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Bali Getaway
posted : Thursday, October 31, 2019
This trip was almost a year in the making.
Have been trying to go for a trip with the CVE kakis and for various reasons it’s hard to coordinate a time when everybody is available - ML had health issues last year and masters studies to juggle, W and C travels quite frequently also so it’s pretty much miraculous that everybody agreed on this timeline - granted, not any public holiday that we can exploit but we gladly took it.
Bali was my idea. Had been wanting to go Bali for the longest time - my colleagues thought its strange to go as a single man and kept thinking that it’s a double couple trip oh well. It’s kinda out of character for me to want to go Bali too coz beaches are not really my thing - so I thought. Had wanted to get the Brunei duo to go together but they first gave reasons like “beach-bod not ready” then escaped there themselves with other parties grrr (KH even did it twice =.=).
So fixed the date, one fine day in June we met up and booked the accommodation too - then basically did nothing until flight date heh. Or at least I did nothing coz I think the other 3 at least had some idea even though we all agreed beforehand that this is a chill trip and we are not going to pack it with activities. Got too caught up with work in the past couple of weeks to have energy to do research (excuses...). But anyway showed up at airport on the morning of 4th Oct feeling all ready to get away from work.
Landed at Bali at about 3 (my first time on any form of Indon land), took a while to clear the very long immigration queue, then Gojek-ed to our hotel (thank Buddha for Gojek). First impressions - stuffy (the weather didn’t help), roads are pretty narrow and omg what’s with the incessant honking for seemingly no reason.
Checked in to Tijili Hotel Seminyak! And I realized we didn't have any photos of the room but it's ok, nothing to shout about (except the very transparent bathroom :/)
There’s nothing much on the agenda for the rest of the day except dinner and drinks. The recommendation we got was this place called Merah Putih but we didn’t make any reservations so idea was we will go there as soon as they open for dinner service and try our luck to get a walk-in table (because we were told that they are popular and reservations are mandatory). And turns out we were in luck! So early dinner it is.
Kinda like the interior design here
Chicken soup starter
Kerang Nangka - tempe crusted scallop, jackfruit rendang (huh), onions
Pangsit Lobster - bamboo lobster, coconut laksa, red peppers. Like the gravy.
Bebek Goreng - crispy duck, cucumber, daikon, colo colo, rice pancakes. Didnt know duck can crisped up like this, love for duck just went up another level.
My main - Babi Panggang. Balinese pork belly, neck, oret, tum, smoked shallots, torched ginger. Steered clear of the blood sausage lol.
Ikan Menyat Nyat - Barramundi fillet, cilok, greens, Balinese curry. After tasting many dishes, found that they all carry a similar note.
Night fall early.
First group pic!
Entrance
Walked over to Potato Head Beach Club nearby for post-dinner drinks. Didn’t think it will look like this actually. Two categories of seatings with minimum spendings for each kind - we went for the cheaper one which was I think 750k per table but we managed to get a front row seat which is no different from the 1million tables really (and we spent more than 1million anyway). Two rounds of drinks, a lot of chit chatting and catching up and bitching about work lol. All while trying to tune out the background music (lol sign of aging) which C found to be annoying coz “no lyrics one” hahaha.
Group pic!
Not many people in the pool. Not many people at the dance floor either, maybe we were too early.
Round 1
Round 2! Bali Island Tea (their version of Long Island Tea) is served in a teapot lol.
Day 2 - beach day! Journeyed down south to this place called Sunday’s Beach Club, a 1-hour plus ride via Gojek and the driver was pretty confused by the end because place don’t seem available on Google Maps and luckily there were plenty of signs near the place so we were the ones guiding him in the end. And I think he couldn’t get any passengers from there (at least not so early) so he actually was gonna wait for us but we told him we will be there the whole day so he had to leave - poor guy. Oh yea got up at 7am for breakfast and rested a bit before leaving for the place - bit of departure from our intention coz we ended up waking up at 7, 7 and 630am respectively for the three mornings we were there which is totally not vacation-y.
All set to go to beach!
Anyway back to the beach. Paid an entrance fee of 450k per person, I think there are food credits included (can’t remember how much) and a beach towel lol.
All went oooohh at this sight. Can smell the holidays.
This way to Sundays!
Down a flight of stairs to the check in area, then there's a inclinator to get down to the beach proper.
Had a choice between bean bags and I think recliners but I know we very quickly decided on bean bags coz the other option is kind of further from the sea? And we were pretty early so plenty of bean bags available still.
#nofilter
Picked one close to the sea
Settled down
Water activities are only available in the morning coz supposedly afternoon higher tides and waves wor. ML did stand up paddling, W and I did a bit of kayaking and C just messed around in the water lol.
No photos of water activities though. All with C and ML in their GoPros.
Sand not nice to walk on one. Very coarse.
And we spent the first part of the afternoon chilling and napping by the beach. It was honestly not something I imagine that I can withstand - it’s hot, and I imagine being bored - but turns out I quite enjoyed it. Feeling a bit tipsy from drinks coz drank too fast maybe so I napped a bit, people watched, read stuff online and time just wheezed by. Really relaxing.
Ordered a sangria to share
Javanese chicken was our favourite.
Oh yea and took off my top and went into water. Not necessarily my plan to be beach bod ready but skin condition had improved dramatically since June (another one of the turning 30 promises I made) such that I am ok with displaying it. That’s another story for another day - but yeah. It’s a milestone.
Paragliders in the afternoon.
Ordered an ice cream to share too. In this weather = bliss.
Packed up and headed up to resort pool by 4pm. Quieter, cooler even, and equally relaxing to hang out in the pool. Guess I can really get used to this.
Infinity pool yo.
Le me.
Showered and called a cab since Gojek is not readily available in this part of the island - still pretty affordable. Off to dinner at this place called Warung Chef Bagus.
Each dish comes with a set of small dishes ala Korean lol. This is the grilled prawn set.
Ribssss. Initially thought of Naughty Nuri's but dont remember why we didnt go in the end.
And the star of the night, sate babi.
Then back to the hotel for a bit - idea was to pop by a spa opposite our hotel - but the place is closed for their anniversary party. Half heartedly tried to find an alternative but decided to just head back the next morning and settled down for a round of Overcooked on W’s Switch. Genius idea to bring a Switch on this trip lol.
On to Day 3 which is in fact our last full day. Up early again coz we wanted to get to the spa early and be back in time to check out. But turns out they were only open at 10 instead of 9 so we had another hour to kill - went to redeem our welcome drink and chilled by hotel pool instead. Yea what did I say about this being a chill trip hahaha.
Also comes with kuih bika ambon which was pretty good.
Opted for a 90minute traditional Balinese massage. Another first - though I didn’t find it as relaxing? Like I don’t get how people can fall asleep while being massaged. I spent half the time silently giggling into my towel as I lie face down coz it was ticklish at times ahahahah. So I didn’t completely enjoy it and to be honest I find that I felt sorer after the massage which didn’t really make sense? Oh but it totally didn’t feel like 1.5 hours though.
Spa Bali
Rushed back to the hotel to check out then head out to lunch. Had been wanting to go jalan jalan because the first day on our way to the hotel I thought I saw a lot of interesting shops roadside so I wanted to check them out. So we headed back to the Merah Putih area and in an attempt to be a bit healthy we went to Cafe Organic. It was healthy alright but service was kinda poor and slow so the mates rate it as an unpleasant meal experience.
Menu
Taro latte
Acai coco. Surprisingly filling despite the size.
Cafe exterior
So called jalan jalan also didn’t happen coz it was pretty hot ahaha. So Gojek-ed back to the hotel to collect our luggage and set off on a 1.5 hour ride to Ubud, also by Gojek.
This leg of the trip was supposed to be the luxury chill inside villa kind but we also held back a bit in a way that it wasn’t too extravagant. Settled for this place called Purana Boutique Resort because “floating breakfast” called out to us while researching and we answered lolol. Pretty sure it’s quite common la but nobody else really mentioned it so there we go. Booked a two bedroom private villa with pool and it’s kind of a pity actually, that we didn’t have much time here coz only one night (hence the resort staff was also a bit quizzical about it oh well).
Welcome drink again.
Got a complimentary foot massage too.
Pool!
One of the rooms
Open shower? Nah there's a glass panel on top.
Typical toiletries shot.
Villa entrance
Tea is provided! Some fruits, pulut hitam, and this banana thing which's really good.
Anyway, caught the 6pm shuttle bus out to Ubud town centre (more like a shuttle van or even shuttle 4wd). Dropped off at this big supermarket called Coco Mart and walked over to Ubud Market from there, about a 20 min walk along a street lined with endless shops and temple-like structures. And maybe it wasn’t that great an idea coz Ubud Market closes at 7 so by the time we reached there most stalls have started to pack up. Did manage to snag a couple of magnets for my collection though, thankfully coz that turns out to be the only time I even had a chance to shop.
Caught a bit of sunset
Ubud town centre
Ubud market
Walked around the area hunting for a dinner spot. With time pressing (because we wanted to catch the 830pm shuttle back to resort and there’s still a walk back to Coco Mart to factor in) we settled for this fusion restaurant place called Sambal Matah. Which I thought wasn’t too bad, got a couple of hits.
The keropok was one of the hits
Back to the resort, shower and it’s Overcooked time again! Hahaha.
Final morning - 7morning8morning woke up to join the daily 7am walk organized by resort to see rice terraces. Not the famous ones which are some distance away from us and we didn’t have time to visit in the end (there are lots to do in Ubud and we didn’t have time at all - note to self: Ubud deserves a revisit). But it’s a leisurely one hour walk around the neighborhood (and we are the only ones who bothered waking up). Resort also offers activities like cooking class, Balinese dance class, yoga (certain days only, we weren’t there at the right day) and this was the only one we managed to.
Paddy field
If you look closely...can just about see some terraces.
Random house entrance, very intricate already
Back in the resort and breakfast is served! Since it’s our only breakfast we get to have the floating version (if you stay more than one day, the other days will be the non-floating ones). Ordered breakfast from their menu the day before when checking in already so the staff came in, looked a bit inexperienced in setting up though coz they struggled to fit breakfast for 4 in the basket which quite obviously can’t fit that many items. So half of the breakfast is on our table which C and W gladly took it while ML and I had it in the pool.
Floating breakfast!
Cleared the plates and the basket became my flotation device ahahah. Some time playing in the pool and came back up by 1030 to prepare to check out. Sigh totally could do with more time in the villa.
Standard polaroid photo. Last minute decision to bring polaroid cam, still need more practice with it.
Gojek is non existent in this part of Bali, any form of private hire app is non existent actually because supposedly we are to respect the local transport workers. So got the hotel’s help to engage a driver to bring us to lunch, maybe stop by another attraction before heading to airport. Costs us 400k which isn’t too bad actually though of course more expensive compared to Gojek.
On the menu: Babi guling which is really just like Chinese suckling pig with lots of chili. Bali residents are primarily Hindu so that explains the abundance of pork dishes in an otherwise Muslim nation (we learnt in Geog long time ago that Indonesia has the highest Muslim population in the world). I panicked a bit when the dish arrived coz the chili is really unavoidable but braved myself and surprisingly it is not as spicy. Oh well I am just picky la. It’s a tad too oily for my liking though.
Babi Guling Ibu Oka.
Ordered a side of skin lol.
One last group pic
Decided against another destination and just headed to airport from there. Oh yea nearly died too as we were leaving coz didn’t check traffic before crossing over to my side of the car zzz. Really stuffy in the car so drifted in and out of sleep throughout the ride to airport. Nothing much to do in the airport also except a bit of food souvenir and we sat down for a quick meal before jetting off.
And that’s the end of the 4D3N trip! I think we all took the idea of a chill trip very seriously lolol. Literally all of us are feeling some sort of burnout/jadedness from work and is in need of a recharge (ok C came back from Perth like the weekend before this trip but still). So this trip definitely ticked all the boxes in that respect. W was like “I didn’t know I could spend one day at the beach doing nothing” and I agreed wholeheartedly hahah.
Should totally do this again some time soon.
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