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Bangkok Bound

6 Nov

All these time when I travel, I’ve never made used of the Premier Lounge at KLIA. Silly me. This time, with the group, it was nice. In a jovial mood, we snacked on the free flow of food, beer and whatever we fancied. We even nicked some peanuts for tonight. Heheheh.

We bought three bottles of duty free whiskey to accompany our trip. Figuring that there were 11 adults, drinking after each game would not be a problem.

MH788 was on schedule. It is again the new aircraft, Boeing 737-800, like the one to Bali recently. However, I must reiterate this aircraft has a very narrow and tight seating capacity. Even for me, I cannot stretch my legs. Luckily the flying time is not very long, so I don’t foresee an issue.

Goodness, as I sit here, writing this, the captain just announced for the cabin crew to prepare for arrival! I guess I made the right choice not to watch ‘Wolverine’ knowing that I will not be able to finish the movie in time.

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It’s A Warzone Out There

22 Oct

I had to see an ENT to solve my sinus nasal congestion which had taken a turn for the worse. So here I am sitting in the doctor’s lounge while outside, along the corridor, it’s a warzone out there!

An elderly patient, waiting his turn, is talking loudly on his mobile and his booming voice is echoed so loudly in the cold quiet corridor! Perhaps he is also waiting to see my ENT specialist, hard of hearing, he does not realize how loud he is.

This may not be a patient ward level but still, it’s a hospital and everyone should be more considerate for others!

Then there’s this lady sitting in the waiting room with me and her phone goes ‘You have a new WhatsApp message!’ letting the whole world know she’s connected. Attending to her alert, the furious tapping by her is so obvious with the loud clicking sound. My goodness, please put it on silent mode!!!

Even in my hard of hearing state, the noise is most irritating.

I await my turn shortly. WhatsApp Lady has toned down her volume but I can still hear water bubble effect sounds, probably crushing candies. Warzone Uncle has also finished his conversation.

Phew.

I glanced over at WhatsApp Lady; she’s not crushing candies, her reactions are way too slow!

Ah… my turn.

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I Ate Your Cheese

18 Oct

I like cheese, so do the girls. Besides the usual cheddar and cream cheese, we enjoy Feta, Brie and Camembert as well. Recently, I took a liking to Emmental, having had that quite a bit from my recent Paris trip, so I buy it occasionally to savour.

Several weeks ago, M1 said, “Mummy, I ate your mental cheese.”

“Huh?”

“You know… The one you bought recently, mental cheese, I ate some this morning.”

Emmental. Mental. Heheheh…

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Homeward Bound

14 Oct

We arrived in Bali in the new MH B737-800 (notice the big iPad-like touchscreen?) and going back to KL in the more spacious 777-200 (albeit with a smaller screen, like a Samsung 7″ tab but much bigger than the Nintendo sized screen of Air France when I went to Paris in July).

Thankfully I managed to catch the last 45 minutes of Man of Steel, which I had watched when Bali-bound and could not finish on time upon arrival then.

Contented now after the meal and a satisfying coffee, I count the hours until I see my girls at home.

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The iPad-sized touchscreen of the B737-800.

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The 7″ Tab-like sized touchscreen in the 777-200.

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At the Airport

14 Oct

So we are at the airport already. The new structure is very modern. In daylight now, I do see Balinese elements slowly being incorporated, something that was missed when we arrived in the evening.

There is a pre-scan of bags before we queue at the departure check in counter. Very long line!

Done with all the necessary in an airport, we have a little bit of time to explore. Duty free is sparse and food outlets were none existent. But there’s water dispensing units everywhere.

The airport is huge! Many many times over the old airport. I believe once it’s completed, it would serve the island well.

As I sit here waiting, it is with nice memories of Bali. Goodbye and thanks, hubby and I will definitely return.

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The Last Day

14 Oct

We opted to have breakfast outside instead as we did not buy the hotel’s breakfast voucher for today. And what did we eat? There’s so many choices and we had to eat McDonald’s!

Silly us. The Egg McMuffin was palatable but the coffee was horrid, not even a hint of coffee in the hot water. Sigh….

We walked passed a street vendor and he called out to us, hoping to solicit our business. “Are you from China?” Aiks! Do we have slitty eyes or what? We just walked away.

It is a short fourth day and not by choice for when the plans were made a month ago, outbound flights were limited. Nonetheless I checked with the three of them again on their experience and all said it’s been good. Hubby is already scheming for our own next trip here.

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Chasing the Sunset

13 Oct

It was another case of chasing the sunset. Traffic was horrendous, worst than a snail’s pace and had us all worried what if we missed another sunset again?

Komang drove like a maniac and managed to get us to Uluwatu on time. It was unusually packed that even the customary sarong that one should wear ran out.

We didn’t mind this as we walked quickly to some good spots to capture pretty sunset moments. Then realization and disappointment hit!

Tickets for the Kecak Dance was sold out! Oh no! To come all the way here and find tickets all sold out was quite a disappointment. Such mixed emotions within a short span. Luckily the disappointment didn’t last long. We were all busy taking pretty sunset pictures again.

Midway, I asked how come there were no monkeys? Hubby said it was Sunday and it’s their day off. Hardy-har-har.

Soon after he said that, one appeared. Then another, and another! Oops. Better be careful with your things.

We walked out of the monkey zone, keeping an ever watchful eye on any approaching and waited at a bright spot for KW and GH who were both snapping their cameras away. After a while, a whole hoard of monkeys came out from the trees behind us! Eeeks. Who said it was their day off? Better move to a brighter spot and SW kept close to us.

Verdict on today’s outing I’d say is a mixed one. Too much time was spent traveling from one point to another and being caught in several traffic snarls. Somehow it’s different from yesterday where we traveled as much, if not more. Now as we make yet another long journey back to Kuta, I’m thinking did we plan today well or not? Hmm.

Tomorrow is our last day in Bali but I think my team of three designers enjoyed themselves despite the many long car rides. After all, it is part and parcel of wanting to see all and do all when in Bali in such a short time.

I asked hubby if he would come again? He scoffed at me and said the question should not be if but when we would come again. Despite some shortcomings and unexpected outcome, I wouldn’t be surprised if we came back soon.

Today’s count: 13,847 steps, 3.86kcal and 7.01km!

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The Day Continues

13 Oct

Four bottles of Bali Hai later, both of us are feeling very light! Hubby joked about having lost weight because he was feeling very light. Hah! I wish. I dread to step on the scale when we get home.

We left Ubud, going a short distance to Bebek Tepi Sawah for lunch. Actually I don’t mind another round of beer!

No Bali Hai, I opted for San Miguel. What the heck, might as well try the different brands available!

The setup’s very relaxing with individual gazebos in the midst of a small padi field. With a strong breeze, I am almost lulled to sleep. We wait for our various orders of duck to come before we tuck in. From grilled, crispy and betutu, it’s indeed a duck-themed lunch.

General condenses agreed that the grilled version was better than the crispy. By now, for me, a nap is best, what with 4 glasses of beer already.

I should mention all opted not to go to the Monkey Forest, the Zoo or the Bird Park as it was quite unnecessary. I think if we were to bring M1 and M2, the girls would also make the same decision.

Anyway, the lunch lingered until 3pm and maybe about of shopping is just what we need to commensurate the trip.

Throughout the journey towards a shopping destination, silence prevailed in the car save for the low volume music. Pretty typical after a satisfying meal I supposed that all were knocked out.

Shopping was not appealing; maybe because it was all about surfing whereas I am a golfer, I saw nothing interesting to buy. Oh well.

Might as well make our way to Uluwatu to catch the Kecak Dance and sunset. Hopefully no more trailing a chicken egg truck or a garbage truck!

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From our gazebo, we are literally ‘tepi sawah’ (by the rice field).

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The grilled duck.

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The betutu duck.

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The crispy duck.

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The Next Day

13 Oct

We started the day 40 minutes behind schedule. KW was eager to buy something from Hard Rock Cafe as everything was 50 percent off, everything. The store opened at nine and the queue was very long already. He got in line but was moving very slow. By then hubby went to get him as we could not wait any longer.

We are heading to Ubud this morning. Caught in a jam, I am jotting my observations as things move along.

We detoured to Denpasar to find where the Central Bank of Indonesia is located because KW has some leftover old currency notes (from his trip ten years ago!) that are no longer accepted by merchants now. Only the Central Bank will accept the exchange. As today’s Sunday, the bank’s closed but the guards were very helpful and informed us that old currency exchange can only be done on a Friday between 8.30am to 11.30am. Ahh… now we know.

Back on track to Ubud then. Midway we stopped at Cening Ayu to see how ‘pie susu’ was being made. Curious to see what it was, it turned out to be what I know as an egg tart but the filling’s milk instead of eggs. We ended up buying titbits and peanuts instead to munch.

It is exactly noon by now and the sun’s beating down on us. Yes, it’s hot, even with the air-con on full blast in the car. A nice cold beer thought crossed my mind. Mmm… maybe it’s possible.

After some endless wondering to familiar shops, the thirst for a cold beer could not be ignored. We stopped at Oops for a very refreshing super cold Bali Hai. Very nice!

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My Ugly Crocs

13 Oct

Unlike my previous trips overseas where my Blundstone boots served me well, the hot weather in Bali just does not seem right for me to be wearing jeans and boots to play tourist.

So I chose my ugly Crocs over my other open-toe Rockport sandals. M1 and M2 have stopped wearing their Crocs ever since it was reported that it is the ugliest thing to wear, but I find them comfortable. It shields my toes somewhat from dirt and protects my feet from the scorching sun. If I were to wear flip flops, I suspect I may end up with tan lines on my feet, something I don’t fancy.

So, in my fisherman pants and singlet, the ugly Crocs blends me into the crowd.

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My ugly Crocs are really ugly, worn out and tattered.

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