Bali Day 2 : Double compliments!

Ok, back to our Bali trip, Day 2!

Gede came to pick us up at 9am. We were late, because we came down late for breakfast and had to wait some time for the food to come. We told him that we wanted to go to Nusa Dua, just to relax on the beach. He said that, no one goes to Nusa Dua “just to relax on the beach”. Nusa Dua is for water sports, and that’s an accepted fact. I didn’t know what to do, so I just thought we could go there and decide if we wanted to do anything.

So off we went. He asked what sort of activities we wanted to do..and I said I might want to go paragliding. He said there’s no paragliding in Bali, but there’s parasailing. And I think to myself, what's the difference?? =P Totally shows my ignorance in all things sports-related. =.= So we went a place which offers parasailing and scuba diving. Gede said we don’t need to know how to swim in order to go diving (Feng and I are not so good at swimming =P ), but we need to be able to swim to go snorkeling..which was another thing I didn’t know, because snorkeling and scuba diving were,again, one and the same to me. =D

We suddenly decided to go for scuba diving after some persuasion. A friend of mine actually asked me only a week before this whether I want to go to Sabah for diving. I was thinking, no way. I'm so afraid of water, and even worse, DEEP water. But when in Bali, I just thought to myself "I've come all this way to Bali, how often am I going to get this chance? Oh why not". And that was that. The winds weren’t strong enough for parasailing that day anyway. So Rp. 400,000 (which is around RM150) for each of us for the diving, and 50,000 more for the pictures and video. (which turned out like CRAP for me..I can’t believe how HIDEOUS I LOOK WITH THE GOGGLES ON!!I'm TOTALLY NOT EXEGGERATING! ASK FENG.)

The diving centre was full of guy instructors, and one of them kept chatting me up! I thought he was just being friendly (I was starting to think that everyone in Bali was JUST friendly, unlike in Malaysia, and that no one wanted anything from me just by talking to me and telling myself to trust people better) but it turned out that he WAS indeed flirting with me. =.=|| erm.. He started by saying I was pretty. Then he said I had a very very nice body *cue hourglass shaping with hands*. Then he asked me if I was single. And said I should come to Bali again for my honeymoon. Funny guy.

Diving was SCARY. Like I said, I'm afraid of deep water, so..honestly, I wasn't expecting to enjoy myself. Just to experience it and get over my fear of diving so that I would dare to do it again next time and maybe enjoy it then. Funny thinking right? Yes I know. And, I got bitten by a fish!! We were each given a piece of bread to feed the fishes while down there, so I was happily attracting fishies to me, when this one fish confused my arm with bread, and proceeded to start biting at me!! I was like "Hello!! DO I LOOK LIKE BREAD TO YOU?? WHICH PART OF ME RESEMBLES A PIECE OF BREAD, MAY I KNOW??" Obviously my left arm does, since it didn't just bite once and realised its huge mistake, but continue pecking away joyously at my arm until I got so mad I flung it off and scolded it in my mind "I don't want to feed YOU, you little evil fish! Go away from me!! I hate you!! You're punished. You're not getting no bread from me, little brother. Now SHOO OFF!" I still remember how it looks. (Don't you think I'll forget you, you little confused fish. I'm gonna get back at you if I have the chance. Eat you up. Hah! *evil* ) And it wasn't just pecking by the way, it DID bite, and left sharp teeth marks on my arm!!

After diving, we then got changed, had lunch at the diving centre while viewing our diving photos and videos which were UGLY (Well, actually, only I was ugly in them. Feng and KF looked beautiful) and which cost Rp. 50,000 and proceeded to GWK. There was a great big statue of Wisnu there, and of Garuda(his mode of transport). Nothing too interesting at GWK, all I remember is that it was HOT HOT HOT!!! More or less showered myself in sunblock while I was there.

Oh yes, I took a picture of Feng there, and she looked so slim, because I ‘cut’ off her arms from the picture, and she agreed that she does look really slim in it. I said “So you need to hire me as your official photographer at your wedding next time! I'll make you look slim in every single wedding photo” and she said “Ya ya..and then if the picture come out not nice, I will throw it back to you and say “KIM! What kind of picture is this? You dunno how to take izzit!”” Hahaha!

Oh and at the souvenir shop, we saw a sarong which was really beautiful on the mannequin, but decided not to get it there but instead at Sukawati which we have been looking forward to.

We then proceeded to Pantai Padang-Padang where there were lotsss of guai lous. There were 2 girls there who were tanning topless and proud of it. It was funny because there was a little baby boy (I’d say he was only 2/3 years old) playing just right next to where they were lying face up. =P Ka Fui even tried to take pictures of the topless girls. Succeeded, but not very clear. LOL!

Next was Dreamland beach. The waves were HUGEEEE there, and there were people trying to surf. A few tour buses arrived about the same time as us, carrying loads of high school kids. No topless girls this time =) We were standing really far from the water, but managed to get our shorts wet, that's how huge the waves were.

Then it was time to go to Jimbaran Bay in time to catch the sunset. We got to Jimbaran quite quickly, but couldn’t find the Lia Café which we were planning to go to. It was well known in the forums to be one of the cheapest and value-for-money places at Jimbaran Bay. We’d seen so many comments online about drivers who would recommend/force you to go to a certain restaurant so that they will receive a commission. Its understandable why they would do that – the whole street is FILLED with seafood restaurants and nothing else! We went up and down the whole stretch looking for Lia Café, and even got down to walk through a marketplace at the end of the road to search for it. No results. So in the end, because we had no idea which restaurant to choose, we chose a place called Bumbu Bali just for the fact that we’ve(Feng and I) been to a place with the same name in Puchong. LOL!

We sat down at a table one row from the last, and I remembered thinking – this was the site of the 2^nd bombing in Bali, in 2005. And I also remember thinking – who knows, tonight there might be another bomb, the 3^rd Bali bombing..and I had no regrets. I wasn’t afraid. I couldn’t have felt happier being where I was, with who I was with. Not because I was in the most beautiful place in the world.. I know there are many more places out there which were more beautiful. Not because I was with my loved ones, my family weren’t there with me. But because I knew that I have no regrets in my life. Especially in the past few months, I have tried so many new things, I’ve cherished every single waking moment of my life, I've tried to avoid doing things I would regret, and I have no regrets even if I had to leave this life at that very moment.

I took so many pictures, every single one turned out so beautiful that I had to stop myself from focusing so much on taking pictures but instead sit back and relax, to enjoy the view, and atmosphere, and life itself. We ordered a seafood platter to be shared among the 3 of us. There was lobster, fish, squid, clams. I tried Cola Susu for the first time – it was something I’ve heard that they had in Indonesia but just suddenly remembered and wanted to try it. It was great, I love it! Basically it was Cola with evaporated/condensed(I’ve never known the difference between the 2,again) milk. Feng and KF had Teh botol, which was normal tea served in a bottle, just like how Coke was served in a bottle. Another special thing only in Indonesia. I liked it too. If you are ever in Indonesia, I strongly recommend you try these 2 drinks!

We drove back to Kuta, tired after a long long day in the sun.

When we got back to the hotel, we all had a shower, and Feng and I decided to go for a foot massage nearby, just to try it out. We walked out thinking that we would have found one just on the same street as our hotel, but there were none. We ended up at one on Legian Street, quite a distance away but not too far.

My masseuse was Melissa, and Feng’s was a 20-year-old girl with a tooth ache. Melissa was a Catholic(rare in Bali, and Feng’s masseuse was a Hindu. When we first started the massage, I could see they kept talking and looking at me, and so I asked what they were talking about. And then came the 2^nd compliment of the day – they said I was very beautiful! And they said that from my looks and how I spoke to my friends, they could see that I was a very kind and good person. I wanted to kiss and hug them, I've never been complimented so much in my whole life, and here I was, complimented again for the 2nd time in a DAY! Hahaha, I joked with Feng and KF that I should move to Bali, where my beauty and kindness is appreciated. Unlike in Malaysia. Lol, only joking.

Feng commented that maybe the Balinese's definition of 'beauty' is still quite traditional..and we all knew what she meant, because well...people used to prefer 'bigger' girls, it meant they were more 'hou sang yong' or productive.

*I know you're reading this Feng, and I want you to know I don't like you!! Blekk!!* hahaha!

After the massage, we walked back to the hotel, and decided to take another way because it was raining. It was then my turn to be offered ‘the service’. Hahaha! One of the men offering transport along the roads suddenly came up close to me and whispered in my ear “Mahu gigolo?”. I just ignored him and walked on, since I wasn’t too shocked about it after Ka Fui’s ‘experience’ the night before. Hehe.

Getting back to the hotel, I was dead tired but wanted to read my book. So I did. And then went to sleep. But I didn’t sleep so well this time. I don’t know why.

*pictures to be added to this post another day. its bedtime. woohoo! =)