Awright, it’s day 7 the 2nd last day which i have spent at Bali.

since the trip has almost come to an end, our guide brought us to jimbaran bay, which we are supposed to have dinner and watch the sun go down. but not me. i took pictures instead, if only i could just leave that darned camera aside one day and watch a sunset like any other normal human being.

    so, if you were in my shoes, would you given up the opportunity and sat on your lazy ass instead?

Well, this will be my last post on Bali. as tomorrow is the day i leave for malaysia.

So you ask, is the trip worth it? my simple answer to you is yes. it’s worth every damned cent of it. very rarely i get to do fun stuff and manage to capture so many nice images. definitely one of the places you got to see before you die. the Balinese do really take tourism seriously. so serious that they charm you to thinking of when will you visit them once again…  

What day is it? i have lost track. needed to reopen my blog just to see at what day i have stopped at. LOL! i have finally upgraded my laptop to Windows 7, and also managed to install Photoshop. but i have a hiccup at my RAM, one of them turned out to be faulty so i am now on 3GB at the moment. but still, my tools are now more or less complete. i don’t quite like blogging while lying on the floor, strains my back tremendously and that, my friends is why i haven’t been blogging much ever since i got transferred to HQ. i kinda miss my workstation at home.

Well now, to get down to business and heck i wonder if anyone ever reads my blog anyway. LOL!

after that killer hike at mount batur, we were then brought to have a bit more sightseeing, honestly being half dead isn’t really ideal for doing so. But then, we soldiered on.

Rai dropped me off by a lake located at the foot hills of mount batur. he told me that this is also one of the nice place to do some photography. Well, given the state that i was in at that time, with legs that felt like rubber, i only did quick shots.

yeah, only 2 shots, wot a joke. i am currently hitting the gym to make myself fitter because by then when i visit this place the next time, i won’t be so worried about my rubber legs.

Next we proceeded to Tirta Empul, a temple that has a holy spring water in it.

Well, this is a place for you to cleanse your spirit, and at that time, jumping down to the spring is actually a very tempting thought, given the state that i was in at that moment. but sadly i did not bring extra clothing.

Here’s a picture of the spring. but then, i didn’t have a circular polariser, one of the rare moments which i wished i had one.

dang, it’s 12 already, will try to post another tomorrow, while lying on the floor! the things i do for you guys are unbelievable!

Why? because i have upgraded to Win 7 and i have to reinstall most of my software back. that takes time. chill out for a while, ya?

Phew! when was the last time i have updated my blog? let’s see… Jan 16! definitely full of cobwebs. LOL.

Day 6 is basically the most gruesome to me. i woke up at 1:50 a.m. yes, almost 2 in the morning. why? it’s because i am supposed to go on this mountain hike at mount batur. Mount Batur is actually an active volcano which erupted long ago (documented 1804), and at it’s peak lies a crater, and from its position you get to see sunrise if you’re early enough. it was raining when we woke up. we made a quick call to our driver and see if the trip will be called off. deep inside me and my wife was hoping that it would be cancelled as we still felt sleepy. who in his right mind would want to do a 2.5 hours hike at this kind of hour anyway!? Well, no luck, the driver says that the weather there at mount batur is clear. everything is go ahead.

Well, we reached the base at 3 am. what a way to start a day! especially if you’re not a morning person. the walk uphill was actually kinda tough. first of all, it’s pitch dark and we have only 2 torchlights, one which was taken by my guide, and which was taken by me. the person in the middle will have to keep her eyes glued to the floor. and since we are not really fit for this kind of activity, it was really hard. the rocks are sharp and it’s a long climb. we were already starting to feel tired in the first 30 minutes. we were huffing and puffing, i am quite sure i have used up Bali’s air supply by now. my legs felt like lead dipped in hydrochloric acid. but, the strange thing about the human body is that, the more you push it, the less pain you feel. Well, that’s partly through, because halfway through the feeling of non-existent legs was evident. We then soldiered on. i am glad i did this anyway as you can see the stars shining away. i have never felt this alive for a long long time. since we stopped and rest numerous times, the whole hike actually took us 3 hours instead of 2.5 hours. but still we made it in time for the sunrise lookout point. while waiting for the sun to rise, we felt extremely hungry. well, that’s a minor mistake done by us as we thought we won’t need food when we reach up here. but our resourceful guide managed to cough up 2 dry pieces of bread. well, it’s just like putting a drop of water into a empty reservoir.

Well, here are the sunrise pictures.

 well, it’s not out yet anyway…

yea, coming out…

it’s finally out!

admiring the sunrise

Well, it is a sight to behold. we were certainly glad that we did the climb despite it was difficult. it’s good to feel alive! but, it’s actually not at the peak of mount batur. you see, where we sat while waiting for the sunrise is actually the lowest point of the crater. like they say the need to conquer a peak because it’s there, i felt the need to conquer all 1,717 metres of it.

my wife was glad that she looked fine in this picture, her face was colourless when she was on the way up here

yes my friends, the climb is not over yet. see that itty bit of mountain at the background? well, that’s the one which i will climb in a moment. the climb up is actually optional, but since we are up here, why not? my wife decided that she had enough of climbing for one day and she said that she will be waiting here. without any further delay, i climbed. it didn’t look lie much from where i was standing, but by god, it was tough. it’s mostly soil all the way. it took me 30 minutes to reach the summit, as usual, i think i have sucked up most of bali’s air supply. *pant* *pant*

yes, very gay. dun laffu at me ok?

the volcano mouth, it’s my lucky day as it didn’t choose to erupt today 

with enough of hanging about, we decided to descend. the descend is for sure quick, but then again it might be advisable that you be slightly careful as one fall you’ll be hurt badly as i must emphasise again that the rocks are sharp. we were actually surprised with the amount of trekking we did during the morning, as the journey down isn’t exactly short but we were constantly amazed that we manage to climb up that much.

  the sun started to get kinda brutal on us

so hot until she decided to show me how to do the YMCA

you ok mou!?

yes, i know it’s outta focus 

eventually we reached the bottom of the mountain, and we turned back and saw this

not really a nice picture, should have walked up further, but then, my brain isn’t quite working.

coming up next, tirta empul, the temple with spring water.

Well, since it’s christmas and i am supposed to be on vacation, i thought i should be resting and chilling out over at Bali, didn’t really do much on the eve of christmas, as my days of wild partying are long over, had a few beers, watched a couple of DVD and then woke up rather early on christmas. as you all know, i am doing reviews and such on toy cameras at this site: theclickshop, i was actually given a christmas gift, that is the Plamodel Christmas Edition Camera. if you’re looking for cheap and fuss free cameras, theclickshop is where you should go.

Well, i am a lazy bastard, you should know by now, i do alot of picture posting and don’t type much. so please follow here on what i did on that particular day.

See? i saved ALOT of typing again this time. WHOAHAHAHAHA

Started off the day by participating white water rafting. was afraid of getting my gear wet, sorry, folks, no pics for this activity. something interesting happened though, was on the ride with 2 aussies, one was completely wasted, he was the drunk the moment he was on the transport to the rafting site, and he was drunk throughout the journey. he was falling all over except overboard, though the ride was rather docile, nothing much exciting, but excellent for first timers who wanna try white water rafting but too afraid of the raging waters. it is located at sungai Ayong. the rafting wasn’t really tiring, the tiring part is the flight of stairs after the rafting. other than that it’s pretty much ok.

Next in the evening we proceeded to Uluwatu, to spectate their famed Kecak dance. i must say, it is really impressive. high entertainment value. must watch if you’re there.

it is located on a place where there’s high cliffs and raging seas, if we were to arrive earlier, we would have more time to explore around no thanks to the snarling traffic when we passed by jimbaran bay and kuta. the weather then again isn’t in my favour, landscapes are out of the question. the monkeys there are nortoriously naughty/ evil. they will grab any loose items you have. so be sure to stow away your caps, glasses, watches, necklace and even bra straps are not missed out. Well, no that i managed to get quick dirty peeks. heh.

yes, the weather is overcast again, hou sien ar! 

Well, i could have used my film camera then, but it had some malfunctions, so i had no choice to use my D300, which in my opinion is not so good in the dynamic range department.

one of the future tourist terrorizer.

  ook ekk ekk?

It was then the show was about to start, Rai (my guide) told me that i can actually see them prepare before the show, but sadly, they are more or less ready then due to my late arrival. maybe i can catch them the next time i visit.

ok, so the last pic isn’t really nice, but i have hit my limits, it’s almost pitch dark then and i have pushed to HI 1.0 ISO, which is almost the equivalent of 6400. and no thanks that i am still quite a distance away i can’t really zoom in as it will induce camera shake and blurriness. all in all, i should have sat at the front most seat. because at that time mr hanuman started kicking the fires around. which is dramatic.

What’s the story about you ask? well it’s about a king and his queen having a walk in the forest and they stumbled upon a golden deer, and well, the queen wanted it. and with the constant nagging, the king had to forgo his EPL channel and had to go hunt for that darn thing. before he left his brother to take care of his queen. and so the king went into the woods to hunt for the golden deer, but he stumbled upon a group of dudes watching the liverpool versus manchester united match, well, there was beer and flat screen TV, what else could a king ask for? “screw the deer, i must be insane to miss this!”.

Well, the queen waited and waited, and still no deer, and no king. she got worried and then sent forth her brother in law  to look for the king. Well, the brother found him alright, but unfortunately, he is also a liverpool fan. both of the guys like all normal men, forgot about the task at hand and watched the match. meanwhile at the palace, a demon who isn’t really interested in football but more on synchronised swimming, got really bored and decided to kidnap the queen, which he succesfully did.

and so the brothers finished watching the match and it was a scream as Liverpool trashed Man U. 3-2 was the score. when the brothers got back, with no queen in sight, they finally got worried and called upon their new found friend at the forest pub, Hanuman the monkey god. Hanuman didn’t really wanted to help them but he had no choice but he was a Man U fan and he lost the bet.

And so an epic battled ensued, like all fairy tales the queen gets rescued and everyone is happy, only that the brothers were lucky as she had completely forgotten about the bloody deer. and hence, they also didn’t have to explain why they took such a long time to come back.

No, your monitor is alright, it still has colours, only today i thought it would be fun to do all of them black and white. LOL! If you ever step foot onto Bali, the Kecak Dance is a must. it has high entertainment value, the story described can’t justify what i saw.

till then WHOAHAHAHAHAHA  :D

ps: shirly, this blog enough of materials for you to read or not? i know you got read one, and you complained to my wife :(

After visiting Klungkung Fishing Village, we then had a brief visit at their market. Well, the people here are not so nice to shoot as they’re rather camera shy, more often they ask for money when pictures of them are taken. i took a few shots then left, as i wasn’t really in the mood to do spy shots and skirting around the issue of paying when pictures were taken

apa mau? 

We then had a break over at our hotel and rested for a couple of hours, more like a nap. Met our guide again around 12 and he brought us over for lunch. This time we’re having roasted suckling pig also known Babi Guling. (retaurant name is Ibu Oka)

i am actually regretting for writing this part of this blog, it’s midnight and i am extremely hungry

it’s delicious, what else can i say.

Next, we loafed around till it’s about 3, it seems that there’s a temple festival called “Mendak Bagia” at Pule (Pull-Lay) Temple. According to my guide it’s a ceremony where you gather happiness and health. in the meantime, this is where they renew the temple’s holy water, it seems that this is only done once every 10 years. But, before we spectate the event, we are to wear at least a sarung, to pay respects to the temple.

yes, finally, we get to look like locals

*sucks in tummy deeply…* 

Yes, we do really look like natives, lol.

if only my wife had baskets on her head, heheh. thanks to Rai for the candid :)

Cute boh?

Ok, where was i? oh the ceremony, well it’s rather interesting when you think aobut it. you’re allowed to participate and spectate the rituals they go through. it’s like you can walk almost anywhere. That, my friends is where i have the highest respect for the balinese, i think we malaysians are nowhere near to hospitality.

Well there are alot more shots, but you get the drift, right? next is the transferring of the holy water over to the other temple, the parade is quite big actually.

to be truthful, there’s just so much to show here, i don’t really know where to stop… so i guess i will stop then and stop boring you with my pictures.

Woke up at 3:45 AM. Yes, i am mad. My wife thinks i am mad, so do i. Our intention is to go to a fishing village 1 hour away from Ubud called Klungkung

This time we woke up early in attempt to capture sunrise, which again, those darn pesky clouds decided to block the sunrise again. sigh. That’s what they say about landscape photography, you have to be at the right place at the right time. i was kinda lucky on the 2nd day, but this time i am outta luck. Like all fishing villages, there will be fishermen, (Duh!)

a child waiting for his father to return

fishermen lifting the boat back to the beach, where the fish is to be offloaded

They ain’t exactly light

there’s just one more pic, the bali women, are almost like forklifts…

next, Mendak Bagia, some temple ceremony…

i know, the bali blogs are painfully slow, but i was kinda busy ever since i got back

So gimme a freakin’ break, ok?

i shot dozens of this scene, but, heck, here’s one more