life events
travels
Bali 2015
May 02, 2016
This post is a major, major throwback to 2015 when Abang and I flew down to Bali for a friend's wedding. We arrived in Denpasar International Airport on a Saturday evening and I guessed we overlooked on the transportation part while planning for the trip because we took a taxi which cost us quite a lot for a 20 minute drive. Please use Grabcar to go around Bali, or hire a driver. We did hire a driver but I wonder why we never thought of asking him to pick us up from the airport...
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| If you are not asking for much, this hotel is just the right place to be with friendly service, nice room and delicious breakfast. |
After our breakfast, we hopped on to our Grabcar and arrived at our first destination, Garuda Wishnu Kencana. If you fancy art and legend, you can come here and enjoy stone carvings and familiarize yourself with the stories of these gods. I personally enjoyed it because it was about gods and flying birds and legends and goddesses which are truly my zone. The place is still under construction but there are still plenty of things to see. Might wanna come back the next time to check out on new statues and the new area that they are still renovating.
Aside from not planning properly on getting around Nusa Dua without our hired driver who will only be chauffeuring us only on Monday morning, we didn't bother to check on the timezone. You see, I have a sister who'd been to Bali a couple of years back, not too long to forget what happened and so on. I asked if there was a time difference and she said yes, one hour late. I was also very confident on her advice and didn't bother on double checking with Google.
So as we head to Pandawa Beach, the second destination of the day, we were both still thinking that it was 1pm Bali time as our watches were 2pm Malaysia time. We had a confusing conversation with the Grabcar guy due to this problem but somehow managed to get him to wait for us. I felt something was a missed and googled it up. Pretty sure we felt stupid because there was no time difference, HA HA HA. That also meant that we cannot stay too long as we needed to get back to our hotel to prepare for the wedding.
The area surrounding Pandawa Beach consisted of really beautiful villas but it's quite far from Kuta or Seminyak so I think if you are looking for somewhere quiet, this area will be the best spot for you. The carved in gods were amazing actually and yes, I dig these kind of cultural vacations. Due to time constraints, we bought some beer, rented seats and just chilled for awhile before leaving.
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| Congratulations to Margenie and Permadi on their marriage and thank you for inviting Abang and I to your beautiful and love-filled wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. |
The wedding was so, so beautiful and most probably because due to my jakun nature, I was constantly in awe with the hotel at first, I mean come on it's the Ritz, and then a chapel with a stunning view of the Indian Ocean, and then gosh, Margenie looked so stunning in her wedding dress I just cannot contain myself. Everything was so perfect. Even for dinner, the place was decorated with flowers and everything was so in detail! Best wedding I've ever been so far. To all my friends out there, I really hope you guys top this wedding so that I can go goo-goo-gaga again.
The bride was lovely, so was her groom. The vows were super cute and touching which made some of us teary-eyed. Of course, the buffet style food were very, very delicious and the wedding performances were very entertaining too. Overall, it was a great fairytale wedding and boy, was I glad I attended.
Monday morning came and we awaited for our driver that we hired to drive us around the places that we planned. First stop was Uluwatu Temple and sadly due to the fear that the monkeys will snatch our DSLR, we decided to go only with our phones. Even so we weren't too keen in using it because those rascals were eyeing our every movement. Needless to say, one of them stole a lady's hat and she kept chasing after it. Oops.
There wasn't much to see or do at Uluwatu Temple but something about the monkeys and the temple exudes a peaceful and serene feeling. Maybe it was the sound of the waves hitting on the rocks but whatever it was, it made me feel as if I could just stand there and look beyond the horizon with a calm soul the whole day. But suddenly it struck me that the ocean is so vast, if I drop into it, what will happen to me?? MH370! I can't swim! Poof! Not calm anymore!
Anyway, after a lovely view of the highly dangerous Indian Ocean (see how it contradicts, life is so ironic) at Uluwatu Temple, we headed to Bu Oka Babi Guling and nyam-nyam-nyam before arriving at Goa Gajah. The only highlight was the pool with holy water and the intricately carved facade of the cave. It was a very fast stop because there wasn't a lot to cover plus, Abang washed his face with holy water so I guess that's most important.
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| Abang, "Water thou so holy, please grant me my wish of having more money." |
Next stop was Pura Gunung Kawi which was one of my favourite temples or holy places during this trip. Going down the steps was easy peasy and plus why would I complain when the view of the paddy fields were so amazing! We passed the rice fields and finally arrived at the entrance of the temple.
We were first wow-ed by the large carvings at the entrance but upon crossing the bridge and arriving at the main place...W.O.W. It's like something you see in the movies where all these larger than life statues sit up there and you start wondering how did those people do it. Not only that, it is situated inside a forest making it even more mysterious.
Everything was wonderful except for the hike up where I almost puked at the top. So much for having a super easy walk down but had to suffer when I climbed up. No wonder the driver didn't want to come with us that time.
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| Left: Black coir aka coconut husks, not hair. These are used to decorate the roofs. | Right: Very magical and mysterious at the same time. |
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| Spot Abang :) |
After being amazed with how people used to worship their gods and goddesses, we dropped by Ubud market for a stroll and window shopped. Had a cuppa along the way and also bumped into a cutie pie playing with his damn hot bitch mama before ending the day with a nyam-nyam-nyam dinner at Bebek Bengil!
After a whole day at Ubud, we retreated back to our hotel in Kuta (I would suggest to stay in Seminyak actually but because we were on a budget hence the choice of location for lodging). The next day, we headed to Tanah Lot and we definitely went at the right time of the day because as we stayed longer, the water started rising.
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| Top Right: Abang washing face with holy water again in hopes to get more money HAHA |
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| Middle: Bali has its own Manneken Pis, not one but 3! |
Tanah Lot was indeed breathtaking and there was something so holy and peaceful about the place even though there were a lot of tourists. People were lying down on the grass, dogs were lazing around, I wanted to do the same too but it was just too hot..I was sweating like a pig ready to be made into Sate Babi.
After Tanah Lot we headed to Seminyak for lunch at Warung Made. We then took a stroll to Seminyak Beach and bumped into Marvels and DC superheroes which you know, doesn't come by often!
We initially asked if we could take a photo with the superheroes, I mean, we appreciated the fact that they took the time to dress up, make up and for whatever reason wanted some attention at the beach. We gave the attention alright, but they don't reciprocate, so uncool, bleh. Anyway, we took shots of them from the side so whatever.
We headed off for dinner at La Favela after sneaking a few shots of the fake superheroes. Note that this place is a no-go in the evening because you will be the victims to hungry mosquitoes. The staffs even prepared repellent sprays for us. There were a lot of things to see but it was getting dark and the washroom was getting creepier so were the vampire mosquitoes...long story short, enjoy La Favela in the morning or afternoon because vampires are afraid of the sun.
It was our last night in Bali so we walked around the streets of Seminyak, taking in the vibe and the cheery laughter coming from bars and quaint cafes. It was a short vacation but nevertheless a fun one. It was Abang's second time to Bali but a first for me so of course I felt much more excited! Can't wait to visit Bali again!
Before we said goodbye to our quiet yet charismatic driver, he brought us to Sate Babi Bawah Pohon for some authentic Sate Babi. It was indeed much more tastier than the ones we ate at commercialized restaurants. This will be the place where we will definitely come back again for Bali's well known delicacy.
One might realized that there were no other photos of food or even a slight elaboration on my breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well, there were a few reasons behind this odd way of blogging by leaving out the food part which is considered to be the highlight for some. One, I had ugly pictures of the food that I cannot bear to post it up here. Two, I'm not so much of a foodie so I don't really have a lot of comments on what I eat as long as I don't fall sick after doing so. So, that's all for this time. Till then Bali!
03.10.2015 - 07.10.2015
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