Bali, here we come!!!

28 July 2008 ( Day 1)

After several months of waiting, we finally boarded on Air Asia and headed to Bali- the tropical paradise. This was not the first time I flew with Air Asia, but this was the first time I tried their food. The food was really looking nice on the picture. The truth is...

it was maybe due to long hours of travelling?? Anyway, the food is quite tasty. Wondering can it be because that time , i was very hungry? ^_^ by the way, where is my cucumber??!!

When we reached airport, it was around 2pm. A very quiet Tuesday afternoon. Without wasting time, we quickly looked for transport to go to Kuta. Basically, in Kuta area, there are a few very famous + happening roads which are Kuta Beach, Gang poppies 1, Gang poppies 2 and Legian Road. We hopped on a taxi with 2 other Malaysians couples that we met in the airport and share the taxi fees to Kuta. The total fare was Rp 50,000 (RM 18) for about 20 minutes journey.

We didn’t book any accommodation beforehand. Well. Now, when i think about that, were we too brave and dont worry about sleep on the road side due to fully booked hotel especially July, August are the peak travel season in Bali. With our backpack on our back, two of us, walked and walked in a road (not sure the road name at that time), and tried our luck to get a decent and cheap accommodation. our friends gave us some recommendations on accommodation such as AP Inn in Kuta, and Nick’s homestay in Ubud. Our aim was to get a room with Rp 100,000 ( RM 37). The first Inn that we went in is Rp 250,000 per night with breakfast. Most of the hotels also provide breakfast. 2nd Inn was full. Third Inn looked nice and expensive, so we even went in and asked the price. With our heavy luggage and time running out, almost 3.30pm at that time, we happenning saw AP inn. Rp 175,000 ( RM64) per night with air-con and breakfast. Deal.

Our schedule for the first evening was to witness the nice sunset in Uluwatu . We rent a car and begin our journey. Excited.

First stop:

GWK- a cultural park with some big statue and one of them is the highest in the word. there are very huge and glamarous.

Admission fees : Rp 15,000

ps : Since we went there with our driver, and he just waited for us in our car, we don’t know the history and even the names of all the statues. too bad for that.

2nd stop:

Uluwatu temple

- an amazing temple that was built on the top of cliff and facing the Indian Ocean. Here, we had a chance to catch the wonderful sunset and not to forget the famous Kecak Ramayana & fire dance or in short Kecak dance. For those who wearing short pants or skirt, sarong will be provided at the entrance of the temple. so, feel free to wear hot pant ^_^

Admission ticket : Rp 3,000

What is it called as Kecak dance? The reason is very simple because a group of singing man chorus chant ‘chak-ke-cak, ke-cak..’ throughout the 1 hour performance. To be frank, i really dont really appreciate the chanting, anyway, those balinese dancers are really great. A leaflet about the dance was given away in order to let audience to be more understand the performance. If not, i doubt that anyone can understand what is going on. As we know, Bali is a Hinduism island and if im not mistaken, all the stories are about their legend- Rama, Barong, monkey ....

I really admire the Balinese dancers. They are very very good!!!! Bravo!! When they dance, they can control every single of their fingers, their eye balls, their facial emotions. Please give them a big round of applause.

Kecak dance ticket : Rp 50,000
Time : 6pm – 7pm

3rd stop

Jimbaran seafood- a famous place to have romantic seafood dinner. There are many restaurants along the beachside. so, we just picked one and we were quite happy with that. Imagine having dinner on the beach, facing the sea and with live musical band playing romantic songs, wow..... i could only say that it was so nice. We really enjoy ourselves, but the price that we got to pay was Rp 220,000 for our small squid, small fish (about 1kg) and 2 fruit juice. Not to forget rice + a plate of vegetables that were absolutely FOC as a complementary of the seafood. In that restaurant, there are a price list on the doorstep and we can pick our own fresh seafood from baskets. Hence, we dont have to worry that we maybe 'slaugthered' by the restaurnat when we pay the bill.