Bali-moon (The Activities) - Part 3

Sorry for the delay and where did I leave you guys off the other day?

Ah yes, the day 4 and 5.

Day 4

Since our villa is situated in Tanjung Benoa and is famous for its water sport activities, we were recommended by our supir to try out one of the water sport activities. Since neither H nor I were feeling adventurous on that day, we decided to stay dry and chose to visit the Turtle Island. The Turtle Island is a so-called island, which is 20 minutes boat journey from the mainland.

The boat has see-through bottom

Little fishes. Nampak tak? Ok, siapa tak nampak pendek umur. Haha.

Poor sea turtle being held captive.

Sea turtle

Back from the Turtle Island, we went to Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park (GWK). The GWK as the name suggested is a cultural park with the main attraction being the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue picturing the Lord Wisnu riding the Garuda. The statue however hasn't been completed yet and is scheduled to be completed in year 2014 (or so I've been told).

My husband doing his best to mimic Lord Wisnu statue

Lord Wisnu ada six-pack. Don't play play ahh.

We then went to the ever beautiful Dreamland Beach or now known as the New Kuta Beach. It really lives up to its name. The sandy white beach, the blue crystal clear water. So magnificent. The downside - it was cloudy on that day.

Dreamland Beach

From there, we went to Uluwatu to watch the anticipated Kecak Dance and to see its famous sunset there. OMG, when we arrived, the wind was so strong that I swear, if you give me an umbrella, I can do a Mary Poppins.

View from the cliff in Uluwatu

Due to bad weather, the fire show was cut short. Sadly, we didn't have the chance to view the sunset either. Sick of eating all the so-called "international" food for the past 4 days, we longed to try out some of the local dishes. It's hard to find halal local Balinese food, so Pak Anto took us to his friend's shop. Her Ayam Penyet is probably one of the best that we've ever eaten so far! No pictures taken sebab dah kebuluran tahap dewa lepas tu makan memang tak pandang orang sebab pece lele dan ayam penyet diaa memang sedap gile kot!

Day 5

Our last day in Bali. After breakfast, we were supposed to have our complimentary spa at the villa but due to strong wind the night before the spa was closed. But, they came to our villa and set it all up there. We had the spa at our own comfort villa! Hehe.

The massage was good. The therapist was good in hitting all the pressure points, no too strong and mild. H and I dozed off right after they massaged us. Hehe. We had boreh scrub, papaya yogurt mask followed with flower bath. Later, we had yummy hot ginger tea served. What an awesome service to wrap up our honeymoon!

We boarded the flight at about 1.30 pm bidding goodbyes to wonderful experience that we had in Bali.

I would recommend Bali if you love to explore new places, cultures and beaches as much as I do. Bali has a lot to offer and so much to see. Spending about 4-7 days in Bali is the best because some places are far from each other and the journey might take whole day. Despite spending 5 days there, there are still places that we didn't go due to time constraint.

To those who are planning to go to Bali, I would advise you to do your research and plan well. For instance, read Tripadvisor or Wikitravel for reference on places to go and where to stay. Visit MATTA Fair (held biannually in March and September) for amazing and attractive deals on accommodation and even flight tickets. You are free to ask and email me about places that I went but please bear in mind, my knowledge is limited to what I know. It may not be as extensive as you want it so if you require further information, I would advise you to read the two websites that I mentioned.

Yay, I am done with the honeymoon review!

p/s: Sorry gambar tunggang-terbalik. I don't know what is wrong with Blogger!

Bali-moon (The Activities) - Part 2

Kita bersiaran kembali dalam episod kedua jalan-jalan Bali.

Day 3

Supposedly, the tour for day 3 has been arranged as it was included in the package that we took. We were supposed to go to Ubud and had our lunch there at the Dirty Duck Diner. Since we already went to Ubud on day 2, Pak Anto (second day supir) suggested that we went to Bedugul to see the Ulun Datu Beratan temple (one of the main temple in Bali), to visit the monkey forest somewhere along the way (sorry! can't remember where and what it's called but it's definitely not in Uluwatu) and finally to visit the famous temple in Tanah Lot. We then suggested it to the supir that is provided by the travel agent.

Route: Kuta (hotel) - Bedugul - Tanah Lot - Tanjung Benoa (villa)

So, what's a review without photos kan? (Malas mood alert!!)

In front of the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple (in Bedugul)

Call us retarded or whatever but this pose apparently is our favourite pose whenever we go traveling.

p/s: I did a little bit of yoga and pilates before. My husband still thinks that I am (still) fit to do such poses when I am not. Sigh. I seriously need to start running and doing exercise again.

Ulun Danu Beratan Pura (Temple)

Bali is known as the Island of the Gods and its endless temples. The Ulun Danu Beratan temple is one of the iconic temple in Bali and is located near the Beratan lake. (Ulun Danu = Lake) Note the 11-tiered roof? For some reason (that I obviously has forgot, hehe) it's a must for the temple or pura as locally known to build the roof of the temple in 3, 5, 7 or 11 (being the highest) tiers.

Warning, much?

At the monkey forest/temple

The monkeys are surprisingly tame though they are from the nearby forest. Tame or not, I am still terrified of them. I have proof to show the evidence of how terrified I was but of course, I am not gonna share it with you guys.

At the entrance of Tanah Lot temple

I love how the photo give the illusion that I have a mile-long legs.Oh, the guilty of vain! HAHAHA.

We were actually trying to do this pose (with my shoes on, of course)



but the supir cum photographer snapped the photo a few seconds late that the wave came and splashed. I was wearing my favourite leather ballerina and I was bit upset but just had to do this to laugh it off:

My wet shoes. -__-

p/s: Sayang, I am still waiting for my compensation gift.

We missed the sunset in Tanah Lot because we need to get back to the villa before 8pm because we had our fine dining dinner prepared by the hotel at that time and the journey from Tanah Lot to the villa takes roughly about 45-50 minutes depending on the traffic.

Fell asleep along the journey because I was so tired and dizzy. The driver drives like a mat rempit on crack that I had motion sickness when I never have such problem.

Next, review on the activities on day 4 and 5.

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?

Bali-moon (The Accommodation)

I have to put the review on my wedding on hold because

a) we still haven't received the pictures from our OP yet
b) H's harddisk has problem with its cable and hence I can't upload the photos
c) I don't have the back up file from his HD

In view of that facts, it seems useless to continue with the review without the pictures. Right?

Since I also have been receiving requests about our honeymoon in Bali, I guess, now is the time to share.

The Accommodation

We booked the return flight tickets from AirAsia sometime in March, if I am not mistaken. And booked our accommodation for the 5 days 4 nights stay through a travel agent during MATTA Fair in September 2010. We arranged our accommodation in such that we'd spent the first 3 days and 2 nights at a hotel in Kuta and the remaining days at a villa in Tanjung Benoa (near Nusa Dua).

The hotel that we stayed in Kuta is this newly built Aston at Grand Kuta Hotel & Residence. The room is quite large with a small kitchen area, living room and balcony. Breakfast buffet for two was included in the package. The breakfast option was so-so with only the selection of local and the normal continental breakfast. Nothing impressive. I don't know if it's me or us (because H felt the same too) but I think that food in Bali tasted a bit bland.

The hotel pool. They have 2 of such pools and I regretted for not using it!

For our 3rd night onwards, we stayed at The Bali Khama Villa in Tanjung Benoa and is situated at the beach side. It is actually a hotel but most of the rooms are arranged in a villa-like arrangement. Ours was the Romantic Pool Villa.

The beach

Taking a stroll at the main pool after breakfast

The walkaway to our villa

3104! That's ours

The pool

The living/lounge area and it is actually outside of the (bed)room as the villa has the whole open concept going on including the bathroom. See the door behind? It leads to the bedroom and bathroom

The king size bed! Finally, no flower petals strewn. Call me unromantic but I don't like the bed to be scattered with flower petals. Looks so messy.

The package that we took includes the daily breakfast buffet for two. Breakfast option was less compared to our first hotel but I guess maybe the villa has less guests that the food spread was also small. The waiter was not quite attentive that I had to ask over and over again for my coffee. Apart from that they were very polite. We also received complimentary fine dining dinner on the day we arrived. We had our "romantic yet dark" candle light dinner at the patio by the our private pool.

H's appetizer

Mine - Appetizer

H - Main course

Mine - Main course

Don't let the small serving size fools you. We were so full that we forgot to snap the dessert's photos. Hehe. Also, I can't seem to remember the fancy schmancy names of the dishes. But it's assured Halal.

Next, the activities. By activities I mean sight-seeing and other touristy related activities ok. Jangan fikir bukan-bukan ok. HAHA.

Hornymoon

Destination, checked
Flight tickets, checked
Victoria's Secret lingerie, checked
Accommodation, unchecked

I think it's no secret that our honeymoon destination is gonna be Bali. Both H and I love the place although we've never been there. Yours truly here is a true beach girl at heart. Put me smack in the middle of any beach, sunscreen and bikini and I'll be happy as I can be. Kalau Keisha nyanyi Your Love Is My Drug, aku pulak - Swimming/Beach Is My Drug, boleh?

As you all know the annual MATTA FAIR is just around the corner. It's time for us b2b to grab this chance and find good deals and offer for our honeymoon regardless of where you want to go, local or international.

We had bought the tickets for the honeymoon eons ago. I think Air Asia was having a massive sale or deal during that time. The price was too good to pass so Fiance bought it immediately. Now what's left for us to find is the accommodation for the 5D4N period that we're going to spend there. Reading about places to stay in Bali is so overwhelming. Macam banyak je tempat-tempat best! Rambang mata sudah nak pilih mana satu.

All that we know, we want to take the advantage of being halal (ngeh ngeh) and stay at one of their beautiful private villa but with affordable price, of course. Kot kalau termengandung lepas tu boleh bangga cakap dekat anak;

"You're conceived at Bali's luxurious private villa with breathtaking sea view/garden view and an infinity private swimming pool"

Wah, statement berangan tak ingat.

Tapi berangan itu indah, kan? HAHA

Fellow blogger bride, Tahirah also had her honeymoon in Bali and I did emailed her to ask few things on the accommodation, places to see and such. At first I was thinking of spending first 2 days at Kuta for sight seeing before head to more secluded places like Ubud or Nusa Dua and this is where the real honeymoon begins. Ehem.

But my fiance is thinking the opposite. His plan was to go to these secluded places first and few days before our departure only then we stay at Kuta as it's quite near to Denpasar airport.

I don't know... I mean we only had 5 days to do so many things and there are so many places to visit. I want to see the Kecak Dance in Uluwatu (or is it in Ubud?), visit the volcano up north of Bali, see the temples in Tanah Lot, have candle light dinner by the sea side in Jimbaran, experience the Bali spa ritual (this is a must for me!), oogling at hot surfers in Kuta's beach (oh wait, I'm a married woman by then. Damn!) See, so many things to do yet so little time!

Any ex-bride has anything to say about Bali? Or even b2b who had been to Bali before? I need to gather all tips and tricks and information before we go to MATTA FAIR this Saturday. Sure, I can have it all by reading Tripadvisor and such but I trust the word of fellow bride to be and ex-brides more. You ladies are one reliable source!

So please!

P/s: Any input on which hotels, packages, travel agents, recommended spa and its treatment, activities to do, drivers or anything that you could think of is highly appreciated and I really can't thank you enough if any of your willing to share. Maybe a little something something from Bali for your kind help, perhaps?