Oops I should have stayed here longer. I am absolutely loving my stay in the Bali Hilton Resort. I had no idea how wonderful it would be. I am a Hilton Honors Diamond member which earned me an upgrade. Therefore my room faces the sea with a patio. There are two comfortable rattan coaches and a circular table. Awoke for Fajr prayer – I am traveling so relieved of the responsibility of five daily prayers but prayer is important. As the Quran says: Successful are those who purify, remember the name of their Lord and pray. Therefore it is easy to be successful – this is a religion of ease. It is not difficult to wake up early – one gets a great start on the day.
My dream was to celebrate the sunrise from my balcony. Try as I might I could not open the locked doors. So I called Magic (0) – a man appeared unlocking the door, just in time. I was SO happy. The pink of the sky and the clouds, the ocean breezes and waves.
Decided to get a move on. The Hilton Bali Resort has 422 rooms – the breakfast buffet yesterday was a zoo. Hordes of people. Wonderful choices, great food but wall to wall people. This morning I brilliantly breakfasted early – no crowds, sheer serenity and the best orange juice ever. A beautifully dressed hostess saw I was leaving.
She: You are leaving already.
Me: Yes, The food is delicious but one advantage to being a Muslim is Ramadan. Fasting for thirty days gives you a better attitude about food. I see food as fuel, gives you energy, gets you going.
She: I never thought of it that way.
Me: Most people do not. I appreciate good food and was a good cook but now I pull up the gas station, get my fuel and drive off.
Went back to my room, from where I am not writing. Today I have a chore – not happy to be doing it but it is necessary. I have Bahrain money – cash. I have no other means to get cash because a Malaysian ATM ate my debit card and it has been impossible, for a number of reasons, to get it replaced. So I have no cash. For almost three months. Plastic works but I have been unable to tip. I guess I should be grateful as I have saved a lot of money. Hahaha
I am grateful for my many blessings. This is an example. Checking into this resort I asked for a prayer rug. Within minutes the most beautiful, colorful prayer rug was delivered to my room. The colors are stunning, as you shall see royal blue, a vivid green and yellow. It has to be seen to believed, you shall, you and many of my WhatsApp friends. I have written about prayer rugs before, specifically on August 24, 2022, two years ago. My Canadian Prayer Rug Takes Center Stage: Center Stage Defined; Limelight Defined: Its Label Speaks of the Beauty it Hopes to Spread to the World; Prayer Rug Sales Will Support Women; A Reel Found on Instagram and Embed Herein Speaks of Forgiveness; Embed/Imbed Defined; Photos of the Prayer Rug in Place and Its Label. Read the blog in its entirety. Written only two years ago everything has drastically changed. The treasured prayer rug startling to read, only two years ago – how everything has changed. That treasured prayer rug Did not accompany me when I left Edmonton for Saudi Arabia on September 20, 2023, never to return. Goodness knows where it is now.
The blog search engine found another blog whose focus was another, very unique prayer rug, gifted to me in Mecca by an elderly Muslim woman. A Gift Leads to Discovery; Learning the History and Importance of Prayer Mats Through Wikipedia; Photographs of Prayer Mats I Have Known; Special Attention to One Found in the Plaza Inn, Doha; My ‘Left Behind’ Prayer Rug, Perhaps its Replacement, A Gift from an Amazing Mecca Muslim Woman
Have no idea where that prayer rug is either, somewhere in Saudi Arabia being used. I gifted it to a young Muslim man who cleaned my room during one of my long term stays in a Saudi hotel. The rug was luxuriously thick, good for the knees but took up so much luggage space. The young Muslim man was immensely grateful It did go to a good home. That expression is usually used speak of pets you want to get rid of.
The rug provided in my precious upgraded seaside room will also be temporary. It is not mine to keep. My Possessions are impermanent, only photos remain. Even though impermanent my The Bali prayer rug soothe the pain of loss. There will be a new rug, perhaps a better rug, waiting from me at Lexis Suites when I return. It is not the rug, but the prayer that is important.
The expression close old doors before opening new ones comes into play again, of closing old doors before opening new ones. If all of the circumstances that led me to the abandonment of the prayer rug had not happened I would not be in Bali today praying on the most colorful prayer rug I have ever seen.
What are circumstances? Upon investigation find one definition to be perfect, meeting my meaning precisely: an event or fact that causes or helps to cause something to happen, typically something undesirable.
I find the word at a perfect moment. It is daybreak, dawn in Bali. One could not ask for a more perfect day, nor a more perfect sunrise – as the photographs shall attest. Oh my goodness!! I just looked up and there was a monkey walking along my patio.
Me: Monkey!! My goodness, look at you! Hello monkey.
The monkey, apparently not a verbal primate ambled off making his/her way along the patios, meeting his/her mate on a distant balcony. Went back into the room, grabbed my camera, taking a photo of he and his mate on a distant balcony,
I leave this paradise today, my flight departs at 1300. At one moment briefly considered staying here a few more days. Did consider staying here for a few more days but then decided against it. This seems the right decision at this moment. I can return, should I choose. A second trip would never live up to this one – filled with delights, surprises – ones almost beyond belief. Certainly beyond expectation.
The high point, the jewel, the epic event, the climax had to be the cooking class. We began at the fish market. Some photos will follow but not many because I was too involved with the entire experience to preoccupy myself with my iPhone. Have noticed in a myriad of settings particularly the Tate Britain (where people would photograph the art rather than admire it) It is an all too familiar sight – people so reoccupied with taking the photo that they forget where they are and do not experience the moment in its immensity. This is an experience that must be seen but later, perhaps, most certainly, for other reasons I will come back armed with a videographer or a still photographer/ or both.
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words and this is indeed true. I shall barely try to describe being there, accompanied by my chef instructor whose nickname is Nadda (it is a joke, almost his name but I cannot pronounce it properly. Nadda means nothing, the opposite of that knowledgeable, affable and amazing man. I laughed and joked with the vendors, so happy to see so many women covered, even though Bali is predominately Hindu. I had to pay attention to where I was walking as there was no flooring, just large rocks laid to make a walkway, constantly being hosed down . As I write realize that the floor might have been in place for generations, realizing this with ultimate respect. There was nothing ‘commercial’ about the operation, the fish, the freshest I have ever seen, was ice packed in ordinary white plastic bins. The joy and the enthusiasm of the people was contagious – or was it the other way around?
Nadda and I climbed back into the Hilton Bali Resort SUV heading heading back ‘home’. After a couple of hours of well deserved rest, we were to meet at the kitchen to cook – we chopped, we laughed, we traded stories, he told me of his experiences at school and how he first learned of cooking (his father was the cook at home). I grew to love Nadda, I chopped with professional knives, stirred, learned to make coconut pancakes in the manner, I had previously learned making crepes – the previous learning returned. We put everything together. More details will accompany the menu in its entirety.
Then to grill, cooking the fish we had gathered at the market. In the midst of this texted a new found friend, an extraordinarily precious man – met the day before at the delicatessen.
I bravely asked him to join me, to sample the food, It was a brave act on my part, I was afraid of the rejection but he appeared twice. Once to reassure me, in his tennis (sweaty clothes) before heading to his room to shower. How could he know that is what I needed in my existence? So complicated – but he did. Well we chatted for about three hours when we first met.
We both laughed and consumed the food, The Hilton folk arrived to take the photo of the chef’s and my accomplishment. I did ask him to hold the certificate. He did!! A joyous moment, but only shared with his permission, As he has said to me in at least two text emoji (which had to be translated) ALHAMDULILLAH.
I am SO blessed – but there is hardship and benefit. This day August 16, 2024 has had SO much benefit – and monkeys appearing at dawn. More later.
August 17, 2023
I am back at my Lexis Suites home. You shall see what greeted me – thankfully there are two king size beds – did not have to disturb the Welcome Back Ms Alexis McBride letters, nor disturb the kissing swans. My blessings abound. There are hardships. Malaysian Airlines delays are constant and monumental – never have I experienced such inefficiency, shoddy service, showing no consideration toward its customers. None of this would be possible under FAA rules and regulations. Nothing is perfect, not me, not Muslims – only the Islamic Faith.
This blog began with me worshipping my Bali prayer rug, left behind, of course. Upon return, on the other bed a prayer rug with pedals. Took a photo, which you shall see. I am truly blessed and loved.
