Friday. Whose counting?

FYI - Best game on iPad has to be the original scrabble for around $12. It just rocks.

Woke at 7am. Wondered over to Bali bike baik, located just outside hotel. Jumped in van with 10 others and headed off. Stopped for coffee. These are the beans that have been through the digestive system of a mongoose!

Then first lunch at volcano. FYI Mt Batur is 1770m high. Then we all jumped on serviceable mountain bikes and rode back to ubud. It was a blast. Jen was a star and toiled up the occasional hill in style.

The best tractor in the world?

Then we ate probably the best meal we have had in bali.

So for a tour from 8am to 4pm, 2 lunches, drinks, bikes and transport included for around $35 each it has to be the MUST DO thing in Bali. A real gem.

Then I managed to just beat the budding master at scrabble (I think by one point - but whose counting?). So it is now 5-1, however as I am not competitive- whose counting?

Cant believe we will be in Perth tomorrow.

Off to dinner - this is probably the last blog post! Although the Suckling pig for lunch tomorrow might have its own one...

50th and first defeat.

Woke at 2:12am dressed and stumbled out to reception. Pitch black. No clouds so things are looking good. Drove to Mt Batur volcano.

The above was a little active - so we settled on the one below...

Note how once one has toiled down the mountain there are no clouds??

Found guides and jumped on back of bike, this allows us to get closer (less walking - good) so we can climb to the very top instead of the first summit (not good?).

Set off and found the going tough but doable. Stopped twice on the way. Got to the first summit and the clouds started to roll in. Sigh.

Took off again and going was tough as it was volcanic sand - like climbing a very high sand dune. The only way to make good progress was by being energetic. Reached the top and had 2 minute noodles with a blistering chilli source. Watched the clouds get lighter as the sun rose. Had a couple of glimpses of the amazing view when there were very brief breaks (more like slits than breaks) in the clouds.

A brief slit..

The top..

It was freezing! The result of sweat drying in a very cold wind - not easy to imagine being cold here...

Decided to go down as there was no way of knowing how long they would last. Of course coming down the sand dunes was great and Scotts boots were terrific. Naturally the clouds cleared the moment we got to the 2nd summit.

We spent some time at the edge of the crater, seeing cave temple and hot springs. Very Impressive display of nature.

Came home slept, swam, lunch at hotel, just had tea - it's trying hard to rain. Reminds us of kloof. Jen beat me at scrabble. It was inevitable but did she have to do it on my birthday? It's now 4-1, so it's tempting to quit while I am ahead.

It's my birthday and I will cry if I want to. Rain like mother so we ate at the restaurant. We were the only ones there. Jen said she booked out the entire place for me, but I think it was luck, or she was feeling bad about beating me on my birthday.

Very good service and more delicious goreings.

Wedesday. 4 pool morning

Woke and went for a walk in the paddy fields - booked a ride with Bali bike on Friday. Breakfast, then these are the 4 pools we swam in. Now lying downstairs and reading. Will probably go to the lounge and get this blog sorted.

Went for meal at casa Luna with Heather, Gordon, Marty and Keryn. Really Fun.

First we had to negotiate some serious stairs that humbled Jacobs Ladder...

The our own private lap pool

Then toiled up stairs again to the main pool outside the restaurant - another we seldom have to share..

Then our own private pool - and this is really private - below our room...

Lastly the Jacuzzi

Tough in the tropics...

Bike Helmets

The wearing of bike helmets is compulsory here

Most people wear them





Kids have them




They have the latest technology!



The young cool ones wear them



But there are "some" exceptions:

Possibly a beenie will do?



If you are wearing a colourful backpack?



If you are a Catherine Verran Balinese lookalike?




Have a beatific smile?



Are wearing a western T shirt...



Or my personal favorite - are way too old to care!

Some interesting point on travelling in Bali

Need some wheels or tires.

Road works - interesting that there is not much machinery and most of the workers are woman



They dont make roads wide here...


Furniture removal??

Jen and Dougs Excellent (50th) Adventure

Good grief - I dont have the patience or technology at the moment to move these pictures around. So its all a bit jumbled - but I am sure you will all get the idea....


It's now Monday morning around 6am. Sitting in the room honeymoon guest house drinking tea.

Yesterday went very smoothly. Flight was fine. James Patterson book Was so bad. Worst quote so far is"she was so cute she turned more heads than a chiropractor". But it has to the perfect plane literature.

No problems or issues at customs. Except had to pay customs $10 for wine. Note to Jen: only 1 litter person, not 1.5!!!!

Trip to ubud was a little hairy but driver calm in the face of certain head on collision. Jen did well.

The guest house is a very comfortable large room with bed, large bathroom and shared skinning verandah. A very quiet and efficient air con. Very nice view from window, such vibrant colours.

After arriving we walked the streets just looking. Very hot, funny that. I should have brought more shorts. Then had a wonderful time in the pool which was just cool enough.

I managed to manipulate a win over Jen at iPad scrabble. Can't see it ever being repeated.

Then dinner at the garden restaurant. Ate way too much. Slept like the dead.

Not much in the way of technology. Will hunt for hot spots today.

Off to yoga.

That was fantastic. Young American very relaxed and basically asked us what we wanted to do. I am sorry I won't be available for any more.

Then off on a tour of where to stay next? Went to a bunch of places but the natura was clearly the best. Interesting wotif is cheaper than they can offer. Had lunch of egg plant fritas, Bali tapas and most delicious paella for lunch at the Indus sister of casa Luna.

Went for a swim and met heather and Gordon from city beach at the pool - go figure..

Had a chat and are now resting.

Ps beat Jen 3 times at scrabble. Yeah!!!!

H & g came for wine, then we went for dinner at wayans cafe with friends of theirs Marty and Kerrin from city beach. Was great fun and quite a hike. Jen had a very spicy delicious Thai beef salad and I had crispy duck. C & a should come here for the duck!

It rained when we were walking back, but it was somehow invigorating walking in the rain in high humidity. The only issue was the slops I was wearing turned into ice skates.

Tuesday: cooking class at 8. There were about 12 of us and 5 of us really had a good time. Much laughter and gentle ribbing. Food was amazing and really a must for any Bali adventure.

Then off to natura resort where we will stay for the rest of the trip.

Nice quiet rooms with wifi. Good to be away from the noise and traffic of ubud. Jen was woken on our last night in Ubudby drums and traffic, she tried to wake me but I was having none of it.

Jen insisted on going to town for dinner last night which was an excellent mei goring, then we decided to try the starbucks just to see the difference and although the coffee was good, it was a real"out of Bali experience".

Next Blog on some traffic...

The Gillan Special Episode One

We thought we would attempt to keep a record of some of the delicious we’ve been feasting upon while here – while much of our Singaporean food went unrecorded we’ve had some pretty decent fare here in Malaysia, and with Penang hosting some of the most famous hawker centers in the country there shall be more to come!

Banana Leaf;

I was assured that everything eaten off a banana leaf tasted better – for no particular reason at all. The banana leaf meal is served in stages, first the leaf, then rice and then scoops of some… Stuff. And then we were given papadums and three bowls of… Stuff. We figured one out to be chicken, another to be lamb, but the third eluded us – it was delish, but I truly have no idea what it was. Ideas were shark or possibly faux-chicken?

Extremely tasty – does everything taste better off a banana leaf? Mmm, I’m not convinced

PHOP;

PHOP stands for Someone’s House of Pancakes. Paddingtons or something like it. This is something else we should totally get in Australia – those are some serious pancakes.

Pavlova

Nom nom nom

Gobi

Not all our food was exotic and eaten on the side of the road. There’s a dessert place called Gobi in Singapore, full of delicious things like this Black Forest Torte and White Sesame Panna Cotta with green tea on it (bleh)

Family Food.

While I don’t have any photos, last night we went to a… House warming? One of Audrey’s cousins just moved into an apartment and we went for Hindu prayers the name of which I couldn’t pronounce let alone spell. For two hours a room full of family and friends chanted to, from what I understood, this guy:

Asking him for everything. Literally everything. For this they offered milk and flowers. It was pretty fantastic to watch and the first I’ve ever seen of such a ceremony. After that was Nasi Lemak, (which means rice fat) a dish with rice, noodles, dhal and chicken. Except this was a Hindu religious ceremony, so it was faux chicken – soya chicken? But still delicious!

It’s always fun turning up at a religious ceremony as the only white person in a black shirt, where ever single other man in the room is wearing white.

Lake House - fin

Well thats that with the Lake House, yesterday we did a big tour around the Cameron Highlands, we say the butterfly park, bee farm and tea plantation. It was all pretty cool, if really cold. The tea plantation was huge, and we got a tour from an ex tea picker, some of the tea trees they pick from are on nearly 90 degree slopes - crazy stuff. The rest of the day we spent in our massive house watching Animal Planet. Aren't we great?