The first part of the day, we mingled in Kuta. The first thing caught our eyes was DVD store. We managed to have loads of DVD's pirates copies .Hehe....Per copy was around RM2! and it drove us really crazy! Among our catch were new movies, tv series and not to forget your own copies which you yourself handpicked them.
After that, we stopped at the beach. We observed that many 'mat saleh' were carrying their surf boards to the open beach. Kuta beach is well known for sea-surfing, maybe because of the good tides. Well, I really don't know why. Even the glaring sun never hinders these 'mat saleh' from surfing.
Kuta Beach
We took some pictures at the beach before wandering about the shops and outlet nearby. Fast food restaurants like Pizza Hut, McDonalds was situated within walking distance from the hotels there. It was very convenient. We bought HRC t-shirts,Crocs, printed Bali's t-shirts, and few souvenirs. This time, Ayah managed to have his sandal size at Crocs outlet.
Done lingering around Kuta beach area, the driver drove us to Super Nova(it was like Mydin store) as Ayah wanted to buy few Indonesian songs. For original DVD, it was only RM15 per copy. Ayah then happily bought Dewa, Nidji, Radja and few others (which I don't really know the band and singers). You were so cranky and after had your milk, you dozed off in the car. While in the car waiting for Ayah, a mean beggar knocked the window. She was still young, age around 10 I guess, and she was with her kid sister. Pitied her but we had been warned not to entertain the street beggars as it will attract few others running begging after us. After few times knocking the window and failed to distract my attention, they left.
From Super Nova, the driver drove us to the famous mall, Galleria Mall. It was next to Planet Hollywood. The mall has two entrance, one is DFS(Duty Free Shop) and the other is local shopping mall. We didn't buy anything from DFS. All items were tagged with USD priced, and were very very expensive! The other entrance of the mall placed the leather outlets, boutiques, electrical goods, cafe and restaurants. The cafe and restaurants were at the mezzanine floor. We found the famous donuts, JCo, there too! and few minang restaurants. Surprisingly, it was a surau situated at the corner of the parking lot.
Around 2pm, we left for Tanah Lot. It took us one and half hour to reached there. Tanah Lot was famous for its coastal temple. Perched on a rocky outcrop at the sea's edge, the temple's only accessible to the Hindus. It was a tourist attractions for its sunset scenic view but we did not stay until sunset as we wanted to catch the Uluwatu sunset instead. The temple silhoutted against the setting sun. At the foot of the rock, is the spring of holy water. The driver told us that the holy water tastes like tap water though it is at the coastal verge. We didn't join with other hordes of tourist to taste the water as we needed to queue up. After all, we needed to rush to Uluwatu which was at the south tip of Bali; and it was another two-hour drive from Tanah Lot.
Tanah Lot TempleUluwatu offers natural environment, beautiful beaches and great ocean view from the hill. Uluwatu Temple,the sacred temple, situated on high cliffs and is inundated with monkeys. These monkeys, considered 'sacred' and highly honoured by residents roamed freely around the compound. Being vey used with human, totally unshyly got the habit of snatching water bottle, hat or anything that is not tied down. Some tourists would gladly offered food like snacks in order to distract the monkeys. There was a scene when an assaulted tourist screamed after her hat been snatched by a monkey.
In Uluwatu, we watched 'kecak dance and firedance' in the temple complex. We paid 50,000Rupiah for entrance. Kecak dance is the most unique Balinese dance as it is not accompanied by gamelan but by the choir of the seventy men. The name derived from the ranting 'cak,cak,kecak,kecak' throughout the one hour performance. The sunset view was very magnificient. The cliffs are 50 meters high, I guess, and the water below is brilliant blue! After that, we had a sea-food dinner by the beach at Jimbaran.
Sunset at UluwatuAt the beach, you were busy 'sand bathing'! You played, poured and showered the sand! And did not even bother to eat which gave me and Ayah good times savouring the tasty seafood. It was first ever candle light dinner for me and Ayah by the beach, under the moon light! We really enjoyed the food though we could not finish all.
With full stomach, we left Jimbaran and headed to Kuta. Again! But this time we headed for Aromatherapy Massage for whole body massaging. The staff voluntered to babysit you, but your loud wailed made me stop after half-way massaging. Ayah completed the session without any interruption. I continued the session later after taking you to sleep. The session ended around midnight and we left to our hotel after that.
That night we really had a good sleep. We checked out the next morning and after had breakfast, we left to Ngurah Rai airport. All in all, our holiday was an enjoyable one with lots of pictures taken for our memories!
