Kuta Beach @ Bali, Indonesia

Alright here we are back to the island of Bali. This is the last day of our trip and we're heading to the beach. You've seen the first one, which I blogged about earlier on. This one is the Kuta Beach. We've been staying at Kuta but never got to see the action in the daytime. Most of our time at Kuta was during the night time.

You have to be there to experience the atmosphere for yourself. Its so happening, with people all over the place. I really liked the vibe of the place. Definitely not a spot for people looking for a quiet getaway though.

What I liked about it, there's this HUGE stretch of sand completely abandoned where there are no people at. Its nice that they have 1/2 of the beach for all the happening things to happen and a stretch left for more intimate walks.

At the happening spot you'll spot loads of tourists sunbathing and people attempting to surf. (pls note the word attempt) Its a good place to pick up the sport as the waters are not deep and the waves not too big.

Along the whole stretch of Kuta Beach you have Hard Rock Cafe, McDonalds, and cafes where you can just sit down and chillax. Locals are really friendly (lol I've been saying this so many times). Its not uncommon to see tourists sitting with the locals and just chatting.

I was just walking by and one lady asked me if I was from Malaysia. I was going "How do you know?". She then said she just knew from the way I carried myself (or something like that she was speaking half Bm half bahasa indonesia). Amazing! She knew even before hearing my accent. Malaysians do we have a certain style?

Another local chatted me up later as well, asked if I wanted surfing lessons. I said no, because no time already and have to leave for the airport soon. Then he continued chatting, asked about my trip and stuff. Its nice to know that you're not just a business target. Balinese people found a balance in those area. They do persue you for business but don't dump you immediately when you're not interested. I really appreciated that.

Picture time =D I found it rather challenging taking pictures that day. The sun was BRIGHT, I mean really bright. My ISO was bumped down all the way and I was shooting on full shutter speed. Bright light gave really strong contrast too so taking pictures at certain angles will cause colour to be really harsh. Got some interesting shots though....enjoy!




This is the stretch of empty beach I was talking about.



The beach is very scenic xP


Friends having some fun...



The Bali people have this seriously awesome 'kicap manis'. It was nothing like what I've tasted before and it is GOOD.

Busy, busy, busy

I never knew that I would end up having so much to do during the holidays. Actually, there's a whole list of things that I have to get sorted out before I leave for Bangkok next Monday. Really excited about the trip. I've seen so many travel shows and read tons of articles about Bangkok, its great to be able to finally see it for myself.

Most of the things on my list now are assignments, which I agreed to help out with- designing posters, making videos........then I gotta fix up the Ikea furniture we bought two days ago, which we had to send one back cause' we got the wrong furniture. I'll explain more on that in another post perhaps.

But seriously, I think I gotta start getting up earlier! Waking up at 12 in the afternoon does not give me much time to do lots of things. Its one of the luxuries I am truly enjoying during this break which is waking up when I want to. Not like school days when I have to get up on a certain time.

Well, this picture here was taken two days ago at the Ikea parking area. There was this guy who goes around helping people getting stuff into their cars. I was very happy when he came around to help us (was there with my mom). But dude, don't make it so obvious that you're forced to do this. For some reason he was angry at us the whole while. Perhaps he was having a bad day, lol.

Captivating eyes

Not in the mood of blogging today so I'll just post up something short.

I took a picture of this kid while walking around in Ubud, Bali. Its a nice place to just stroll about and get some souvenirs. At one of the shops, this little kid just ran out to me and started reaching for my camera. Lol, instead of the punch-the-kid-and-run-away-before-the-mother-comes maneuver I started snapping pictures.

Its really nice when photo-ops like this surprises you. These opportunities rarely come about. Come on, a kid runs up to you! Its like the little bugger is begging to be photographed. The small guy meant no harm, so my camera was still intact after the incident. His mother ran up to get him and apologised, and I ended up buying stuff from her shop.

Perhaps this reflects on the culture in Bali. Everyone I've met there have been very accommodating and friendly. Even my friends from Bali (hi Ovira and Edo!) and their friends are really friendly. Must be something about that island that makes its inhabitants so happy all the time.

Yasmin Ahmad

It was just another routine check on Twitter at 12 midnight and it was flooded with news that Yasmin Ahmad has passed away. Honestly, the impact personally was more greater than the news of Michael Jackson's passing.

Yasmin Ahmad was somebody whom I've always gave my attention to. The mention of her name would make my ears pop up in attentiveness. Why wouldn't I? I can remember the time when I would purposely tune in to the local channels just so that I can catch her commercials running on tv.

Last year, I was overjoyed to discover that Yasmin Ahmad would be visiting my school during career day to give a talk. There were so many questions prepared in my mind to ask her. The process of making films has always been something that I've been fascinated with, the way it can evoke emotions, make you laugh, and even breath life into books. I relate to it as a whole new level of photography, involving whole new dimensions.

Alas, she canceled as she could not make it. I've always thought that I would be able to meet her one day in person, the magician behind those short films that makes breaks in between tv programs enjoyable. In those few precious minutes, she made us reflect on our lives in Malaysia, our unity and how far we've come together as one. Now I would never get the privelege of meeting her.

Yasmin Ahmad is also one of the Malaysians that I can say that I'm truly proud of. Her messages of racial harmony rings true within her films. She has also placed the limelight on Malaysia by bagging awards at international film festivals like the Berlin International Film Festival.

No amount of wordplay can describe what Malaysia just lost. Her work will always be an inspiration not only to us Malaysians but to other countries with racial diversities too. So thank you Yasmin Ahmad for giving us the opportunity to enjoy your work, for taking us through such wonderful cinematic adventures, and for leaving behind a legacy for the film industry in Malaysia.

I would also like to extent my sincere condolence to Yasmin Ahmad's family and friends. May God be with you through these tough times and grant you comfort and peace.

I shall leave you guys with two of her clips of her work.

House

I was bored one afternoon, 2-3 days ago. So I went shooting around the house. I live in the outskirts so I'm too lazy to go out for a photo hunt. Honestly, I'm running out of good photos to post here.

So I'm stalling a little, till I leave for Bangkok in one week! Seriously I need to restock my photographs. When school starts on the 3rd week of August I would definitely have to cut down on blogging time, let alone hunt for pictures to put up here.

Watersports Beach at Bali

Its the last day so we decided to spend some time doing water sports. The tour guide brought us to this place which specialises in water sports meaning that the only reason people go there is for the watersports.

You can see motorboats everywhere and watersport centres along the whole beach, competing with each other for customers. The prices are alright I guess, but you must be willing to splurge. It costs 150, 000 rupiahs for a 10 minute parasailing ride.

Oh...and because there are so many boats around you're not actually allowed to swim there. The 'swimming area' is one small spot which is surrounded by buoys. Lol this is the first beach that I've been to where you can't swim =_="

I opted for wakeboarding, which was erm......a good experience? Lets say that the objective of wakeboarding is to glide on the waves, what I did would be called a "faceplant". Check out the video below to see what I mean.



Haih, perhaps I would have better luck next time. But I've learnt one thing. Seawater is DAMN salty (lol). Its so easy to get tricked by the clear water and how blue it is reflecting the sky. But once it gets inside your mouth......

I shall leave you with what I do better which is take photographs xP

Sue Jan, Avis, and Candy chilling at one of the watersports centre. You should try the Bali version of our Maggi Goreng. Its......interesting. =D

Onde-Onde Aunties

Update (July 21): Oh yeah I forgot to mention that the aunties managed to extort 2000 rupiahs from me just so that I can take their photo. Thing that I'll do for photographs.....*shakes head* lol

There's a nice market to walk through at Tanah Lot, Bali. Pretty big but the shops sell practically the same things like clothes (branded and bali versions-ex: Bilabong and BALIbong). Its nice to walk around nontheless.

You need to be careful with the 'sales' they have though. This one Quicksilver shop was having a 50%-70% 'sale'. I got some pretty good bargain on shirts there but Ken Jon almost got ripped off on board shorts. Apparently the price tag shown is already the discounted ones, so just beware.

Somewhere near the initial part of the market you'll notice 5 ladies selling some kind of snacks, which would be called "Onde-Onde" in Malaysia. It has a chewy flour based textured ball with its middle filled with melted brown sugar. So when you bite into it the ball kinds of 'explodes' into your mouth as the brown sugar flows out.

I noticed that it came in two colour- green and dark brown. Never tried the brown one but Andrew and Ah Kit claims that it gives off a different kind of explosion- one that tastelike fart (??!). Hahahha, perhaps something to take note of if you ever come across this.

The gang heading back to Kuta....

Tanah Lot, Bali

Yet another beautiful place to visit in Bali.

Some wiki magic:

Tanah Lot means "Land in the Middle of the sea" in Balinese language^{[citation needed]}. Located in Tabanan, about 20 km from Denpasar, the temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide.

Tanah Lot is claimed to be the work of the 15th century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods.^{[citation needed]}

The Tanah Lot temple was built and has been a part of Balinese mythology for centuries. The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. Each of the sea temples were established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast.

At the base of the rocky island, poisonous sea snakes are believed to guard the temple from evil spirits and intruders. As well as one giant snake which also protects the temple, which was created from Nirartha’s scarf when he established the island.

So basically its a huge rock in the middle of nowhere, which SO HAPPENS to be such a beautiful sight. I would describe the place to be like a rocky beach where instead of sand you have rocks.



Nice and windy place. Really good place to just stroll along....




As one of the hottest tourist spots in Bali, the place is PACKED with tourists. They come by the bus loads. (and mostly Japanese too....don't know why but yeah....most of the tourists are japanese)




Rock formation....




Hahaha, I gotta be in the pictures once in a while too right!




Ken Jon and Ovira




The gang checking out the crabs crawling through the cracks... Its really nice to see the waves crash on the rocks.




One for the album...




Mother Nature's awesomeness (which was created by an awesome God too)

Cuts and Trims at Kuala Kangsar

Alright, another short break from the Bali trip and back to Kuala Kangsar (with the BRATs). I remember being so excited when I discovered this place because it was just screaming to be photographed. Lol, I think I was the only one who was so into this place.

Its a barbershop, one of those really old types. Could just be the Malaysian version of 'Sweeney Todd' minus the blood. The uncles inside were kind enough to let me just sit inside, observe and take pictures. (have to ask permission first lah of course)


I really like it when I stumble across details like this. Perhaps not much photojournalism value
but it sure does makes a nice shot.


Had a picture of this guy posted last month too. He owns the place.

Here are the rest of the shots. Won't spoil it by adding captions.....so enjoy =)