It was all unplanned, since my family wanted to go to Jakarta-Bandung and I was the only one who wanted Bali. But still, Bali won! Damn, my persuasive skill is undisputed!
We purchased the tickets about two weeks before departure at RM450/person by Air Asia. It took us three hours up in the air from KLIA2 to Denpasar, Bali. We arrived midnight, at about 12am. Then, the supir named Iwan waited for us with 'Muhammad Khalis' banner. I did some research about the well-known Muslim supir which is Pak Isme and the reviews were mostly positive. Supir is basically a driver in Indonesian, but it is more to driver + tourist guide here.
Since we haven't ate anything yet, Iwan took us all to.. I can't recall the name, I didn't snap picture as well but it is a Padang restaurant situated near the Ngurah Rai International Airport. The food was great, it costed us about IDR 350 000 or RM100 for four person. Iwan told us it is fucking hard to find food with no babi here in Bali. For your information, we didn't book any hotel. So, we just walked in through every hotel in Kuta Beach and unfortunately most hotels here were fully booked.
After six or seven hotels, we finally checked in Sayang Maha Martha Hotel at 2am. I am big fan of Balinese architecture. This hotel suited my interest the best.
The hotel is quite satisfying with IDR 340 000 or RM120 per night. Everything is perfectly fine, plasma tv, bathtub, air-conditioner, free breakfast but still, got no WiFi though.
Besides, the hotel also provides motorcycle to rent for the guests. Based on my observations, most tourists here, especially Australian prefer to use motorcycle as their main transportation.
I didn't know why I'm capturing this actually. Maybe because it is my first Bali swimming pool?
This is my typical Bali pose. Ughh look at my face, minta penyepak betul.
DAY 1
Iwan picked us up at 12pm. Quite late actually, because all of us woke up late. First, we went to shop to buy some junk food and cigarettes. Got so many 7-Eleven-alike shops here.
No Winston Light there, so I bought myself a Dunhill Light and Lucky Strike. A pack of Dunhill only costed me about IDR 18 000 which equals to RM6.
This is Es Buah (Ais Buah). Just like a tropical fruit punch with small slices of mango, strawberry, grape, peach and watermelon with milk.
After finished having lunch, we went to the place that I usually saw in my dream, Uluwatu at 5pm. Pura Luhur Uluwatu or Water Temle is one of the most important and sacred temple for Balinese. Besides, it is also the most visited place in Indonesia. For your information, the timezone in Bali is the same with Malaysia, but it gets dark by 1 hour earlir here.
Therefore, it is normal to rush for sunset viewing as early as 4 or 5pm here in Bali. It took us at least 40 minutes to arrive at Uluwatu from Kuta. We supposed to visit Garuda Wisnu Kencana but it is too late that day, damn damn damn.
In the name of Allah, this place is beyond beautiful. I usually reblog this place only on Tumblr but now, it is in front of my nose! One of the most breath-taking places have I ever been to. It's a big loss for those who came to Bali but never visited Uluwatu.
Without any filter, the sky is still effortlessly beautiful. Damn, you can't get it anywhere but here in Uluwatu! Perfection.
Luckily, we found Jesen's Inn at Legian for only IDR 300 000/night. That would be RM100. If you travel to Bali for only 4-5 days, it's recommended to stay in a low-budget hotel. Because your supir will fetch you in the morning and send you back to the hotel at midnight. You will only be at your hotel for about 5-6 hours a day,seriously.
In terms of cultural architecture, the hotel is not so Balinese compared to the first one I checked in. However, it is situated at the central Legian. It is so lively here since you can hear all the people partying on the street. Not forget to mention, Kuta and Legian both have an outstanding night-life since all the bestest nightclubs in Bali located here.
Around 10pm, we went to have dinner at Jimbaran beach. Before we reached the restaurant, I did a little research from the blogs of people who have been there before. Most of them came up with negative reviews - expensive, awful, pricey, boring. I'm afraid I have to disagree with all of them. The place was magnificent! Good people, good service and good food.
There are probably hundreds of seafood restaurants along the beach and I might be the lucky one who hit the bestest among the all. Everything seemed so beautiful here, the blowing wind from the sea, the sound of the wave hitting the shore and the live bands who played local songs.
Just like typical seafood restaurants in our country, we have to select all kinds of seafood first.
We ordered Ikan Bawal Bakar, Udang Galah Bakar and Cumi-Cumi Bakar with four glasses of fruit juices and additional melons as deserts. It costed us IDR 900 000 for all these, quite expensive but it is all worthit.
Tips to shop at Kuta or Legian : Always bargain for half price at the first place. Then, if you're still not satisfied, just walk out from the shop because they will go after you and ask "Ok, berapa bapak mau?" then you just state the price you're willing to pay.
DAY 2
My allergy is killing me this morning. Maybe because of the seafood last night. Fuck it, nothing stops me from exploring Bali! Today, our first destination is Ubud. Iwan picked us up at 11am. It took us 1 hour to reached Ubud from Legian.
I don't know what this is called but it can be found everywhere here in the island, Most buildings like houses, shops, clubs, malls, offices, temples have this in the front of the area.
On our way to Ubud, we passed through a statue of a baby called Patung Bayi Sakah. Iwan told us a story behind it like, it was creepy though. Once upon a time, a baby was dead when he was born. At midnight, the villagers claimed to witness a baby crawling and crying in the streets. Things happened every single midnight until they built this statue for the baby. Finally, the baby is no longer crying.
Next, we went to a place called Tegallalang. Have you ever seen rice terrace? The paddy field here is different than the one we have in Kedah, Malaysia. You want to know why? This is why.
The paddy field here looked like staircases. It's very unique. Locals prefer to plant it this way because.. I forgot why already. Nevermind, it is still beautiful.
Went to some shops on the street, they have this penis everwhere in the island!
Some of them were mysteriously attractive.
From Tegallalang, we went to Kintamani. It took us 1 hour to reach the top of the hill. The sunlight is kinda burning, but the temperature is amazingly cold.
We went to a restaurant there called Grand Puncak Sari Restaurant. Based on what I read on some Malaysian blogs, there are so many negative reviews about this restaurant. To me, it is all reasonable.
Excuse me, you pay IDR 100 000/person, or RM30 for a buffet meal in a restaurant that is situated at a mountain hill, of course the price is a little bit higher. The food is kinda okay, worth my RM30.
This is my favorite dish in Bali. It is just a simple combination of sticky rice, mango slices, brown sugar and coconut milk.
This is my youngest sister who is 15. So many people mistakenly thought that she is my wife here. What the fuck?
When we finished having lunch, there were a bunch of woman who waited for us in front of the restaurants. They were trying (or begging) to sell us some cheap souvenirs like bracelets, fridge magnets, key chains and t-shirts. It was funny because they followed us everywhere.
Some of them followed us until we got into the car. I felt so pity for them, like they don't even look healthy seriously. These are certain things that you can't see in Malaysia. Finally, my sister bought a pack of bracelets for IDR 50 000.
Not far from the restaurant, there was a hill view park with an admission of IDR20 000/person or RM6. The view is breath-taking. From the top of Kintamani, you can see the Mount Batur, which is a volcano last erupted on 2000.
Later that night, we went back to Legian. We went to a place called Krisna, a place which sells everything souvenirs. This is the place where I bought souvenirs for all my friends. It has fixed price, so you can't bargain a shit here. The price ranged from IDR 1000 to IDR 1000 000.
DAY 3
As usual, I woke up late again. probably because I really had a good sleep in Bali. There's nothing feels as good as waking up, realizing you're on a vacation and wondering what other amazing things ahead you on the day.
So, today we went to Tabanan. Before arrived there, Iwan took us to Tegal Sari Coffee Shop. He asked us to try one of the most expensive coffee in the world, Kopi Luwak.
This is the civet or fox that is responsible for the existence of Kopi Luwak. The coffee beans were freshly collected from its poops. I know, its disgusting.
However, the beans were cleaned up and mixed up with herbs and spices to make it more aromatic.
This is Kopi Luwak. It is a tester, which you still have to pay for IDR 50 000, or RM15. I'm not into coffee that much since I have stop with caffeine due to eczema two months ago. So, I really don't know how it feels like to taste the highly-anticipated most expensive coffee in the world.
We tried a lot of tea, for free. It came in so many different flavors like cocoa, coffee, ginger, saffron, lemon grass, mocha and mangosteen skin.
Shortly after that, we went to Tabanan. This is where another important temple of Balinese located, which is Pura Ulun Danu Bratan. It is situated beneath the lake. It's weird how a lake can appear in front of your eyes after you went up to the hill for hours and hours. I thought lake can only be found in flat-surfaced land?
Tabanan is just as cold as Kintamani. WIth an admission of IDR 30 000/person or RM15, you can enjoy one of the top vacation spots in Bali.
I usually reblogged this temple on my Tumblr. But now, it is in front of my fucking nose.
The bestfriend of the family, which is my father and my sister went to take pictures of each other in front of a temple.
Ulun Danu Temple and IDR 50 000 note.
We went straight to the most iconic beach ever in Bali, Tanah Lot. This is what I am here for! The sunset here is just beautiful.
The wave is just so big and fucking strong. I never really a big fan of beach, but this is the only exception. It is so tranquilizing here, to be honest.
Everytime I was thinking about Bali, the image of Tanah Lot always popped out in my head. Of course, how can you forget something so beautiful?
This is my supir, Iwan. Frankly speaking, he is the most soft-spoken and polite man have I ever met in my life. We had so much fun using his service like, Bali would be incomplete puzzle pieces without him. Thank you so much, Iwan.
As you can read from the board, Billabong is having a sale. They were right, all times were discounted as high as 90%. I was so lucky, everything flows perfectly on that day.
Premium outlets are like mushrooms there in Bali. No wonder people claimed it as surfer's paradise. All surfing-based clothing like Billabong, Quiksilver, Roxy, Ripcurl, Volcom and DC can easily be found anywhere with low prices.
Last picture would be the famous Babi Guling. Excuse me, Babi Guling is more famous than any other shit in Bali.
Overall, trip to Bali is such an amazing experience. A very great place in line with great cultures and traditions. Super-friendly people that provide good hospitality. Mouth-watering food that satisfies my tummy. I'm preparing myself for a major heartbreak because I know I'm going to miss you when I reached home. Whenever I played The Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream, I will automatically thinking of you because that is what brought me to Bali. You guy should put Bali in your list now! A very tremendous journey you will had, trust me!.
