Bali, here I come

First time booking and taking a low-cost carrier Air Asia go overseas, it was fun in doing the booking, pre-selecting the meals we want at a discount and also deciding whether to do the same for return trip, every step is new but easy. Went to Bali with Lynn from 11-14 Dec 09 for a 4D3N short break to unwind and experience the sunshine, beach and see the adorable dolphins which Neo Chian has written in his blog.

2 Upon arrival at Denpasar Airport at 8pm, driver Ermai picked us up and recommended us to go for a seafood dinner at Kedonganan Beach, nice restaurant in a carefree setting on the beach. It was packed with locals and tourists, have never dine so close to the sea in a romantic environment, and we can hardly see our food as it was very dim, but still enjoyable. I was attracted by the nearby BBQ corn stall and bought one to try, wow, so delicious.

3 After dinner, we checked into hotel for quick wash-up and retired. The next day, after surfing the net to check out Neo Chian’s blog on North Bali to see dolphins at Lovina Beach and Ermai told us it would be about Rp 800K getting there with 3-star lodging and Rp 700k without lodging, we decided to do our homework further by going down town to speak with the travel agents. So we quickly checked out hotel and put our luggage into the car and proceed to Ubud to do some enquiry with travel agent on the cost and details. You can see these beautiful picues taken at Ubi, The villas and lotus pond where we had our breakfast are at Siti Bungalow where we stayed on 13 Dec at Rp 250K (S$38) per nite.

We settled for the 1-way transport cost of Rp 130K (S$20) per pax and departed for Lovina at 11 am. It turned out to be a charter van with only 2 of us and the driver escorted us all the way to Lovina. It took us some 3 hours to get there and it was a scenic drive up and down the mountains where temperature differs by about 6 degree (as cool as 19 degree up the hill). In between, the kind driver helped us to select durians but at the end we didn’t buy as it was not ripe and more costly than in Spore. Lunch was at the small restaurant near Gitgit twin waterfall, the fried rice was not appetizing and with too much of MSG, it nearly made me sick and vomit. At 2 pm, we arrived at Lovina and started looking for accommodation, the rooms at Niwana Hotel was not bad at Rp 150k (S$23) per night, but the timely sms from Neo Chian has led us to a better hotel Aditya at Rp 300K (S$46), it was not only value for moeny but excellent ambience and comfortable accommodation. Thanks very much Neo Chian.

4 After having a walk in the town centre under the big hot sun for nearly 2 hours, we told ourselves that what we we need was to dip into water urgently. After a good swim, we booked with the front desk for the evening outdoor massage near the beach within the hotel compound. The hotel service and security are very good. They got the security guard to escort us to the beach area and handed us over to the masseurs at 8 pm. It was really a fantastic massage experience i had never had and experienced before at only Rp 66K (S$10) per hour not to be missed, excellent massage skill with lovely rhythm of the sea wave in a quiet ambience. The dinner at the hotel café was also delicious with tomato soup, club sandwich and Bali pancake plus attentive and courteous service.

5 We slept early that nite in order to get up at 5.15 am for the morning dolphin journey at 6 am. The boat men were already up at the beach waiting for us to get ready to board their boats for dolphin mission. The sun about to rise and we took some good shots of it, suddenly we were surrounded with so many boats in the open sea and all with one single purpose: chasing after the dolphins. We were very lucky to see more than 200 dolphins on that morning. Whenever there was sign that dolphins appeared, all boats “chiong” and rush forward, it can be quite harmful to the habitat if without control, maybe the authority should restrict the maximum of boats each day to protect the dolphin habitat.

We went back to the shore about 7.40 am and headed straight for breakfast as we were hungry and supposed to check out and board our transport to Ubud at 930 am. We were lucky to get a good bargain with a good SUV to just ferry us @Rp 220 (S$33). The driver was more skillful than yesterday with a newer SUV so we arrived in Ubud in 2.5 hour.

Looking for accommodation required some luck, at first Lynn thought of settling down in the first hotel along Jalan Kejeng, but I advised her to move on as it was too costly and the landlord refused to give discount at all. It was a blessing in disguise as we subsequently found the Siti bungalows which has 8 units of garden-setting villa and swimming pool and nice caretaker. We like the ambience and the room setting very much @ Rp 250K (S$43).

6 We were lucky to get a good transport (please see our car) with understanding driver Wayan bringing us to Kuta beach for lunch and shopping, view Hard Rock Hotel etc, then to Semiyak to check out other fashion offerings and new hotel development The Haven. The total journey of 8 hours only cost us Rp 350 (S$58). At night we went for another round of massage at Touch as recommended by an European lady @ Rp 60K (S$9) per hour, very skillful massage with good ginger tea (they were suppoed to closed at 9 pm when we arrived at 820 am, but decided to service us after our sweet persuasion), then had a wonderful pizza meal @ nearby Lotus Garden. Very delicious crisspy pizza and found out that they have an outlet in Clake Quay, Singapore.

7 The next morning we did a quick last minute shopping at Ubud and then board Wayan’s car at 1030 am headed for airport. The signage at airport was confusing as travellers were not sure where they should line up for check-in and where to buy airport tax. Hope Bali Airport Management can look into this so as to provide convenient to tourists and visitors. In addition, they can also consider collecting the airport tax when ticket is purchased instead of asking passenger to buy it at airport (as tourists tend to run out of cash on departure day.

8 Overall we found Bali people are nice and friendly. It was a relaxed and wonderful holiday for us, and we shall come back to visit this lovely place again in a less rush manner to really enjoy the offerings and culture.