Travelogue: Bali - Feb 2012 (Part 2)

Check out Part 1 of this post here.

We woke up next day from the smell of pan-fried bacon and instant coffee.  Thanks to my hubby who woke up early to prepare brekky with the stuffs we bought from Bintang Supermarket the previous day.  Nothing beats dining in an open-air kitchen with lovely friends around, who all woke up on the right side of the bed.

Although it was pouring, we still prepped up for a long day. We were greeted by a stern-faced man outside our villa who looked at his watch by the time we climbed up our rented van for the day.  We were a bit late from schedule (and yes, we apologized) but I didn’t think we deserve that kind of treatment.  It must’ve been the gloominess of the day that affected his mood, somehow.  Instantly, I regretted having hired him a day before we left Singapore. We could only wish he was the friendly Ketut instead. 

Celuk Village: It houses gold and sterling silver jewelries.  We had a short tour inside to see how every piece of jewelry was made by local, skillful artisans.  Our eyes feasted on the sparks of the finished products displayed in the gallery.  We didn’t buy anything. :)

Goa Gajah / Elephant Cave: A mystical place.  We were given “sarongs” to wear before we entered the park.  It was also bizarre that a woman who has her monthly period is not allowed to enter.  I wasn’t sure if it has something to do with their religious belief or simply, they just did not want to stain the sarong.  Luckily, girls were safe and we all went in!

Goa Gajah

The cave entrance once thought to depict a picture of a giant elephant, hence the name.  However, the carving was said to be the mouth of a demonic creature. Scary, but it was believed to ward off demons and evil spirits from the cave or sanctuary.  Aside from what looks to be a small version of mausoleum, there’s nothing much to see inside the cave.

Facade / Entrance of the Elephant cave

Bathing Temple: This is located at the park where the Elephant Cave is.  It was excavated and built few steps down the ground.  The water is shallow. There are human-rock figures lined up by the wall.  Each has pots of water that served as fountains.  We enjoyed taking photos here but it’s always a struggle to climb up the stairs! Hahaha!

Bathing temple

Kintamani Volcano / Lake Batur: We enjoyed the buffet lunch overlooking a majestic view of volcano and Batur lake.  It was drizzling when we arrived and the place was all foggy.  We took a break from taking photos for a while and enjoyed the spread at the restaurant.  The group especially enjoyed their version of banana fritters with milk and beef barbeque / beef satay. As soon as we tasted them, we were thankful they were unlimited! :)  With happy tummies, the fog gradually cleared up and we said hello to a lovely view! 

Just realized, we do not have a good photo of the volcano :(
On the right: Zero visibility 'coz of the fog!

Wedang Sari Agro Wisata: This is a medium-sized coffee plantation where we got to taste different kinds of coffee and tea, including what they term as “ecological coffee”.  This particular kind (they call it Luwak coffee) is chemically treated and fermented inside the tummy of a civilized animal called Paradoxurus or Luwak (in Bali).  It was kinda cool to learn such a thing, although I am not able to remember its taste now or to even recognize the distinct greatness of this coffee from the others.  It might just be me, though.  

Coffee & Tea tasting at Wedang Sari

They also sell spices!

Tegallalang Village / Rice Terraces: It was such an attraction and I’m glad we managed to get our tour guide to bring us out here!  By this time, our driver seemed to be in a hurry and was already a bit cranky… Still, we enjoyed the scenery!

Oh so lovely green!

Tanah Lot: It is home to a pilgrimage temple.  True enough, the place was so packed with worshippers when we arrived at the place.  We were informed that there was an ongoing event at the time.  We braved the long walk, the heat and the craziness of the crowd – All paid off after seeing the “mighty” temple set on a huge rock, sculpted by the tides of the ocean surrounding it.  It’s more like a floating temple, very dramatic.  Of course, we all swarmed to the best photo spot… uhh,... with hundreds of tourists around, at least we managed to get one.

Tanah lot  

The faithfuls

After a long drive back to Kuta, we treated ourselves with a Balinese massage and a Japanese dinner at Ryoshi Restaurant.  It was the best way to end our adventure, although we wished we could stay a bit longer.  We still missed a lot of places during the trip and if I will be asked, I’d want to go back.

At Ryoshi Japanese Restaurant

Early the next day, we bid farewell to our newfound friend, Ketut.  Yes, we’ve spent a good 40 minutes with him again.  He drove us back to the airport. :) 


Our trip back to Singapore was another adventure… or misadventure! :)

Travelogue: Bali - Feb 2012 (Part 1)

It was considered an ultimate trip for the 6 of us – referring to my closest friends. It’s been awhile since the last time we went out of Singapore together.  We planned this trip for a long time, so long that we bought the deal from www.deal.com.sg since July 2011, booked our Air Asia flight in October 2011, secured our villa in January 2012 and finally travelled on February.  Yes, it was a post-Valentine group date!  It was made even more special by another friend joining us from Abu Dhabi who intended to pay us a “surprise” visit in Singapore.  Few weeks before the trip, we, including this friend, were all surprised to know that our travel dates coincide with her arrival in Singapore.  To cut the corners short, she flew to Bali with us!  Indeed, the more the merrier!

Before our much-awaited trip though, we’ve gone through a tedious battle with Far East Travel, the merchant from deal, which didn’t make our experience very ideal.  Pardon me for bringing this negativity over to my otherwise happy post, but I felt like this is something worth blogging about.  I don’t intend to criticize all their dealings with other customers, but what I am aiming is to share how traumatic our experience was with them.  By the time I was booking our 4D3N stay at Quest Kuta Central Park Hotel, it was very difficult to get hold of anyone by phone.  It felt like running around in circles.  I was referred to different people who didn’t even know what I was claiming for, so I need to repeat myself all over again and then at the end, I was asked to call back.  I even got to talk to someone who was no longer an employee of the said agency. Emails flew out to them with no single reply.  I had no idea what was going on but one thing’s for sure, they were in big trouble. We paid $100 each for the package that bragged to include hotel stay, daily buffet breakfast, 1-hour Balinese massage and return transfers. That time I knew this battle is something I don’t intend to lose.  I then filed a complaint to deal and found out that we were not alone.  Apparently, all customers who would be travelling in the love month were being asked to re-schedule their trips.  Knowing that this wouldn’t work for us, I demanded a refund.  Thanks to one of the managers of deal who was very helpful and got us the refund in no time.  What ever happened to the agency?  I have no idea.  I only wish they had the balls to face their customers and explain what went wrong and probably provided us with a clear-cut alternative.

This experience, however, opened a better window for us and served as a blessing in disguise.  We managed to book a perfect villa good for a big group!  Owned by French couple, Annelise and Benoit Jouffrieau (can’t help but notice all 5 vowels were used in their last name, hehe!), Villa Amsa has 3 air-conditioned bedrooms with attached bathrooms and toilets each, an open-air kitchen and living room facing the exclusive pool.  Its colonial style was both elegant and romantic and all furnishings were certified Balinese. The place was quiet and relaxing plus the location is definitely in the heart of Seminyak area - where restaurants, shopping, spa and entertainment are nearby.  Having a Wi-Fi internet access was a bonus.  All in all, it was perfect for the price of 300 euros!  This was definitely way better than the hotel we were previously set to stay.  Thank God, we immediately settled and felt “at home” soon after we arrived the villa at midnight.

The lovely Villa Amsa (sorry got no photos of the rooms)
You may visit http://www.flipkey.com/kuta-villa-rentals/p336732/
to contact the owner or email anneliseabali@yahoo.fr

Resting after a short flight from Singapore.  We got a direct return tickets from Air Asia on sale, $134 each - all in!

The girls.  We almost fell asleep on this huge comfy sofa.

We started the next day fresh with a power brekky at one of the restaurants at Seminyak.  The place is called Café Seminyak.  There are myriad of shops, boutiques and restaurants along the stretch.  This café won our hearts ‘coz it’s situated right in front of Bintang Supermarket where we grabbed snacks and a few personal effects. I found the place very hippy too because of its vintage look.  At the time, there were a lot of patrons so we knew we could never go wrong.  We had a combination of local and western sets.  What stood out were their Mee Goreng (fried noodles) and Pineapple Fried Rice.  Coffee was just standard but 2 thumbs up for their fruit shakes.  Overall, the food gave a great impression to start our day!

Looks very ordinary but they're delish!  Didn't have the chance to snap on the other sets.
These two came in earlier and by the time the other dishes were served, we feasted!

Cafe Seminyak

We met Ketut, our friendly driver/tour guide, on the first day in search for a van-for-hire. It was love at first sight! Hahaha! Ketut and the group went along instantly!  He’s one person that we will never forget on this trip. He was funny, simple, very accommodating and he never hesitated to go the extra mile to make our trip worthwhile. I will recommend him to the world!

Ketut's place and card

Off we went with Ketut, boarding the gray APV Suzuki van we rented for the whole day at 380,000 IDR.  The van was just enough for the 7 of us.  With an awesome tour guide and travel buddies, we enjoyed Bali!

Turtle Island: It’s located at Nusa Dua area, almost 30 minutes from Kuta. We took a glass-bottom boat from Tanjung Benoa beach and stopped for 10 minutes at a spot where we fed fishes.   After another 15-minute boat ride from the fishes, we arrived at Turtle Island, greeted by a perky tour guide.  I forgot his name but we called him “bloody awesome” ‘coz he’s fond of saying the phrase. I figured he’s got a slight Australian twang and was obviously trained to communicate well with foreigners. Going back to the island, it is a tiny place housing a few turtle species of different sizes.  There were a handful of other creatures like snakes, monkeys, birds and komodo dragon.  Visitors were allowed to have “physical encounters” with them.

The little island of Turtles

Turtle island has some of these too! 

Tanjung Benoa Beach: We’re back at the beach where we boarded the boat that took us to Turtle Island.  It’s a haven for water-sports lovers where one can do parasailing, banana boat, jetski, snorkeling, scuba and helmet diving.  I’m sure they have lots of other water sports to offer.  I’m not a big fan of water sports but I did enjoy watching my friend maneuver in the air when he did parasailing!  Oh good grace, he landed safely. :)

Tanjung Benoa Beach - My friend was up for an adventure!  Girls were the spectators! :) 

Dreamland Beach: It is now known as New Kuta Beach.  It was a long travel from Tanjung Benoa and we had to hike down a slope from the parking lot and then through the narrow stairs of a mismanaged commercial place.  Sorry for the term but the building by the beachfront looks like an unfinished hotel/resort/bar that now houses souvenir shops and eateries.  It could have been a cooler place… Nevertheless, the shoreline, the ocean and the cliff were stunning.  Tides were wild and it was a surfers’ paradise.  We stayed there for a while figuring how captivating it would look to watch the sunset.  We were right.  It was a perfect view of the sky-meets-sea-and-sand, complemented by a huge, picturesque sunset.  Amidst a failed development in the area, we understood why it was once called a Dreamland.

Breathtaking sunset view at Dreamland beach

Fire in the sky! :)

Friends + Dreamland = Love!

Jimbaran Bay: It was a night to remember! Ketut took us to one of the seafood restaurants along Jimbaran Bay for dinner.  We had the opportunity to hand pick from the fresh seafood selections and requested for them to be cooked just the way we wanted.  Food was great and so was the ambience.  We had candle lit dinner by the bay, with additional lighting that came from none other than - the moon and the stars. Balinese dancers onstage provided the entertainment.  There were also musicians playing drums and guitar right next to our table.  The night was swept by our laughter and non-stop stories!  What’s more, we got to know Ketut and how it’s like living in Bali and doing the things he does.

Left photo: Us with the performers onstage
Top photo: The boys with Ketut!
Bottom: Place was packed... Girls were starving but still smiling! 

We ended the day with a quick plunge in our villa’s pool.  The whole day’s experience was fun-filled, and to add, we’ve made a good friend in Ketut.  He’s such an inspiration and without him knowing, he made us overly grateful of the life we have… :)

Click here for Part 2 of this post...

Travelogue: Batam, Indonesia - May 2012

Blogging about my 4 years worth of trips would need me to backtrack real hard.  I guess starting with the most recent one is the best way to go – A short getaway to neighboring Batam, Indonesia.

My husband and I wanted to go somewhere for our 2^nd anniversary last May.  We didn’t have the luxury of time to go farther ‘coz my husband just started with a new job.  At first, we were only planning to have dinner in one of the fancy restaurants around Singapore and it must be somewhere we haven’t been to.  Since both of us are food buffs, we are hoping to try from any of the so-called celebrity chef restos at Marina Bay Sands.  Well, that plan didn’t materialize, realizing we have to spend few hundred bucks for an experience that will not even stay longer than 3 hours.  So we opted for something with at least a night hotel stay.  We’d still probably try the resto next time… :)

Thanks to www.deal.com.sg where we found 2D1N Eat, Shop & Stay Package from Falcon Travel.  For $98 sgd, the deal includes return ferry tickets, return land trasfers, guided city tour with seafood lunch, a night stay at Holiday Inn Resort and a hefty buffet breakfast.

Redeeming the deal was a breeze.  We just dropped by Falcon Travel office at Harbourfront Tower, presented our passports and got our tickets, tour stickers, hotel vouchers and itinerary.  I must commend the friendly tour consultant from the office named Tero Boey!  He was a darling! 

For those of you who do not want to travel all the way to Harbourfront, I think you may also call/email them to redeem the vouchers and then the tickets can be claimed 2 hours before the scheduled departure.  Knowing how packed the ferry terminal is during weekends, we opted to drop by the office 3 days before to save ourselves from hassle on the day of the trip itself.  Worked for us!

I'm in no way connected to Falcon Travel, but here's the card for anyone's reference.

We left the ferry terminal at 9:50 am, and arrived at Batam an hour later.  Upon clearing the immigration formalities, we were greeted by our friendly tour guide, Juni.  With a warm smile on his face, he politely asked for our passports and collected $14 sgd as terminal fee (that’s $7 each).  I was a bit surprised that Batam terminal fee was collected at this early stage of our trip and that we had to surrender our passports too.  This was probably our 3^rd time visiting Batam but this is the first occasion when we had to do such a drill.  I wasn’t too comfortable leaving our passports behind.  In fact I was skeptical, but seeing everyone adhering to it, I proceeded anyway and boarded the tour bus. :)

We were glad to have taken the front seats of the tour bus and just in front of us was the funny, Juni, who was very busy making full use of his microphone. We were taken to the following destinations. Apologies if I can’t post pictures of these places and the food that we enjoyed at the Seafood Restaurant.  My husband and I were both attacked by habitual laziness and opted not to take the camera as we hop off the bus.  Yes, we were too lazy even to use our iPhones!

• Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Temple - One of the largest in South East Asia according to Juni.  He added that whispering your heart’s wishes while rubbing the buddha’s head, could make them all come true.  Of course, we did it!  After all, we still throw coins to wishing wells!
• Miniature Park - You can see traditional houses from the 27 provinces of Indonesia.  We just spent a good 10 minutes here.
• Branded Outlet - Sorry, but my husband and I found the outlet rather small and limited.  Most of the items were not as cheap and do not look authentic too.
• Batik and Indonesian Souvenir Shop - Aside from the traditional souvenirs, this shop also offers wide variety of “branded and luxury” bags, wallets, passport holders… only, they are all imitations.
• Kueh Lapis Shop - We tried some but never bought any.  It was really yummy and you can even place an order and have it delivered to your hotel so you can bring it fresh back to Singapore.  The price is a bit touristy though.
• 933 Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant - Probably the best part of our day tour! Hahaha! They served chili crabs, cereal prawns, squid, fishball vermicelli soup, sweet ‘n’ sour fish, ginataang kuhol or snails in coconut milk, garlic veggies and of course, plenty of rice.  I think I still missed something else.  They were served hot and fresh, partnered with any beverage of our choice.  Most people in our tour group opted to have fresh coconut juice but the two of us had soda.
• Beng Kong Dry Food Product Outlet - My husband got 2 bags of corn crackers here and they were cheap.
• Batam City Square Mall - We didn’t explore the place as much due to time constraint.  The mall is fairly new but if you’re looking for famous brands, you wouldn’t find them here.  It houses the “famous” Ayam Penyet Ria – the smashed Indonesian Fried Chicken.  I love this dish and it’s just sad that I wasn't able to try it from this store.  I’m taking a mental note to try it next time as the store also has a branch in Singapore.
• Spa - Sorry 'coz I cannot remember the name of the Spa but it’s somewhere near the BCS Mall.  The massage was pretty good for the price.  I paid $30 for 90 minutes full body massage+scrub.  My husband went for a 90-min full body massage with essential oil and paid the same amount.  There are cheaper options, starting from $15. 

It was already around 6pm Indonesia time when we were dropped off to Holiday Inn Resort.  The hotel is very charming - not too grand but expectedly, far better than Harris Resort although Harris boasts more activities you can enjoy.  Staffs were all friendly and to our delight, our room was upgraded to 2-bedroom suite!  We don’t need the other room but definitely, we can use more space!

Lovely pool! A nice place for a short getaway! :)

Holiday Inn Resort Batam: Our 2-bedroom suite

From the balcony of our room, we can hear live band music coming from Terrace Café, the resort’s in-house restaurant.  The ambience was inviting and you can dine next to the lovely pool.  We ended up having dinner there, although we knew it’s gonna be expensive.  In all fairness, they have a wide spread that suits our palate. Saturday was a BBQ night and brought out the carnivore joy in us.  There were other selections like fish, noodles, veggies, sushi, sashimi, roasted stuff, sauced up viands, incredible appetizers and desserts.  In summary, the food was great and I especially liked the roasted beef with grilled veggies and black pepper gravy.  It was impeccable!

Yummyyy! Food porn!  I wasn't able to take photos of the rest from inside the restaurant.

Check in counter, lobby, game room upstairs (for an extra charge), restaurant exterior (Top 4 photos)
They also have playground for kiddos (left photos).  The rightmost photo is the gateway to the gym and in-house spa.
Photos of the two of us!

We spent our 2^nd day lazing around the pool and enjoying the comfort of our room. We were even offered a late check out, gave us an additional hour to watch HBO. Hahaha!  And by the way, turned out our passports were delivered to us in the hotel complete with the terminal fee receipt.  It saved us from the long queue of paying passengers at the terminal. Good stuff and good service!

It was another trip to remember albeit it’s short.   More importantly, travelling on a tour group means meeting new friends.  At times, you talk to a stranger but after a few words, few laughs, it would feel comforting to add new contacts to your phone and new friends to Facebook.  My husband and I were all smiles – more inspired when we got back to Singapore.  Short and sweet! :)