Bali May 2010 - Day 4 Departure

We had a couple of hours in the morning before leaving for the airport; this was a shot of the back of the performance area.... 'Angkor Wat-ish'?

Giant Chess.....

Love this photo... love the way the sun rays broke through the clouds... I took a series of photos and joined it together to show how big the beach was...

What the heck... took this shot too lah....

It was calling our names...... so we decided to dip our feet and tell people that we touched the ocean....

The ocean loved us back.. We only went ankle deep, but seconds later, a huge wave rolled in to above my knee level. My wife's slippers were washed away (but the ocean was kind enough to return them to her with the next wave.)

We walked around the hotel area for a bit to check it out...yes, yes we left it till the last day to explore the hotel haha! And regretted not spending more time in the hotel itself :(

Lots of flora at the Ayodya Palace wing...

..... and some fauna....

Another view of the ocean from the top floor of the hotel:

Petals in the ash trays everywhere - what a nice touch!

A nice place to chill out at night, I was told....

Last few looks of the hotel's expansive lobby / lounge...

Ok... we arrived at the airport a bit too early cos we wanted to beat the crowd - and we did....

Gate 7..... Bye bye Bali!

Bali May 2010 - Day 3

We hired a driver (oops, I forgot his name) and an English speaking guide (Made) for the day (cost IDR 500k) to bring us to some places we wanted to see.

We went to the art district first and looked at the batik-making process.... What amazed us was how the weaving technology is so similar throughout the world.

After the batik factory... we went to check out some silver stuff (Jay means jewellery!)... but saw heaps of stone heads on the way...

The silversmith at work...

We got a couple of rings and pendants from this place (but not the one in this photo!).

The architecture was interesting at the silver factory

Coffee break was next... and it was timely in a way, cos it started to rain cats and dogs. Our guide took us to try "the world's most expensive coffee" - luwak coffee! (Let's take it at face value ok....)

Roasting coffee by hand

The coffee place was a spice garden too....

There were some travelers taking a break here too....

One of them was this jolly chap (on the left) from Malaysia who cracked jokes with us at the table....

We tried the "civet poo-poo coffee" aka Luwak Coffee

Checking out the "accessories" on the table... wondering what they were....

Coffee... and the luwak beans in its original state (back container)

We tasted different drinks... tea to coffee..... for free

But paid IDR 30k for the Luwak Coffee... how's the taste.... ok, not bad :)

Close up of the Luwak Beans...

The coffee (and tea) shop... yes... it was still raining

We stopped to check out the giant rice paddies.....

Here's a better look at the rice paddy.....

Another view....

Then it was lunch time! This restaurant was highly-recommended by travelers: Bebek Bengil or Dirty Duck Diner.

The entrance was a mad house... trying to get a table (fill in your name on the clipboard on one of the three stone pillars in the foreground))... this place is very popular indeed!

Open air concept... quite fun actually :)

Ordering time!!! The menu....:)

Eh? This is the crispy duck?... but it tasted nice... the table next to us ordered 2 more sets EACH for "tar pow"

(take-away / to-go)! They were fellow Singaporeans too hehe...

Side dish....

The (hot) sauce....

Not bad leh....

Another version of the crispy duck.... notice how the rice is shaped like a cone?

Since we were at Ubud, we dropped by the craft market:

Our last stop was Seminyak....

The 'Orchard Road' of Bali.....

Crossing these two lanes required great timing and courage... even with the zebra crossing!