Anast

Anast is very 'teasable' and that was good for us

Cika would say, stop taking care of everybody!
Me'd add, Ah, you noble heart
:)

She's so sincere that we never misunderstand her even when she said--in perfect English, for she teaches English in a high school, "Guys, I've been to Great Wall of China..."

Our jaws dropped. Ah, well, we din take that as an act of snob. Instead, we knew that she was being genuine.

It was us who started to take care of everybody--in this case, of her. Hahahah. She loves walking and hiking.

It was great to have her as travelmate.

So we walked down after the historic climb (none of us had been there before).

It was a fun hike. I love the horse ride. Rebo was kind and he seemed to know every rock there. good horse.

"i have been given one moment from heavens"

I love Enya for singing this nice song. It is inspiring.

On my way home I remember only good things


I can't say i dont remember the awful and unnerving things but the last trip turned to be exciting, i should say. i get different perspective on how i see. (see, i paid! hahahaha)
now i can overlook the piques.

even the thoughts of giving medicinal instructions (?) still produces a hearty giggle. We were the front guards (or the point of the spears, as people here love to use the term), said cika. We were....uhm, perhaps. I aint sure. Now I think Martha was right. she said all people like that need is love.

Did i gave them? i still aint sure. but sure, i learn from this. my. see, every one needs to be loved and when it is you the one who should give love, give them. "Cepat sembuh ya Pak, Bu, Dek..." Meanwhile in the classroom, I saw Anast was sharing her knowledge, her enthusiasm with those children. It was cool to see how she lit them up.

yesterday i broke my promise and called Cika. We talked about this and ended up laughing out loud. the last trip was equally awful and fun. hey, i dont think it's equal.

but speaking about laughter, there was much laughter. more than i've ever had before during my trips. hahahahaha i think Anast will agree with us.

Adventurous!

Yesterday a guy was seeking company to climb Arjuna with him and hike around Kebun teh Wonosari. Perhaps next month, "when the weather's at best"

that's my homeland!

but i din think much of it until later midnight when these thought revisited me:

Mami has made it to the top of Mt Arjuna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine! She conquered it with her friends. oh just recall the way she told of the crater lake on its top and of how the full moon provided the luminescence. And the breezing wind.....

And how Papi got shipwrecked--literally. Some big waves crushed the boat on which Papi and his friends sailed, then a shark came in and got roasted, and how the waves sent them floating on raft ala Cast Away before being hauled by the locals to Pulau Komodo!!!! oh my!

(Sem, where have you beeeeeeeeen???????)

i'm soooooooooooo proud of them.

Eating, Ubud style

It was good for us to postpone dinner until 9.30 pm. After brisk shower of superhot-and-icy water (Fajar got the last, sorry buddy tee hee), we headed to Bebek Bengil I at Jalan Hanoman. Only Rama'd been there before, so he acted as our guide. It was nice of him.

Lucky us, somebody was late that the reserved bale was given for us three. Forget the few mosquitoes, we were enjoying the view and ourselves. even in darkness, the sawahs looked beautiful. I could imagine how it looked in the daylight.

It was upscale eatery and we did our best to enjoy. Rama and I ordered Bebek Bengil Punch (?) one that combines coco milk (santan) with citrus juice (it tastes good). and of course the famed roast duck.

It arrived with fried sambal, mixed veg (urap), and the-long-expected-eventually-comes sambal matah (sliced chilli and garlic infused in heated oil). Yuuuummmmm...... the halved poultry was crunchy and tasty. and i had the sambal matah just for myself. And we were eating puluk--with hands, according to Sukarno. Life's good, no?



the morning after--after a light breakfast of sliced fruit and egg sandwich, and coffee--thank goodness Fajar remembered to try this roast suckling pig, Balinese style. the one that i watched on Discovery Channel. the place looked the same only with more people eating. we got the table at the bale and started the meal with hot orange drink (pomelo juice). and when it arrived.....hmmm my, my mouth watered. it looked heavily spiced and inviting. so i dipped my fingers and shoved it into my mouth.....and of course i got my tasty company, the sambal matah condiment. yum yum

the gravy was heavy and the meat soft and spicy. the meaty dish also got a hard piece of bacon. dry outside, soft and juicy inside. and the blood sausage also tasted good although it wasn't my favorite.

eating while sitting on the floor was good. loved the experience. surely i will come back



and dinner by the sea..... how romantic was that? not romantic but surely it was pleasant. we arrived at 8 and the wave was 3 meters away. in the distance we could see the twinkling private beaches, like 100 m away and on the right side was the airport. Rama was deeply drawn to the latter scene. no surprise since he's a son of a pilot. i din see the beauty until Rama counted every movement and maneuvre of planes. we stayed about one hr until the waves began licking our feet.

back to the table, we grilled red snapper, doughed squid, sauted watercress, and roast clams. the food was of medium taste but the experience was cool.

one thing i notice from Rama was he stopped eating when he felt full, while moi wouldn't stop until i felt fully stuffed. I respect his choice of lifestyle :)

The Service (Bali)

Balinese Jonah and the big fish

Balinese nativity?

A burning bush type sign (Balinese Moses)

Balinese Noah

at first i din entertain the thought and i said to myself, i'm in holidays, eh? but the urge was strong as well as the thought that even Richie always finds a church to go to when he travels. And Rama was even eager. I remember Nyong sang "Be glad o my heart when somebody says let's go to the house of the Lord."

So we managed to enter the gates of Bali Protestant Church with thanksgiving.
It was English service at 10 at Legian.

devotional dance

the church itself is big, spacious, and 'green'. I mean it uses minimum electricity and it relies upon the sunshine for the lighting. Green church i should say. Half of the building is open and the cascaded ceiling was designed to convey sound. the acoustic was great.
one thing i love is the "bali-ness" of the atmoshere.

Sem

Blue Sky Holiday (Ubud)

let the pic speak for itself pose

let's do it again!

It felt good, so good (Kuta)

previously this thought entered my mind: how nice it would be to sit on the sand, eating.

last week, i did it almost daily at Kuta. (And I have just realized it when i arrived in Jakarta.)

And it felt good, relaxed, and I was like, i could eat the whole ocean. I was constantly hungry at the beach hahaha. Even when i frequented the menu (nasi bungkus or nasi rames, always with a glass of coffee and a glass of hot tea), it felt awesome. After that, Fajar, Rama and I would lie on the sand, sleeping and then run into the water to welcomingly greet the neverending waves.

Life is good!