Erotic Bali -

Balinese are very erotic. Maybe it is their Indian blood - kama sutra and all that. But there are many sex symbol all over.And nobody blink an eye. Like these:

Wooden carving in a batik shop

Painting for sale

The buttock of a statue

Another nude couple!

And all these phallic bottle opener!

And these lot that looks like plant!

Uniquely Bali - Head Strong

Balinese women are head strong, err I mean  strong with their head. They can carry practically anything on their head as these few photos show

This street vendor has some t-shirts on her head

This one has knife, scabbards and all sort of killing objects

This lady is carrying canangsari 

This one has 3!

Fruits are commonly transported on top of the head

Like this street vendor

These ladies going to the temple

Bananas!

Look no hands!

Uniquely Bali - Flowers

Balinese are very religious. Everywhere, there are temples, shrines and unique little trays of flower offering. These cute little flower trays called canangsari (I hope I got that right) are placed as offering to the spirits and for blessing. Hence they can be found everywhere.

Stack of canangsari for sale

A vendor at the market in Ubud

On car dashboard

Another one on a vehicle but this one on the outside

On a sidewalk

On a hotel table

A bigger version in a hotel lobby

Another one in the hotel we stayed at

Makan Bali - Seafood

This one is not so much about good food but about seafood in Bali. Bali, being an island surrounded by the sea, should have plenty of seafood right? Well, yes there is Jimbaran Beach which has a whole cluster of seafood restaurants. Naturally when we said we wanted to eat seafood, our driver cum guide brought us there.

The nice but so dark beach restaurant

The atmosphere was fantastic. We sat on the beach on beautiful wooden chairs. There was a band of roving musicians moving from table to table. There was also traditional Balinese dancers. Great for a romantic night dinner until we saw the price of the seafood.

It was super ex by our standard. Coming from a place where a lobster can cost close to a $100.00, when I said expensive I mean it is really expensive. After looking through the menu which was basically just a list of seafood items with prices on a per kg basis, we settled for the set menu for 2 which looks the most reasonably priced.

This is a platter of seafood - 4 Tiger prawns which seems very small, 5 squids, 6 mussels and 1 fish. Plus of course the kangkong and 2 beer and a tiny plate of fruit. All that for RP800,000 excluding tax which came up to about S$110.00.

Not satisfied, we went to Kuta Beach on another evening and this time we went to this very atas looking place.

Bali seems to serve seafood in only 1 way ie barbecue and the restaurant had a similar menu to what we ate at Jimbaran but for a quarter of the price. We ordered the mix combo which was again 4 Tiger prawns, 4 squids, 6 mussels and 1 fish plus a tiny plate of fruit. No drinks included.

Fish and mussel

Prawn and squid

We threw in 2 beers, a soup and a desert of chendol and the bill came to RP400,000 or thereabout, about half of what we paid for earlier and we got the beach, nice comfortable sofa seat in a gazebo overlooking the sea with candle light of course.

The lesson we learnt was never to be led by the tour guide. Do our own research first and choose only those place we have heard good review of otherwise be prepared to be butchered!

Beautiful Bali - Kuta Beach

On the 3rd day after the race, we moved from Sanur to Kuta and finally got a chance to walk the world renowed Kuta beach. But our first impression was marred by the rubbish and trash all over the sands. And the locals were lying among all the filth like it didn't exist. And there were a lot - the local and the trash.

But walking further down the beach, he beach fronting the many hotels had been cordoned off and was impeccably clean. I wondered how Singaporean would make of this if part of our East Coast Park is cordoned off for tourists?

Then the sun set and it was spectacular. No wonder all the hotels had build gazebos, pavilions, dining area to face the sea to take advantage of the view. We ate in one of these place on our last night there and it was indeed very beautiful and romantic.

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Makan Bali - Ayam Betutu

On the 3rd day of Bali, the guide bought us to this place where there were surprise surprise - no tourist or at least the majority of the diners were locals.

This place sells Ayam Betutu which is some thing like our beggar chicken ie the chicken have been slowly cooked for a long long time before it can be eaten. The chicken comes in different level of spiciness and we ordered the average spicy.

I don't know what went into it. It is a little like our Ayam Soto or Ginseng chicken. Very tender but extremely spicy.

Throw in the kangkong again and I finished my Avocado in double quick time.

We also  order the sate lilit.Kinda like our satay except that the meat is a mix of seafood and the skewer are not those tiny puny little sticks but some part of cane sugar. A bit dry but very fragrant.

Another item we ordered was the otak. This one killed me. It was hell of spicy but I think this was also the meal that got rid of all my ulcers.

By far the best meal and value for money meal throughout the trip. Authentic Balinese food at local prices. Definitely worth a visit.

Is she the chef?

Beautiful Bali - Tanah Loft

Another place we went was Tanah Loft. This is a temple that is built on rocks in the sea and accessible only during low tide.

Most tourists come for the sunset and the guide told us it is very crowded then and taking pictures will be a problem. So we went in the morning with the bright sun light. Not the best time to take pictures but not much choice though.

 

 

 Again we were awe by the power of the wave as it battered the rocks. Truly a magnificient sight!

Makan Bali - Local ZhiZhar

The night before the race, we didn't want to try new food or go to far so we asked the driver cum guide for some recommendation for local food near our hotel in Sanur. He pointed us to this place.

At first we weren't sure we got the correct place. It was a local warung and very empty. It didn't look clean and the menu certainly didn't inspire us. But we didn't want to go far and after the previous night expenditure on the seafood, not keen to spend too much on food.

So we sat down and ordered what tantamount to their version of our zhizhar. And bingo, we hit jackpot. The food was great and cheap.

We had noodle, fish, kangkong of course, ayam penyet and avocado again and everything came up to less than RP100,000. And no tax!

And of course after we sat down, the crowd started coming in including these group of Kenyans and we happily posed for photos with them.

One of the best valued for money meal indeed.