An Offering

Offering, originally uploaded by repin.

Hinduism in Bali is different from that in India. In Bali one can see the manifestations of their beliefs in their rituals and culture, all interwoven into one that makes Bali now. During my 5 days stay in Bali sometime ago, there was not a single day that I did not encounter any festivities or religious rituals ! Rituals such as daily offerings to the Gods are not only confined to sacred places such as temples but also to small alleyways, in front of shops or kitchens. A typical offering which is normally carried out in little shrines in front of most houses or other places as mentioned would consist of flowers, incense, placed on nicely folded leaves or tray. Most importantly, it will be executed with much grace and humility.

The Super Fast Ladies

The Super Fast Ladies, originally uploaded by repin.

Ahem, and yes I was with three beautiful ladies on one lucky day of 29th April, 2007. And this picture was taken at a rest area at KM19 on the Jakarta - Bandung highway. And Bu Lasteri is the lady 3rd from left - the fastest driver I ever encountered ! I pretended to smile in the pic , by the way. The R & R area here is fabulous...to quote my daughter's frequent remarks...its kool ! Why ? because we have starbucks...convenient stores...gas station...eating outlets and parking lots of course. Nonetheless, our trip to Bandung from Jakarta was super fast...and Bandung is a shopping paradise...too many factory outlets to mention. As usual I only remembered the restaurants.........kool !

First sign of life....for shoppers !

First sign of life...., originally uploaded by repin.

For travelers to Bandung, life is shopping...and more shopping. Well, it was on the 29th of April when I had the chance to travel by road from Jakarta to Bandung on a day long visit. This chance outing was made possible by Ibu Lasteri in her friend's nissan x-trail. The journey to Bandung was indeed a super fast drive. Reason : Bu Lasteri was the driver and I can bet she must be the fastest driver ever !!! I could not believed it; she just went zip zapping thru traffic along the highway which put all men drivers to shame ! and of course , I walked out of the SUV later in Bandung more than a little bit shaken after the ordeal. Only the excellent padang food at selera bundo calmed my nerves. And one thing good that happened was that I had lost my appetite for shopping ! The experience had no effect on my other half though. More on Jakarta to Bandung trip later; but please view photos in flickr.