Sunday, June 15, 2014

2014 - Week 24 (Bali Holiday)

Fabulous week...how can it not be great when you are on holiday heh ;)

I'm just gonna share some highlights of our trip or otherwise this blog will be way too long and overfilled with photos!

On the way to Bali, I get to take the window seat and capture some beautiful pictures of cotton wool in the sky------clouds!

We stayed in The Gangsa Villa in Sanur this time round. 
We love this villa except, the staffs were all nice and friendly, food and amenities were great. I have to mention that they provide a delicious jar of cookie in the room which they will replenish everyday. We all LOVE the cookies and probably half emptied the jar daily....now I have to worry how much I have put on from all the cookies :(
So as they say, nothing is perfect right? There was only one down side, the villa was full of beautiful plants and trees which was a magnet for mosquitoes. Although the villa has made an effort to provide lots of mosquito coils and insect repellent it did not help. Overall it was still a wonderful villa!

Once we have settled down in the villa, Gabriel was rushing to jump into his very own pool! 
  

So here's some highlights on the activities...

1) Watching Sunrise by the beach. We woke up at 5am so that we can be at the beach by 5.30 to catch the sunrise. Guess it was too early for Gabriel. It was a cloudy morning that day so we did not get a good view of the sun rising. But it was an unforgettable experience to enjoy the sea breeze, listening to the sound of the gentle waves while witnessing the changing colors of the sky.

  

2) Visiting Uluwatu Temple aka Monkey Temple. We went there in the late afternoon as we wanted to see the sunset and also catch the traditional Kecak Dance. The view of this temple the looks out to the ocean is simply breathtaking!! I just had to post these photos in X-Large!! Soaking in the vast ocean, you just know that this world is a beautiful place. We only have one; so let's treasure our resources and save this world so that the many generations to follow will also get to enjoy it.


The Kecak and fire Dance is a dance that does not use any musical instruments, music and emotions were carried out by 50 men who makes rhythm and notes by going Kecak. Something like a capella but in a total different way. Interesting performance, do make an effort to catch this performance if you are there.



3) Seafood in Jimbaran. Your trip will not be complete without coming to this stretch of seafood restaurant along the beach. We ordered from Bela Seafood Cafe when we were there. Every dish came out awesome and the prices are very reasonable too!


4) Visiting Monkey Forest in Ubud. I have seriously never seen so many monkeys in my life in such a close distance. I even had a chance for the monkey to sit on my lap. But monkeys are still monkeys. The one that got on my lap was attracted to my necklace and wanted to tugged it off. Of course my natural reaction was to grab my necklace and protect my property. But the monkey barred it's teeth at me when I did that :( Luckily there was a forest ranger around to shoo the monkey away.
I would recommend visiting this forest. Gabriel thoroughly enjoyed his close encounters with the monkeys.







On our way to the Monkey Forest, our driver stopped by the biggest temple in ubud which according to him is about a 1000 years old. Sadly, I did not get the name of this temple.
You must be wondering why Gabriel is wearing a sarong, well in Bali if you are going into a holy place, sarong is a must to put on.I just thought that Gabriel looked so cool in the funky Rolling Stone T-shirt with a wrap around sarong. A new fashion statement?

  

While in ubud, we had nice lunch in this restaurant (tried the famous crispy duck) that was just by the padi fields. It was our first time in a real padi field...really nice to be enjoying the view and be accompanied by the soft breeze.
  

We made a few more stops on the way back from ubud to Sanur. Visited a wood carving and batik place. No photos were allowed in the wood carving place so I will just be sharing photos of how traditional batik are made....these are machines and artwork you will never get to see in the modern world. Such a precious lesson.



So those are the few highlights of the trip. Before I end this post, here's sharing one of the favourite family photo we took during our holiday. Gonna add this into my annual one a page album! :)

Take care and thanks for popping by.

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