Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Bali

My eight days in Bali were pretty relaxing.  I did some snorkeling, went to the zoo, the bird park, some temples and some terraced rice fields.  I also spent a fair bit of time reading and sleeping in late.  It rained pretty hard when I was at the zoo; the raincoat that I had brought did me little good as it was sitting in my hotel room.  

I did not take the opportunity to eat much Indonesian food, instead I ate quite a bit of Italian.  Surprisingly enough, Bali actually has a Chi-Chi's restaurant.  I walked by it a few days before I finally decided to stop in.  When I was younger, Chi-Chi's was probably my favorite restaurant.  At the time I thought their hot salsa was very spicy and that sweet and sour chicken was genuine Chinese food.  I've learned a bit since then.

So the day before I left, I finally broke down and stopped at Chi-Chi's.  A bit of a disappointment.  They did not serve free chip's and salsa, the nachos consisted of 8 chips with chili and cheese on them, and the chimichanga was perhaps a third the size of the ones served in the U.S.

I took some photos in Bali, but I'm not sure that I like any of them enough to share.  I did enjoy taking photos at the bird park.  During the show I tried to take some photos of birds flying with mixed results.  The birds of prey were really not easy to capture in flight.  I guess I need to practice with my new lens. I also enjoyed taking photos at the temple of the sea (forget the actual name) although I am a bit disappointed in how they turned out. If I like any of them enough, perhaps I'll post them here or on Facebook.

On the way home, I decided to splurge and pay for an upgrade to business class.  It was actually nice to have the extra leg room.  The food was decidedly better than that served in coach (I had some dory and salmon), but I did not partake in the wine or champagne.  

Overall it was a nice trip.  I think I am going to try to take some shorter trips by myself more frequently to take photos.  I need to find someplace a little less hot and humid though.  

No comments: