Wendy's Short Chapters

One of the exciting highlights of our trip would definitely be the water rafting experience... We set out in the morning with great anticipation.

After we geared up, we walked down the mountain to reach the river below. Treacherous steps were estimated to be around a hundred or so.. coarsely made from stone slabs. .. I had a very difficult time managing my fear for height, on top of it, steep steps with no handholds....

By the time i reached the river point where we board our raft, i had a pair of jelly legs... good thing there were guys in the group, giving me confidence as well as acting as my fall "breaker" by walking in front of me.

i thought that for a first timer, we did pretty well. Think most of us would agree that we could handle a better and faster river. The Ayung river which we rode on was basically quite mild, of course we found the water to be extremely refreshing already with the river ride giving us pure oxygen that we would not have any chance to inhale if not for this trip. The refreshing air was complemented by the green forliages, the sound of waterfalls, gurgling and swirling sounds of the river around boulders...

Highlight of this trip was a "no time to remember how much ability i have , but i have got to save CK".. hahaha, I really do think that Jennice and myself would not ever forget this scene as we pulled Casey back while she reached selflessly towards the side of the raft where Ck has fallen off. It was an act of True Love.

:) All in all, it was an enriching experience, and .... we have found an even better river to nagivate when we go back to Bali the next time round, it would be cheaper, the river cleaner, faster and the steps to the river. would be a easy 7 steps...urrrgggh.... how come we didnt have that good lobang .... before we decide on river Ayung...?

But again,

rafting gears USD 10

rafting guide USD 15

to witness Casey selfless attempt to save Ck ~~ Priceless...

:D

Today will be the Sea Sports day ... Setting out at 10am, Komang drove us to Nusa Dua where the beaches were incredulously beautiful and white .....

we had a small unpleasant hiccup while we were negotiating for a good package which led us to leave the premise in search for another vendor. Apparently along the same stretch of beach, the guys managed to find a very competitive quotation... Upon learning , the original vendor 'A' went over with us to "talk" to them....

Boy, do i feel threatened... *swallowed saliva*.. he walked as if he was going to tear down the other party's premise while he tried to remind us over and over again that they were the main operator and the other vendors were just doing contracts for them ... sigh, apparently the other vendor was quite in their control and immediately withdrew their competitive prices the minute he spoke to them...

Thinking that we had no choice but to stick back to them and their ' so called" very good price, vendor "A" walked backed to his premise with us where our transport awaited.

hahaha, never did he expect that we actually walked back to our van , prepared to forgo whatever fun we wanted to have. hahaha could see the rude shock on his face...

Anyway, luckily our day wasnt ruined by that incident.. and we managed to get a really good deal..

We did parasailing , flying fish, snorkelling, banana boat.... and were quite sun burnt by the end of the afternoon...

What a day! Whew...

After all the surfing for the guys at Kuta Beach, we proceeded on to find our dinner... the thought of Seafood dinner set all of our mind drooling. After checking out prices for getting someone to drive us over, we settled for a driver that gave us a really good deal. We decided to "persuade" him to be our tour service driver for the next 4 days at our preferred price.. : P

Our seafood dinner turned out to be a good spread of bbq prawns, fried fish (the best dish), mussels/ toa tous, crabs and fresh coconuts. We were staggering with our dinner in our tummies as we head back to our hotel.

Komang (our driver) turned out to be a really good choice. He went beyond his duties of driving us around, giving us lots of advice and suggestions on where we can go to have what we want. He even went from places to places/ businesses to businesses just so that we could get the deal and the price that we want. He is really really patient with us...treating us with heart.... there was this once when i wanted to get a bag if possible. Komang brought us to this small shopping establishment.Not sure if anyone remembers The Oriental Shopping Centre" in Ang Mo Kio Central where its a regular hangout for students and aunties alike .. That place looked exactly just like that..
He even went to the extent of helping me choose a suitable one and helping to see if it is suitable for attaching a small lock to it.

Wow..we were all very impressed.. i mean.. like nowadays, where can we find such service where people who do things with their heart?

I kept myself in suspense and anticipation as the group of us boarded the plane heading for Bali... What will i find.. nice sunny beaches? ruined restuarants destroyed by mindless terrorists? defeated Balineses?

after a 2 and a half hour flight, we reached Bali's nice sunny weather. The first impact at the airport clearly and strongly reflects the strong Balinese cultural and Hinduism religion. Statues of various gods and deities can be seen everywhere. Some of them sat on feroious creatures, some wielding awesome stances. Others sporting a surfing move reflecting the hot sport of the sunny island with strong surfs.

Bali - Very sincere, friendly people; a place with fantastic beaches with kms of flat and clean shore as well as strong surfs for aspiring surfers; lotsa buddha statues and protraits; lots of woodcrafts as well as strong beliefs in their religion by placing offerings anywhere that they think would help improve their luck.

Life is down to the basics and simple for the locals there despite the dependence of their economy on tourism industry. You can see cows grazing lazily on any green pasture that you may come across as you travel along the roads. The air there is fantastically clean, with min presence of pollution as we take in long whiffs of the sweet country side air, enjoying the chirping of the birds and other habitants of the wonderful ecosystem.

The Balinese's mobility is amazing, many of them can be seen travelling on their motorcycle or scooter, according to ah Kee, aka "cup(3) giah(4)". You can see young children riding pillion to a slightly older child or a prettily dressed lady on a nimbly rode scooter. Family of 3 to 4 pax riding on a single motorcycle is also often a common sight.

I could feel a sense of relaxation as i attempted to take in as much sight as i can. Accomodation was at the Grand Balisani Suites, a hotel with a beautifully positioned pool overlooking the sea.

On the first day , we went to Kuta Beach, where it is supposed to be very popular with tourists for both shopping as well as surfing fanatics. the feeling was overwhelming. Once we reached the beach itself, we were swarmed by different people having different services as well as wares. What impressed me was that the Balinese people were very cooperative and definitely patient, waiting for their turn to hawk their ware persuasively and persistently. What they do not have, they will reach into their neighbour's stock and help them to repackage the deal into something that you would consider buying.

fantastic people!!!