Bali - Day 8

So it was our last day in Bali..with a heavy heart i woke up and did my last minute packing.. Becky suggested that we'd better hand carry our paintings and uluwatu dresses since we'd never know if our luggage might make it back to Malaysia...so anyway, i brought a half-filled luggage and i left Bali with a fully-filled luggage...of course that's nothing...coz we met a couple while checking in at the airport who bought a new huge luggage bag...won't be surprised if that was fully-filled as well..

After we checked out from the hotel and paid our bills, we took a cab to the airport...only for Becky to discover that she had left her paintings at the hotel lobby..so she had to get the hotel staff to send the paintings to the airport...so we hung around at the airport..checking out the duty free shops...Connie found out that the stuffs in Bali airport is actually cheaper than in KLIA...well, some of the stuffs..

Look at our sad looks...we just didn't want to leave Bali..

We boarded our flight, which was quite full but at le ast this time round we weren't separated...i think Connie and i must have been really t ired..coz as soon as we finished our meal, both of us were knocked out all the way till we landed at KLIA..either that or somebody spike our food/drink..hehe..

So we got our luggage (wow! our luggage arrived intact...kudos to MAS) and Connie and i took the KLIA transit back to my place..while Becky went to meet someone...overall my Bali trip was an exciting one...though i didn't make it to Lovina to see my dolphins...i guess i'll save that for my next trip to Bali...if there is one...

Bali - Day 7

So, on our last day in Bali, i was almost broke and still praying that my ATM card would work...more bad news..as i tried my ATM on 3 different banks' ATM machines, i was met with the same unfriendly message of "your transaction cannot be processed"...so i called Maybank again and asked what could be the problem..so i found out that apparently, the overseas banks detect the magnetic strip at the back of my ATM card and if my card was by any chance 'disfigured' at that part, then it won't be detected..thus not able to be processed...well, my card was already almost 3 years old..and with the weather in Malaysia, i'm not surprised if my card was 'disfigured' in any way possible...though i did use the same card in Phuket like about 7 months ago...

So that was that..nothing Maybank could do to help me get my money..and that's when i curse myself for not getting that credit card Maybank offered me before i came to Bali...well, too late to bawl over that by then...so i had no choice but to do something i really dislike doing..menagih hutang...well, i actually lent Becky some money for the trip before we came to Bali coz her salary was late...so since she could withdraw money from her card, so i asked her to return some money to me first lor.. good thing her salary was banked in already by then...so yea!!! still got money to spend...

So we proceeded with our plan for spa that afternoon...at this place called Galuh Bali Spa..where we were pampered for the next 3 hours...the package cost Rp 550000...quite a good deal since it included a foot scrub, Balinese and aromatherapy oil massage, body scrub and polish, flower bath and a choice of traditional facial or hair creambath...initially i chose the traditional facial..but as my facial started, my skin burnt as the girl applied the products on my skin..guess my skin was too sensitive...so i had to change to hair creambath instead...while i was getting my hair creambath, i saw a Japanese couple being made-up for their traditional Balinese costume wedding photos...i think the guy totally regretted agreeing to his future wife...i definitely wouldn't subject my future husband to such humiliation....

After a relaxing spa, we headed back to our hotel..we stopped by half way at a Billabong factory outlet...stuffs are definitely cheap...bikinis on 30-70% discount...but i didn't get anything coz was already low on budget...perhaps i'll shop more the next time round, hehe..









We had our last dinner in Bali at an Italian restaurant called Ultimo...along the main Seminyak Road..it looked very posh and cozy..food was fairly good...and the price was quite unbelievable...i mean, 3 of us had main course which included a steak for me, some chicken dish for Becky and a beef dish for Connie...plus drinks and dessert...the bill came up to only Rp 250000 plus...tax inclusive..that's cheaper than my spa...you definitely can't get that in Little Italy...the Zupa de Mare in Little Italy is already rm 22...the most expensive pasta in Ultimo which was the seafood pasta (with prawns, scallop and clams) only cost rm18...how's that for value for money? and the dessert which we had...White chocolate creme brulee...it was totally yummy!!!









So after a hearty dinner, we walked back to our hotel and had our last night swim...it was almost full moon that night...and i just floated on the water and gazed at the moon...it was really amazing...i was so going to miss Bali...sigh..i wished i didn't have to go back home...

Bali - Day 6

On day 6, Connie and I decided to go for white water rafting at the Telagawaja river...my only white water rafting experience was at the Padas river at Beaufort...and i was ready for more...thankfully Connie's ankle didn't swell up as expected...and water rafting didn't involve much of the legs anyway.. so we waited for our pick-up at 8.30am after breakfast (yea, cup noodles again)...but our pick-up was half an hour late...oh well, we had the whole day anyway...so after going to the office where we paid Rp350000 for the rafting, we went on our way to Telagawaja river...we had to buy a pair of sandals since we were only wearing flip-flops...and Connie commented that we were buying Nike kampung...coz the sandals had Nike imprinted on them..hehe...

The river was a 14km ride infused with adrenaline rush...the rapids were fairly swift and there were plenty of boulders to keep our ride a bumpy one...i seemed to be paddling a lot more and there were many times we had to totally leaned back to avoid bamboo bridges along the way...it felt like we were playing limbo rock...except that we were going at a much higher speed...the raft accomodated 5 of us...Connie, me, a newly wed couple from Bandung who were on their honeymoon..and the guide..who kept splashing water at us...as if we didn't already get wet enough from the rapids...so there were a lot of squealing and giggles...thank God no one fell off the raft...except that Connie's paddle dropped into the water..which the guide expertly retrieved..

We stopped about halfway through the river...at a small waterfall where i relived my childhood playing under the falls...the water was so cooling and refreshing...there were a few other waterfalls which we passed by..but the guide told us those belong to other companies...strange...i never knew people could buy up waterfalls..anyway, towards the end of the journey, the guide prepared us for a 4m drop...we stowed away out paddles..and leaned backwards..and woosh!!! and splash!!! and all i could think of was...can we do it again??!!...it was so much fun!!!

We had to walk quite a bit to get to the restaurant where we had lunch...and it was all the way uphill...i guess all the working out has been worth it since i could still walk uphill after 2 hours of rafting...we bathed and changed and had lunch at the restaurant which overlooked some rice field terrace...finally get to take pictures of rice field terrace...after lunch, the driver sent us back to our hotel...

Around evening, i decided to go to the Uluwatu shop again...this time to get dresses for my sisters, Yvonne and Petrina...i was almost out of cash...so i went to the ATM to take out money...much to my dismay, the ATM machines couldn't process my card...i've already activated my overseas usage prior to coming to Bali so i didn't understand why all 3 different ATM machines couldn't process my transaction...anyway, i bought a black halter neck, calf-length dress for my mei mei (whose size i overestimated coz when she wore it, it was a bit loose...guess she lost weight..or maybe it was i who grew bigger, hehe)...and a pink sleeveless knee-length dress for my che che (which she claimed fitted her perfectly, much to my delight)...

I called Maybank to find out what was wrong with my card or account..apparently there was no block in my account...and my overseas usage has been activated...so the person asked me to try again the next morning...and i prayed really hard that my card could be used..coz i was pretty broke by then...

Bali - Day 5

We got up a little earlier on Day 5...after another cup noodle for breakfast, we took a cab and headed towards Kuta...saw the Kuta Memorial where the bomb went off and killed many Australian tourists..and we stopped at Kuta Square where another bomb went off few years back...but luckily for us..there was no sign of any bomb when we reached there..so we walked around and checked out many shops which sold branded goods at a fraction of the original price...kind of made me wonder if those are really original...anyway, i'm not really into brands...

So we saw another Uluwatu branch in Kuta and this time we brought Becky with us...hehe, Becky fell in love with the whole shop i think...so anyway, i finally decided that i should get my white Uluwatu dress since it is made in Bali..and my sole reason of coming to Bali was to get an Uluwatu dress (yes, it has been my fashion ambition since i first saw an Uluwatu dress that was advertised in a Malaysian newspaper many many years ago; i swore to myself i would get married in that dress someday,hahaha..unfortunately i don't think they have that dress anymore)...plus it was definitely cheaper than the Boho-style one...and i even bought a pair of Uluwatu lace wedge sandals..to go with my dress..gosh...the sandals were even more expensive than the dress...so i supposed i had to forego the other dress...too bad i didn't take a pic in it...
After our shopping spree (Connie and Becky each bought a dress as well), we stopped by a cafe for lunch..i had Satay Lilit while Connie finally got to try out her Ayam Betutu...my satay lilit had too much bone bits in them..but otherwise, it was a pleasant meal...though i regretted ordering my drink..i asked the waitress which mocktail was nice and she introduced me to Biu Gede...which tasted like cough syrup...and ayam betutu was really just grilled chicken..nothing fancy...









Our initial plan at Kuta was to try out surfing...but unfortunately Connie sprained her ankle while shopping...i always thought that was something which would happen to me...but anyhow, our plan for surfing was thwarted by the unfortunate accident...and since it was going to be difficult to continue walking, we took a cab back to Seminyak...i think the weather must have been a little too hot coz i felt like a heatstroke setting in...i was suddenly overwhelmed with fatigue...so i slept it off till late evening...woke up for dinner..we were all too lazy to walk out to the main road for food..so we ate cup noodles for dinner...then we had our ritual night swim....

Bali - Day 4

Day 4 found us sleeping in till about 10am...ahh....that was nice...it's something i hardly get to do these days...since i'm on call practically every weekend...so i had cup noodles for breakfast...bought a few from the convenient store along the main road the night before...it was my lousy attempt to save money so that i have more to shop with, hehe..

After breakfast, Connie and i went around Seminyak area..shopping..Becky went out earlier coz she probably couldn't wait to start shopping..hehe..we saw lotsa nice bags and dresses...some were affordable..some were a little off budget...but the fashion is definitely better compared to Malaysia.. Connie bought 2 dresses at a shop...both looked very good on her..i finally found Uluwatu...the shop that sells Handmade Balinese Lace apparel...i saw a dress that brought a wow! out of me (and Connie too)...so i decided to try it on...the one on the model was in black...they also had it in white..so i tried both...i guess i'm more a white person than black...coz i totally fell in love with the white one...but i didn't buy it there and then..coz it cost Rp756500...so i thought i'd shop around and see if i could find another dress i might like better..

As we walked further along the road, we came to a shop where i saw another dress which i kind of lusted over...it was a Boho-style dress...halter-neck, deep V-neck line...empire waist...long...made of silk in yellow and brown tie-and-dye stripe...ok, my description does not justify the dress itself.. forgive me, i'm no fashion magazine writer...so i tried on the dress and prayed that i didn't look good in it...but i'll be damned...even Connie thought i should just get the dress...despite the fact that the dress cost Rp1400000 plus...dang!! it was just too expensive...so i was in a dilemma...should i get the white Uluwatu dress?...or the Boho-style dress?...or was i willing to part with more money and buy both? hahahaha...sigh..only girls have dilemma of this sort...

So i mulled about it over a late lunch...and throughout our night swim...and even while reading "Twilight"...which i finished in 4 days...not bad considering i only read at night...

Bali - Day 3

On day 3, we rented a car with driver again to bring us around Bali... we started our morning by watching the Barong Dance...which portrays the Mahabhrata epic..honestly, if you're not into artsy stuffs like traditional dance, you can give this one a skip...coz even i fell asleep watching it...of course that's no surprise since i can fall asleep watching anything that lasts longer than half an hour..especially if i don't know what's going on half the time...but it was a good experience..at least if ppl ask me if i've watched the Barong Dance then i can say, yea i have...and it was pretty interesting..hehe ;P

Next stop, Tanah Lot..apparently, the reason why this temple was called Tanah Lot was because it was built on a...well..tanah lot...in the olden days, Bali lands were divided into lots...not much of creativity in naming the place...but the place was beautiful...the temple's by the sea and you can see waves crashing against the stones...incidentally, Tanah Lot is a favourite site for Balinese paintings... while we were walking around, we saw a couple who were taking their wedding photos there..well, the place is sure picture worthy...but the weather was so hot...i can just imagine the bride's make-up melting under the scorching sun...oh well, romance has its cost...












We had lunch at one of the coffee shop at Tanah Lot..did some shoppping there as well..bought a white dress for Rp50000...and a denim bag for Rp50000...i love my new bag...so after lunch, we headed on to Nusa Dua where we did some water sports...but we got ripped off again...sigh... we paid Rp450000 for 2 water sports..Connie and i took 'flying fish' and parasailing while Becky took jet-skiiing and parasailing...a word of advice, go with the tour packages..they cost a lot less..with the tour packages, you pay Rp450000 for 3 sports...much better deal...but that aside, the 'flying fish' was really cool...though i wished we had flown higher...and my 1st attempt at parasailing...thank God i didn't pee in my pants..but it was amazing...the view from high above left me in awe...though i wished it had lasted a little longer...i definitely would like to go parasailing again...









After a wet and wild afternoon, we dried ourselves and went to Uluwatu..another temple by the sea..i think Uluwatu means edge of the rock..or something like that..there were lotsa monkeys there.. preying on unobservant tourists...the monkeys would snatch the hats of your heads...or grab your food right out of your hands...but i think they enjoyed the sunset as much as i did..though i didn't catch the whole sunset...coz we watched the Kecak Dance during the sunset...so i was a bit distracted between the dance and the sunset...anyway, the Kecak Dance tells the story of the Ramayana epic...at least i understood the dance this time round..thanks to the explanation provided by a brochure...









So, Kecak Dance is accompanied by a choir of men singing 'a cappella' style throughout the whole dance...and there's lots of fire involved...the story revolves around Prince Rama and his beautiful wife Sita who was abducted by the demon King Rawana...so Rama set out on a quest to rescue his wife, with the help of Hanuman, the monkey God...just to cut the long story short..

It was quite late by the time we reached Seminyak...so we took-away KFC (yea, of all things) on our way back to the hotel...so we had our dose of fast food...and i continued reading "Twilight" till the wee hours in the morning...

Bali - Day 2

We rented a car with a driver for Rp250000 to bring us around on Day 2..it was the best deal we could get by far...so the driver brought us to a painting centre in Ubud..Ubud is famous for its arts and crafts..many famous Balinese painters came from Ubud...we saw many lovely paintings there and it took me a great deal of sheer willpower to stop me from buying all the paintings i liked there..hehe, well, actually the price kind of help too...paintings are not cheap...;P

I saw a painting with purple tone that i liked a lot, which i bought eventually for Rp 700000 (initial price was quoted at Rp1 million)...but there was another painting which literally took my breath away when my eyes fell on it...it was a painting of 'rapture'...and i thought to myself, i don't care how big or expensive this painting is but i'm going to buy it...then i saw the sign..not for sale..dang!! anyway, the guide told us that we weren't supposed to take pictures of the paintings inside the art centre...but hehe, i just couldn't help myself...so i snapped pics of a few paintings i liked while the guide was away...i do hope they didn't have CCTV...so i asked the guide why wasn't the 'rapture' painting for sale..and he said that it was because the painter is deceased...i wonder if that was his last painting..rapture..hehe..

After that, we headed further north to Kintamani where Mount Batur and Lake Batur were located.. we enjoyed our buffet lunch at a restaurant with a great view of Mount Batur...the weather at Kintamani was much cooler which was a much welcomed change...we didn't manage to go anywhere near Mount Batur due to time limitation...perhaps the next trip i can trek up Mount Batur...

Stuffed from lunch, we headed back down to Ubud where we stopped by at a souvenir shop which sells hiked-up price goods...i didn't get anything but the Japanese tourists there were definitely going hook-line-sinker for the stuffs...then we went to the Ubud market where things were a lot cheaper..i bought a cute little dress for my niece, Rainbow for Rp50000...i bought a bag for my aunty which only cost Rp30000...these were prices after slashing the initial price by half...i guess it helped that we spoke Malay...but we got ripped off by the T-shirt vendors there..i bought a T-shirt for my brother for Rp50000 when others were selling T-shirts for Rp15000 per piece...sigh...anyway, while we were waiting for our driver, we saw these 2 ladies who were balancing a whole basketful of fruits walking by...good practice for posture and poise...if i ever tried, we'll be getting pulp fruits for dessert..

After shopping, we drove back to town for dinner...where we had Babi Guling...the shop we went was by the road side and we didn't see any babi which was 'sedang diguling'...apparently they've cut up the pig...well, so much for photo opportunity...so anyway, Babi Guling turned out to be something like 'chu chap'...you get roasted pork, fried pig skin, pig liver rolled into sausages (yucks!) and various other internal organs...so i guess there'll be no more Babi Guling for me when i'm in Bali next time..
So after a long day of travelling, we went back to our hotel and rested...i continued reading "Twilight" as the story unfolded and the plot became more and more interesting...

Bali - Day 1

The much anticipated date, May 2, 2009 finally arrived and Connie, Becky and I were on our way to KLIA that morning...our flight to Denpasar, Bali was at 9.50am...Connie stayed over at my place so we checked-in together..but Becky stayed with her sister and she was quite late for check-in...Connie said that if Becky missed her flight this time round then she wasn't meant to go on holidays with us (Becky didn't make it for our Bangkok-Phuket trip last October due to her parents concern over the Bangkok unrest)...anyhow, Becky made it in time and we boarded the plane which was full of tourists like us...

The flight was quite uneventful except for the noisy Americans on my right...then there were the quieter French couples on my left...mostly i spent my time reading "Twilight", the recent vampire movie that hit the cinema, which was adapted from Stephenie Meyer's book...it's my mei mei's book...but i needed something to read on vacation...

We landed at the Ngurah Rai Airport at Denpasar about 12.50pm...Bali and Malaysia shares the same time zone...yea!! no worries about jetlag....got into a bit of a sticky situation at the Health Check Desk...thanks to the Swine flu alert...coz i always get sniffy after a flight...but managed to pass through la...so off we went to collect our luggage and we're out...it was pretty hot..the weather i mean...and i can actually understand the language the people are speaking in...it's as if i never left home..hehe...

So we took an airport cab to our hotel at Seminyak (which cost us Rp 70000)...as in Bangkok, all the cabs were what i called middle-class luxury cars...Toyota Vios, Honda Civic, etc...and everyone else drove a 4-wheel drive or a six-seater...apparently cars in Bali cost only half of what they do in Malaysia...how affordable....

We finally reached Seminyak Suites, the hotel where we'd be staying for the next one week...it was quite deep inside, away from the main road...just the way i like it...quiet...the room was cozy and clean...has a balcony with nice view...the hotel has a pool in which we had many night swims...well, actually the reason why we only swam at night was because they were actually doing construction work around the pool during the day...









After checking in, while waiting for dinner, Connie and I decided to walk around the vicinity of our hotel...the narrow alleys can be quite hazardous since they only allow one car to pass through at a time...but there was a certain quaint feeling about walking along narrow alleys where many private villas are situated...we found an apparently abandoned villa with its door ajar..so we took a peek inside and we were amazed by how luxurious the villa was...own private pool and all...if only i can afford one...we also saw a private villa which was named "villa sedap malam"...hmm..nice place for a honeymoon...

Dinner was at Jimbaran Bay...the hotel provided us transport to take us to a particular restaurant there...so we had seafood for dinner...while enjoying the sunset....it was really beautiful...and we even saw the runway where we landed, which stretched out into the sea...well, dinner wasn't exactly gourmet standard...and it was pretty expensive...but it was probably because i was stupid enough to order live prawns instead of dead ones...the former cost twice as much as the latter but would have probably tasted the same after they were grilled anyway...and the fish had skin that tasted like rubber..the only thing good was actually the Balinese sambal..yummy!!..no matter..the sunset made up for what lacked in dinner....









After dinner, there were a group of male musicians/perfomers going around serenading couples with nostalgic love songs...or so we thought...coz they ended up at our table as well...they sang 2 songs for us..Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"...and "Careless Whispers" by i don't know which 80s group... music wasn't too bad but the singer needs to improve on his lyrics..Connie unwittingly paid Rp 100000 (divide 3000 for the RM equivalent) for their tips...and i realized that that was actually more than what we paid for our airport taxi...sigh...we needed to get used to the zeros...

Connie and I went for our 1st night swim in Bali in our hotel pool...very relaxing and therapeutic.. the water was warm enough...and it's nice to be gazing at the night sky while floating on the water...after the swim and bath, i settled down on my couch (where i spent my 1st 2 nights in Bali sleeping on) and continued reading "Twilight" till sleep beckoned...

Back from Bali...

Been missing from my blog the past 1 week...i've been lost in paradise...;)...in Bali to be exact... though i can hardly describe my week of fantabulous Bali as anything but 'lost'...nice hotel...lovely people...amazing paintings and crafts...beautiful sunny weather...therapeutic night swims at the hotel pool...romantic sunsets...intriguing temples...my 1st attempt at parasailing...great waves for surfing... the adrenaline rush of white water rafting...ridiculously great shopping...etc...etc..etc..

Will put up my day-to-day Bali adventure posts in the days to come...too tired to do everything at one go...and definitely too tired to do it tonight...since i'll be on call tomorrow...just got back from KL this evening...and i'm sinking into post-holidays blues...sigh...it's back to reality....and my room is so overdue for a spring cleaning...urgh!!!