ONE WORD - BALI

Bali – Day 1

Any trip, as usual started off with excited. Bali for sure is exciting for me because it marked my first step into Indonesia, and Bali is one of the places on the globe that I told myself that I would visit, especially after watching and reading “Eat Pray Love”.

Well, unlike the book however, I’m not really here to seek ‘love’ but rather to indulge into the colours and cultures while relaxing.

Day one was not easy for me because I was unlucky enough to catch a flu bug 2 days before the trip. So I was basically praying hard and trying to maintain a ‘healthy’ body temperature by feeding myself with enough panadols and water.

The flight was not particularly pleasant, although I must admit how lucky I was to be seated next to a really sweet couple from Switzerland. Seeing both of them locking hands while watching movies melted my heart (excuse me for being such a nosy plane passenger). Although the rough air-ride, I was lucky that I survived the flight (imagine 3 hours of real torture due to nose-block and sinus). The stewardesses were not particularly helpful; I clearly looked desperate enough to die for water and yet, they somehow ‘disregarded’ me and took their own sweet time serving other food. Even the couple next to me felt annoyed with her service that they helped me call for their attention, which was also disregarded until I ‘died’ sitting due to the drought. (Okay, over dramatizing, but seriously, I was NOT in the best condition, with nose block and sore throat attacking me at the same time)

Once the plane leveled with the ground, my heart sang “Hallelujah”….seriously, “LAND!!!” and I could breathe with two nostrils again. By the time we reached the airport, my stomach signaled for food. Seriously, if you know me well enough, if my stomach signals for food, you know, I am desperately hungry. This is because, I SELDOM SAY I AM HUNGRY.

Finding a taxi without being cheated is also another challenge but I always leave these ‘hard’ work to others hahaha. Okay, I am evil, but heard of too many cooks spoil the soup? Ya…exactly! Once we got a cab, we rolled to Tune Hotel where I literally just dumped my luggage and went out to scout for food. Remember the signal from the stomach?

Most of the stuff nearby were pretty pricy but we found a great place for ‘penyet’ styled cooking which was pretty cheap. The servings were not huge, but it silent my stomach and I got back to the hotel a happy girl.

Our first meal in Bali - Penyets! :) 

Day one ended with a bath with no body shampoo (because I realized when I’m half naked that my liquids are at my friend’s suitcase, dang!). Brushed my teeth and forced myself to bed, anticipating the next day. To be honest, I really did not sleep well I guess because I was just tooooooooooooooo excited and my brain was filled with activities.

I guess my brain fully rested once the clock struck around 4am…zzzz….

Bali - DAY 2 & 3

“RINGGGGGG!!!!”

A tiny hand reaches out for the phone alarm. Small eyes saw the time “7.30 am”.

Awww that’s just great! Barely have enough sleep and it’s time to pop up.

My mind straightaway suggested to my body that I should skip breakfast and continue to snooze for another 10 mins.

10 minutes later…

Dang!! Have to force myself up. It’s pathetic how lazy and fat my bump is, even during vacations. But yes, I managed to drag myself to the bathroom which is literally, less than 30 centimeters away (hahaha that’s how small Tune Hotel is).

In merely 20 minutes, I washed up, took a warm bath and was up and about in the lobby waiting for the rest of the gang. Not a morning person, I accidentally made my infamous ‘sulky’ face (where I will pout my mouth just for fun at my colleagues) I have every morning in the office. Dang! When my friend asked me “Why are you sulking?”, I immediately remember how one of my colleagues asked me the same question once. Dang! I kinda miss work!

Bali adventure day 2 & 3 were fantastic.

We went to all the famous tourist spots and there were all amazing. I shall sum up everything I vividly remember about Bali in a few sections.

Sunsets:

I understand now why people choose Bali for a romantic getaway because seriously, what can be more romantic than watching the sunset with your partner.

But the sunsets are amazingly breathtaking and it’s so beautiful that I don’t even mind watching the sunsets myself.

The sunset that I love the most is the one I saw at Uluwatu Temple and by Kuta Beach. The sunset in Jimbaran, to be honest is overrated. It was beautiful, but I guess not really worth paying for (if we were to have our seafood there).

Monkeys

My quiet contemplation time by the sunset at Uluwatu was seriously disruption by one naughty and violent monkey who literally steals and rapes. Hahahaha.

I found a great spot with a great view to enjoy my sunset and suddenly I heard screaming and the next thing I know I saw a monkey holding a cap and bearing his fangs, showing off to the crowd. Then he climbed on another monkey and literally raped her. Seriously, that is one of the MOST DISGUSTING THING I’ve ever seen in my life.

We discovered a new sense of fear that day – monkeys. They have the ability to do a lot of scary things and the last thing I want is my bag to be snatched by a monkey. Because then, you can only blame yourself for being dumber than a monkey. I was really protective of my bag and my phone especially, but I still managed to capture a few awesome sunset shots with the phone camera. Awesome!

Lesson learned: Monkeys are scary and we scratched out “Monkey Forest” from our list of tourist destination planned for the next day.

Jammed, narrow and winding roads

Seriously, if you think Malaysia traffic is bad….try Bali.

Drivers are “forced” to drive recklessly due to the road conditions. Imagine literally overtaking other cars in a narrow and winding road. NOT COOL! In Malaysia, that would have been a great way to die.

And any driver driving like how our driver drove in Malaysia would have been ‘honked’ till the next century. It was a scary ride at first but I somehow got used to it after 3 hours. The people there are so understanding, that they willingly make way for your car and they are ‘actually ok with drivers overtaking them with all sorts of driving and maneuvering techniques,  

Oh did I mention these narrow lanes are also friggin’ dark and scary. In Malaysia, these lanes would be a definite ‘no-no’ for ladies like me at night. So I admit that I was pretty scared while walking through those lanes because I was really worried that someone would just snatch my bag. Nevertheless, I guess the people in Bali are a bit more ‘controlled’ and the place is definitely much safer in a sense.

Food (Bakso, nasi padang, nasi campur, babi guling)

Pig/Pork Roll a.k.a. Babi Guling

Bakso

I wasn’t crazy about the food in Bali although they tasted good. I guess again, it’s my personal preference – I’m too westernized when it comes to food and I tend not to dig food that comes with rice.


Thus, I really love the delicious Pork Chop and Tuna Steak I had on the 2nd night. Too amazing. :)

Nasi campur was really good although from the looks of it , you probably won’t think so. However, I particularly enjoy the Bakso (because it reminds me a lot of my favourite beef noodles back in Malaysia). I did not eat much of those though, because I sort of promised myself to not eat beef for 6 months after I lost my second phone in the month of August. Which will lead me to my next story on Day 4…I lost my phone, AGAIN!

Bali – Day 4 & 5

On the morning of Day 4, I woke up excited about my massage but things took a turn after my visit to the money changer. I remember taking out my phone to calculate the rates and when the dude was not willing to change my RM 60 into Rupiahs, I remember sliding my phone and then….

Before I knew it, I lost my second phone in the month of August 2011. The first one was an iPhone!

So my massage wasn’t that great because my mind was too troubled with the fact that I’ve once again disappoint myself and everyone by losing my phone. Nevertheless, the masseuse was really good and the massage would be even more comfortable if  not because I can’t relax my mind.

At the spa

Towards night, I guess my mind was obsessed about going online because I wanted to share with the world back home about how sad I was. And of course, check emails!

We found McCafe, seriously the most awesome place to hang out in Kuta. I just love sitting on one of those seats facing the sea, and just going through my emails. The best work experience ever!

So Day 5 was dedicated to McCafe, online and the beach. Seriously, the best way to relax is to really just sit by the beach and DO NOTHING, but just accompanied by some good music blasting from my headphones. Or maybe exchange few short conversations with your friends. That is life man! I could live there forever. Everything I need is there – internet, music, the beach, hot dudes…ya…all checked!

I'm so going back to Bali again next year (or maybe the next haha, depending on my financial capabilities).

The place is too beautiful and amazing to not visit again. 

There were good and bad memories during this trip but I'm pretty sure that after the years, I'll only remember all the good :)


The trip back to Malaysia was awesome because it was a blur, mainly because I slept through the whole journey. Life was awesome then.


Til the next Update! :)


ps: Will try to be more hardworking


With lotsa Love
TammyC