Bali Trip

On Saturday 22nd March 2014, I went to Bali with my brother Mi, my sister-in-law Ju, my nephews Ajun, Hakim, Hazim and Iskandar and my niece Syikin. We stayed there for five days and four nights. I have always wanted to visit Bali and was very much looking forward to this trip.
Described briefly below were the places that we have visited during our short stay in Bali.

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan at Bedugul (Day 3: Monday 24th March 2014)

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan or Pura Bratan or Lake Bratan Temple is a major Shivaite and water temple in Bali. The temple complex is located on the shores of Bratan Lake in the mountains near Bedugul. Built in 1663 the temple is used for offering ceremony to the Balinese water, lake and river goddess Dewi Danu, due to the importance of Lake Bratan as a main source of  irrigation in central Bali. Pura Ulun Danu Bratan is featured on the Indonesian Rp50000 banknote.
Pura Bratan has a gorgeous location being located on the shore of Bratan Lake with the mountains as the backdrop. The place was very breezy and it was cool and comfortable when we visited the pura despite the blazing sun.

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan
(Lake Bratan Temple)

Another part of the temple complex

My niece and nephew

Pura Luhur Uluwatu at Uluwatu (Day 1: Saturday 22 March 2014)

Perched majestically on the edge of a steep cliff that towers above the legendary surf breaks of southern Bali is Pura Luhur Uluwatu or Uluwatu Temple. Located in southern westernmost precinct of Bali. There are monkeys around the place and precautionary signs are put in place to warn off visitors of their aggressiveness. However we did not witness any aggressive monkeys that day. Most of them, left to their own devices, were preoccupied with grooming and grabbing whatever food people leave out for them. They were confident animals and not at all scared of people. We sometimes had to walk carefully along the trail so as not to step on their long tails because they were grooming and relaxing on the pathway.

At sunset Kecak Dance performance is held there and sunset viewing at Uluwatu is a must-do in Bali.

Pura Luhur Uluwatu (The Uluwatu Temple)

At the temple compound

Walls like this one at Uluwatu Temple,
can be found everywhere in Bali

Kecak Dance Performance at Uluwatu Temple (Day 1: Saturday 22 March 2014)
Kecak Dance or Tari Kecak is a form of dance drama developed in 1930's in Bali. It is performed primarily by men, about 150 of them, wearing checked cloth around their waists, chanting "cak, cak" and throwing their arms around simultaneously. The dance depicts a battle from the great Hindu epic The Ramayana where the main characters are Rama, Sita, Ravana and Hanuman. The storyline is about the abduction of Sita by King Ravana. There is no musical instrument in Kecak Dance performance, the chanting of the men sitting in concentric circles becomes the music.
When we arrived at the location, they were already so many people. Because the steps of the sitting platforms were rather high, I chose to sit at the lowest step, thereby I missed the stunning Uluwatu sunset ha ha ha.

The lovely Sita

Rama and Sita

The chanting men

Me sitting on the lowest step

Pura Tirta Empul at Tampak Siring (Day 2: Sunday 23rd March 2014)
Pura Tirta Empul or Tirta Empul Temple or Tapak Siring Temple is a holy spring water temple located in Tampak Siring Village, Gianyar Regency and is about 39km eastwards from Denpasar town. Tirta Empul Temple was built in 962 AD during the Warmadewa dynasty (from the 10th to 14th centuries) at a site where there was a large water spring. Pura Tirta Empul is a very active temple built around the bubbling sacred spring. The water from the spring is holy to the Balinese and is believed to purify those who bathe in it.
The main attraction of the temple complex is the long rectangular pool carved out of stone, filled with koi and fed by the sacred spring via 12 fountains. Worshippers first make an offering at the temple, then climb down into the main pool to bathe and pray.

Beautiful carving and sculptures

The Balinese performing their prayers.
Pura Tirta Empul is an active living temple.

The sacred pool where the springs are located

Entrance to the prayer area. In
picture my nephew Ajun

My nephew Hazim at the sacred pool

Worshippers doing the purifying ritual
in the koi-filled rectangular pool

Pura Tanah  Lot at Beraban (Day 3: Monday 24th March 2014)
Tanah Lot is a rock formation in the west coast of Bali and is home to pilgrimage temple the Pura Tanah Lot or Tanah Lot Temple. It is situated in the village of Beraban in Tabanan Regency about 20km from Denpasar. Pura Tanah Lot is one of the most visited and the most photographed of Balinese temples. The temple is said to be the work of a revered 15th century Hindu priest Niartha and form an important element of Balinese spiritualism and mythology.
A comprehensive restoration programme in the 1990s when it was realised that the rock was seriously eroded and in danger of collapse. The major works resulted in the actual temple being out of bounds. This us not really a hindrance to visitors as the actual temple is key attraction.
To me, the actual attraction is the magnificent view of the temple perched on the rock with the sky and the sea as background. We did not go near the temple as the view from further away was breathtaking enough.

The magnificent Pura Tanah Lot

At the temple compound

My brother and my nephews

My brother and my sis-in-law

Even though sculptures like this
one can be found almost everywhere
in Bali, I still couldn't get enough of
photographing them, to me they
were just exquisite.

Close-up view of the Tanah Lot Temple

Pura Taman Ayun at Mengwi (Day 3: Monday 24 March 2014)
Pura Taman Ayun or Taman Ayun Temple or also known as Mengwi Royal Temple is one of the most important temples in Bali. Situated near the town of Mengwi, directly north of Kuta and about 18km from Denpasar. Built in 1634 by a King of the Mengwi Dynasty, this impressive temple complex stands on an island in a river, its inner temple surrounded by a moat. Its Balinese name Pura Taman Ayun literally means " Garden Temple in a River".
This temple is part of directional temples that supposed to protect Bali from evil spirits. Pura Taman Ayun was built as a series of garden terraces with courtyard on different levels. The entire complex was designed to symbolise the mythological home of the gods, Mount Meru, floating in the sea of eternity.
The garden that visitors had to go through before coming to the actual temple is very well maintained, with immaculate lawns and shady trees all around. I always have a thing with immaculate lawns and I think this temple is a very cool place to visit.

The main gate before the
temple entrance

In the temple complex

Immaculate lawns, my kind of thing!

The tower where calls for meetings,
announcements, etc. were made in
the old days

I  am a bad photographer. This photo I took
doesn't at all resemble the impressiveness
of the pura

The moat surrounding the inner temple

Bali Bird Park Gianyar Regency (Day 2: Sunday 23rd March 2014)
The Bali Bird Park has an area of about 4.9 acres or 20,000 sq. metres. The Bird Park houses more than 5000 birds representing more than 250 species in an enclosed aviary.
The park served more than 250 species of bird from the Indonesian archipelago, South America and South Africa. The bird that attracted most attention is the Bali Mynah, the endangered bird from Bali. The has been assigned as one of the Bali Mynah breeding sites.
Some interesting events for tourists are:
Interactive Feeding  Time
Free Flight Bird Show
Meet The Star Bird

A very beautiful resident of the park

Entrance to the park

The colourful Mandarin ducks

Rice Terraces at Tegalalang Village, Ubud (Day 2: Sunday 23rd March 2014)
Rice terraces in Tegalalang is the most frequently visited by tourists due to its location, being so close to other tourist attractions such as Ubud, Pura Tirta Empul at Tampak Siring, Gunung Kawi Sebatu and Taro Elephant Park.
Along the road the are many handicraft centres especially of wood carvings.
A lot of souvenir shops and small cafes lined the road too.
We stopped at at one of the roadside cafe, went down some steps to have a better view of the beautiful terraces. A lady selling durians passed near us and we bought some durians from her. The Balinese durians were rather small in size and tasted just like our durian kampung. We spent some time there just enjoying the view. It was cool, very pleasant and very beautiful surrounding and  we felt reluctant to leave.

The very beautiful panorama

My beloved nephews and niece

Reluctant to leave such a
heavanly place

The Pacung Restaurant near Bedugul (Day 3: Monday 24 March 2014)
The Pacung Restaurant is a favourite lunch stop for tourist on the way to Bedugul to visit Pura Ulun Danu Bratan. The has a sweeping view of the famous Jatiluwih rice terraces lying along the slope of Mount Batukaru. The restaurant is dubbed "double halal" as it serves no pork and no beef, as Bali is mostly Hindu while Indonesia in general is mostly Muslim.
I have never been to heaven, in fact I would be a very bad candidate for heaven, but to all my living breathing senses the view from this restaurant is heaven itself. The food was okay but food was not a reason to make this restaurant a memorable place.

Blue sky and green rice terraces

Imagine having this view when you wake
up in the morning. 

It was a beautiful sunny day when
we were there, words fail me to
describe this awesome place

Conclusion: To me the Balinese live among beautiful surroundings and beautiful objects. It is no wonder that they are very spiritual and very artistic. Every family, for example, has its own pura with beautiful sculptures and intricate carvings everywhere. They have many ceremonies that are colourful and unique to the island. People are friendly and much more relaxed and they seemed to be doing better economically than their brothers and sisters in other parts of Indonesia (at least the parts of Indonesia that I have visited like Medan, Jogjakarta and Surakarta).
I had a great time and enjoyed every part of the trip. It was also an opportunity to bond with my nephews and my niece. Before the trip I was a little apprehensive about how my newly-operated knee would fare for the five days. I walked slow and had to be careful where there were steps or staircases or slippery ground but otherwise I was okay. The knee even set off the scanner at Ngurah Rai Airport when we were returning home ha ha ha.

There were other things we did there like watching the Barong Dance and the various shopping places we went and the different restaurants with different ethnic foods that we experienced, and the hotel where we stayed too were worth mentioning. However I think this posting is getting too long-winded and I prefer to sign off here.

Being An Introvert

(The following are some articles that I found on the Web pertaining to the subject of introversion and what or who is an introvert. It is a subject that I am fond of reading as much as possible, because to a large extent I think I am one)

Definition: Contrary to what most people think, an introvert is not simply a person who is shy. In fact, being shy has little to do with being an introvert! Shyness has an element of apprehension, nervousness and anxiety, and while an introvert may also be shy, introversion itself is not shyness. Basically, an introvert is a person who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people.

Introverts are more concerned with the inner world of the mind. They enjoy thinking, exploring their thoughts and feelings. They often avoid social situations because being around people drains their energy. This is true even if they have good social skills. After being with people for any length of time, such as at a party, they need time alone to "recharge."

When introverts want to be alone, it is not, by itself, a sign of depression. It means that they either need to regain their energy from being around people or that they simply want the time to be with their own thoughts. Being with people, even people they like and are comfortable with, can prevent them from their desire to be quietly introspective.

Being introspective, though, does not mean that an introvert never has conversations. However, those conversations are generally about ideas anpd concepts, not about what they consider the trivial matters of social small talk.

Introverts make up about 60% of the gifted population but only about 25-40% of the general population.

All About Introverts
By Carol Bainbridge

People don’t outgrow introversion, so the introverted adult was once an introverted child. What is true of one is true of both. Contrary to popular opinion, introverts are not asocial, nor are they friendless loners who lack social skills. They simply have different social needs and preferences.

Friendships

It is not easy for introverts to make new friends because getting to know someone takes so much energy. However, introverts don’t need a wide circle of friends. They prefer one or two close friends, even though they may know many people and have a large number of acquaintances. In spite of this preference, introverts are frequently criticized for not making an effort to make more friends and are often seen to be lacking social skills.

Social Preferences

Introverts need a lot of personal space. They like being in a room alone with the door closed and those who don’t understand introverts believe this desire to be alone is a sign of depression. However, for introverts this behavior is normal; it is not a sign of withdrawing from life. Being around others is tiring for them so they need time alone in order to regain some of their energy. Being alone also gives them a chance to think and figure things out uninterrupted. Introverts don’t enjoy large parties and if they have to attend one, prefer to spend their time with just one or two others, talking about what they all know a lot about. Introverted children may prefer to play on the side with one or two other children.

Preferred Activities

Introverts enjoy activities they can do alone or with just a few others. It’s not surprising, then, that so many introverted gifted children love to read. They also tend to prefer activities that allow for creative expression, like creative writing, music, and art. Introverted children also enjoy quiet and imaginative play. When presented with an opportunity to participate in a group activity or game, introverts prefer to hang back and watch before they join in. Many people see this as shyness, but it’s not. They feel more comfortable with situations that are familiar to them and they are simply trying to become familiar with the activity before they join in.

Social Behavior

Introverts tend to be quiet and subdued. They dislike being the center of attention, even if the attention is positive. It’s not surprising, then, that introverts don’t brag about their achievements or knowledge. In fact, they may know more than they’ll admit. It may be the introverted gifted children who are more at risk for “dumbing down” since they would be more likely to want to hide their abilities.When introverts are tired, in a large group, or if too much is going on, they may show little animation, with little facial expression or body movement. Introverts also have two distinct personalities: a private one and a public one. That can explain why they can be talkative in comfortable settings, like home, and quiet elsewhere.

Social Interaction

While introverts may appear to lack social skills or be antisocial, neither is true. Their style of social interaction is simply different from that of extroverts. They tend to listen more than they talk and are excellent listeners. They are attentive and will make eye contact with the person they are listening to and rarely interrupt. When they do talk, introverts tend to say what they mean and may look away from the person they’re talking to. They dislike small talk and would rather say nothing than something they feel is insignificant. Although introverts are quiet, they will talk incessantly if they’re interested in the topic. They also dislike being interrupted when they talk, or when they’re working on some project.

Verbal Expression

If given a choice, introverts would rather express their ideas in writing than in speech. When they do speak, they need time to think before answering a question. Sometimes they even feel the need to mentally rehearse what they want to say before they say it. The need to think before speaking often results in the introvert being slow to respond to questions or comments. When they talk, they may also pause quite often and even have problems finding the right word.

Emotions and Emotional Responses

Introverts become emotionally drained after spending time with others, particularly strangers. They don’t like crowded places and introverted children can even become grouchy and irritable if they’ve been around too many people for too long. Even when introverts enjoyed a party or activity, they can feel drained afterwards. Parents often sign their introverted children up for numerous activities to help them improve their social skills, but an activity-filled schedule is overwhelming for these children. Introverts are also rather territorial. They dislike sharing space with others for too long and may find house guests intrusive. Introverts also have a hard time sharing their feelings and feel deeply embarrassed by public mistakes.

Other Traits and Preferences

Introverts can concentrate intensely on a book or project for a long time if they find it interesting and like to explore subjects deeply and thoroughly. That may be why introverts don’t like to be bothered when they are reading or working on a project. Introverts are highly aware of their inner world of perceptions, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and feelings. They are also highly aware of their surroundings, noticing details that others don’t see. However, they are not quick to discuss their thoughts or observations. They may, for example, wait days or weeks to talk about events. Introverts also favor consistency over change, and cope with change best when they know ahead of time what to expect and have enough time to prepare for it.

A Hard Life in 2014

Watching Wan Nyah getting
ready to go out

Making a sad face
"Please don't leave me"

"Are you really going
Wan Nyah?"

Yesterday's physiotherapy session had caused my right leg muscles to be cramped more than usual. Despite that I still keep doing the other recommended exercises at home thus causing the muscles to become even more sore. Well, no pain no gain, that is what my physiotherapist used to say.
Well, cramped or sore muscles would not deter my determination to go out. May be window shopping will lessen the soreness ha ha ha. My little playful tuxedo girl was watching intently from the staircase as I got ready to go out. Even made a sad face at me. But she got distracted when Mickey came in and started chasing after her. The catch-me-if-you-can game was to be continued from this morning.

So I drove to KTM Commuter station and took the train to KL Sentral. Since it was already lunch hour and I haven't even had breakfast yet, I looked around for a place to eat. Lunch hour at KL Sentral Station is always a busy and crowded affair with all the hungry travellers and office workers milling around. McD, KFC, Subway all long queues. Secret Recipes, Swiss Oven, Starbucks and many others were almost full too. Since I was alone, I did not feel comfortable to join other people's tables. Okay, I went up to the food court, even though I did not really favour Malay cuisine if I eat outside actually. At least there were seats available there.

So mixed rice today. I asked for half a plate of rice, one small fried ikan kembung, two scoops of cuttle fish sambal, one pegedil, half of a salted egg and a scoop of acar timun. It cost me RM14.00 without any drinks. I thought the lady made a mistake but no, she gave me the printed itemised receipt. Perhaps I was not very up-to-date on the prices of foodstuffs and the likes.

I am not a person who is calculative when it comes to eating. I eat what I like even if it is a little expensive. If it is good food and value for money, good service, clean surrounding, cosy atmosphere, then is okay even if it is a little pricey. As it happens, nowadays there are also days that I would just eat whatever stocks I have in the fridge because I was too lazy to go out. My meals would then be a combination of whole meal bread, cheese, eggs, Japanese cucumber, mushroom and may be some capsicum. Well, I still think RM14.00 was a tard too pricey for KL Sentral food court. A lot of people passes through this hub of a station and many of them are just ordinary working men and women who have families to support and children to raise.

After lunch I took a the coupon cab to Midvalley Megamall. It cost me RM12.00. One thing I like about this cab service is that the price of the journey is paid at the counter and you have a ticket. You do not have to wonder for example why the meter in the cab you took seemed to move a little too fast. You also do not have to feel irritated when the cab driver picks up another passenger along the way, after taking you on that is and that passenger is heading to a different destination.

After browsing in MidValley for a while I went over to Borders located in next-door The Gardens. Borders The Gardens is one of my favourite bookstores besides Kinokuniya at Suria KLCC and Popular at Sunway Pyramid. I ended up buying this memoir by Ivana Lowell entitled "Why Not Say What Happened?". The memoir was priced at RM111.80 but I was lucky card members were entitled to 50% discount on certain titles including this memoir.

A memoir about a
dysfunctional aristocratic
family

Reading is quite an expensive habit nowadays. I do believe that many parents would love to stock their homes with reading materials for their kids but the hefty price of books is a deterrent to this noble desire. One suggestion I can give is for them to watch out for the famous Big Bad Wolf Book Sale where the price discount is really really good and is not available anywhere else in Malaysia. The yearly Popular Sale usually held at KLCC Convention Centre is another place where you can find books rather affordable.

I came out of Borders at around 17:30. I thought I might as well have an early dinner. So I went to the food court next to Borders.  I ordered fried rice, black coffee and two slices of fruits. All together it cost me RM11.00. The plus point about this food court is that it is very clean and not crowded. There are plenty of tables and chairs and benches too even if the choice of food is rather limited.

The point I am trying to make here is that life is hard nowadays and the ordinary people are struggling to make ends meet. I am retired, single and most of my financial commitments are for myself, my two cats and some contribution to the family and yet I feel the pinch. Many items and services are becoming more expensive and you just have no money to save anymore. Around Klang Valley if you do not own a house, the accommodation rent is going to make a big hole in your pocket. I think housing is ridiculously overpriced in Klang Valley. Of course there are always rich people who can afford them but most of these house are beyond the means of the low income group. Where cars, another necessity, are concerned,  a lot had also been negatively said in various media about the prices of our national cars. Perhaps that is why many people get irritated with the PM's "kangkung" statement previously. To make it worse, some of our cabinet minister were making quite a few statements, that can only be described as being moronic, pertaining to complains from the rakyat about the increase in prices of various commodities.

A Wealthy Individual

I am just a poor retired civil servant but when I look at the photos at the bottom, I think I am rather wealthy.

Material things of course are important but your feelings about your family and friends are very important too. You might at times be angry at your family or friends but that is just the ups and downs of life.

My relationship with my biological family more often than not are rather awkward and superficial at times. A lot of conflicts arisen mostly from the difficult personality of my adopted mother. People might think I am bad-mouthing her, but that was the truth. It was only in recent years, minus her meddling that I managed to feel closer to my family. It was not an easy thing to do as I am an introvert and expressions of love and closeness are rather difficult for me to display. It also takes a lot courage and energy to bury away the ghosts of my formative years having to live through the tumultuous years of my foster parents marriage and their weird parenting.

All that being said about my weirdness and quirkiness and the pathetic circumstances of my upbringing, I still think that I am rather wealthy in some ways which are not associated with material things. Why did I say that? Because I am still here, I am okay and I am surviving. Now that I am retired I feel I missed my close friends very much as I don't see them everyday anymore. Even though there were things that I wish could have done better, especially with my family, but I have no regrets. Life is short, let's focus on the the present, on what I have and on what I can do.

To all my friends, thank you for being you, for accepting me the way I am. To all my nephews and nieces, your Wan Nyah is still making baby steps at making connection with all of you. To all my pets, past and present, love you, love you, love you!

 

When Dream Comes True

 Just finished reading this delightful book entitled "The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap" by Wendy Welch. I love the book because it is about doing something you always dream about doing, taking on the challenges, making friends along the way, learning and relearning about yourselves, about life and human relationship and about being part of a community. Doing things because you love doing them, despite the struggles and obstacles, not because you want to be filthy rich or famous.

Ms Welch is a bookworm and a bibliophile, is American, has a Phd in ethnography and I believed she is in her early forties. If you are wondering what is ethnography I have written at the very bottom the meaning which I gathered from a few online dictionaries. Wendy is married to Jack Beck, a Scottish folksinger and college professor. Both Wendy and Jack are seasoned travellers. They have visited more than forty countries and have lived in eight, the last being Scotland where they have lived for five years before deciding to set up home in the states.

Back on American soil, Wendy took a job in some government establishment only to find it is really a "snake pit" where the culture was biting and being bitten and you moved forward if you were able to bite a larger chunk of someone else. She resigned and decided to take another small college job in Virginia, in a town called Big Stone Gap. It is here that Wendy and Jack came across a large Edwardian house that they fell in love with. They thought the house would be perfect for their longtime dream, to open a secondhand bookstore.
So they bought the house and Jack and Wendy moved in with their pets. This book will always have a soft spot in my heart because of the couple's love of their pets and the rescue and rehoming of dogs and cats that become one of the volunteering activities at the bookshop. When they first moved in Wendy and Jack have a black Labrador named Zora, a Terrier named Bert and two cats Val-Kyttie and Beulah.

So Wendy took us through the couple's experience of setting up the old house to become a secondhand bookstore. From renovating the house, to gathering books to stock up the bookshop, to making efforts to get accepted in the community, to becoming a good sales person for secondhand books, to setting up various activities that involved the community in her bookshop, to making a tour of other secondhand bookshops in the neighbouring states.

Wendy to me is down-to-earth and frank in her writing and I love that very much.

Ethnography: 1 research designed to explore cultural phenomena 2 scientific description of individual cultures  3 descriptive study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study  4 the study of social interactions, behaviours and perceptions that occur within groups, teams, organisations and communities. 

Bibliophile: a person who loves or collects books especially as examples of fine or unusual printing, binding or because they are very old or first edition books.

Bookworm: someone who loves books for their content and otherwise loves reading.

A New Family Member

Introducing Tam. Found near the row of grocery shops where I parked my car on  Maulidur Rasul holiday last month. Very skinny, full of fleas, very hungry and scavenging for food behind a stall selling goreng pisang. I didn't have the heart to leave her there, hungry and itching all over with all the fleas. Made up my mind there and then, that she will be an addition to my household and a companion for my Mickey Benjamin. It was easy to entice her with food and she was placed into the cage which I happened to have at the back of the car. Tam is about three months old and quite a gorgeous tuxedo kitten actually, underneath all the fleas and that scrawny physique. The pictures above were taken like four days ago, about three weeks from the time I first took her in.

Took her immediately to my vet at Section 7, Shah Alam. She was dewormed and treated with flea medication and I was told to take her back in two weeks time for her first vaccination. Tam was put in a cage in the back room upstairs. After three days, I let her out of the cage but I close the door of the room. Periodically I would let Mickey in for supervised introduction and play. At times there would be hissing and growling but they were both very interested in one another.

Last Thursday I let her out of the room. She immediately began exploring every nook and cranny of both room upstairs. The staircase was a little scary place for her for the first twenty minutes of freedom. Once she mustered the courage to deal with the staircase, my very small house is her very own playground. Mickey is very fond of playing hide-and-seek with Tam nowadays, even though I have to be vigilant that the play doesn't become too rough for Tam as Mickey is very much bigger in size.

I named her Tam because she is black (short for hitam). My niece Syikin suggested she should be Tammy and a friend said she should be Tammy Benjamin because the other one is Mickey Benjamin. I think I will just stick to Tam as she is already beginning to respond to that name.