Wood Carving @ Mas Village.......

Many talented artist can be found in Ubud district. Each village had its own Balinese cultural art like gold and silversmith in Celuk, wood carver at Mas village, and famous paintings in Batuan village. After visiting the gold and silversmith in Celuk, we stopped at Mas village to see the wood carvings. These balinese artisans can carve anything ranging from intriguing masks and exquisite floral patterns to the anatomy of the human body with or without clothes from a piece of wood. Here are some pics to show what I mean.......

Balinese wood carvers at work................

Masks and small figurine............

A beautiful chess set carvings.....................

Coffee tables for a hotter cuppa.........?

Sensual art...................

I bought this lovely balinese lady in blue sarong carved from mahogany wood. See the exquisite floral carving of the coffee table..?

Note: Will be back to hometown today, so will be MIA here til next Wednesday.

Full Of Drama Barong & Kris Dance..

Bali is indeed a magical and mystical island. This can be seen in their colourful costumes and their graceful dances which is full of drama and emotions. We went to Batubulan on our second day of tour to see the famous Barong and Kris dance, one of the few famous balinese dances. Actually I was just expecting some pretty Balinese ladies staging some dance moves in their sarongs but I was surprise this Barong and kris dance was more of a play or drama with a few dances in between with balinese music provided by a team of musicians sitting cross legged in a hut beside the stage.

Although the mask they wore were quite frightening, their acts were full of expressions and emotions flowing accordingly to the storyline which were provided for the audiences in a few languages on paper.

The Barong play is actually about an eternal fight between good and evil spirits. A Barong, a mythological animal represent good spirit while Rangda, a mythological monster represent the evil one.

"Barong, a mystical creature with a long way back and curved tail, represents the affirmative, the protector of mankind, the glory of the high sun, and the favorable spirits associated with the right and white magic. The widow witch Rangda is its complement. She rules the evil spirits and witches who haunt the graveyards late at night. Her habitat is darkness and her specialties lie with the practice of black magic, the destructive force of the left. Both figures are of the same earthly substance, possessing strong magical prowess. Somewhere in a mythical past, the Barong was won over to the side of humanity, and, in the play, fights on behalf of the people against the intruding death force of Rangda." BaliVision.

Here are some pics of the show...........

The Barong is a mythical, supernatural creature, represented by a masked costume that resembles a Chinese barongsai lion. The costume is animated by two dancers, one manipulating the snapping jaws of the mask and one acting as the hind end. The costume is decorated with a shaggy fur body and richly ornamented filagree leatherwork, embellished with gold leaf and tiny mirrors.

The mystical Barong and his friend the monkey........


Two girl dancers representing the servants of Rangda...

The servants of Dewi Kunti.......


The evil Rangda with her splintery fingernails that fore shadow the dreadful vision of Rangda. From her mouth hangs a flaming tongue signifying her consuming fire and around her neck, a necklace of human entrails falls over her pendulous breasts. Howling a low, gurgling curse she stalks the Barong while waving a white cloth from whence issues her overwhelming magic.


Dewi Kunti and her son Sahadewa............

God Siwa and Rangda.................

Rangda is redeem and killed by Sahadewa, then goes to heaven...(funny to be sent there)

The evil wild boar fighting with followers of Barong in a compromising position that makes the audience laugh.........

The musicians with their gamelans and drums.........

The spectators in full concentration.........

Here are 2 short video clips of the Barong and Kris dance taken from YouTube...

A Step Forward With Cisco Certification...

My eldest son has chosen a path in the IT field as his career and he consider himself lucky to get a job in a multinational company after graduating with a degree in Networking and Information System. Before he got this job he is considering getting a Cisco certification as it seems 3 long years in college getting a degree is just not enough. What most employers or company want is experience and background training on the field you are good in. To make this possible there are many colleges and schools offering IT skills training that comes with a certificate on completion of the course. But why choose Cisco ?

Cisco certification is the right choice because it not only offers a variety of certification programs ranging from entry levels to other professional levels of your choice as well a being a credible and popular learning centre which has already awarded more than one million certification to networking professionals around the globe.

With a Cisco certification in hand it will bring a step further in your career advancement as it enables employers to validate the quality of their employees skills and also provide job opportunities in different levels according to their needs. Furthermore it will bring more valuable rewards and benefits than your college degree. So that's why my son is on his way to get a Cisco certification to open up more doors for him in case he had enough of his present job which will not give him much choice in career advancement or satisfaction.

For those who are not in the field of IT, getting a certification for your own advancement in networking will also provide better skills in this world of information technology. So do check out Cisco certification if you want to open your doors to better opportunity whether you are an IT professional or not.

Attention! Foodie Lovers, Where To Get The Best Deals In Town..!!!

My niece ris and her gang of food lover friends recently set up Food Promotions to share all the best deals or food promotions they can find in town. So do drop over to see where you can get yourself a discounted price or special offers for the best deals in any of our local food outlet. You can also link it for easy access or share it out with foodie lovers.

Scenic View @ Uluwatu Temple......

Our tour guide took us straight to Uluwatu from the airport on arrival and not to our hotel as schedule because of time constraint. Uluwatu temple is a place that any tourists should not missed because it has a spectacular view of the wide Indian ocean as this small temple is built on top of the cliff edge with a drop of about 100 meters down to the Indian ocean below. It is located at the southern peninsula of Bali.

Before we reach our destination, our tour guide, Mr Vijaya, warn us about the hundreds of naughty monkeys at the place that will snatch our possessions like necklaces, dangling earrings, and also our spectacles. So poor me and my sister had to walk along the cliff edges holding our spectacles tightly in our hands with a blur vision. The monkeys were everywhere and it is said the locals will get back our snatched possessions

from the monkeys for us in return for a small price. So remember next time its better to wear contact lenses for those who want to get a better view of this place. Here are some wonderful pics to share........

The small temple hanging on the cliff edge overlooking the ocean.


A close up view of the temple ........

From the cliff top................

The drowning sounds of the Indian ocean...............


Another breathtaking view from the cliff...............

The sun above the ocean...............

Wall of stone carvings along the path.........

The forbidden entrance to the temple........

One of the naughty monkeys stalking me..........

Weekend Snapshot # 10..Bobby the Pug.

My niece, Lena of Beautiful Life came to Penang yesterday and she brought along her cute Pug named Bobby. We had a good time playing with him........

Oh....I miss my papa.........where r u ???????


I'm so bored.................

Hold me tight so I can get a good sleep..........

Hmmn.. stick tongue out for a taste of Penang's fresh air......

(In sister Nancy's house..............)

Hi, friend.......come and play with me.............

Hello, nice to meet you, my friend..............