A Little Bit of Bali.

Assalamualaikum.

Alhamdulillah for another traveling experience and this time to Bali, Indonesia. :)

Please take note this is a travelogue journal by yours truly. It's gonna be a really long post. The tips given might be useful if you happen to visit Bali. Click on the picture for a clearer/larger view.


But before I start, let me share you a few tips for traveling (in general).

1. Transportation - Visit AirAsia.com. Save money for your flights. Have to be so rajin to keep on checking the promotions. If you wanna travel nearby like Penang and Melaka like I did few months back, gotta save up money for petrol and car service. You can always share the petrol expenses for roadtrips and carpooling.

2. Passport/Visa - A must if you are to travel oversea, duh! RM100 for 2 years, RM300 for 5 years. For Visa, kindly check whether the countries you're visiting requires Visa or not.

3. Hotels - Google and go visit AsiaRooms.com, Agoda.com, etc. Choose your places to stay within your budget. Make sure to read all the reviews by other hotel guests. It helps! Choose your hotel in the center of attractive places. You don't want to regret staying/ended up in a Gay club hotel or so.

4. Supir/Taxi - Do your research and keep aside money for this. I'll share info about our supir later as you go through this travelogue.

5. Places to go - Google 'Best place to visit in (insert place name)'. Walla! Read all the reviews and suit the places according to your interest.

6. Entrance fee - Some places require their entrance fee. So, save up! I'll let you know how much later on.

7. Foods/ Dining/ Groceries - Save aside for foods and dining. And you can always prepare maggi or anything if it's hard to find halal foods at the places you're visiting.

8. Shopping - It all depends on your craziness about shopping. If you're such a spender, well yes, bring lots of money for it.

9. Insurance/ Emergencies - You may purchase traveling insurance before you go travel. You know, just in case.

10. Pack necessarily. And save up!!!!!

So are you ready to roll in Bali? Let's go! 

Day 1 - 28 Feb 2014.

The 'currency exchange' card. Placed at the back of my aiponpai so it would be easier to refer and compare the rates and not worrying of over-spending. IDR 10,000 = RM 2.82. I brought IDR2,000,000. Pakcik kayo!

And I did not bring my DSLR this time. Fully bergantung harapan dengan aiponpai ini. Clean kan memory dari 1500+ pictures to 200+ before pergi. And balik from Bali gambar cecah 1600+. Mehmehmeh. Don't forget to bring power bank! And travel adapters! Penting tau!!

At the LCCT. Flight departure at 4.30pm. Being a backpacker for the second time. Woohoo! Alasan supaya tidak shopping banyak-banyak dan mampu mengekalkan satu bag bila pulang nanti. Jangan lupa niat musafir ya.

Return flight ticket KL - Bali is RM360 inclusive of luggage and pilih seatings. Booking was made last October. It can be much cheaper. Kena rajin check AirAsia and refresh website sepuluh juta kali untuk dapat harga murah.

After 3 hours of flying, we arrived safely alhamdulillah at Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali. Paling teruja tu sebab kedatangan dinanti supir siap display kad besar-besar tulis 'NIKSU & JULIA'. Too bad tak sempat ambil gambar cause we were too excited.

Waktu Bali sama dengan waktu Malaysia. 7.30pm tu 7.30pm lah. Sama ja. Cuma gelap awal. 6.30pm dah gelap dah gitu. 7.30pm dah macam 9pm waktu Malaysia. Tak perlu nak jet lag lah ye balik nanti.

You really have to have a supir in Bali. Supir kami namanya Pak Lalu. Sewanya IDR 350,000 untuk satu hari, termasuk petrol. IDR 100,000 untuk ambil dan hantar semula ke airport. Mobilnya Avanza. Pergi 3 orang so kos boleh bahagi 3. Wuwuu.

Terus dibawa ke hotelnya, Grandmas Kuta.

Grandmas Kuta, book-it via Agoda.com in January. Cost is RM137.20 for 2 nights.

Area hotel ni best boleh tahan. You can walk around the streets and see shops and gerai makan everywhere. In other words, takde la sunyi pun, and takdela takut sangat pun nak jalan waktu malam.


After check-in, perut lapar lah pulak kan.

And we found this Wong Solo beside our hotel! Like 50m away. Teruja, so terus nak rasa.

Nasi set ayam bakar with es teh manis (teh o ais manis). Cost is IDR 33,000. Muka ceria je dapat makan. Food was okay. But Malaysia's Wong Solo is WAY MUCH BETTER!

There's WiFi in here Wong Solo. Terus teruja online masing-masing anti-social. Lol. Owyea, we searched for sim card in Bali. But ended up we didn't buy it cause for us it's quite complicated. You've to pay for the sim card, then you have to pay another amount for activation yadi yada. So yeah. We fully depended on WiFi whenever available. Please make sure you turn off your mobile data unless if you roam. I put my phone on flight mode for my 4 days in Bali.


Day 2 - 1 March 2014.

Started our second day at 8.30am and this is me, for #OOTD. LOL!

First stop is Barong & Kris Dance at Ubud. Entrance fee is IDR 100,000.

The show starts at 9.30am. So you have to be early to secure your seats. We were there at 9am. Sila bertahan dan bersedia untuk cuaca yang panas.

Sebelum show.

Tak tahu nak describe Barong dance ni macam mana. But it's like our wayang kulit plus theater. You will be given the storyline before the show and you may understand the story as you watch the dance/show.

Majority of Bali people is Hindu. So you will be seeing A LOT of temples everywhere. And bahan sembahan diorang also everywhere.


After Barong Dance, we went to see Batik making. Tapi tak snap gambar. I'm not into batik sangat, plus, price for batik is expensive. Lepas tu pergi Polo Ralph Lauren warehouse. Barangnya biasa-biasa aja dong!

Ini di Sari Dewi, get to see the people making silvers. Bajet-bajet nak beli cincin kawin tu bolehlah beli di sini.

Okay this is our selfie picture with Pak Lalu. Sudah berkahwin. Orangnya sopan-sopan aja. Boleh dibawa bersembang. Murah dengan senyuman. Banyak bagi tips and cerita-cerita about Bali. Siap pasang CD Peterpan and Wali Band and karaoke sekali. Lagu Cari Jodoh tu dia ulang-ulang pulak. Suruh cari jodoh ke hape. Haha. Pak Lalu ni minat Ariel Peterpan kot. Semua cerita pasal Ariel dia tahu. Cerita pasal artis Indonesia yang lain pun boleh tahan dia tahu semua. Best dia ni, recommended. Kalau nak nombor, boleh tanya tuan punya blog.


Next stop is Tegalalang yang sungguh hijau!

Entrance fee is IDR 10,000. All you can see here is the green scenery and very beautiful paddy field.

Drive further ahead is Kintamani, where Gunung Batur is located. Entrance fee IDR 10,000 plus IDR 5,000 untuk kereta.

This is in front of Batur Sari Restaurant...

...and we had our buffet lunch here. Cost for the buffet is IDR 121,000. Nasi goreng, mee goreng, sayur-sayuran, lauk-lauk ayam, ikan, daging, satay, popia, fruits, hot drinks. The mee goreng is tastier than the nasi goreng. Satay dia boleh tahan sedap, walaupun tak sama sedap dengan Satay Hj Samuri. Itu baru pinggan first round. Kita orang siap ambil popiah lebih-lebih bungkus dalam tissue pack dalam bag sebagai bekalan di waktu kecemasan. Kahkahkah tak senonoh.

Di sini juga disediakan tempat Musolah, iaitu surau ler. So you don't need to worry about it. TAPI kena share lelaki perempuan.

Gunung Batur; panorama view.

Ehm ehm posing ayu. View di sini SANGAT cantik. Cuaca sejuk nyaman gitu, menenggelamkan panas terik mentari yang ada.


Oh yes, in Kintamani there will be mbak-mbak bapak-bapak yang jual souvenirs. SILA JANGAN BELI. Hehe. Diorang ni jenis tahan-tahan orang paksa suruh beli. Tolong la jangan terpedaya dan beli. Sebab ada tempat lain yang lagi best and good quality.


Next is Tegal Harum Agro Wisata (wth?), the place where we get to see proses pembuatan kopi. Entrance is free tapi...

Sebelum sampai kat dalam tu, kita jungle trekking sikit. Bapak tu akan tunjuk jenis tanaman-tanaman yang ada.

Lepas 'jungle trekking', dia akan tunjukkan cara dia buat kopi tu. Tumbuk biji kopi, bakar, lepas tu ape entah lah proses dia. Lepas tu dia suruh kita duduk dan dia hidangkan air kopi pelbagai perisa termasuklah kopi luwak. Kopi luwak tu sebenarnya kena bayar IDR 50,000. Kalau taknak pun tapi sebab dah dihidangkan kena lah bayar dan rasa. The white cups are free though. A taste of vanilla coffee, lemongrass coffee, ginger coffee, coconut coffee, rosale coffee, and apa kopi entah lah banyak sangat!!

Entrance is free tapi... okay ni sambung dia. Diorang ni layan kita baik-baik, itulah umpan diorang ni suruh kita beli. Memang friendly tak ingatlah, ada udang di sebalik kopi rupanya. Sebab masa rasa-rasa semua kopi tu, terkeluarlah ayat-ayat macam "sedapnya yang ni" "sedapnya yang tu", lepas tu diorang ni "tadi kata yang tu yang ni sedap, beli lah bawa pulang Malaysia." Haa gitu. Kaw-kaw kena pujuk, maka belilah sepeket vanilla coffee yang memang sedap tu berharga IDR 114,000. (Diskaun 5% harga asal IDR 120,000, sebab kita tiga orang pun beli sorang satu).

Bangli? Banggali? Ni dekat tempat kopi luwak tuh.


Okay lepas tu kita jalan-jalan area Ubud.

Night market di Ubud.

Tips shopping di Bali; bargain harga PALING murah. I don't know how to bargain sangat. Rasa kasihan kalau bargain teruk sebab diorang pun cari rezeki. Whenever I go travel, bukannya shopping untuk diri sendiri sangat pun, mesti beli untuk orang lain. Haha. Hasil shopping di sini IDR 40,000 plus RM3 sebab ada bayar pakai duit Malaysia. LOL!

Ubud Street; PALING banyak mat salleh di sini. Kalau hotel area sini, fuh, memang clubbing mabuk la kita orang.

Sudah penat seharian. So we had this for dinner. Eating Mamee's mie goreng Indonesia that we brought from Malaysia (LOL), and the Coca Cola Zero costs IDR 8,000. Ni dekat hotel lobby, dinner sambil anti-social bila dah dapat WiFi.


Day 3 - 2 March 2014.

Checked-out Grandmas Kuta, cause we purposely want to experience another place for another night in Bali.

Hotel review: room and bathroom were okay, clean and comfortable. The cons is they don't provide iron at all, and there's no kettle in room. Nasib baik kita orang bawak iron sendiri! Kettle or hot water pun kena turun lobby and mintak dia isikan air panas dalam megi kita orang malam tadi. WiFi pun kena turun lobby baru laju. Dalam bilik WiFi dia tak ikhlas. But overall this hotel is okay. Sangat okay if you want a clean and comfortable bedrooms.

#OOTD.


First stop for third day is Krisna.

Can I not recommend you to shop at this place? If you want to look around, okay lah kot. But please please please DO NOT BUY anything here unless if you think your money is worth it. Kat sini tak boleh tawar LANGSUNG. The price is FIXED! So that is why. 

Look at our bags. Tsk tsk. Beli banyak jugak sebab ingat dah tak ada masa/tempat nak shopping. RUGI sangat! Sebenarnya ada tempat lagi best untuk shopping. I'll share in a bit. I spent IDR 207,500 here. Sila menangis sekarang.

Okay here we go to Tanah Lot my favourite!!!!!!!!!!!

Entrance fee IDR 30,000 for foreigner. Tapi Pak Lalu back up, so kita orang ni kononnya local. Entrance fee jadinya IDR 10,000. Hewhew. Tapi Pak Lalu pesan awal-awal, kena diam bila security tanya. Sebab dia orang akan check ID, so guna Pak Lalu punya. Sampai gitu. Kita orang pulak konon-konon asal dari Jakarta. Tak boleh blah betul.

CANTIKNYA SUBHANALLAH!

Here comes the best part!! Berani mati siap turun bawah nak tengok ombak. Enjoy the pictures of beautiful and awesome waves.

Okay cantik kan? Sebab tu paling favourite! Sanggup tunggu ombak datang. Jerit-jerit teruja oh you know how girls react when we get super excited. Basah pun basah. BUT, you have to be careful of course! Sebab ombak rindu badai kuat and besar, silap-silap boleh tsunami takut jugak. Ada kes mati pun kat sini.


For shopping, dekat Tanah Lot ada market/bazaar/uptown whatever you call it. Sila shopping di sini ya tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. Bargain lah sehabis baik. Masuk kedai first dapat harga sekian. Kedai kedua harga sekian. Kedai ketiga dapat lagi murah. Hoh benci. Padahal barang semua sama. My damage cost di sini IDR 200,000. *lap peluh*

Lunch di Rumah Makan Uni Nona Masakan Padang. Fuh. Kita orang ni destinasi bajet je, makan tak boleh nak mahal-mahal restoren eksklusif sangat. This place is okay and price within our budget. Foods were great; daging dendeng, paru, ayam, sambal hijau, sambal merah, sayur-sayuran. Makanan terpuas dan tersedap sepanjang my 4 days in Bali. Makan 4 orang inclusive Pak Lalu kita orang belanja cost IDR 169,000. Bahagi 3 orang bayar jadi IDR 56,000 seorang. Hahaha.

There are lots of halal foods in Bali BUT you have to be careful kadang-kadang diorang cakap halal tapi tak halal. Plus kalau nampak gerai kotor tu then tak payah lah. Huhuu.

Ini di Pendawa Beach. Cantik, ramai orang, cuaca PANAS!!! Entrance fee IDR 11,000.

Pendawa Beach; panorama view.

You will see patung-patung macam ni dalam perjalanan ke Pendawa Beach itu.


Next is also my favourite: Uluwatu!

Entrance fee IDR 20,000. Akan diberi kain sarong seperti yang kami pakai di atas. There are lots of monkeys here. Sila berhati-hati dengan monyet melainkan jika anda spesies monyet. Akan ada mbak-mbak jual pisang. Tak payah lah spend untuk itu. Nanti kena gigit monyet! Masa kita orang datang tu, ada budak ni kasut dia dah dicapai monyet. Meraung budak itu tak hengatt. Please keep your belongings safe and outside the eyes of the monkeys.

Another amazing views, Subhanallah!

At Uluwatu, you are going to enjoy the Kecak Dance (my favourite!!!).
Tickets for Kecak dance is IDR 100,000.

Panaih gila baq hang!!


And here comes the dance!

Like Barong Dance, Kecak Dance also has its own story. And these men will go like "cak cak cak cak cak cak cak...." for about one hour. Nanti datanglah kera, dewa dewi diorang bagai, mantera-mantera diorang entah, macam-macam yang keluar.

Siap api bagai.

A little snip-bits of The Kecak Dance

With the cak-cak men! LOL!!

And best part is, you get to enjoy the sun sets while watching the Kecak Dance. :)


Okay dah penat kecak-kecak. Check-in the next hotel @ Samudra Homestay. The place is also located in Kuta. And there are many shops/ bars/ restaurants/ salons/ spas nearby.

I rest my case...

Macam biasa, destinasi bajet ini disertakan dengan pakej makan malam maggi mee kari ya tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. Periuk mangkuk sudu garpu dipinjam dari dapur Samudra.


Day 4 - 3 March 2014.

Samudra Homestay provides us breakfast in the morning. There are 5 sets of menu; fried rice/ fried mee/ pancakes/ apa entah lagi. Niksu ni hidup dia memang kena nasi so I chose the fried rice set. And this fried rice tasted soooo goooooddd!

Oh ya, hari last di Bali kita orang tak guna Pak Lalu lagi. Kita nak jalan-jalan sendiri area Kuta ni je. Tapi nanti dia akan hantar ke airport.

Walking distance 5 minutes to the beach! Good morningggggggg!

Lukisan wajib pantai...

... Okay tak sempat nak posing dengan lukisan wajib pantai, ombak rindu kuat sangat memadamkan hasil seni tangan ini. Kasihan.

Eh eh akak ni buat tarian ke.

This is the picture of the Samudra Homestay room.

Book-it via Agoda.com. Cost RM 82.04 for one night. Breakfast inclusive. But we had to pay another IDR 100,000 for the third person. Sebab dia orang kata bilik ni untuk dua orang, bila ada tambahan, ada la extra charge dia. Cisss tipah tertipu. Tapi takpe, the additional IDR 100,000 also inclusive breakfast.

Hotel review: Average. Room is bigger compared to Grandmas. Kira eloklah sebab kita orang nak packing balik dengan tambahan barang-barang shopping lagi semua. Toilet dia besar, shower dia besar TAPI air dia tak best. Shower tak ikhlas. And I think air di Bali mungkin guna air laut. Badan gatal-gatal. Kepala kesat je rasa, kumur pun rasa kelat gitu. Tapi WiFi MARVELOUS dalam bilik laju je. Anti-social mode lagi lah masing-masing.

#OOTD depan Samudra.


Guess where we headed to next?

Hashtag jangan tak hashtag!

TADAAAAAAAAA. Taxi cost from hotel to Hard Rock IDR 20,000.

Hahaha macam tak ikhlas ja kasut tu. Niksu was here. Wohoo!

And so I bought a Hard Rock Tshirt for my baby brother. Disebabkan badan sama size, ada alasan untuk pinjam baju dia. Siblings for benefit. Lololol. My first spending for any Hard Rock merchandise, ever! Damage cost IDR 325,000. Memang paling mahal la untuk adik (diri sendiri) kesayangan. Lepas ni boleh la pakai dan berlagak Hard Rock Bali wuwuwuuuu.

Yayyyy Niksu was here!

Kuta Beach.

Cuaca panas tak hengatt. Orang ramai surfing. Orang ramai tanning. Lelaki cuci mata best lah sini bikini girls/women everywhere!

Mak, ni calon menantu untuk mak. From Perth, Australia.

Our mat salleh boyfriends. Sorang satu. Kbye.

Shopping di Kuta.

There are shops like Giordano, Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, Adidas, Nike, etc here in Kuta. Plus we stopped by at Discovery Shopping Mall if I'm not mistaken. Siap ada Chatime! Kalau nak beli CD album and movie, kat Kuta ni murah je. IDR 10,000 sekeping. Also there are street markets/ bazaar for you to shop. So... another damage of IDR 125,000 + RM10. And terpaksa tukar another RM50 sebab tak cukup duit. Dapat IDR 145,000. Mahal woiii.

Lunch di Burger King, Kuta. Hahahahhahahahhahahah. IDR 57,000.

Sebelum balik, went to salon and spa, to treat/reward myself a foot and back massage for 30 minutes and it cost IDR 45,000 (salon) + IDR 40,000 (spa). There are A LOT of salons and spas in Kuta. Please please please spend your one hour in Bali for this kinda relaxing treatment. Cause you deserve one and it's WAY cheaper compared to Malaysia. 

DAMN IT NAK BALIK DAH KE???!!! 

Goodbye Pak Lalu. You've been the kindest! Disebabkan magi-magi and pek-pek makanan yang kita bawak from Malaysia tak habis, maka kita orang sedekah bagi Pak Lalu. Makasih ya pak untuk jalan-jalan 4 hari 3 malam di Bali. Semoga ketemu lagi!

Dinner at Bangi Kopitiam, Ngurah Rai Airport. Class betul ada Bangi Kopitiam dekat Bali. Fried rice with chili sambal and cappuccino ice blended. IDR 90,000.

A picture with a waitress in Bangi Kopitiam. Very friendly. Very hyper. Dok speaking and gelak-gelak dengan dia. 16 years old. She doesn't have the money to study, so she work instead. Wish you all the best!


Kita orang banyak jumpa and tegur foreigners kat sana. But thing is we always forget to ask their names! Paling comel jumpa seorang lelaki Malaysia dari Shah Alam di Quiksilver yang boleh tahan muka budak baiknya. Flight pulak sama, asyik terserempak dekat airport. Tapi tak berkesempatan tanya nama. Hahahaha. So if you happen to read this wahai Shah Alam boy, yang dok 'akak-akak' dekat saya di Quiksilver Bali, sila lapor dan perkenalkan diri.

Flight balik 10.05pm delayed to 10.30pm.

Please keep aside airport tax IDR 150,000. Jangan dok shopping ja sampai lupa airport tax, tak balik nanti kang.

So mission accomplished. Pergi dan balik dengan jumlah bag yang masih sama! Okay tipu. Ada satu extra bag terpaksa beli I Love Bali sebab nak masukkan barang-barang shopping. Hahahah!

 Enjoy this short video of my MisiTeruja.

Thank you Magisto you make my life easier!

There is this one place named Jimbaran that we didn't visit. Famous for seafood dinner by the beach. And they say it's expensive!!

That is all for my Bali Gateaway. Alhamdulillah thank you Allah for this rezeki. Will come again for sure to experience the water activities (surfing/ water rafting/etc). I hope this entry helps to whoever is going/planning to Bali. Till then, selamat mengumpul duit untuk kembara yang akan datang. Thank you Bali, I'll see you again!


28 Feb - 3 Mar 2014
Bali, Indonesia
Niksu, Julia, Paa.