Christians. Yet. Again.
Cover-Backside Declaration: I am not saying that Christians are bad. I am merely showing my dear readers the antics of fanatic Christians that appear on the news. I am not saying that there aren't good Christians, I'm just saying that there're too few of them.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090528/tap-singapore-crime-religion-06f3cb7.html
No, serious. And right after the AWARE incident too.
Do you think the fanatics in Singapore are going crazy?
I for one actually love our Malay/Muslim counterparts here despite all you racists around me. They can be so much more friendlier, more understanding and I love the fact that they're so family-orientated.
Plus the fact that they don't push their religion in your face.
Friday, May 29, 2009
My Recent Posts
... are freaking depressing, lah.
And all because of one person.
But I don't want to talk about that person anymore, because Lazy's cleared up a lot of things with me on that issue.
Lazy's MINE! *points middle finger at that guy*
Anyways, things are looking up. Not going great, but definately looking up.
We're booked solid through the weekends now. You need to get a reservation 2 weeks in advance for weekends now.
Someone's coming to view my bike on Saturday. I hope he takes it.
... are freaking depressing, lah.
And all because of one person.
But I don't want to talk about that person anymore, because Lazy's cleared up a lot of things with me on that issue.
Lazy's MINE! *points middle finger at that guy*
Anyways, things are looking up. Not going great, but definately looking up.
We're booked solid through the weekends now. You need to get a reservation 2 weeks in advance for weekends now.
Someone's coming to view my bike on Saturday. I hope he takes it.
Monday, May 25, 2009
MAYDAY!
We're going to the MayDay concert in August!
As many of you know, I am a ridiculously huge MayDay fan (and so are thousands of other MayDay fans).
Photos from their last concert and autograph session.
So I went queueing for the tickets yesterday and got stuck in front of and behind 2 pairs of females. There's a pair who cut the queue right in front of me, and a pair who came after me.
I ended up listening to their mindless female banter for like 4 hours. Okay, Lazy was with me for the first 2 and a half hours, after which he had to leave for his guitar class, so I got stuck with eavesdropping on other people for 1 and a half hours.
Oh. My. God. This is why I don't have close female friends. It's like making permenant awkward small talk and apparently these girls enjoy it.
Guys genuinely want to know about each others small/disgusting/random nonsense (to make fun of), and it's generally more interesting to talk to guys because it's a whole lot funnier. Even the serious stuff get turned into nonsense. Girls, just talk to each other about their day, or in this case, their trip to wherever in a super bimbotic way. It didn't help that one of the girls apparently had trouble pronouncing the letter R in Chinese, so 日本 came out sounding like 乐本.
It's excruciating.
And to make matters worse, I was wearing my 5-inch heels. Ouch.
Thank goodness we got good seats close to the external stage. I think I'm going to reach out and trip anyone who walks down that runway.
Three tickets again, this time hopefully CS can make it because it's more expensive than the last time we went.
We're going to the MayDay concert in August!
As many of you know, I am a ridiculously huge MayDay fan (and so are thousands of other MayDay fans).
Photos from their last concert and autograph session.
So I went queueing for the tickets yesterday and got stuck in front of and behind 2 pairs of females. There's a pair who cut the queue right in front of me, and a pair who came after me.
I ended up listening to their mindless female banter for like 4 hours. Okay, Lazy was with me for the first 2 and a half hours, after which he had to leave for his guitar class, so I got stuck with eavesdropping on other people for 1 and a half hours.
Oh. My. God. This is why I don't have close female friends. It's like making permenant awkward small talk and apparently these girls enjoy it.
Guys genuinely want to know about each others small/disgusting/random nonsense (to make fun of), and it's generally more interesting to talk to guys because it's a whole lot funnier. Even the serious stuff get turned into nonsense. Girls, just talk to each other about their day, or in this case, their trip to wherever in a super bimbotic way. It didn't help that one of the girls apparently had trouble pronouncing the letter R in Chinese, so 日本 came out sounding like 乐本.
It's excruciating.
And to make matters worse, I was wearing my 5-inch heels. Ouch.
Thank goodness we got good seats close to the external stage. I think I'm going to reach out and trip anyone who walks down that runway.
Three tickets again, this time hopefully CS can make it because it's more expensive than the last time we went.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Makings Of A Bitter Old Lady
I'm falling and I don't know where I'll land.
Do I look okay to you? I hope I do, because that's what I want you to think so you won't constantly ask me why I am sad.
There's a constant ache in me that I rub salt on every time I think about the kind of person you've become. You're no longer morally upright, and I can't help but attach a face to you and wonder why. Your words don't mean squat now that you can so easily turn around and say "the others are doing it."
There's a constant wound in me that I tear open every time I smile at you or give you a kiss.
At the ruins of what was once a stronghold, the tears come far more easily than they used to. But not in front of you, never in front of you.
What would become of me if I were to show more of my vulnerability to you?
Leaving seems inevitable, at this rate. I don't know how long I can keep up this front, this smiling, everything-is-ok front and watch you be taken away.
Yes, it feels like you're being taken away from me. This is why I'm feeling more and more alone as the days pass, even though you're right next to me. You're simply not there anymore.
I can't bring myself to trust your words anymore.
I'm falling and I don't know where I'll land.
Do I look okay to you? I hope I do, because that's what I want you to think so you won't constantly ask me why I am sad.
There's a constant ache in me that I rub salt on every time I think about the kind of person you've become. You're no longer morally upright, and I can't help but attach a face to you and wonder why. Your words don't mean squat now that you can so easily turn around and say "the others are doing it."
There's a constant wound in me that I tear open every time I smile at you or give you a kiss.
At the ruins of what was once a stronghold, the tears come far more easily than they used to. But not in front of you, never in front of you.
What would become of me if I were to show more of my vulnerability to you?
Leaving seems inevitable, at this rate. I don't know how long I can keep up this front, this smiling, everything-is-ok front and watch you be taken away.
Yes, it feels like you're being taken away from me. This is why I'm feeling more and more alone as the days pass, even though you're right next to me. You're simply not there anymore.
I can't bring myself to trust your words anymore.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Manipulation At Its Most Obvious
This post is for documentation, in case somebody asks me to give an example of how manipulation looks like in its raw form.
You pester and guilt-trip the fuck out of somebody for weeks, first trying to get him to come out before our Bali trip and failing which, constantly reminding him that you are going to meet his sister the week after and you hope that he will be there. Yes, you did not directly say that he HAS to be there, but you pestered and guil-tripped him so much that he had to go because you had manipulated him into thinking that he owes you something.
Count how many times you "reminded" him *guilt-trip comes free with every SMS!* within a span of 2 weeks. Before AND after Bali. Which reminds me, I saw the jealous SMS you sent to him directly before we went to the airport. What, to make sure he remembers you during his trip overseas with me?
So, after we've established the fact that you pestered and guilt-tripped the fuck out of him for two weeks to meet up with you (no girlfriend allowed, please, but your sister can come), you turn the tables on that day itself.
Suddenly, you become ever so slightly gracious, telling him that it's ok if he cannot make it. Suddenly you start to care if he would get into trouble for meeting you. Suddenly, your horns disappear and you try to make yourself out to be an angel.
Not-so-suddenly and not-so-unexpectedly, you throw in the "don't want another round of bitching" at the end of your SMS. Which obviously points to my blogging about things related to you i.e his attitude and behavior changes whenever you come into the equation.
So let me break this down even further for those who are thick in the skull and needs things to be broken down to their molecular base.
1) You want to meet my boyfriend and I am not allowed to go. Everybody else in the world can go, just not me.
2) You pester my boyfriend to meet you until he gave in.
3) Suddenly, at the last minute, you pretend that you have accepted that he will not be able to make it because according to your insinuation, I would've stopped him from going. You pretend that you actually cared if he would encounter any problems with meeting you.
What this does to the person you are aiming at: He would feel that suddenly he has a choice as to whether or not to meet you, as opposed to no choice because you kept pestering him before, but chooses to meet you anyway because he's already cleared his day for you and you were already there.
Essentially, he would think that it was his own choice to meet you, and that it was his own choice to abandon his girlfriend.
4) You add in that last bit about his girlfriend bitching about you.
What this does to the person you are aiming at: Doing this at the height of your newfound graciousness in giving him a choice, you are making yourself out to be a good and innocent person, who is bashed up by this monstrousity of another person's girlfriend who tries to stop him from meeting you and who bitches about you when he does.
While this is not entirely untrue (I admit to trying to discourage him from going, but I did not stop him), but when put into your context makes him think that I am the horrible one who bitches for no reason about you (which I clarified, the bitchings weren't about you before you took it into your own hands and decided that they were).
Essentially, causing him to think that I am a horrible person.
As he clarified, he is not such an idiot to be easily affected by other people (at least he thinks he isn't), the fact is you tried to treat him like some idiot.
How's that for breaking down your manipulation?
As usual, I have to state that I don't care anymore whether or not people manipulate him or stomp all over him because it is his problem and not mine, but I will stand up for myself even if he doesn't. When it affects or involves me, I will have to stand up and put my foot down.
End of documentation.
PS: For the rest of my dear readers. I know you guys are getting sick of reading about this creep of a person, who is appearing a lot in my recent posts.
I don't usually dwell on someone or something for long, but this time, this one person's affected me so bad that I can't sleep well at night for all the injustice he's done to me and my life.
If it were as simple as me and this creep it'd be over in a few seconds. But because this creep has a hold on my boyfriend, who acts and thinks around this creep, and my boyfriend is (or going to be was) my life, it's hard to pull my hands out of this muck.
The one good thing that came out of this was that I can finally meet my friends again after a few years of not being able to meet them because of the boyfriend, but the bad thing is that he makes me feel dirty for meeting my friends even though I only choose to meet them during the times that creep meets him.
So people, you can ask me out alone, but please keep yourself free and online after we go home because I'd need somebody to keep me company for awhile because the boyfriend sure wouldn't.
This post is for documentation, in case somebody asks me to give an example of how manipulation looks like in its raw form.
You pester and guilt-trip the fuck out of somebody for weeks, first trying to get him to come out before our Bali trip and failing which, constantly reminding him that you are going to meet his sister the week after and you hope that he will be there. Yes, you did not directly say that he HAS to be there, but you pestered and guil-tripped him so much that he had to go because you had manipulated him into thinking that he owes you something.
Count how many times you "reminded" him *guilt-trip comes free with every SMS!* within a span of 2 weeks. Before AND after Bali. Which reminds me, I saw the jealous SMS you sent to him directly before we went to the airport. What, to make sure he remembers you during his trip overseas with me?
So, after we've established the fact that you pestered and guilt-tripped the fuck out of him for two weeks to meet up with you (no girlfriend allowed, please, but your sister can come), you turn the tables on that day itself.
Suddenly, you become ever so slightly gracious, telling him that it's ok if he cannot make it. Suddenly you start to care if he would get into trouble for meeting you. Suddenly, your horns disappear and you try to make yourself out to be an angel.
Not-so-suddenly and not-so-unexpectedly, you throw in the "don't want another round of bitching" at the end of your SMS. Which obviously points to my blogging about things related to you i.e his attitude and behavior changes whenever you come into the equation.
So let me break this down even further for those who are thick in the skull and needs things to be broken down to their molecular base.
1) You want to meet my boyfriend and I am not allowed to go. Everybody else in the world can go, just not me.
2) You pester my boyfriend to meet you until he gave in.
3) Suddenly, at the last minute, you pretend that you have accepted that he will not be able to make it because according to your insinuation, I would've stopped him from going. You pretend that you actually cared if he would encounter any problems with meeting you.
What this does to the person you are aiming at: He would feel that suddenly he has a choice as to whether or not to meet you, as opposed to no choice because you kept pestering him before, but chooses to meet you anyway because he's already cleared his day for you and you were already there.
Essentially, he would think that it was his own choice to meet you, and that it was his own choice to abandon his girlfriend.
4) You add in that last bit about his girlfriend bitching about you.
What this does to the person you are aiming at: Doing this at the height of your newfound graciousness in giving him a choice, you are making yourself out to be a good and innocent person, who is bashed up by this monstrousity of another person's girlfriend who tries to stop him from meeting you and who bitches about you when he does.
While this is not entirely untrue (I admit to trying to discourage him from going, but I did not stop him), but when put into your context makes him think that I am the horrible one who bitches for no reason about you (which I clarified, the bitchings weren't about you before you took it into your own hands and decided that they were).
Essentially, causing him to think that I am a horrible person.
As he clarified, he is not such an idiot to be easily affected by other people (at least he thinks he isn't), the fact is you tried to treat him like some idiot.
How's that for breaking down your manipulation?
As usual, I have to state that I don't care anymore whether or not people manipulate him or stomp all over him because it is his problem and not mine, but I will stand up for myself even if he doesn't. When it affects or involves me, I will have to stand up and put my foot down.
End of documentation.
PS: For the rest of my dear readers. I know you guys are getting sick of reading about this creep of a person, who is appearing a lot in my recent posts.
I don't usually dwell on someone or something for long, but this time, this one person's affected me so bad that I can't sleep well at night for all the injustice he's done to me and my life.
If it were as simple as me and this creep it'd be over in a few seconds. But because this creep has a hold on my boyfriend, who acts and thinks around this creep, and my boyfriend is (or going to be was) my life, it's hard to pull my hands out of this muck.
The one good thing that came out of this was that I can finally meet my friends again after a few years of not being able to meet them because of the boyfriend, but the bad thing is that he makes me feel dirty for meeting my friends even though I only choose to meet them during the times that creep meets him.
So people, you can ask me out alone, but please keep yourself free and online after we go home because I'd need somebody to keep me company for awhile because the boyfriend sure wouldn't.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Bitchin'
I bitch, but it's not about you anymore. Stop thinking of yourself as the center of the world. Nobody's interested in you anymore. They just pity you.
And you're loving the pity-fest, because at least you get the attention you so desperately crave.
Then again, for insinuating that I bitch (which I do, I just buey-ge-yan you saying it to the dude that you like to step all over), I shall continue calling you closet-homo.
You closet-homo. Get off my boyfriend!
And wait, didn't you vehemently deny when asked if you read my blog?
Doesn't this just prove otherwise?
I bitch, but it's not about you anymore. Stop thinking of yourself as the center of the world. Nobody's interested in you anymore. They just pity you.
And you're loving the pity-fest, because at least you get the attention you so desperately crave.
Then again, for insinuating that I bitch (which I do, I just buey-ge-yan you saying it to the dude that you like to step all over), I shall continue calling you closet-homo.
You closet-homo. Get off my boyfriend!
And wait, didn't you vehemently deny when asked if you read my blog?
Doesn't this just prove otherwise?
Garment
No, we're not talking about clothes today.
Today, we're playing with fire.
This fire involves SHUTting UP AND SITting DOWN, and how the garment stood idly by letting it happen.
For those who haven't heard the clip, I've edited it into a video for you.
You need to turn the volume way up to be able to hear clearly. But no matter how loud you crank up the volume, you won't be able to hear Sally Ang's apology (because she refused to).
Some dude said, at that point in time, that the garment will not do anything about it, because blah blah blah blah blah, which when translated into our non-elite and caring language means "None of my business."
But now, some other dude's come up with "the *censored* has to maintain order impartially. It encourages the development of civic society, and gradual widening of the out—of—bounds (OB) markers. But it will not stand by and watch, when intemperate activism threatens Singapore society"
That's like me saying that you falling down in front of me is not my business, but I will not stand by and watch you fall down.
Umm hmm.
I get this feeling that the garment didn't want to get involved in the first place because it involves a major religion. What if the secular organisation was really taken over by the mutants from COOS? There was this possibility, and the garment stood by to let it happen.
What if it was a minority religion take took over the organisation? Would the garment immediately step in or stand by as they did the major one?
Food for thought. Hmmm.
No, we're not talking about clothes today.
Today, we're playing with fire.
This fire involves SHUTting UP AND SITting DOWN, and how the garment stood idly by letting it happen.
For those who haven't heard the clip, I've edited it into a video for you.
You need to turn the volume way up to be able to hear clearly. But no matter how loud you crank up the volume, you won't be able to hear Sally Ang's apology (because she refused to).
Some dude said, at that point in time, that the garment will not do anything about it, because blah blah blah blah blah, which when translated into our non-elite and caring language means "None of my business."
But now, some other dude's come up with "the *censored* has to maintain order impartially. It encourages the development of civic society, and gradual widening of the out—of—bounds (OB) markers. But it will not stand by and watch, when intemperate activism threatens Singapore society"
That's like me saying that you falling down in front of me is not my business, but I will not stand by and watch you fall down.
Umm hmm.
I get this feeling that the garment didn't want to get involved in the first place because it involves a major religion. What if the secular organisation was really taken over by the mutants from COOS? There was this possibility, and the garment stood by to let it happen.
What if it was a minority religion take took over the organisation? Would the garment immediately step in or stand by as they did the major one?
Food for thought. Hmmm.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
True Friendship Means
... Never having to lie to each other when you have to leave early.
What the fuck is wrong with saying that you want to go back and be with your girlfriend?
What the fuck is wrong with even calling your girlfriend in his prescence?
Why did you have to lie?
Is this your concept of true friendship?
Maybe one day I shall take up lying too. See how fun it can be.
... Never having to lie to each other when you have to leave early.
What the fuck is wrong with saying that you want to go back and be with your girlfriend?
What the fuck is wrong with even calling your girlfriend in his prescence?
Why did you have to lie?
Is this your concept of true friendship?
Maybe one day I shall take up lying too. See how fun it can be.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tonight
Tonight, I let that closet-homo win.
Purely because I found out myself a few days before and had the mental preparation for today. He didn't even bother to tell me. And it's not the first time after I made it clear that he has to give me mental preparation way before, which makes his apology redundant.
Redundant. As I said before, I give up, I'm dead inside, yadda yadda yadda, nothing you can do that will hurt me anymore, etc etc.
And also coincidentally, one of my readers Bret asked me out for dinner. Which takes my mind off all the really gay things some guy is going to do to my boyfriend.
Now it's no longer about how shitty that guy is treating my boyfriend (by the way, you can all treat him like shit, I don't care anymore), but how gay it gets.
Girls. Imagine some guy pawing at your other halves, begging for attention. And your guy succumbs to him, and only him, the way a guy would succumb to a skirt.
Something wrong?
Dude's lost his girlfriend, now he's throwing his emotional burdens on my boyfriend. Which is why it's gay. Got nobody to call (actually you got many, lor, don't know why you keep calling my boyfriend only), call my boyfriend. Got nobody to share feelings with, share with my boyfriend. Got nobody to kiss and fuck?
I am so not touching Lazy tonight. Just in case.
PS: I think I'm going to want to talk to one of Lazy's friends one of these days. Have a good bitching session with him.
I think I'm going to call YF.
Tonight, I let that closet-homo win.
Purely because I found out myself a few days before and had the mental preparation for today. He didn't even bother to tell me. And it's not the first time after I made it clear that he has to give me mental preparation way before, which makes his apology redundant.
Redundant. As I said before, I give up, I'm dead inside, yadda yadda yadda, nothing you can do that will hurt me anymore, etc etc.
And also coincidentally, one of my readers Bret asked me out for dinner. Which takes my mind off all the really gay things some guy is going to do to my boyfriend.
Now it's no longer about how shitty that guy is treating my boyfriend (by the way, you can all treat him like shit, I don't care anymore), but how gay it gets.
Girls. Imagine some guy pawing at your other halves, begging for attention. And your guy succumbs to him, and only him, the way a guy would succumb to a skirt.
Something wrong?
Dude's lost his girlfriend, now he's throwing his emotional burdens on my boyfriend. Which is why it's gay. Got nobody to call (actually you got many, lor, don't know why you keep calling my boyfriend only), call my boyfriend. Got nobody to share feelings with, share with my boyfriend. Got nobody to kiss and fuck?
I am so not touching Lazy tonight. Just in case.
PS: I think I'm going to want to talk to one of Lazy's friends one of these days. Have a good bitching session with him.
I think I'm going to call YF.
Bali Trip 2009
As many people know, this was my first trip overseas without my mom. It was pretty relaxing and nice to be able to make my own decisions as to where to go, what to do and what to eat.
The entire trip costs us S$2000, with the flight tickets taking up $800+ (including airport taxes in SG and travel insurance). We took a transit through Jakarta because it would mean that we'd reach Bali earlier, instead of the direct flight by evening.
So we had an hour to spend in Jakarta. We could've gone out to walk around, had it not been for the kaypoh porter who shoo-ed us into the gantry again so we only had the duty-free area to walk around in.
So the first thing after we bought me a Krispy Kreme donut (why didn't anyone tell me their glazed donuts were so good?) was to ask for coffee and smokes.
We saw smoke wafting up near the Coffee Bean area, so Lazy tried his luck.
Apparently you can smoke EVERYWHERE. Irritating.
Because Garuda Indonesia was such a small squeezy plane, I had a constant headache going on that day. So when we flew over Bali, I missed this:
Taken by the Lazy. Actually, the digicam was with Lazy, so all pictures were taken by him. I brought the LCA, which I didn't finish because the sun wasn't very cooperative during the entire trip, and I'm too lazy to bring the roll of film for developing.
When we reached, the reception told us that they were out of double rooms (meaning one king-sized bed), and asked if we were okay with a twin room (meaning two single beds). We took it, what choice did we have? At least the reception was very polite and very apologetic about it.
The porter of the place very enthusiastically took our bags and lead us to our room. While we waited, they did the most amazing thing ever. They actually pushed both the single beds out and pushed them together. Then they tied the legs of the beds together, stuffed what looked like a very skinny bolster in between the cracks of the two beds, covered the entire thing up with a soft comforter (for lying on) and another comforter (for covering).
Does this look like two single beds to you?
And the rest of the room..
People like us don't use chairs to sit on. People like us use chairs as dumping grounds.
It was an awesome room! For that kind of rates (SGD$244.00 for 4d3n), I half expected it to be spartan and the reception to be those heck-care types. But noooo, the reception and even the room cleaners surprised me with their warmth and hospitality.
It was already near evening so we unpacked and made our way to the beach, which was a 5 minutes' walk away.
It was beautiful.
And we had our first seafood dinner at this place just outside of our resort with a swimming pool in the middle of the restaurant.
This entire thing for 2, consisting of lobster, huge chunks of grilled squid, fish, and king prawns, was only 400,000 rupiah, which converts to about SGD$57. Not bad, considering the lobster we had.
The best part of it was that we could smoke at the table immediately after the meal.
Which Lazy, being the smoke machine he is, made full use of before and after the meal.
After the meal, we went for some slightly high class spa which costs USD$100 per couple for Balinese massage, body scrub, bosy mask, foot wash and head and neck massage.
The next day, we engaged a tour guide from the resort to bring us around on the tour package.
Your standard tour guide will cost around USD$35/pax a day for 4 rushed destinations. We got this one, his name is Robie or Wayan Surtika (too many Wayans there, so he called himself Robie) (apparently Wayan means number 1 in Balinese). His rates are standard, the resort sets them, and he doesn't jack up the price.
3 places of interest at a relaxed pace, for only USD$15/pax a day. On top of that, he entertains us at the places by telling us the history of the place, meanings of the statues and talks to us throughout the trip in the warmth and hospitality that is Bali.
The first day, we chose the Tanah Lot Sunset package. Tanah Lot is what Lazy describes as what looks like a temple in the middle of the sea during high tide, and a holy spring at the bottom of the rock during low tide.
The first stop was at Mengwi, the royal family temple of Taman Ayun.
I know, I look ridiculous with my new sunglasses.
The next stop was Kedaton, the nature reserve for monkeys and bats.
Apparenyly the monkeys are friendlier here, as the guide tells us, the monkeys here don't steal things or claw people.
Lazy got scratched for that picture.
Bats!
The last stop was at Tanah Lot itself, where apparently a shopping hub for tourists had sprung up in recent years.
We found this place where the waves wash up against the rock and tried to capture it while the waves were at their highest,
And at last we got a bit of it. Lazy got wet and fed-up, so we didn't continue.
Thus ends the Tanah Lot journey. One last very important note if you intend to go: Bring very strong mosquito repellent. There's like an army of commando mosquitoes stationed at Tanah Lot.
That night, we went for another massage near our resort. I forgot how much it was, but it was much much much cheaper than the slightly high class one we went before, without being sleazy. It still looked presentable, with an air-conditioned lounge with sofas at the entrance.
After having our muscles relaxed, we made them hard again by walking to the hard rock cafe some way off the beach, this time a half- hour walk.
Along the way we passed by many cafes and restaurants, and nightspots. And a McDonald's. And there was this dark stretch of road, lit only by the constant traffic where there was a row of people calling out to tourists as we walked by.
"Marijuana!" "Hashish!"
For the record we didn't buy any. But now you know where to get them when you're needing some in Bali.
Back to the journey,
We reached near midnight, and the band was going strong. I've never been to a Hard Rock Cafe before, but I loved it! The music was awesome!
We didn't enter the disco though, Lazy just wanted to buy something from the store.
It was closed. Dammit. (We went back and got what we wanted the next day).
We woke up early for breakfast the next day, and had a bit of time after some shopping before our tour was arranged. And so we jumped into the pool.
I started feeling the pain on my skin from the sun first, so I got out and took pictures.
Here's the Lazy being VERY relaxed (and slowly turning into a lobster).
Our first stop that day was at GWK (name too long to remember), a cultural park boasting the tallest statue in the world (in the making).
There was a free henna tattoo session, and being Singaporeans, we rushed for the freebies.
This is part of Krishna's face, you'll get to see the actual statue later.
This is what happens when Lazy holds the camera. Kuku face from me.
These are the hands of the tallest statue in the world (in the making).
The next stop was at Uluwatu, where there was a beautiful cliff temple boasting of hundreds of (gasp!) monkeys. Again.
But to its credit, Uluwatu is a really nice place.
Apparently we couldn't enter the area wearing shorts, so we had to tie a sarong around us.
Eyes off the kukubird, please. Lazy took this photo because the monkey was munching on someone's scrunchie. Apparently the monkeys here do snatch things from tourists.
The people praying in the temples.
That's Robie, our tour guide behind us.
I took the following one.
Our last stop was supposed to be at Jimbaran Bay along the beach, but it was closed. Oh well. We had another big lobster that night.
The next day was our last. We only had a few hours before heading to the airport, so we decided to make the best of it by shopping and walking around.
Lunchies and horseplay at the swimming pool restaurant again.
One last look at the beach during the day.
And then it was time to go.
On reflection, it was really a good trip. The Lazy and I only had time for each other and no one else, which was great because for once, he actually turned off his phone when out with me. No hour-long phone call from customers or his boss to ruin the date!
And he was surprisingly enthusiastic about everything too, which was a refreshing change from his usual self.
All that ended once we touched down in Singapore. His foul mood came back, phone calls came in, and he would go "huuuhhhhh" wheneven I suggest doing something.
In a sense, Bali was a dream. Short, but oh-so-very sweet.
As many people know, this was my first trip overseas without my mom. It was pretty relaxing and nice to be able to make my own decisions as to where to go, what to do and what to eat.
The entire trip costs us S$2000, with the flight tickets taking up $800+ (including airport taxes in SG and travel insurance). We took a transit through Jakarta because it would mean that we'd reach Bali earlier, instead of the direct flight by evening.
So we had an hour to spend in Jakarta. We could've gone out to walk around, had it not been for the kaypoh porter who shoo-ed us into the gantry again so we only had the duty-free area to walk around in.
So the first thing after we bought me a Krispy Kreme donut (why didn't anyone tell me their glazed donuts were so good?) was to ask for coffee and smokes.
We saw smoke wafting up near the Coffee Bean area, so Lazy tried his luck.
Apparently you can smoke EVERYWHERE. Irritating.
Because Garuda Indonesia was such a small squeezy plane, I had a constant headache going on that day. So when we flew over Bali, I missed this:
Taken by the Lazy. Actually, the digicam was with Lazy, so all pictures were taken by him. I brought the LCA, which I didn't finish because the sun wasn't very cooperative during the entire trip, and I'm too lazy to bring the roll of film for developing.
When we reached, the reception told us that they were out of double rooms (meaning one king-sized bed), and asked if we were okay with a twin room (meaning two single beds). We took it, what choice did we have? At least the reception was very polite and very apologetic about it.
The porter of the place very enthusiastically took our bags and lead us to our room. While we waited, they did the most amazing thing ever. They actually pushed both the single beds out and pushed them together. Then they tied the legs of the beds together, stuffed what looked like a very skinny bolster in between the cracks of the two beds, covered the entire thing up with a soft comforter (for lying on) and another comforter (for covering).
Does this look like two single beds to you?
And the rest of the room..
People like us don't use chairs to sit on. People like us use chairs as dumping grounds.
It was an awesome room! For that kind of rates (SGD$244.00 for 4d3n), I half expected it to be spartan and the reception to be those heck-care types. But noooo, the reception and even the room cleaners surprised me with their warmth and hospitality.
It was already near evening so we unpacked and made our way to the beach, which was a 5 minutes' walk away.
It was beautiful.
And we had our first seafood dinner at this place just outside of our resort with a swimming pool in the middle of the restaurant.
This entire thing for 2, consisting of lobster, huge chunks of grilled squid, fish, and king prawns, was only 400,000 rupiah, which converts to about SGD$57. Not bad, considering the lobster we had.
The best part of it was that we could smoke at the table immediately after the meal.
Which Lazy, being the smoke machine he is, made full use of before and after the meal.
After the meal, we went for some slightly high class spa which costs USD$100 per couple for Balinese massage, body scrub, bosy mask, foot wash and head and neck massage.
The next day, we engaged a tour guide from the resort to bring us around on the tour package.
Your standard tour guide will cost around USD$35/pax a day for 4 rushed destinations. We got this one, his name is Robie or Wayan Surtika (too many Wayans there, so he called himself Robie) (apparently Wayan means number 1 in Balinese). His rates are standard, the resort sets them, and he doesn't jack up the price.
3 places of interest at a relaxed pace, for only USD$15/pax a day. On top of that, he entertains us at the places by telling us the history of the place, meanings of the statues and talks to us throughout the trip in the warmth and hospitality that is Bali.
The first day, we chose the Tanah Lot Sunset package. Tanah Lot is what Lazy describes as what looks like a temple in the middle of the sea during high tide, and a holy spring at the bottom of the rock during low tide.
The first stop was at Mengwi, the royal family temple of Taman Ayun.
I know, I look ridiculous with my new sunglasses.
The next stop was Kedaton, the nature reserve for monkeys and bats.
Apparenyly the monkeys are friendlier here, as the guide tells us, the monkeys here don't steal things or claw people.
Lazy got scratched for that picture.
Bats!
The last stop was at Tanah Lot itself, where apparently a shopping hub for tourists had sprung up in recent years.
We found this place where the waves wash up against the rock and tried to capture it while the waves were at their highest,
And at last we got a bit of it. Lazy got wet and fed-up, so we didn't continue.
Thus ends the Tanah Lot journey. One last very important note if you intend to go: Bring very strong mosquito repellent. There's like an army of commando mosquitoes stationed at Tanah Lot.
That night, we went for another massage near our resort. I forgot how much it was, but it was much much much cheaper than the slightly high class one we went before, without being sleazy. It still looked presentable, with an air-conditioned lounge with sofas at the entrance.
After having our muscles relaxed, we made them hard again by walking to the hard rock cafe some way off the beach, this time a half- hour walk.
Along the way we passed by many cafes and restaurants, and nightspots. And a McDonald's. And there was this dark stretch of road, lit only by the constant traffic where there was a row of people calling out to tourists as we walked by.
"Marijuana!" "Hashish!"
For the record we didn't buy any. But now you know where to get them when you're needing some in Bali.
Back to the journey,
We reached near midnight, and the band was going strong. I've never been to a Hard Rock Cafe before, but I loved it! The music was awesome!
We didn't enter the disco though, Lazy just wanted to buy something from the store.
It was closed. Dammit. (We went back and got what we wanted the next day).
We woke up early for breakfast the next day, and had a bit of time after some shopping before our tour was arranged. And so we jumped into the pool.
I started feeling the pain on my skin from the sun first, so I got out and took pictures.
Here's the Lazy being VERY relaxed (and slowly turning into a lobster).
Our first stop that day was at GWK (name too long to remember), a cultural park boasting the tallest statue in the world (in the making).
There was a free henna tattoo session, and being Singaporeans, we rushed for the freebies.
This is part of Krishna's face, you'll get to see the actual statue later.
This is what happens when Lazy holds the camera. Kuku face from me.
These are the hands of the tallest statue in the world (in the making).
The next stop was at Uluwatu, where there was a beautiful cliff temple boasting of hundreds of (gasp!) monkeys. Again.
But to its credit, Uluwatu is a really nice place.
Apparently we couldn't enter the area wearing shorts, so we had to tie a sarong around us.
Eyes off the kukubird, please. Lazy took this photo because the monkey was munching on someone's scrunchie. Apparently the monkeys here do snatch things from tourists.
The people praying in the temples.
That's Robie, our tour guide behind us.
I took the following one.
Our last stop was supposed to be at Jimbaran Bay along the beach, but it was closed. Oh well. We had another big lobster that night.
The next day was our last. We only had a few hours before heading to the airport, so we decided to make the best of it by shopping and walking around.
Lunchies and horseplay at the swimming pool restaurant again.
One last look at the beach during the day.
And then it was time to go.
On reflection, it was really a good trip. The Lazy and I only had time for each other and no one else, which was great because for once, he actually turned off his phone when out with me. No hour-long phone call from customers or his boss to ruin the date!
And he was surprisingly enthusiastic about everything too, which was a refreshing change from his usual self.
All that ended once we touched down in Singapore. His foul mood came back, phone calls came in, and he would go "huuuhhhhh" wheneven I suggest doing something.
In a sense, Bali was a dream. Short, but oh-so-very sweet.
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