Day 2 - Batu Bulan, Celuk, Kintamani, Ubud

Day 2 - 10th March 2009

Day 2 started off rather pleasantly. We woke up early in the morning, stuffed ourselves silly (i meant myself only, I eat a lot when I am on holiday...) with the hotel in-house breakfast, and proceeded to the lobby to wait for Dana full of anticipation of what activities lay ahead.

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At 10:30am sharp, our car came thru the hotel's porch. Dana apologised profusely to have kept us waiting. We both went like "huh?".... we are early, not that they are late. Anyway, once in the car, he passed us each an A4 paper printed with the map of Bali and had our route of the day highlighted in yellow.

Our first stop was to watch the 'Barong & Keris Dance' in Batu Bulan (I think). We managed to have a kodak moment with the hostess who was in the pretty Balinese costume. Unfortunately, the photo turned out kinda blur... but nevermind la... what to do, I have an artifact for a camera. Nah... actually the camera man doesn't know how to use my antique. That's why.

The dance turned out to be quite a bored for us. We were each given a leaflet when we entered which explained the story of the dance. If not for the leaflet, I doubt anyone would understand what it was all about. We were yawning so badly that when it finally ended, we were washed over by sense of relief. I don't know why... I have always love stage shows, but just not this one. Movements were minimal and personally, I felt the actors are not really into the roles they were playing. Or maybe it is because it was still too early for us then... hahaha.. Anyway, it was a good experience of a different culture la... At least, I learnt what a 'Barong' is that day.

After the Barong Dance, on our way to Kintamani, we stopover in one of the many 'Gold & Silver' shops in Celuk. It seems everyone in that little village does no other businesses except for gold & silver. To think of it, Bali is not really a huge place (4x Singapore size). But how they managed to isolate each different industry to each different village is amazing. For example, Ubud are for artists, paintings and all. Celuk is known for its' gold & silver. Batu Bulan on the other hand, is famous for its stone carving. Good hor? The other thing is, they don't even have their own silver. They merely import and craft it. But one thing for sure is, their crafting skills a class of its own. Detailed and precise.

Anyway, we didnt get anything for ourselves cause the prices were ridiculously high. But of course we are supposed to bargain. According to a friend of mine, in Bali, we MUST bargain for whatever we wish to buy and that includes the malls as well and the rate should be about 70% from their asking price. Ridiculous right? Sometimes, I rather not buy. Too tired to play the bargaining game....lols. Besides, most of them would prefer to entertain Japanese/Australian clients(they are crawling all over Bali) than us cause we Malaysian would usually bargain till the cows come home and still, don't buy. hehehehehehe

After a quick look see look see at the gold & silver shop, we moved on with our tour, enroute to Kintamani. Since we didn't spend too much time at the earlier stop, we have lots of time in hand, we decided to stopover at this coffee plantation along the way to sample some of their coffee.

(I wanted to sit right next to the stove, just me and the stove. I don't know why the makcik kept squeezing herself in-between me and the stove.)

(Left bottle: unprocessed luwak's poo poo that has coffee beans in it.)

(Right bottle: processed luwak's coffee)

Here, we found out a special breed of coffee which is so good that I can't bring myself to even taste it. It is called the 'Luwak' coffee. Apparently these coffee is harvested from luwak's droppings (a civit-like animal called Paradoxurus - the locals called it Luwak). These little animals live on a tree and one of their favourite food is the red, ripe coffee cherries. They will eat these cherries, beans and all. As these beans passes thru its digestive system, it will experience a chemical treatment & fermentation and finally, excreted. The poo-poo with the still intact beans are then collected, clean, roasted & grounded just like any other coffee. It was said that the aroma of the coffee were fantastic. It was strong and rich and has a hint of caramel and chocolate. Nothing compared to the other normal coffee. I've sniffed at the processed luwak's coffee and yes, it does smell very exotic and aromatic and definately no hints of poo-poo at all. So, luwak's coffee anyone???

(This is the little fella that shit expensive shits... meet the 'Luwak')

(Enjoying a cuppa at the orchard together with our guide, Dana. No, it is not luwak's coffee that I was drinking.)

After the nice warm cup of coffee, and also the eye opening to a digusting coffee, we continued our journey to Kintamani. Kintamani is village perched high on a hill, with little restaurants dotting both sides of its road, which offer spectacular view of Mount Batur; an active volcano, which is surrounded by a 11.27km in diameter and 18m deep lake (biggest lake in Bali). As we arrived, we were greeted by the breathtaking clear view of Gunung Batur, from top to bottom.

(Fruit stalls along the way. See how pretty they had arranged the fruits)

(a snapshot before lunch with Mount Batur as our backdrop)

We took advantage of the cloud free, clear view weather and quickly snapped some photos. It was cooling up in Kintamani when it doesn't rain. When it rain, it's freezing. The temperature is something similar to our Bukit Tinggi. Not too cold, not too hot.

(Mount Batur seen over our lunch buffet line)

That afternoon, we had lunch at this restaurant called 'Maharaja'. The lunch is alright, I would say 7/10, but the view was fantastic, 10/10. It was really nice. We had some couply time thru our lunch, irritating each other and at the same time, enjoying the cool weather and the breathtaking view. It began to pour heavily halfway thru it. I didn't bring my sweater. My teeth were chattering so hard... I lost in that 'irritating each other' game... cause can't think and talk properly while trying to overcome my chattering teeth. Nevermind, there will always be antoher time...

(After lunch, after rain, all cloudy. Lucky we were half hour early. Otherwise arr, Mount Batur? Where where???)

After lunch, when the rain had stopped, we bid farewell to Mount Batur and left Kintamani for Ubud. Ubud is about 30 minutes away and it is well-known for its beautiful paddy terraces and paintings. As for its' weather, it is still cooling, though not as cool as Kintamani.

(Nice right? At this very spot where we were standing, a private villa is currently being build. What a view to wake up to every morning. Heavenly.)

Our first stop in Ubud was at a huge art gallery. They have thousands of beautiful paintings of different styles ranging from traditional to modern, modern to abstract, oil and water colour. Unfortunately for me (or for them?), they don't have what I've been looking for. I wanted a painting of only long green leaves. They do have that, just that other than leaves it also have birds and flowers in it. I don't want flowers, I don't want birds. I just want leaves. Maybe I can paint it myself when I free free one of these days... I have paints, I just need to get the canvas... beria-ia only...lols

(an artist at work, illustrating his inspirations on a canvas)

From the art gallery, we went straight into Ubud town. We visited Ubud's Puri (palace) there which was smacked right in the middle of the town. I can't remember the name of the Palace. Apparently, the royalties are still staying there, at the back part of the puri which is not open to public. We walked around and took some photos. What else to do? :p

(This is the back of the puri, closed to the public.)

(at the entrance of the puri)

From the puri, we walked across the street to the infamous Ubud's market. If you are ever there, please dont buy anything from there. They are freaking expensive and they are not 'bargain-friendly'. Rigid pricing. Just go see see and cuci mata enough la... the handicrafts are pretty amazing though. Lots of stuff to see. I was captivated by the colourful wares offered by all the little stores in the market. It was beautiful. You know me la.. I've a thing for colourful & fancy stuff... I love to see, absorbed the experience and clicked away with my camera. Shopping? No thank you.

(Inside Ubud Market, colourful isn't it?)

(Myriads of handicrafts. Nice hor?)

(I am not a cat person, but I cant resist clicking away on this one. Did you notice how the head of most of the cats is slanting to their right?)

(Don't ask me why, everywhere we go, we sure to find these bottle opener/keychain carved in the shape of a penis. Any sizes you fancy. Just name it.)

(Labourers at work by the road making black bricks from these black soils which can be found in abundance in Bali. Was told that these black bricks are much hardier compare to those normal ones. 'Atas' sikit punya quality.)

We left Ubud at 5:30pm and headed back to Kuta. That night, we had a yummy Balinese dinner at this restaurant in Bali Galleria. We loved the food so much so that we picked this restaurant as the extra dinner the agency promised to give us.

(Bali Galleria - Duty Free Shopping Mall. Our restaurant is at top right corner.)

(The huge statue of Rama in the middle of the roundabout outside Bali Galleria)

(we had grilled prawns, kicap fish, calamari and a rojak like dish - damn, i am hungry now!)

After dinner, our driver sent us back to the hotel. I am not sure whether did we go out after that. I do know that I dozed off pretty early too that night.