Polaroids, and finally, Bali part 3.
Been thinking about getting a polaroid camera recently.
Digital cameras are awesome, don’t get me wrong; and i own a pretty decent one too.
But there’s still something magical about instantly captured moments, reproduced in the form of hard copies. The simplicity of a white frame where you can scribble notes over. Limited films. No delete button, no do-overs. And the ‘imperfect’ photo quality. I mean to say, a polaroid photographer can’t manipulate the images in Photoshop, therefore retaining its charm and purity.
What you see is what you get – the real moment captured.
Now that’s the bit of magic that the digicam can’t reproduce.
@Heineken Green Space pres. CCH, @Nike x Leftblock
But then i think about the price – the camera itself AND the film…… GAH.
I’ll just put that on my Expensive-Things-I-Lust-For-But-Dont-Really-Need-Right-Now List.
My my, what an ever-growing list that’s turning out to be -_-”
But for now, we’ll just have to make do with my digitally-captured-and-maybe-enhanced pictures, won’t we? :)
My new favourite quote, is this. “Too Little Too Late, or Better Late Than Never?”
This applies to alot of things in life. But today, I’ll relate it to my many (many) backlogged posts that i intended to blog, but didn’t have the time to. :p
So i’ll look at the glass half-full and say it’s Better Late Than Never 
Bali (part 3)
[Read Part 1 and Part 2 first]
Glitterbug chilling in our hotel ‘backyard’!
David called me over to see this pretty but strange (pretty strange) looking creature stuck on our glass sliding door one morning. I was convinced that it was just a sticker – i mean, it’s glittery and shiny and has a rounded clear surface and all!
He dared me to go touch it then, and i promptly said “ERR No Thanks.”
As mentioned earlier, common sense will tell you that touristy spots like Kuta will sell very expensive souvenirs.
So we headed to the markets in search of cheaper treasures 
and boy, did we hit jackpot.
David wanted to buy some paintings for his apartment,
So I hovered nearby and listened in on their haggling conversation,
because, lord only knows, David can’t haggle for nuts 
(but i still love you hun!!)
The first time i saw him haggle for something, at a place where my gut feeling tells me that the price can be lowered to HALF PRICE, (and my gut feeling is always right)
the seller initiated the haggle with only a few bucks off, and David went, “WOAH so cheap!”
hooo boy.
So I hovered closely for this painting purchase, he did manage to get a okay-ish price, but I felt like the price could go lower. So I stepped in.
A few strategically placed haggling moves later, which might include some smiles and eyelash-batting, the price did get lowered. By a lot.
And I could feel David’s stare at me in awe. Ok la maybe not in awe, more like in shock wtf
“Omg, you were merciless. Poor fella, I don’t think he even knew what hit him! My goodness la, you crazy Chinese people with your haggling……” *shakes head*
He might have meant it as an insult to tease me, but I took it as a compliment. *beams*
Stick with me, and you might learn a thing or two, heh heh.
Market ladies. I find these pictures very melancholic.
Quite a number of times, I saw the shopkeepers sprinkling water onto their merchandise (like above) with some offerings in hand, while saying a chant or prayer.
I finally asked one of the market ladies why they do this, and she said it’s sort of to bless the shop. Praying for prosperity, good business, thanking the gods for good business, etc. 
We did some more touristy stuff, one of which was to watch the kecak dance @ Uluwatu.
And so i was expecting some traditional dance of ancient Balinese warriors or something, not unlike our own Malaysian traditional dances. But this was really something else.
I still don’t know what i think of it, it’s a funny mixture of strange + fascinating + trippy as hell + impressive.
At the very least, im very impressed that not a single musical instrument was used, the “sounds” were created by the performers themselves throughout the entire 45-minute show!
Here’s quick video i took:
Triptastic.
Ended with the white monkey kicking around balls of fire. Madness!
Had seafood dinner at Jimbaran on the beach. Quite a great ending to a great trip
Oh, and the waiters kept asking if we were on our honeymoon. We kept saying no. We figured that’s what they ask all couples for the sake of conversation – but they still gave us free glasses of wine complementary for honeymooners. Aiyo :)
xx
Related posts:
Bali (part 1) – Bali Beautiful!
Bali (part 2) – Bali Nights!
Currently listening to: Keane – My Shadow ♫
(♫ genre: alternative, slow sunday)
May 27th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
[...] 3 coming soon lah! Related posts: Bali (part 1) – Bali Beautiful! Bali (part 3) – Bali Markets & Kecakcakcak! Currently listening to: Keane – Somewhere Only We Know (no pun [...]
May 27th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Love all your Bali posts! Lovely shots as well!
May 27th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
hehe nice perm.
I’d like to trade – your nice, glossy straight hair for my wavy psycho hair (funnily your perm looks exactly like my hair now, sans a fringe).
yea. tarde PLEASE! :P
May 29th, 2010 at 4:40 am
Hi Cynthia,
I see you’re currently listening to “My Shadow”. I made a remix of it. Let me know what you think, or if you can write a blog post about it :)
Keane – My Shadow (Danny Dance Remix)
http://danceisafeeling.com/news/1-latest-news/125
-Danny Dance
May 30th, 2010 at 3:41 am
people of bali are well creative and artistic. I really love their ways of paintings.
May 31st, 2010 at 10:49 am
Eudora: thank you :)
devil undercover: aah, isnt that always the case? girls with straight hair wants wavy hair, girls with curls wants straight. ;)
June 6th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
[...] well in line with my haggling superpowers i was telling you not long ago, during my trip to Bali But of course it is near impossible to [...]
June 13th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
[...] thatgirlcynthia.com » Blog Archive » Polaroids, and finally, Bali part 3. Says: May 27th, 2010 at 3:04 pm [...]