BALI, the Island of the Gods

10th-13th Jan 2012 - Bali, Island of the Gods

It happened that Qiann's holiday coincide with my one short week of block leave so we decided to head out to Bali to take a break from all the stress and happening in Singapore and just relax our body and soul for the new year ahead. Things didnt went very well in the beginning where my interview clashed with our departure dates so i had to rearrange for another flight instead and shorten our trip by almost 12hours. Nevertheless, we still manage to have a smooth trip where things aint too cramped up to not feel the relaxation we are suppose to have.

Due to limited flights of Jetstar, we had to venture new airline and decided to give AirAsia a go. The plane was as small yet comfy as a Jetstar's, just that they tend to slack a little on the rules, such as not needing to put all our bags on the floors, unlike the Jetstar that just insist on not letting us put it on our laps. Either way, both flights have proven to be safe, for afterall, im blogging now aint i?

Touchdowned late in the evening and was greeted by an interesting airport which does not look like one. It felt like we going to walk into a museum or temple when we alighted from the airport shuttle bus and headed towards the arrival hall. Didnt capture any photos as it was rather late and we were rushing quickly so that we could still explore their town after checking in. Had an airport transfer (which isnt worth it, but its better than finding where to flag a cab in that messy airport) and arrived at our hotel after a 30min drive.

The suite looks fantastically good, although its considered to be small for a suite but its large enough for the two of us. A side note is that the tap water is yellowish and unsafe for drinking (and brushing of teeth, according to one of the forum i researched on) so we played safe and bought alot of 1.5L mineral water (which is really cheap like 50c each) and brushed our teeth with them. :/

Once we are in the room, we dropped all the barangs we had and quickly head out to Kuta Square for some late night shopping and dinner. Bali doesnt really have much things to shop, especially clothes because everywhere sells almost identical products! Otherwise it will be those branded ones which is almost similar price to Singapore. I will still recommend bangkok to be the best place for shopping and boy do i miss the tuk tuk rides! *ok back to bali* We managed to buy some accessories which Qiann has a thing for before searching for Made Warung Restaurant because i forgot to bring my map out =.="

The restaurant look very vintage and has a nice atmosphere while we dine on their mehh-nothing-special food. Here we noted that they actually have a lot of staffs, so much that most of them were just doing nothing and chitchatting. There were about 10! floor personnels and there were at most 20 tables in the whole restaurant, so i dun know why but this just look like overstaffed to me.

Ventured around to the clubs area in search of this Bali Bombing Memorial as its one of the highlights to see when in Bali. Was wondering whether the people there are just unfriendly or doesnt seems to know the surrounding around them or just doesnt want to talk about it or doesnt understand me but no one appears to know the location of this memorial when i asked around for directions. The funniest was when at the end i asked a store cashier (whom again told me she doesnt know where) and i gave up and walked on and there right in front, not more than 50m away from the shop, lies the memorial. =.=" Took a photo there for memory sake and quickly left the scene as it just doesnt feel safe. =/

That concludes Day 1 and we went back to have some early good night rest as we have to wake up at 6.30am the next day.

Woke up really early and set off towards the white water rafting destination. It was quite a long journey but we had a friendly driver whom chatted with us and made the trip less boring, and at least keep me awake because im a little paranoid with foreign land and will try my best to stay awake to make sure they do not bring us to anywhere else. We passed by alot of stone statues and art cravings shops along the way, as well as rice padi fields which could be found at almost any spare lands beside the road and they are HUGE.

Arrived at the main entrance and got ready by changing to our going-to-get-wet clothes and safekeeping our bags with the staffs, whom will bring them to the bottom of the river where we will end the rafting at. We had to wait for a while because a raft need at least 4 passengers so in the meanwhile we just wait at their waiting area and had a phototaking spam. Didnt take long before a large group of caucasian arrive and we continued on.

In Bali, you will find alot of caucasian tourists because here is the Paris to them. They probably been to their Paris and Italy or neighbouring countries just as much as how we been to our Msia and Thailand. Most of the caucasians

Once everyone is ready, we changed into our lifejackets, grabbed our paddles and made our way down a loooooooong flight of stairs. At midway we were able to hear the river and thought that we are reaching the bottom, but there are more steps that doesnt seem to end. Eventually we all reached the bottom and got onto the raft and off we go for our wet adventures.

Went down a series of rapids and ripples and the song Bouncy Ride will start to ring in your mind. It was exciting yet not extreme, though we have a few rough bumps against the rocks or the sides. There are also calm portions of the river, where they allow you to get off the raft and have a swim, or rather just remain afloat while the river carries you downstream. At scenic shallow spots, they will stop and let us disembark to take photos to bring back the memories to share.

There was a small waterfall behind us so we decided to approach it for our photoshoot but the ground suddenly became too deep and we were dragged off by the currents. Luckily and skillfully, our guide managed to capture a nice shot of us (picture 2) before we struggled downstream as we get further and further away. (picture 3 and 4) However the ground starts to get shallow once again and we walked up with some difficulties (picture 5) before we reach the knee deep area once more.

There were also pit stops where the locals will sell you drinks and fruits like coconuts which you can refresh yourselves with after the hard work of paddling while the others will take a soak or take more photos around the area. The water does get colder as you travel downstream so its always better to take a dip the very first time you met calm waters and is given permission to. Afterwards it got too chilly that we just shaked our heads when offered the chance to swim again.

Thats our guide, whom was really friendly and could speak french rather fluently. The one on the right is a young french chap that rafted with us and his mom, that is just too cute to resist a photo taken with. There were many moments we just sailed down the river while sharing stories of our adventures and lifestyle, and there were no boring moments throughout the 2hours of waterrafting. Washing up, changing rooms and buffet lunch are also provided so we quickly dry up and slipped into our dry clothes before having sumptuous foods to fill our stomach. Once done, we had a transfer ride which brought us back to our 100 sunset hotel.

Did a little photoshoot session outside our suite even though it was super windy at that moment. The skies were also slightly cloudy, but we managed to come up with severals nice shots. Did it for about 15min before we quickly wrapped up and head back inside, for fear of catching a cold to spoil the mood for the rest of the trip.

Did more shoppings afterward along Seminyak Road while trying to search for a certain shop and that basically took the entire late afternoon to evening. We bought several souvenirs, including the huge dream catcher for Qiann herself, and head to Rumours for our dinner. The restaurant is like a pub restaurant so we had a little drink and food and ended with their speciality dessert the CheeseCake, which tasted heavenly. It was so great we bought another one back to the hotel to enjoy it as our supper.

The next day we venture to the Kuta Beach after a sumptuous breakfast and it was more empty than i expected. The waves were also not as huge as i imagined but they were enough for the beginner surfers where you see them gliding thru the waves for about 10sec max before it becomes too small for surfing. There are alot of locals there trying to sell you surf tuitions or boards which get annoying after staying there for about 15min. A great tactic to avoid them will be to walk nearer to the waters and they tend to not approach and bug you as there is a larger distance between us.

More photoshoot and camwhores photos at the beach. There isnt much scenic areas around the beach so i would avoid coming to this beach next time round. Instead we will explore a beach further down called the "Dream Beach" where the water is much clearer and the sands whiter and nicer. But anyway, there is a nice market beside the beach which sells tourist products like bags and clothes and accessories at quite an affordable rate.

Point to remember is to keep bargaining especially when you go there in the morning, because they will attempt to secure their first customer at all cost to ensure good luck and sales for the rest of the day. We bought alot of souvenirs back from there but had to leave quickly because it started pouring heavily.

Went further down to Kuta Discovery Mall and had our lunch there while waiting for the rain to subside. We finally decided to settle for Black Canyon Coffee restaurant to have their ramen for lunch. Their signature coffee for 2 is also really tasty and is quite a hit with all the customers there because everyone around us is drinking it too! While waiting for our food to be served, Qiann decided to help out with the impromptu itinerary for the rest of the day, for the bad weather had spoilt quite a bit of our original plan.

We had macarons after lunch and it was the first time im putting such a thing into my mouth! Had never taken a craving for them although it was often mentioned as a super-delicious-dessert. Finally gave it a shot but it didnt really came up to my liking. I probably will go back to having ice creams or cakes as the aftermeal.

As it was still raining, we went back to the hotel and had our Balinese massage in the room. I think im pretty much soften up for i always crack my back and neck whenever i feel that they are stiffening up, so i didnt really felt the awesome relax feeling after the whole thing. Or rather, i found it rather ticklish at certain parts such as the soles of my feet and the upper thighs but it was enjoyable throughout the process. Afterwards we waited a while for the oil to penetrate our skin and make it smoother or something before we washed it off and went off to our next location.

Took a cab to Krisna where we did souvenirs shopping again for almost 2 hours. I would suggest you to have this as your first destination because it has one of the cheapest prices and its where the locals shop themselves too. There is a wide variety of clothes and toys and shoes and spa products and bags and anything and should you not find the patterns or design to your liking, at least you have the idea of how much they should cost and aim towards it when you bargain at the markets outside.

The entire day was quite spoilt due to the rain so after the shopping, we went for an early dinner at Balcony. The design within the restaurant is just amazingly good and we decide to splurge a little on our last meal there so it is a little more expensive as compared to an average bali meal. We even had to count our remaining money so that we have enough for the return cab fares. =/

With that dinner, it conclude the day, as well as the trip because we have an early morning flight the next day so the night was spent packing up and enjoying the last few moments of the room and clearing of the tibits we bought in case we were hungry. The next day was just a mere check out and we are off to the airport, and back to Singapore, our home.