will i am's delayed diary

On the third day in Bali, we had mass at St. Francis Xavier Church in Kuta . Although it was in town, we had to leave early to avoid the morning rush hour. From the outside, the church looked simple- a white structure, flanked by two low towers. Rather than the usual grotto with Our Lady of Lourdes, SFX Kuta had a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the presence of four angels. The main church has a beautifully carved wooden tabernacle at the foot of the crucifix. Behind the altar is a mural of angels fashioned to the likeness Balinese celestial beings. After mass, we traveled to the Mandala Complex which is home to multiple houses of worship. On a single row, there's a Hindu temple, Buddhist temple, Protestant church, and lastly a Catholic church. The church was christened Our Lady of All Nations Church . Just a quick visit really, but the parish priest did come out to greet us.  Moved on to our lunch place which was Nyonya's Secret for some Indonesian Peranakan Cuisine. Ki...

The breakfast buffet at the hotel was pretty meh. Resigned myself to the egg and porridge station for the coming days. Started the day with a 3-hour bus ride to Karmel at Bedugul, which is located north of Denpasar. With a big group of people, toilet stops are a big deal. Facilities in the outskirts of Denpasar are limited, so a simple stop at a petrol station could take an hour because there's only one toilet cubicle. Half of us need to run to the Indomaret ( a local konbini ) as an alternative. While waiting, we could shop for some snacks. The weather was cool at St. Joseph Karmel because it's located in the highlands (1,500m). Looming on the horizon was Mt. Kintamani. The place is super quiet and is perfect for retreats. Explored the grounds with it's large grotto and beautiful adoration room.  Mass was celebrated at a chapel with an amazing view of the surrounding hills right behind the altar. Instead of pews, we say cross-legged on the wood flooring. After mass, a loc...

In August, I took one week off work to accompany mum on a pilgrimage to Bali. Yes, quite shocking when I heard about it because Bali is predominantly Hindu. During my last visit in 2009 , I didn't notice anything other than Hindu temples. For some of the participants, it wasn't their first trip out there. One lady told me that it was her 6th trip to Bali! The flight out was at 9AM, so we were out of the house by 5AM. The tour was organized by 72 year old gentleman, by the name of Uncle Jacob. With the help of his daughter and son-in-law, he had helped us get the boarding passes and luggage tags before we even arrived ( don't know how he did it ). All we had to do was use the self-service baggage drop.  Thank goodness there weren't any delays because Air Asia is often sucky these days. Ngurah Rai Airport's new terminal was really impressive. It did take a while for us to get out because the immigration officers were really 'not into it'. Also wasted more time...