Bali

It was a long-waited trip, oh yes!! Bali, here i come!!!!!!

Day 1 

Booked during airasia's zero fare promotion, we got our KL-Bali return tic at the rate of rm 165, a real good deal. So, there we were, on the plane, with Ray bringing his new 'travel partner', whom he named it 'Suaku'...wat a name...=.='''

Happily heading to Bali!!

Our tour guide, Billy, picked us up from the bali airport, Ngurah Rai, which is named after a Bali hero. Billy brought us to Malioboro restaurant to eat Ayam Tulang Lunak, which basically means chicken with soft bones. Well, i couldnt have imagined that we can actually eat the chicken bone before this. yup, the bone are very soft and we can just eat everything up, including the bones!! Looks like Crispy chicken was their best seller, but we fancy the one with Salted egg more. Our first meal in Bali was satisfying and unique.

left: Crispy chicken   middle: tauge   right: Salted egg chicken

We stayed at Aroma's Hotel and apartment. Not a luxurious place to stay in. However, with the price of its room, it was reasonable and completed with all the basic necessities. Its location was good, at the busiest street of Legian and within walking distance to legian beach.

Baby Sea turtles. 

We took a long, good stroll at the beach and withness the baby sea turtles release taking place there. first time in my life to touch a baby sea turtle.

We then had our dinner at Bamboo Corner at Poppies lane II. This warung was recommended by lotsa travelers for its good taste and cheap price. I tink we had put too high expectation on its food, and we ended up feeling disppointed. 

The price was really cheap, but they dont tasted as nice. The only thing that we found it tasty was the fried tempe.Even nicer with Bintang Beer. ;p

fried tempe

Bintang beer. 

Day 2

We started our second day journey with the taste of the world famous coffee of indonesia - Kopi Luwak.

We went to Oka Coffee Plantation,
where we get to drink civet coffee at the price of RP 50,000 per cup. Other beverages such as ginger tea, tongkat ali coffee, lemon grass tea etc were given for free. It was a drizzling morning and perfected with a  cup of hot drink on this cold weather. Kopi Luwak was on sale at the price of RP 500,000 per 50g. 10% discount (only) was given after we bargain.

photo with Billy

The Luwak-s.

The civets were cute!! Beside coffee, they also planted lotsa other fruits. Tamarilo was something new to me, tasted abit sweet and sour. never see it anywhere in msia before....suaku?

Tamarilo

We were then heading to Kintamani, looking forward to see the majestic valcano. However, to our disappointment, it was too foggy that noon, and we were not able to see ANYTHING!! it gets better after a while, but still, it was far too different from what we have expected to see. well, since we have made all our way there, we had our lunch at one of the restaurants, Panca Yoga. It was buffet lunch, RP 96,000 per pax. Not very nice food, suited to tourist's preference - springrolls, fried rice, fried noodles etc.

犹如身在仙

This handsome photo of Ray was taken when the sky got SLIGHTLY clearer. =.=''

We were caught in traffic jam on our way down kintamani. The route was blocked due to some ceremony carried out by a temple. When we started to get bored, women carrying things on their head caught our attention. well, it's not just the logo of 'Milkmaid' only, afterall. ;p

 Bali is famous for its paddy terrace. I had seen photos on its paddy terrace before this, but still, seeing it with my own eyes was impressive! looking at this neat and picturesque view, i can feel the hardwork of the farmers. Oh ya, it also reminds me of Jay Chow's song - 梯田。haha...entrance fee for Tegallalang- RP 5,000 per pax.

paddy terrace at Tegallalang

And so our first dinner was not that satisfying. Today, we will be having our dinner at the famous Jimbaran Bay
.

sunset at jimbaran bay

sunset at jimbaran bay

As much as Jimbaran was famous for its romantic beachside seafood dinner served by many of the restaurants there, it was also famous for its 'blood-sucking' price.

We were careful in our selection of the restaurant. We ended up in this restuarant name Cafe Bagus. It is at the far southern part of the beach. It is almost beside Intercontinental Hotel. If your guide doesnt know this cafe, cos there are just too many cafes along the beach, it is between four season hotel and intercontinental. The food was nice and the price was reasonable. We ordered set meals which includes all the seafood such as lobster, prawn, fish, clams, vege etc. We were all very satisfied. Beside seafood, another not-to-be-missed food that can be found along the beach is the chili corn sold by the small hawkers along the beach. It is hot with chili sauce mixed with butter and spread on the charcoal-grilled corn. Weird combination but i love it! Such a lovely evening with good food, beer (for me, coka cola) and sunset by the beach. Jimbaran is worth a visit even if some people commented that it is a bit too commercialised. 

seafood!

prost!

Day 3                                 

Balinese Craft is one of its main attractions. We visited a small craft shop and were introduced on the process in the production of wooden crafts. All are sophisticated and crafted to perfection. However, since they are handmade, the craft can get real pricey. So, it's all for our visual pleasure only, haha..

sexy coffee table

Our next destination is the famous ubud market. Our shopping experience were not so smooth as it was raining that morning. However, we still managed to grap some sarongs and souvenirs with 40-50% discount-ed price, thanks to Ray who is much much better than i am in bargaining. We spent around 2 hours at the market. The famous Ibu Oka Babi Guling was just around the corner, but as we arrived quite late, the food was almost sold out, so we skipped that one and headed to try another of Bali's signature dish - Bebek. Our original plan was to go to Bebek Tepi Sawah, but there were too many ppl when we arrived. Billy cant find a parking space, but we went to another restaurant, which....i forgot its name. =.=''' anyway, not so important as i wont  recommend it. We didnt really enjoy the bebek. I dont know, i just dont like the taste.

padi sawah

bebek goreng

bebek with satay sauce

Uluwatu - a place that didnt fail to impress me although i have read and seen lotsa articles and photos about it. The cliff reminds me of the one in Scotland highland, and the scenery was just amazing. Tourists with shorts/ skirts above the knee were required to use sarong provided to cover our legs. We arrived at around 5pm, good to be early because we get to find good seats. Some tourists arrived later were required to sit on the floor where the kecak dancers were performing. It was raining half way during the performance, luckily we brought umbrella! The kecak dancers continue with their performance despite the bad weather.

love this

sunset 

kecak dance

the popular monkey in the performance

The entrance fee to Uluwatu was RP 90,000 per pax.

Day 4

A good way to start our day with greenery and fresh air from a garden. Taman Ayun was our first destination on the 4th day. A good place for photo-shooting and enjoy its greenery.

Then, we moved on to Lake Bratan. We enjoyed visiting this place, as the place was nice and the temple floating on the water was unique. It was not in our list of places-to-visit before this, but we were glad that we din miss it out. Nice pictures taken in this place says it all.

Ulun Danun temple

two guys getting ready for some indian dance.;p

under ray's command

The entrance fee to the temple was RP 30,000 per pax.

The climate at Bedugul area was cold, and a place suitable for strawberry plantation. We bought a pack of strawberry at the price of RP25,000 after bargaining, and had our second chili sauce corn. :)

Taken on the way out from bedugul area. 

'Rice Cone'

Tired of the buffet-style food suited to tourists' taste, we decided to order for ala carte food when we reached the Pacung Restaurant. Their buffet served those common 'tourist menu' like fried noodles, spring rolls, mixed vege, which we are bored of. This meal was more satisfying that what we had at Kintamani, not only the food was nice, but the view of terrace paddy was more rewarding that the misty view of kintamani. The price was quite reasonable also, with 3 dishes conceived of fish, chicken and vege, rice and drinks, it costed us RP 176,000 in total.

View From Pacung Restaurant

Two main must-go highlights of Bali Island are Uluwatu and Tanah Lot. While Uluwatu impressed us with its cliffy shore and kecak dance, Tanah Lot amazed us with its spacious rocky shore, temple that sits on a large rock that has been shaped by ocean tide, and its spectacular sunset. The entrance fee to this area was RP 30,000 per person.

congested with tourists

nice place for more photos!

sunset at Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot has become a very commercialised tourist spot. Nonetheless, Ray loves this place as he bought most of his paintings from the souvenir shops built at the entrance. The souvenirs here are cheaper than those found at Legian and Ubud, while one can still get an extra 30-40% discount after bargaining.

Not enough of souvenir shopping, Andy dropped us at one of the largest souvenir complexes - Krishna. They sell lotsa souvenirs, from small things like key chains and toys to big things like bali-styled shirts and painting. Besides, they also sells balinese snacks. Price here is fixed. 

I must not forget to mention our last meal in Bali. We had it at Warung Mina at Jalan Legian. I don't fancy Balinese food, except for the chili-sauced corn only. So, my most satisfying meal was at Warung Mina where we had italian pizza and pasta! (oops!) haha!! and i finally get to try Avocado Juice! however, the Avocado juice served was not so nice, the cafe at airport served better avocado juice. 

4 days 3 nights in Bali is not too long, but just enough to go to some important sights. However, Bali definitely has more to offer and is a place that is worth to come back again.

even 'suaku' loves the sunset~~~