word of the day- “Smile’

 

Smile does magic.

It will make the other person happy, who will then makes others happy.

Smile doesnt cost you a single cent.

Wrong person

 

Once we worked as a team in Jakarta, Indonesia. I reckoned him as a young, good looking father of 3 boys, then (If Im not mistaken). He used to talk about his rebellious children and his healthy activities like cycling and stuffs. He was fair, tall and healthy.

The project we worked on completed. For about 3 years, there wasn't any kind of communication between us.

3 months ago he called.

“Hi, Ikhwan..!!! how are you doing? Its been so long..” I was excited to get his call. We continued talking about a future business.

A few days later he called again. We continued talking business. Then as I asked about the previous sites, which projects we did, he asked me a weird questions………

”Do you know who you are talking to? I think  you’ve got the wrong person? He then said. I paused.

“eerrr…ya…you’re Ikhwan, of course I know you. We met during the project in the year…. remember? We went to Cilandak and Jatinangor?”. Now his turn to pause. I waited with full of question marks in my mind. “Is this guy serious?” I thought.

With a soft tone, he said..” I'm the one who……” He reminded me. I remembered him. “Oh..ya..ya..I know you…so…how is ‘that’ Ikhwan doing?” I asked.

His answered shocked me “Its a bad news, he died of heart attack about 2 months ago”

oh my…….

In Bali as millionaire

 

It happened last week. Quite a substantial number of millions I had, although I didn't need a sack to carry them.

But those million of Rupiah were all gone as I left the country, Indonesia. I’m not sure what I spent on them, but they were gone as I touched down Malaysia airport.

Within a month, that was my 2nd trip to Bali, Indonesia. Only this time, it was for a holiday and it was a planned trip of siblings of my hubby.

10 adults+ 2children = 12 of us spent our vacation in Bali. The cheap airfare were bought almost half a year ago and on the 14 Nov 2012, flying on a low cost carrier, there we were, celebrating my hubby’s birthday ……

at the lobby of a convenient location, Ramayana Hotel , Kuta, which cost us only USD72/nite, booked through internet, which……

…… included a nice, thirst quenching welcome drink, uniquely decorated with a lemon grass, jotting out of the glass, which  sat on a little bamboo basket.

 

The birthday cake was so good although the wording was “Happy Birthday Big Broow” instead of Big Bro, meant for my hubby, who is the eldest brother in the family.

   We had a good laugh that we even forgot to wish happy anniversary to each other.

We got married on the same date 21 years ago. Time flies.

So, where did the millions went???

read through………………

 

On the 2nd day, we took a tour in a 17 seater van, that cost us Rp950,000 for 10 hours use. The van started to move at 9:10am.

I’ve warned my kids that this trip is not a shopping trip. It was meant for them to learn the colorful culture of the Balinese, which customs are very much influenced by the oldest practice of Hinduism, which…….

  One could easily notice ’em thru the building structure and the daily routine of the people.

 

  We saw these offerings, placed on almost every store and buildings.

 The flower deco was my favorite sight.

The traffic was quite bad, then, but expected, especially on a narrow road of Kuta, the centre of tourist attraction town.

Not too long after that we were already heading towards the outskirt of the busy little Kuta Town. 

 

and then…….

Here comes our first stop… one of the Batik making store. The driver, Pak Today (The right way to call his name on that day and any other day) said that the people in the area are very artistic. I wouldnt disagree to his statement….look…….

Some of us artistically have a good imagination….

 

Our next destination was to a Silver making factory.

The handicraft displayed on the entrance wall  was the 1st thing that captured my attention.

       I'm not into jewelry, though, that I left without buying any, but…..

.. where did the millions went????……..

wait and see…proceed reading.

Our following destination was my favorite store. The Art store.The paintings are beautiful. Too bad I couldn't accommodate them in my space limited house.

          

 

We of course wouldn't want to miss the chance being surrounded by beauty….  

      

Including these Two Sis-inlaw of mine who were part of the group, creating fun-ness to the existing fun.

Get in…get in….we have another 1.5 hours to reach our next destination..

An hour later, some of us were getting restless, especially me, the one with hyperthyroidism.

The road were getting winding upward and downward at certain points.

“Lets make a stop to stretch” I suggested.

Just nice…we stopped at a fruit stall located by the road side.

Passion fruit, mandarin orange, Salak ….  That kept me busy munching throughout the rest of the journey.

At last….WHAT A NICE VIEW..!!!!!

The view of The ‘Bukit Batur’ at a place called Kintamani (as in Keen-thuh-money) gave us a great surge of energy.

The awesome scenery overcame our dissatisfaction of the tasteless lunch we had. The entrance fee to this place was Rp30,000 per person.

       

We spent about an hour enjoying the view. “Pak Today” told us that the last eruption of this sleeping volcano was in the year 2001. hu..hu..hu….lets get down from here..quick.

We left Kintamani as early as we could, not due to fear of volcano eruption though, we didnt want to miss another event.

Somehow, on the way, we made a quick stop at a coffee plantation.

Hei…thats passion fruits..

 

And this is a coffee tree.

        

 

  

This is not just an ordinary coffee, the lady explained…this is ‘Kopi Luwak’. Its process by, first….we picked up the wild fox droppings a.k.a Fox’s shit (excuse my language) .

   WHATTT..???? eyewww……!!!!

Fox loves coffee beans.

Then…(she continued)….we washed them as clean as possible and break the shell……then… take the coffee bean..and washed..and washed.. and washed the beans, before they are baked, grind and ready for  ..… Action…!!

then..voila..!!! here comes the most expensive coffee in the world….’Luwak’ Coffee.

wait..hold on…

“Is this safe to drink?” some might think twice before sipping.

Some couldn't get the fox’s shit out from their mind and chose to watch or play with the provided musical instrument made of Bamboo, instead.

OK enuff of coffee…we gotta run, not to miss a special performance …..

“Pak Today, pull over please…just for today…”

 

     We made a quick stop at durian stall. Very Malaysian of us.

Not even half an hout later, we were all busy bargaining at a local market called ‘Sukawati’    I have no bargaining power. I let them do the shopping and bargaining, while I watched and paid whenever my kids asked for money.

OK..OK..OK…lets go..!!!!! We don't want to miss the dance.

By 6:20pm, we reached the open theater.

 

Kecak-Kecak Dance. It usually starts at 6:30pm everyday.

There is a legend behind the performance. My advice is, be there before the performance starts. That should give you a chance to read the pamphlet, which consists of the story of the legend. I didn't read, so DO NOT follow my style. Anyway, I got my daughter to explain the dancers' every move to me.

The Dance lasted about an hour later.

  YEAY…!!!! its over….

By then our tummies were starting to produce similar sound ‘kecak…kecak..kecak..kecak..kecak..!!!! We were all hungry.

At last..!!!

“now this is FOOD..!!!” I heard my SIL Diana, said. Nadia and I laughed to the statement.

 

She was very right. That was a REAL FOOD….They vanished in a few minutes. The kecak-kecak dance in our tummies disappeared.

 

BURP..!!!

The rest of the happy moment that ended our tour of that day was spent on the special stage, nicely decorated by the restaurant, must be for some purpose.

       

I couldn't remember how much we spent on the food, but it was great.

A little part of the millions gone for the day tour.

As we reached the hotel…. come’on you’ol..!! Lets go..before it closes. All the grown up kids followed me and my hubby indulging ourselves in a comfortable sofa. To the SPA centre we went for a nice food massage. Ahhhhh…!!!!!

Almost a million gone to the SPA, but we walked out with satisfaction.

On the 3rd day, we had no choice but to checkout, as the hotel was running fullhouse. We were told before hand, that we had our plan B in place.

Pat Mase Villa, Jimbaran, where we spent our single night. Very nice place.

 

If not of the see-through toilet, it could have been a perfect place  for the 3 families of us.

 

There were buggies ferrying us back and forth to the lobby from the villa.

  

The kids were enjoying the private pool. Instant noodle by the pool was a good idea, indeed, Akif, Aleia….

  We made use of the pool from the time we checked in, to the time for dinner.

Dinner at Jimbaran Beach was a disappointment. The price if a medium size crabs cost about Rp325,000 ~ RM108 ~USD30 each. To a not-rich Malaysian like me, it is wayyyy ….to much.

We did a wise choice not to order crab. Even then, the cost of other seafood were a big chunk of our millions. Too much. Oh..what the heck..we’ve reached the place…We ordered anyway.

  

My advice is, you should not waste your money eating at any of the restaurant at Jimbaran. There is nothing special and they are not tastier than anywhere else. You are just paying for the so-called Ambience, with ridiculous price.

The next time I come, I would just walk by the beach and enjoy the grilled sweet corn, although it cost more than double from kuta’s corn.

  

While in kuta, it only cost RP4,000 (RM1.50), in Jimbaran , the corn was RP10,000 each. Anyway, it was sweet and tasty, so I have no complain.

On the next day…… goodbye Jimbaran……we will miss the villa, but not you.

Happily we checked in to the same hotel, Ramayana , at Kuta.

and happily we spent day and night at the SPA on foot massage, manicure, pedicure, scalp treatment, shoulder massage…oooo….aaaaahhhh…woooo….

thousands to millions after thousands to millions of Rupiah were flowing like water.

There went all the millions. I’m willing to use my million at the SPA rather than on the not-tasty and expensive food at Jimbaran.

A firm thumbs pressing my scalp with cooling Avocado mixture, massaging my scalp and shoulder, down to my arms and palm and finger tips….uuhhhh…..!!!!  now, this is what I call a REAL VACATION.

Still got million? Lets enjoy the treatment again. There goes more millions.

----------------

On the next day, was the checkout day for us, while for my 2 SILs, they still have another night to go.

I looked at my time. Ahah..!!! I still have One hour, still enough time for hair treatment.

Nadia and I decided to make a change of our hair style.

 

 

 

Papa: whateverrrr…..

Never too old for a Reggae hair style.

Our flight was 1 hour delayed. It didn't matter…we had a good family holiday.

Now we are home and just had nice dinner of fresh crabs that only cost RM25 (USD9 ~ Rp80,000) . Yummy….

No more million being mentioned. We are no longer a millionaire.

Back to work..!! and save money for the next trip.