Neighborhood "exercises"

I've witnessed a lot of training and exercises at the large police station parking lot and athletic fields from our living room and dining room windows. On a recent Saturday, B was home and actually got to see some of these practices with his own eyes.

Back to Bali- Part 1

We had both been really busy so B and I ran away to Bali for a long weekend. B had contacted the driver we'd used before. As we were exiting the airport, B said, "Do you remember what Pak Dewa looks like?"  He doesn't use a sign or anything, just stands there. We recognized him when we saw him but still didn't take a photo of him. I suppose at this point, we will always be able to just recognize him.

We saw this dangerously overloaded truck shortly after leaving the airport.

Also, off in the distance is the giant Garuda Wisnu statue that was recently finished. Clearly it towers above everything else here at 393 feet including the pedestal it rests upon. It's made of copper and brass. This is actually as close as we got to it, so if you want more details, feel free to look it up.

First stop was a seafood on the beach restaurant- Bali Sea Cafe. Fresh grilled tuna and shrimp with something cold to drink. Yum!

After lunch, we proceeded to Denpasar to our favorite cotton fabric shops to get a little fabric. Between the two shops, we purchased 40 meters of various lengths- many only 1 meter. Half we shipped home, the other half we were able to cram into our 2 small carry on bags (they had plenty of extra space on arrival.) This really looks like a lot of fabric in a big pile, but when all folded up, it's not really that much. The shipped fabric was waiting for us on our return. (B note - we also bought three fat quarters (in this case 0.5 meters of 25 different fabric) and one jelly roll).

We had ribs one night. The table was decorated with this little piggy! Cute!

We did return to one museum we really liked, the Museum Pasifika. It houses Asian Pacific art. We enjoyed it again.

Back to Bali- Part 2

We went totally crazy and rented a villa on Bali. The hotel is having a lot of construction and prices were less than normal so... . Here's a tour. This is our place.

 The walk away from our place.

 Inside the outer door is a little foyer with another door. It automatically swings and locks on its own.

 To open the door from the inside, you wave your hand over this button.

 Outdoor shower #1.

 It's not as big as it looks- mirror on the back wall.

 Outdoor shower#2.

 A strange bathroom arrangement. Tub in the center of the room, shower off to the side, double vanity sinks.

 But on the opposite wall, all glass- open to the outside. Yes, there was a wall, but still...

Up in these rafters is where the cicaks and toqays lived. The cicaks aren't bad, but the toqays are very noisy and noisy all night long. Google Toqay and find an audio file and give it a listen. And, on top of that, they weren't eating the mosquitoes that filled the entire place the whole time.

We had an outdoor living room.

And a small pool. Only 4 feet deep and not much length but nice.

Constantly filling and dumping into the marshy area beyond the pool swept the pool surface clean of flowers, leaves, etc.

While the mosquitoes were pretty annoying, there was a nice lodge for villa residents where they served very nice breakfasts and I could order a single or mixed fresh juice of a wide variety. I think I tried something different every day. My least favorite was mango and watermelon.

Back to Bali -Part 3

In our previous trips, we had not managed a visit to THE most popular spot on Bali according to something I read. The place: Bali Safari and Marine Park. They did have a resident discount so that was great. We paid 1/5 the entrance for tourists. They restrict your movement in the park quite a bit with shuttles to take you to the show areas as a first stop. Later you can walk around on your own in some areas. We really didn't see much of a "marine" element, but maybe we just couldn't find it?

 This is a new "show" at the Park. Elephant bathing demo.

 Speaking of elephants

 There is a short "jeep" type ride in a shuttle bus. You can see some animals from the bus.

 We drove right through the hippo waters ( on a slightly submerged road).

We finally found a small area with some fish!  Two different species of arawana.

While I thought the place was just OK overall,  I did love the fence posts in certain areas. They were so natural looking.

Another thing I thought was cute was a group of maybe a dozen guinea pigs running in parade formation around the edge of the "stage" during the small animal and bird show we stopped to enjoy for a few minutes.

Back to Bali- Part 4

We took a day trip to the village of Kintamani, one of 6 villages around Lake Batur. Batur is the largest lake in Bali. This is also where you find the active volcano, Mt. Batur. Batur has erupted 24 times since 1800. This area sees a lot of tourists due to the cooler, mountain weather, spectacular views and the tons of handicraft shops that line the entire road north through to Ubud ( past Kintamani). Just a few shops, side by side by side everywhere. I wonder how they can all make a living.

 Nearly in Kintamani.

The lone guy at the left in this photo was just finishing. We got to take his spot.

The view and lunch.

More view photos of the view.

 A gas station and mini mart.

After visiting Kintamani and having lunch, we were off to Tegallalang Rice Terraces. They charge the car just for driving through this area. Weird. Pretty.

The cutest thing in Tegallalang:

I think this was the day we stopped for a traditional Balinese Healing foot massage on the way back to the hotel.

Additional note: On this visit we saw a blue-black kingfisher, an olive-backed sunbird and a grey-cheeked pigeon!