Bali : Non-diving visits Part 2

We started our first day of non-diving with visits to several places, mainly shrines and temples starting with Pura Segara which is only about 5 minutes drive from our hotel, Sanur Paradise Plaza.

The shrine outside our hotel lobby

Canang
*Prayers offering*

We had the same driver for the rest of our trip which was good in a way, despite his english skills being somewhat restricted. Nevertheless, he was punctual and courteous.

Entrance to Pura Segara

Pura Segara is one of the oldest temples in the area and is located just next to the Sindhu Beach close to the Grand Bali Hotel.

@ The entrance

It was actually empty when we went to the shrine which was lovely. It felt really undisturbed, not commercialized and truly tranquil. Although not big and grand, it was probably the best shrine I've visited in Bali.

Entering into the main grounds

Love how colours stands out

It was this picture on my guide book that made me decide to visit this temple. And I'm glad they've put this picture in there.

Pura Segara is still retained in its original state and parts of the temple/shrine was made from corals.

Main altar, I think

More canang

Canang is readily seen anywhere in Bali, whether its outside a temple or shrine, shops or homes. Our diving group also always puts on in the ocean just before we leave for the deep ocean every single time we depart from the beach. It is truly an important part of the Balinese culture.

From there on, we walked over to the beach to have by the sea. Shaded by the trees, watching the sun streaming past the leaves, looking at the clear blue skies with the cool sea breeze was absolutely great!

Beach view from the entrance of Pura Segara

Where we were seated for lunch

If only I could lie here every day

We had lunch from one of the random restaurants along the beach (there was heaps of them!). Wasn't too bad the meal, and I suppose the surrounding environment is a BIG plus!

My lunch

From there on, we decided to move on to several other tourist attractions before moving to our new accommodation for the night which was in Seminyak.

First stop, Bali Museum.

RP 5,000 per person, it wasn't too bad. But we did end up hiring a guide as well just to give us a better clue of what's important to pay attention to as we were a little pushed for time. I don't think he cost too much either.

Main part of the museum

The guide was telling me about the three main gods in their culture, being Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. But I can't say for sure what else he told me as I could not remember any of it! This is what happens when I leave too much time between the trip and blogging. *sigh*

One of the gods

The above, I believe, is an important God in literature/studies/education unless my memory has totally gone haywired. Our guide did give me a very detailed explanation and tolerated all my too-many-questions but this is so bad that I can't remember them :(. So, most of this visit is just gonna be pictures.

One of the shrines in the museum

From courtyard to courtyard

Gorgeous statues

And the next picture is one that I definitely remember - the King's Bath!

Not so sure if it was that luxurious. I think I would actually not want to take a bath there... but maybe, during that time it was really clean and pretty. It was surprisingly deep, this bath. Almost like a little pool. Amazing...

Next stop was just next door - Pura Agung Jagatnatha.

One of the more important temples in Denpasar, they were preparing for a big day so there was heaps of preparation work going on in the temple which was fabulous news to me!

Pura Jagatnatha also means Temple of the Lord of the Universe, and was built in 1970s to worship Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, a supreme God of the Balinese Hindu religion.

Entrance to the temple

I'm not sure if there is an entry fee on daily basis but we were asked to leave donations (almost compulsory) on entry that day, but maybe because they were preparing for the next day? But the amount was at our discretion (sort of) so I suppose that was ok. And we paid on exit. But it did sort of feel forced.... and we paid half of what was requested. Not very nice of us, but there was no entrance fee stated and the amount they had wanted was actually quite a bit..... But anyway, they just nodded and took the money with a smile, so I guess that was okay.

Lots going on

Offerings

Loved the colours

Throughout our trip in Bali, I noted that a lot of the sacred statues were wearing a cloth. I was later told by our driver that the cloth is called Poleng and is used to symbolize good and bad characters. It is usually worn on certain shrines called tugu, for temple guardian statues and in ceremonies.

The main part of the temple was the tall monument that sits in the middle of a square surrounded by statue guardians and a moat. That central area is sacred and can only be entered by a priest.

As far as I can remember, this was not a major festival (i.e a yearly even or something), it was either a fortnightly or full-moon event. I can't say for sure. But still, the preparations were plenty and it really looked like a grand event.

The main part of the temple

Worshiping/praying

After that we were off to the Bali Market at the recommendation of our driver.

We sort of cheated and only went around part of the market as it was a true market. As in a true wet market with fish, pork, chicken, vegetable, whatever you can name. We were both quite tired and just went to have a quick look at the vegetable bits and bought some fruits.

No shortage of chillies here :)

Lady making canang

Lots of canang for sale

We probably did try and fit in too many things to do that day as after the market we went straight off to Tanah Pura Lot which is one of the famous landmarks in Bali. To be honest, we didn't really enjoy it - maybe we were too tired, or it was too humid and it had just rained. Plus the sun was not out, photos were crappy and there was no sunset to see!

So there's nothing much to say about the place and there are just gonna be pictures, despite them being terrible.

Sun on the wrong side :(

One of the shrines in the area?

What I remember enjoying in Tanah Lot was the grilled corns. It was absolutely yum! I think they coat it with a layer of chili or something that made it taste oh-so-good! :D

Master at work

Production in progress

The actual Pura in Tanah Lot is quite a distance from the car park. The place is so commercialized that you walk at least 400-500 metres of souvenir stalls before actually arriving at the shrine itself.

Handicrafts for sale

Stalls

And more stalls...

By this time, we were both knackered and a little grouchy so we decided to head towards Seminyak and check in at our villa. A little rest before going out again for dinner.....

Entrance to our private villa

We stayed in Grania Bali which is located in Seminyak itself. A rather secluded villa, sort of in the middle of nowhere... but quiet, tranquil, serene and private. Just exactly what we needed.

Right on!!

Our little private pool

The lovely bedroom

It looks out to the pool!! *grin*

The little ornamental corner

Living hall

Everything about the place was perfect except for the hall. It was a little stuffy when we got in that day, even a little humid. In addition to that, they have the fridge and water dispenser right in the hall so that was not helping with the heat. We ended up turning the water dispenser off as it was quite warm!

The open style bathroom :)

And then it was time to head for dinner...

Bye bye villa... for now :)

We headed out to Jimbaran for dinner that night as I wanted to eat by the beach, on the sand facing the ocean having seafood :P

Dinner place

The grills

The whole place is so commercialized that it was almost impossible to see the sea. It wasn't just our restaurant, but tens and tens of restaurants around the area, with lines and lines of tables. Honestly too over populated.

But lucky us, we had the front line table facing the ocean. Absolutely blissful watching the waves as we were having dinner. Didn't have that the whole time though - had a bunch of school kids standing right in front of our table taking pictures, looking at the ocean, talking loudly... so not entertaining. But anyway, after they left, it was an absolute bliss :).

Our prime seats :D

Bali : Non-diving visits Part 1

I spent quite a bit of time trying to fit in things to do after our dives during the day much to the chagrin of the boy. One of the things that I had definitely wanted to see was the famous local performance - the Legong Dance.

It was quite hard trying to find one online but our hotel's tourist desk were really good - they had a whole list of shows with places and times all in a piece of paper so we only had to pick and choose which ones we want to go to. I settled for the Legong Dance in Ubud.

Entrance of Ubud Palace

Our show was presented by Sadha Budaya Troupe and tickets were Rp 80,000 each. It had a total of 7 performances plus 2 instrumental shows.

Waiting patiently for the show to start

And the show begins!

The first performance was the Gabor dance, otherwise known as the Welcome dance. "Panyembrahma is the presentation of an offering in the form of a ritual dance. The dance symbolizes the joyful reception of the Gods who attend a temple festival". The dance is mainly performed by young girls which usually ends with them throwing flowers to the guests and praying gestures as a welcome and blessing.

Welcome dance

The second dance is the one that I enjoy the most!

Baris/Warrior Dance

The Baris dance is a traditional dance where they glorify the manhood of the Balinese warrior. It is named baris which means line, to represent the lines of soldiers in war and was also the name of warriors who fought for the King of Bali. It may be performed by either a boy or a girl.

What fascinated (and also freaked me out :P) me the most was the eye movements the guy/girl was able to make. His pupils and iris literally dances! It was quite scary in the beginning but after a while, it catches your eye and attention so much that it became the main highlight in the show - for me anyway. You really have to see one to understand what I mean. (But only from a good one - coz one other that we saw, the guy was no where as good).

The next dance was the Legong Kraton Dance which is a classical piece used to entertain the king and is performed by young girls in colourful costumes. In our performance, the story tells of King Lasem which was an arrogant king who desired the unwilling Princess Langke Sari.

Legong Kraton Dance

The rest of the show were a little bit of a blur... but I still have a few pictures :D

The Bumblebee dance

Just before the Bumblebee dance was the Taruna Jaya Dance which was just so-so, hence no pictures. The Bumblebee dance is also known as Oleg Tambulilingan which tells a traditional Balinese love story.

The courtship of he-bee and she-bee

The last dance was quite amusing - Topeng Tua Mask Dance. Topeng Tua is an old man who has rather rough and brutish matter but was all funny anyway. A little scary to begin with as he was trying to be serious but cracked funny postures/movements towards the end.

Closer look at the man or rather - the mask

After the show, we moved to have dinner at a close by restaurant recommended by our driver. Unfortunately, the food was only mediocre so I wouldn't really recommend the place but it did have a pretty colourful souvenir store which kept me entertained.

Coloursss....

On the other hand, I would highly recommend where we had babi guling! It was absolutely awesome! Not that I had much elsewhere, I only had it at one other place than this. But SY did have babi guling on his last visit and he too, finds this one awesome!!!

The awesome meal

Man, this shop should really give me free meals for the advertisement I providing.

2nd time :D

On a random note, we also decided to try out some massage/spas in Bali and had our driver recommend us one in Kuta. He took us to Ratu Bali (I think), which is on the higher end of the scale. It didn't look modern and in fact, I was worried that it looked a little dodgy.

Ratu Bali Spa

Massive place

It was actually pretty good and the massage too. And the place is massive! I would recommend it to people except that it was actually pretty pricey and it may require bookings for weekends or during the day despite it being huge as it is apparently really popular.

Happy Holidaysssss

A month ago I was feeling depressed about not knowing when I'll be going away again.
And this week, I'm over the moon!
I'm going away in Feb, March AND April! Not to an exotic land or fascinating cultures, but to a warm and loving environment - HOME! :)

Feb's a pleasant surprise thanks to you.
March's a friend's wedding
April's just part of my annual leave.

No visiting foreign lands but I'm just as happy, if not happier! :)
And another 2 or 3 weeks in Oct/Nov - maybe a getaway then
But for now - Yippie!! *does a happy dance*

Bali Diving

There isn't that much to say about Bali Diving - It was good and fun eventhough we didn't get to see any mola-molas or manta rays. That was disappointing but oh well, what could we do? We still had a fantastic four days diving in the East and Scuba Seraya is the best in my opinion, eventhough it was 3-4 hours away. We booked in to dive with Bali International Diving Professionals in Sanur.

Our pick up

BIDP

So this post is mainly just pictures and pictures and more pictures. The boy has a much better camera than me - so the different standards in pictures. But he got me the newer version of his recently, so next time maybe my pictures will be just as good!! :)

My first clear look of an octopus :D
*a little overexposed picture*

Banded snake
*My first encounter and frankly, it kinda freaked me out*

His signature shot :)

@ Manta Point
*or Batu Belumbong (I think) if you don't see any Mantas.. :P*

Fire Goby

Giant Puffy

Christmas came early..

I love this shot

And now for some of Scuba Seraya!

We only had 3 dives there I think, but it was all fabulous! I love searching and pleasantly surprised by what I find at the bottom. The hide and seek games with the marines life that attempts to camouflage. It's so rewarding. Eventhough I almost died there. Okay, maybe not die - but perhaps on the way to a pneumothorax.

I was happily diving along with the rest, staying at the back as I was taking some pictures. The dive master, I suppose, was pretty happy with our skills and hence was happy to sort of let us go at our own pace without hovering over us. But at one point, my weight belt fell off and I was starting to float to the surface (we were probably at about 15-20m?). I was kicking so furiously to get to SY and luckily he turned back to look for me (probably his every 2-3 minute check on me) and saw me in distress. Looking back, as we couldn't reach for my weight belt he handed me a piece of rock. It's quite funny now, but at that time, I honestly thought this might be the end of my diving adventures (As people with history of penumothoraces are not recommended to continue diving). And so we were, trying to stay at the bottom and trying to replace my weight belt after. Lucky for me again, the divemaster turned back this time and quickly came to help me. I was so relieved when I saw him!!

And well after that, we just continued our dives as usual. LOL. Typical!

Shrimps galore

Jacks

Swimming with the Jacks

Peek-a-boo

The colours are always brilliant on his camera!

And we spent the last day of our dive in East Bali trying to spot for mola mola (although I knew it was impossible to sight them at that temperature) and perhaps for some manta. But to my dismay, neither of the two. Sigh... Will have to come back in the future!

Nurse shark

2011

It's the New Year! Hopefully it'll be a much better year as 2010 hasn't exactly been kindest to me. It wasn't bad, just wasn't my greatest. But that should mean that things should only improve! :)

Haven't got any leaves approved for this year yet and it's starting to feel a little depressing. I haven't travelled that much for 2010 and I can foresee that it'll be even less for 2011. *sigh*

I need a holiday STAT!

*or at least know when will my next one be*