Hi welcome all, i left this up for navigation.
There are eight different 'pages' in this layout (including this).
1. This page you are seeing now.
2. The welcome page, a page you put your long welcome message, or rules.
3. Your profile. You put stuff about you in there.
4. Entries. This is where your posts will magically appear, like, BAM!
5. The tagboard section, where your visitors can leave comments and tags.
6. All your links. Link your friends! Link everybody, the links go into, well, the links section.
7. Miscellaneous. Things like, what, chocopets? Image slideshows, counters, trackers, those add-on things all go here.
8. The credits. Haha, leave them there and your ear will stay in tact. *snarl*
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark.
Hello, I am Ryan the Barney..
Wishing for a big hug.
I believe in
1 Nobody living should suffer
2 Nobody can take another person's life
3 Death, you are conquerable.
13thNovember
9:17 PM Sunday, September 14, 2008
This is Bali, in my eyes.
Day 1 (For me anyway)
The day started with me heading for the airport on the Singapore side, all alone, as I had to leave later due to medical reasons. I landed in Bali at around 5.45pm in the evening, and was astonished at the fact that the Balinese were so helpful, considering I was a foreigner. They helped me find my luggage and clear customs, as it was my first time travelling alone. The “Teksi” driver then drove me to Ubud where I was due to meet the rest of the group. Along the way, I learnt that Ubud was mostly Hindu in religion, which to me, was unexpected, as I had anticipated a Muslim culture. The driver told me that the Muslims congregated to the main island, particularly around Jakarta. As it was nearing 7 in the evening, I got panicked and started calling my other group members. Being the kind souls they were, I got an answer at around 8.30pm. They told me that they missed the flight and were on a 6 hour long ferry journey to Bali. I decided to whittle the time away by sampling some Balinese cuisine. I walked to the roadside stall in Ubud and sampled some grilled meats. They were delicious, but the after-effects of the splendid tastes were to be felt and smelt in due course. Finally, deciding that I’d better head back to the hotel, which was called Nick’s Pension, to wait for my friends who were due to join me in several hours’ time. The room was as ventilated as a sauna, and after getting used to the heat, I managed to fall asleep until about 4am when I received a call from the concierge that my friends were here. With great relief and joy, I ran out to greet Eugene and Thiru, who told me that they were booked in a separate hotel. With even greater joy, I hurriedly packed my bags and followed them to Ubud Inn, where we were due to spend the next 2 days.
I learnt that friends, though they may leave you feeling miserable for a short time, one finds himself wishing for their company more. Absence truly makes the heart fonder. Furthermore, I learnt the value of being helpful, as the Balinese were to me. Their eager helpfulness and warm manner gave me the feeling of homeliness and made me feel welcome in an otherwise foreign land.
Now we move on to the next day, or rather, the same day, but for the break of a new dawn.
Day 2
This day didn’t really start off as well as we’d planned. The 8 of us were tired (7 of us from a tiresome trek and 1 of me from the boredom that comes from waiting) and decided to laze in bed till 8am (mind it was only about 6 then, and the rest of the 7 arrived barely 2 or 3 hours ago) while some of the more active ones decided to take candid shots of people sleeping, people referring specifically to Eugene. After hurried Hello’s in the dead of morning to the rest of the group, I decided it was time to take a bath for no apparent reason, having showered the previous night. On waking the same morning with vivid eyebags, our gang decided to head out to town for traditional breakfast. We ventured into a restaurant of exceptionally high quality for a low price and ate our hearts out, then racked our brains trying to Go Dutch on the meal. Mathematics is an extraordinarily confusing subject when one’s stomach is full to the brim. The rest of the bright, sunny day was spent wandering the streets and indulging in man’s greatest sin – shopping. We split into two or three separate groups and met again for lunch, at a rather exquisite looking restaurant with fantastic garden dining options. In Bali, time really flies. We spent a whole FOUR hours on lunch, leaving the restaurant at close to 4.30 in the evening. From then to dinner, we split again, Thiru and I indulging once again in shopping. By the end of our round tour of all the shops in Ubud, we decided to Teksi back early and indulge in the second most sinful pleasure – eating. While our big feast didn’t comprise much, mainly me watching Thiru eat, still I was satisfied about how I spent the day.
Evening came quickly, and the group reassembled in the hotel room. We didn’t have any dinner that night, because we were feeling a little heavy hearted and light-pocketed. Sandesh suggested that we visit a Hindu temple where a cultural dance was due to take place. At first, we were reluctant about it, but decided to go along with it, as it would prove to be a unique experience. The dance was called Ramayana, and it was a dance version of several Hindu religious texts. The music was vibrant and colours were vivid. However, the dance failed to interest me. But it was truly, a taste of a culture different from our own.
What I learnt that day, was that money spent from our own pockets, leaves a scar on the heart. When our parents pay for our desires, it doesn’t seem to be much, but when we had to pay for our own food and shopping (especially with all the zeroes in Indonesian currency) it left a significant hurt. Also, do not eat seafood in Bali.
Onward, to Day 3.
Day 3
With our Ubud adventure coming to a close, we decided to spend the last morning doing what we do best – bargain with shopkeepers. We had the morning to ourselves, or at least part of it. Again, we split off into different groups and scoured the streets looking for a better bargain than the last. Finally, we got underway, with our pockets lighter and faces clouded as we thought (in dread might I add) of the challenging service we had ahead. After all, we knew just enough Indonesian to get us by, but not enough to hold a sociable conversation, let alone teach Indonesian children. I forgot to mention we were off to an orphanage.
When we reached the orphanage after two hours of driving from Ubud, we were greeted by a wonderful sight. Children of all ages, big to small, welcomed us very warmly with handshakes and helped us move our luggage into our rooms. Yet again, we have a demonstration of Indonesian hospitality. At lunch, we had a less luxurious taste of Balinese cooking. It was simple, yet filling. Our afternoon’s activities consisted of basketball, monkey and watching Eugene perform his highly entertaining “magic” card tricks. In the evening, we had another simple but scrumptious dinner. We then whittled the remainder of the night away by helping the kids with their homework.
What surprised me more than anything in the orphanage was that the children were happy, even though they were classified as a third-world country, a poor country, one in which people generally could afford less. I questioned about what it’d take to be happy. Did we really need all these expensive clothes? This handphone? This computer I’m writing this reflection on? If those children could be happy without them, why can’t we?
To the saddest day of the week.
LAST Day
Well, at last, the day of goodbyes has come. It seemed that the last four days went by in the blink of an eye. Nobody knew what happened to the time we spent in Bali. It seemed as if time had sped up and was desperate on sending us on our way. We spent our final morning in Seeds of Hope (the name of the orphanage) with heavy hearts, wishing that we could possibly have stayed longer, but alas, we could not. The children seemed to share our sentiment, and were feeling slightly dispirited as far as we could see. At last, the time of goodbyes came. We parted ways with heavy hearts, as we waved goodbye to the children. Truly, we would go back if we could. The rest of the journey back seemed to be quick and uneventful, we were disinterested in the on-goings around us. Goodbye is probably the hardest word to say in the entire vocabulary.
The final lesson I learnt, is that goodbyes, are surely part of our life. We must part ways with friends, family, in order to find ourselves and it’s never going to be easy. But, that’s no reason to why we shouldn’t enjoy the company. Alas, I bid you -
Adieu.