The Babi Guling Experience......

One of my blogging buddy, Bokjae commented in my last post that poor me have to eat pizza instead of the popular babi guling or roast pig during my recent trip to Bali. I did asked my friendly guide to take us to have a taste of this well known dish although it is not in our itenarary.

Since we were not near Kuta, he took us to the best warung he could find nearest our destination. Warungs are usually small eating places along the roads of Bali which is quite similar to our mamak stalls here in Malaysia. The food was of course cheap. The one we went to were rated a good one because of its concrete walls and clean by Balinese standard of warungs.

The Bali Guling we had as can be seen from my pics were not up to our expectation tastewise. We were looking forward to some nicely roast meat which could be even tastier than our chinese style roast pig. But what we had was a plate of a mixture of thinly sliced roast pork with deep fried internal organs and some spicy sambal local vege. The skin of the babi guling is crispy but a bit too oily for our wasteline. The meat itself is not well marinated with spices like our roast pork making it quite bland in taste. The internal organs were just too tough to bite in. It's just the spicy vege which makes the dish more appetising that comes with a plate of white rice and a bowl of soup which is also too oily for me to finish up.

See the babi guling (roast piglet) with the internal organs at the warung.

A plate of babi guling and co. with a stick of spicy satay for each person....

Our white rice.........


The tasty soup but a bit oily........

Keropok or crackers as appetizer.......


We ate up more keropok than babi guling with the rice......

They still have bottle drinks like Fanta orange and grapes which I used to have decades ago.

A taste of tea in a bottle...........

So that explains why we were eating pizzas instead ...maybe we were at the wrong place or rather babi guling taste like that. That I leave it to my readers to tell me.

Pura Tanah Lot......

The entrance to Tanah Lot temple..........

Tanah Lot in Balinese language means 'land in the middle of the sea' and 'pura' means temple. Pura Tanah Lot is one of the seven sea temples built along the Balinese coast. It was built on an offshore huge black lava rock in the 15th century by a Hindu priest. Til today after some upgrading work done to it, it stands out in a beautiful setting along the coast facing the Indian ocean making it one of the famous tourist attraction in Bali. More pics to share of this beautiful place.........


Pura Tanah Lot sitting on the black rock..........

Caves formation below the rocks..............


Another scenic view of hut built on top of a rock offshore.......

A videoclip of Tanah Lot temple above..........

Wood Carving @ Mas Village.......

Many talented artist can be found in Ubud district. Each village had its own Balinese cultural art like gold and silversmith in Celuk, wood carver at Mas village, and famous paintings in Batuan village. After visiting the gold and silversmith in Celuk, we stopped at Mas village to see the wood carvings. These balinese artisans can carve anything ranging from intriguing masks and exquisite floral patterns to the anatomy of the human body with or without clothes from a piece of wood. Here are some pics to show what I mean.......

Balinese wood carvers at work................

Masks and small figurine............

A beautiful chess set carvings.....................

Coffee tables for a hotter cuppa.........?

Sensual art...................

I bought this lovely balinese lady in blue sarong carved from mahogany wood. See the exquisite floral carving of the coffee table..?

Note: Will be back to hometown today, so will be MIA here til next Wednesday.

Full Of Drama Barong & Kris Dance..

Bali is indeed a magical and mystical island. This can be seen in their colourful costumes and their graceful dances which is full of drama and emotions. We went to Batubulan on our second day of tour to see the famous Barong and Kris dance, one of the few famous balinese dances. Actually I was just expecting some pretty Balinese ladies staging some dance moves in their sarongs but I was surprise this Barong and kris dance was more of a play or drama with a few dances in between with balinese music provided by a team of musicians sitting cross legged in a hut beside the stage.

Although the mask they wore were quite frightening, their acts were full of expressions and emotions flowing accordingly to the storyline which were provided for the audiences in a few languages on paper.

The Barong play is actually about an eternal fight between good and evil spirits. A Barong, a mythological animal represent good spirit while Rangda, a mythological monster represent the evil one.

"Barong, a mystical creature with a long way back and curved tail, represents the affirmative, the protector of mankind, the glory of the high sun, and the favorable spirits associated with the right and white magic. The widow witch Rangda is its complement. She rules the evil spirits and witches who haunt the graveyards late at night. Her habitat is darkness and her specialties lie with the practice of black magic, the destructive force of the left. Both figures are of the same earthly substance, possessing strong magical prowess. Somewhere in a mythical past, the Barong was won over to the side of humanity, and, in the play, fights on behalf of the people against the intruding death force of Rangda." BaliVision.

Here are some pics of the show...........

The Barong is a mythical, supernatural creature, represented by a masked costume that resembles a Chinese barongsai lion. The costume is animated by two dancers, one manipulating the snapping jaws of the mask and one acting as the hind end. The costume is decorated with a shaggy fur body and richly ornamented filagree leatherwork, embellished with gold leaf and tiny mirrors.

The mystical Barong and his friend the monkey........


Two girl dancers representing the servants of Rangda...

The servants of Dewi Kunti.......


The evil Rangda with her splintery fingernails that fore shadow the dreadful vision of Rangda. From her mouth hangs a flaming tongue signifying her consuming fire and around her neck, a necklace of human entrails falls over her pendulous breasts. Howling a low, gurgling curse she stalks the Barong while waving a white cloth from whence issues her overwhelming magic.


Dewi Kunti and her son Sahadewa............

God Siwa and Rangda.................

Rangda is redeem and killed by Sahadewa, then goes to heaven...(funny to be sent there)

The evil wild boar fighting with followers of Barong in a compromising position that makes the audience laugh.........

The musicians with their gamelans and drums.........

The spectators in full concentration.........

Here are 2 short video clips of the Barong and Kris dance taken from YouTube...

Scenic View @ Uluwatu Temple......

Our tour guide took us straight to Uluwatu from the airport on arrival and not to our hotel as schedule because of time constraint. Uluwatu temple is a place that any tourists should not missed because it has a spectacular view of the wide Indian ocean as this small temple is built on top of the cliff edge with a drop of about 100 meters down to the Indian ocean below. It is located at the southern peninsula of Bali.

Before we reach our destination, our tour guide, Mr Vijaya, warn us about the hundreds of naughty monkeys at the place that will snatch our possessions like necklaces, dangling earrings, and also our spectacles. So poor me and my sister had to walk along the cliff edges holding our spectacles tightly in our hands with a blur vision. The monkeys were everywhere and it is said the locals will get back our snatched possessions

from the monkeys for us in return for a small price. So remember next time its better to wear contact lenses for those who want to get a better view of this place. Here are some wonderful pics to share........

The small temple hanging on the cliff edge overlooking the ocean.


A close up view of the temple ........

From the cliff top................

The drowning sounds of the Indian ocean...............


Another breathtaking view from the cliff...............

The sun above the ocean...............

Wall of stone carvings along the path.........

The forbidden entrance to the temple........

One of the naughty monkeys stalking me..........

Sunset & BBQ Dinner @ Jimbaran Bay.

Our first day in Bali was watching the beautiful sunset in Jimbaran Bay and having our dinner at the lovely sandy beach by the sea. Having seafood dinner with the sounds and sights of flapping waves a few steps away, cool winds blowing against your face, oil lamps lighting up the long stretch of beach under the starlit skies was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Here are some pics to share...........

One for the album....L to R: sis karen, ris, and me.

Before the sunset.................

Our table by the sea...................

The sequence of sunset in a few seconds...

An aeroplane taking off from Ngurah Rai airstrip next to Jimbaran Bay after sunset..........

Vegetable soup.........

Kangkung........ their popular vege......

Each of us gets a basket of BBQ seafood of a crab, shrimps, fish, deepfried squids, and clams eaten with hot rice..........

Dining under the starlit sky................