tropicana ~ life is a kaleidoscope
Join The Princess in her journey of a plethora of changing colours and patterns

Of Paradise Island

Jac baked brownies for Ken Lee's housewarming party this coming Sunday, and Ken Lee gave The Princess a few pieces to eat. The Princess obediently obeyed Ken Lee's order and carried the plate of brownies to the living room, sat down and ate. Like a small kid.

Was back in KL and stayed in a room with a view of the Petronas Twin Tower. It's beautiful, she realised. Strong, sturdy and all gleaming steels. Unlike Pearl Tower which resembles a flashing toy laser gun. Or Taipei 101, which is a bit..... too delicate for her liking. The tallest structure in the world should be IMPOSING.




Met up with Ken Lee for dinner in Bali and went to this Balinese restaurant called Kunyit Bali. Nice environment, courteous service, overpriced menu and forgettable food.


Active volcanoes as seen before landing into Denpasar


Appetisers: Chicken soup, chicken and seafood skewers
and beansprout salad with coconut


Main course (CW): Stir fry young coconut, french beans stir fry,
pork stew, grilled prawns and chicken Balinese style and
seafood paste wrapped in banana leaf


Dessert (CW): Banana fritters, onde onde, limau,
sweet glutinous rice and buah atap pulut hitam


The Princess likes Bali. No doubt, the city centre can get pretty overwhelming with bars, restaurants, spas, boutiques and Aussies, but if you choose to look past those you can find a lot of hidden treasures. Bali is not cheap by any standard, what with the locals treating you like a flashing neon money sign. But eat where the locals eat and make small talks with the local, you can get by with a fraction of what the rest of the tourists are paying. Of course, knowing Bahasa most certainly helps.

She likes the fact that although Bali has seen its fair share of tourists influx, the land is still steeped with Balinese religion (a groovy hybrid of Hindu, Buddhist, Javanese and ancient indigenous beliefs). Religion and traditions play an important part in their daily life so much so it's shielded them from outside influences, preserving the unique culture.

There are temples in every village, shrines in every field and tiny sesajen (offerings) of glutinous rice, flowers and salt in bamboo leaf trays being made at every corner (yes, even at clubs and airport check-in desk, no less) not less than 3 times a day, before every meal.




Look closely and you can find interesting stone statues
and carvings in the least expected place


And oh, by the way, in case you fail to notice,
The Princess has got herself a bang


Of course, no trip to Bali is complete without a visit to the spa. Together with 3 of her colleagues, they went for this Diamond Sand Massage for 2 hours with 40 mins of reflexology thrown in. She wanted harder pressure for the massage and the masseur really did a good job. When she swung The Princess to the left and then right and the bones creaked, she actually moan in pleasure. Knotted muscles relaxed. Total bliss.

Now, for the reflexology, it was fucking painful OK when the girl kneaded the small toe, she was shouting in pain. Referring to the chart, that area denotes the dahi (forehead). Something wrong with her forehead meh? Ear and eyes area of the foot hurt as well. Luckily the area at the ball of the foot (sexual glands) is not painful, thank you very much. Mahai, now makes her feel like running to the nearest hospital for body checkup.

After buying a dozen of Krispy Kreme, she went to Legian beach. On a bike. See, roads in Bali are very narrow and most are one-way only and congested. Bikes are weaving in and out between cars and it's scary sitting behind one knowing you're not protected by anything metal. Been a while since she last sat on a bike.



Crowded with people watching people


Surfer dudes doing their stuff


Shafiq is nice enough to bring The Princess around


The beach was so crowded. And only for surfing, no swimming allowed. No choice lor, if you can't beat them, join them so they sat down and watch people watching people.

Too bad the stay in Bali is too short. But fret not, cos The Princess is going to Bali again next month, this time she has 3 clear days there. Want to do white water rafting and bungee jumping. Want to visit Ubud, Kintamani and Uluwatu. Want to do spa, drink and be merry. Time is of the essence.

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