Bali - the tourist-y one day itinerary

So the Boy and i spent an absolutely brilliant six days in Bali :)
We stayed first in Ubud - taking a day out to do the tourist-y stuff, exploring Ubud and its' surroundings, then moving on to Seminyak.
The day we arrived in Bali and finally checked-in at our Cottage in Ubud, it was near 10pm.
And raining.
Sigh.
So it was off to a quick dinner, hot shower and then bed.
ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
The next day, we set off after brekkie with a driver/guide - Ketut, whom we had engaged for a full day, to drive us places.
Our itinerary: Ubud - Batubulan - Kintamani - Tegalalang - Ubud
First stop, to catch the Barong and Kris dance performance in the village of Batubulan.
WTF!!! DON'T GO LORRRRRRRRRRR!!!
Seriously, no, i'm not kidding. Do NOT waste $$$ on that.
This being our first time in Bali, we had no idea what this whole dance thing was, and so, was kind of talked into going (by the guide). pfft!
They make you pay some 80000IDR per pax, bring you into this ciggie-filled, dirty, crowded 'performance space' and seat you on some plastic chairs. Then they put you through an hour (maybe and hour + half... can't remember lah. was damn annoyed. hot, bothered, ANNOYED.) performance of some local song + dance thingy.
If you haven't been conned into going before, GOOD! If you have, *sayangs u. If you haven't seen this before, DON'T!!!
Ok. NEXT!
We told the guide to skip all the Batik weaving, gold and silver smith blah blah, painters-shite, elephant cave, wood craving etc etc etc, and take us straight to Kintamani.

--- Place where everyone (read: tourists) sits down for lunch, staring out at Mt. Batur and the lake next to it. Lunch is really crap. But, oh okay. Give that place some credit... the view was not bad. ---


After that, we set off again.

--- Trisna Bali Agrowisata Natural Spices. ---
Where you get to see plants, fruits, trees... watch aunties doing their thang with roasting kopi beans... and tasting Bali Coffee and Cocoa... FOC!!! haha.


Btw, NO.
We did NOT try that Kopi Luwak =P why on earth would i want to spend $ on a cup of shit coffee?!?!?!
Off to Tapang Siring next :)

--- Entrance tickets to the Siring Empul. ---

--- Cute ang-moh embracing the practices at the Temple. In sarong and washing himself like the locals there. ---

After witnessing the many, many locals doing their prayers and all at the Temple, we headed off back towards Ubud, stopping briefly at Tegalalang to take the obligatory tourist-y piccies of the rice terraces.

--- Us. ---
Our last stop before the guide dropped us back at the Hotel, Babi Guling @ Ibu Oka's!
This place... everyone, EVERYONE tells us to come try.

But............
Let down leh people!!!
Very fantastic meh?!
While i'm not a huge fan of pork dishes in the first place, the Boy definitely loves his pork =P
So for him to also agree this whole Ibu Oka Babi Guling thing is overated...?
Tsktsktsk.
Am not planning to come here for this again next time.
So not worth our time.
Next post: happier holiday experiences :)
Till then, Xoxo.