Road To Bali: Second Step

Saturday, 29 October 2016

Game Day! I woke up for morning prayers (Suboh and sunrise are early in those parts) and stayed up. I felt discomfort in my throat – probably because I didn’t drink enough the day before, or I had to drink an iced drink the evening before (as a general rule, I don’t drink iced drinks) or because it was just too dang hot in Bali – and also a lot of wind in my tummy (I always have a lot of wind when I travel long-distance but come on, Bali is only three hours away!). I went down for breakfast at 06:35 (we were told that we would depart at 07:00) but when I reached the restaurant, found out that we would only depart at 07:15. There was a large spread of breakfast from fruits counter to dim sum and chee cheong fun, cereal counter, bread counter, noodles, some Japanese food, local food, porridge and eggs counter too (but of course). I had a small portion of a bit of a few things. We then left and made our way for the various buses ready to ferry us to the event venues. I was impressed to find that the host had engaged the highway patrol to escort us to the venues but even then it took us almost 45 minutes before reaching the first venue, the regional office of Bank Indonesia, where Scrabble would be played. The bus dropped us off and continued on to Gedung Olah Raga (GOR) Lila Bhuana where table tennis and badminton would be played. The women’s volleyball would be played in a building nearby GOR Lila Bhuana.

We had known the day before that we would be playing against Thailand followed by Indonesia and then Singapore. I recognised a few faces from previous Games where Scrabble was played. We started play at about 08:20 (I didn’t note the time although I know we finished our first match around 09:15). Oh before I forget, we had to field eight players: four men and four women. There would be one men’s singles, one women’s singles, one women’s doubles, one men’s doubles and one mixed doubles. So five games with eight players from each country. I was assigned to play in the women’s singles.

We knew that the Thai players would be our strongest opponents and this proved right. They don’t necessarily speak good English but they do memorise the two- and three-letter words. It didn’t help that my tiles were so bad that I had to change them in the second round itself and I had a word rightfully called for not valid so that were two turns that I missed. She also scored a bingo while I couldn’t find a place to put mine. Needless to say, I lost the first game. I was feeling down until I found our men’s singles and mixed doubles lost too. So that was 2-3 to the Thais. I told myself not to feel too down, that we had two more games to avenge ourselves.

We had a short break before resuming for the next game against our hosts, Indonesia. They had some sweet black tea and coffee and some local delicacies but I didn’t have any of the latter as my tummy was still unsettled. I continued to drink gallons of mineral water throughout and even during the match. This time around, we did better and won all our games. 5-0. The Thais won 3-2 again against the Singaporeans. We had another mini break and because it wasn’t even 11, we agreed to finish the last game before lunch instead of playing it after lunch. This time, we won 4-1 against the Singaporeans (I was holding my bladder towards the end from all the water I’d been drinking!) and the Thais won 3-2 again against the hosts.

It was a good thing that the captains met after the opening ceremony the previous night and agreed that the winning country would be determined by the total number of wins and not the number of wins overall. So we won because we won 11 games out of 15 and although the Thais won all their matches (3-2 for all three matches), they had only a total of 9 wins out of 15. Phew, what a good thing the captains had agreed on this beforehand.

We then broke for lunch and as it was already Zuhur, I decided to perform prayers first. I was shown to the prayer room by the person in charge of the Scrabble game. After that, I went back up to the first floor for lunch. The badminton, table tennis and women’s volleyball players also had their lunch there. After lunch, we had some photo session before boarding the bus to GOR Lila Buana to support our table tennis and badminton teams. My, I can say that Indonesia are a good host but I couldn’t help feeling like I stepped into the 1960s when I walked into GOR Lila Buana. From the outside, it looked grand but it was anything but that inside. It was a sauna-like suffering for us after playing in AC comfort and it didn’t help that our table tennis team quickly lost to the Thais. After table tennis had ended, we went up to the badminton courts to watch our mixed badminton pair which was still playing. We lost the final set and last match against the Thais. After that, we left the court and building and walked over to watch women’s volleyball in the other building across the car park. Again, I wasn’t impressed with the dirty surroundings and the state of the building (yup, you guess it right: straight out of the 1960s again! They must have built the two buildings together!). And again, we watched as our team lost – to the Indonesians this time. News filtered through that our bowling team won though so together with Scrabble, we managed to be in second place overall. The Thais were just three points behind us in third place. Talk about cutting it close!

We made our way back to the hotel and arrived at 17:05.

Tonight was the closing dinner and the venue was by the beach. I don’t know why islands are hot and the occasional breeze didn’t help much. The food was OK but ran out quickly and it wasn’t replenished immediately. The performance by the Malaysian contingent had just finished when we felt big fat raindrops and before long, we had run for the nearest shelter which was the restaurant where breakfast was served. After some time and it became apparent that the rain would continue, we made our way to the grand ballroom. The rain had petered out by then but the seats at our tables by the beach were no doubt already soaked through. I felt bad for the hosts and only hoped that the rain didn’t spoil the chairs too badly.

The other three countries continued with their performance before the winners for each category of games contested were announced and called upon the stage to receive the trophy. There was another round of photo taking session before we retired to our rooms.

Sunday, 30 October 2016

There was a city tour planned for today and we were first told to be ready by 08:30. I found out during breakfast that we would instead leave for the tour at 09:30 so had a leisurely breakfast with my mates. It was already hot and bright when we left. My throat felt slightly better today but I was starting to have running nose. This heat! I didn’t bring my hat so I decided to don the cap provided to our contingent. We reached our first destination half an hour after leaving the hotel: Garuda Wisnu Kencana or GWK Cultural Park. It is devoted to the Hindu god Vishnu and his mount, the mythical bird Garuda. We arrived in time for the 10:00 Barong dance. I must say I was annoyed with some of the audience who encroached into the performance area just to take selfies. Seriously, what the heck?! Some dancers were in creepy masks and as they neared the audience, I caught a whiff of their body odour and smelly costumes. Well, it was blazing hot and humid after all.

After the dance, we went up some steps to Vishnu and I peeked around the corner to see Garuda. I’m not big on statues so I wasn’t at all impressed and refused to take pictures except for the group photos of all participants of the Games. I refused to go down to see Garuda to pose in front of it and stood with two Singaporean women Scrabble players. Before long we discovered the rest of the group had left via a separate exit and we rushed out. Fortunately, I managed to find the way to the parking area and boarded the bus I rode in earlier. The buses were about to leave to pick up the group from atop the hill. Oh well. As long as I didn’t miss it altogether and had to find my own transportation to the next destination... I wouldn’t recommend going to GWK: it was still a work-in-progress and I wasn’t at all impressed with the park.

We left GWK and drove to Tanah Lot. We were told by our guide that it was an hour’s drive away and most of us dozed off along the way. It was hot and bright outside, not unlike a siesta time. We arrived at Tanah Lot about 70 minutes later and went to have lunch at a restaurant. The food was mediocre, inadequate and unsatisfying. After lunch, we walked to the Tanah Lot temple but we couldn’t walk up to it. Fortunately here the sea breeze was more abundant. We spent some time here and I walked to explore the interesting landscape around shaped by the elements.

We left just before 15:00 and drove to Krisna Oleh oleh Khas Bali, a shopping centre where we bought some souvenirs to bring back. And a good thing too because we discovered later that evening the prices in Kuta were a lot higher. Some of the participants really shopped so we had to wait for them to finish. We finally left at 17:20 and made our way back to the hotel. Krisna was less than 2.5 km away but we were caught in the stupid traffic crawl near the airport and all the way back to the hotel. My mates agreed to meet at 19:00 for dinner – I argued for 19:15 instead.

After dinner (at the restaurant where we had breakfast), we walked out. We split up and Rehdy and I walked up to Hard Rock Hotel. He bought a t-shirt there (who knew guys take a long time to try on t-shirts too?) and then we walked along Jalan Pantai Kuta before finding a place offering massage. Vincent had a foot massage for Rp75K on the day of arrival and we managed to find a few places offering it for Rp65K. we left at 22:45 and walked back to the hotel.

Monday, 31 October 2016

I went for morning walk at 06:00 and walked along the beach to Citadines Kuta Beach Bali before turning back. I then walked south past my hotel and up to Patra Jasa Bali Resort & Villas where I could see the runway of the airport. I spent some time looking at the planes queuing up at the runway, at the approaching plane, at the boats and other people out and about before returning to the hotel. I had decided to have a late breakfast and after reading and showering, went down for breakfast at 09:40. By now, I had gotten sick of the same food on offer and was at a loss as to what to have for breakfast.

I returned to the room to find my roommate had already left and finished packing. I read until I felt drowsy and took a short nap. I got up at 11:30 and performed ablutions before leaving the room. Went down to the reception to check out, had my bags stored in the luggage room and went to find a room I could perform prayers in (our Secretariat maintained four rooms for those on later flights to rest, store their bags and performed prayers etc).

We had to wait for two people on our flight to make their slow waddle to the bus and only left the hotel at 12:50 (we were supposed to leave at 12:30). I had already checked in online and went directly to the counter to get the boarding pass and drop my bag. I had some food and water and decided not to go in yet. I only went through the security check and immigration at almost 15:00 and made my way to the gate.

We took off on time and I spent the flight finishing my book and starting a new one. We landed at KLIA at 19:10 and as my normal practice, I went to perform prayers first before going to the conveyor belt. I spotted my bag from a distance and ran to get it and just about made it for the 19:55 KLIA Express train to KL Sentral (I thought the train was at 20:00 so it was a good thing I hurried).

So long Bali. I don’t think I’d return for the third time though. You are just too blazingly, blindingly, unbearably hot for me. One thing though, I was amazed there were no mosquitoes at all!

Road To Bali: First Step

I was in Bali over last weekend, representing TheOrganisation in Scrabble at the Games. There were two tournaments held to select the players and the few of us then had to undergo practice sessions to determine the ranking – yes, we took it very seriously indeed. After all, we were the champions for the previous two times when Scrabble was contested and we wanted to ensure we defended the trophy. After we had finalised the players’ list and ranked them, we then had twice weekly practice sessions after office hours (well, we were given time off for the practice sessions). I was tasked to play in the women’s single category and had to practise with my sparring partner who was assigned to play in the men’s single category. I missed two practice sessions when I took leave returning from KK and Gaya Island and when I had to attend a meeting.

Besides Scrabble, the other games contested were bowling, women’s volleyball, mixed badminton and table tennis. There was also executive golf for the senior people. The games were all agreed to at the previous Games (similarly, the games for next Games were already discussed and agreed to at the just concluded Games). We were given sport attire – four t-shirts (each to be worn during the opening ceremony, game day, farewell ceremony and city tour), a pair of track bottom, a cap and a pair of shoes. This wasn’t my first Games though it has been a while since then.

We flew out to Bali on Friday, 28 October 2016, by various flights. My flight was at 08:50 and I left home right after morning prayers. Abah sent me to Ampang Park and I rode the LRT to KL Sentral (50% fare discount for journeys between 06:00-07:00, nice!). I had checked in online but couldn’t print the boarding pass so I obtained it from the KL CAT and dropped off my bag. I took the 06:30 KLIA Express and was there before 07:00. After meeting up with two of my other teammates, I went in to clear immigration. There were a lot of other travellers too which surprised me somewhat. As I had time to spare, I took the aerotrain to the duty-free boutiques to browse. I’m quite broke right now (story of my life of late) so I could only browse and lust.

The flight took off on time and it was pretty full. There were a lot of Indians on the flight, perhaps celebrating Deepavali there? We landed at almost noon and I quickly made my get away. Cleared the immigration then waited for our bags to emerge. I then discovered that the small water container provided by the airline broke in my handbag so I had to go to the washroom and dry it out as best as I could. Harrumph!

We finally emerged out (a team member was subjected to a random search while another’s bag had broken during the flight) and were greeted by a representative of the host. We then boarded the bus to the hotel. It’s a newly renovated hotel not far from the airport but the traffic! It didn’t help that the road was narrow and only has two lanes, one going each direction. It was a bright hot sweltering day.

We were given a little welcome drink (the mug was big but the content was pitiful) and collected some ‘door gift’ before collecting the card keys to our respective room. My room was on the first floor (second floor to them, how American) and right at the very end of the corridor. It was a twin room with a balcony but didn’t face the garden and pool. The room felt how no matter how much I fiddled with the AC control and after hunting and feeling the wall, I finally found the luggage area and wardrobe – in the bathroom! What a strange place to put your luggage and have a wardrobe. I mean, won’t the condensation spoil your bags? Or did the hotel designers thought the steam would help keep your clothes wrinkle-free? After some time sorting out my things, I went to join the others for lunch.

I decided not to go with our team captain to check out the venue where our Scrabble games would be held when I heard it would take about an hour each way to get there and return back to the hotel. Plus it was simply just too hot to be venturing out. So I agreed with the other two lady players that we would have a practice session later in the afternoon. I returned back to the room, performed prayers and ironed my scarves. I also changed beds after deciding I couldn’t possibly sleep in the first bed (I hadn’t trashed the bed yet and my roommate hadn’t arrived either). I once spent sleepless nights in a hotel room because the AC was situated such that the cool air didn’t reach me and I wasn’t about to endure that again. My roommate arrived shortly after ;) she had a big suitcase that couldn’t fit into the luggage area so she decided to put it beside her bed. She went down for lunch and I made my way to NAN’s room and they were just about to start practice too. We played for two rounds as we needed to get ready for the welcoming ceremony.

After showering, I went down and walked to the beach to watch the sunset. Luckily for us, this side of the island afforded good views of sunset. I didn’t spend long there before hurrying back to my room for evening prayers and getting ready for the welcoming ceremony. The Malaysian contingent had to don the sport attire provided: collared t-shirt, wind cheater, track bottom, socks and sport shoes. The welcoming ceremony was held at the grand ballroom and after some Kodak moments of the senior management of the four participating bodies of the various contingents, we were ushered into the grand ballroom. Ah, AC relief at last!

We had buffet dinner and were kept entertained by songs performed by a group. Finally the speeches began and the performance continued with local dances. The ceremony ended around 10 p.m. and we made our way back to our rooms. We had an early start the following morning. The captains of the various sports had to stay back though to trash out the finer details of the respective competition.

To be continued 

In The Picture

Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, India - August 2006

Temple raider, Siem Reap, Cambodia - November 2006

Monks at a temple

Angkor Wat

In a Bangkok tuk tuk - December 2006

Vimanmen Teak Mansion, Bangkok

Terraced rice-fields of Bali - January 2007

Mount Tangkuban Perahu near Bandung - February 2007

Taipei Grand Hotel - March 2007

Queen’s Head at Yehliu Scenic Geopark, Taiwan

Capitol Hill from afar, Washington D.C.

Not Casablanca city in Morocco but Casa Blanca nevertheless, i.e. The White House

Relaxing on an unusually mild spring afternoon

Freezing DC weather on the morning of departure

Memories of Bali

Memories of Bali is one of the earlier Korean dramas I watched and among those that triggered my ‘addiction’ to Korean dramas.

OK, where shall I start? Abah sent Mummy and I to KL Sentral on Saturday noon for our coach to the LCCT. We reached the terminal very early, too early to check in, in fact. Flight departed on time and after suffering kicks and restless leg shakes from the inconsiderate oaf behind me, we reached Bali at 7.40 pm. We were done with the immigration, baggage collection, and customs clearance within 30 minutes. The hotel pick-up was already waiting and it took about another half an hour before we reached the hotel, no thanks to the Saturday Night crowds and the narrow road choked with taxis and pedestrians. We got an apartment unit with a sofa bed in the living room, a kitchenette attached to a corner of the living room complete with crockery, cutlery and even dish washing liquid! [all these were not made available at the Bangkok apartment].

Woke up early on Sunday Morning to check out the beach and to my dismay, I found the beach nowhere as gorgeous as I’d hoped. The sand was not that white – I’ve seen whiter sands on Malaysian beaches! – and not that clean. There were people doing their morning jog and also dogs running around. I didn’t linger there long.

Took the morning hotel shuttle to Kuta. Now Kuta is Bali’s biggest tourist beach area. I found it overdeveloped, over-commercialised, seedy and the word ‘tacky’ kept reverberating in my mind. And it was really tacky. The road leading to Kuta there was lined with an amazing hodgepodge of everything targeted for tourists – hotels from small to big, shops, stalls, restaurants, bars, spas, travel agencies, money changers, photo shops... everything that a tourist could possibly need really. More tacky shops awaited in Kuta selling tacky stuff. We went to find Uluwatu which Lin said stocks hand-made Balinese lace products, from clothes to bed linen. They didn’t come cheap too but the Uluwatu store at Jalan Bakung Sari carried some stuff at a discount [kind of like an outlet store].

We had our lunch at Kebab Place where we ordered chicken noodle soups instead of kebab. The portion made us want to cry, it was that miserably small. We then walked to Centro Shopping Mall about five minutes away before returning to Jalan Legian. It started to rain cats and dogs here and we got a bit drenched. We dodged our way in between stalls [tacky, tacky] and I saw a huge rat [or was it a mouse? I can never tell] and gave a scream. We found another two Uluwatu stores and after walking around a bit more, we took a cab back.

We were Lucky that there was a warung selling halal food very near to the hotel. The service was a bit slow though but worth the wait. After dinner, I placed a call to one of the travel agencies and booked a tour for the next day. You can find dozens of different tours arranged by various tour agencies at the airport; it’s just a matter of choosing where you want to go and which tour company you think can do the job.

The tour company picked us up on Monday morning after 8.30 am. We drove past Denpasar on the way to Ubud. The first village is Batubulan, which literally means ‘moon stone’. Famous for its stone carvings, most of the stone sculptures you see around Bali will almost certainly come from Batubulan. These works are exhibited all along the main road – demons, noble warriors and animals of various sizes and shapes. Batubulan is also a centre for antiques and a variety of crafts, textiles and woodworks and has some well-regarded dance troops. A Barong and Rangda or Keris dance is performed here at 9.30 am daily. The dance symbolises the never-ending battle between good and bad. I didn’t appreciate the dance much though.

We then went to a nearby batik centre but again, this place didn’t impress me much. Our next stop was Celuk, the centre for Balinese goldsmiths and silversmiths. Nearly every family here is involved in some aspects of the delicate silver work. We stopped at a workshop to see a silversmith at work and then to the adjoining showroom but again left empty-handed.

Further along the road towards Ubud is the village of Mas. Mas means ‘gold’ but the craft here is mainly woodcarving and the village offers a myriad of wooden items. The road through it is solidly lined with craft shops. We stopped at one but most of the elaborate and finely carved products were of statues so again we left empty-handed.

After Mas, we entered the area of Ubud. Ubud is recognised as the cultural centre of Bali and is home to many respected local and western artists. I almost bought a painting at the first centre but decided against it and bought one at another centre.

We journeyed on, passing houses, temples [and there were many of them!] and soon we started our ascend up to Kintamani, which is 1500 metres above the sea level. There were wonderful views of terraced rice fields too and I enjoyed the serene view which was enhanced by the fresh air, made fresher from the recent rain. We then stopped at a family-run farm and all kinds of trees were planted there – red cocoa, green cocoa, coffee, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, banana, jackfruit... the land was very fertile here [it was near the volcanic mountain]. The family also runs a small shop selling organically produced food products and toiletries.

We finally reached Kintamani and had a late lunch [at 3 pm!] at a restaurant. Unfortunately, it was drizzling and the rain obscured the view of the majestic Gunung Batur. Soon after the rain stopped, there were mists that denied us the view of both the mountain and Danau Batur [Lake Batur]. Oh well...

We returned back to Legian, but not before stopping at a traditional house to see how Balinese traditional life is lived and later a temple. Mummy refused to enter so I went in with the guide. I much prefer Buddhist temples to Indian temples because the former only have statues of Buddha whereas the latter have really gruesome grotesque-looking statues. We reached the hotel at 6.20 pm, after an almost 10-hour day out [the brochure said the tour duration was supposed to be 8-9 hours]. That night, I dreamt I was treasure-hunting in South America and encountered a large, monstrous statue of some mythical figure. That’s for visiting the temple hours earlier.

Tuesday morning: woke up early for prayers [the sun rises early on this part of the world]. After showering, we finished up packing and had a quick breakfast. See, we had a massage appointment that morning. Our pick-up arrived at 7.35 and brought us to the Green Garden Spa at Green Garden Hotel, about 20 minutes away. We had a relaxing and wonderful massage there but as Mummy was worried about arriving the airport late and missing the flight so we were done 30 minutes before the scheduled time [and missed the steam bath – I didn’t mind this – and Jacuzzi – which I did mind missing!].

We were driven back to our hotel and checked out at 1130, after having a very light meal. There were about two mosques quite near the airport and I was pleased to discover there were prayer rooms at the airport too. I was surprised to actually find some products cost cheaper at the airport than elsewhere [that was a first time for me] but I didn’t part with any more Rupiah because the souvenir stuff just didn’t interest me at all. To be honest, I’m getting sick of the same souvenir items sold everywhere in Asia and it’s getting more and more difficult to find good quality and unique souvenirs to bring home.

The plane departed slightly later at 2.15 pm and we reached KUL at 5 pm. There were really kiasu passengers rushing to get off the plane and they got a rebuke from some Caucasian passengers. They certainly gave a bad first impression of Malaysians and deserved the rebuke.

~~~~~~~~

Footie footnote: Arsenal beat ManUre 2-1 on Sunday. Excellent, superb, fantastic! Thanks to bosom buddy who text me with the good news. Read about the match here and here. Oh and Liverpool also beat Chelshit 2-0 the night before.

Woke up at 5.30 this morning for no reason and wondered if the Carling Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Spurs was still on. Turned on the tube only to find Arsenal trailing by two goals and thought, ‘Heck, was this the team of young Gunners that beat Liverpool last week?’ My decision to abandon a few more precious minutes on the cosy bed was rewarded later with two goals from Julio Baptista who redeemed himself from zero to hero [aye, he scored an own goal in the first half]. Read the full report here. Now we have to face Spurs again next Wednesday to determine who'll face Chelshit in the final at Cardiff.