After anticipating for a few weeks, the DAY finally arrived. We were off to Bali to celebrate my fiance's belated birthday. We set off pretty early to the airport because I told him our boarding time instead of our real flight time. :S Oh well, plenty of time for wefies!
Upon arriving at the Bali's new upgraded airport, we immediately saw our guide standing with a cardboard depicting our name. Ahem. The whole airport was a mayhem of guides and tourists looking for their drivers so it's your first time, keep a wary lookout for the boards.
We were guided to the Parking area by our guide, Pak Made and told to wait at the entrance while he went to get our car. The amount of cars and people were just mind-boggling!
 |
| Safe in our white Avanza! |
We were hungry so we told Pak Made to bring us for lunch, hoping he could introduce us to some of the great local food. However, we were informed he rarely eat out for he has a healthy diet going with his wife preparing all his meals at home. Lucky fella! Anyway, we randomly stopped at a 'warung' or stall at the roadside and had nasi padang. The area is called Tuban...
 |
| We were so excited! |
We went inside an empty shop and quickly found a table. We should have known better when we saw it was empty but too hungry to care we proceeded with our order. I could hardly finish my food and so couldn't he. :S
The only consolation was that we get to make some comparison between the taste of a Teh Botol (Bottled Tea) in a glass bottle and a plastic bottle. Despite being of the same brand and manufacturing factory, the taste of the glass bottle one was nicer. *contemplative look*
After a disappointing lunch, we set off for Uluwatu. Upon arriving, our guide kindly guided us through the temple and explained some of the features of this attraction. Uluwatu sits on a cliff and the temple is surrounded by a forest full of monkeys. They usually climbed out from the cliffside and onto the pavement at dusk when the tides are high. Otherwise, this mischievous fellas would all be by the sea seeking out shelled morsels of clams and such. As we were there during early afternoon, we could still see their silhouette from above at the rocks down at the waters.
The views were amazing and we had a very pleasant time walking around and taking plenty of photographs.
We did not explore the winding path from one end of the temple to the other as we found out it took at least an hour. As you can observe from my photos, wearing a sarong and a sash is compulsory and worry-not, these "rentals" come free once you pay your entrance fee. Guides do NOT have to pay for entry. Guides are not needed to go around here as you can find your way easily but our guide kindly followed us around for free since he wanted to make sure we head back in time. I wanted to watch the Fire Kecak show at first but since it was so early, we changed the plan and headed out to watch the sunset at Jimbaran Bay instead.
I was actually glad I missed the show because after watching the Barong and Keris dance the next day and hearing how both are actually similar except that in Fire Kecak you get to watch them dance around a bonfire. Suffice to say, I am not a fan. :P
Since it was still early, we had more than enough time to enjoy the view and stroll around the grounds. It was a little too sunny but the breeze made up for it.
When we went into the car, we headed up straight to Jimbaran. We reached there around 5.40pm and tried to get a spot at Menaga Cafe. Even though my guide (from all my research work) said to reach by 5.15pm to secure a place, sadly this could be true. The service was brusque and when we asked, they said they were already fully booked and there was a waiting list but they cannot tell how long we have to wait. The tables around were all still empty. This was really frustrating but we decided to take a walk down to check out the other stalls. We were jubilantly greeted and waved at by various waiters who wanted our business. We settled for one near the end, Surya Cafe and had a great evening. Check my review HERE.
After a long dinner, we went and checked into our hotel before walking to the nearby mall: Lippo Mall for a quick look-see before settling into our hotel beds for a great snooze! PS: We even managed to squeeze in a few games at the arcade which was fun and entertaining.
A summary of our day:
Late lunch
Uluwatu
Jimbaran Bay dinner: Sunset Dinner
Check in to hotel
Free and Easy: Lippo Mall, Kuta
Free and Easy: Lippo Mall, Kuta
No comments :
Post a Comment