I thought i’d be totally fine with Wifi in the hotel resort but it’s extremely weak (1 bar -_-)
and uploading a single page takes ages.
Tried uploading some pix but it’s out of the question,
so you have to make do with my rambling for now!
Just woke up (10am Monday) and having brekkie of
bacon (the real porkie stuff!), baked beans, sunny side up, and toast.
It’s our last full day in Gili before we take the (torturous) boat ride back to mainland Bali.
Only thing we’re quite disappointed in, is the beach tho, i must say.
I mean, the layers of brilliant blue water with the mountain in the bg is undoubtedly amazing,
but it’s not a very friendly beach as there is dead coral washed up along the entire shore,
and even dipping in 1 foot of water requires gingerly stepping about.
“Why did Nick and Steph rave about the beach here?!” complained Rudy.
“I dunno… maybe it was the shrooms talking,” i sighed.
“You know what, i bet it’s cos they were having lots of sex, and you can’t go wrong with sex on an island.”
“Good point.”
Food here is pretty damn amazing.
We’ve had lobster (app. RM100 for a huge one) every night like absolute spoilt brats,
and will have more again tonight!
Ok lazy to type cos i wanna run to the pool now!
+ + +
Was surfing online to find some ringtones to personalize my Curve more.
Crackberry.com has heaps of free ringtones to dl with detailed step-by-step instructions.
Super easy, just click on the song, listen to whether i want it,
then just get them to send it to my email which is done immediately!
In 12 hours (11pm Thurs – 11am Fri), i managed to:
– sit in a few taxis, van, speedboat and donkey cart
– have braised pork tenderloin with zucchini mash at Trattoria’s
– collectively polish off 2 carafes of red wine at Trattoria’s, 1 shake at Oscar’s, 4 Bintangs, & 4 bottles of wine at Kudeta
– watch the waves roll in and the stars twinkle down on Yuka and i, as we compared jobs and lives in Tokyo and KL
– be the last to leave Kudeta
– go for a swim at 4am with iPod and wine in tow, with AlcoJason, Yuka & RowdyRudy
– be woken up at 7:15am to catch our boat ride at the harbour
– have a giant wave splash thru the window unto me as i had a Hangover Nap in the speedboat
– throw up over side of boat upon reaching Gili Trawangan
– hear Rudy say “I fucking hate Jason” a few times
Scallywags is gorgeous, so glad we’re staying here.
Many of the restaurants here have a Mediterranean feel about it,
and there are heaps of good-looking people around!
Am writing an advertorial with the sea right in front of me so i couldn’t ask for a better work setup,
while RowdyRudy has gone off for a run to see how long it takes him to run around the entire island.
I’ve been googling for some decent BB themes,
and seeing the Curve 8520 is still very new,
i’m surprised i can find a few that i’m more than willing to put on my BB.
Know of any other sites that offer decent themes for BB?
Another random thing i bumped into online was VQ CarFinder,
a program that helps you find your car when you want to look for it.
Not free tho, but thought i’d mention it
There was also some weight loss management one i stumbled upon online.
Quite crazy la, the amount of apps you can dl unto your bb!
+ + Xpax is gonna launch the first prepaid Blackberry program.
It’s not launched YET but you can pre-register at xpax.com.my/blackberry! + +
+ + +
I have to go pack now
Off to Bali for RowdyRudy’s and my annual getaway
Time for partying, reflection and make believe
Argh i’m so excited today is finally here!
I think we canceled and changed our flights a couple of times
cos something kept on getting in the way (wedding la, work la)
AND TODAY IS FINALLY HERE!
Since i’ve already been to all over Bali,
we’re traveling to Gili Trawangan this time,
a tiny island off main Bali where we have to take a 2-hour boat ride to get to
(and that’s the fastest boat!)
We’re staying at Scallywags, a place SmallSerena suggested to us,
and we couldn’t resist once seeing the pictures.
I swear the past few days have just been a food fest of sorts.
NON STOP eating, no care for cholesterol and fat content whatsoever,
and no thought put into whether it was the right time to eat,
or whether i was hungry.
It was a matter of eating because the food was there,
it looked great,
and nothing was stopping me.
Yesterday i went to DidiBuli’s open house,
and dug out the only thing i owned that resembled something traditionally malay.
Something i picked up from a Show Pink fashion junksale.
Meesh in the background.
She be leaving to further her Masters in Human Rights in London.
Sounds so intimidating right :p
MaintainMing asked me why i copied his hairstyle
Look! It’s DidiMini on the left!
+ + +
Right after that i went to Matthieu’s apartment,
where he was cooking dinner for a small group of us.
Can’t say no to half naked French man single-handedly cooking –
Starter: prawn salad with apple + grapefruit
Main: duck confit + salad + potatoes cooked in duck grease
+ + +
Despite being out, i still managed to work >.<
I really just don’t want the emails to pile up while i’m on hols!
We’re rushing plans for the Chic POP fashion street market
that’s taking place in Zouk next weekend,
and it’s imperative that i answer emails reg. it as soon as i’m able to.
I still can’t get over how i don’t waste time while being in a g*Dd#%m jam at the same time.
+ + Xpax is gonna launch the first prepaid Blackberry program.
It’s not launched YET but you can pre-register at xpax.com.my/blackberry! + +
Cheesie and i decided to spend the whole day exploring the beaches off the main island of Cebu
so we hired a boat from the Hilton to take us
View of the hotel from the jetty
We had very few people on the boat – the driver with his 2 boys, and a lady from the Hilton.
First stop we went was a spot to snorkel
I generally don’t like using the fins and life jacket
(cos i really love the water and prefer having nothing clinging to me when i snorkel)
But the waves were really choppy there!
It wasn’t calm waters like the beaches in Malaysia or Thailand where you can casually float about and look at fish.
It was more like trying to stay alive while peeking underwater and the waves kept on getting into my pipe.
After looking down, i thought fuck that, fish are fish and i’ve seen more colourful ones,
so i got back on to the boat to drink my beer.
Cheesie doesn’t drink, so er yeah, all that was for me
(though i did give one of the beers to the boatboy)
We reached the island we were going to chill out on,
and the word to describe it would be idyllic.
It was so beautiful, there was no way anyone could take a bad photo of it!
I loved the stretch of shallow water where we could run around in!
All these locals came to sell us fresh shellfish which they’d then BBQ for us,
but the Hiton lady said they’re really expensive and to bargain it down.
Trust me i tried, but it was really expensive!
The lowest they would go was RM20 for a couple of each type just so Cheesie and i could try it,
(which was very little), “… and very expensive seeing they just plucked it free from the ocean!” i indignantly told Cheesie
That’s what we shared for RM20
It’s damn little okay, just looks decent cos the shells are big!
You have to slowly pull it out by its claw,
then tada! Gobble the whole thing
We got to try some rather huge shellfish,
which was a first for us.
They BBQ-ed it with no sauce nothing,
but because it was SO FRESH, it tasted damn good!
“I wish it wasn’t so expensive… then we could just buy a lot and eat it!” said Cheesie. “I know right, not that i’ve tasted some, i just wanna eat MORE!”
I got to try fresh sea urchin tho,
which i was really excited about ever since
watching how people eat it raw after chopping it open on Discovery.
And i may be making that face but i loved it.
It tasted like the sea version of foie gras
– was soft and gooey, but was really nice.
Someone mentioned it’s got really high cholesterol.
Figures.
Everything that tastes awfully good is bad for you!
The two boat boys
Lots of seaweed on various parts of the beach,
but someone came by to rake it all up and bury it.
We then went for a huge seafood lunch
(paid app. RM70 per person)
But it was like a freaking buffet they set out in front of the both of us!
Crabs, shellfish, calamari rings, vegetables, huge fish –
we whacked it all
Cheesie may not drink a lot,
but i’m sure glad the woman knows how to put the food away with me!
One thing that isn’t overrated in Philippines are their mangoes.
I mean, Malaysian mangoes are really sweet and juicy,
but Filipino mangoes have a distinctive taste and texture
that somehow puts it a bar above ours.
Seriously.
I mean, look at this, i wanted to take a picture of the mangoe BEFORE i ate it,
but got too carried away in excitement.
So you just get a picture of the eaten mangoe. Sorry
* * *
This trip was made possible by Malaysia Airlines.
It’s the only airline available to fly from Malaysia to Cebu, Philippines; with 2 flights a week.
