Kuta beach is clean these days, its the off season and there aren’t many Aussies in sight. The surf was perfect for beginners. After the Bali bombing tourism took a big hit, its slowly on the up now though. Balinese hawkers aren’t as aggressive any more as well, they know the value of ‘return holidays’ are to their economy, so they don’t piss you off that much like 10 years ago - BUT you’ll still find them around ripping off tourists whenever they can, O well still cheap - cross bow and blow pipe anyone?
You got to watch out with the monkeys in Bali, they harass visitors for food and often will steal your sunglasses, camera and anything else they can get away with.These road side monkeys were relatively safe.
We went out for a about two hours to check out old temples nearby, when we came back we were in time for the last stage of the ceremony, the gamelan would have been playing for 5 hours by now. All the participants were dressed up in traditional clothes and there was a massive prayer and offering with a few roast pigs..it was pretty much a buffet. There were sounds of deep mumbling pray and the ringing bells.
And its still on….
We then followed the participants up the road to the village water hole where they showered in holy water (I think) , more blessings and offerings. If you haven’t realised already, the old men in the white are Hindu priests.
After all the participants got their teeth filled and the guests had a grand feed the ceremony continued..
I didn’t know exactly what was going on but what i saw they continued with more offerings, blessings and symbolic activities like cutting hair and donations. About seven went through the ceremony, these two looked the happiest.
A real bonus of the trip to Bali was stepping outside of the tourist scene and checking out the lives the people of the Island. We were fortunate to attend a very old custom of the Balinese Hindus called Potong Gigi (Teeth filing ceremony)
Potong Gigi ceremony marks the milestone for a Balinese entering adulthood (18+ ish). The ceremony helps people rid themselves of the invisible forces of evil - teeth are the symbol of lust, greed, anger, insobriety, confusion and jealousy. Filing the teeth therefore renders someone both more physically and more spiritually beautiful, as well as symbolising the rite of passage for an adolescent into adulthood. (source)
It doesn’t always take place on the 18th birthday, it’s not unusual to take place between the 18th-20th birthday and it is often cheaper to do it the same time with other family members. As this ceremony its one of the most special days in their life, heaps of money and time is put into this age-old ceremony.
The pedicab driver / Tukang becak lives on the streets, servicing for cheap and just making enough to eat, he works hard with only jandles for his feet. He looks about 50 - but probably just 30, thats what happens when your day starts everday at 5:30. Whether is pissing rain or hot, no passengers is when he stops.
And those MONKEYS i told you about…
Roti canai is awesome, at batu caves its about double its price, e.g anywhere else its about $1-2rm, at Batu Caves its was $3-4rm Tourist spot tricks.
Melissa’s a monkey.
Teh tarik is off the hizz
I know its fat-man mentality to write a blog post about a burger joint. who cares. Burgers to america is rice to asia. I made it a goal to go to all the burger joints while travelling the US and YES we pretty much hit them all. At first It was awesome, fat burgers…americans diffinitely have their fring down too - the fries always got that first batch taste…size large NZ is size small here in the US, I brought back a supersize Jack in the box soda cup and to prevent it from breaking i put 3 t-shirts in my backpack! BUt after a while we got sick of eating burgers, We always felt hungry if we were not full! there is something in fast food that tricks your mind…if it wasn’t for all the walking we did I would be a fatface for sure. Even though we didnt want to eat burgers, thats all you can find. You have to go out of your way in LA (and drive) just to find healthy food!
Everyone raves on about in-n-out burgers. Hands down, best burgers and fries i’ve ever tasted. this place is the truth.
WE went to the one in vegas, it was raging…the line was long and they had 2 seperate stores next door to each other…there had to be 30 people working behind the counter.
Animal Fries + the double double + choc shake = heart stopper
Ha, your smiling now, thats gonna go straight to the gut when were on the bus for 5 hours!
