Little Sumo Girl

Finally, after an entire month in Bali it was time for a ‘Vacation’, some actual site-seeing beyond the Legian Beach! We hopped into the van, and headed North…well, not so fast…

Just getting out of the villa seemed to take forever this morning. I was sitting on mom’s lap in the van waiting to get a move on, but everyone was still outside as if they were inspecting the van. Meanwhile, mom and I were already dying of heat inside. It turns out there was a staff meeting and morning prayer at the main entrance, so our driver decided to wait til the ritual was over before hitting the road…The security guard who opens the gate for us was taking part in the meeting, so we patiently waited.

When in Bali, you learn to take things easy and go with the flow. There simply is no reason to rush things. Their rituals and ceremonies are an important part of their everyday life and we have to learn to respect this. For me, it doesn’t change anything as I go wherever people bring me, but I can sometimes see for mom and dad, this is a bit difficult. They try to plan things (especially mom), and sometimes get frustrated when the plans change. They’ll learn! The rule of thumb in Bali, is never plan more that one main activity per day. If you have more than one activity, make sure that the others are of lower priority and can get flushed without causing you frustration…

We head out and about an hour later, we arrive at our first stop: Ubud. We weren’t originally planning to go there, but we were giving someone a ride. The first thing we see when we get to Ubud is the Sacred Monkey Forest (http://www.monkeyforestubud.com/). I’d love to go in and play with the monkeys, but we just drive by and see some monkeys relaxing in the shade on the side wall. This is enough monkey watching for mom…

Check out the baby monkey on the right who’s learning to climb, just like me 🙂

We get out for a short walk to see the many art shops. For people who like to shop, I think is cool spot to check out. Knowing mom, we’ll definitely be coming back and staying a couple of days to really see what the hype of Ubud is all about. The main purpose we stopped in Ubud is so the adults can get their dose of Starbucks for the day. Mom tries this green drink with a foamy cloud on top. It’s called a Green Tea Frappuccino which she seemed to enjoy, along with her raisin scone. One day, I swear, I’m going to taste their food. I’m working on my ‘Fast-Grab & Surprise-Bite’ Kung-fu move, but I still need to perfect my technique before attacking the Frappuccino!

Apparently, the stop at Starbucks was not so much so the adults could get a taste of American food. It just so happens that Starbucks is conveniently located at the Water Temple (Lotus Pond) so we can see the site, while they savour their American drinks. I still only get water…boring 😦 It’s true though, the view at the back of the Starbucks is quite lovely!

At the entrance of the temple, there is a sign advertising the Kacek-Kacek (Traditional Balinese dance) show that will take place tonight at 7:30pm. Be forwarned, that according to the sign, you may think that the show only takes place once a week…But fear not, when we went out back, we saw a slew of signs advertising the same show, one for every night of the week. So don’t worry, if you already have plans and you think you will miss the famous Kacek-Kacek, you’ll have the chance another night of the week.

Thank god we did not stay too long in Ubud, cuz the sidewalks almost got me killed. I was too nervous about falling into one of the ditches that I didn’t get a chance to take a picture…Just imagine some large stones that are off-kilter and look like they will collapse as soon as you step onto it. Then, there are metal railings that were all broken up, so one wrong step would lead you down into the sewage system (luckily not too stinky – from up here). Now I understand why the locals hardly ever use Strollers. They go for the safe and cozy Sarongs to carry us little people around. When you a see a family in colourful clothes and a bright-coloured stroller walking around town (usually a MacLaren), with Starbucks coffee in hand, you know that you have ‘TOURIST’ stamped in large print all over your forehead…

We hit the road again and head towards Jatiluwih to see the rice terraces. Our driver makes a quick stop to let us visit the Mengwi Temple. It may have been a common tourist spot, but I think it’s cuz he needed a break from driving. You need to have good driving skills, or just be crazy enough, to go behind the wheel in Bali. You have to be extremely alert at all times and be aware of the motorbikes (in front of you and coming towards you!), pedestrians, chicken, cows, other trucks/vans and of course, the numerous pot holes. Only 30-minutes, but our driver seemed exhausted – despite the Starbucks boost he got in Ubud 🙂

Here are a few shots of our driver passing a truck carrying coconuts, and then passing the bamboo truck…Sometimes, I wish I had my car seat like back home!

Throughout the drive, there are beautiful rice fields surrounding us. This is the true Bali feeling that you expect to see when you come here, not the hectic city-vibe you get in Kuta/Legian/Seminyak.

The Jatiluwih Rice Field Terraces are beautiful. There’s a reason why this landscape was nominated to be part of the World Heritage List (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5100). We stop and take a walk in the rice fields. Mom has flimsy flip-flops on, so we don’t venture out too far. She’s scared that I’ll go rolling down the rice terraces, and possibly into some cow poop. We grab a quick bite to eat at Cafe Jatiluwih (Pecel Lele – Fried Catfish) while soaking in the view.

Had we known, we could’ve continued driving another 10-15 minutes to eat at the restaurant at the top of this hill – but no idea if the food is good/pricey, etc.

While in Jatiluwih, our driver asks several people for directions to Batukau Temple. The first person gives him the directions and says it’s approximately a 30-minute drive from Jatiluwih. The next person estimates 40 minutes, so if we consider Bali-time, it should take us about 45-minutes to an hour to get there. Well, we arrive only 40 minutes later…

As with most temples, there are customs of respect that you must follow. There are usually signs at the entrance listing the ‘rules’ to be followed for each temple. In this case, the sign is even more ‘strict’ than the one at Mengwi temple. Given rule #3, I obviously could not go in since I still have all my baby teeth. Luckily I still got the inside scoop anyways from my cool parents 🙂 It turned out to be slightly disappointing. If you’re in Jatiluwih and have an extra 1h30 (and you meet all the conditions to enter), you might consider going to this temple, but if you’re in a rush, it is not a Must-See…

Everyone slept on the ride home, but we all got woken up about 1-hour later when the road essentially became an obstacle course for our driver. Pot-holes after pot-holes on a very narrow two-way street caused us to have a very sinuous and bumpy 2 kilometers. Luckily, I’m still small so I didn’t have to worry about my head getting banged on the ceiling of the van.

Now, I can say that I’m starting to get a true sense of how beautiful Bali is…