Bali - Seminyak

Seminyak is one of the areas in Bali I really liked. We explored other "spots" together with our lovely driver, but this is a place where we walked for hours checking tones of cool places. We hardly have time together or put simply, time to go shopping, so it is great to window shop with no ticking clocks at the back of our minds. The blend is maybe 10% Balinese as street offerings like the one pictured above are still there, actually feels more like being in Australia - which is also a really nice thing. Streets alternated with cool Australian stores (worth highlighting are Seafolly where I got 2 awesome bikinis with my lost-luggage-money and For love and Lemons for really cute lingerie), restaurants, cafés and supper clubs. We did not spend any full days there - only the afternoon of day 1 plus our last dinner in the island - but the time was well worth it.


We visited Pura Petitenget, a cute little temple from 16th century where many ceremonies are held. Not one of the largest or most impressive but a sample of the kind of art you bump into when you turn random corners in Bali. There are literally as many temples as in Kyoto! As you can see, when Balinese participate in ceremonies they were the traditional balinese attire, called full adat (showcased by the men in below picture and the people inside the temple areas in all our temple posts from Bali - which are definitely many:

Men's Full Adat

• Wastra (the skirt): Kain Batik / sarong, a single oblong piece of cloth.
• Kampuh/Saput (the belt): Worn over the wastra. Single oblong piece of cloth, shorter than the kampuh to secure wastra and kampuh.
• Baju (the shirt): Shirt, long or short-sleeved, definitely not singlet
• Bestar/Udeng (the bandana): Headdress, a square piece of white material or batik folded and tied around your head in any style you like.

Women's Full Adat

• Wastra (the skirt): Batik / sarong, a single oblong piece of cloth
• Petet/Sabuk (the hidden belt): Worn under the baju (shirt) to secure the Wastra
• Baju/Kebaya (the shirt): Long-sleeved ladies shirt, definitely not a singlet (lace is OK)
• Selendang (the belt): Oblong sash worn over the kebaya

Then we walked along the beach, checking the legendary KUDETA. Actually something funny happened to us in relation with this place and NYE. From my trip to Singapore in 2014, I remembered that the bar at the top of Marina Bay Sands was called KUDETA. Knowing that we would spend NYE 2015 in Singapore, I booked using the website - without realizing until fairly late that such website belonged to the original KUDETA, the one in Bali! - so we ended up watching fireworks from the ground, like everyone else :) silly stuff happens to everyone, no matter how seasoned traveller you are...



...after this we went for shopping, drinks and dinner - but for that story come back tomorrow!