Kecak and Fire Dance at the Uluwatu Temple

On the night of the 4th, we went to check out the Uluwatu Temple and to see a traditional Balinese show.

The Uluwatu Temple also has a lot of monkeys.  We were told that the monkeys here are much more aggressive because they are not well taken care of.  We were advised not to wear anything shiny, like earrings or sunglasses, and to hang on tight to our cameras and wallets.  I was a little nervous, but for the most part the monkeys stuck to themselves.  We did see one woman's sandal get stolen though.  The monkey grabbed it and ran up into a tree.  One of the guides was able to retrieve it by giving the monkey some candy, but the sandal had definitely been chewed up by then.  Its basically teaching the monkeys to steal to get treats, but I guess it works to get people's things back.  We were told that in the next few years the monkeys will probably be able to pick pockets.

Aside from the monkeys, the temple has some really pretty views of the cliffs and the ocean.

After a quick walk around the temple and some photos against the pretty backdrop, we headed over to watch the Kecak and Fire Dance show.  The performance reinacts a story from Balinese history.  There is no speaking, so it would have been hard to follow without reading the story first on the handout we were given. 

Kecak is a way of creating sounds......
The dancers in the show had some very ornate costumes and makeup.  They were able to use their hands and feet in very interesting ways as part of the dance.

Honestly, the show wasn't that long, but I was getting bored by the end.  It was super cool to see, and I would recommend going to a cultural show such as this, but it just didn't hold my interest for the whole time.

Pictures/video coming soon...

Padang Padang Beach

On Wednesday, January 4th we had a free day with nothing planned.  We got a recommendation to go to Padang Padang Beach.  It was only about a five minute drive from our villas, so we hopped in some vans and headed over for a day in the sun.

We had to walk down a bunch of stairs in between rocks to reach the beach.  When we came out at the bottom, we were greeted with a gorgeous beach!  The sand was soft and the water was crystal clear.  There were cool rock formations that created a cove.  We had a fun day laying out, swimming, drinking Bintang and eating noodles delivered right to you on the beach.

Pictures coming soon...

A Tour through Bali

Coming soon...

Uluwatu Surf Villas

Coming soon...

Temples and Monkeys!

Coming soon...

Tahun Baru!! (Happy New Year!!)

 

New Year's Eve in Bali was incredible!!  I'm not typically a fan of NYE, but this year did not disappoint! 

Our hotel hosted a NYE "Gala."  They put a lot of work into getting the

 

restaurant ready for the gala, putting up tents and decorating.  They hosted a big buffet dinner and had traditional Balinese performances taking place on a stage.

Hotel set up for the party

Buffet Dinner

After dinner, we decided to check out the scene down on the beach.  Fireworks filled the sky!  I have never seen so many fireworks in my life!  They were non-stop from about 7pm until 1am, all up and down the beach.  It was gorgeous!!  It was also slightly dangerous since it was just random people shooting them into the sky from right next to you.  I have a video on my facebook of all the fireworks if you want a taste of what it was like (Thanks to Saran for taking the video).

We shared many a Bingtang at the different bars and tried to enjoy the crazy techno music they were playing everywhere.  There was no official countdown, but as close to midnight as possible we decided to celebrate with lots of cheering and hugs.

Our Table at the Gala

Perfect summary of the night: lots of large bintangs and blurriness

The Ladies!

Shelley and I (and Brian)

Much later in the evening...

TAHUN BARU to everyone!!

Seminyak Beach, Bali

 

On December 30, 2011, we arrive at the Denpensar Airport eager to explore Bali.  Our hotel picked us up from the airport and we quickly learned a few things: 1) driving in Bali is crazy, even when sitting in tons of traffic, and 2) the humidity combined with the heat is intense.

We got a good taste of what Seminyak is like as we drove through the beach town to our hotel.  The streets are lined with shops, restaurants, and bars.  Most of the bars and restaurants are open to the street, making them great for people watching.  We mostly stuck to the places on the beach and on Jl. Dhyana Pura, although there are many more streets in the town (see map below).


Beach Bar in Seminyak

After checking in, Shelley and I wanted to check out the pool area.  We never quite made it into the pool because we were so easily distracted by all the fun going on at the beach.  Our hotel backed right up onto the beach that is lined with beach bars/restaurants.  We were in awe of the beauty and decided a beer was in order.  Several of the bars had tons of brightly colored, oversized bean bag chairs right on the beach, which is where we quickly found ourselves taking in the view and drinking our first of many Bintangs!  (So bummed I left my camera in the room).

Seminyak Beach

That first night the whole group ventured into town for some dinner and drinks.  Not bad after 22 hours of traveling.  We ended up at the first restaurant we came across.  The food was great, the Bintang was cold, and a good time was had by all.


First Night Out in Seminyak



First Night of Bintangs!

In general we learned that most of the restaurants had a pretty similar, well-versed menu.  Most had Indonesian food, pasta, pizza, chicken/steak/fish with some sort of side, and sometimes another asian cuisine.  So basically, it was pretty impossible to not find something on the menu that sounded good.  It didn't take long to figure out that all the restaurants served two different kinds of beer: Bintang small and Bintang large.

On New Years Eve day, we explored Seminyak a little more and had lunch at one of the open front restaurants.  Shortly after lunch, we had to head back to the hotel for our spa treatments.  I enjoyed the Balinese Massage.  The massage room had one open wall that faced a little river of water and was sooo relaxing.  The boys were not so impressed with the Balinese Ball Massage since the balls were heated (a little too hot) in a rice cooker.  The girls had much better experiences.

We had an incredible New Years Eve that night, but you'll have to see the "Tahun Baru" post for more on that.  On the 1st we explored a few places outside of Seminyak, but that's in another post too.

After our tour on the 1st, we had one last night to enjoy in Seminyak.  We all went to the Lucky Day restaurant, which ironically is only open for dinner.  Sadly we never made it to the Bestest Cafe, but hopefully it wasn't really the bestest.  After dinner we enjoyed what was supposed to be "one last drink" at the restaurant we went to on the first night.  At this point, the top entertainment choice in Seminyak was clear: Balinese men playing acoustic versions of American songs.  This was happening at every restaurant...some way better than others.


Singer

We had one last morning in Seminyak before getting picked up to head to our villas in Uluwatu. Of course Jen, Shelley, and I decided one more cheapo massage was in order.  We tried a small "spa" in town, where Jen and I got a 30-minute foot (and leg) massage for $3 each and Shelley got a 1-hour full-body massage for $5.  Then it was off to Uluwatu...



Pelangi Hotel
Overall the Pelangi Hotel was a great hotel.  The pros are: clean, incredibly nice staff, pretty grounds/pool, beach access, buffet breakfast (included) with a view, restaurant and bar on-site, spa on-site, 2 blocks to town.  The photos of the rooms online are very flattering.  The photos are real, but for some reason the rooms are just not quite as nice as they look in the photos.  We were all happy with the hotel though, and if you aren't looking for something too fancy, I would recommend it.


Outside of Pelangi



Hotel Lobby



Hotel Grounds



Hotel Pool



  

 




Double Room




Room Bathroom