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blue pin: visited; yellow pin: transit;

Monday, May 10, 2010

Day 5: Bali (Indonesia) - Singapore

Our flight was late at night, so we still had plenty of time to relax. Woke up pretty late, we had our breakfast then swam at the swimming pool. In the afternoon my nephew brought us two packets of Balinese nasi campur. This was from the famous Warung Wardani in Denpasar.



The nasi campur was really delicious...especially after a swim.


From left to right: beef satay, fish satay, beef jerky, prawn crackers (rempeyek udang), spicy chicken, long beans and half boiled egg.

After that we took a nap and only went to the Seminyak beach around 4pm. He wanted to play body surf so we hired one board for him and a beach lounge chair for me.

He had so much fun playing with the waves, the last time he played body surf was 10 years ago when we were in Gold Coast, Australia. I was pretty contented too just sitting there and enjoying my surroundings, brought a lot of snacks to keep me entertained. ;)






At dusk

We had our dinner at Goodys in front of the beach. The pizza here was just average compared to the one we had at Zanzibar few days ago.


Seafood pizza


BBQ Chicken pizza

By the way, we met Irene Ang (Mrs. Phua Chu Kang) at the airport. She was queuing in front of us at the check-in counter with a group of friends. I didn't really notice her at first, because she was pretty slim. :P After heard her talking with her friends for quite sometime, I realized it was her!

Bye bye Bali!! Thanks for the wonderful holiday baby...

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Day 4: Bali (Tanah Lot, Jimbaran)

My cousin drove us to Tanah Lot in the late afternoon. It was an hour drive from Seminyak and we were lucky that we didn't encounter any traffic jam. Saw many tourist buses in drove at the entrance, not surprising because Tanah Lot is the number one tourist attraction in Bali.

Tanah Lot


Souvenir shops along the way to the temple.


Look carefully, it's Ballibong!


Care to take photo with a giant snake?

Pura Batu Bolong
This temple is just a short walking distance from the famous Tanah Lot, but I never heard of it at all. The scenery here was pretty nice too, I wonder why it wasn't as famous.


Pura Batu Bolong



Pura Tanah Lot


Tanah Lot Temple at a distance


Three of us






Enjoying the scenery while sipping coconut juice :)


Sepia mode


At dusk, too bad no sunset for us. :(

Jimbaran Beach
I didn't expect that having dinner here could be so romantic. I was pretty excited when I saw that the tables were set up on the beach and with candle light. Awwww...

We had our dinner at Roman Cafe, but the next door Ramayana was pretty crowded too.


Seafood dinner at Jimbaran beach, must include this in the itinerary.

Totally in love with the ambience here. I could hear the ocean waves, felt the soft sands under my feet and as a bonus, we saw some fireworks too. Wow!


A failed attempt to capture the fireworks hehe..

The food was great too, this was the best meal we had in Bali!


Many types of condiments to go with our seafood.


Stir fried kangkung was yummy.


We ordered a 1.3 kg fish and it was very fresh. Thumbs up!


Huge prawns were nicely grilled.


Black pepper crab, not as good as the other two.

Total bill of this meal was about SGD 40 for three persons, and we were very satisfied. Burp!

Just a word of precaution, heard from my cousin that the weighing scale of many restaurants here was rigged or at the end of the bill they charged a 21% service charge. So asked necessary questions and checked out the situation before getting too excited.


Saturday, May 08, 2010

Day 3: Bali (Babi Guling, GWK, Uluwatu, Blue Point, Seminyak)

My cousin picked us up at noon from Hyatt. Straight away he asked us what we wanted to eat for lunch. Without further hesitation, I said Babi Guling. This is the most famous dish from Bali, of course we should give it a try. :)

So he brought us to this place not very far from Nusa Dua. It was a warung, a pretty shabby eating place and if not without recommendation I wouldn't dare to eat here for hygienic reasons. But he said this place is quite famous for its babi guling, they sold out 4 roasted pigs per day.

Babi Guling Pak Ketut Dobiel
He ordered for us the Babi Guling special. On first look, it was pretty scary especially the organs. Hmm.. I could only identify the intestines. The rest I rather don't ask. :P

The best part of babi guling was the crispy skin, next was the meat. The organs didn't taste weird as it had all been fried. The satay was just alright.


Babi Guling special

The soup didn't look appetizing to me so I didn't had much. But hubby said the soup was pretty nice hehhe...


Babi Guling soup

I guess once is enough hehehe...

Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park
After lunch we went to GWK Park. The main attraction of this park is the huge GWK statue which has not been completed.


Wisnu statue


Head of Garuda





These two statues are part of the bigger statue. He told us that these were the only two things completed in the span of 10 years. Not bad we thought, until we saw the prototype.


The artist impression of GWK statue. If completed, this will be higher than the Statue of Liberty.

Oh my, it is a very ambitious project hehehe... We estimated it would take another 100 years to finish this, just like the never completed Gaudi church in Barcelona.


View from GWK park.

Personally I don't think this place worth to come, it's a tourist trap.

Uluwatu
When my cousin warned us that the monkey here was very naughty, we didn't take it seriously. Anyway we had been to a lot of places with monkeys and they were quite alright. After all the precautions we took, his hat was still snatched by the monkey in less than 30 minutes!

Tips: Don't wear any jewelery, hats, accessories, and glasses, hold tightly to your bag and camera. Use the stick to hit the ground loudly or make big movements so that the monkey won't come near you.


Naughty Uluwatu residence

We were pretty impressed with the scenery here, definitely must come.


Uluwatu cliff




The sarong matched my dress color. :)



The Blue Point
Not very far from Uluwatu was the Blue Point. This place was famous for the big waves, a favourite with surfers.


The Blue Point


Blue Point - Bali Surfers Paradise

Niramaya Bali
Jalan Arjuna, Gang Raja No. 3
Seminyak

We were staying at his villa for two nights. I was pretty impressed after I toured around the place. It was clean, very cosy and quiet, just nice for a relaxing holiday. The villa has 6 units with 2 one-bedroom units and 4 two-bedroom units, all overlooking the swimming pool. Each unit is equipped with bath tub, pantry and small living room, so it's bigger than the usual hotel room. Free Wi-fi, cable TV, and use of bicycles.


The two-bedroom villas


Swimming pool


One-bedroom quarter, we stayed on the first floor.


Our bedroom


Pantry equipped with fridge and microwave.


Study desk and LCD TV

Two bedroom unit


Bigger living room with dining table


Pantry


Balcony


Master bedroom


Second bedroom


Bath tub

Let me know if you are interested in staying here or you could go to http://www.niramaya-bali.com

We took a rest, freshened up and then walked to Seminyak beach in the evening. It took us about 10 minutes to the beach and along the way there were many shops selling clothes and accessories.


Seminyak beach




Wedding on the beach

Zanzibar Restaurant
Located just across the beach, we had our dinner here.




Wood fire ham and mushroom pizza. Very nice!


Fisherman catch

This restaurant was pretty upscale but the price was reasonable. Much much cheaper than those in Nusa Dua.

Kuta Square
At night, he drove us to Legian and Kuta Square for sightseeing. We had a fabulous supper there. :)

Cafe Dulang
The banana pancake with icecream is too die for. The best pancake I ever had.


Banana pancake


Just can't get enough of coconut juice