Gearing For Bali…..

The sound of quacking in the padi fields was the first thing I heard in the morning, waking up in the central region of Bali. I have never seen so many coloured ducks in my life. Waddling across the flooded harvested fields, quacking as they crossed, noting the urgency when they navigated around their fiercer cousins in their path, the geese. Gardens are beautifully landscaped and Balinese are fond of keeping birds. There are at least 6 species of birds in the undersized aviaries and cages in the compound of my guest house.

Enduring a flooded and chaotic airport the day before at the boarding gate, I arrived in Ubud way passed 10pm. As most shops closed by then, I was literally groping in the dark as I ventured out to look for dinner…. saved by my Fenix Cree LED light. I found a ‘warung’ that locals go to eat Nasi Padang and tucked in to the array of dishes before retiring to my guest house. What could I possibly be doing on my first day of my long awaited annual break??? Since my trip coincided with the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2008, I needed to make my way to the different locations of the hosting venues. I couldn’t get my Garmin Que to work with GPS Proxy for the entire day and fiddling with all the settings wasn’t my idea of a holiday. This is a different unit from my previous GPS phone that got stolen in Redang. Stuff the GPS, I will find my way…hopefully.

Breakfast was served just outside my room at the balcony overlooking part of the main house that faces the padi field. I set out to walk the streets of Ubud, coming upon so many ‘Puras,’ a Balinese word for shrine or temple, which I couldn’t resist taking a touristy pix with the assistance from my faithful, travelling tripod, the Manfrotto Modo.

Whenever women enter the temples, they are required to wear a sarong.
And they carry baskets of fruits and other offerings on their heads on
the way to worship! I’ve always wanted to try that but having a street
full of bananas and oranges won’t be too pleasing a sight for anyone I
think….

Passing Studio Perak, I contemplated on taking a silversmithing course but I went straight to the Ubud market instead. Here, you can find all sorts of handicraft from carved wood to intricate quilts and coppertooling. I was looking at some light shades but how do I carry anything back with such weight restrictions on Air Asia??? Marvelling at the works of the Balinese craftsmen, I enjoyed myself with the Olympus E510’s live preview to capture portraits of unsuspecting subjects…

I found Jalan Goutama on the main street of Ubud where they will have the Street Carnival tomorrow night. I am so looking forward to that.

On the way back to my guest house, I sat down on the side step leading to a pura for a breather. I turned around to find a doggie taking interest in my paparazzi tendencies and I just had to take this!

Had an afternoon siesta before venturing out to look for lunch. I found a quaint eatery called Cempaka Warung that was nestled within a spa. A Mee Goreng, 2 ice lemon teas and a chocolate ice cream only cost me Rp40,000!!! That’s about RM14!!! I have to remember that I’m a millionaire here and the denomination goes by the tens of thousands when I make purchases in Rupiah…

The sun sets at about 6:20pm and I went into a salon to do my hair but ended up in one of the rooms for a full body massage instead. I even had a shower in the bathtub enclosed too! As the night falls, I returned to the safe confines of my room once again to recharge for the next day…..