Personal, Travel, Friends, Food, Photos, Sports
Bali, Indonesia (Part 1)
I just realized that it’d be too overwhelming to include all photos in just one blog entry. Therefore I’ve decided to break it into two parts. My trip to Bali was easily one of the best holiday trips I’ve ever had. The weather everyday was perfect, and we fully utilized the time (and money too -_-” - more on this later…) we had there.
It was the first time Jay and Rain returned to Malaysia since furthering their studies in Canada and the US respectively. We had planned the trip a couple of months in advance, with each of us booking our own flight tickets online (which also ended up in us paying different amounts, lol!).
Our flight to Denpasar took 3 hours, and we headed straight to our hotel upon arrival. We booked our hotel in advance - Kuta Lagoon Resort and Pool Villas, and we were extremely delighted to hear that they had to ‘upgrade’ our rooms because the ones we initially wanted were fully occupied.
The upgraded rooms - we were told - had swimming pool access right from our balcony. The receptionist said that we could just jump into the pool from there. We couldn’t wait to see our rooms!! Imagine getting up in the morning and jumping straight into the pool!
That’s the view of the rooms. We booked two rooms but later realized that it was possible to fit all four of us into just one. We proceeded with two rooms anyway. Each cost us US$40 per night. I thought it was not bad - we were after all, holidaymakers, not backpackers (as far as this trip was concerned!).
Our rooms were pretty decent actually. If I were to recommend an accommodation in Bali, I’d not hesitate to recommend Kuta Lagoon Resort to you. It was perfect for us, I’m sure it’ll be perfect for you! The photo above shows our ‘backyard’. It’s one whole long stretch of pool, common to all rooms on the ground floor.
After having our ‘welcome drink’ at the hotel, we walked along Jalan Legian in Kuta and exchanged the remainder of our Ringgit to Rupiah. We got a good rate, but it was quite a dangerous transaction. I wouldn’t recommend anyone doing what we did unless you’re sure you won’t get cheated. You should go to a reputable money changer, even if the rates are not as good.
Our first day was spent mostly on information gathering - we took lots of brochures and enquired about daily tour packages to several places of interest. We had done some homework so we roughly knew where we should go. Tour packages - depending on where you want to go - typically cost US$25-30 per person, and they should cover the whole day, including a meal and transportation.
Anyway, while gathering tour info, we decided to check out the local restaurants and the Legian Beach, which was just about 200 meters walk from our hotel. My first meal in Bali was fried rice. Apparently, fried rice was the most-widely available type of food in Bali, after fried noodles. You won’t miss them in Bali (and having just returned from Medan, may I also conclude that fried rice and noodles are Indonesians’ favorite food -__-”).
The Legian Beach was very popular with surfers. It was unsurprising because the water was shallow, and its waves were good enough for hours of surfing fun. There were no corals too, so it makes the beach super safe for surfers. Many beginner surfers learned how to surf in Bali, including us, on the second day!!
No pictures of us surfing of course. I can’t figure out how we could have our photos taken during surfing. And guess what, I found out that I could actually surf! Holy schmoly! That had been my undiscovered talent all along! :p We were taught - on the ground - how to paddle and balance ourselves on the surfboard, before actually doing it in the water. We had one instructor each, who followed us into the water. It was absolutely fun!
By nightfall we had already arranged for our 2nd day activity. We found a small stall on the way back from the beach which had a little signboard that read “Free maps”. It caught our attention and the next thing we knew, we were going white water rafting as part of a package that stall was offering.
A van came to our hotel to pick us up in the morning after breakfast (free daily breakfast provided at hotel, btw!) and we were headed to some place I forgot what it’s called :p The journey there took us about 1 and 1/2 hours. Upon arriving, all we gotta do was present a voucher our agent had given us, and we were good to go.
We actually bought this photo taken by one of the staff at the rafting venue. Notice a woman bathing by the river in the background? We though this was a pretty good shot! Anyway, during the ride, we did a 5-meter jump, although there was also a 10-meter one. We had to get off our rafts for the higher one because obviously it was simply too dangerous. It was also during that time I lost one side of my then newly-bought Quiksilver beach thongs. It just went with the rapids and was never recovered. D’oh!
The rafting took almost 3 hours long, plus a short break at a scenic spot halfway downstream. There was a stall selling drinks and a mini-paddy field with a waterfall nearby. We saw a bunch of Korean tourists taking a break there as well. By the time we reached the end of the rafting stream, it was almost noon - time for a buffet lunch, which was included as part of our package too!
Bathrooms were provided there as well so we could wash ourselves clean before attacking the food. Our lunch was not bad, but the view was even better. We got a spectacular view of paddy terraces from where we were dining.
The river that you see in the photo was the river that we had rafted earlier.
And I couldn’t resist macro-ing against such a distant background…
After lunch, our van took us back to our hotel. We wanted to take home a brochure from the rafting operator but they had run out of them. We just thought that the service they rendered to us was excellent - the guides were really friendly and fun-loving people. All in all we enjoyed rafting with them and that’s why, we thought the least we could do was to help spread the word and recommend them to our friends.
That’s all for this part of my trip to Bali. Stay tuned for Part 2! Meanwhile, I’m gonna go catch up on some of my favorite blogs…
Happy a good weekend, everyone!
P/s. Anyone joined Soul of the Night - Nokia Wireless Adventure 2?
The Nokia Wireless Adventure 2: ‘Discover the Soul of the Night’ race will challenge members of the public to race around the streets of Kuala Lumpur in search for the ‘coolest’ and ‘best-hidden’ gems in Kuala Lumpur’s night life.
I registered on the last day before the closing date and my entry got shortlisted! I am now among the top 20 (of which only 8 will be selected to proceed to the next round) and there’ll be an audition this weekend… I have absolutely no idea what to expect, but I’m super excited! This is the first time my slogan is actually getting me somewhere…
28 Mar 2008 narrowband
Wooo!! White water rafting! Syiok, rite!
Wah… actually hor.. I dun remember u went to Bali… I also want to go liao.. btw, how much did u spend altogether and how many days? RM2k enuff?
omgz! that’s me! That’s Jay! That’s Rain! That’s US! weeee! Hapi mo’!
Oh, and good luck in the Nokia Adventure! Your trip to the temple berjaya wey… hehe :P
Awesome pics!
Especially loved the clouds one. :D
Woow, it look fun and i think u must enjoying a lot there, however i think bali is better than medan since u didn’t post much on it.
cant resist but gotta ask this question 1st bro.. how the heck did ur quicksilver thong slip away and i’m presuming tat ur pants is still on?! or u WWR with just ur thong?! enlighten me with some logic here ya bro.. :) damn u must look real hot naked surfing there.. bali IS a nice place to be and wat’s more, can bahasa there ei? cant wait for P2.
Enjoyed the pics :) more pls!!
Oh dang, i missed the surfing experience when I was in Bali the last time. Btw, great fotos and of course the writing too. Enjoyed reading. And hey i know two more person who joined the Nokia Wireless Challenge and got to top 20. I joined too, but of cos failed to be shortlisted hahahaa. huhu :(
i am one of the media contestants. hope you pass the audition. and then hope they will put you in my team :)
The lunch place after the rafting, very familiar. Haha.
Bali looks like fun! Hmm… I’m shortlisting that for my next trip too. Lawl.
You so did not tell me that you were one of the shortlisted 20 for Nokia leh… that’s an achievement in itself! I also entered but didn’t get shortlisted. :o(
*weee* finally.. the Bali pix! is this some kind of ploy where you separate it into two parts so that people will keep coming back? ;)
all the best for your Nokia competition thingy :)
hey so syok oh.. those tour guide bring you to raft venue… should have good memories about that again ba?
looks like i stumbled upon your blog (thru yahoo this time) at the right time.
i guess part 2 & 3 will only come out in a month or two then?
I didn’t know there’s water rafting in Bali!!!
And, ya… i saw girls bathing in the pond topless at Bali too… Omg…
So open-minded 1 lar :p
I was there in Bali two years ago… Stayed in HardRock Hotel Bali… :-> Bali is the nice place for vacation. Don’t mind going back to Bali…
I think since last year till now, you hv been to a lot of places le.. Flight ticket very cheap ?? I havent been to Bali before and I heard of many people said it is a very nice places…
Sigh.. dun know when i can go…
Angel - As mentioned in email, RM2K more than enuff! WWR memang taihen syok desu neh!!! Few times we ran into ‘difficulties’, until one point water kept coming in… itu memang meng-gancheong-kan :p
Peikz - Yesh yesh. Pls claim yer money from me. I don’t feel comfortable keep so much money that doesn’t belong to me… lol.
Angel - Haha, I went to d temple quite early, to avoid the crowd ma. Before CNY already dah pergi (after Winter Solstice). I ikut my mom wan -_-”
Day-dreamer - So difficult to get blue skies - so must shoot habis-habisan while up there :p
Darren - Oh, you misunderstood liao. The previous post isn’t about my Medan trip, although I mention alil bit about it. I’ll write a dedicated entry later. But you’re right, Bali has more activities to do compared to Medan-Toba Lake.
Jian - Haha, I replied you in an email. BTW bro, I don’t wear thongs as in, that thong la bro… I cannot tahan getting vege all-day long leh -___-” Yeaaa, can Bahasa there, it really bridges you and the locals there, because we all have something in common. I feel really comfortable that way!
Nicholas - Wah supporter… I like… :p Hehehe… Thanks bro. More kamminggggg…
Victor - You must be one of the few who actually pay attention to (and appreciate) my writing… Writing requires more brainpower than editing photos :p
Ohhh bro, I met your friend during the audition! She was accompanying a friend… IT was the same girl at Sunburst, rite? That’s what she told me :D
Smashie - Wah that’s hoping for two things liao… First must pass… Second, get to be in ur team… Greedy neh. But you so competitive… if the task is to take photos then I die liao. No fight!!
Jason - I forgot the name of the place liao. Aiyoh. Hope my buddies remember :p
Rinnah - Yes, please shortlist it!! Aiks, I didn’t tell you about that Nokia challenge meh? I thought I wrote in the email. Sorry for the boo-boo :p The audition was cool… I shall write about it soon, hehe!
Xinyi - The fact that people tend to re-visit in anticipation of Part 2, is merely an added *bonus*. It’s not my main intention, because if you noticed, in most of the entries on Narrowband.org, I tend to squeeze everything and consolidate into one single entry. This time, the main reason why I couldn’t do that was because I hadn’t finished compiling (and editing) the photos. (Well, I have, now *grins*).
Thankiewwwss…!
Vickie - Wei need to pay one leh -__-”. We specifically paid for that tour to go WWR. There was no tour guide, just a driver to transport us there. Sure will have good memories… that’s why I want to write it down in my blog :D
Jay - Haha, I didn’t bother to analyze my traffic. I’ve no time for that lately. Not so long, I don’t think I can hold it for that long. Maybe in the next fortnight. Oh yeah, Peikz hasn’t found time to collect our debts. Technically, we all *still* owe her money. Hahaha…
Eunice - Ya… lol! And we respect them by not taking pics of course (but maybe this is not applicable to ‘accidentally-shot’ pics… hehe :p). Actually if I’m not mistaken, even in some parts in Malaysia there’re still people doing that by the river. But of course, there’re less people (ie not tourist area) around lah.
TZ - Oh yes it surely is a nice place for vacation. So much to do and see. I really enjoyed my time there. I’m not sure about going back to the same place for a vacation the second time, but if I had the money, I wouldn’t mind it too because it’s such a nice place.
Keeyit - AirAsia opens up alot of travel opportunities to people like students, young working adults, young families, etc. Air travel is more affordable with AirAsia. Last time where can we get so cheap air fares… Maybe you can do a little bit of planning (including saving) and arrange for a trip there? The whole trip cost us less than RM2K (to be more exact, it was around RM1.6K). But we did some bargaining here and there before agreeing to something, including taxi rides, etc.
No la, you did tell me you got shortlisted in de email.
What you *conveniently* left out was that you’re one of the only 20 peeps shortlisted… :D
omg! david the view where u guys had lunch is marvelous…love it very much! i wanna go bali too!