Hi Dearies,
Finally i am going to share my trip in February with Mr J to Bali, Indonesia.
Prior to the trip, I am so in love with Bali nice sea views and iconic rice paddies and culture. There were so many famous movie stars such as Yang Mi & Liu Kai Wei, Sammi and Xu Zhi An and many more tying knot there :) Made me wanna follow them to have an island beach wedding. However it is expensive to stay or book a villa for my guest :(
So J and I decided to travel ourselves.
My driver is a young lad name: Komang. I booked it under Mr Galung. If you are interested you may contact him via whatsapp
+63812-3644-549, he offered me the best price among all for 8-10 hours.
Komang is not bad, he is energetic and drive safely. However one tip for you when you travel with him: Do not ask him for food recommendation. It is always expensive restaurant. Do your homework and ask him to drive you to the specific restaurant.
Day 1 Ubud
We reached Bali around 10am and luckily we were considered lucky. The villa we booked Taman Sari Bali Villas Kerobokan was full house so they upgraded us to another villa at Canggu :The Royal Bali Villas Canggu
The villa comes with a private dining space with all the kitchen items, but not too clean and the aircond for dining area was faulty.
But our room is pretty nice, facing the villa pool and it comes with a private wardrobe area with makeup table etc. Our private pool also night will have few toads coming out to eat supper with us haha! But we were so afraid of mosquitoes and other bugs so we purchased some lemongrass incense at Ubud.
10am we supposed to meet with the driver, Unfortunately no data, i can't contact the driver and the driver did not meet us in time at our hotel because his car was faulty, which i don't know is it true or not.
The traffic is really bad in Bali. Basically from airport to my hotel it took me an hour. Luckily we were upgraded to another villa so the hotel staff is nice to offer me free airport transfer to the villa. Else this will be the extra expense.
Anyway, he reached our hotel one hour later which we cannot visit Ubud village according to my itinerary.
On the way, he brought us to a batik factory (boring place that sell batik, and few old ladies making batik in a dirty outdoor space, nothing much to see, you can learn to make your own batik upstairs but obviously not much people in the building)
Lunch:
After we roamed around, we left. And he brought us to the famous Tengalalang. Yeah! Rice terrace. The grass in Bali is greener compared to Singapore or Malaysia. I guess it is because there are near volcano, their soil is richer with mineral.
You can walk around and everywhere is good spot to take photos.
Tegalalang Rice Terrace
Tegalalang Rice Terrace is a beautiful rice terrace located at Tegalalang Village north of Ubud
Super sunny i can't even open my eyes. I love the views, but nothing much to do there :)
Next stop, we visited the Ubud Palace and Ubud Market. Bali traffic is seriously a nightmare. I do not know how long i fall asleep in the car haha.
I bought a sim card on the street, it is a good deal to get a phone number and 3 gb of data for around SGD 7 because you can use it for Grabcar (avoid taxi for overcharging you) and Go Jek food delivery for supper or dinner if you exceed your booked car hours.
Ubud Palace-Puri Saren Palace
Ubud Palace or Puri Saren is a beautiful kingdom palace of Ubud Empire.You get to walk around the palace but visiting the doors. We are not allowed to enter the door.
Ubud Market
You get to shop around from antiques to fruits, many items waiting for you to take home. But here everything you need to bargain.
My lesson is always walk till the very "inside" shop, not easily accessible shop and you get the best deal without bargaining. They will automatically lower their price when you show interest. I spent most of the money getting silverware and classic coaster with different design.
Kopi Luwak Factory
Not original inside my itinerary. I guess the driver wants to get some commission by recommending us to visit the Kopi Luwak Factory.
This is not exactly a factory. It is a place for tourist to understand how Kopi Luwak was made. And you get to try out different products they have.
Kopi Luwak one cup for 50000 IDR.
They also let you try other drinks and banana chips.
All in all, J bought coffee flower tea and some mochacoffee home and we left the place safely.
Else i guess the tour guide of this place will show you a very unpleasant face lol.
Kecak Dance
The Kecak Fire Dance is one of Bali’s most iconic art performances, famous for its dominant use of human vocals in place of gamelan instruments to accompany the dance-drama at its core.
I read some reviews that we can watch Kecak Dance at 6pm at Ubud Palace. Komang brought us to another place to watch it :(
And we spent 10000 IDR to watch a group of men half naked dancing in front of the fire keep saying "KECAK KECAK KECAK...." oh well, not a good show, but you see them working hard to make the background music for the show, you feel touched, because most of them are either very old or very young :(
I didn't take photo of it haha. I fall asleep during the performance maybe because of my early flight. Not worth of your 1 hour.
Dinner:Potato Head Beach Club
Address: Jalan Petitenget No. 51B, Seminyak, Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
A must visit place for good food, drink,music and restaurant.
We tried out the Kaum Restaurant for Asian Fusion cuisines
Day 2: Uluwatu
Breakfast: Nasi Padang at somewhere near the street. Choose what we want, 2 meat one veggie and one hot drink around 12000 IDR 2pax.
Lesson learnt: Choose restaurant people recommend and with listed price, else do not eat.
Komang brought us to water sport centre near Nusadua. Too bad I am already in makeup and not ready for any water sport. When you almost hit age 30, you will not even dare to risk your life for short term or even seconds sense of thrill. So if you are young, do whatever roller coaster or jet ski while you love it. You will understand when you are at my age. You admire others courage :) So we went ahead and rejected the people who hardsell their water package. And the jetski and water sports are more expensive than pattaya. They charged in USD somemore.
Nusadua Beach
Address: Kawasan BTDC Pariwisata Nusa Dua Lot. North 4, Nusa Dua, Kuta Selatan, Benoa, Kuta Sel., Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80363, Indonesia
February is Bali raining season. The rain is small but it will rain suddenly. We are always prepared for rain. So its not a big problem for us.
The beach is clean and nice. We took many photos :)
Lunch: Expensive but not so nice indonesia food on the way :( (recommended by Komang) so lesson learnt, always search for affordable and reliable restaurant, and ask your driver to bring you to the exact restaurant.
I believe they earn commission for bringing guest to certain restaurants.
Head to Uluwatu Cliff
Uluwatu Temple, or Pura Luhur Uluwatu, is one of six key temples believed to be Bali's spiritual pillars, is famous for its strategic location, approximately 70 metres above sea level. Famous for its stunning sunset :)
The Balinese Hindus believe that the three divine powers of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva become one here. That belief results in making Uluwatu Temple a place of worship of Siva Rudra, the Balinese Hindu deity of all elements and aspects of life in the universe. Pura Uluwatu is also dedicated to protect Bali from evil sea spirits.We are not allow to enter their temple. Its considered their holy sacred place
Visitors must wear a sarong and a sash, as well as appropriate clothes common for temple visits. It is offer free near the admission office.
Admission is 10000 RP per person
Lunch: Super long way to Uluwatu, i think it took more than 2hours to reach :(
But the view is "WOW"! I can't explain the magnificent views I saw there. Uluwatu temple you cannot go in.
We did not encountered any of the monkeys. Maybe they went home :)
Rock Bar
Address: AYANA Resort and Spa BALI, Jl. Karang Mas Sejahtera, Jimbaran, Kuta Selatan, Jimbaran, Kuta Sel., Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80364, Indonesia
Our most important must do checklist: Rock Bar!
Luckily not much people queing and the place is really nice. Except during the Sunset, the sun is really strong and they even prepared the umbrellas for the guest.
The sunset timing is 640pm, so we waited one hour and I exceed the hours (10 hours max for the one price).
Dinner: Seafood at Jimbaran Beach
Komang introduced me to his recommended restaurant. In my heart i knew it is not going to be cheap so I insisted to visit the one I found online that is reasonable pricing.
But he later introduced me the good deal( maybe is the insider deal), seafood package for only 300000IDR.
I seriously don't remember the name of the restaurant. The food is so so. But its romantic to dine at the beach side. There were people playing fireworks nearby so free show for us.
Day 3
Kuta Day Trip
Kuta is administratively a district (kecamatan) and subdistrict/village (kelurahan) in southern Bali, Indonesia.
We decided to spend our the last day in Kuta before departure we should relax more. Get some beer and chill.
And J love beach. We went straight to Kuta beach and the waves at Kuta is big. We did not get the chance to chill at the beach because it seems a lot of hawkers waiting at the beach.
It is a nice walk except many street sellers will hard sell you services even you reject them.. quite annoying,
It is next to the hard rock cafe.
Beachwalk Shopping Center
Address: Jl. Pantai Kuta, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
A more high end shopping center with fine dining and you can find H&M and many renowned restaurant here.
Lunch: Bamboo Corner
Address: Jl Poppies Lane I No 26, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
The best place for the big portion of food and fried chicken! I had their avocado milk shake and coca cola, the price is definitely good. We ate a lot and pay for only 390000IDR.
We also visited Mal Bali Galeria for Hypermarket, you can shop for souvenirs for friends here. Many shops for you to shop around.
Tanah lot Temple
Address: Beraban, Kediri, Tabanan Regency, Bali, Indonesia
Tanah Lot is a rock formation off the Indonesian island of Bali. It is home to the pilgrimage temple Pura Tanah Lot. It is located at the west coast of Bali, is probably the most popular and photographed temple on the island because it is almost submerged in the sea. Tanah Lot stands for earth (Tanah) and sea (Lot), quite appropriate considering its spectacular setting on top of an impressive rock overlooking the sea especially during sun rise and sunset
Tanah Lot is dedicated to the god of the sea and is one of the most important temples in Bali.
Stunning view with waves :)
Experience with Go Jek Mobile App
Now i am going to explain why you need internet in Bali.
Go Jek is indonesia most powerful app i ever use.
If you really no car and do not want to waste time going out for dinner and hassle, you can try Go Jek Food and order food delivery.
How it work:
You use the apps, choose the food listed inside the app (search restaurant), and place order, the biker will go order the food for you and deliver to your footsteps.
You just need to sit back and wait (I waited 45 mins), he will call you if he can't find your place), and then you paid him the food plus a minimal delivery charge. This is super easy right and you can save money of calling a taxi.
I also used grabcar in Bali but the experience is not that good. Please bear in mind to have change with you everywhere you go. There is a driver do not give me back my change and thought it is my tip to him. And when you have language barrier, and you are not in your own country, you may save yourself trouble by letting it go, especially when they know where you stay. The grab car fare is also cheap maybe around 50000 IDR to 70000IDR from Canggu to Kuta.
You can always get the estimated fare using grabcar. Internet is needed just in case the driver may drive you to somewhere and rob you haha. Better play safe.
Overall Bali is a pretty island.
