I passed as a local Balinese!

About a week ago, A and myself went to Bali to go on a holiday. Honestly there aren't much Filipino tourists in Bali or in Indonesia for that matter as many perceives this country much similar to the Philippines (which means they'd rather go somewhere else!) 

As you know, both countries are an archipelago with similar ethnicity, food, traditions and sad to say, both countries are prone to natural disasters! Such as last week, I almost thought we'd have problems flying through Bali due to thick volcanic ashes erupted by Mount Raung on Java! Thousands were stranded a week prior to our flight because the airport was shut down. Luckily, volcano stopped spewing ashes and Denpasar was cleared off air traffic.

Btw I easily passed as a local! Some people were speaking to me on either Bahasa or Balinese because they mistook me from Jakarta/Bali. Like the Philippines, they have many local dialects. Some words are even similar to Tagalog such as manok (chicken) and kangkung (water spinach).

Religion in Bali is mostly Hinduism as mentioned by my guide, however the country's main religion is Islam and there are about 85% muslims. 

During our stay, many local tourists from Java were also visiting Bali because of what they call the "Galungan Holiday" (Java are also Hindu). For 10 days, Balinese will say their prayers then provide small offerings to the Gods which you can find on almost every corner in Bali. The offerings are in small woven leaves in a form of a plate with flowers and food. Even our car had one because it means they prayed for your safe journey. There were also tall bamboo like poles beautifully decorated along the roads. We were lucky to witness such event. The festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil.

An offering. These were found literally everywhere even on Kuta beach!

Anyway here are some of the photos of famous tourists spots and temples during our tour. It's quite pricey to go to Bali, I alone spent about Php 50,000 on this trip but this is mainly because I went paragliding, flyboarding (it's some kind of water jet pack placed on your feet, very difficult!) and rode a jetski! 

Day 1 - Uluwatu tour and Kecak Fire Dance

Kecak fire dance, also known as monkey chant. Men chanting 'cak' over and over while raising their arms. It's a story about Ramayana, a hindu epic. For the complete story - http://www.kecakdance.com/story.php

Sunset at Uluwatu

Wild monkeys are roaming everywhere in Uluwatu! However they are also known to pickpocket so you'd have to watch out!

Day 2 - Ubud, Kintamani, Mount Batur and Jimbaran Beach

Brahma's temple, god of creation. I think Siva the destroyer's temple is in Cambodia which I will visit on October 

This is one of the pagodas inside Brahma's temple

Mount Batur :)

Had seafood dinner at Jimbaran beach! It has a romantic and cozy ambiance.

Day 3 - Mengwi, Taman Ayun or Lake temple and Tanah Lot tour

Pagodas are place for worship and are on odd numbers. The highest one is made of 11 stacks - for the gods.

This is only a fraction of Lake temple. It's like a huge park with lakeside view plus we rode a speedboat and cruised around it!

See the fog? We came at the perfect time in Bali. Since it's winter in Australia, Bali gets about 27-29C during the day and 24C at night!

You must stop by at Tanah Lot and enjoy a relaxing afternoon as the sun sets.

Yep obligatory selfie on new places!

DAY 4: FREE DAY!! This is where we availed activities such as flyboarding wherein a water jet pack powered by a jetski, is attached to a board strapped to your feet! Water is forced under pressure on boots with jet nozzles allowing you to thrust or hover on water. I didn't want to try this one because I knew I would fail at it and I did! I couldn't even stand up haha, the pressure was too strong on my feet and the one controlling it can't even understand a word I'm saying. (even the word quit) I was shouting 'I quitt!' coz I kept swallowing water! Good thing our guide went by and I told him I wanted to stop. My expectations were met haha. 'A' persevered and was able to hover for seconds haha! I stopped before I injured my bad back. :) 

Here's an uber cool guy who looks effortless! Some can even backflip like ironman!

We also rode a jetski, something relaxing for a change. But the highlight of this trip was being able to paraglide! The paragliding area is in a cliff with Nusa Dua beach as your view as well as the expensive villas there. (Villas had their own private pool, much have cost a fortune to stay there.) This is a tandem jump and your pilot is a licensed paraglider so you'd pretty much just sit down and enjoy the view. :) It's a bit pricey but I say go for it while you are here. We don't have paragliders in the Philippines so you'd better add this to your itinerary. Over all this water adventure plus paraglide package cost $195/pax.

Soaring high! One extreme sport off bucketlist.

After a good flight, we head off to one of Bali's prestigious outdoor malls (similar to our Fort strip) called the Bali Collection and had dessert! Nusa Dua is what you call the 'Upper east side of Bali'. All the luxurious villas are in this area.

Bali is also filled with Aussies! I think there are more Aussies than the actual locals! I suppose it's near Australia so they prefer flying here especially if you're at Perth. 

Anyway I would say Bali is similar to the Philippines but I would prefer our beaches at any day. Btw we got our tour package again at Airlite for Php 20,000 / pax. this includes full boarded meals plus accommodations at Best Western Kuta beach resort. Also airfare, water activities, paragliding are not included. In case you're interested, here is their website: www.airlitetours.com

Worth every buck this is in front of Kuta beach. Hotel is very decent at an affordable price!

Deluxe room, free wifi with friendly and accommodating staff. For more info, visit www.bwkutabeach.com

I'm off to Cambodia on October so  temple run part 2 coming up on next post. :)

Wanderlust - A trip is a trip

Cities I've been to outside the Philippines:

1. Beijing, China
2. Shanghai, China
3. Hongkong, Hongkong
4. Macau, China
5. Singapore, Singapore
6. Bangkok, Thailand
7. Ayutthaya, Thailand
8. Chicago, Illinois
9. Manhattan, New York
10. Orlando, Florida
11. Newark, New Jersey
12. Buffalo, New York
13. Washington DC, USA
14. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
15. Memphis, Tennessee 
16. Kansas, Missouri
17. Denver, Colorado

This list is simply not long enough (sigh). 

I've got Bali, Indonesia and Siem Reap, Cambodia coming up this year but I need to see more of the world.

Tell me, how do I make more money? Not for shopping because I don't need those earthly things. (except maybe for that car I am obsessing with which I am saving up 'til the end of this year.) until then I am working my ass off and off course, investing on the stock market. Anyway my definition of a good way to spend money is to go on a holiday. That's it.

...

Clearly I am bored tonight. The sad part is ... my wallet is on a diet.