Bali - Tanah Lot, Uluwatu & Seafood Dinner @ Jimbaran Bay.

Other than shopping, beaches and sports in Bali, there were also some tourist-y attractions that a tourist needs to visit in Bali. We booked an afternoon tour to Tanah Lot and Uluwatu for the day. We had wanted to ride to these places but decided against it as it was really far apart.

Breakfast time!

Yong ate the Indonesian breakfast and I (as usual) took the American.

Yong's Mee Goreng.

Since the half day tour was scheduled to be in the afternoon, we went to the beach to soak up some morning sun.

The sky was really blue with bits of clouds here and there. The morning sun wasn't too strong as the clouds covered most of the rays.

Don't be fooled by this photo - the waves were really huge there. The sand bed was gradual too. So I had to walk a good 200 meters for the water to be up my thigh (provided I don't get washed back to shore by the waves).

Yong wanted to take my photo but I was reluctant - which explains the constipated face =P

Down at Kuta beach, they had horse rides and carriage rides. It seemed really fun and romantic to just stroll by the beach riding a horse. Maybe next time. Oh, see the waves behind - this was what I was talking about.

After soaking up the sun, we went back to the villa to pack our dirty laundry to be sent for cleaning! Yes, it's my first holiday where I get to bring home mostly cleaned clothes! There was a laundry just next to the villa. I had used the villa's laundry bag to put all the dirty clothes and when I walked past the reception, the lady told me that they did laundry too. OK, Yong asked me before leaving if this was a wise idea (to use their laundry bag). I told him never mind lah.. come to think of it - it was kinda dumb. But anyway, we went to the laundry next door.

Quite an establishment - had their own delivery truck! We had close to 14 pieces of clothes ranging from jacket to shorts to long sleeve shirts and tanks. It was a 1-day service which meant we collected the next day at the same time. It was only Rp. 50,000 (with change)!! Translated, this was only S$7! We chose to let them wash only our outer wear as the soap or softener smells really great! Every time we passed any laundry shops - the smell was really 'clean' and 'soft'! This is the way I describe it. Just smells really great! Ok, enough about the smelling.

Today was also the day we had to return the rented motorbike so we went riding around to do some shopping.

This shop really gave you the feel of T&C. There were a couple of tourist inside choosing and picking. What caught my attention were the ribbons! I had to go in to take a look. Came out empty handed cause the items were well - not cheap. hahaha..ya la..cheapskate right?

Went to return the bike and stroll to the cafe next door to eat our lunch.

I ordered the set lunch which came with an Aqua, a bruschetta (they used Pita bread as base, topped with tomatoes, onions with cheese and oregano on top) and a burger or sandwich (i chose their cheese burger).

Yong took a different set meal that came with coke and the above wrap. They used Pita bread for this as well.

My cheese burger..with pita bread too!

After lunch, we took a 10min stroll back to the villa to wait for Nyoman to come pick us up. Nyoman mentioned on the previous trip that their names in Bali was pretty unique. They had a specific name for the 1st borne, 2nd borne, 3rd borne etc. For instance, Nyoman was the 2nd borne in his family thus he took on the name Nyoman. Its like all 2nd child of the family would be named Nyoman something. For our Nyoman, his name was Nyoman Suntayasa. Suntayasa will be his given name. Unlike in the Chinese culture, in Bali, they do not take on the family name. Something new eh?

After Nyoman picked us up, it took us close to 1 hour to get to our first destination. I slept all the way there..

First stop - Tanah Lot. This name was derived from Tanah Lod - which means land and sea if translated directly. Reason being that this temple was built on a land that was in the sea. In Bali, the people there believed in the Gods of the nature (such as sea, mountain, river etc). A priest came to this place and told the fishermen to build a temple on this piece of rock to worship the sea gods.

As you can see, the sea surrounds the shrine. We went during the low tide so people could take off their shoes and walk in ankle high waters to the base of the shrine for blessings. The shrine is only open on special days such as full moon or on auspicious dates of the Balinese Calender for prayers. When the tide is high, canoes or sampans are used to transport people across.

Opposite the base of the shrine, there was a 'hole' in the rocks and it was stated this way to see snakes or something. I read that it was believed that poisonous sea snakes swam around the temple to protect it from evil intruders or spirits.

It does look peaceful when you look at it long enough to ignore the tourists there taking photos.

There were other shrines along this coastal area and they were all linked by walk-way. We went up to another shrine called Enjung Galuh - this means the rock sticking out. From here, we could see Tanah Lot more clearly.

Enjung Galuh has a shrine that worships the Goddess of Prosperity and the God Manifestation as The Protector. Balinese people pray here for protection as well as fertility of their crops.

That's Nyoman trying to locate us down at Tanah Lot. He dropped us off at the entrance to go park his car and then came to look for us. While waiting for him, we took photos!

This was the view from Enjung Galuh. One side was overlooking Tanah Lot, the other was the cliffs and the front was the sea!

I started getting crazy and I told Yong that I wanted to 'eat' Tanah Lot.

Well, I did eat Alcatraz last year.....

It was really filling...

Hahah..Joking..Tadah! How can I eat the shrine of the Sea God!? I love the sea too much!

Nice shot right? Yong took this. You can see Tanah Lot on the far left top corner.

One last close-up of Tanah Lot.

Next up was to the right of Enjung Galuh. This was Batu Bolong! Bolong means hole I think. This was the rock with a hole. There's also a temple at the end of it but it was locked and we couldn't go in.

Was trying to get my big head to fit into the hole. (ya ya..dumb..ok.)

More normal photo. Think too much sun.

Further west of Batu Bolong. We were lazy and decided not to venture further. It was a real far walk!

There was this open resting area built at the entrance of Batu Bolong. Just had to take a photo here. It was raised really high above the ground.

I look spastic..hahaha....

We left Tanah Lot around 3-330 pm to head down south to Uluwatu Temple. This journey took us close to 2 hours!

Upon arriving, all those in shorts or short skirt had to wrap a sarong around them (men included) and had to get a sash to tie around it.  Everyone had this around them.

The board next to the entrance caught my attention. I asked Yong to take a photo of me with the board - he did! BUT he took only partial photo of the board! Anyway, women who are having their periods - if you go to Bali, please do not enter in to the temple. In certain religion, when women are having their periods, it means that you are not 'clean' to go into holy grounds.

I look weird in the sarong but I love the color combination! At the entrance of Uluwatu.

There are loads of Monkeys here! There was a balinese story that involved the Monkey God as a warrior so Monkeys here are sort of their sacred animals. However, these monkeys or rather some of these monkeys are very naughty. I believed that some are trained by people there to take valuables or belongings such as sunglasses, hair ornaments, glasses, earrings, hats etc from tourists. I saw a lady losing her glasses to a monkey and one local went after the monkey and exchanged a packet of food for the glasses to return to the lady. He asked for a tip after that. Well, it could be a genuine case but tourists beware!

This place was also built on a cliff. This was way higher than Tanah Lot.

The sun was setting so the photos had a glow to them..

Took this with our (Ami and mine) Sony digital camera - looks pro? No works done on this.

This monkey was busy eating a packet of tidbits when I stood next to it to take a photo. He must be thinking if I am trying to grab his food. While I was taking this picture, there was a lady next to me trying to take a photo with the scenery behind. A monkey sneaked up from behind her and grabbed her colorful scrunchy! I think the monkey thought it was edible since it put the scrunchy straight into his mouth.

That's the naughty monkey to my right.

After this shot, we were discussing if we wanted to walk to the far end of the cliff behind us as there was also a foot path (on the right) towards that cliff. A monkey suddenly grabbed my bag and when it lost hold fell to the sarong and grabbed on to my sarong. I was stunned! Nyoman quickly shoo the monkey away. hahaha...I was seriously shocked! We decided to walk back to the other end to see the sun set instead.

The sun at about 5pm.

The foot path to the furthest end which we were lazy to walk to.

Me trying to eat the setting sun..it was off to dinner soon.

Yong and Nyoman with Polos' car.

We were the first few to leave Uluwatu temple as there was a Kecak dance going on. We headed down to Jimbaran bay for their famous seafood by the sea. This was also a great place to see sun set.

Our table and drinks.

We ordered the set meal for 2 which came with soup (corn soup), fish, squid, lobster, mussels, rice, 3 drinks and fruits. I changed the mussels for prawns as both Yong and I don't fancy it. The food was really not bad. The price was about S$90 for the 2 of us.

I saw a man eating corn!! I told Yong I must have it! haha..yes, I am hooked on to it. This time round it wasn't as spicy as the last one I had. Nonetheless, it was really good.. The whole dinner was very very filling..Nyoman sent us back to the villa after that.

Since it was the second last day here, I told Yong I wanted to do a body scrub. So I went back to the same massage parlour.

It was close to 9pm when we got back. This place was opened to 11! So I had my scrub done. Their body scrub was totally different from what I've experienced in Singapore. The scrub was a dry one and it dried on the skin before it was rubbed off. You feel like the top layer of all the dirt that was there for years are being rubbed off. It was really good too.

We had wanted to go for a drink but when I came out Yong told me that the pubs down the street were all gay pubs. I didn't ask further and we went back to the villa to sleep.