Pulau Bali - Pulau Dewata

Isla Bali - La Isla de Dios | 巴里島-神島

From the airport, we were taken to Kuta seaview hotel. I walked to the concierge and show them the voucher Fung had booked for me from Jakarta. They gave us both a hot towel to sooth our exhaustion of long travel and hand us the key to the room and the breakfast voucher in an envelop. The room boy took us to our room, rested our baggage on the divan, and switched on the lamp. I gave him some tip and he went off as we unpacked and got a shower.




After the shower, we went out to the lobby and inquired about the tour service. We were told that we can hire a cab for the entire day or 8 hours for three hundred thousand rups. We haggled a bit and told them we would reconfirm after we come back from lunch. We went down to the Kuta street, as we walked down, a girl from Made's travel held us down and tried to sell us their tour package. We politely decline their service and instead asked them for direction of nearest resto. We walked down to Poppies lane 2 where a nice open air resto is situated. I ordered a pork satay for myself and a gado-gado for Vicky plus a Balihai to quench the thirst. Drawing from my wallet to pay the bill, we left the resto and windowshopped down Poppies lane 2. There were a lot of shop selling souvenirs. We soon got Vicky some nice loose kains, and I got myself an easy leather sandal. We walked down to the minimart and got some sunscreen and drinks afterwhich we went back to the hotel room for a rest.



We got out of our room after a while to the swimming pool. Lot's of bule from Ozzy suntanning on the their bench. I brought a book with me to read while lying one of the bench. We took a couple of dips in the pool. I didn't know how to swim :-( so I just wallowed like bull. I drained myself on the bench and enjoy our pack of Djisamsoe, only smoke for ocassion. I've quitted smoking for a long time now. Vicky swam quite well. At least she could float, and I couldn't. After I finish my bottle of balihai we went back to our room, shower and went to bed. We woke up at seven pm and had our dinner at Mc Donald Kuta. Only in Indonesia, you got rice served at Mac Donald. (Liza Correction: rice is also served in mcd philippines) Yeah, it's really junk. I had to go back and forth adding water to my soup coz it was too salty. But we were lucky to get an extra ice cream cone, coz the waiter past their 60 seconds serving time.



We strolled down Kuta beach but it was too late and dark so we changed our direction and went down to Pasar Legian. We went to a shop that sells all kind of souvenirs at fixed price. We bought some milk Lulur for masking and body massage. We also bought some oil and perfumeries. It was not long and they're closing shop coz it was already eleven pm. We walked back to our hotel past thru the still busy Kuta street and Hard rock hotel. We turned in right after we tried our Lulur :-)



We woke up late the next morning the tour guy had to give us a call. We got ready soon and went to the hotel resto for free breakfast. The drivers were waiting in the front of the hotel. We paid the tour guy all the fees and got on the Kijang. The driver first took us to Batubulan where we see ex presidential palace and bought some batik. We continued our way to Celug, where they made silver handycrafts. I bought Vicky an earrings and we went on to Ubud area. We ate at the sidewalk stall that sells babi guling - suckling pig. Balinese food is a bit salty for us. We walked across the stalls and toured pasar Ubud, a market that sold traditional Balinese souvenirs at a very cheap price. We bought some kains, sarongs, and cat's scuplture there before we went back to the car. Our haggling skills came in handy. A wooden carved flute was offered at 75,000 rups, but we bought it at 20,000 rups.



From Ubud, we went to Tegalalang. On the way, Vicky keeps appreciating the cat's sculpture everywhere. There were so many shops that made and sold scupture to order. When we reached Tegalalang, we stepped down to the steep valley bank. The locals farmers were peddling their coconut fresh from the tree. I bought two fresh coconut and ate the coconut meat using the splinter cut from its shell. Vicky really enjoyed the young coconut meat. You couldn't find it in Taipei. Taiwan's coconut got no meat. We took pictures here at Tegalalang because the cascading ricefield view is really beautiful. I met some Indonesian tourist from Kobe who kept speaking Japanese. Bad for me too, during this trip with vicky, I spoke more Chinese than Indonesian.



We headed straight to Kintamani fearing that it maybe too late and rainy that we couldn't see the nice view of Gunung Batur, the great volcano and Danao batur, the crater lake. We stopped at the parking lot near Park View Restaurant and were chased by street peddlers. I was so angry we went back to the car and parked some place else. We found a better spot where no peddlers around and enjoy the view of Gunung and Danau Batur. A tour leader passed by and told us history of Gunung Batur. We took pictures and went back to the car.



The driver said he wanted to take us to Tampak Siring, it's a nice Pura where they had a water fountain devotion. We took pictures at the fountain and met some Taiwanese tourist from Kaohsiung. Vicky were happy to meet some co-villagers. When we entered the Pura, we were required to wear kain band at our waist. This is Balinese tradition to respect the temple. We still had little time after and stopped at a Painting Gallery. There were a lot of painting to be seen, but we're no curator, and we weren't buying. We only appreciated the sales politesse and we excused ourselves and headed back to Kuta.



It was pretty late when we got back to our hotel but we still took the time to go out. We went down different direction and swept the entire Legian market, and Kuta's small lanes. We stopped at a small saloon to give me a haircut, and we continued windowshopping until our stomach sang "Bengawan solo". I first saw a Dunkin donuts and went in to quench our appetite with all kinds of flavor. After the donuts we sat down the tatami in a small Sushi resto where we ordered a Big Sushii buffet and miso shiro. I also ordered my favorite Ocha. Full with the dinner, we took a leave and visited Hard Rock Hotel Souvenir shop and back to our hotel thru the makeshift of drainage repairs.



The next morning, we hired the cab for four hours to take us to Pasar Kumbasari in Denpasar, to a Pura and Museum, to Buddhist temple, and to Joger's Pabrik kata kata. At Pasar Kumbasari we saw a grocery store that sells all kind of Balinese handycraft at very cheap fixed price. They seem to sell their stuffs worldwide. I had their namecard saying they have an office in Princeton Calfornia. At Joger's we were delighted with the message on their T'shirts. I bought a Flu Burung-bird flu t'shirt with a message Burung kami sehat-sehat saja- Our bird is all fit and fidlle. From Joger the the driver took us straight to the Airport where we bid farewell to Bali, the island of Gods.

We reached Jakarta late at eleven pm and went straight to bed after we packed all our stuff. The morning after we have to prepare for our flight back to Taiwan. In the morning, Andre and Frida came to pick us up for a Dimsum at Samudra in Angrek mall. We filled our palate there and went down to Gramedia for some linguistics books I want to buy. After that, Andre drove us to the CGK airport and we bid farewell to eachother. Our flight CX766 had a transfer in HK, and we arrived in Taipei about midnight. It was quite a long and packed trip, and we enjoyed it. So long Jakarta, See you Bali.

ax

Le voyage a chez moi

A homebound trip | 家鄉之旅

News of Andre's wedding came like a lightning strike. We never expected him to get married so soon, we just knew he had just separated with a girlfriend. My youngest aunt referred to it as "Cinta Kilat", I still remember the old rhyme, "Kalau cinta sedang melekat, taik kodok pun rasanya coklat." Maybe he's just in love and made a haphazard decision or maybe he had it well thought out. Whether he has his head cold or hot, I bet it's the best decision. He ain't young anymore. Though man are like wine, that's not a way to live unless you're an esteemed Casanova.

We bought two tickets for Taipei Jakarta. We flew with Cathay Pacific, the most famous, or should I say notorious for long delays. My aunts and Andre's elder sister, fifi left the day before on Eva Air. We have little time to prepare and had a last minute shopping for gifts. Our flight was Feb 21 ETD 13:30 Taipei time and we arrived at the airport two hours earlier to check in. We had two transits in Hongkong and Singapore. At the passenger waiting gate in Hongkong, I broke the ice with an Okasan from Japan who was having a tour to Srilanka. It's good practice for my rusting Japanese. I managed to hold the convo for about ten minutes with all might.



Despite the long flight and transits, I enjoy the food on board and Vicky was drunk on red wine. Our last transit was in Singapore where I helped a Hyderabad mama-ji to take a snapshot of her in Changi airport. We arrived in Jakarta at 21:30 Jakarta time. I took the biggest Silver bird taxi down to Pluit residential, my uncle's place. We were planning to stay at my bro's dorm and hotel, but ended up with the economy of staying at uncle's place. It was dark and quiet when we stopped at his doorstep. He doesn't have a doorbell, so I have to yell and knock on the gate until the housekeeper came out and opened the door. It turned out that my uncle was out entertaining a dinner and my uncle's wife ushered us in and showed us to our room.

The next day we woke up early. Vicky dressed in blue, I put on my suit and nekutai and we rushed down to Andre's place on his Suzuki sedan. When we arrived, my eldest uncle and his friend was there in the living room. All the females went out to the salon for makeup and hairdo. They came back one after another chauffeured in Suzuki 4 wheels drive. I introduced Vicky to everyone and took a seat on the sofa. We're having breakfast of tea and fried 年糕 [nian2 gao1] and all kind of traditional cakes. Finally all the aunts and my mom were back. I gave mom a hug and hold the tears of long forlorn wait for reunion. Mom took Vicky by the hand and looked at her cap a pie. They can't talk each other without me translating. Mom doesn't speak mandarin and Vicky doesn't speak Bahasa nor Hakka.



My brother John soon arrived in his shadowy F4 like hairstyle dressed in sleek suit and tie. He said the bride and groom will soon arrived. Andre's gone to a destined hotel to pick up the bride. They arrived a while later escorted by the bridesmaid and photographers. When Andre's and his bride stepped down from the white limousine, in his tuxedo suit and smooth polished hairstyle, he looked like Hui Man Keung in the "Shanghai Bund", an old classic 港片 [gang3 pian4] we loved watching..According to the customs, the bride were hurriedly ushered to her room. When the seats were prepared, the groom led the the bride down to the living room to start the ceremonial 倒茶 [dao4 cha2]. Each elder were to be seated and congratulated with a cup of tea from the beautiful ceramic teapot after which the elders handed out gifts of jewelry or red packets.



After this ceremony, the bride and groom were led back to the white limousine and rushed down to the church of Ignatius in Menteng area. Me and Vicky hitchhiked on uncle's car and sped down to the church too. We had a hard time finding the church as noone in the car knows where it was. After a couple of calls, and inquiries to the streetwalkers we finally parked in the churchyard. When we walked down to the front door, we were brooched with flowers and gifts of teddy bear was distributed. We went in, dipped our fingers in the holy water and made a sign of the cross. We were seated on the third row. On our front left were the choir and pianist ready for action. Hendra gave me handycam and asked me to do some shooting during the mass. I did my best for this is the first time I use a handycam and neither do I know the trick in shooting short documentary. The mass started with father welcoming everyone to the wedding, followed by the songs and reading from the scriptures. Then the matrimonial oath and the sign of marital contract. Father gave advises to stay thru the storms and waves in their marriage. An important message is the word of "Cinta"- Love cannot be put together with "Jika"- If, but must be put together with "Meskipun"- Eventhough. As in, I love you eventhough you're fat and old and living from hand to mouth."



After the church mass, we went back to have a rest and prepared for the evening banquet. Me and Vicky took the opportunity to windowshop in Taman Anggrek Mall. We went to eat my favourite Saint Cinnamon, and Le Kebab. Love to eat these delicacies I couldn't find in Taiwan. I took Vicky to see the indoor Skating rink on the top floor and we went to Rimo to look for clothes. We went back to Aunt's place at four pm, we stopped on the way to buy the crunchy favorite "Pisang Goreng" - fried banana. I bought fifteen thousand rups of banana and went back to the car. It was such a long wait in the line. Hearsay they bought a lot of these half cooked fried banana and resold it in Hongkong. What a great business idea.
When we reached the house, we sat down on the sofa and enjoy the delicious pisang goreng. We watched some cable and chat about taiwan politics and life in general. When it was six thirty pm, all the girls were dressed up in evening gowns, and we were ready to drive down to the restaurant. I stayed with the Andre's chauffeur this time. Twenty minutes later we were parked in front of Central Chinese Restaurant in Tomang Raya.



The waitress in long red high slitted shanghai dress ushered us to the banquet hall where all the tables were decorated. We took the same table with my eldest uncle and try to mingle with the silence. My uncles doesn't speak much nor his children. Well I do not speak much either especially when I have a sorethroat. We were served chinese tea and orange juice and the main meal was a long wait. The bride and groom were waiting for important guest to make their appearance. Andre's boss did finally come and congratulate him which is a great honor to him and his family. We started eating soon after the meals were served. It was decent meal we had, I love the shark fin soup and those Chinese delicacies. After the meals, the bride and groom approached each table and gave a box of chocolate to everybody in replace of wine toast. The bride and groom don't drink. They really have modified the customs a lot, even during the tea serving, nothing red were seen on the wall.



After the meals, the bride and groom invited close friends to take pictures for souvenir. Me and Vicky also took picture with the bride and groom. When the party was over, we stayed with eldest aunt and drove back to her place. It was not until eleven something, my uncle came and picked us up back to his place.

The next morning, we woke up early and stroll down to Mega Mall. I took Vicky on local bus which scared her much with all the angry looking, stern eyed locals in the bus. The seats were old and torn, dirty and stinks. Once we got off the bus, she swore she would never go on a bus again in Jakarta. We met Jeffrey Tan at his Quality Hotel in Pangeran Jayakarta. We waited until Jeff redressed and Vicky took the time to fax her work back to Taipei. It costed 90,000 rups to fax two sheet of papers. Daylight robbery! Anyway, we took a blue bird down to Thamrin main street and stopped at Starbucks. I had a long discussion and future plan with Jeff about Chinese Squabble. He is going to market it in Malaysia and Singapore under a different brandname. We wrapped up our talk at about two thirty and went accross the street to Chilis steak bar for a lunch. It was a collie's portion of Fajitas, I couldn't finish the plate. It wasn't a Chinese resto, so I was reluctant to ask for doggy back, besides, I ain't keep no dog.



Snipping my Heinekenn, we catched up popular topics of different cultures in Taipei, Jakarta and Malaysia. Confirming Ben's question on languages. Ben was Jeff's buddy who travel with him down to Jakarta for sightseeing. All the four or us got diarhhea when we got home. We suspect it was the chillis, but yet we couldn't prove it. It might be other stuff we ate or just a change of climate did our stomaches bad.

We bode fareweall to eachother, and headed our own way. We took a cab back to Pluit where Mom and John were expecting. That night, lot's of pressure from the family to push us to marriage. Mom, seeing all her peer's children getting married felt there's no way why his son couldn't. I had to brave the storm of pressure and promised them a deadline of next year. God knows by then. Vicky was crying on my shoulder saying she felt too much pressure from my family. I assure her it was just that the marriage of Andre's that propagated this all. My moms left back to Pemangkat early the next morning, we saw her off to the pickup car. That day we were free, we took a cab down to eldest aunt place. I packed up the remaining Chinese Squabble cards in the trolley bag so we could easily bring it back to Taipei. We saw Tingting, Fifi and Aliang's daughter playing in the living room. I asked them whether they want to go out. I called ICE to make sure she was free. She confirmed a minute later, and decided to drive us out to Seaworld in Ancol. The seaworld entry tiekets are not cheap and it wasn't anything to compare with Hongkong's and Taiwan's. We saw Mermaid, Sharks, starfishes, giant turtles. When we pass thru the giant aquarium tunnel, we saw a man swimming next to the sharks. It was so close, as if we can touch the fishes.



After a tour in the seaworld, we stopped at the beach and enjoy the soft warm sea breeze. We exchanged in pleasing gestures and took pictures of us at the beach. We went back to the car, and ICE drove us to Petojo street, where we had "Otak-otak" - literally translated as brains, is a delicacies of fish meat and flour knead grilled on the oven. We had giant glass of young coconut ice, and I have a special Kopyor coconut ice. After this rendezvous, ICE drove us back to eldest aunt's place, and we were trapped in Jakarta's rush hour. We thanked ICE and bode farewell with her as we entered the house and she was still busy dealing on her red siemens mobile.



We refused Andre's invitation to take us out for dinner and instead went back on Fifi's chaufeured car as she also needed to see a doctor to treat her fever on the same way to Pluit. That night, I called Purwandy, and he came by at eight pm to pick us up. We went down to Taman Cafe in Pantai Indah Kapuk. Where you have a big garden cafe with stage of singers and comedians. I catched up a lot with Pur, and Vicky was bored and resorted to watching those singers. Pur showed us the photos of his wife and new born daughter. She looks just like her mom. We left at about nine thirty to meet Pur's curfew now he was a married man. On the way to the gate, It was like God's destiny that I met long lost old friends. I shook hand with Lilie, Pit-Lie, Tjutju, and Evy and introduced Vicky to them. We have a short exchanged and bode goodbye to eachother. We went home to uncle's place and start packing for our flight to Bali the next morning.




I woke up at five thirty, and went down for a meager breakfast. I saw my uncle woke and Vicky also woke up and got dressed. We left for the airport CGK at six am. We bode goodbye to my uncle and proceeded to the checkin counter. It was one an a half hour flight and we arrived in Ngurah Rai airport at 10:15 am. Bali time is one hour faster than Jakarta. We claimed our baggage and hired a taxi down to SeaView Hotel in Kuta beach.