Woke up the next morning, and prepared for my trip to Ubud. Even though how much I hate sunblock, I decided putting on sunblock is better than getting sun burnt. Slapped on my sunblock and off we went following the GPS on our scooter.
I realised that in Bali, scooters are the king of the road. Cars tend to give way to them. We had a great time going through small little roads, thanks to the guidance of the GPS. The driver of the airport transfer wanted to charge us 400,000 rupiahs to get us to Ubud. And I will still maintain that one of the best ways to see any country is riding a bike.
I had done a 5 days 4 nights tour of Hanoi on a bike before and it was the best trip. We took 125 Minsk rode from Hanoi to Sapa and back. The guide will just follow us and be at strategic locations so that we know where the turns are. We rode the bikes and stopped whenever we like to take photos.
Bali still has many Padi fields and its always nice to ride away from the city, riding on roads flanked by padi fields.
We arrived in Ubud about an hour later, figured we were still too early to have lunch. We wanted to go for THE babi guling in Bali. Heard from friends I must try it at Ibu Oka warung, many people on tripadvisor swears by it. But still its about 10am in the morning, still too early for lunch. Decided we should get out of the sun for awhile have a drink to cool down, we can still surf for a place to visit before lunch.
My wife said must find aircon one. So i slowly rode my scooter down the main street of Ubud. From the way some websites describe Ubud: less touristy, I had expected Ubud to be like Sapa in Hanoi. I was wrong. Damn its like Holland Village in Singapore, cafes lining the streets. But none with aircon.
Suddenly I feel my rear traction seem to be slipping, the bike was getting wobbly, this feeling is all too familiar. I asked my wife to get off and look at my tire, is it punctured? I did not want to look myself. Yes, came the reply. Wa suay lor! Why does punctures seem to follow me everywhere I go.
Rode to JB for seafood dinner, puncture. Send my wife to work, puncture. Now in Bali puncture! Wtf!?
My wife wanted to get back on to go look for some workshop. Told her not possible, the combined weight of my 0.1 ton and her weight. The rear tyre will be running on rims by the time we get to a workshop. Asked a worker if he knew where I can get it patched, he said very far. Go Pertamina.
I remembered I saw Pertamina on the way in. Its times like this that I am so glad my wife rides too. She said she will ride the bike to Pertamina instead cos the tires may be shredded if I rode it back. Off she went. Told her I will wait for her there, pointing to a cafe just across the road.
Be careful ah I said then off she went. I walked to the cafe and sat down looked at the menu and ordered a banana milkshake. Banana my favourite fruit and milkshake one of those guilty indulgence. I looked forward to sipping down the cold beverage after spending one hour riding in the sun.
The waitress came with the milkshake and its appearance was not appealing, took a sip of it and almost spat all of it out. They have blended banana, ice, sweetened condense milk and water, blend it all together and called it a banana milkshake. It was way too sweet and it was not the milkshake I expected. But because of the heat, the coldness was welcoming.
Waited for about 45 mins and my wife eventually came back, new inner tube for the tires. She sat down and ordered a drink. She then commented how hot it is outside but while you are in the shade it actually is very cool. Now that she have mentioned its true! You don't feel the heat when you are in the shade in Bali. Unlike Singapore even when you are in the shade the wind blowing in from the outside is warm.
Being an Architectural student in poly, I commented that it is because of the pitched, tatched roof, creating a high ceiling and allowing the heat to dissipate as it rises. Then again it could also be because it is so damn hot outside that being in the shade is cooling, its all in the mind.
We decided that we should go for lunch at Ibu Oka then go to some attraction called Elephant Cave. I also have heard there is a waterfall in Ubud area. That can wait. Babi Guling first.
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