A Sunny Afternoon by the Zürichsee

On any sunny weekend afternoon you can find thousands of people by the Zürichsee (that's it's name in high german, it's called Lake Zürich in English and Zürisee in Swiss German). Martin and I usually wander down there on weekend afternoons ourselves. Once there we walk along the lake, find ourselves an empty patch of grass, spread out our blanket and then go down for a nice long nap (or read our books, or people watch). People watching is the best because there is a constant stream of people walking by in both directions along the lake. Everybody is out for some sunshine and exercise when it's not raining. My favorite people are the guys who carry their own sound systems and speakers and blare music as they walk.

Here are some pictures we took this past Sunday while we were by the lake. Here is a picture of a big patch of grass where lots of people like to hang out. But really every single patch of grass or bench or step is taken up by somebody when it's nice outside. It's just like being on a crowded beach, except there's no sand.



There is this one area where you can get a nice view of the mountains, if they're visible. This past Sunday we were lucky and you could see them, though this picture was taken with our cell phone so it's not of the best quality but they're there in the distance I swear:



And here are the balancing rock sculptures that Martin likes to sit and stare at. While Martin was taking these pictures a little boy walked over and knocked over one of the piles and the artist happened to be there which was funny. I'm surprised little kids don't knock them down all the time and that there are always a lot of them standing there. I'm also surprised they don't fall down from the wind ... I'm just baffled by how all these rocks balance so well.



I think it's the kid in blue in this picture who knocked one of the piles over:



And that's your typical afternoon by the lake.

Bali - Nirwana Golf Club

The day before the wedding several people went golfing at Nirwana Golf Club with the groom, Andreas. Agnes was supposed to go too but with it being the day before the wedding of course she was too busy.

You must have a caddy at this course (and a golf cart because it's too hot to walk the entire course) and the caddies are all women who somehow don't die of heatstroke in their pants and long sleeves.



The course was designed by Greg Norman and is apparently quite challenging. Of course Martin ignored all that and played better than everybody else in his foursome. It's customary to bet on golf games in Asia and since Martin won everything he ended up not having to pay his share of the cost of the hired car that brought them to/from the golf course.

One of the neat things about Nirwana is that it is right on the Indian Ocean and there is a temple in the ocean:







You could walk to this temple during low tide but I don't think tourists are allowed over there. It is called Pura Tanah Lot, or "Temple of Land in the Middle of the Sea" and it is dedicated to the guardian spirits of the sea.

There are also lots of rice terraces throughout the golf course:



And some holes where you had to hit the ball over the ocean:





And here is the foursome. The groom, Andreas, is on the right. The other two guys are from Singapore ... one of them is the husband of Agnes' cousin I believe.



Looks like it was a gorgeous place to spend a day in Bali.

Bali - The Legian - Nighttime

Here are several pictures that Martin took of sunsets and the pool and beach at night at The Legian. This was probably the prettiest sunset we saw while there ... it's very pretty but nothing spectacular. We didn't get any good red colors any night we were there. Maybe next time.





This is not the same night as the pictures above:







I think it's neat how the pool and ocean run right into each other in these pictures:

Bali - Seminyak - The Legian Daytime

After our 4 days in Ubud, we transferred over to The Legian hotel in Seminyak which is on the west coast of Bali. Once we arrived we were told that we got a free double upgrade of our room ... no complaints here. Granted all of the rooms at The Legian have a good ocean view so the fact that we had an ocean view was not a big deal but our new room also had a day bed on the balcony which was quite nice:





We also had a second balcony with comfy lounge chairs with a view of the mountains to the north:



Of course we never sat on that balcony but if we had more time there I'm sure we would have eventually tired of the ocean view and wanted something different.

We got a selection of fresh fruit in our room each day and none of them were fruits that you see in the US (or Europe). Here I am enjoying some fresh fruit on the balcony:



My two favorite fruits were called snake fruit and hairy fruit. The snake fruit is named for its skin, which looks like that of a snake. But the fruit on the inside tastes like a cross between an apple and a pineapple.



And the hairy fruit, which is better known as rambutan:



They taste and look quite a bit like lychee fruit. I really enjoyed lychee too but I got sick shortly after I had a few lychee martinis (from food poisoning, not drinking too much), which I thought tasted like cough medicine anyway, so I think I'll be avoiding lychee fruit for awhile. Not that I could find it here if I wanted some anyway.

Oranges and bananas are even different in Bali. The oranges, in my opinion, have less flavor or at least more of a bitter flavor and less of a sweet flavor than in the US. And ... they're green on the outside! Defeats the purpose of calling them oranges, I think. Bananas in Bali are about half the size of the bananas I'm used to, and the flavor is less sweet as well. And kiwis in Bali are brown on the inside instead of green. Just total chaos all around in the fruit department, I found something new almost every day.

Okay but back to The Legian. It was right on the beach. So close that even a 2' tidal wave would probably reach the building and cause water damage to the first floor. There was a nice infinity pool right on the beach and during high tide the waves came almost right up to it. And, of course, lots of lounge chairs everywhere with waiters and pool boys to bring you whatever you needed. Martin and I decided that this was the best view we've ever had from a hotel and all we wanted to do every day we were here was sit in a lounge chair and enjoy the ocean view.



The waves on the beach were enormous and the current was very strong so we didn't spend much time in the ocean. I'd never been in the ocean where I got sucked away by a current like that before ... and I'm a good swimmer and I still couldn't do anything about it when the current got ahold of me. We still went body boarding (The Legian makes the boards available free of charge to guests) on our last day and I actually caught a few waves! Martin was much better at it than I was:





The shore right in front of the hotel (where you had to stay because the lifeguard made you) was quite steep and it caused waves to form from the shore that propagated outwards where they would run into the big waves coming into shore and mess up your body boarding and anything else you were trying to do in the ocean. So, it was just a huge battle trying to be out there. And it was warm! Like bath water.

Next up: Night time.

Bali - Ubud - Rice Terraces

So it's probably no secret by now that they grow a lot of rice in Bali. It's definitely the main staple of their diet, and also one of their main exports. It seems like the entire island is covered in rice fields but they also grow pretty much every other vegetable and fruit there as well. I thought to myself many times that Bali can definitely fully support itself without importing any food from other countries. They have the right climate to grow everything plus they have the ocean for seafood and they raise a lot of ducks for eating as well. There are even fields with cows in them there though how the cows enjoy being out in the hot sun there I have no idea.

Anyway, here are some pretty pictures of rice terraces. Our hotel took us here for some pictures and our private tour guide also took us here so it must be one of the better places for a good view of rice terraces.











Rice is also the traditional wedding gift in Bali. Each guest brings 1-2 cups of rice with them as a gift to the bride and groom. So when you get married you get a large amount of rice and then you spend the rest of your life giving that rice back to other couples when they get married.

Bali - Ubud - Legong and Barong Dance

On our last night in Ubud we went to a dance performance. There are 7-8 dance performances every evening in Ubud so it's hard to decide which to attend. We chose the one we went to because it was the only location we were familiar with, and it was right next to the shuttle stop for our hotel.

There are many types of dances, including one that uses shadow puppets and one that makes generous use of fire. Some are performed only by women, some only by men, and some only by children. Some are performed only in temples to welcome the Gods, some are performed only during war, and some are performed during ceremonies like weddings and graduations.

Martin and I went to a performance of Legong and Barong. Legong is only performed by pre-pubescent girls. It is characterized by intricate finger movements and facial expressions. Classical Legong dance tells one of several stories that always involve a young girl and a group of nymphs.

Here is an excerpt describing the story behind Barong dance:

Barong is probably the most well known dance. It is also another story telling dance, narrating the fight between good and evil. This dance is the classic example of Balinese way of acting out mythology, resulting in myth and history being blended into one reality.

The story goes that Rangda, the mother of Erlangga, the King of Bali in the tenth century, was condemned by Erlangga's father because she practiced black magic. After she became a widow, she summoned all the evil spirits in the jungle, the leaks and the demons, to come after Erlangga. A fight occurred, but she and her black magic troops were too strong that Erlangga had to ask for the help of Barong. Barong came with Erlangga's soldiers, and fight ensued. Rangda cast a spell that made Erlangga soldiers all want to kill themselves, pointing their poisoned keris into their own stomachs and chests. Barong cast a spell that turned their bodies resistant to the sharp keris. At the end, Barong won, and Rangda ran away.

The masks of Barong and Rangda are considered sacred items, and before they are brought out, a priest must be present to offer blessings by sprinkling them with holy water taken from Mount Agung, and offerings must be presented.

Here are the pictures we took of the Barong. It is danced by two people and is supposed to be either a lion, boar, tiger, or bear depending on which region of Bali you're in but I'm not sure which one this is:







After the Legong and Barong stories were presented, the dancers continued on to tell a story of a woman who was cast out of Heaven and told she had to seduce two giants in order to get back in. So here are the giants:





And here is the girl who needed to seduce them:



In the end, she succeeded in seducing the giants and everybody was happy. This dance performance was certainly different from anything we'd ever seen before - the costumes were detailed and colorful and the hand and finger movements were fascinating. I tried to do a few of them myself and couldn't but if I had started practicing when I was 5 I'd probably be able to do them.