Bali Lovin'

I spent my Chinese New Year over in Bali because a) I really needed a break and b) I didn't feel like fielding the usual barrage of questions while visiting relatives and friends. So I hopped on a plane with a friend, and off we were to this little island of paradise. 

Having already been to Bali once, we decided to spend a day visiting some other places. The weather was sketchy at times, but we nonetheless had a lovely day out. 

Our first stop of the day was the Royal Temple of Bali. I wasn't particularly impressed or anything. It looked like any other temple in Bali. But the grounds were huge.

Once we finished exploring the temple, we headed over to Lake Bratan. There, we wandered the grounds and marvelled at Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, a temple located in the lake itself. The attraction was swamped with tourists. We managed to get in a couple of lovely shots though. 

Right after I took this, the skies opened up and let rip. We had to run for shelter. Luckily it was a passing shower and we decided to hightail out of the place, since we were almost done anyway. 

We stopped by at a restaurant at Pacung that overlooks the rice terraces for lunch. Lunch wasn't particularly appetising. Or maybe it's just me not being used to having lunch whilst travelling. The view was calming though. Couldn't get a proper shot as I was blocked by the buildings below. 

By then, we had pretty much covered everything we wanted to do. Since we still had time to spare before dinner, we did a little detour to the Monkey Forest.

Prior to visiting this place, I was a little skeptical as my friend had her glasses 'stolen' here as a child. With that firmly in mind, I brought only my camera, which was securely slung across my body. Being adventurous, we decided to feed the monkeys, at the advice of our guide. To my surprise/horror, depending on how you look at it, a little monkey decided to jump on me.

Without hesitation, my friend whipped out her phone and I now have a picture of a monkey getting overly friendly with me.

We had a really friendly guide bring us around. It was rather educational and intriguing as well.

Do note that the guides are actually store owners at the Monkey Forest. Once you're done with exploring the place and taking photos, they will lead you to their store in hopes that you buy something.

It was finally time for dinner! We headed to a restaurant along Jimbaran that our tour guide for the day recommended to us. It was a little pricey, but the food was fantastic. The seafood was really fresh and the portion size was gargantuan. We also managed to enjoy the sunset, before being overpowered by storm clouds, and eventually a passing storm. 

 I can't believe we managed to finish everything. There was crab as well, which was really meaty. Oh yes, and rice. I was starving by dinner time thanks to not having eaten much over lunch. One of the best meals I've had in Bali. :)

We spent the next two days lazing about. It was after all, a trip to relax and not think about reality.