Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Beach Gurlz Day!

I always love beaches. I love the salty air, the soft warm sand, the cool water, the surface, the undersea.. I loooOOve everything about beach, except.. the heat that makes my skin darkened! And it’s unavoidable.. *sigh*

So we went to three beaches last Saturday. All three with different excitement. First I went to Nusa Dua. Many people say it’s the best beach in Bali. That can be true. The long coastal line framed with white glowing sand, the inviting cool blue water with mild wave, the scenery of pura Geger at the top of the hill, the bule although not as stacked as Kuta peacefully sunbathing with no clothes on… (ehem!).

I was reluctant to swim at first. What, with the sun shining at the 12 o’clock noon? No
, thanks! But then again, there’s no tree at the shore. The umbrellas already loaded with bule, and it’s expensive too. I had no choice.. better swim than meleleh di pantai!

After one and half h
our swimming and posing (hidup Narsis!!), we went to Pura Geger, just miles away from the beach to had lunch. We ate sandwich and rujak next to the pura, where we can enjoy the scenery of the beach and the reef. I swear, it’s a breath-taking view! I never had lunch as delicious as that one!

We then went to Dreamland. They say it’s the next Kuta. Yup, there was much more naked foreigners.. topless at least..(local people say SUMUR = susu dijemur!). Bet you guys will looooOOove to be here! The wave quite heavy here, perfect for surfing but not for swimming. We tried to swim but the wave rolled us back to the shore… terkapar like dead fish. It’s quite fun. Unfortunately we had to go to Uluwatu to see the sunset.

Uluwatu beach. It’s one of the kind. We had to go down the stair until we find kinda gua. The smell is unpleasant, but the view quite nice. After the gua, there’s the pool-like beach. A bule talked to me, “A nice swimming pool, with monkeys!” Yup, at 5 o’clock the flock of monkeys return from nowhere.. I remember the flock of people return from Jakarta to Bekasi at that hour too… Maybe the monkeys just come back from their place of work?

A little walk from the pool-like beach, went through the tunnel made from reef, we find the laut lepas. It’s where we wait for the sunset. They say it’s beautiful from here. And I proved the
m right. I watched the color of the sun change from yellow to red to crimson… until it vanished at the horizon line.. For couple minutes, everyone at the beach seemed to have silent period. It’s unspoken law. The only voice maybe just a whisper say, “It’s beautiful”. It’s strange, sun sets everyday…it’s routine, but watching the sunset everywhere in the world still give me this kind of feeling: magic!
I went back home to Kuta, all tan and ache! But it’s worth it! Now I can proudly claim myself as Beach Girl! Or Beach Bitch? The later seems to cause your tongue twist, huh?.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Me + Vehicle = Bad Idea!

Tiap Rabu sore gw punya kegiatan baru di Bali. Melukis? Bukan! Belajar keramik? Bukan! Nari bali? Tetot!! Salah! yang bener…belajar motor! Di sini penting banget untuk bisa naik motor. Awalnya gw diledekin gitu karena ga bisa naik motor, disuruh kembali ke rahim ibu… Orang Bali dari lahir udah pada bisa naik motor kayaknya.

Dulu ga kepikir kalo gw bakal mau naik motor. Rasanya serem aja gitu. Kalo naik mobil kan, kalo nyerempet masih ada bodi mobilnya.. kalo motor kan langsung kena bodi kita. Lecet-lecet dong.. nanti bisa menghambat niat gw mewakili Indonesia dalam ajang Miss World kan?

Anyway, rabu kemaren tu kali kedua gw belajar motor. Berhubung udah 2 minggu sejak latihan pertama, lupa lagi kan gw mana gas mana rem. Ya udah penyesuaian dulu. Tapi ternyata kemampuan kognitif otak gw lumayan kok, sebentar saja gw dah bisa (ya iyalah.. secara yg gw bawa tu motor matic!). Sang instruktur yang baik hati ga lama melepas gw membawa motor itu sendirian. Masih di temapt parkiran gitu sii, belom di tengah pasar kaget. Jadi ganciilll deeh buat gw!!

Satu putaran, dua putaran.. lancar. Dengan kecepatan 10-15 km perjam, gw bisa menikmati angin sore yang sejuk menerpa muka, semburat mentari yang siap-siap kembali ke peraduan, debur ombak yang terlihat dari jalan.. Wuih gw nyetir dengan jumawa! Mulai berani garuk muka yang digigit nyamuk (tadinya gw tahan aja biar gatel), mulai berani nyesuain posisi duduk, mulai berani nengok kanan-kiri (tadinya lempeeeeeenggg ajah!) sampai akhirnya.... breeemmmmmmmmm Ciiiitttttt!!
Ada anjing lewat. Secara gw grogi, gw malah ngegas lebih kenceng, pas ngeh baru ngerem (catet: kayaknya gw ada masalah koordinasi badan dan otak). Untung gw bisa menguasai keadaan dan keseimbangan, walau tangan gw sampe keseleo nahan motor supaya ga jatoh.

Terus, dengan anggun gw kembali ke posisi standby. Tarik nafas.. buang.. tarik lagi... sampe tiga kali. Eee.. mesinnya mati deh.

TERUS GIMANA MENSTARTER LAGIH?

Ternyata gw belom diajarin cara starter motor. Wah gawat nih! Mana instruktur gw berada jauh di balik tembok. Gw ga brani dong mencet2 tombol cockpit, eh dashboard, eh.. kalo motor namanya apa ya?

Alhasil gw dorong motornya sampe ke tempat instruktur gw yang lagi nunggu sambil minum teh botol! Mana berat lagi motornya...

Cwapeeee dweeeeeeee....