Wednesday, September 12, 2007

LOVE

What does Love mean?

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have
Imagined. See what you think
:
_____
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grand-father does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

Rebecca- age 8

_____

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."


Billy - age 4
(I love this one)

_____

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."


Karl - age 5

_____

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."


Chrissy - age 6

___

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

Terri - age 4

_____

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes
A sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."


Danny - age 7

_____

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.


My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"


Emily - age 8

_____

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

_____

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"

Nikka - age 6


(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

_____

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."

Noelle - age 7

_____

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

Tommy - age 6

_____

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."


Elaine-age 5

_____

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."


Chris - age 7

_____

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."


Mary Ann - age 4

_____

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

Lauren - age 4

_____

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little
Stars come out of you.." (what an image)

Karen - age 7

_____

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

Mark - age 6

_____

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

Jessica - age 8

_____
And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked
About a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.


The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was
An elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.


Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's
Yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little
Boy said,


"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Trip to Bali 28/8-31/8/07

This trip was planned since March'07. Got the flight ticket at cheap rate, free 2 nights hotel stay, engaged a local tour guide at reasonable price..all ready and set to go..

28.8.07 (Tues): Depart to Bali, Uluwatu tour
Thanks to Mark's dad and sis for sending us to airport (departure time 10.55am, 3 hours journey)..luckily our flight was on time, no delay..
We landed at Denpasar airport sharp at 1.55pm, and Komang, our tour guide was there to greet us..a very nice middle aged man. We checked in to our hotel in Kuta, and had sat down with him to discuss our itinerary for this 4D3N trip.
Around 3pm, we started our Day 1 tour, to Uluwatu.

GWK Culture Park

You can find the largest statues, Bust of Vishnu and Head of Garuda and the hanging garden here..however, this place is 60% constructed due to lack of funds..
Admission fee: Rp10,000.00/person

Uluwatu (Kecak dance, Sunset view)
Perched high on a cliff over the ocean on Bali's south-western tip is the temple of Ulu Watu. In addition to the fantastic view from the temple, especially at sunset, the temple is famous for its gang of monkeys and perhaps appropriately its
Kecak dance performance.
The temple itself is open only to Hindu worshippers. You can visit the rest of the complex every day. The Kecak dance is held every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evening starting around sunset (6 to 7 pm). With the temple and the sun setting in the background, this is easily the best place in Bali to see the Kecak.

Arrive for a performance early so that you'll have time to take in the temple complex and the views from the cliff-top. Be on your guard around the monkeys. They will grab anything they can get ahold of, like baseball caps, handbags, cameras, watches, necklace etc..yep..this is TRUE..so ladies and gentlemen, safeguard your belongings tightly..in the event the monkeys got your belongings, you need to pay a certain amount of money in order to get your things back.
Admission fee: Rp6,000/person & Rp20,000/per person(Kecak dance)

Jimbaran for seafood dinner
The night here get dark very early..after the Kecak dance, we went to Jimbaran for dinner, where you get to see Barong dance and had dinner by the seaside..Komang took us to this restaurant named Matahari Cafe. Food were ordered over the counter where you get to choose fresh seafoods (fish, prawn, squid, lobster etc) and have them cooked either grilled or BBQ (price is per kg)..then, rice and vegetables are FOC.

29.8.07 (Wed): Ubud & Kintamani tour

We started our journey at 9am..had breakfast at a local cafe before departing to Batubulan, a handmade Batik factory..for locals (ie Indonesian), you get automatically 50% off for shopping..so just pretend you are one of the local to enjoy this privilege. I bought some souvenirs here.

Goa Gajah, the Holy Water Temple
Not far from the central Bali town of Ubud is Goa Gajah, popularly known as the Elephant Cave. The cave, which is carved into a cliff face, probably dates back to at least the 11th century. You can't see the cave from the road, but you'll know you're there when you spot the tour buses and souvenir stalls. From the parking lot you descend a curving trail cut into the cliff face, and the cave is slowly revealed. In front of the cave is a large flat courtyard. Sunk into the courtyard is a pair of bathing pools. Water trickles into the pools through water jars held by maidens carved into the rock wall. Legend has it that the pools were considered a sort of fountain of youth. Bathing in them was supposed to keep you young..

The entrance to the cave is richly carved in the face of a demon. You enter the cave through the demon's gaping mouth. The cave itself is really rather small. The short tunnel from the entrance dead-ends in front of a statue of Ganesha. A short tunnel to the left leads to an alter holding a yoni while to the right is an alter with several lingam.

Admission fee: Rp6,000/per person

Kintamani

We had buffet lunch at Grand Puncak Sari restaurant. Tour to Kintamani is a very impressive experience where Kintamani Area have very beautiful panorama located in plateau and also encircled by mountain atmosphere with the windblast from Mount Batur. Carpet of Batur Lake seen far below and also there are local resident house beside of Batur Lake. Beside of that, Mount Batur which to date still be active growing its beautiful for Kintamani Area.

Buffet price: Rp60,000/person

After a day tour, we went for Balinese Spa, recommended by Komang (Rp250,000/per person for 2 hours). This is my first time having spa, so shy but enjoyable ler..hehe. At night, Mark and I decided to explore night life at Bali..our hotel is just next to Hard Rock Hotel and Cafe..Shops here are open from 9am till 10pm..There are many pubs around..we went to the pub that was bombed in 2002, which was now a memorial park..On the memorial plague, total 202 people (those that can be identified) from various countries were killed, of which 88 were Australians..kinda sad..

30.8.07 (Thurs): Bali Quicksilver Tour (8am-4pm), Tanah Lot
I signed up for this cruise tour during Matta fair held on March'07, for Rp400,000/person, inclusive of hotel pick up, morning/afternoon tea break, BBQ buffet lunch, visit to Toya Pakeh village, snorkelling with full equipment, banana boat, Ocean spa, underwater discovery, Semi Submarine. (you can also signed up for the same tour in Bali but slightly expensive) We had fun..

Komang picked us up from hotel around 5pm to Tanah Lot, a popular tourism spot for sunset..but due to tracffic, we were late for sunset (usually around 6pm)..:( but then, the scenery here is beautiful..and you can have shopping here..remember to bargain with them, even upto 70%.
Admission fee: Rp10,000/per person

31.8.07 (Fri): Nusa Dua and bye bye
Our last day in Bali..We checked out at 830am..Komang took us to this exclusive resort area of Nusa Dua. This is where you'll find the very expensive five-star all-inclusive resorts such as Club Med and their imitators. The area is generally for those that want a tropical getaway without the hassles of dealing with a foreign culture. If I am not mistaken, the most expensive hotel rate is about RM10,000 per night..crazy!
Before departing to airport, we had the chance to taste Bali famous local food-Babi Guling (roasted suckling pig)..it was something like our local Bak Kut Teh, but taste different, it was spicy and yummy..MUST TRY..


The whole trip was fantabulous..Bali is indeed a nice place for vacation..beautiful places, peaceful, shopping/food haven..Highly recommended! Would like to say a BIG thank you to Komang, who had been such a wonderful tour guide to us..so frenz, if you have a chance to visit Bali, do consider him as your tour guide, komang_putrawan@yahoo.com
Click here for more photo.