New Office Mug

I got myself a new office mug, I like me some design in every day life. Even the most mundane things they have to have both design and function.

“The half-life of love is forever.” – This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

Book Cover and Author (Pic from salon.com)

Junot Diaz’s sophomore work, This is How You Lose Her (Penguin), is just as inspired as his first novel. The thing that easily gets you his is wonderfully simple prose that you as a reader can easily connect with. This has been evident since the start from my first experience reading “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”. His second work is not a novel; it is a collection of somewhat related stories.  One would easily identify the theme of the book to be about break ups specifically those of the tragic romantic kind but the book delves into other forms of loss as well, I would spare you the details of what other forms of loss you would read. 

The work reads like that of a semi-autobiographical kind, each story involves “Yunior” and you get the impression that the author put himself into this character. Yunior as a character is enigmatic, it’s either you root for him or you want to be him.

I’ve been reading more and more fiction about transplanted people living in America, the theme reverberates in me as I have a lot of relatives living in the US. In fact almost everyone here in the Philippines is related to at least one migrant worker.  This type of fiction has been gaining momentum as the world becomes more and more globalized (Kiran Desai, Jhumpha Lahiri), the dilemma of transplanted people adjusting to new cultures, identifying to the new country and the struggle to keep their identity makes for a compelling read. 

The author saved his best work in the last part of the book, this story “The Cheater’s Guide to Love” is the ultimate in break up stories and of the long, dragging and arduous process of moving on. This story just killed it for me, it spans about 5 years from the break up. Junot Diaz is a master of the break up and moving on story.

Read NYTimes' review of the book here.

The book's Amazon page.

La guerra contra mal odor

Me and my brothers, we live on a 4 storey apartment building in Manila where we occupy the 4th floor. We’ve been constant tenants of the building ever since it opened, neighbors came and went and still we stayed put. Our newest neighbor (NH) occupied the unit below us on the 3rd floor, I think they’re a family because we hear quite a lot of movement from their unit. Why I think they’re a family? It’s because I hear the full range of household chores that I wouldn’t hear coming from our unit, I hear laundry being done and a LOT of cooking. Lately we’ve come to know of their penchant for fish, specially fried fish. We know this exactly from the smell of our apartment whenever we come home at the end of the day.

Let me just make it clear, I have no qualms about people eating fish, I’m not an elitist, I grew up in the province, I came from a coastal town in Bulacan. My beef is with the smell, of course it’s gonna smell if you’re cooking but after a long and stressful day at work, fighting your way to commute it just gets me on a foul mood when I come home to an apartment that smells like fish. I’m an olfactory person, I like smelling good and I don’t like smelling bad things. It would be understandable if you’re outside walking on the streets, this is Manila for crying out loud it’s a messy city but at the end of the day I want to come home to a nice smelling apartment. I would like the place where I sleep, where I lay my head to rest to smell at least neutral not good neither bad. The only bad smell I can tolerate is the smell of old books, I actually spent a lot of time snoozing on the libraries of UP when I was still an undergrad student.

One day I got fed up and so I started a war on odor, that night I sprayed Lysol all over the apartment but I needed a firmer solution.

Solution 1: Alice Blue Candles

Scented candles always did the trick for me, and when shopping for scented candles I only buy from one source, I only buy Alice Blue Candles. I discovered Alice Blue Candles about 5 years ago at the pay lounge in Trinoma, the space smelled really nice and I saw that the smell came from a lighted Alice Blue candle. Curiosity got the better of me so I lifted the candle to see just what scent the candle was, it read “Berry Crumble” and indeed it was very berry-ish. I found a stall in Glorietta and bought the same scent which lasted me forever. Their candles are hand poured soy based candle, not only was it green it also lasted longer than regular candles. Berry crumble is their best seller but this time I wanted to buy a pillar candle, one without the glass because I found it bothersome lighting the glass candle when it’s half way through lalo na I’m just using a match stick to light it. This time I bought White Tea and Ginger scent, reminds me of one of my mom’s perfumes. Their website describes the scent as “a blend of bergamot, mandarin, white tea and ginger, with accents of jasmine and lavender”. It’s lighter than Berry Crumble but strong enough to get the job done, I definitely get the jasmine and lavender notes. I don’t know what it is about lighting candles but my mood always gets elevated.

My New AB Candle with the used old one

White Tea Ginger pillar candle (pic from AB's website)

The good thing about buying the one with the glass is that maisisimot yung laman not like the pillar ones when the wicker is all used up you end up with the unburned/unused wax. The one with the glass all the wax gets melted and burned up. I wish pwede i-return yung glass vial and get a discount on the succeeding purchase.

Alice Blue delivers! Check their website http://alicebluecandle.com , they don’t have an online payment facility yet but they’ll ask you to deposit the money to their bank account, tell you what their votive candles would make perfect Christmas gifts!

Solution 2: Daphne Home Scents for Bench

Daphne Osena Paez, that amazing TV personality not only designs furniture and jewelry she also collaborated with retail giant Bench for her reed diffuser home scents called Daphne Scents. It’s a trio of scents, Mint Jasmine Infusion, Acres of Lavender, and Home Made Lemon Tart. Mint Jasmine and Lavender smelled girly, the Home Made Lemon Tart smelled like what a perfect country home should smell like so that’s what I bought. 

Home Made Lemon Tart (Yumm!)

At first I tried being matipid, I wanted it to last long so I only used 4 reed sticks but found it to be faint, I could only smell whiffs of the fragrance when I pass by the place where I put it so I added another which solved the problem.

Retails at around Php 350 at Bench and Dimensione Stores.

Solution 3: Incense

"Oohh I know what I’ll try next, I’ll try incense. I want my apartment to smell like the IYCM studio, maybe then my self-practice would lengthen to a full hour and a half from my regular 40 minutes."

This was what I said before I tried the incense thing, I just came from Bali and they were selling a lot of incense and aromatherapy items. Balinese are big users of incense, the whole island practically smells of incense which I love.

Incense from Bali, Shorter ones are Ylang ylang scented, longer ones are Lavender scent

On my last day I bought incense at a supermarket, they were really cheap and had a lot of varieties. I've always loved the smell of real Ylang-ylang flowers, our neighbor used to have a tree near our house and it always smelled wonderful so I chose the Ylang-ylang and Lavender scents. Lavender was said to have a calming effect and help one sleep better. The packed came with a small incense holder but I also bought a proper one with Ganesh on it. 

Incense holder with Ganesh, if my mom knew who Ganesh is she would freak out!

The shorter ones last for like less than 30 minutes, it doesn't last me through my regular 40 minute home practice but smells terrific whenever it's lighted. Feel na feel ko ang practice with matching bow before Ganesh before starting practice. I haven't tried this one though against fried fish stench, magkakaalaman next week!

My idea of heaven is a beachfront library where they play good-soothing music and aside from the smell of the sea outside, inside it smells fantastic. I don't know how that heavenly smell smells like but it definitely is not of fried fish.

Bali – Day 4 (15 November 2013)

From my previous post I already mentioned that I only planned on getting a tour guide for a day which lead to two haha, originally I planned on spending Day 3 and Day 4 going to yoga class and exploring Seminyak on my own. And so the 2 days went down to 1, nung umaga I wasn’t sure if I could go to class because 1\ my attempt at finding the studio during day 1 miserably failed and 2\ I was afraid that my tummy wasn’t feeling well because I didn’t have lunch yesterday. But I said to myself I wouldn’t leave Bali without meeting Olop and attending his class.

Morning went well, I was able to have breakfast without throwing up, which usually happens when a get a case of the acidic stomach. I put on some sunscreen and headed to the beach just to chill. I saw some lounge chairs with umbrellas but they were for rent and not free for everyone to use, they charge IDR 50,000 I don’t know how long you could sit there for that fee. I was tempted but decided against it and just walked the long stretch of beach.  Before heading back I wanted to see the St Michael’s church because I wanted to hear mass, adventure na naman ito dahil away from the major streets yung church. It was easy enough to find problem is hindi pala catholic church yung St Michael but it was gorgeous nonetheless.

The road leading to St Michael's Church (left), St Michael's Church (right)

For lunch I went to Skooby Doo, I had Indonesian food for 3 days already and wanted something familiar that’s why I decided on Skooby Doo. It’s near Bintang Supermarket, you won’t get lost. They offer burgers and hotdogs with fries and the usual drinks. I ordered a Bratwurst, a side order of fries and Milkshake!!!! Total damage was something like IDR 75,000. It’s not a proper restaurant where there are servers, it’s more along the line of soshal na street food haha parang yung mga lumang burger joints here where you just sit on stools where you could see them cooking.

So after a half day of doing nothing I went home and watched some TV, class was supposed to start at 4:15 PM so I still had time. Before I left I felt a headache coming so inunahan ko na with an Advil. I headed out to where I believe the studio should be along Jalan Drupardi. I was standing outside No 7 Jalan Drupardi, this time the same iron gate was open but wala akong lakas ng loob to just enter. Buti na lang an elder couple came and so I asked if this was the yoga place, the woman asked me in turn “Olop’s? Yes this is it” jackpot!

No 7 Jalan Drupardi, the gate to Olop's Studio right across the elementary school

I followed them inside and I was transported to my lolo’s farm back in the day. Puro halaman at puno and I could cocks cooing. I was lead to an open air wooden studio just like what I saw on the internet. I was in awe of the place, it was the perfect country side studio.

I changed and soon a lot of people were coming, I was seated next to some Australian kids, and there were some people speaking Russian and then there were French and Japanese students. Most of the people in class were newbies and were experiencing yoga for the first time. Puno kaya yung studio but we all fit. Weird lang they had a dog roaming around the studio sniffing people as we practiced haha, katakot kaya takot ako sa aso so I was always on the look out. I must say I was at home the whole time, I have a strong Iyengar background so the class was nothing new to me.

Before class started Olop went around asking new people’s names and where we came from, when he came over I told him my name, which he couldn’t figure out he kept on saying Eric so in the end I just conceded and became Eric, the story of my life! I told him that I was from Manila and that I studied with Rina whom he knows. I guess Manila came out as Malaysia so at the end of class he was asking me directions to the Iyengar Yoga studio in Kuala Lumpur.

Ang bilis ng oras, after some time we were winding down until he finally asked us to go into savanasa. Nakakatawa so I was in Savasana, remember that this is an open air studio I almost screamed when I felt something fall on my arms, akala ko yung aso na yun pala Butiki.

I forgot how much I paid for the class, something like IDR 700,000 or 800,000. I was so happy to have attended that class, there’s nothing like practicing outdoors close to nature, there’s nothing like studying yoga in Bali and I told myself that I’d have to do that again. I stepped out with a smile on my face.

Next I headed back to the beach, madilim na and I decided to have dinner there on one of the beach side restaurants. I decided on eating at the Juice Bar, ordered Fish Curry (masarap!) with rice. Also, I noted that when they say fruit juice it usually means fruit shakes to us pinoys, this I learned on my last day haha.

Last night in Bali! From top left going clockwise juice bar, dhyana pura street, seminyak beach at night

Malamok sa Bali, so I never head out without mosquito repellent. For this trip I relied on my favourite Human Nature Citronella bug spray which smells really nice, I had friends tell me amoy spa daw ako haha.

And so that ends my wonderful time in this island, I went back to the hotel to pack. 

Hayyy dreaming of my next vacation!

Bali – Day 3 (14 November 2013)

Originally I only asked Kadek for a day tour but then the driver convinced me to extend this to another day, he said that we still had a lot of places to cover, I first mulled this over then before the end of the first day tour I agreed. I agreed primarily because there were still places I saw on the internet that we haven’t gone to, ang tanga lang I couldn’t remember the name of the place that time, all I could remember was Tanah Lot and we haven’t gone to it during the first day.

And so for a second day in a row I geared up for a whole day of driving around the island, I knew that I had a long day ahead of me, yesterday I had lunch at 3 PM so I did indulge in breakfast yet again. And again the servers at the hotel’s restaurant thought of me as a local and spoke to me in Indonesian. I asked my driver the day before how to say “I don’t speak Indonesian” in Bahasa (language), he taught me that I had to say “Saya tiday bisa Indonesia”. That morning I tried it and the response I got was priceless it was always a cross between amazement and surprise, they always ended up saying “Oh!” haha.

Gitgit Falls in Singaraja

This for me was one of the most beautiful places my driver brought me to, yesterday was all about temples and this day we started with Nature. The drive is quite long from Seminyak but you wouldn’t be bored because of the scenery, along the way we passed by the 3 lakes, Bratan, Buyan and Tamblingan which were next to each other.

Nature trip, the falls are surrounded by a forest where you could here birds call and respond to each other

I haven’t seen my fair share of waterfalls so this was overwhelming for me, malayong lakaran lang as you have to make your way down to where the falls are and akyatan pabalik. Sa entrance maraming magvovolunteer as tour guides but these are total scams, I was asked for IDR 800,000 but my driver told him that we could do it on our own. Just now I read on tripadvisor that some people were asked different rates like one was asked for IDR 300,000, never agree to these guided tours you wouldn’t get lost going down to the falls!

Unknown temple

The name of the next destination we went to escapes my mind I couldn’t remember but it was on the shores of either Lake Buyan or Tamblingan. I could tell that this was one of the less popular temples that tourists go to kasi for one walang entrance fee nobody was guarding it and wala din provisions for sarongs for tourists, just one of the perks of going with my driver haha! The temple doors are golden, too bad the doors were closed we couldn’t get in.

Ulundanu Temple (Temple in the Lake)

Now this is as popular as popular tourist destination goes, ang laki ng parking lot as in Mall parking levels na puno ng tourist bus. We got in for free! We got mixed with a large group and the people at the gates thought we were part of the group so they let us in haha. 

This is one of the most pictured temples in Bali, lagi ko sya nakikita sa internet when I was searching for places to go, eto yung temple on the shores of Lake Beratan.  Ang daming tao lang as in, it’s hard to get a clear shot of yourself behind the temple without including other tourists. May nag-aaway pa nga kasi yung isa ayaw makisama nagpipicture yung family she didn’t want to move out of the way even for just a second haha I heard her say “Go ahead, I have no problems standing here!” that just cracked me and my driver up.

The whole complex features both Hindu and Buddhist temples. May restaurants din, I thought we were eating here it was already past lunch time! And ang dami ding tindahan so alam mo na tourist destination talaga.

Jatiluwih Rice Terraces

My driver wanted to bring me up to Mount Batukaru, supposedly another old temple was up there kaso kulang na sa oras he wanted to get me to Tanah Lot by sunset because supposedly that was the best time to visit the place. We stopped by instead at a parking lot where you get a fantastic view of the Jatiluwih rice terraces. For me, this one’s better than the one in Ubud. Mas malaki sya and less touristy. Out of the way lang, the road was definitely on the sira-sira side, levels lang ng ilang roads sa provincial Philippines. Some stretches seemed to have been forgotten by the government, most were so narrow that you had to slow down almost to a stop when another vehicle is passing.

Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, such a quiet and sleepy town I could live here

Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot at dawn, tourists winding down and view of the beautiful sunset

Finally! This was also on my list of must go to places, Tanah Lot is said to be one of the most revered temples by the Balinese Hindu community. This was another one of those touristy places with grand – and I say grand parking lots and lots of souvenir shops. The view lived up to the hype ang ganda! My driver timed our visit here at sunset sayang lang it was cloudy that day di masyado kita yung sunset but it would’ve been a fantastic sunset had we seen it. Hapon na so it was already high tide, we couldn’t walk straight to the temple. The waves were coming in strong, I don’t think I’ve seen waves like that before in my life. By this time, sunset na diba, we still haven’t had lunch buti na lang may nagtitinda ng corn like one of those you grill, wasn’t the most hygienic of choices but my stomach was grumbling and I had to eat something. 

High tide and strong waves kept the people from coming to the temple

Souvenir shopping – Nanami/Nanamy Artshop in Seminyak

Syempre bilang Pinoy, no trip is complete without going souvenir and pasalubong shopping. My driver drove me to this place near my hotel in Seminyak called Nanamy. The receipt says Nanamy but my google search told me it was Nanami. Anyway, the staff were friendly they even asked me about the big typhoon in our country. This one’s a 2-storey building that has all the souvenir/pasalubong you could ever think of as in everything I kid you not. Tapos my driver told me this is the cheapest place where you could get the stuff at the locals’ price. The nice girl even gave me a 5% discount di ko lang alam if they give this out to everyone, bad thing though when I told them I’ll be using my card they said that they’d have to add another 3% for the bank, so in the end mga 2% net lang ang discount ko haha. Yung mga kasabay ko namimili mga hapon, and the staff all spoke fluent Nihonggo. That tells you how much money the make out of Japanese customers. 

Drugstores

In the event that you’ll need medicine in this island, like I did. I knew that my acid levels were up so I needed to get me some Losec (antacid) before it spoil my remaining days in the island. If in Seminyak there’s a drugstore, by the way the locals call it a Pharmacy rather than a drugstore you’ll get better results when asking people this way, near Bintang Supermarket (see everything’s near Bintang!) called Med Mart Drug Store, this one’s comprehensive they have everything. Dito ko pa nga nalaman that another drug company makes the same medicine as Losec, Omeprazole din pero cheaper. They even have doctors on hand if you need a check up.

Med Mart near Bintang Supermarket

Funny thing though, they have a whole aisle for sunscreen and another aisle dedicated for condoms! Haha hashtag alam na.

Had to take this one quickly while Ate went to get my meds, ayan may price pa!

Med Mart Drug Store

Jalan Raya Seminyak No. 19 Kuta – Bali

0361-730977

info@mariosilverbali.com

Dewa Suarbawa aka The Driver

Here's a picture of the guy who drove me around, fantastic service. You get insider info and can get you a lot of discounts (if not free!) on entrance tickets. His car, actually it's Kadek's car smells nice and has Hindu offerings inside. He also brings bottled water for his guests and umbrellas in case there is rain. I think I blinded him by pointing my camera directly to his face hehe. Please do contact him if ever you need someone to drive you around Bali.

The places are far apart, there's no way of getting to them on your own not unless you rent a bike and tour the island on your own. But even that would take you a long time to cover the places we visited. Buti na lang walang traffic so the drive is fast.

You can contact him through this number:

Dewa Suarbawa

+62 81 936 216 644

He doesn’t actually have his own car but he said he’ll just borrow Kadek’s car whenever gigs like these would come by.

You can also contact Kadek Suastika

Kadek “Alung” Suastika

alungsuastika@gmail.com

+62 8174793556

Bali - Day 2 (13 November 2013)

Went to bed early the night before, these days I’ve been going to bed early, must be the age haha! After I showered and restored some sense of humanity in my appearance I hopped to the hotel restaurant to eat breakfast. I’ve always been a breakfast person and I always look forward to having buffet style breakfast at any hotel. Breakfast offering was enough, I wasn’t blown away or anything but I did gorge because I had the whole day ahead of me touring the island. For as long as I had scrambled egg in the morning then I’m a happy camper. I asked my driver to meet me at the hotel lobby at 8 AM to have an early start.

The Tourist Guide/Driver

Before leaving Manila I already contacted a tour guide in Bali to drive me around the island, we agreed on the date and price which was USD 70 or IDR 700,000. At first I wanted to pay him in $ but I reckoned paying in IDR is much cheaper. I got his contact details (mobile and email address) from another blogger who also went on a solo trip to Bali, emailing Kadek  was a breeze and he responds quickly. 

It was already past 8 AM and still Kadek was nowhere to be found, I had an idea of how he looked because the blogger posted a picture of him. This is where it gets funny, I texted and emailed him asking him where he was and confirming if I got the dates of our arrangement right, I also told him that I was wearing a black shirt at the poolside so he could spot me fast. I was waiting for a reply then this guy came to the hotel lobby approaching Caucasian guys. I saw that he had a piece of paper with him and seemed to be asking the white guys if it was their name written on the paper. I didn’t think it was him since I knew what he looked like, and he didn’t approach me anyway so I didn’t think anything of it. And so a half hour went by without my tour guide arriving, then I got a reply that said “dekat kolam ne” I asked the people at the hotel to translate it for me they said it meant “I’m near the pool” which was strange because I couldn’t see him. And one of the hotel staff approached the driver I saw earlier and asked him if it was me he was looking for. He handed me the paper which had my name on it and so we started the tour on a funny note.

He explained to me that Kadek wasn’t available that day and that he needed to bring his grandma to the hospital so he was sent instead. 

The Barong Dance & Kris Dance

The tour started at the Barong Dance and Kris dance at Sahadewa in Gianyar, this traditional Balinese dance is all about the never ending battle between good and bad. My driver, who is Hindu explained to me that of the Hindus belief in balance between good and evil, a check and balance between them always equal and one not getting over the other. At first I thought of it as weird, coming from a Catholic upbringing which told me that good always triumphs evil.

Barong & Kris Dance Sahadewa in Gianyar

The dance was exactly what I was looking for, that intricate Balinese dance with full on make up and costume. That dance is so intricate, every part of the body had movement and meaning even the eyeballs and pinky fingers moved.

After the performance, the actors lined up on the stage then tourists could have their pictures taken with them. I sat next to Japanese ladies who were all made up you would think that they weren’t on vacation. 

Ubud Rice Terraces

Next destination was the Tegallalang Rice Terraces in Ubud. I’ve seen the Banaue Rice Terraces and it pains me to say that Bali’s are better in terms of their condition. They were a lot of “regular” (read not terraces) rice paddies in the island which tourists go gaga over, I was more nonchalant at these since I practically grew up on a farm, rice paddies still exist behind our house in Bulacan at this day and age.

As we were driving, my driver asked me questions like where in the Philippines I came from and whether I got affected by the strong typhoon they’ve been hearing about on the news. We also discussed what places I found interesting and wanted to see in Bali and told him I was more into the history and culture stuff so he customized the program for me.

Sebatu Holy Waterfalls

Me at the Sebatu Holy Waterfalls

Next we went to the Sebatu Holy Waterfalls, this is not a typical tourist place and is visited only mostly by locals to perform rituals and to bathe. It is said that the standing under the falls would cleanse both the physical and spiritual parts. It's quite a hike, nakakahingal and takes a toll on your legs lalo na your knees hehe. Along the way I saw people selling plastic jars so people could take water and bring it home. The hike looks like this:

The hike going down to Sebatu Waterfalls, the climb back up is more deadly hehe

Pura Gunung Kawi

Gunung Kawi (left), Sebatu Holy Waterfall (bottom right)

Gunung Kawi (Sebatu Tegallalang)

And so he went crazy on the temples and places Balinese people held sacred. A lot of which involved water like springs and falls. The Balinese are very religious people and I appreciated that, along the way I would see people on worship garb on their way to the many temples to make their offerings. 

Some pictures from Pura Gunung Kawi:

My guide drinking water

Tirtha Empul

One of my must go to places in Bali was Tirtha Empul which I saw in the Bali episode of Samantha Brown’s travel show. You can just tell that this wasn’t just any tourist destination, the place had a lot of history and meaning.

Mount Kintamani

Me at Mt Kintamani

Mount Kintamani is Tall Volcano/Tagaytay to us Filipinos. Kintamani is an active volcano+lake. Tagaytay talaga sya complete with restaurants overlooking the lake. He brought me to a buffet style restaurant (Grand Puncak Sari Hotel and Restaurant) that charge IDR 100,000. I didn’t want to eat because of all the flies circling the buffet table but I was afraid of offending my driver since he thought that this was such a great place and also it was already 3 PM and I was really hungry and so I had lunch here anyway. Food was blah but I took the chance to sample traditional Indonesian desserts like what they call Black Rice Pudding and Brown bean pudding which was monggo in Filipino. Weird lang kasi it was dessert to them, it was sweet naman pero I was used to earting monggo as a savory dish.

Wisata Penglipuran

Next was the Penglipuran which was where you could see the traditional Balinese village set up preserved to this date and it was still functional, people still lived on this village. The village was one long alley with houses on each sides, the alley lead to a temple. The most amazing thing though was on the drive over we passed by a bamboo forest where all you could see are bamboos for long stretches. 

You had to pay for a ticket before entering the village, the price was lower if you were Indonesian. My driver told me not to speak and he did all the talking and I got the local rate haha! From then on he bought the tickets for me and got the local rate!

I just love the architecture of Bali, the houses are laid out so simply but the details are so intricate it just blows my mind.

Goa Gajah, Gianyar

The last of the temples we went to that day was Goa Gajah in Gianyar, I think the literal translation would be the Elephant’s Mouth or something like that. Again I passed as an Indonesian and got in cheaper. The Goa Gajah features a cave where the entrance is made to look like the mouth of one of the Hindu gods.

The temple complex also has ruins and a water fall.

Art shopping in Ubud (Dewa Putu Toris Art Studio)

Ubud (ed. although I think this particular place is in Gianyar) is known as an artists’ village, my driver took me last to an art gallery where they showed you how they make traditional Balinese paintings which were like their architecture, very intricate. They gallery was like a house converted into a gallery. The guide also said that several artists live there.

I wasn’t really keen on buying art, in fact earlier in the day I asked my driver to skip the silver and art shop stops, we did skip the silver place but I guess he really wanted me to see the place. He was funny because he told me that I could just look and not buy hehe. 

In the end I ended up buying not just one but two paintings, one of a traditional Balinese rendering of Saraswati, the goddess of learning, and one modern abstract painting by an up and coming Ubud based painter. Total damage: IDR 700,000. Not bad, diba?

In hindsight I guess it was a good decision, now I decided that I’d  buy art every country I go to. Actually on my way home pag dating ko dito, I remembered that one of the items in my to do list for this year was to “acquire art” so I guess that’s hitting 2 goals with one stone, the other being to travel alone.

Service in the gallery was amazing, she was very friendly and even told me of past Filipino guests that spent fortunes on Balinese traditional paintings by one of the living masters. I felt no pressure to buy at all haha it’s just that I got tempted and I cave in. I would advise you though to buy modern paintings because these were rendered in canvas and could easily be rolled para madaling iuwi, the Balinese painting naman was in paper so they couldn’t roll it. What they did was they put it in cartons, kind of like an improvised envelope, would easily fit a trolley yun lang I came only using my backpack.

A note on visiting temples

The Hindus are very particular in terms of clothing whenever entering temple grounds, tourists must be “formal” before they are allowed to enter. Men and women would have to wear pants, but they always have sarongs at the entrance people can borrow in case you came in your shorts. No need to wear shoes, sandals are appropriate. Fortunately, the first day I wore pants but they had me use a cloth to tie around my waist, kind of like a belt before I was allowed to enter.

My driver/tour guide

My tour guide was heaven sent, basta makaka-discount he would make sure to get me discounts on entrance fees. He was also really warm and friendly, you could tell na driving me around wasn’t just a job to him and he really wanted me to have a good time. And he gave me a lot of inputs na you wouldn’t get in any guide book.

You can contact him through this number:

Dewa Suarbawa

+62 81 936 216 644

He doesn’t actually have his own car but he said he’ll just borrow Kadek’s car whenever gigs like these would come by.

You can also contact him through Kadek

Kadek “Alung” Suastika

alungsuastika@gmail.com

+62 8174793556

Bali – Day 1 (12 November 2013)

The Plane Ticket

So I dilly-dallied before I bought my ticket, I only bought it like 2 or 3 weeks before I left. The idea of Bali actually just came up, I was set on going to Siargao because I haven’t gone to Mindanao just yet. I wanted to see the island famous for surfing, do a side trip to the island province of Dumagat Island then make my way back to Manila via Surigao. Going to Bali proved to be the better decision as Visayas including Northern Mindanao got pummelled by super storm Yolanda (aka Haiyan). The first time I checked Cebu Pacific’s site, the tickets were listed to be at Php 999, which came up to about Php 7,000 both ways after all the other charges but I didn’t buy the tickets just yet, I wanted to secure a hotel and a tour guide first. So I got busy at work and forgot all about my vacation, the next time I checked the ticket prices were blown up to Php 1,999 which totalled to Php 9,000 both ways after taxes and other charges, I bought it right then and there whipped out my card and entered my details. Ticket done!

The plane actually left on time! Cebu Pacific has been getting good at keeping their promises, we were supposed to fly for a little less than 4 hours but got there earlier, I think the airlines are padding the actual flight time so as to have a buffer and keep their performance indicators in check.

Changing Money at the Airport/The Taxi Ride from the Ngurah Rai Internation Airport

The main airport in the island of Bali is located in Denpasar, it’s one of the cities of the island. The airport is actually named Ngurah Rai International airport. FYI there’s no time difference between Manila and Denpasar. The airport is nice, it’s so much better than NAIA. Immediately you’ll get a preview of the architecture you’ll see on the whole island. The airport is new and well maintained. Process of getting out is a breeze, it’s not one of those airports that you’ll have to tail fellow passengers to find your way out. I immediately see a lot of tourists, most of the other airlines parked in the airport were Air Asia, mostly from Australia, there was one airline that I was not familiar with NordAir I think it came from Europe.

After the exit doors are 2 banks that changed money, one to the left and one to the right, I decided to go with the one on the right. My research told me to hold off changing all my money until I find a suitable money changing service i.e. not at the airport. Airport money changing service were supposedly known for having low exchange rates, so I changed USD 100 of the USD 400 I brought with me, I needed just enough to pay the taxi to the hotel. My USD 100 got me IDR 1,100,000 , yep I was an instant millionaire in the island! I’ve never held so much monetary value in my hands before. I found out later that this exchange rate was competitive at best with the other money changing services in the island.

So off I went to the taxi bay, first thing I noted were the color of the taxis, they were all blue. This didn’t come as a surprise since I did my sleuthing prior to the trip but I still got a kick out of actually seeing them. Next thing I noted were the taxi drivers knew simple Japanese phrases, apparently a lot of Japanese tourists come to the island, one driver even greeted me in Japanese which was weird because I was mistaken to be a local the whole time I was there. Taxi rates were fixed, you’d see a board where they publish just how much they charge per locality. I think I got charged IDR 150,000 to the hotel, which was along Jalan Abimanyu. The taxi ride just took about 30 minutes.

The Hotel

The hotel I chose was the Fave Hotel – Seminyak (pronounce Fa-pei), I chose the Seminyak regency specifically because I wanted to be near the Yoga place where I’ll be attending classes. They said Kuta is a party place where the beach was hawked with sellers and Seminyak is the younger more hipster cousin, haha you got me at hipster! I booked my room directly through the hotel’s website; I found it cheaper than booking via booking.com or agoda. They do not actually charge you the whole amount upon booking (or was it just a reservation?) although you’ll need to enter your card details including card expiry and CVC. They need this to check whether your card is really a valid one, you’ll get charged once you check in or once you check out, I swiped my card upon check in I just thought it was much less hassle that way.

Fave Hotel Seminyak

For a total of 5 days I paid for about IDR 1,500,000~ which was approximately about USD 150, it’s honestly a steal because it also included free buffet breakfast. Before I left Manila I asked the hotel if it would be possible to check in earlier because the flight got to Bali at 8 AM, or if not possible if I can leave my bag with them and explore the island in the meantime. They said it was possible and if they had a room available they’ll let me check in early. A lot of tourists apparently leave their stuff with the concierge upon getting to Bali, I saw a room specifically for this purpose so you don’t have to worry about your bag getting lost. They had a room ready for me so I was able to check in early which was good because I had a headache then, check in process was a breeze, the staff were really nice and friendly (something that I observed the whole time I was there).

The room was not big, also not small sapat lang. The room was clean and did not have funky odors, although the comforter had some stains. The room came complete with a programmable safe where you can stow your valuables. The whole toilet area was clean except for the shower stall which showed some stains in between the tiling, in short medyo luma na you can also see it in the shower head. The only thing I would ask is for a fridge in the room.

My room was near a water dispenser which was heaven sent because I saved a lot of money by not buying bottled water in the island!

Check the hotel's website here.

Check the hotel's reviews on tripadvisor .

Exploring Seminyak

After I got settled in, changed clothes, unpacked and rested for a bit I went out because the sun was out and I was fearing rain because the weather forecasts told me of cloudy to rainy days so kailangan samantalahin ang araw.

Seminyak is a shopper’s paradise, the whole stretch of Jalan Seminyak is lined up with shops. Clothes, clothes and more clothes, a smattering of art galleries and more restaurants. The streets are also filled with small Hindu temples and little offerings to the Hindu gods, the whole island smelled of incense! You couldn’t go 10 steps without passing by a Hindu temple.

I was hungry and planned on going to Made’s Warung which was one of the most recommended restaurants in the area according to my research. The restaurant is easy to find, it’s right along the major Seminyak road. Turns out the whole place is not just a restaurant but it also had shops (even a bookstore!)  and a stage for traditional Balinese performances. I only had one thing in mind to eat, Nasi Goreng, I also bought bottled water which I refilled at the hotel the whole time I was there until the airport people asked me to throw it out at inspection upon my departure. Service was fast, and the servers all speak English.

Nasi Goreng (Nasi = Rice, Goreng = Fried)

After having lunch I went to see the Bintang Supermarket, it’s a grocery store where all, expats and locals alike converge to buy supplies. Renting villas apparently was all the rage in the island so the expats had a lot of grocery shopping to do. I also went there to change money because one of the more trusted money changers was just outside Bintang. I changed USD 200 more to last me through the next days. The lady manning the counter was very friendly and told me of the modus of the other money changers that promised higher exchange rates. Do your research before going to Bali, some of these dodgy places promise higher returns, make you count the money and ask it back for them to recount it, when they return you the stash it’s already less than what you counted it to be.

Next I did was try to find Olop Arpipi’s yoga studio, he’s an Iyengar teacher who’s quite famous in the island. His studio was supposed to be along Jl Drupardi, which was a side street and lead to residential areas. It was hard to find the studio, all I knew was it was #7 Jl Drupardi, I saw a steel gate with number 7’s written all over it but it was closed so I didn’t have anyone to ask if it was the place. It was near an elementary school and a football field, I went in and saw kids playing haha.

It was time to check out the beach which turned out to be a disappointment. First off, the hotel was quite far from the beach, google maps told me it was just a 10 minute walk from my hotel to the beach but it was not! The sand was quite dark, pasensya na I got spoiled with white beaches dito sa Pinas. The waves were strong so a lot of surfers were surfing and also a lot of students trying to learn. One thing though, the beach stretched as far as my eye could see, ang haba nya promise. I tried walking the whole stretch but I gave up. I think Seminyak shares the same stretch with Kuta and Legian.

I had dinner at the hotel because I was just tired and didn’t want to think of anywhere to eat pa. I think the hotel has Pinoy chefs because for one, the menu had Adobo in it, second I tried their seafood pasta which was tomato based – Pinoy style yung sauce haha matamis kind of like what you’ll have at a kid’s birthday party. Third reason, they were playing acoustic songs by Princess haha pinoy na pinoy!