Bali Trip 2009


As many people know, this was my first trip overseas without my mom. It was pretty relaxing and nice to be able to make my own decisions as to where to go, what to do and what to eat.

The entire trip costs us S$2000, with the flight tickets taking up $800+ (including airport taxes in SG and travel insurance). We took a transit through Jakarta because it would mean that we'd reach Bali earlier, instead of the direct flight by evening.

So we had an hour to spend in Jakarta. We could've gone out to walk around, had it not been for the kaypoh porter who shoo-ed us into the gantry again so we only had the duty-free area to walk around in.

So the first thing after we bought me a Krispy Kreme donut (why didn't anyone tell me their glazed donuts were so good?) was to ask for coffee and smokes.



We saw smoke wafting up near the Coffee Bean area, so Lazy tried his luck.

Apparently you can smoke EVERYWHERE. Irritating.

Because Garuda Indonesia was such a small squeezy plane, I had a constant headache going on that day. So when we flew over Bali, I missed this:





Taken by the Lazy. Actually, the digicam was with Lazy, so all pictures were taken by him. I brought the LCA, which I didn't finish because the sun wasn't very cooperative during the entire trip, and I'm too lazy to bring the roll of film for developing.

When we reached, the reception told us that they were out of double rooms (meaning one king-sized bed), and asked if we were okay with a twin room (meaning two single beds). We took it, what choice did we have? At least the reception was very polite and very apologetic about it.

The porter of the place very enthusiastically took our bags and lead us to our room. While we waited, they did the most amazing thing ever. They actually pushed both the single beds out and pushed them together. Then they tied the legs of the beds together, stuffed what looked like a very skinny bolster in between the cracks of the two beds, covered the entire thing up with a soft comforter (for lying on) and another comforter (for covering).

Does this look like two single beds to you?



And the rest of the room..



People like us don't use chairs to sit on. People like us use chairs as dumping grounds.













It was an awesome room! For that kind of rates (SGD$244.00 for 4d3n), I half expected it to be spartan and the reception to be those heck-care types. But noooo, the reception and even the room cleaners surprised me with their warmth and hospitality.

It was already near evening so we unpacked and made our way to the beach, which was a 5 minutes' walk away.

It was beautiful.







And we had our first seafood dinner at this place just outside of our resort with a swimming pool in the middle of the restaurant.





This entire thing for 2, consisting of lobster, huge chunks of grilled squid, fish, and king prawns, was only 400,000 rupiah, which converts to about SGD$57. Not bad, considering the lobster we had.



The best part of it was that we could smoke at the table immediately after the meal.



Which Lazy, being the smoke machine he is, made full use of before and after the meal.

After the meal, we went for some slightly high class spa which costs USD$100 per couple for Balinese massage, body scrub, bosy mask, foot wash and head and neck massage.

The next day, we engaged a tour guide from the resort to bring us around on the tour package.

Your standard tour guide will cost around USD$35/pax a day for 4 rushed destinations. We got this one, his name is Robie or Wayan Surtika (too many Wayans there, so he called himself Robie) (apparently Wayan means number 1 in Balinese). His rates are standard, the resort sets them, and he doesn't jack up the price.

3 places of interest at a relaxed pace, for only USD$15/pax a day. On top of that, he entertains us at the places by telling us the history of the place, meanings of the statues and talks to us throughout the trip in the warmth and hospitality that is Bali.

The first day, we chose the Tanah Lot Sunset package. Tanah Lot is what Lazy describes as what looks like a temple in the middle of the sea during high tide, and a holy spring at the bottom of the rock during low tide.

The first stop was at Mengwi, the royal family temple of Taman Ayun.



I know, I look ridiculous with my new sunglasses.























































The next stop was Kedaton, the nature reserve for monkeys and bats.

Apparenyly the monkeys are friendlier here, as the guide tells us, the monkeys here don't steal things or claw people.











Lazy got scratched for that picture.















Bats!



The last stop was at Tanah Lot itself, where apparently a shopping hub for tourists had sprung up in recent years.





































We found this place where the waves wash up against the rock and tried to capture it while the waves were at their highest,







And at last we got a bit of it. Lazy got wet and fed-up, so we didn't continue.











Thus ends the Tanah Lot journey. One last very important note if you intend to go: Bring very strong mosquito repellent. There's like an army of commando mosquitoes stationed at Tanah Lot.

That night, we went for another massage near our resort. I forgot how much it was, but it was much much much cheaper than the slightly high class one we went before, without being sleazy. It still looked presentable, with an air-conditioned lounge with sofas at the entrance.

After having our muscles relaxed, we made them hard again by walking to the hard rock cafe some way off the beach, this time a half- hour walk.

Along the way we passed by many cafes and restaurants, and nightspots. And a McDonald's. And there was this dark stretch of road, lit only by the constant traffic where there was a row of people calling out to tourists as we walked by.

"Marijuana!" "Hashish!"

For the record we didn't buy any. But now you know where to get them when you're needing some in Bali.

Back to the journey,







We reached near midnight, and the band was going strong. I've never been to a Hard Rock Cafe before, but I loved it! The music was awesome!

We didn't enter the disco though, Lazy just wanted to buy something from the store.

It was closed. Dammit. (We went back and got what we wanted the next day).

We woke up early for breakfast the next day, and had a bit of time after some shopping before our tour was arranged. And so we jumped into the pool.

I started feeling the pain on my skin from the sun first, so I got out and took pictures.



Here's the Lazy being VERY relaxed (and slowly turning into a lobster).





Our first stop that day was at GWK (name too long to remember), a cultural park boasting the tallest statue in the world (in the making).









There was a free henna tattoo session, and being Singaporeans, we rushed for the freebies.











This is part of Krishna's face, you'll get to see the actual statue later.







This is what happens when Lazy holds the camera. Kuku face from me.

























These are the hands of the tallest statue in the world (in the making).





The next stop was at Uluwatu, where there was a beautiful cliff temple boasting of hundreds of (gasp!) monkeys. Again.



But to its credit, Uluwatu is a really nice place.









Apparently we couldn't enter the area wearing shorts, so we had to tie a sarong around us.









Eyes off the kukubird, please. Lazy took this photo because the monkey was munching on someone's scrunchie. Apparently the monkeys here do snatch things from tourists.







The people praying in the temples.









That's Robie, our tour guide behind us.





I took the following one.









Our last stop was supposed to be at Jimbaran Bay along the beach, but it was closed. Oh well. We had another big lobster that night.

The next day was our last. We only had a few hours before heading to the airport, so we decided to make the best of it by shopping and walking around.



Lunchies and horseplay at the swimming pool restaurant again.









One last look at the beach during the day.

























And then it was time to go.











On reflection, it was really a good trip. The Lazy and I only had time for each other and no one else, which was great because for once, he actually turned off his phone when out with me. No hour-long phone call from customers or his boss to ruin the date!

And he was surprisingly enthusiastic about everything too, which was a refreshing change from his usual self.

All that ended once we touched down in Singapore. His foul mood came back, phone calls came in, and he would go "huuuhhhhh" wheneven I suggest doing something.

In a sense, Bali was a dream. Short, but oh-so-very sweet.