Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Morning started when I woke up to room service with banging on the door. The night before I've asked for a wake up call at 7am, since the HTC fails as an alarm clock. The wake up call was so enthusiastic, I was glad I had the wooden latch on my antique door, haha. Anyway, breakfast was already served when I opened the door, nothing much to shout about, but I've never had a room service breakfast in my life before.
Toast, Balinese coffee and freshly cut banana, papaya and pineapple. What else could I ask for?
Foggy morning in Ubud.
The previous day, I planned for a trip to Batu Bulan to watch Barong dance. At first I just wanted a taxi ride there, so I may watch the show and walk the town a little bit, watch some stone carvers do their stuffs, so I agreed on a one way trip to Batu Bulan for Rp80.000. The guy's got a new Avanza and the aircond works well, so, ok la, no big deal.
It had been raining last night, a thunderstorm in fact.
The whole time on the way to Batu Bulan, we had quite a good chat, the driver and I. His name was Made Suarnawa, he works his own paddy field if he hasn't got a costumer to bring around. He has a typical Balinese life with his typical Balinese family living in their typical Balinese house in a typical Balinese village called Gianyar. What fascinated me about this man, was the way he related Hindu philosophy with life. Okay, maybe not the extremely scholarly way, but he told me what told to him by his dad, and the whole journey he was explaining Balinese culture that we come across on our way, like the shrines, the offerings, the leafy stuff they hang outside their house made from coconut leaves... it was like Balinese Culture 101 in a cab ride!!
I was still sticking to my plan, until during breakfast (we arrived at Batu Bulan a tad too early so we had breakfast while waiting for the show to start) he told me of a place where they process coffee as a small agrotourism industry and they keep some civet cats for visitors to see. I have seconds thought about getting him to drive me around for the day.
Civet cat, as you'd have read from my previous entries, is the type of cat that shit out the most expensive coffee in the world. True, I've done the coffee before, and though I don't actually find it significantly better than other coffees, but hey, it's exotic!
The musicians getting ready for the Barong show.
I first learned about Barong dance from a show on TV called Sink or Swim, or something like that. I was equally as fascinated, by the concept of good versus evil and no one wins (somewhat like ying yang) and for this trip, its a must see. The ticket's slightly more expensive too, Rp80.000, but I don't mind.
The stage.
If I were to wear a flower on my ear like that here in Malaysia, people will say I'm cuckoo... here, I have pretty ladies putting it on for me... actually she was doing that so I'd take a picture with her and she'd charge me for a Polaroid, but nah, not after I've paid Rp80.000 for the ticket, sorry lass...
Blessing of the stage before the show began.
Barong actually bears an uncanny resemblance to the Chinese lion dance, also manned by 2 persons, but with less kungfu... and the Barong makes a tapping sound by opening and closing its mouth - tap tap tap tap tap!!
The show started with a music overtone, then the Barong comes out and acted cute... or at least it was trying to be, I think.
Then the monkey comes and play with Barong, picking on its fleas and offering it to the audience. Again, trying to be cute, I think.
Then suddenly, three angry men in masks came out. It didn't really showed through the dance, but the accompanying synopsis explained that a village boy has been killed by a tiger, and the men thought it was the Barong who killed him. So when the villagers tried attacking the Barong, the monkey attacked and bit off one of the poor chap's nose. That was the first act, and I was quite glad that the story gets easier to understand after this.
Then some Legong dance, which is a usual accompaniment to any performances. These 2 dancers were supposed to be maids of Rangda, and they were looking for the servants of Goddess Kunti who were on their way to meet Patih (or the Prime Minister).
The servants of Goddess Kunti.
The Patih.
This is Goddess Kunti. She has a son called Sedewa, that will appear later in the show.
The story went like this... Kunti had promised to sacrifice Sedewa to appease Rangda, the evil witch. At first, Kunti was hesitating to let go of her son, but then an evil spirit came to posses her and she ran amok, ask ordered that Sedewa be brought to Rangda's castle in the forest. Patih was supposed to have pity on Sedewa, but the evil spirit came again to him, so he also became merciless and ordered that Sedewa be tied to a tree for Rangda to devour.
Above, left to right: Goddess Kunti, Sedewa and Patih. Below, Kunti throwing a tantrum, while the hairy figure at the exit was the evil spirit.
The evil spirit possessing the Patih.
Sedewa tied to the tree. Before Rangda came, the Lord Siva came to grant Sedewa immortality.
Grand entry of Rangda.
Rangda actually is quite a funny figure. She was supposed to be the evil Queen of the Underworld, or a witch, and she always has her tongue stuck out and her striped boobies actually show through her long bushy hair and tentacles.
Rangda tried to bite Sedewa and cut him open with a sword, but Sedewa was invincible. She later surrendered to Sedewa and asked for mercy. Sedewa agreed and Rangda was sent to heaven. (Heaven? Well, I don't know, I'm just quoting the pamphlet)
Rangda took out a white hanky in surrender... or was it that she cried and used that to wipe her tears...
One of Rangda's maids were called Kalika, and when she knew about Rangda been sent to Heaven, he also came to ask from Sedewa to be sent to heaven. Sedewa refused, and Kalika became angry. So she turned into a boar and attacked Sedewa.
But Sedewa defeated the boar, and while it was still down on the floor, something else came up.
Look at the coloured part to see what came up...
Kalika then changed herself into a bird and attacked Sedewa, but defeated again.
Finally she changed into Rangda, and Sedewa could not kill her. (But didn't she kill the first Rangda?)
Sedewa then transforms into Barong so his power will match that of Rangda. And in this fight, Barong was as powerful as Rangda and the struggle goes on and on.
In this photo, Rangda and Barong seems to agree to disagree, the only way to coexist harmoniously.
The followers of Barong later came out to her him to attack the Rangda.
Rangda put a spell on them so they will kill themselves by stabbing themselves in the flesh with their keris.
The Keris Dance.
They were released from the spell only after the Barong came to their rescue. The end.
After the show, Made was still waiting for me outside the temple, and since he was going to be free for the day, I agreed for him to bring me around, especially to see the Luwak coffee plantation.
We took the unconventional route, through the villages.
The terrace paddy plantation... beautiful.
Ah, finally, the plantation... here below is a cocoa tree, and coffee tree. Luckily we don't have mocha tree or these 2 would be redundant.. heh.
And here is the luwak, or civet cat, literally the goose laying golden eggs for the coffee planters.
The golden egg. Or nugget. Whatever...
One of my best photos for the day.
Menyamar luwak. Ripe coffee cherries are actually sweet, no wonder the luwaks like them.
Raw coffee seeds, or beans.
Actually the day did not end here, but my T77 died here. Luckily I have the HTC on stand by. Day 7 reporting to continue later. Stay put!
Morning started when I woke up to room service with banging on the door. The night before I've asked for a wake up call at 7am, since the HTC fails as an alarm clock. The wake up call was so enthusiastic, I was glad I had the wooden latch on my antique door, haha. Anyway, breakfast was already served when I opened the door, nothing much to shout about, but I've never had a room service breakfast in my life before.
Toast, Balinese coffee and freshly cut banana, papaya and pineapple. What else could I ask for?
Foggy morning in Ubud.
The previous day, I planned for a trip to Batu Bulan to watch Barong dance. At first I just wanted a taxi ride there, so I may watch the show and walk the town a little bit, watch some stone carvers do their stuffs, so I agreed on a one way trip to Batu Bulan for Rp80.000. The guy's got a new Avanza and the aircond works well, so, ok la, no big deal.It had been raining last night, a thunderstorm in fact.
The whole time on the way to Batu Bulan, we had quite a good chat, the driver and I. His name was Made Suarnawa, he works his own paddy field if he hasn't got a costumer to bring around. He has a typical Balinese life with his typical Balinese family living in their typical Balinese house in a typical Balinese village called Gianyar. What fascinated me about this man, was the way he related Hindu philosophy with life. Okay, maybe not the extremely scholarly way, but he told me what told to him by his dad, and the whole journey he was explaining Balinese culture that we come across on our way, like the shrines, the offerings, the leafy stuff they hang outside their house made from coconut leaves... it was like Balinese Culture 101 in a cab ride!!
I was still sticking to my plan, until during breakfast (we arrived at Batu Bulan a tad too early so we had breakfast while waiting for the show to start) he told me of a place where they process coffee as a small agrotourism industry and they keep some civet cats for visitors to see. I have seconds thought about getting him to drive me around for the day.Civet cat, as you'd have read from my previous entries, is the type of cat that shit out the most expensive coffee in the world. True, I've done the coffee before, and though I don't actually find it significantly better than other coffees, but hey, it's exotic!
The musicians getting ready for the Barong show.
I first learned about Barong dance from a show on TV called Sink or Swim, or something like that. I was equally as fascinated, by the concept of good versus evil and no one wins (somewhat like ying yang) and for this trip, its a must see. The ticket's slightly more expensive too, Rp80.000, but I don't mind.
The stage.
If I were to wear a flower on my ear like that here in Malaysia, people will say I'm cuckoo... here, I have pretty ladies putting it on for me... actually she was doing that so I'd take a picture with her and she'd charge me for a Polaroid, but nah, not after I've paid Rp80.000 for the ticket, sorry lass...
Blessing of the stage before the show began.
Barong actually bears an uncanny resemblance to the Chinese lion dance, also manned by 2 persons, but with less kungfu... and the Barong makes a tapping sound by opening and closing its mouth - tap tap tap tap tap!!
The show started with a music overtone, then the Barong comes out and acted cute... or at least it was trying to be, I think.
Then the monkey comes and play with Barong, picking on its fleas and offering it to the audience. Again, trying to be cute, I think.
Then suddenly, three angry men in masks came out. It didn't really showed through the dance, but the accompanying synopsis explained that a village boy has been killed by a tiger, and the men thought it was the Barong who killed him. So when the villagers tried attacking the Barong, the monkey attacked and bit off one of the poor chap's nose. That was the first act, and I was quite glad that the story gets easier to understand after this.
Then some Legong dance, which is a usual accompaniment to any performances. These 2 dancers were supposed to be maids of Rangda, and they were looking for the servants of Goddess Kunti who were on their way to meet Patih (or the Prime Minister).
The servants of Goddess Kunti.
The Patih.
This is Goddess Kunti. She has a son called Sedewa, that will appear later in the show.
The story went like this... Kunti had promised to sacrifice Sedewa to appease Rangda, the evil witch. At first, Kunti was hesitating to let go of her son, but then an evil spirit came to posses her and she ran amok, ask ordered that Sedewa be brought to Rangda's castle in the forest. Patih was supposed to have pity on Sedewa, but the evil spirit came again to him, so he also became merciless and ordered that Sedewa be tied to a tree for Rangda to devour.
Above, left to right: Goddess Kunti, Sedewa and Patih. Below, Kunti throwing a tantrum, while the hairy figure at the exit was the evil spirit.
The evil spirit possessing the Patih.
Sedewa tied to the tree. Before Rangda came, the Lord Siva came to grant Sedewa immortality.
Grand entry of Rangda.
Rangda actually is quite a funny figure. She was supposed to be the evil Queen of the Underworld, or a witch, and she always has her tongue stuck out and her striped boobies actually show through her long bushy hair and tentacles.
Rangda tried to bite Sedewa and cut him open with a sword, but Sedewa was invincible. She later surrendered to Sedewa and asked for mercy. Sedewa agreed and Rangda was sent to heaven. (Heaven? Well, I don't know, I'm just quoting the pamphlet)
Rangda took out a white hanky in surrender... or was it that she cried and used that to wipe her tears...
One of Rangda's maids were called Kalika, and when she knew about Rangda been sent to Heaven, he also came to ask from Sedewa to be sent to heaven. Sedewa refused, and Kalika became angry. So she turned into a boar and attacked Sedewa.
But Sedewa defeated the boar, and while it was still down on the floor, something else came up.
Look at the coloured part to see what came up...
Kalika then changed herself into a bird and attacked Sedewa, but defeated again.
Finally she changed into Rangda, and Sedewa could not kill her. (But didn't she kill the first Rangda?)
Sedewa then transforms into Barong so his power will match that of Rangda. And in this fight, Barong was as powerful as Rangda and the struggle goes on and on.
In this photo, Rangda and Barong seems to agree to disagree, the only way to coexist harmoniously.
The followers of Barong later came out to her him to attack the Rangda.
Rangda put a spell on them so they will kill themselves by stabbing themselves in the flesh with their keris.
The Keris Dance.
They were released from the spell only after the Barong came to their rescue. The end.
After the show, Made was still waiting for me outside the temple, and since he was going to be free for the day, I agreed for him to bring me around, especially to see the Luwak coffee plantation.
We took the unconventional route, through the villages.
The terrace paddy plantation... beautiful.
Ah, finally, the plantation... here below is a cocoa tree, and coffee tree. Luckily we don't have mocha tree or these 2 would be redundant.. heh.
And here is the luwak, or civet cat, literally the goose laying golden eggs for the coffee planters.
The golden egg. Or nugget. Whatever...
One of my best photos for the day.
Menyamar luwak. Ripe coffee cherries are actually sweet, no wonder the luwaks like them.
Raw coffee seeds, or beans.
Actually the day did not end here, but my T77 died here. Luckily I have the HTC on stand by. Day 7 reporting to continue later. Stay put!
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