The Mosaic Of My Life...

Heya Peeps!!!

Ok....ok....i noe that its been quite a while i've not updated my blog since i came back from Bali.....been busy for quite a while and only few days back managed to download the pics of my Bali vacation.....

So here's the highlights of my family trip to Bali from 01 Dec 05 till 05 Dec 05.....

Thurs 01/12/05 : S'pore - Denpasar - Kuta
We reached Bali in the afternoon....managed to get a cab from the airport and the ride to Hard Rock Hotel was bringing back memories of my previous trip to Bali in 1998. Nothing much has changed and along the way bebeh & myself were trying to recognise familiar landmarks....

By the time we checked in it was already the late afternoon.....We took a stroll along Kuta Beach and its so different.....the beach was kindof empty....not many tourist around.....I guess the bombing saga has made lots of people scared to visit Bali again...Managed to find a van driver who's willing to bring us around Bali the next day....

The rest of the night was just walking around at Kuta and did a little shopping....Even the streets of Kuta were empty.....such a big difference to the previous trip.....

Fri 02/12/05 : Kintamani - Ubud - Sanur - Jimbaran
We decided to go for the Kintamani Tour and skipped the Barong Dance since Yus was not keen in watching it....It was ok for us as we ever watched the Balinese Cultural Show before......On the way to Kintamani, the engine of the van we took couldn't start, luckily there was a workshop nearby to do a quick repair and off we went to Kintamani....Reached Mount Batur in the afternoon and had lunch in one of the restaurants there.....In 1998 the carpark was full with tourists' buses & vans but this time round getting a parking space was not much of hustle....even the restaurant was not crowded.....The view of Mount Batur was foggy by the time we had our lunch....not much of a view....Anyway, its the rainy season over in Bali so we experience quite a few of passing showers.....

We then went shoppong at Ubud market where they sell lots of handicrafts and souvenirs made by the Balinese.....quite a good bargain we got over there when buying souvenirs especially....

Mr Made, our driver brought us to Sanur Beach for a late afternoon stroll.....again the Beach was not much of people....even the shops assistants were all sitting around chatting waiting for customers......Its such a sad view....to me, its so not of Bali......I guess those who have visited Bali before the bombing sagas and after they could tell its a whole of difference......

For dinner, we went to Jimbaran for seafood.....the 1st restaurant was a pathetic place....there were no customers, not much of seafood choices and the place was run down.....we just had a drink and requested Mr Made to bring us to another restaurant......We then went to Uluwatu Cafe.....we ate by the beach....the ambience was great, the food was delicious except for the drizzle we experienced.....so we were almost gobbling down the food, afraid that there would be a downpour....but nevertheless, dinner was great!

Sat 03/12/05 : Nusa Dua - Berdugul - Tanah Lot
We still hired Mr Made to bring us around Bali....It was more sight seeing....we went to Nusa Dua Beach after breakfast...the beach is famous for its watersports....but when we there it was empty (maybe it was still early)....Ida managed to try parasailing (after convincing her that even my dad tried parasailing when he came to Bali few yrs ago!)

We then went Berdugul....it was fantastic view! Temple by the lake......and for the 1st time we heard the 'Azan' for Zuhor in Berdugul....there was a mosque nearby and quite a number of muslim community were staying in Berdugul.....

In the late afternoon we reached Tanah Lot, the famous temple by the sea.....unfortunately, the sunset was not that good as it was quite cloudy that day....but nevertheless, I took numerous shots of the temple......They say, when the tide is up you can see as though the temple is floating....

On the way back to Kuta, we passed by the previous bombing area of the Sari Club....now its just an empty piece of land.....Mr Made said that the Balinese would not want to build anything on the piece of land in respect of those victims.....To think of 7yrs ago, my friends and I were in that Sari Club for a drink....juz 1 drink and we left as we felt out of place......coz the whole place were swamped only with Caucasians.......

Dinner was just at Pizza Hut which was next to our hotel.....we then had a drink at the Centrestage (Hotel's lounge) listening to the live band, Siluet playing a few of Maroon 5 numbers before calling it a night.

Sun 04/12/05 : Seminyak - Legian - Kuta - Jimbaran
Yus met his friend and family during our morning breakfast who just arrived the day before.....after breakfast we went for motorbike hunting.....yep...we decided to rent motorbikes after learning from Mr Made that its sort of legal to ride with a kid.......Initially i was a bit skeptical about my little devil being the 2nd pillion.....but wat de heck.....it worked perfectly well and he enjoyed it....he even slept while on it!The whole day we just did shopping around Seminyak, Legian & Kuta area......

For dinner, together with Yus' friend & family we went to Jimbaran again for seafood. This time we ate at Matahari.....unfortunately the food was not as good as at Uluwatu's Cafe.....

Mon 05/12/05 : Kuta - Denpasar - S'pore
Our flight was in the evening so managed to do last minute shopping around Kuta and enjoyed the hotel's facilities (game arcade) before leaving for Spore......Touchdown at homeland around 10.30pm...

On the whole, the trip was ok....at least managed to see the places of interest more compared to the 1st trip....but its kindof sad to see Bali losing her charms to the rest of the world just because of the bombing saga.....hopefully one day Bali will pick up again and gain back the confidence of tourists to visit the land of the Gods again.....

Pictures of Bali...For your viewing pleasure!