Get Lost!

Shanghai 6th April 2008, Sunday (Day Four)

2008-04-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

We went shopping!!

Phhftt so what else is new lah.

This trip was made purely for procuring cheap but drop dead gorgeous silks. And you know what? I was blown. Away. Those silks we bought were so bloody berkualiti, cheap (for RMB35 per meter, ru kidding me, womannnnn??), lawa nak mampos (hehe hyperbola plak), vibrant colors and oh gosh... I was never into silk but this time I bought 12 meter of different colors. Some to be made into gorgeous tight kebayas, and some into sexy, purring cheongsams hehe. Short cheongsams la apa barang panjang2 ni. With slits up to my fat thighs no less.

Lunch at Food Fusion, a Malaysian restaurant in Shanghai. Next to me is a hot mama. You'd never guessed she has 3 kids with that body.

Alahai toye nye la expresi mukaku.

I know I know. Dah belasah baru nak amik gambar.

We had so much food. First there was koey teow goreng, then bihun tomyam, then some udang dishes, then rojak buah, then siakap masam manis, then they ordered kangkung belacan, then laksa was given compimentary by the owner of the restaurant, then there were sago gula melaka, then they gave us huge titty cups of teh tariks. Heavenly. All of it. And I'm not saying it just because they treated us to a free lunch hehe.

A hug for the sponsor of our lunch and shopping escapade. Real excellent job on taking us jalan2, shopping2 and makan2. Sorry la perut tak bley nak cover banyak, sendat butang jeans aku weh.

Next time you're in Shanghai, make sure you guys look up for Food Fusion, yah. Sapot la orang Malaysia, no matter which country you're in hehe.

When they sent us back to the hotel, there was still some time left before we check out, so I bolted outta the hotel and off to Nanjing Lu again heee.

Ok by now mmg I was really flat out from one whole day of berjalan2. Lps ni naik train confem aku terus carik bantal.

Time check: 840pm. Balik Beijing!!!

Yeayyyyy!!! I got so much stuffs! (And this is not including my mom's loot lagik)

Some paintings, a side profile done in under 30 seconds, a Mao Tse Tung's kominis bag, Juicy Couture undergarments, Se7en and True Religion jeans (both skinny), stuffs from H&M, some Zara stuffs, a silk dress that fits me like a second skin (truly truly worth the price I paid for), a silk nightie, 4 different colors of awesome silk, not forgetting tiny woven umbrellas. Got some more stuffs I forgot to put in the picture but takpe la, ini pon to me dah banyak gile. Had to buy an extra luggage and all.

Loved the experience I had in Shanghai. Shanghai has more stylish stuffs than Beijing that's for sure. The silk dress I bought is the one purchase I am truly excited about up until now (cuz I haven't worn it yet, maybe it'll wear off once I finally use it). The silk is exquisitely smooth, the color is youthful, the cut and fit of the dress is impeccable, the design is modern, the dress stops just nice at my Asian knees, not too long or short; it is ultimately one of my best buys and finds in Shanghai.

Some friends are inviting me to go to Shanghai again, this time a personal trip. I'm contemplating but I think I should explore other cities in China too. I so wanna go to Tibet and Mongolia. And of course Hong Kong if only for the shopping la kan. Just wish I had more time and opportunities to bring my shapely ass all over China. Do you know China has one of the best sceneries? Their waterfalls are a breathtaking sight, they have extreme desert condition as well as unbelievably cold snow region, the best silk material in the world, the world's most polite and the rudest people at the same time, hotter summer than Malaysia, fragrant spring flowers blooming everywhere now and a huge ass brand spanking new Terminal 3 Airport? Yeah now you know.

Shanghai, 5th April 2008, Saturday (Day Three)

2008-04-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

Oh it's sports day. Aku lupe I'm playing pingpong today hee hee.

Shimao Riviera something-something Garden. Very nice posh-y place.

Mom also represent hehe.

Annndddd... that's yours truly.

After that we had lunch, and was told that we didn't need to necessarily attend the evening bowling session, which I was terribly excited about!! Yayyyy!! I can finally venture out in the city hee hee.

We went back to the hotel, showered hastily and I was off on my own. Took a cab, told them I wanna go to Nanjing Lu and that's time/money/effort well spent.

Nanjing Lu is a reminiscent of Orchard Road in Singapore. The whole stretch of road dedicated to extort some RMBs outta your wallet. The shopping scene is gempak la, some stocks rare brands and names in their malls, but I'm not that much of a shopaholic to be giving reviews. And anyway, as was mentioned before, it's overpriced in China, so what's the point. I know we get to claim VAT and all, but it's still considered overpriced to me. But anywayyy, bila lagi nak datang Shanghai kan. So I still shop anyway hehe :p

Got dinner some more.

Waaaa okla whatever.

Mak aku dah jupa geng, takmo duduk semeja dgn aku pon. Selamba ditch anak sendirik. I had to merempat other people's table hehe.

This err.. nevermind.

I somehow love this pic. Taiko Beijing dan 2 gundiknya.

"Bile nak blah ni weyyy?? Sudah2 la tu karaoke wehhh"

There were just too many prize-giving, karaoke-ing, hand-shaking, pleasantries-exchanging, body-squeezing to be mentioned here. But it was mostly a very weird night, one to be remembered. Cheers!

Shanghai 4th April 2008, Friday (Day Two)

2008-04-14T07:00:00.001-07:00

Yay I woke up at 6.30am, it was already so bright outside and if there were birds outside, I'm pretty sure they were chirping happily too hahah.

My mom was already wide awake when I climbed down the bunk to sit next to her. Here, my bangun tido face:

Oh, one more hahhahah.

Ish my mom is so cute with her sepet eyes. Why suddenly sepet ahh? Musykil lak aku. And yeah when I woke up my eyes get damn bulat and terbeliak liddat. Wateverlah.

"Waaa look at that!! They're growing... something yellow."

It was quite nice the scenery on the way to Shanghai. I noticed along this strip the villagers grow some sort of yellow flowers, probably for their tea industries, or their flower industries, or something la. It was really cun jgk la.

Ok back to sleep.

I woke up when we really reached Shanghai, which was at 930am. We gladly hauled our bags, our dinner containers, our smelly selves to the door where there were already people waiting for us with two buses hehe. Nice nice.

Yeah I'm in Shanghai!!! First impression? Love it already heheh.

Yeayyyy I'm anxiously itching to spend my RMBs la wehhhhh

We were quickly whisked to our respective rooms and were told to come down again by 10.30am for a visit to Yu Yuan Garden. It was quite maniacal trying to be ready on time and have breakfast at the same time. But all that we managed to do were brush our teeth, change into clean panties and rushed downstairs to have a decent meal.

And Yu Yuan Garden is so infused with China's culture, architecture and landscape. It was truly very China, albeit modern and scrambling with cars, bicycles, carts and people. As it was the Ching Ming festival and China is on holiday today, the streets were full of tourists, their citizens and add another two buses full of us.

Their streets are lined up with stalls selling intricate carvings, tanglungs, ornaments, household appliances, silks, Olympic souvenirs, pets. A varied array of stuffs for tourists and their people alike.

Outside of Yu Yuan Garden.

Inside. Waahahah tak mandi tp kalau bab jenjalan I'm always so fresh and willing hahah.

This shop sells jade only.

These people were lining up to buy this really, fricking mad famous dumplings in Yu Yuan Garden.

There is a famous bridge in Yu Yuan, but as you can see from the throngs of people behind us, it was just impossible to go there. So we passed on that one.

Btw, need to be careful about ur belongings. Just in case. Shanghai is safe la, but not as safe as Beijing. Beijing to me is 100x safer than KL, but that's another story.

Where do these people came from la wehhhh. Gila sempit.

Owh to take this picture was a challenge. People were just walking in front of us, disregarding the fact that we were clearly posing for the camera, by simply waltzing through, breezily traipsing in front of us, buat bodoh. Grr. The cameraman had to extend his left leg so that people stopped walking in front of us, just to get a decent shot.

Some sort of old, rehabilitated buildings being converted to a museum, shops, gallery. The whole shizz.

I saw shops! :p

Most of us signed up for this ancient craft, which is the art of cutting pieces of paper and replicating your side profile. You just gotta sit still in front of him for 30 seconds and he'll cut colored papers, and some of the resemblance was quite uncanny. But I can't say he's a master in this craft la, cuz some of our profile came out almost indistinguishable from the real us, and for some of us you can only note some semblance. But it was an OK experience, I mean we were just watching Majalah 3 where the host went to Shenzhen and had hers made there, but we didn't know there was a guy who could do the same thing here in Shanghai too! So naturally, all of us lapped it up and practically camped at his stall.

And apparently, their own people were just as awed about the craft as we did. Look at them crowding up my mom. View from the master's side of the stall hehe.

Oh, I also bought two hand woven tiny umbrellas from this guy. Ape motif aku pon agak kurang pasti hehe.

Ish belom apa2 dah shopping. Also I managed to haggle nice kononnya farmers's painting for RMB30 each, medium size. Bought 3 of 'em. And 1 fine embroidery painting, done with silk threads for RMB50 each, slightly bigger size hehe. Happyyyyyy.

On our way out already. We're off to have a quick lunch at a nearby McD where I only managed to have a chocolate sundae and a pineapple pie. Tak kuasa aku nak line up panjang2 sial. Orang mcm semut.

After that we were zipping off to another side of town, a gallery where they were selling cheap knockouts, rejected original goods, pure imitation of branded items and one thing for sure though, you cannot really tell lah. Original? Knockoffs? Imitation? Rejected? We're in China where the line is truly a thin and indecipherable one. If we're long enough in Shanghai we might be able to pinpoint the exact shop where people do actually sell rejected goods, at a fraction of the original price, as China is where a lots of company set up factories to take advantage on the cheap labor and all. But then again lah, I dont' know how to put this politely, but they kinda cheat a lot too you know. So sometimes whatever they claim it to be, you really cannot trust them a 100%, maybe 5% jer. Out of their long, unsolicited spews of claims and evidences in broken English, you just simply cannot trust them blindly.

"This leather. You smell! Leather!" --> Ye la kot. But the smell quite funky, maybe it's leather but cheap ones

"This factory make, to export US." --> This claim could be true, as they do have American factories in China, like a whole load of them here. These companies send their fabrics to the factories to get it sewn, constructed, completed. And some of the items technically got left behind, 'tertinggal' liddat and are being sold in the black market. Or or, as what I've heard from China people, they are commissioned to manufacture certain products and are given the prototypes, with an agreed amount of items for them to produce according to the contract. And what they did is produce more than what was agreed, and the extra goods are sold in the black market. Or something like that la. But then again, who can tell whether these stories are truly beyond any hints of doubt? I guess we'll never know.

Being here in China, you kinda get that "Tawakal jer la" a lot.

"Kedai tu halal ker?" --> "Tawakal jer la"

"You beli ________ (insert any items here) tu dijamin original ker? Walaupun they claimed it as rejected?" --> "Tawakal jer la"

"Ayam2 dia jual kat market tu, dia tulis ayat2 Arab kat kedai dia tu, mmg sah ke Muslim yang sembelih eh?" --> "Tawakal jer la"

Ekekekekkeke. How can you not love China kan??

At night we were brought to a South East Asian restaurant, not necessarily halal (belasah la) but they were specifically told/instructed to procure their chickens and meats from a Muslim vendor before serving us. Buleh caya ker ni? Tawakal jer la hahahahaha.

The restaurant is situated opposite of this mall. You know, I'm not that hungry now... heee.

Please ignore the gargantuan arms. I assure you I have lost considerable weight hahahahahahh. Lame lame.

I bought a cheongsam top some time back but only managed to wear it today. Heh when in Rome, babe.

Oh man I'm so in love with cheongsam tops. I plan to have a good collection of them in the future. They're slenderizing, accentuates only the right curves, and gives a subtle hint of seduction. Eeeeee I love China (did I say that out loud?)

Right after dinner we headed straight to Huangpu River, The Bund!!! I've been restlessly waiting for this cruise trip, man.

Shanghai Tower! The view of Shanghai's city and skyline at night is just outta this world wehhhh. They lit up the buildings along the river at night with colorful show of lights and illumination, it was wondrously pleasant to be viewing it comfortably from this vantage point. Ish Shanghai is so so so bloody syok sial. I so recommend this cruise at night or during the day, whichever way you can see the magnificent display of modernisation and innovation of the city. Well Shanghai IS the biggest city in China, followed by Beijing kan. So you can imagine the vast tranformation of this city from way way back la.

A slightly closer view.

There were choruses of ohs and ahs and wahhhss from us on board, along with "Brr sejuk!"

Lepak arrr brader. Mana ada sejuk sangat ponn. Beijing lagi gila babi chilly nak mampos (Though I did wish for something to warm me up, tetapi hep!! Mak aku ada hahahahaha)

Muka kontrol but I was so teruja and secretly happy and euphoric inside.

Angin ruined my remos :(

Ok ok one final shot of the same pose and the same background. Sheesh rilek la bila lagi nak showcase/ parade my pictures around kua kua kua.

I love love love Shanghai !!

Shanghai 3rd April 2008, Thursday (Day One)

2008-04-14T05:01:00.000-07:00

Today I totally didn't concentrate on work, as after work we're heading straight to the train station to catch our train to Shanghai. Yeah I'm travelling it ol' school babe; train, bicycle and the whole jigs.

Outside the train station.

Oh our trip coincided with their Ching Ming Festival, which is more or less the practice of visiting deceased relatives' graves. So people ALL over China are moving here and there, balik kampung and all, and the amount of people at the train station was just... annoying sial.

They've got trains to virtually anywhere in China. You can go to Moscow and Tibet even, but not from this station though. That's another place in another posting, dude.

Found! A hobo right in the middle of the train station.

What to make of such experience kan? I betcha if I were to travel by flight, I would never experience things like these. There were just hundreds upon hundreds of them moving around, trying to catch their train, with their humongous plastics bags hauled up on their heads, and their big big bags mcm nak balik India.

We arrived early. Like an hour and a half early. Gile semangat these people as if la we're going to be late for the check-in at immigration ek. We saw all these vendors selling collapsible small chairs that can be folded for easy storage, and we remarked saying how convenient that is, but buat pe doh jual kat train station in big quantities like this. To us this kinda seat is only good for fishing and here all of us were puzzled as only foreigners/ tourists can be. Needless to say because of the unusual amount of people around, there were no available seats left to sit on. This ulat saw our big group and tried to cut a deal. Those seats that were normally being contructed in airports and train station, the one we normally head to if we saw it being vacant, yeah they're renting it. The seats. Sekali duduk RMB10. Like wtf wei, those seats are provided by the management of the train station, selamba ko nak charge for renting it??? Lancau!! We chose to stand up, disgusted but at the same time amused by their tenacity. They will do anything for money, short of claiming the government's plastic seats as theirs to rent out that is. Ish preposterous ok. Now we thought back of those small, collapsible chairs that are selling like hot cakes at the train station and all of us went "Ohhhhhhhh." Hahahahaha. Seko-seko blur.

Berdiri pon berdiri la walaupon selama sejam lebih.

And then when the train came and we actually wanted to get through to the so-called security, that's when you really experience China.

In China there is no such thing as lining-up. Or queuing. Or giving way.

In China, you get trampled upon, stampeded with, pushed at, squeezed at. Whichever you choose.

You see a line, but you also see people cutting cue nonchalantly. You see they have no regard even if you're old, or a girl handling 2 big bags while juggling with your ticket stubs, or if you're holding a kid in your arms. They will push and bulldoze their way through the queue and play dumb about it.

We were just really lining up like civilised people that we are, but then the crowd from behind were pushing us, squeezing into any opened up crevices among the throngs of people, just to get through (with their bags no less) and pushing through, like as if the train is gonna leave them behind. And then suddenly there was a mad dash of people trying to get through the ticket counter, from a good discernible line of queue, now it was just a mess of people getting to the bottleneck of a counter. Madness wehh. Tak bertamadun at its worst.

I have experienced this often enough to mengomel and mencarut during this stampede, but it was sucha rush that I forgot all my Mandarin swear words and can only come up with "Kimak babi anak harammm tepi la cibaiiiiii!! Apa tengok2?? Ingat wangi ke?" Yeah something like that la. Pathetic. Like as if they understood me. Gahh.

Right after the ticket counter we were greeted with such wide spaces, space big enough for 3 lanes of roads to be constructed and then we saw the train coaches waiting for us. Like wtf... nape korang buat tiket counter sempit2 cenggitu, when you could design the place in sucha way that there won't have to be people pushing around and increasing unwanted blood pressure liddat... hish marahnya akuuuu hahahah. Seres at this time I was so pissed with the whole unnecessary pushing around and the whole 3rd world mentality. Train tu lambat lagi nak berlepas, what's the effing rush la these ppl. Seres I was boiling and cursing inside wehhhhh grrrrr...

Yeah needless to state here, I was getting pretty moody by now. Rasa menyesal pon ada. Rasa nak patah balik pon ada.

And then we went inside the coach and.. and .. and ...

Well it wasn't so bad la.

Really it wasn't.

Or maybe we were expecting it to be like the one back in Malaysia. Silap di situ.

There are 3 levels of bunk beds. The lowest is the most expensive by a few RMBs and the top bunk is the cheapest, by a few RMBs also. Senang cakap = takde maknenyer! (But got pillow and selimut which I secretly liked haha)

You don't see me.

Now you do! Slightly happy. Slightly.

This coach is really not bad at all. If you wanna disregard the perpetual musty, garlic-y smell of their people, it's not half bad lah. The smell will go away trust me (or is it because we've gotten used to it after 15 mins of sharing the same coach).

The bunk bed looked clean, the pillow and blanket are cosy, there are space to put ur many luggages in, and except for the staring we get from them, the altogether experience is not too shabby, to say the least.

But I did have some thoughts while we were in the train, trying to get used to the crampness, the smell (gosh), the staring (seriously la why so jakun oneeeee), the people constantly moving up and about to get to the other coaches. Happy and grateful thoughts while I was trying to psyche myself up like,

"Thank God I'm not in India"

"Well at least we're far away from the toilet"

Yeah I can only muster up 2 thoughts hu hu.

I'm so glad this 13-hour ride is done at night, where we can sleep the journey away and only to wake up arriving in Shanghai. If I was told to do this again during the day, aku mati keras or I get real claustrophobic and would develop the urge to jump off the train. Fo' sheezy weh.

I'm still half impressed.

Aerial view hahahha. Amboih you guys are so happy eh. Aku kat top bunk dah pening2 lalat ni.

My mom was sucha trooper. Lepak jer joining in with the guys. Aku pukul 930pm dah pengsan on the top bunk, trying to fight the dizziness and the depression :(

*pengsan mode*

Oh but I did wake up around 1230am, and went over to my mom's bunk bed and disturbing her. Eeee like so masa kecik2 dulu, bangun malam2 carik mak hahahahha.

BALI 17th July 2007, Tuesday (Day Five)

2007-09-03T00:03:00.000-07:00

Dah nak balik ker? Dayyymmn.

Today is lepak day. We're gonna just hang around at the beach all day until the hotel management kick us outta the room cuz we overstayed (which we in fact did).

Before that, a stop at Maden's office to drop off the bikes and negotiate another 2 hours of renting the bike so that we could make a last minute shop at some factory outlets.

Mesti amik gambar dgn Maden dulu.

Maden best hu hu.

After we scoured the factory outlets and returned the bikes, we walked to another albeit last nasi padang place and managed to grab a Balinese girl to take pictures with.

Then we headed down to Legian Beach, about 7 mins walk from the hotel. And we actually found a back alley to the beach yay! Rasa cam local lak.

Legian beach is awesome! Check out the waves, man

I promise this would be my lasy terencat pose haha. At the Ngurah Rai Airport already, boarding the plane.

KL Sentral. God, already I wanna go back.

BALI 16th July 2007, Monday (Day Four)

2007-08-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today is spa day!

All ready for my spa session.

Detour at a jewelry shop en route to our as-yet-to-be-determined spa.

We walked into Jayakarta on recommendation from a waitress in Bamboo Corner. Said the spa there is quite famous. Plus the fact that Jayakarta and our hotel is only about 5 mins walk makes it a candidate. But upon finding the spa, we found out that the rates are sky high. Maybe about the same here in Malaysia, though the session might be longer here. We decided that we should just walk around the area of Legian and would eventually find a nice spa, with a condusive environment and cheap, too.

So Bina and I walked. And walked. And turned corners. And found ourselves somewhere between an alley, and this alley is still dotted with shops. I mean, they're everywhere la. In the nooks and crannies of Legian, they could just fill this place up with shops offering different kinds of stuffs. We surveyed 4 spas I think. One is located inside a small hotel (room too small, rates quite standard, environment tak best), another one is along a street we couldn't remember or identify (not opened yet, and we don't like their rates too), the third is a spa cum hairdresser (room looks seedy, girl didn't know much about the treatment that we wanted, rate normal).

The fourth and last spa we went to is called Putri Bali. The moment we walked in we were greeted by lush tress surrounding the area, ensconsced within brick walls that resemble a temple, an a nice lady who gave us very tempting rates. Most of the rooms here are fairly comfortable, each with 2 massage beds and an outdoor bath, environment here is ace!

Blissful!

We had the Balinese massage (Rp 50,000) + Lulur + Yoghurt (Rp 100,000) plus a hot drink. The whole session took about 2 and a half hour. We left the place feeling fresh, silky smooth, stress-free and all the possible good feelings people feel when leaving a spa. Another highly recommended place for a spa session.

I ride him (pun intended).

The guys rented a bike each while we were gone for the spa. It was dirt cheap la. For rental of motorbikes for 24 hours is Rp 12,500 which is around RM5! We buzzed around Kuta in these and it was so liberating. No more walking miles on end, and we get to reach more places we couldn't have reached had we just stick to walking. The boys found a few factory outlets and we scoured them all. We went to have another nasi padang place (not so sedap though), we shopped around the area of Kuta, and then we finally went to Kuta Beach.

Ehhhh not so fab lah.

I personally don't like Kuta. There are more streetvendors here than anywhere else in Bali. The beach is so-so and, the sands are rough, the water's not inviting enough to go for a dip. Blah.

Random chicks.

Rustam told us that Legian beach is far better and happening than Kuta. We decided to go there tomorrow and retired back to the hotel room.

While the boys disappeared with their whizzy bikes, Bina and I was left alone. We finally had a go at the swimming pool, where time went by slowly (especially with a bottle of Bintang) and we swam in the pool, making as little noise as possible (cannot, I laughed too loudly) and just lepak in the pool until our fingers turned into prunes and headed down to Poco Loco which is about 4mins walk from our hotel.

Damn full of tourists, and we're the only 2 persons of color there. So you can get how it was. I cannot wait to leave this restaurant, mainly for safety reasons though. But actually when we finally left the place, we saw that there was a bodyguard at the main entrance. So phew.

My dinner. Delicious, but damn period makes me feel bloated and as a result I didn't finish it.

The boys came back and we brought them to Un's Cafe, this surfer restaurant cum surfer hangout (apparently). Portion's huge, dinner was fabulous and the caipirinha + 3 sticks = mellow baybeee. It was damn wicked. Oh yeah.

BALI 15th July 2007, Sunday (Day Three)

2007-08-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today's plans:

Celup
Ubud
Goa Gajah
Kintamani
Batubulan
Factory outlets

By the 3rd day I think the four of us are getting hives just looking at the same breakfast menu lah. It's not really varied, and it's not served buffet unlike most hotels/ resorts so instead they have ala carte menu whereby you order one meal and one drink. I also think tomato and cheese jaffles is my new favorite breakfast menu. I had those twice during our stay.

We set out with the same driver today, Maden because we found him to be non-invasive and and chips in our conversation at only the best times. Like when we're talking about babi guling he only had this to say, "Ha, berani??" Hahahahahaha classic I tell ya.

Silversmiths in Celup

This factory is full of silver stuffs from bangles to bracelets to necklaces to earrings to statues to ship replicas. Extensive gila. But I didn't buy any because I was hoping to get a really quirky piece, like a balinese-inspired earrings but nothing really made me wanna dig into my purse looking for my ever trusted credit card la kan. But I have a feeling their quality is far superior than ours, though the price is about the same.

Then we went to Ubud known for their arts and crafts. The streets here are dotted with art shops and factory, many having almost the same drawings or motifs as the rest. The Ramayana paintings, the dancers, the culture, waterfalls, scenes of Tanah Lot. They play around pretty much the same theme, and I guess that's the attraction. I wasn't exactly aiming to buy a piece, though secretly I wish for it. It'll be nice to have a memento of Bali hanging on the wall of your home. Thing is, like everyone keep saying you cannot put a price on a piece of art. And my those pieces are not cheap. Bina haggled for a painting depicting a pair of dancers and she got USD20 for it. The painting is not that even that big, about 15 x 25cm. But suffice to say the paintings are gorgeous.

A guy drawing the ever famous Balinese dancer.

Komang, who explained to us the steps of painting and pretty much guided us around the outlet. He also touches incessantly. He touched Rustam. And during haggling he slightly touched Bina's arms. Beats me whether it's their culture or he's actually bi-sexual.

My favorite painting. It's very detailed, lotsa vibrant colors and bloody mahal. D'oh!

Soru! Ini namanya Putri Nasi Padang di Ubud. Best nasi padang in all of Bali. Paling best. Tuna dia keras dan fresh. Sayur dia pahit dan authentic. Tempe dia liat dan crunchy. Just some of the qualities of an awesome nasi padang. Terliur lak tgk gambar sendirik kan. Damn aku lapar nasi padang la plakkkkk.

Lapaarrrrrrrr.

I'm in heaven :)

Toye.

After makan, I ventured about in the area.This here is a shop selling masks and figurines and statues. I didn't go in. Too spooked.

Ini baru my kinda thing. The shop sells things made of beads. Handphone case, earrings, bracelets, coin purse, handbags, coasters, baskets. All are adorned with endless beads sewn neatly. Very very kemas. Got myself some coasters, earrings and a toe ring cum anklet thingy.

Ubud's weather is cool and mendung but not gloomy. Just nice.

Goa Gajah.

Since most of us don't really fancy temple trips (Bina excluded), we decided to play nice to Bina and compromised with one trip to Goa Gajah. It should be noted that girls who are menstruating cannot enter the temple as it is disturbs the sanctity of the temple and all. Bina went in alone and the three of us goons waited outside and chatted with a nice lady who was making her own offerings/canang.

The boys tried their hands at making canang.

My turn.

Off to Kintamani! I slept right after I took this picture.

It is freaking cold up here. In the background is the lake.

Here is the thing about Kintamani. The minute we stepped off the car, there were 6, maybe 8 of them streetvendors came rushing to us, trying to sell something. Temporary tattoos for as cheap as Rp 5,000 (*gasp* cilaka kan aku bayar Rp 60,000), wooden chess set for USD5, pencils, fruits and ntahapaapa benda lagi la. It's not seen in this picture, but as we were posing for the camera these people were right behind us mumbling things like, "Temporary tattoos? Chess?? Oi! Oi? Chess? Five doh-lar I give you."

So we walked away from the many streetvendors and walked downhill and then, were greeted by more of them. They actually hound and surround you. I felt like I've been chased by a group of papparazi. Serious!

Dah lari tapi kene kejar jugak hihi.

Rustam is so enamored by the whiny puppy. Check out the guy at the back with the chess set.

Maden drove us much further away from the crowd, and Arep said he doesn't wanna get out of the car, lest there are more. But here the streetvendors are less, and actually less scary. There were kids trying to sell pencils and pens and keychains and we actually talked to them, joked around and lepak2 with them heheh. These group of active salesperson is however less vicious than the one before.

Hounded or not, you ain't never seen me this happy.

Girl looks like a Tibetan. Rosy cheeks and slit eyes.

Kecik2 dah pandai menjual.

Padi teres at Tegalalang.

Monkey Temple. Yang kat belakang tu pon sama species jgk bwahahahaha

Heheh check out my tattoo. Ganas nihhhhh yearggh akakakaka

Kecak Dance in Batubulan. 7pm sharp. Cuak sial.

Factory outlet. There are like a dozen of this in Bali.

Ahaks puting penyet. Ini surfboard wax.

Ditto.

After the factory outlet trip we had roadside jagung bakar for Rp3,000 (RM1.20) Pretty decent jagung and the uncle immediately identified us lot as Malaysians. I honestly don't know what gives.

Maden dropped us at Legian Snacks for dinner and Bina had another Bintang while all of us ate fish dishes. A very tame dog came to Areef's side and meekly rested his head near Areef's foot. So comel and freakishly panicked we were. Dogs' population definitely outnumbered cats here. Ciao!

BALI 14th July 2007, Saturday (Day Two)

2007-08-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Woke up with a smile on my face.

Rise and shine. Legian from our hotel restaurant.

Breakfast!

Daily offerings. This is as ubiquituous as Bintang.

We were looking for Eddy to be our tourist guide, though we haven't exactly confirmed with him last night. He was too busy, plus it's too early in the morning plus we didn't tell him earlier. Aw shuck it. We went to the tour guide office next to Bamboo Corner and started negotiating prices with the boss. Got a nice price for it, because we're not going to so many places. Rp250,000 = RM 100. RM25 sorang. Sangat laaaa okaynya. We got a driver name Maden/ Made.

Today's agenda:

A bit of shopping in PasarSeni, Kuta
Uluwatu for the surfing competition
Nusa Dua for the beach
Jimbaran for dinner

On the way to PasarSeni

Masa ni aku tgh busy shopping and negotiating prices. Takde masa aku nak amik gambar weh.

A note: Penat sial tawar menawar dgn dorang ni haha. It's like they have the price in mind, tp nak turun sikit, sikit jer dulu. Why not just turun kepada harga yg everyone can agree with kan? Strategy la kot, see if we comply. Anyway I noticed that Rustam is a great person to bring when you want to negotiate stuff. Dia senyum sket, jek makcik2 tuh, tanya elok2. Ekekekeke. I normally ask the price first and straightaway bring down the price to 40%, then during negotiating baru naik sikit2. Guess sama jer kot seme orang. But Rustam has the charms. Got 2 cotton dresses for Rp45,000 = RM18. There was this one shop selling accessories only. I got 3 beaded necklaces, like 4 marble rings, 3 wooden rings, 3 Balinese-inspired earrings, 2 wooden bangles, a small pretty basket for storing my loot: Rp70,000 = RM28. I CAN GO CRAZYYYY!!!! Sangatla heavennnnnnnn arggghgghghg

We arrived at Bingin Beach, and was welcomed by this :p

I don't know whether aku saja yg perasan atau I'm the only one who thinks this picture is beautiful.

Arep's not the only one excited upon seeing real life surfers hu hu.

Drunkard.

While we were hanging out, trying to fit in (we didn't, I wore too many accessories and and Bina wore too many clothes) we spotted another beach from where we were. The waves at Uluwatu that day were pretty pathetic, or maybe it's just the timing. But the waves we saw from where we stood looked pretty awesome. And we spotted people surfing and swimming there.

Got Bina to do the researching, since she is the friendliest person I know. She met this lady whose husband is participating in the competition (name's Chandra, gorgeous btw) and Chandra told us that's Dreamland. Kinda a new beach apparently. Rustam was already edgy wanting to check that beach out, although we were kinda running outta time, but we climbed the hill back to the car and got Maden to drive us to Dreamland.

And it was worth it.

From the top. Have to climb down to go to the sea.

Sangatla indah.

The boys quickly stripped off their clothes and run to the sea. I joined them while Bina waited with our stuffs. The beach here is so perfect. The weather is sweltering hot but once you dipped you feet into the water you realized that it's cold! Not hot mcm air PD (blearghh PD pales in comparison, man) but it's ice cold! Sgt best mandi manda sambil main dgn ombak yg ganas. And best thing is, tiada kesan melekit after you swam here. No wonder there's no fresh water to shower, you don't get that uncomfortable feeling of melekitness or rambut melekit at all! Oh man sonotnyeeeeeeeee

Then I ran into Marcus, the surfer. I was actually looking for a pair of bikinis, and though disappointed by their choices (I didn't buy any) I was walking back to our umbrella smiling. It was while skimming the crowd that I saw Marcus looking at me and I smiled to him and spoke to him for the first time. Very friendly guy, been in Bali for 15 years, gave us tips about Bali and the places. I brought him around to meet my friends and he left his stuffs with us and off he went surfing.

Bina joined the boys in the water while I waited for my temporary tattoo to dry. She loves this beach too. The boys joined a beach soccer playing in the distance before retiring back to the umbrella to watch dogs being silly ahahahaha long story. Marcus told us not to bother with Nusa Dua, as Dreamland according to him is the nicest beach in Bali. He told us to go straight to Jimbaran for dinner and watch sunset from there.

Ini sebelum dirosakkan oleh Arep. Abis Rp60,000.

Maden brought us to Caviar Cafe in Jimbaran. We noticed the security is tight because the 2nd bombing happened here. I donno why I wasn't scared at all. I should've shuddered or tremble a bit but all I did whilst listening to him was think about the feast we're gonna have.

It was very very sumptious. I'd recommend this restaurant to everyone! The sunset, the company, the dinner all rolled into one memorable dinner. We ordered prawns, squids and a grouper but we didn't know that the dinner all comes with a fish soup each, an individual kangkong dish and a dessert plate each. Bill came out to Rp 620,000 which is about RM 248 = RM 62 each! Cheap and superbly sedap. Their condiments are to die for too. I'm so coming back.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, showered and head straight to Hard Rock Cafe. Actually by now we were yawning away because of the long day and the filling dinner, but because it's Saturday night and all, gosh. I'm sometimes too old for this la. Tiring sial.

Muka penat.

Anyway! Got dressed and we were sent to HRC. On the way there Kuta was so jammed, so Bina and I hopped outta the car right in the middle of traffic and went shopping for bikinis kua kua kua. Aku merasa sangat bijak dan time-saving, rather than waiting in the car bumper to bumper in the jam, better to jump out and shop right? Ya turun2 kete jer terus traffic jadi ok bley tak? Cilake. But whatever lah we shopped anyway and I bought a nice stripey design and of course found out that our car is so far ahead that we walked and walked and walked and saw that it was parked at the curb somewhere near Kamasutra, waiting for us hihi. I love being spontaneous and stupid at the same time.

At the Rock Shop.

Inside.

This Indonesian band, Asia Performs was set to play that night. HRC Bali is huge lah! HRC KL seems dimunitive compared to Bali's, with second floor dining and all. Probably to make room for the large crowds, which it was that night. Crowd was OK when we arrived but as midnight approached all sorta weirdoes and dance styles came out, which were interestingly hilarious. Langkah2 tarian yg mcm sial banyak la plak, tak nampak hotties ponnnnn bosan ah

Bosan sial. Ngantuk plak tuh.

Bina's solution to boredom is a shot of tequila.

About 1am I think I've had enough of flailing boobies jiggling in front of my eyes and got all of them to evict the place. This day has been real fun albeit tiring. HRC Bali? Okayla, I like also. Coming back, tak kot.

BALI 13th July 2007, Friday (Day One)

2007-08-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Areef and I went to Atria to get our money changed. Some were changed into USD and the rest we changed into Indonesia Rupiah. Mmmm crisp new notes. Instant millionaire hehe.

By 1230 we were outta the house and leaving for KL Sentral. The plan is to take the feeder bus from Sentral to LCCT, it's only RM9.90 I heard. Seeing how we're leaving for Bali and all, I wore my mini skirt and tank top and in the LRT suffered dagger looks from the aunties and ... well aunties. Lupa la plak arini hari Jumaat kan. Arghhh I'm sorry makciks :p

1640 hrs, we took off. Areef was so excited in the flight hehe.

Told ya.

The flight took 3 hours, by the 2nd hour we were getting all fidgety and nauseous. I started walking over to where Bina and Rustam were seated (cuz we got separated by the throng of passengers, this flight was full to the brim) and started talking about where we should go and what we should go and all. I mentioned a few places and man! I got real excited about it la plakkk heeee

It was already 1935 hrs (what's with the army lingo right? :p) when we touched down at Ngurah Rai Airport. I AM OFFICIALLY IN BALI muahahahah sonot sial. I think by the time we actually left the plane and at the arrivals pon we're like kids in a candy store looking here and there and making remarks about this and that and "gile ah" or "sial laaa" at anything. Ekekeeke. There was a counter with all the brochures in it; travel brochures, tour brochures, spa brochures that we decided to take them ALL, thus making us late at the immigration counter. But there were no maps though, and we just thought we'd take them from the hotel reception. The boys looked somewhat dazed, they were walking slowly towards us girls while looking around. I felt very hyperactive all in a sudden. I wanna go fast so that I can see Bali fast. I know. I can be anal sometimes.

Got our luggage, went out into the open air and as per any airports, there were many touts waiting for us. Bina who made a friend with an Air Asia staff in the bus told us we gotta go look for "Grace" at the AirAsia counter, to get a taxi with a good rate yg bukan mencekik darah pelancong-pelancong seperti kami. But she was not around, so instead we got our return itinerary, Rustam flirted a bit with the counter girl and we simply took the standard taxi to our hotel. Rp50,000 to Legian, which is standard (gotta remember this when we return to Bali hehe)

Arrived at the hotel, saw some renovation being done, but thankfully they were only redoing the restaurant area. The rooms are untouched yay. Since I was the one who made the reservation and all, I dealt with the reception counter guy, but we've only just arrived and still not really understanding Balinese-speaking English. Pretty weird, with dodgy accent. Or maybe aku kot yg blur tak paham, sbb when the guy told us he's putting us in a family suite instead of a standard room with extra bed, I kept asking about the free deluxe room for one night that they promised in the email. But all I keep getting were 'family suite' 'family suite'. Dah sampai bilik baru aku tau. We got the family suite for the whole duration of our stay, slightly expensive than our budget, but man it was so worth it.

The living room, with cable TV (cannot be seen in the picture)

Downstairs - master bedroom with attached bathroom.

Upstairs, where Bina and Rustam is to share a room. Luckily both of them have no problem with it hehe. Such angels these two. That's Arep raping Bina's bed.

Can see the pool from here.

"Kami suka Adika Sari Bungalow! Time kasih Yanz for the awesome recommendation"

We were so ecstatic upon seeing the room, I think the doormen think we're slightly jakun haha. After the jakunness wore off, we quickly took some well-needed shower and headed out to the streets for makan time.

Streets are full of shops, here and there, across and opposite, and there are lined with hotels and resorts, much like ours. I was trying to absorb Bali in, the sounds of it, the smell of it, the sights of it. Anyway it was nighttime so there wasn't much to see, but it's nice venturing about like that. Legian is like 10 minutes away from Kuta, and we're eager to see Kuta, and I was so ready to spend some of my rupiahs at the many shops there, but we were famished so we walked and walked and when we see a good place, we looked inside, peered the outside and asked whether they have pork or not hee hee. So good kids la. We stopped in front of this quiant small cafe called Bamboo Corner and decided this could be it.

Arep said when he bought this Hawaii-inspired shirt in 2002 he'd been hoping to wear it in Bali and I guess he couldn't wait any longer hahah

We took some time here in the cafe, talking and discussing again how to deal with another 4 days here. Since tomorrow there is a surfing competition that Areef really really wanted to see, we concluded that we'd include that in the list. Asked the nice waiter whose name is Eddy about the surfing competition. He then looked for a surfing magazine and got the details from it. It's to be at Bingin Beach in Uluwatu. In the end he gave the magazine to us kehkehkeh so nice.

We noticed a few things on our first night here. The people; be it foreigners, tourists and the locals, they are so friendly and some of them chatty. When we walked into Bamboo Corner a guy having a drink just turned around and simply talked to us. We were in good mood too seeing how easily people here make friends/peace and we embraced this new culture. Kat KL ada ke org tiba2 tegur ko in random pastuh asked "how are you and how are you enjoying the place?" Already I like it here.

Next we noticed the ubiquituous beer in Bali called "Bintang". They're everywhere, practically. In restaurants, billboards, shop signs, t-shirts. Bina didn't wait a second before she ordered her "Binteng" as was pronounced by the foreigners. She liked it. Said it tasted like Corona heheh.

After makan we walked around further up and around until we decided to go back to the hotel and retire for the night. Tomorrow would be an adventure yeahaaa!