bali nirvana, bali niksoma

who doesn't know bali nowadays? espescially oz people.. bali has been voted as one of the most beautiful, prestigious islands in the world. the beaches, the culture, foods, views are terrific! i lived in bali for 3 years, when i was a child.. but not in the city like kuta, legian, and so on. i lived in a small city in the north shore of bali, and it was wonderful. sometimes i went to kuta beach with my family and built a sand castle over there.. i enjoyed its sunset as well as the sunrise. a couple of times i followed my dad to the beach in the morning, usually at 5 am. there, he rented a boat and asked a fisherman to drive him along the sea to watch the dolphins (but not so far..). i still remember when i watched the dolphins came out from the sea and then jumped over it again.. i also touched a sea star, so cuteee!!! well yeah, i miss those moments a lot because after 3 years me and my family moved to jakarta, a much more bigger city, with its crowd, polutions, people, culture which are different from bali.

the famous kuta beach

nusa dua beach

bali is also very well-known from its culture. in bali, every family tradition is very patriarchal in some ways. and it is very nice to see the balinese girls wearing their traditional costumes when one of their relatives or friends is married. they look beautiful, elegant, traditional and mature? balinese girls are beautiful. most of them are raised up politely and nice. they also have good physical looks. usually, balinese girls have tanned skins, big eyes, long and straight hairs and thick lips. they usually attract overseas men who came there for holiday. another culture that strikes bali the most is the cremation of died people in the beach. this is very unusual for tourists or even for indonesian people who live outside bali. i remember when i was a child, i watched it. it was soooo scary! there was a man's face, laid down in the box made from bamboo or rotten or whatever.. i forgot. and then the fire just burned his face straight away, and suddenly it was all black, no left. sooo scary yet very unique. and then the family of the man threw his ash into the sea.

balinese girls at the wedding ceremony

balinese cremation

and if you're planning to go to bali next time, don't forget about the food!!! hahahaha it's the best of all i think.. the most famous one is nasi campur bali (mix balinese rice) which is my favourite. this traditional dish comes up with white or yellow rice and a mixture of sate lilit (pork balinese satay), ayam betutu (roasted spicy and hot chicken in banana leaf), tumis sayur (spicy vegetables) and rempeyek (peanut cracker). my mom loves this food so much and whenever we went to bali for holiday, it's an obligation for us to take her to a balinese traditional restaurant just to order nasi campur bali. the next one that i suggest you to try is bebek betutu (roasted duck in banana leaf). duck meat's texture is a rather bit harder to chew than chicken or beef. but the herbs and spices can be tasted deeply, even in the deepest meat. the rich flavour of duck is greatly enhanced by a host of pungent roots, herbs and seasonings in this dish which is invariably a great favorite with visitors to bali. the balinese have great admiration for the duck and consider it to be a particularly strong animal as it is like the turtle, one of very few able to survive on land as well as on water.

nasi campur bali (mixed balinese rice)

bebek betutu (roasted duck in banana leaf)