Returning to Malaysia was a great feeling, especially when you know that on home ground, no matter how sick you get, you still have friends to watch over you. Pineh sent me to the airport and stopped along the way to pick up a name plate with my name etched on an authentic Balinese crafted wood!!! Thank you, Pineh! It has been such a joy to see the crater of Batur with you! You let me learn things about the earth, the mountains and the people that I would never have known otherwise.

He treated me to Nasi Campur in Kedewatan before dropping me at the airport where I met Azlee (co-founder of Chiaroscuro.net) and wife who were heading home too.

Being away for a week and then another week before that has certainly taken a toll on my body. For some strange bug has invaded my system and since having gone to the Healing Station, I was given charge of Captain Anti Biotic, Sergeant Actifed and Private Paracetamol for 5 days. They were to fight on my behalf while I sought rest in Slumberland.

Bali had been a cultural experience for me and I wish to be able to see more of life in the central plains and eastern highlands of this exotic island. Ubud had been so named because the Dutch couldn’t spell Ubat (medicine/cure), which had been the beliefs of Balinese as the confluence of three rivers resulted in waters that provided miracle cures for all ailments in those times. People who drank of the waters experienced miracle healing.

I guess one week is appropriate to recharge and come back with a renewed inspiration to churn out pieces for my work so to Pineh, Padram, Made, Komang and Ketut (friends I made in Bali), thank you for a wonderful time and a piece of your history that you shared with me that will forever be etched in my memory….

Just when my brain tuned off to the sound of ducks quacking and cocks crowing, I got a whole flock of doves cooing this morning. I packed to get ready for another leg of my journey to the volcano, Mount Batur in Kintamani! Alright, I wasn’t going to climb the mountain in my Crocalikes but I was definitely going to learn of the culture of the Balinese living in the crater.

Padram, my chauffeur from Surya Hotel, arrived to pick me up for the hour-long journey to Kintamani. Stopping at the rice terrace at Ceking, the view was superb. I was approached by women trying to sell me their goods but I didn’t think Air Asia would give me free baggage allowance if I were to give in to my impulse buying.

As he drove pass acres and acres of padi fields, I asked him about this thing I’d learnt about a type of alcohol called Arak Katak, literally mean Frog Alcohol. In days of old, Balinese used to ferment frogs or tadpoles in wine which gave it its name. The more exotic variety is the Arak Tikus, Mouse Wine/Alcohol, which obviously as the name suggests, had the pinkish, newborn mice in it. As Padram related the process of these Arak Hijung as they are classified, both of us cringed at the thought. Even he can’t understand how his ancestors would have liked a beverage containing ‘binatang’ (animals). Amused by the fact of life then, I asked him about his childhood. He grew up in the district of Kintamani but in a village outside of Mount Batur. As a child, he would aspire to have toys and would go to the sundry shops in his neighbourhood and would wish for them. His family didn’t earn much but whatever he could save, he would use the money to buy them later. He said sometimes some kind neighbours would buy him toys and that would make his day. Being a grown up now, he no longer aspires to covet the things he knows he could never get. Life in the village is so simple, unadulterated and blissful. The air is so much cleaner and everything is green. Listening to him, I feel so blessed to have been given so much though so little compared to those who have it all. I do not aspire to get a bigger car, fancier clothes, amass a fortune that I wouldn’t be able to take anywhere. He made me think about the life I have and the life I should be living.

He took me to an orchard called Amertha Yoga Agrotourism to see how coffee and cocoa are grown. We peeled off a piece of the bark of a cinnamon tree to sniff, felt the soft flesh of the cocoa and tossed the pure coffee beans before it was roasted.

We sat down underneath a long wooden gazebo within the orchard to have a variety of beverages they produced; Balinese coffee, Ginger Tea and hot chocolate. Not much of a coffee person, I bought a 500gm pack of cocoa powder instead to last me through next year.

We stopped at Pineh Colada Bali Agro Wisata on the way and had tea and pisang goreng (banana fritters). I shared my fritters with a doggie that came to settle on my feet. The air was beginning to get cool and we were just 10 minutes from the hotel.

Passing the touristy spots at the top of the highlands of Kintamani, we veered off to head down to the large crater by Lake Batur. The view is just amazing. I was shooting from the vehicle and marvelling at how beautiful this place is.

Soon as I checked in and had lunch, I went out for a walk by the lake. I started to feel feverish and headed back to rest only to have a full blown fever, sore throat and body ache. This is so not on. How can I get sick now???  

Today the chickens ruled. Every single rooster in the vicinity and possibly the district of Ubud, must have conspired to crow in succession at the crack of dawn. The symphony of cocks must have reverberated every soul in Kunang Kunang and I wondered what happened to the ducks today. I had a bit of a sleep-in this morning before preparing myself for another scorching day of wandering. I finally got my Garmin Que to work, after getting the GPS Proxy to take over from the ever-monopolising Windows Mobile automated programmes. There is only so much I like about them……

I decided to walk to the palace today. Much ahead, my breakfast came in the form of a puffed-up, stuffed toasted sandwich and fruits, which I quite enjoyed. I set off in a different route, down the street from Hanoman, I veered off at Jalan Dewa Sita and was intrigued by more shops. A particular bead shop got my attention and I came off with a bag of beaded purses in psychedelic colours. I can almost see myself living here with all the intricacies of existence in the artsy little town the Balinese call Ubud.

Continuing ahead, I found the cafes that hosted most of the festival’s events and workshops but I opted for Juice Ja Cafe’s glass of lemongrass tea instead. It’s not a bolt from the blue that the Balinese likened me to a Japanese walking in their midst as they yelled, “Konnichiwa!” or “Konbanwa!” with some who would be bold enough to ask me, “Doko e ikimasu ka?” (Where are you going?) in which I would reply, “Nihonjin dewa arimasen, Maresiajin desu,” (I’m not Japanese but Malaysian). Hahaha! Throws them off if they were only managing a few lines to be friendly!!! My Japanese may be rusty after so long but I can still manage to converse if need be.

I found the palace and wondered if they would impose a dress code as the temples would but thankfully not. Again, a doggie chatted me up, took an interest to my camera bag this time before retreating to the recesses of the inner palace grounds of which the public was prohibited from entering.

My trusty tripod once again, proved to be quite entertaining as I took self-portraits in poses that amused the other tourists at large. A few of them offered to take the picture for me too! Hmm…..good pick up line, but I did not bite, especially when their other half stare them down as soon as they got to them. Hey lady, I’m not interested in your man and would you excuse me while I play princess in the palace??? The greatest challenge for me was not being alone in a foreign country nor the absence of help should I run into fixes like I always do, somehow, but in getting the shots right under the bright sunlight when your eyes deceive you in getting the correct exposure. I ended up doing several takes in different poses to get my touristy shots taken in Ubud Palace in the sight of curious tourists. Doing things let me have something to write about.

It was lunch time when I saw the Babi Guling signboard just outside and I had to try it. Walking in, I sat at a table on the floor like the rest and waited to be served. It was great. The orange juice was even better! While waiting, I watched the world go by. The place was frequented by mainly tourists and some locals. Served on a waxed sheet of paper in a basket, the Babi Guling was garnished with a special chilli sauce and a piece of sausage and fried condiment. It wasn’t really up to my expectations as I feel that our char siew was far better. Different, I would say. Taking Jalan Goutama back, I witnessed the community weaving the decorations out of palm tree fronds for the night of celebration ahead. The entire street was decked with hanging decorations. I headed back to have another afternoon in bed.

Taking Jalan Goutama back, I witnessed the community weaving the decorations out of palm tree fronds for the night of celebration ahead. The entire street was decked with hanging decorations. I headed back to have another afternoon in bed.

Waking up at six, I was all geared to go to the Street Carnival. Decided to have dinner at another warung called Dewa Warung and shared a table with a theatre costume designer from USA called Joyce. We talked about the productions that she had been doing and decided to walk the streets to see people in costumes walking on stilts, fire dancers and animated costume characters of Bali. An orchestra of traditional music with drums, gamelan, flutes and gong was part of the ensemble of the festivity. In wanting to catch the fire dancers, we trotted with everybody else in one direction.

We ended up in the field where a concert was being held, witnessed by thousands of people and kids launching a shorea-seed-like glowing object into the sky to send it spinning slowly to the ground. I thought, I had to get that! It’s only a device made of paper on bamboo splice with three little batteries, wire and an LED light, catapulted by a rubber band tied to a stick. Joyce wanted three for her grand children and after bargaining, we got it at 7000Rp each, down from 20,000Rp!!! There we were, right in the middle of the field with the Balinese kids, in darkness, launching stuff into the air just to see the blinking light come plummeting with the propellers in motion! The dame and the granny has deluded adulthood in fits of giggles when the contraption landed on the audience watching the concert! Heheheheh!

We had a couple of drinks at the Juice Ja Cafe again before setting off in different directions as we called it a night. Tomorrow, I will be heading for the lake up in the volcanoes……….

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…..