Lebaran holiday 2008 in Bali

Lebaran holiday finally came…

For those of you who don’t know what lebaran is, I quote this from a web site:

Idul Fitri, more commonly referred to in Indonesia as Lebaran, is the celebration that comes at the end of the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadhan. The Arabic meaning of Idul Fitri is “becoming holy again”.

The dates of the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, Ramadan, vary from year to year, as the Muslim calendar (Hijrah) is based on a lunar cycle of 29 or 30 days. The exact date is determined by the sighting of the new moon. These lunar calculations lead to an official announcement by the government on the eve of Ramadan and Idul Fitri so that the faithful know when to begin and end the fasting month. In 2008, Lebaran will fall on October 1st and 2nd.

Here’s the link if you’re interested to read more about it http://www.expat.or.id/info/lebaran.html

People from all around Bali, especially from the island of Java made Bali totally stuck just like other “grand” public holiday (the other one is Christmas/New Year).

Most of my colleagues were taking their leave to gather with their family in their home town, which makes the office kind a silent and quiet.

In Kuta beach, that’s the one closest to where I live in, is literally scattered with people, foreign & domestic tourists. Traffic jammed almost everywhere in major cities in Bali. Most of the food stall or warungs nearby where I live in were all closed. A far from those “negative” things, I got my friends coming here on holiday and visiting me as well. Too bad I didn’t get a whole week holiday (I only get the holiday on public holiday marked as red and weekend).

This holiday also my first time being offered drugs, TWICE. The first one, when I was walking home, after meeting a friend and accompanied her back to her hotel, there was a man walking towards me and he said “Magic Mushroom”. The second, the same thing, but this time I was walking in front of a man sitting in a park said “Mushroom mister”. I just walked and ignored them. Hate drugs, don’t like drugs, and don’t even want to try it. I’ve been almost a year now staying in Bali and had never been offered something like it. Well, there’s always the first time, but will never be any first time with drugs (and you should keep yourself out of it too)! I considered it as drugs because it’s not something that is allowed to be sold to public and it’s considered as psychotropic substances.

On top of all, happy holiday and stay away from drugs!

Selamat Idul Fitri, Mohon Maaf Lahir Batin. I’m sorry for any misbehaviour or mistakes that may have intentionally or unintentionally offended you.

Just an information for those of you who are planning to visit Bali or already in Bali. There will be another big events in Bali this October: Asian Beach Games (18-26 October 2008), Kuta Karnival (18-26 October), and Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (14-19 October 2008).