When the Lone Ranger travels...: Wet Bali • Dec 2007

Up to the volcano, nearly. Deep into the sea, barely.

Sun shines n rains in Bali, left 2007 in memory.

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bali in december

after a blasting new year eve in phuket, we thought bali wil be another good spot for countdown n welcoming 2008. well, the trip was good, our long bike journey, the food, the places, the culture, the art, n the home stuffs we bought...etc, all good except, the countdown night. bali is hot n humid, but rainy in december, according to the locals, there was a 3day-3night non-stop downpour before the day we arrived. occasionally showered by rain during our 6-day visit there, we experienced a wet n dirty holiday.

balisani padma, an old boutique hotel we stayed in bali.

like any other places we went, we tend to be a local there by renting a bike n make all access between back lanes of local homes tht linked to many places. we were proud to even reached tanah lot with tht small bike, result was we both hav swollen buttocks for the rest of our stay there.

we reached tanah lot in the noon, no sunset, just scorching sun.

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see see look look, n get conned like every tourist experiences

the kintamani volcano.

the only day we spent as a typical tourist was the day we rented a cab, n travel to several places like: kintamani volcano, brief stop at ubud town, sunset at uluwatu, visit the bali coffee plantation n factory, where i was carried away by the selections of coco/coffee/vanilla productss (n oni realised i bought them at ridiculously expensive price there), lastly the seafood at jimbaran. i think it's a must to see places like this in bali. it's not the destination tht matters but the journey, i know it sounds cliche but the fact is, we had the good (ed calls it the best in the word) nasi ayam at ibu mangku, ubud; bought the cheapest bamboo-made wind chimes (probably the cheapest in our whole life) while on the way to kintamani volcano; see many talented artists n art pieces during the brief stop in ubud town; padi field tht jus rushed into our sight endlessly... all these, are not planned in the itinerary but came as a bonus package.

the special chicken rice at ibu mangku restarurant - ubud.

the coffee plantation n factory.

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awaiting for the countdown

hanging out at discovery mall, overlooking the beach.

31st dec 2007. it was a hot day, we parked our bike at kuta square n walked to discovery mall. few roads around kuta area would be closed for the celebration n we didnt want to be stuck in jam, so we planned to spent the whole day there til the countdown. the sun was so hot we had to hide in the shopping mall, til evening we hanged out at the cafe (at discovery mall) by the beach. to be honest it was quite boring, as we both tired from all the driving n walking in d previous 5 days, i guess all we wanted at the moment was a nice new year dinner n a blast of firework, jus like wat we had in phuket...

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good food, good Atmosphere

we never get disappointed with foods in bali, from the roadside stalls to the classy restaurant - Atmosphere, our stomachs got served with loads of good food there. our new year eve dinner was satisfying, tht night could be a perfect end for 2007 but unfortunately it ended with quite a disastrous rainstorm.

nice dinner, very nice.

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last night in bali

firework is sensitive for bali, thanks to the previous bombing experiences so big firework presentation turn out to be a big no-no there. to hype up the celebrations or any big events, the local merchants use some colorful n shiny paper, make into this paper horn. almost every local was blowing it tht night. it really driving me crazy.

can u spot me in d pics?

we wandered at kuta beach expecting the firework finale, but oni saw few small ones. til we got tired n sat by the beach. suddenly someone rang the alarm from far, people started running, first thing came into my mind was - tsunami. the wind was strong, the fear rushed all over my body, ed grabbed my hand n ran to d nearby hotel lobby. soon the lobby was packed by hundreds of people. then, it wasn't tsuname, but a heavy downpour the washed away everyone's new year mood. we were stranded there for about 30 mins, with noise, wet floor, sardine pack people, suddenly we heard a cheer "10, 9, 8, 7, 6... happy new year!" yeah, happy new year. we walked on the flooded street, back to kuta square to get our bike. by the time we were back to the hotel, it was 1 Jan 2008 2am something, we were all wet n smell like salted fish.

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new day, new year

i didn't bother to wake up for the last breakfast. it must be the rain last night, i felt dizzy n sick. my head was cracking. our flight was at 8pm, we had too much time to kill, with not much money left. ed caught the flu by the time we reached airport, he got headache, runny nose n fever. feeling extremely bored in d airport, with a sick n quiet partner who couldn't entertain me much, i walked up n down to see every shops, i couldn't wait to go back to see malaysia in 2008...

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