Bali, Indonesia - Day II

Sun rises early in Bali. The cloak of darkness starts to lift at around 6am. No wonder breakfast starts at 6.30am! Took some pictures at the picturesque pool area before proceeding for breakfast at the in-house Mexican restaurant.





They serve very very good coffee. Foodwise however, only breakfasted on croissants and jam. The rest of the buffet spread doesn't look very inviting. The cooker for the eggs looked extremely inviting though. Felt like making some sunny-side-ups on my own since the cook seems to have gone MIA. :/



Met Mas Radhi promptly @ 9am. We'll be going to see a barong & keris dance performance. Was a rather short drive from the hotel. Arrived just in time for the performance. We were each given a flower an a translation of the performance. Did not help much. Didn't really know what was happening. Still enjoyed the performance and live music though.

Stopped by a batik factory and then a silver factory. Beautiful products but at such tourist prices. Only bought a samarenda sarong for Daddy. Thought of getting for Bro but didn't seem to be big enough for him. Hehe. Didn't see a batik sarong enticing enough to get for Mummy. So decided not to get any first.

Then proceeded our long journey up to the mountains. We gals also proceeded to fall asleep. Suddenly felt so tired. Weather was really sweltering despite the airconditioning comfort of our van. Plus yours truly did not sleep well. Kept waking up throughout the night. Was awoken when Mas Radhi told us we were reaching Kintamani, our pit-stop for lunch. Managed to catch a glimpse of villagers on their way to a temple festival, conducted every 6months in honour of the beginning of a particular temple. Did some extreme photographing out the van's window to capture this as the driver zoomed past the procession.



We stopped short a few hundred metres from the summit to a viewing point of the still-active Batur Volcano, which last erupted barely 5 years ago. Was swarming with rather persistent street-hawkers. But the presence of Mas Radhi kept them at bay. Might have been pretty scary if we were just on our own. Took some pictures but Mas Radhi was hurrying us along. Rain clouds were a-gathering. Visibility was also falling with the mist.




The restaurant we were lunching at has a panoramic bird's eye view. Cool. Also has windows all around to enjoy the view while eating. It finally rained. But cleared up pretty quickly, treating us to a more picture-perfect scene.

And then up the mountains we go again. Next stop is a temple. We were giving a sarong skirt each to wear. Even Mas Radhi! Was pretty funny having to wear such a bright blue/red skirt. But the architecture was cool. All the carvings! NH remarked that it somehow feels less "scary" from Hindu temples in SG. Guess the ample space has a part. The surroundings were so huge and the concept's more open. Mas Radhi told us that although carvings were done there the raw materials themselves had to be imported from other provinces.

Got Mas Radhi to help us find an electrical shop to get a travel adaptor. Mine couldn't work at all as they use round sockets here. They were out of it at a supermarket we went to, BUT managed to get some souvenirs instead for colleagues and friends... hehehe. Found the adaptors at the second shop we went to. Decided to get 2 different types to ensure at least one will work. Desperately need to charge my handphone and camera.

Felt the driver's stress. Hehe. He was worried about beating the traffic jam. Reached the hotel at about the appointed time of 5pm. Mas Radhi reminded us not to be late for the next day and told us we were welcome to change the itinerary if we were not too into it. Told him we'd think it over first.

Cooled down in the hotel for a while before proceeding to look-look-see-see at the rows of shops near the hotel before it got too dark. Lots of surfer shops, pirated DVDs shop (but no music shops for me to get any Indonesian pop) and lotsa ethnic souvenirs. Didn't find anything I'd like to get for myself or anyone else. Was feeling rather grouchy as the heat was REALLY getting to me.

ZZ and I found that NH has no bargaining technique at all. ;D ZZ however, when she gets into shopping takes a long time as usual. Me? Minimised talking. The best way to maintain my serenity.

Shower felt so good! NH & ZZ decided to venture out again after another bout of cooling down. I opted to just stay in the room. Surfed through the channels and found nothing interesting. Called home. Tested the new adaptors and found one works better than the other. well, it is a multi-socket one anyways. Could charge both my mobile and my camera at the same time. However found that would cause the dresser lights to go off. Oops.

We ordered from room service again. One dish each plus yesterday's seafood platter to share. My chilli prawns came different than described from the menu. But was delish!

The long day made it easier to fall asleep.