17/02/2011

Bali-moon (The Activities) - Part 1

Day 1

We arrived at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar around 10pm. The hotel had arranged someone to pick us up and we were sent directly to the hotel to check-in. We were starving so after we had everything settled we took a cab and went downtown (Kuta). Most shops were already closed so we were literally window shopping. Hehe. We had our (very late) dinner at the nearby McDonald. Fret not, McD in Bali is certified Halal by Majlis Ulama Indonesia (MUI). Since it was already late and we're tired from walking, we decided to call it a night.

Day 2

We made arrangement with the supir (recommended by Tahirah) for day 2. The places that we went, Kuta - Ubud - Kintamani. We made few stops along the journey to Kintamani though. First, we stopped to watch the Barong Dance. It is one of the must-see dance in Bali. Another one worth watching is the Kecak Dance.

Since a picture worth thousand words and I can't possibly have the time (and mood, hehe) to write thousands and thousands of words, I'll let the pictures (with help of the photo caption) do the talking.

At the batik factory

In front of (one of the) silver shop

With the 3rd generation of the family. All paintings are hand-drawn by the family members

I bought one of their painting for IDR 400,000. The price may be expensive compared to the one that is sold at the market but bear in mind that the paintings in the market are replicas of the original and has been mass manufactured. I wished that I had brought lots of money along because I really wanted to buy their original traditional Balinese painting priced (starting) at IDR 1,000,000!

Paddy terrace in Ubud
Beware of the locals trying to sell off things here. Goods are highly priced and they are cheating their customer by swapping the goods when you are not looking. We were warned by our supir (driver) about this.

View of the eating area overlooking Mount Kintamani

Food (buffet style) was so-so (like the rest of the food in Bali) but this restaurant has surau and the food is halal. I can't remember its name though. It rained for a while (it was rainy season in Bali) so the weather is colder than normal and windy. Lucky I had brought along my cardigan.

Roasted coffee beans at Oka agricultural village

Coffee tasting and no, we didn't taste the (in)famous Kopi Luwak. On the table are Balinese coffee, hot cocoa, ginger tea and lemongrass tea.
Ended the night with seafood dinner at Jimbaran Bay. Lucky we already finished eating because it rained heavily after that!

We missed the sunset as we arrived rather late! Don't let the light fool you because it was so dark (the dimmed candle light didn't help at all) that I couldn't figure out what I'm shoving in my mouth. I guess candle light dinner and I don't go well. I guess, apart from the sunset and view, dinner in Jimbaran is rather overrated and overly priced. I would never pay that much amount of money for a simple seafood platter for two had it not been our honeymoon. Oh well, for the sake of memories and experience, kan?

8 comments:

reena said...

Love your yellow dress! Multitasking gitu. Heehe.

Tahirah A. said...

Moose, the restaurant tu nama dia Batur Sari..I can't tolerate their sate..hehe

Btw, I mcm reena, love your yellow skirttt!!! i ordered one from The Pop Look, tapi tak sampai lagi...tak jumpa elsewhere..

Moose said...

reena:
bila nak travel light, harusla pack baju yang boleh multitasking. hehe

tahirah:

omg, the sate sucks! i cant eat their fried fish. bau hanyir semacam. and this coming from someone who gobble raw salmon and tuna like nobody's business.

tahirah, it's not a skirt. it's actually a dress that i bought online. hehe. dress multitasking. i saw a dress in the poplook that i'm so gonna buy in every color once i got my salary. cepatlah gaji n mintak2 lah tak sold out. haha

dyn said...

love ur yellow sunny dress too~
wonder the kopi luwak's taste.. euww but lots of foreign friends do love it...disgusting..

The Spasmodic Scribbler said...

Moose, jimbaran seafood is expensive! Tapi, cuba mengaku local, confirm dia kasi murah ok! My dad spoke Jawa and they thought we were from Indonesia, terus bagi price slash! Hahahaha.

BTW, Bali punya food memang tak sedap except for nasi padang near the airport, Wong Solo (ayam penyet paling BEST dalam dunia) and their jimbaran seafood. Tempat lain memang bland and tasteless. The last time we went there, tak berani langsung nak pergi makan mana2 except the 3 that I've mentioned.

Pergi cycling tak dekat Ubud? That's the best experience I had last time :)

Moose said...

dyn:
we didn't taste kopi luwak sebab errr, knowing that the coffee actually comes from fox's feces doesn't sound appealing. yucks.

Moose said...

TSS:
babe, actually we got local price. our dinner is actually a honeymoon package. cheaper than the usual price. but still mahal compare to seafood in umbai.

we didnt know that there's eatery pun dekat airport tu! makan mcd je masa tu. i lapar gila masa tu mcd pun tak kenyang.

QueenBz said...

ohh. kau rindu jimbaran beach :D
aku setuju dgn TSS, aku muka jawa habis, pastu dia ingat aku indonesian dr bandung or jakarta. aku pun speaking la jawa sket konon2 :) dan harga, tibe dia ckp ade diskaun utk malam tue :) syukur!