In December 2023, a travel authority was tucked in 2 of what were supposed to be 3 luggages to fill the void created by an unexpected death in the family before Christmas, a haunting that lingered for almost three years begging to be exorcised.
The dispossession of that sad memory finally occured in the 2nd week of May 2026 with a silent prayer to the deities of the Mehru Towers at Pura Taman Ayun requestng them to sanctify a procession through the beaches of Bali that culminated at the Gate of Heaven and the giant swings of Ubud.
Pura Taman Ayun is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site that was first built in the 17th century "to worship the ancestral spirits of kings" of the Mengwi Kingdom.
Being our first destination in 2023, it naturally was the first step of our own cleansing rite prior to the convening of a final preparatory meeting for the Bali Assembly.
Our 2023 Bali holiday started with a walk to the Legian Beach, and concluded with beer, coconuts, and a setting sun at Kuta Beach before our return flight to Manila.
Thus in 2026, we revisited the chaotic maze of surf boards and a parade of g-string bikinis at Kuta and Legian that culminated in a debriefing of beer and coonuts in small tables with red plastic chairs as the sun burned off the waters of Seminyak Beach.
The haunting of 2023 was fully exorcised at the Gate of Heaven, the candi bentar that represents the boundary between the physical and spiritual realms.
That was the pinnacle of the ritual that reversed a 2023 exclusion and invoked the protection of the guardian of the east from its sanctuary in the Island of Gods, a catharsis that burnished grief with happy moments at the giant swings of Ubod.
Bali is of course the land of babi guling, hot and spicy like that of Pak Malen's in Seminyak, subtle and mild like Ibu Oka's in Ubud.
It is also about padang dinners at Sarimande Natrabu and Sanur Nusantara minus happy hour cocktails and a firedance.
So it was done.
The haunting of 2023 has been buried in the documentation of a stocktaking in preparation for annual reporting, the review and polishing of annual plans, and possible post-project scenarios.
THE WEEKEND BETWEEN BALI
Then we got robbed, a surreal mid-air experience aboard PR 538 that stole the flavor of a complimentary champagne, a supernatural incident that the nubile servers and vocalist of Poblacion failed to banish.
The palate did came through after walking through Ayala Avenue's car-free Sunday for a lonnganisa platter at the Legazpi Sunday Market that were presented in the luxurious buffet tables of the Vikings.
As anticipated, the runaround strategy was applied by Philippine Airlines but the autogates of the I Gusta Ngurah Rai International Airport finally worked.
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