Bali - Day 3

Today's mood :>
8th August 2008 (Beijing Olympics!)
This day is a relax day in Bali, meaning just walk around Kuta. In the morning, we went down to the reception and..

Dunno where the guy has gone... after a few minutes, we saw him n ordered our breakfast..

A toast with banana as filling, coffee OR tea.. I'll eat u up later Eppahed.. :P

Then while we were walking to the beach to surf, we bumped into a Tourist Service Counter and asked for trip to Lembongan island and our Ubud trip on Monday. We bargain for very looooonnngggg time. Finally we got the price for Lembongan (Bali Fun Ship/Cruise) is RP500k per person. We paid RP300k for deposit first. Then for the Ubud trip, we will hire a driver and a car to bring us around Bali. We planned to stay in Ubud 1 night, then the next day go to Tanah Lot then back to Kuta. So the price, for 2 days, is RP500k (around RM175). The salesgirl wrote down the Ubud's receipt but we still not yet pay any deposit.

After settling the stuffs, we finally can go to the beach and surf. We went back to the same guy, Jamis and he gave us the price of RP180k for 2 persons. This time we abit cleverer, we went jogging and warmed up our bodies first before go surfing. So that we don't cramp like yesterday..swt.. We ate some nasi campur near the beach and treat Jamis lunch too. That was only RP50k for 3 persons and 2 teh. We went back to hotel to have a rinse after 'tapao' this near the beach..

It's only RP5k, additional keropok for RP1k.

We walked around Jalan Legian (right the end of Poppies 2), a street that most of the clubs/pubs/restaurants/shops located. Super busy at night. But that time was afternoon la. Mr. Ho bought some souvenirs, they are some wood that has some drawing on it. Available in keychains, magnets, decorations,... This is how they do it..

He bargain until the artist cannot tahan, deal at RP70k for 3 (around RM25). LoLx.. Then we continue walking down...to Jalan Pantai. The first shopping mall in Bali we went is Matahari..

Mr. Ho bought some CDs there.. Out of Matahari, we went to a lane where I bought 2 tops and 1 sarung for only RP25k each! :P

After that, we passed by Discovery Mall too! It's just next to Kuta Beach :D

I wonder if they got live band play there every night.. They just played in front of the mall where the staircase are all seated by audience.. If not mistaken, they played some OZ songs.. And yea, A LOT Australian visit Bali when they got winter in their country. I noticed on the Ground Zero monument, Australia has more names on it ><"

Almost everywhere in Kuta you can rent a bike, either manual or auto. BUT remember to have ur license with u. I'm not sure what license is it. U won't want to pay police everytime they caught u right.
While we passed by the Hard Rock Hotel, two local ppl approached us and asked us where we from, already travel around bali anot, already book transport and hotel.. Then we just say that we're going to Lembongan tmr, and going to Ubud on Monday... After a couple minutes of talking and bargaining, he finally deal with us for transport to Denpasar, Kintamani, Ubud and the next day Tanah Lot then back to Kuta at RP425k. He said he will bring us with new Avanza. =.=" BUT we have to cancel the reservation we had this morning with another company....

If there's Popies 2, then of cuz there's Popies 1 :D but Popies is much more quiet and less shops. Like some back street at night, very dark (no street light). But it's safe if you behave urself, LoLx..

We had our dinner at the foodcourt near Kuta Beach. When I order my Kuey Teow Goreng, the aunty asked me whether I can speak mandarin.. I said yes and she said can discount for me! duh! Ok then I'll start my bargaining again! I order a drink named Es Teler (no idea what's that, just try) and it tastes like durian.. SERIOUS!

A lot people we met in Bali. No, we don't know them. They are mostly local. Some of them invite us to drink at Apache Bar, but sometimes we just ignore :D Some of them wanna make business, trying to earn some money from us. Some of them just want to make friends, want you to remember them. But MOST of them think that we're Japanese! ><"

Use the 2 pins plug. Hold the bottom thing and push in. Normally it works :D that's how I charge the camera. My handphone and iPod Touch batteries last for a week cuz I seldom use them in Bali :P

Bali - Day 2

Today's mood :>
7th August 2008
After we ate some breakfast (honey pancake & boil egg toast) at that "luxury" hotel, we tried to negotiate with the receptionist whether it can be cheaper if we stay for 4 coming nights. They gave us their "best price" RP175k/night (around RM60).

We think that we still can get cheaper so went to other hotels to ask. Of cuz those real luxury hotel are more expensive but we finally found 1 at Jalan Poppies 2 only RP90k/night (around RM30). This hotel's name is Taman Mekar.

The most important thing is that the water from the tap is not salty! Although this hotel doesn't have TV, AC and fridge (and also toilet paper & towel), it's ok since we don't stay in the hotel all day long..

So after settled down at the new hotel, we walked to Kuta beach. We just can't wait to surf :D Along the way, we stopped by a tourist service counter to ask for our ride to Ubud and Lembongan. Then I went to buy a new short for me to wear when surfing.. I don't want my bikini go missing after hit by the wave.. lolx. The salesgirl offer me RP100k, that's no way that expensive, I cut down 50%, of cuz she said cannot lar, RP80k, then I turn around act like wanna get off the shop, then she said ok lar, RP50k deal! LoLx..

Along the beach, a loooooooot local ppl asked u to buy their products / services like surfboard, massage, manicure (if you're a girl), accessories, braiding your hair and "mushroom". It's not China mushroom or Japan mushroom okay, this "mushroom" is drug, they also offer ecstacy. Don't ever buy from them, you might be the target of police after 1 minute u purchased. We bought 2 towels for RP120k. We bargain for almost half an hour for that price, swt.. We did have our own towels, but we need extra 1 to absorb sea water after get up from the sea.. hmm.. feel abit hungry, let's eat some satay babi :D

hohoho, u can't find this type of satay in Malaysia, the sauce also different from Malaysia.. Darker looking and hotter taste.. no nuts inside.. NOW only we bargain with the surfboard rental man. Unlike in Malaysia, there's tons of surfboard rental along the beach, so no worries if you don't have or didn't bring your own surfboard. He offered RP300k for 2 persons. But we just wanna pay RP200k (it's actually still out of budget). Finally he agreed and brought us to the sea.

It's my 2nd time surfing (first time was in Torquay, OZ without professional guide), the guy, Jamis, hold my board n I lay down on the board then try surfing. He pushed the board when the wave is coming then I gotta try to stand up. Well most of the time i failed ><" If you see me lately, you'll notice the big bruise on my arm.. it's becuz the surfboard hit me when i try to get my strap which already get off my leg.. and also some other bruises on my knees as i used my knees to stand up on the surfboard =.= As for Mr. Ho, he broke one of the fins of the surfboard, Jamis asked him to ganti rugi RP200k. No idea why is he so unlucky ><" the fin should be hard enough for these small waves..well then we went out of budget of the day..

After surfing we had some Rujak (Rojak), it's a mix fruits with some asam powder, chili and special sauce. Very very nice :) and it's cheap, only RP5k (around RM1.70), u can buy additional keropok for RP1k only.

We sat down near the beach with Jamis and his fellows. Jamis asked us where are we going next, we said we're going to Jimbaran to have dinner. He offered us a ride as he's also going there for some event. At first we were worried, cuz we will be split to 2 bikes, but we feel better after we reached Jimbaran :D On the way there, his friend stopped at the petrol station.

If you're going to Jimbaran to eat grilled seafood, it's better you go in the sunset(In Bali, the sunset time is 5.30pm - 6.30pm, the sun set earlier than Malaysia). cuz the tables are all along the beach.

Hey Eppahed! Can you please sit back ur own seat?!

As for the seafood taste, emm, I'll give 5.5/10. Maybe I like Chinese style seafood better. Just grill is like abit plain lo IMO. But surprisingly they gave us rice and extra vege even we didnt order them. And so scary, we only have just ngam ngam enough money to pay for our over-budget dinner. hahaha.. This is what we had for dinner plus 2 drinks, cost RP600k (around RM210)


Jamis and his friend still waiting for the event to end. And we were so lucky to see free performance of Balawan. Check out his guitar (is that call guitar? ><")

While we lepak near the beach, one security guard came near and asked where Mr. Ho comes from, actually he wanted to catch him but wrong person.. LoLx.. Mr. Ho looks like a criminal~ :P After the event finish, Jamis and his friend sent us back to hotel..

Bali - Day 1

Today's mood :>
*p/s: This is the 100th post of this blog :D something to celebrate, ya?

6th August 2008
David Lee sent us to KL Sentral to get SkyBus to LCCT. We had our lunch at McD before boarding the bus @ 2pm. There's a uncle sit beside me in the bus keep burping.. -.-||| My flight was 4:45pm, so I still got lot of time hanging around LCCT. And I didn't forget to bring this fella along...

While waiting for the boarding time, we had some orange juice for RM8.90.. T^T giler expensive.. since no air ticket for Eppahed, I had to stuff him inside my bag :P
Now let's fly..

I always have to sit near the wing (free seating), I dunno why others dun like to sit beside the wings -.-" And I always get amaze with the clouds, so I took some photos and that's the time I got bad news.. GOT DUST IN THE SENSOR! When the lens go up to F10 and above, you can see some dust shadow on the image TT_TT It's ok since this hi-tech era has a software named Photoshop.. LoLx.. I'll just photoshop it :P

Ah after awhile, that's the lunch / tea time.. cannot tahan the nice smell, and my advice, EAT IN THE PLANE even you just eaten before boarding.. If not u gotta suffer the aroma and then later u feel dizzy.. So I ordered some small snack like Roti Jala..

After the plane landed, collect luggage, check out, I saw a loooooooottttt people waiting outside.. most of them are hotel porters waiting for customer then bring them to the hotel.. some of them are taxi drivers offering "LUXURY" ride to your destination.. and one of them has short leg, walk so slow..

I must talk about their taxi drivers driving skills! It's much more terror than Takumi. Hahahaha.. most of the time, the driver is honking and flashing more than putting signal. First he flashed the car which is moving slow in front of him, if the car didnt speed up, he will honk n then cut it (because there's only 1 lane for 1 direction). We stopped talking, after awhile the driver asked us "Are you okay?" ><|||

We didnt book any hotel online or phone booking.. We just try our luck there..haha.. So we got some "LUXURY" hotel cost RP200k, with a 15" tv, fridge, air-cond and cold water at those tourist service counter near departure gate. Then we took a fixed price taxi service to that hotel (it's cheaper 4 times)..Check out the bed..

Please let me complain bout this hotel,
1) Water from the tap is salty
2) The bed makes my leg itchy
3) Yellow stain in the toilet
4) No toilet paper and towel provided
5) More expensive than what I would pay for this kinda quality
So we decided to find another cheaper and maybe better quality hotel the next day ><"

After settled down, we went to have our first dinner in Bali :)

We had grilled mix seafood and Bintang (local beer) for dinner.. There's some miscommunication during the dinner, we asked for Garlic Butter Sauce.. (what we thought is white color creamy texture which i used to have at Manhattan Fish in Malaysia. But their garlic butter sauce is sooo much different from what I imagine.. lolx.. it looks like some garlic cook in butter n then the butter melted so it looks like some soup texture.. hahha.. taste very oily ><"

Jalan Poppies 2, the places we hang out the most throughout the whole Bali trip. This jalan is a very small lane but full with shops, restaurants and hotels and it's only 10 minutes walk to Kuta beach.

As u can see, there's only 1 lane.. of course it's only one way, but the motorcycles can go any direction they want.. haha.. yeah there's also kereta kuda, and taxi is spelled "TAKSI"..After walking around, we went into this bar..

Apache Reggae Bar is quite famous for their live band and reggae music. We hang out there for our first night in Bali. You have to buy 1 drink to get into the bar, the cheapest drink is RP20k (RM7) only.. I tried Arak Bali there.. hmm.. no comments :P
2 guys approached us (some of the local ppl r friendly as in they truly just wanna make friends, no business) 1 of them looked high, another 1 just abit hyperactive.. lol.. they offered us drink, cigarette even asked us to take photos with them.. but we didnt want their free drink n cigarette cuz we just wanna stay alert.. They somehow are STILL strangers, u know..

After dancing around, the live band ended and it was close to 2am. The guys asked whether wanna go another pub, swt.. We declined and just go back to that "luxury" hotel and try to sleep tight ><"