice terraces - Along the way to Ubud, we made a short visit at an area where we could see the rice terraces:




The rice terraces looked a bit dry though. I suspect it was harvesting time for this batch of rice crops.

There were some stalls along the roadside right next to the rice terraces, and this was where Bunny spotted a newborn puppy, and upon catching a glimpse of it, she started chasing the puppy around with the camera and finally managed to scare the poor fella into posing for her:

Awww! Look at those eyes!

We're both awfully glad that the stray dogs there seem happy and contented with their freedom to roam the streets and beaches, without getting pestered by humans. At least the stray cats and dogs there are generally well-liked and treated with respect.



Next stop: Bali's arts centre - Ubud

Ubud is a remarkable town in the middle of Bali and is considered as the island's preeminent centre for fine arts, dance and music. When we arrived there, Ubud gave me a very backpacker and bohemian feel about it, and when I read up more about the history of Ubud, it was indeed a haven for cosmic seekers, artists and the like, and it is still very popular with mystics and backpackers.

Our driver dropped us at the carpark, right next to one of the many royal palaces within Ubud, so naturally being very much attracted to their architecture, we ventured into it without hesitation AND without knowing the name of the place:

Entrance to the palace


I look a bit scared...

One of the elaborately decorated rooms


Another room...

...and another

Bunny looks a bit grumpy here. It's the holiday grumps.


I simply love their doorways

After exploring the royal palace, we went to explore Pasar Ubud - the arts market situated in Ubud:



The market was really a dazzling display of odd knick-knacks, woven rattan baskets, wooden carvings, plenty of clothes, accessories and sarongs, and beautiful Balinese ornaments and paintings. My eyes were darting about every single moment and I hardly had the time to digest what they had to offer. It was such a busy bazzar, bustling with plenty of tourists and local store owners. Hehe, and Bunny knows me well; she knew that I would love this place.





I really wonder how long do they take to sell everything! One stall alone already has thousands of things for sale and even during our road trip, all you could see along the streets in Bali were handicraft stores or wholesale furniture, wood and stone carving stores! In short, there are millions of such stores, no matter is it along the main streets of Bali, or at the most deserted and remote areas, there are just plenty of ornaments and handicraft in Bali! It really is amazing.




Short trip at Sanur - After resting at a teahouse at Ubud, we headed down south towards Sanur. We told the driver that we wanted to take a quick look at that place, since it was on the way to Jimbaran, which was our ultimate destination for a seafood dinner.



Sanur is where Bali's first beach resort was built. We didn't get to see the nicer bit of Sanur, where all the resorts are. Instead, the driver dropped us at the place where the locals swim and play at.


Seafood dinner at Jimbaran - After our quick tour to Sanur, we continued our journey to Jimbaran, where we initially wanted to avoid, because tonnes of tourists used to flock there for the food and ambience before a bomb was placed at one of the restaurants a few years ago.

Yay! Table 12!

The ambience there was great, but Bunny and I were freaking at the waves! Jimbaran beach had such huge waves, we felt like we were sitting right at the edge of a cliff! It's a pity how the pictures can't describe how huge the waves were. We did take a video of the waves though.


The seafood dinner there was ok. Our seafood spread comprised king prawns, squid, one whole snapper and vegetables. I felt that the seafood dinner at Happy Elephant in Koh Samui was much better though:



Phew! That was a long entry and it was such an intensive trip too.




Day 3 - Uluwatu and Tanah Lot

We hired our driver for two days, so on the next day, he brought us to Uluwatu and Tanah Lot; of course we made a few pit stops along the way.

The first stop was at the southern peninsula of Bali - Tanjung Benoa, where we wanted to take a look at the beach:



There wasn't much there; it was mostly a bay area for watersports:





Since we were at the southern peninsula of Bali, our driver brought us to Nusa Dua, where all the "atas" resorts were located at. We weren't allowed to use the beach facilities there:


But I guess that didn't deter us from sneaking into Hyatt and using their beach chairs and toilet facilities:



Just as we were about to leave, one of the hotel staff approached us and informed us that it was private property and blahblahblah. Anyway, after relaxing here for an hour or so, we headed straight to Uluwatu - a seaside temple at the southern peninsula:



Uluwatu is one of Bali's most spectacular temples located high on a cliff top at the edge of a plateau 250 feet above the Indian Ocean:





There were plenty of monkeys there, and we were warned to hold on to our belongings tightly because the monkeys were known for their mischievous behaviours:





After trekking the whole of Uluwatu and drenched from our own sweat due to the sweltering heat, we made our way to Jimbaran beach (yes, again!) because we wanted to see how it looked like in the day:

The waves were much smaller but the area we went smelled really fishy.

It was already past noon and lunchtime, and our driver told us we had to start setting out to Tanah Lot now, so that we will be able to catch the sunset later. We managed to take some pictures of rice terraces along the way:




We finally reached our ultimate destination - Tanah Lot:


Upon arriving there, we were greeted by hordes of tourists from all over - foreigners and domestic tourists included! There were so many people, it's unbelievable! It was quite a long walk through the market before we finally arrived at the gates of the temple:

Here's one temple where we need not wear sarongs

Tanah Lot was built by one of the last priests to come to Bali from Java in the 16th century. This temple is one of the seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. The temple is now split into two, as the middle portion has given way to erosion over time. Balinese superstition has it that unmarried couples shouldn't visit Tanah Lot, for they will be split into two just like the temple itself. Because Bunny and I did believe in this a bit, we decided not to take any couple pictures at the area. Haha.

The waves here are so strong, it's no wonder its constant battering led to certain parts of the rocks to crumble. In 1980, the lone temple on the rock got so dangerous, that it was closed from public access:

Despite the occasional gigantic wave coming towards us, it did not stop us from taking pictures near it:

It's coming, it's coming!!!

Cheh! Small one.

After exploring the surroundings, we made our way up to the viewpoint where we planted our butts on some chairs and watched the sun set. Yet, another failed attempt again:

It was too cloudy!!!

Try as we might, these were our best sunset shots at Tanah Lot.

After our trip at Tanah Lot, we went back straight to the hotel, washed up and went for dinner at a Japanese restaurant, where I stuffed my face with sushi. We walked around Kuta a bit and Bunny brought me to take a look at the ever popular Hard Rock Hotel.



Day 4 - Legian Beach

Having done our inland discovery tours, we went back to relax at the beaches once again, and this time round we paid a visit to Legian Beach:


Much to our despair, the hawkers here were even more persistent than the ones at Seminyak, and we got really annoyed after awhile. However, the waves here seemed rather big too:

After spending almost the whole afternoon at the beach, we went around almost the whole of Bali looking for an affordable spa. The spa we intended to go to was closed for the day, so the taxi driver brought us to another spa, which was an upmarket one and charged according to USD. We didn't want to spend that much money, so we had the taxi driver bring us to another spa (called Febri's) near our hotel, which was cheap and good:




We did the same package again: full-body massage, body scrub (lulur), body mask, facial mask and herbal tea and cookies. Yay! Our 2nd spa experience of our lives!



Last day in Bali

Time really passes too quickly and before we knew it, it was our final day in Bali. We planned on spending the last day doing some last minute shopping and tanning at the beach, so this time round, we headed back to Seminyak again as we found the hawkers at Legian Beach too persistent.

Bye-bye Bali


Streets of Seminyak

After walking around Seminyak and all the way to Legian, we took a cab to the infamous Kuta beach, where there were hordes of local and foreign tourists alike:


I'm guessing that everyone was waiting to catch a glimpse of the sunset, just like me. Unfortunately, the sky was even cloudier than the previous days, and there was no sunset whatsoever. Again. I've missed it again.

Last attempt of catching Bali's sunset

We took the 10pm flight back and reached Singapore at 1am with the Balinese traditional music stuck in our heads. It took awhile for me to fall in love with Bali and when I eventually did, I didn't bear to leave.

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Having seen different cultures, particularly countries which are not cosmopolitan, really makes one wonder why we often take things for granted and grumble at the slightest thing. The irony of it all is definitely more obvious and the truth of such irony is that such laidback places are seemingly more beautiful and tranquil than many other cities which we are comfortable travelling or living in. I am still suffering from withdrawal symptoms and it really is strange to be in a city again, rushing for the morning and evening trains, brushing shoulders with strangers everywhere I walk, and returning to the complexities of what modernity brings.

We're currently planning our next trip and we've decided to head to Beijing for the Olympics next year!!!