Kuta

Away in Kuta today. Thursday, 7th June, 11.00 p.m.

I almost missed breakfast, waking up at 9.30 in the morning. By the time I got to the buffet at 10.05, I was fortunate to get a cup of coffee and a couple of pancakes. That was also fine by me, since my intention was to get to Kuta and grab myself a Starbucks® – some REAL coffee; not the diluted version that taste like baking soda.

I hopped on a taxi to bring me to Kuta’s Hard Rock Café. About 20 minutes and Rp60k later, I was at the beautiful beachfront outlet of Hard Rock, Bali. The beach here is incomparable; the surf is much better and the water is clearer. In Sanur, the waves bring in the weed sediments and deposit them there. Not exactly desirable condition for swimming. Besides, in Sanur, the hotels own the beach, hording them with racks of deck chairs. Meanwhile, in Kuta, the beach functions very much like Patong. Heck, the whole atmosphere in Kuta is very much like Patong in Phuket, Thailand.

I was so happy to find Starbucks®. I got my usual (i.e. grande, non-fat latte) and happily plonked myself onto one of the armchairs to watch the beautifully sun kissed, bronzed and brawny, skinny-bikini, throng of youthful group pass by. Youth is so beautiful it is definitely a priceless commodity (very Marxist here, so sue me).

While I was there, I also formed a battle plan for my shopping campaign. First we take down Starbucks®, then we head off to Hard Rock Café (which I just spotted next door) and then to a local shopping center and ransack the place before we head off to town for lunch and ancillary shopping. I got my Starbucks® merchandise of the City Bearista, city mugs, t-shirt and two rare seasonal coffees (Tanzania and Java Estate). Then it was off to Hard Rock Café.

While I was there, I picked up a couple of nice Hard Rock, Bali t-shirts, shot glasses and more teddies (no, no the negligee, duh). I also made one more Balinese friend, Maman, who is a staff there. While chatting up with him and sharing information about ourselves, he offered to show me Bali after he knocks off from work. There was nothing to lose and I happily took up the offer to meet him at 4.45 p.m. before we go and catch a ‘kecak’ (monkey) dance on Ramayana at Uluwatu. He even graciously extended his staff discount privileges to me. I happily took him up on it and asked him to get the limited edition (gasp!) Tourist Boy for me.

Then I was off to Made’s Warung (an institution by itself) for lunch. The place looked strangely archaic – to give you an idea think “Cheers” with lots pf past photos on the wall. The place comes highly recommended on the city guide and I got a ‘half-and half’ of nasi campur and gado gado. I think the restaurant is probably better known for other dishes since what I had wasn’t anything spectacular.

Then I was off traipsing for further shopping adventures. I spotted a shop that sold movie titles so new even Singapore cinemas haven’t got them on their ‘akan datang’ lists yet! It was certainly a movie buffs paradise, however, I am not very sure on the authenticity of the merchandise (copyrights be damned). It’s certainly a buy-at-your-own-risk type of establishment.

Further down the street, I saw a little boutique that sold handmade lace from Uluwatu. It’s a cottage industry project that helps folks in Uluwatu find a living while keeping its cultural heritage for posterity. The products were very lovely, very delicate and definitely very feminine. Since they were too beautiful and meaningful to be missed, I got a couple for the ladies I know.

Finally, I stopped at Matahari for some local souvenirs sans bargaining before I headed off to meet Maman at the appointed time. It’s amazing how time just whizzes when you’re doing interesting things like shopping. I wonder why time does not do that when I am working.

It’s my first time and I am doing it with a complete stranger in a foreign land that I am visiting for the first time – boy, what a debutante! Okay, so maybe he’s not a complete stranger, but he’s certainly someone new. I am talking about riding pillion on a motorbike. Maman met me right on time at 4.45 outside Hard Rock and promptly helped me to unload my shopping at his brother’s warung (shop) before we zoomed off to Uluwatu to catch the kecak performance. We reached there just before sunset, just in time to prep ourselves (you’d need to cover your ankles with a sarong) and grab a few photo ops before the show began.

Tonight’s program was an excerpt from the Ramayana epic – the famous scenes where Sita asks Rama to catch the golden deer for her, which ensued to become a battle between the forces of good and evil. Moral of the story: the pursuit of precious things often to lead to one’s downfall, but have hope and also, importantly, powerful friends.

When the show ended, it was already 8 and we had difficulty making out of the temple compound, which was huge and on a cliff. Imagine the perils. We did eventually got out of course and off we zoomed to grab dinner at Jimbaran Bay.

Please do not go there. Jimbaran Bay, I mean. It’s a seafood place with a fantastic atmosphere granted – al fresco with the thundering surf right next to you. But would you want to pay SGD170 for two persons for a serving of grilled clams, barramundi and lobster? I didn’t think so. Enough said.

At the end of the night, I made an appointment to meet Maman again on Saturday to hang out. I am going to Keramik Jengala first, after that I would like to have Babi Guling for lunch. Following that, well, it’s anyone’s guess – Ubud? Nusa Dua? Benoa? Who’s to know, huh?