Day Two
I got up early to get ready, eat breakfast with Daddy, and meet Wayan at 8:30 am. Dad had to go to an all-day meeting, so the day was mine to spend as I wished. The first thing I wanted to do was see the Barong Dance in Batu Bulan, not necessarily to see the dancing part of it, but to see the Balinese gamelan orchestra performance.
I’d learned about Indonesian gamelan music in my world music class last semester, and since then I’ve wanted to see it live during my travels in Indonesia. Well, I got my wish! I think the music is so ethereal-sounding. At first it might seem like senseless noise to the Westerner’s ear. Their scale systems are completely different from ours, and out-of-tune pitches grinding against each other are actually considered beautiful music in this culture. Even I was a little turned off by it at first, but I’ve come to find it absolutely magical-sounding. I love gamelan music!
Anyway, the Barong Dance itself is a representation of the fight between good and evil. The Barong is a mythological animal representing good, and the Rangda monster is its evil counterpart.
Afterwards, Wayan took me to the Monkey Forest in Ubud. I bought some small bananas to feed the monkeys. They surprised me by how accustomed to humans they obviously were. They would come up to me and tug at the hem of my pants to ask for a banana, which I thought for a monkey was a polite way to ask. However, Wayan said I needed to give them a banana quickly or they would get aggressive. One of them, after I handed him one, tugged at my hem again asking for a second one. The last banana I had was stolen by a monkey who leapt up and snatched it right out of my hand!
All I needed to do was pick a banana off the bunch and give it to them. They were very good at peeling it themselves.
The monkeys were very fascinating to watch. They’re a lot more like humans than most other animals. They have facial expressions and very animated body language. I saw a couple of mothers gazing lovingly at their little babies and stroking them tenderly. I also saw them get aggressive with each other and hiss and claw at one another. They also chased each other around, and they played in the pond and splashed each other.
Wayan was being overly-protective whenever I interacted with the monkeys, but I thought he was just being on the safe side. I thought that as long as you didn’t do anything to piss off the monkeys, they’d be nice to you (especially if you had bananas). So when Wayan asked if I wanted to sit next to the monkey on the bench and take a picture I immediately said yes!
This monkey even crawled into my lap and started sniffing at my purse for food. Wayan started getting visibly nervous, but I was just so excited to have a monkey in my lap! He couldn’t find any food in my purse, so he turned to look me in the eye for a minute. I looked back into his eyes, thinking “Aww, you’re so cute!”
And that’s when he bit me.
He didn’t break the skin, but it did hurt a little. Wayan freaked out and had me step away from the monkey slowly. After the initial shock of being bit by a monkey, I actually got excited! I know that’s a weird reaction to have, but I saw the small mark he’d made on my skin and thought, “Wow, I’ve been bit by a monkey! How many people can say they’ve been bit by a monkey before?”
To be honest, I was hoping the mark would be permanent, that way I could return home with a battle scar from my wild adventures in the forests of Indonesia. Unfortunately, the mark was gone by the time I woke up the next morning. :(
There was a Hindu temple in the Monkey Forest, so I put on a sarong and a sash (I was wearing shorts) and went into the temple. Monkeys were everywhere! Needless to say, I was a bit more weary of them after being bit by one.
The Monkey Forest was actually a very cool place to explore. It was a very beautiful place, with ancient pools and a sacred spring where Hindu offerings were placed before residents took its water. I had to climb a narrow cliffside path to get to the sacred spring (it was only a couple meters above the creek). I felt like an explorer navigating an uncharted, exotic forest in a faraway land!
After the Monkey Forest we drove to Banoa, where all the water sports are. I took a glass-bottomed boat out into the bay, where the boat driver and I fed bread to the fish. We only saw two fish, and they didn’t come eat the bread. After that he took me out to Turtle Island.
It was really cool place! My guide, a local Balinese guy named Bobby, took me into their sea turtle corral, where I stood with sixty-year-old sea turtles and petted them. He took me to their baby sea turtle pen, where I got to pick up baby sea turtles and hold them! I also got to hold an iguana and a toucan on my arm, and I also got to see snakes, eagles, owls, and I even got to get up close and personal with a bat!
Bobby and I sat down and I had a Coke. He encouraged me to buy a drink for my boatman, which I did. Bobby was overly flirty and good-humored with me, which I thought was funny since that’s my ex-boyfriend’s name, but they looked completely different. When I was done he had a saleswoman take me over to the souvenir counter. I wasn’t really planning on buying anything, since I’d already bought enough at the Krisna market the day before. She was a very pushy and irritating saleswoman, and she kept throwing discount offers my way and putting jewelry on my wrist. I ended up buying an over-priced silver sea turtle for my mom, since she’s a big fan of the Bali silver.
This was the part when I started getting extremely irritated. The sales lady kept reminding me to tip my guide, Bobby, which I was already planning on doing. I paid for the drinks and then handed the tip to Bobby. The sales lady asked me if she could get a tip too. I was taken aback, but pulled out a bill from my wallet for her anyway. She laughed when she saw how much I’d given her. I played the dumb tourist and asked, “Oh, is this not very much money in Rupiah?” She said it wasn’t, so I pulled out another small bill and handed it to her.
On my way out, Bobby asked if I would provide a donation in the box for the animal food. I only put in another small bill, since I wasn’t 100% sure that it really was for animal food. I hurried out as soon as I could.
It was a very upsetting experience for me. Here I was, traveling all by myself, and I felt like Bobby and the sales lady were starting to take advantage of me for my money. Bali has a lot of tourism from Australia, who are also pretty wealthy compared to the Balinese locals. Whenever they see a white person, all they can think is money. I left Turtle Island in low spirits from having all my small bills taken from me. I wanted to give my boatman a bigger tip when he’d dropped me off at the shore, but all my smaller bills had been taken at Turtle Island.
Here’s my view on tipping. As someone who has grown up in the American culture, I understand the nuances of the practice of tipping. Tipping is expected in the US. We all know about that 15%-20% gratuity rule for restaurants, but we also know what kind of services we tip for and what services we don’t. Tipping a sales clerk, for example, is not a service deserving of a tip. But tipping is also based off the quality of service, and should never be outright asked for.
Obviously, these local Balinese did not understand tipping practices, but it was still an upsetting experience for me.
I shook it off as I went back to the hotel to spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach. The hotel’s property extended all the way to their own section of beach. I put on my swimsuit, ordered a drink at the bar, and took a spot under an umbrella for some good rest and relaxation. I had my book open, a drink in hand, and a lovely view of the ocean. I thought it couldn’t get any better.
And then the vendors swooped down like hawks. I mean, Dad had warned me about it before, but my goodness! The locals descended upon me offering massages, oil treatments, pedicures, as well as merchandise from jewelry to fruit to even newspapers. Every time someone came by I just waved them away. I felt bad for acting like a prissy white princess, but it was really annoying that they kept trying to interrupt my quiet time by chatting me up. They would introduce themselves, shake hands with me, and start their sales pitch smoothly, but I would cut them off and shoo them away.
One woman actually came down and sat next to me with her basket of jewelry, even though I was clearly ignoring her and reading my book. She kept shoving jewelry in my face, and I started getting annoyed and asked her to leave. She seemed genuinely upset and asked why I wouldn’t buy any jewelry. I told her I had enough jewelry and just wanted to relax. She sat there quiet for a minute while I continued to read, and finally she left.
That night I went to a beautiful, local Mexican restaurant named TJ’s with my dad. It wasn’t nearly as good as the Mexican food from Arizona, but it did help ease how much I’ve been missing Macayo’s and Taco Bell. :) A huge group of Australians came in and filled our side of the restaurant, and I had to keep from laughing just hearing them talk to each other. I’ve never met Australians in person, but I enjoyed listening to all their slang and watching them all drink orange Fantas.
Wayan drove us back to the hotel, where we said goodbye. We returned to our room, but I went swimming in their really nice pool around 8:00 pm. I had the whole pool to myself for most of the time, and listened happily to bad karaoke coming from the open lounge area. The sad part was, I think this woman was paid to sing in the lounge with her keyboard accompanist who sounded like he should be composing a bad rock-inspired score for a bad 80s movie. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Day Three
I went down to the breakfast buffet again with Daddy before hitting my massage at 10:00 am. I’d never had a real massage before, but it was really cheap and their spa was an open cabana looking out over the beautiful hotel property. It was awkward when it came time to take off my clothes, since the masseuse closed the curtains, but only three sides were closed. The side looking out over the hotel was completely open, so any guest or employee walking by could have had a clear view of me getting undressed. Also, the male spa clerk was really close, and the curtains were really sheer.
I quickly undressed and crawled under the sheet for a very relaxing, and much needed, massage. I’m not sure if massages are supposed to be like this, but every once in a while she would hit a spot that kinda hurt. I assumed that those were the spots that were really tense and need to be worked on, but overall the massage was fantastic and made me feel ultra-relaxed.
After my massage I hit the beach again for a couple more hours before it was time to check out and leave for the airport. I handled the vendors just as I did before, but this time I was expecting them and didn’t get too annoyed.
Overall, my trip to Bali was fantastic. I got to see everything I wanted to see, and even though the locals were a bit annoying, I really liked Bali and the unique, vibrant culture it had to offer. I mean, there were paintings and wood carvings and furniture everywhere, along with beautiful architecture and amazing cultural traditions. Plus, the weather was absolutely beautiful, even if it was humid, and I got a slight tan, even if it did turn into a peeling sunburn and fade as soon as I got back to Jakarta.
And I LOVED the hotel experience I had. Definitely the best service I’ve ever experienced at a hotel. The hotel driver drove us to the hotel, where we caught an earlier flight and flew back to Jakarta for a few more days of relaxation before heading back to Macau.
Jakarta was also great. I got my hair done, which was an experience in itself since I got a head massage. Now there’s something they don’t do in the US, haha! I also ate at some really great restaurants, including a Japanese restaurant where the chef made our food for us right at the table! Overall, my vacation in Indonesia was great, and ended entirely too soon before returning back to Macau.
Until next time!
Kati
No comments:
Post a Comment