Blog Posts

Life in my gang

9/7/2015

Today was a typical day for me here in Bali. Very different to my old life in Australia.

I woke up this morning to a request from mum that I help our house keeper Nyoman who is like a 2nd mum, with a trip to the fruit and meat market in Sanur.

So we flagged down a local taxi, a bemo, which are the green old vans that go up and down the road, and went to the local markets (Pasar Sindu). We only took a few dollars with us because it is very cheap to buy your fruit, vegetables, meat & fish from the local markets and came back with a truck load of the freshest foods.

The markets can be quite confronting at first but I’ve gotten used to them now. You see all sorts of things, from chicken having their necks broken then being plucked and chopped and stall owners cooking fresh pancakes topped with traditional Balinese sauces.

The markets are in a massive shelter and as soon as you walk in you can smell all the mixed smells like sweets and the flesh of animals. There’s hundreds of little shops set up row by row all selling their own specialities. And of course, it is packed with people. At night time it becomes one of my favourite places to eat freshly cooked Bali street food (blog…..)

After we bemo’d home we saw a ceremony in our gang ( a gang is a laneway). Since an old uncle died (blog entry……) our gang has become a construction site and our old house keeper, a new property owner. She is now knocking down some old houses and building new ones. But the houses aren’t like houses in Australia. They are very small, just a few small rooms, usually no windows, no bathrooms or laundries and maybe no running water. And they are built by hand with no equipment used. They do look very flimsy but Bali has 4 earthquakes a day and none have fallen down. The builders have built a little room that will soon be a warung (small shop). However before they start to sell any goods, it must be blessed. So everyone in our gang dressed up in their kabias, gathered around the little shop, the priest was called in, offerings set out & prayers sung.

The next thing I did made me feel quite sad. As I’ve talked about in my blog before, I feed a street dog called Ronnie. Even though he doesn't belong to me I still love him very much and I am the only one he lets pat him. Unfortunately Ronnie is getting old so when I went to feed him today I put the food down in front of him but he didn’t want to eat. BAWA, the Bali equivalent to RSPCA, recently took him for a few days to recover from being so skinny and unwell. However he was dropped back to my gang and was still not very well. Now he has been hit by a car and his front leg broken. This happened 3 days ago and the pain is getting worse for him. He was yelping when I saw him so mum has phoned the BAWA ambulance again and said he needs immediate help. I think they may put him to sleep. I just wish he would have come and lived with us so we could have given him a lot of love for the last part of his life, but he didn’t want to. When our gate closed and he was in our yard he got really scared so we had to let him out.

It’s school holidays here in Bali so while I wait for BAWA to come to help Ronnie I am planning a trip to the Gilli Islands for next week. I have been told the Gilli Islands are very beautiful and unspoilt so stay tuned for the post in the future.

A Great Way To Spend Sunday Morning Cafe Batu Jimbar

31/5/2015

If you’re looking for a nice way to spend Sunday morning, then come to Cafe Batu Jimbar in Sanur.

Every Sunday from around 9am to 1pm the cafe becomes a market place for organic produce, fresh homemade jams, Bali honey and a huge range of local delicacies. European treats are on offer too such as freshly cooked quesadillas at the open market shop. This is all on top of their usual extensive menu.

Mum and I go most Sunday mornings (sometimes I am at the beach surfing) and mum picks out a whole plate of different local cakes then eats them all with one of the cafes big cups of coffee. Her favourites are a purple jelly thing with sweet bean inside and a Bali brown sugar cake, like a muffin, that is cooked in a banana leaf. If you go, you should try them, they are delicious and mum is addicted.

There are also stalls selling clothes, jewellery & gifts.

Sunday morning at Cafe Batu Jimbar is the Balinese equivalent to the Chinese yum chow. It’s the one day of the week when Bali families all come together to catch up and dine together. Many of those who go to the cafe are the international Bali families, one parent Balinese and 1 parent ex pat. You see a lot of very attractive people at Cafe Batu Jimbar.

One of the owners of the cafe is Ade and she is from the Sanur family that owns the beautiful traditional Sanur Hotel, Tandjung Sari. Ade also owns Jenggala Pottery, a huge Bali business that makes the most beautiful ceramics. Our house is full of Jenggala ceramics and mum is trying to work out how she can get her favourite pieces back to Australia. A bit tricky when you’re a volunteer and come with just 1 suitcase.

I’ll write more about Jenggala in another blog because it is a very interesting story. In the meantime if you are in Sanur on Sunday morning and come to Cafe Batu Jimbar please look out for me and say hi.

www.cafebatujimbar.com

xxx

The Island of Nusa Penida

31/3/2015

Broken beach The main road and major intersection

If you would like to see what Bali was like in the 1970s, which is when my mum 1st came here, then Nusa Penida is the place for you. It's a great little island to explore and have fun adventures on and there's some stunning sites to go and see.

It's only 30 minutes away from Sanur by a fast boat and costs around $30 Australian return. You can go from Sanur, Benoa Harbor or Padang Bai. Sanur's very easy for us because we live there. Don't wear long pants if you go because when getting on to the boat you must wade out into the ocean.

The Balinese Hindu's believe that Nusa Penida is a place of enchantment and evil power. It is the home of Jero Gede Macaling, a giant demon King who is believed to spread disease, floods and evilness. There are a few temples dedicated to him including Pura Dalem Penetaran Ped, that houses a shrine that is believed to be a source of power for those who do black magic. People also pray there if they are seeking protection from sickness and evil.

The whole island is made of lime stone and there's only 40,000 people living there. You won't see many tourists there and hardly any cars.

The roads on the island are very rough and narrow and in places also quite steep and scary. However at times it was very pretty because the jungle would almost overgrow the road. The roads were really steep at some points because they don't go around the edge of the island, they go inland, up the mountains and then back down to the coast. You will see some unusual sights such as the body in the photo at the end of my blog, on the side of the road.

Most people get around the island by motor bike. But to do this you need to have good skills on a bike because most of the roads on Penida are really bad. However you can also hire a car and driver for $50 a day, which we did, but a lot of the time we didn't go faster than 10kms an hour because of the rough roads.

The first place that we went to was Crystal Bay. Crystal Bay is my favorite place on Penida. The beach is beautiful and they have small warungs (cafes) and a toilet. The marine life & coral there is so gorgeous and I loved how there were separate little islands that you could swim out to. If the tide is high enough you can climb up onto the stairs and walk onto the island. The water was also crystal clear and warm. Namaste hotel is close by so you can go there for nice aussie type food.

The next place that we went to was the cliffs above Broken beach but you can't get down to the beach from there. So you can't swim at Broken beach unless you go by boat but the view is amazing. However if you do go by car it is quite a drive there over a mostly dirt track that goes past sheer cliff drops. It took us about 1 hour to get to from Crystal Bay.

The next place we visited was the Temeling watefall, swimming holes. We drove for another hour on a bumpy dirt track to get there and then our driver stopped the car and said we had to walk. He said the walk was 1.6km but it was actually about 2.5km. And it was mostly down steep hills and massive stairs. So you really need to be pretty fit to do this and take lots of water. The path was good for most of the way, quite lovely really walking through the rainforest and past limestone cliffs, just steep. Then we had to go back up hill which was even worse. There were two water holes, both were salt water and women could go in both but men could only use the bigger one. The water holes were so nice and cool to swim in and located down near the beach. A tip here is to do as much of the track as you can, coming back up, on a motor bike to cut down the amount of walking. If you have a driver or guide, they could organise this for you.

The next day we went for a snorkel at the beach in front of Ring Sameton Inn, where we stayed, on the North of the island. There were seaweed farms close to the shore and sea snakes out where we were swimming. We didn't want to swim over them so mum walked along the beach and found a local seaweed farmer who didn't speak English. But we were able to negotiate a price for him to take us out in his rowing boat. Once we got out past the seaweed the water was crystal clear and coral was beautiful. The currents were quite strong so we jumped out and drifted along the ocean while the boat followed us.

Because we were only on the island for the weekend we didn't have enough time to explore everything it had to offer. So we will definitely be going back there soon and doing the other things that we couldn't do the first time. One thing that I really wanted to do was to swim with the manta rays. You can go out on a boat, dive in and swim with them.

One last thing that I really loved was getting to ride a motor bike. Mum and dad agreed to it because the island is a safe place to learn on because there's almost no traffic. And our hotel had a very long driveway. It only costs $5 a day to hire a motor bike.

Dead body on the side of the road

Bali Governor says Kill all Street Dogs

22/3/2015

Mum thinks that when you look into the eyes of a Bali street dog you can see their soul. When I look at this dog in the photo (a street dog that lives across the road) i see that he's scared of humans, sad and hungry.

I’m sad and shocked that I feel the need to write about this…. I love Bali street dogs, they have such amazing personalities. They have to fight everyday for survival, find food and water, there’s no love and warmth in their life. They are so badly treated but yet they can have such an amazing affect on your life. Some people call them Bali heritage dogs and lots of expats here love them.

When I read an article in our local Bali paper where Bali’s Governor said everyone should start killing street dogs, I couldn't believe it! This is what the article said……….

"Clearly, Bali’s Governor is fed up with the continuing problem of rabies and untended dogs.Defending his no-nonsense stance on eliminating Bali’s free-ranging canine population, Pastika said on Saturday, January 31, 2015: “I have been protested against by angry people from animal welfare association, asking why Bali’s Governor is ordering the elimination of dogs? My response is that Bali has 500,000 dogs and a human population of 4 million. That’s one-eighth or one dog for every eight human beings. Just imagine how difficult it is to care for (so many dogs).”

Pastika said that the Government of the Province of Bali has tried its best to control rabies infections resulting from attacks by free-roaming dogs.

Frustrated and eager to end the epidemic of rabies, Governor Pastika has finally decided that free-roaming wild dogs must be exterminated.

“There’s so much rabies. Our money has been depleted just to purchase rabies vaccine (VAR). Please help. If you see a free-roaming feral dog just kill it – eliminate it! Don’t allow them to roam spreading disease. This is dangerous and frightens people. I think the public must guard together,” said Pastika.

Perhaps responding to critics from Australia, Pastika compared the situation of dogs in Bali and Australia. He said that in Australia dogs get special care and are guaranteed a healthy diet, a healthy environment and obtain routine care that includes vaccination. Adding, “But in Bali, many (dogs) receive no care, roam freely and live in a mangy condition.”

Then this article (linked below) was put in the International New York Times on the front page about a Bali street dog being based with a brick and when that didn’t kill her they tried to drown her.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/world/beach-dogs-a-bitten-girl-and-a-roiling-debate-in-bali.html?_r=1

I don’t know what I can do as an Aussie teen living in Bali but if anyone reads this and loves dogs and can help please let me know and also contact BAWA. http://bawabali.com/ Bawa are giving Bali street dogs rabies injections and also trying to get villages to adopt the local street dogs so they become a part of their life. I think this is a really good thing to do for everyone.

The day of the Demons (Nyepi)

22/3/2015

Nyepi is a holiday that is celebrated all over Bali and it marks the day of a new Hindu year. It’s also the day where according to the Hindu religion, Yama “the master of Hell” sets free all the demons who then fly over Bali in search of humans to harm.

For weeks before Nyepi the Balinese start making huge sculptures called Ogoh Ogohs. They purposely make them look really disfigured and ugly and some are quite scary to look at. They can sometimes be the size of a large truck. Others can be the size of dolls and can be sold for gifts. They are made to be paraded and to show the demons that there are bigger and better monsters in Bali so they’ll be scared away.

On the day of Nyepi, from 6am Saturday to 6am Sunday Bali was in complete silence. No people, no cars, no lights, no sound........ Nothing. The airports and ports are closed for 24 hrs, and TV and radio taken of the air. This is so that the demons think that everyone has left Bali and there are no humans here for them to harm.

Non Hindu people including tourists still have to follow the rules and remain in their hotels and not use TV, air con, lights or cars or anything that's noisy.

Many people said that they enjoy Nyepi because it's the one day a year that they can enjoy the peaceful silence. Expats say that they enjoy it because it basically forces them to relax.

I think Nyepi is really fascinating because it’s unlike anything from Australia that I’ve ever seen before. But if you ever come to Bali during Nyepi make sure you don’t go outside or the demons may get you.

Where to Go For an Interesting Saturday Morning Run in Bali

21/3/2015

The Balinese work 6 days a week and if you would like to know what they do on their 7th day, they get up at 6am and go to Renon Square, which is also known as Niti Mandela.

This is a huge park with a big monument in the suburb of Renon which is where many of the Consulates are in Bali. It’s about a 5 minute drive from my house in Sanur.

I went to Renon Square to find a group of runners called Indorunners. I was really keen to run with them because I have been running on my own and it gets a bit lonely. When we arrived I was amazed at how many people were already there exercising in the park. There must have been about 4,000. There were lots of families, kids on bikes, couples, friends out together, old and young. People walking their pets, even 1 man walking his ferret on a lead. And I even saw the ex President of Indonesia SBY who was there to do the exercise class. It was the biggest exercise class I have ever seen, I think there must have been about 2000 people in it.

There was so much energy there that I really wanted to join everyone and start running straight away. But first I tried to find the Indorunners. In the end I couldn’t so I did 2 laps of the park on my own. As I was running I ran past a big group of men who were sharpening their curved knives. They looked like they were part of a club but I cannot imagine what they might have been doing. Maybe some sort of local fighting. I’ll have to find out next time we go.

Mum and dad walked around the park and really enjoyed it. Mum said lots of people chatted to her as they walked around. And dad literally bumped into SBY in the crowd.

I found out later the Indorunners meet at the Circle K shop which is across from the Park. So if you come to Bali and want a great run, amongst lots of locals in a really nice location, you might want to come and join me and run with them. Like us you will most likely find you are the only Westerner there, which was a really big surprise to all of us.

You can find Indo runners on Facebook.

About Bali - A Bali Cremation

20/2/2015

Today I went to a funeral…..

Well it was a funeral except this funeral was like no other. Everyone was happy and excited and there was lots of colour and celebrations.

This morning I woke up and heard our gang that's usually quiet buzzing with energy. Sadly a few days ago there was a death, an old man who used to sit in our street under a shady tree on a wooden beach. He lived till 84 years old and had a wife that would always sit there by his side.

4 days ago our house maid Wayan said to me "come see my uncle he is sleeping." I had no idea what she meant because she doesn't really speak english. So I got my dad and we walked over to her house that’s next door. I followed her into a room and saw her uncle sleeping on the bed. I was confused at why she wanted me to see someone having a nap. Then her brother came over and said to dad and I that he was dead. I was quite shocked at that considering I’d never seen a dead person before, but I was even more shocked that no one was crying. Every one was happy and excited.

He stayed there for 4 days while everyone prepared his body for a cremation ceremony. Each day we would hear prayers, people singing and our lane way was filled with people wanting to visit him. Then on the fourth day, cremation day, we all woke up early to get dressed in our kebaya’s (ceremonial dresses) and walked over to Wayan’s house.

We sat at her house along with the other 200 guests and ate traditional Balinese food that her husband (who’s a chef) had cooked. Then the body was brought out, wrapped in a sheet and we followed it down our gang (alley).

There were girls wearing beautiful gold and silver dresses and people carrying big flower bowls and fruit bowls as offerings for the gods on their heads. When we reached the main road the body was put into a very ornate structure then picked up and carried by 10 men. Then the procession started. The whole main road of Sanur was blocked off to traffic for 30 minutes as over 200 of us and a full Balinese Gamelin orchestra walked with the body to the cremation site on the beach.

We all waked for about 1km in the middle of the day. I felt really sorry for the guys because the structure is actually massive and extremely heavy so they did a good job carrying it so far in that heat.

Then we finally arrived at the cremation site which is right next to the beach. The boys put the structure down and carried to body to a pyre which was made of bamboo. Then they unwrapped the body and there were more rituals. Being an Aussie I thought some of the things they did were very weird but interesting. One of the things was that they put metal in his mouth to make sure he had strong teeth in the after life!

Then they set the pyre on fire using gas burners and we all stood back and watched his body be cremated. He was actually one of three cremations on that day. After that dad and I left because the heat was too much for me to handle in my dress. It was layers and layers and I was so, so, so hot from the heat. But mum stayed for another 2 hours and said they picked up the ashes, had some rituals and blessings by a priest and took them out in a boat and scattered them into the ocean.

So If you ever visit Bali and come to Sanur be sure to see one of the cremations. They are usually on every Saturday and Sunday and sometimes other days during the week too. Anyone is allowed to go and there are always lots of tourists watching. You can also take pictures and videos, the Balinese don’t mind at all.

And in case you are wondering why they are so happy, it is because in the Hindu religion they believe you will be reincarnated and have a better life. In fact there are some gifted people who are meant to be able to tell who is reincarnated from whom!

A Work Place Blessing

17/2/2015

Today was a very interesting day for me. Today I went to a ceremony to bless mums work place. I've never heard of a work place blessing ceremony in Australia but in Bali they are a very regular event.

Mum has just started her new work at Puspadi Bali. Mums working in a business development role and helping them to raise money so that they can help more people. Paspudi Bali helps people who are disabled and this includes people who have lost limbs in accidents like riding motor bikes and getting run over and falling out of trees.

The Hindus believe that being disabled is a punishment from the Gods for something you or your family have done. So the disabled are not helped except for the help Puspadi Bali gives them. I'll talk more about mums work in another post.

Mum and I both arrived at her work wearing our new kabayas that we just had made. We all gathered around the car park and sat down on the grass. All the men sat together and all the women were sitting separately. I met two of the ladies who work with mum who were both in a wheel chair.

We all waited and watched for about 30 minutes while a Hindu priest did a religious blessing to the gods. He sprayed water on a table full of brightly coloured offerings and sang prayers. It is believed that he is one of the few people who can actually communicate with the gods. After that a lady came around and blessed every single person in the car park. When she got to me I didn't really want to be sprayed with water and have rice thrown at me but I let her do it anyway. Part of the ceremony was each of us had to drink water three times, similar to taking communion. I was worried the water wouldn't be filtered or boiled and I'd get sick. But the lady reassured me that it was holy water and that it was safe.

She also put water on our foreheads and then stuck grains of rice there. You'll often see Balinese people walking around with 3 or 4 grains of rice on their foreheads and it's another way they do a small offering to the gods.

While the table full of offerings was for the gods, the demons also had their offerings. A little fire was started on the ground for them so the Balinese could make sure the forces for good and evil were both kept happy.

Workplace blessing ceremonies are held every 6 months on the Balinese calendar, so this means every 210 days.

The ceremony finished after an hour and then everyone shared food they had brought, then we all went home.

An Overview Of My Life In Bali

28/1/2015

Boat out to surf Serengan island Flagging down a Bemo

In this blog post I’m going to tell you a little bit about my life in Bali. What my day to day life is like.

Where I live:
I live in a place called Sanur. Sanur is on the East side of Bali and is quiet compared to the main tourist places like Kuta and Cunggu. It’s great though because my house is down a little lane way (called a gang) off the main road in Sanur, Jalan Tamblingan. My gang is only 100 metres long but it is a thriving, interesting community and I love it. As you walk down it you notice a warung (tiny local shop) that sells freshly cooked street food. Lots of Bali families live in little compounds in my gang and it is always full of happy children, adults sitting and chatting and cats and dogs. Opposite my gate is another warung that makes hand woven offerings for the gods and ceremonies. If you see my story on the ABC’s Behind The News (fairy story) you will see my gang and the families that live in it.

I love our house. It has a beautiful Balinese garden with fish pond and waterfall, lots of orchids and bonsai trees. And we have a pool. My room is lovely with a big bed and net and a big balinese bathroom. Our house is full of Balinese statues and lots of carvings. It was decorated by our landlord who is one of the owners of the Tangjing Sari Hotel, one of Sanur’s famous Hotels.

2 minutes walk from my house there is a 5km board walk that goes along the beach and I like to run along there in the afternoon when it is not too hot.

Also the main street is full of restaurants, cafes, shops and hotels so I have lots of fun with friends shopping, eating ice-cream, riding the bemo’s and eating right on the beach at one of the little warungs.

School:
Everyday I catch a bus to school, the Australian International School in Kuta, at 7am and I’m the only one on it. It comes right to my front door, down my narrow gang. My school is one hr away on a good day without traffic and some days 2 hrs. In my grade there are 10 kids including me. It’s a small school and the only one in Bali that does the Australian curriculum.

To get into my school we have to stop at a security gate and be checked. At the moment there is a terrorist alert that ISIS want to hurt an Australian teacher so the guards are being very careful to check everyone who wants to get in.

In the school yard there is a small temple. This is so Indonesians can go pray and they think it will help keep the school safe.

Food:
When I first arrived in Bali I wasn’t too sure about the food. To me it looked strange and smelt different and I was really worried about food poisoning. But that has all changed and I love street food. The night markets are 5 minutes away from me in a bemo (which I will be talking about shortly). During the day the market sells fresh fruit, vegetables and meats but at night time the car park is filled with little local food stalls and they sell really yummy freshly cooked street food. I was worried about eating local food and my local Australian GP said we had to be careful. But now I eat there at least 3 times a week and it only costs $1 for a huge plate of food.

Transportation:
The way you get around Bali is on either a motor bike or car! Or if you are a tourist you can hire a car and driver for about $30 for the whole day. However by favourite way is by Bemo, a very local taxi van. In Sanur they are old, rusty green vans that drive past every few minutes. They will even do a U turn in the narrow main street to come and pick you up. Bemo’s will take you anywhere around Sanur for 5000 rupiah (50c) They are driven by local Balinese and you will meet lots of interesting people in a bemo.

They look like kombi vans but don’t fall out the door, haha.

Things I like to do in Bali:
Surfing. Going in small boat with a friend to Serengan Island, being dropped by the boat then picked up 1 hour later. I also like surfing in Kuta

Walking down the main street of Sanur. There is so much to explore and do
Running with the Hash House Harriers and on the Sanur board walk
Hanging out in Sanur with friends, eating at warungs on the beach, its safe so you can go off on your own
Browsing & bargaining in all the little shops that line the main street, kilometres of them
Snorkelling and spending the weekends at Amed
Riding on the Bemo’s
Eating at the little warungs on the beach and my favourite, the night market for great street food
Going places like the Rock Bar and seeing the rest of the island
Seeing the way Balinese live and learning about their culture

I will write more about all these things in future blogs.

Things to do in Bali - Bike Ride Tour

14/1/2015

Helping to Harvest Rice

The Hash House Harriers run or walk (see my previous blog) is the very best way to see the real Bali. But if this doesn’t suit you or you only have 1 or 2 days in Bali, then this ride is something that I think everyone should do.

This 4 hour bike ride (1 hour for lunch), down a gently slopping mountain road with Bali Eco Cycling, will get you away from the main tourist areas and into the country where you will see more of Bali.

The bike ride starts when you are picked up at 7:30am for a 1 hour drive up into the mountains to Kintamani. Here we had breakfast at a restaurant overlooking Mt Batur which is an active volcano and its crater lake. The view was stunning but the food and flies were not too good. My family and I are used to eating street food so we can rough it a bit but seeing all the flies over the food was not good and we didn’t eat very much. My advice would be to have breakfast before you go. The view though was spectacular so you will get some great photo’s.

After breakfast the bus drove us to where the bikes were and we were fitted for helmets and the bikes adjusted for our height. We also did a test ride around a track.

I hadn’t ridden a bike in a very long time (I usually stick to skate boards :) but it didn’t take long to get used to bike riding again. When everyone was ready we got on the bikes and started riding down the mountain. There was always a guide in front and a guide who stayed behind everyone so it didn’t matter if you wanted to ride really slowly like my mum or really fast like my dad.

We stopped at a few locations on the way where we did get to see the real Bali. They included local villages where you will see inside their houses and kitchens and hear about their fascinating life and customs as Hindu’s. You will see every part of their daily life, something you won’t do if you only go to the main tourist places in Bali. I loved stopping at the rice paddies where you can walk through and see ladies harvesting the rice. You can actually help to thrash the rice, which as you will learn is part of the harvesting process. You will ride past schools and temples and stop at a huge sacred tree for a break. We also stopped at a coffee plantation and had about 10 different cups of coffee.

In total the ride goes for about 3hrs and its a great way to see the beautiful Bali scenery. A bonus to it is that they also include lunch at the end of the ride. You get a buffet which consists of typical yummy Indonesian dishes such as nasi goreng (fried rice) Mie goreng (fried noodles), spring rolls and my all time favourite, tempe.

For more information on this amazing tour head to http://www.baliecocycling.com/cycling-tour/

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