Bro has been working in Bali since August 2014 and I managed to persuade my parents to visit him during year end break.
I got SGD 300 for my return air ticket from Singapore while my parents got IDR 2600000 (~SGD 280) from Palembang.
So we decided to go for a family trip.
Bali is the only province in Indonesia that has majority of Hindu. The name 'Bali' came from the old name 'Walidwipa' (Pulau Bali or Bali Island) that was found on the stone epigraph dated since first century.
Bali got its Hinduism from the widespread of Hindu Empires all over Indonesia long long time ago and surprisingly Bali could hold its personality while the other areas were influenced by Islamic Empires and Christian/Catholic views brought by conquerors from Portuguese/Spain/Netherlands.
To cut it short, Bali is one of the most unique island in Indonesia. And no doubt Bali is the paradise on earth.
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| In Bali, the ladies are called 'Gek' and the gentlemen are called 'Bli' |
Bf and I were scheduled to arrive at 10:00 am in the morning while my family were scheduled to arrive around noon time. Unfortunately, their flight was delayed and they reached Denpasar around 3:00 pm.
I was a bit disappointed because of the pouring rain that greeted us upon our arrival and the delayed flight from Palembang. Another thing disappointed me was the traffic jam. We just spent the time in the rental car going from Ngurah Rai International Airport to the villa for checking in and back to the airport to pick up my family.
We waited quite long at the airport before all of us could embark on our journey in this paradise.
So, first stop: late lunch at Nasi Campur Bu Oki!
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| The nasi campur |
Nasi campur literally means mixed rice. It consists of rice, fried chicken, spicy peanut, egg, and vegetables and costs IDR 23000 (SGD 2.5) per portion. It was nice but not fantastic. However, this restaurant was so full at all times and we could see tons of chicken and rice being cooked.
After that, we drove far south to Pura Uluwatu (Uluwatu Temple).
Pura Uluwatu is located at Pecatu, the southern part of the island. The temple is facing west, unlike any other temples in Bali that face east. It is also one of the oldest temples in Bali, built in 10 BC by Mpu Kuturan from Kediri. In 15 BC, a famous 'panditta' Dahyang Nirartha chose Pura Uluwatu as his place to join the heaven.
As the temple is facing the west and located on top of the cliff about 70m above the sea, Pura Uluwatu offers a magnificent sunset to its visitors.
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| The view from the temple |
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| Top of Pura Uluwatu |
We climbed up to the top of the temple to enjoy the view. But it was so very crowded there along the fences. We could not even take a single clean shot without anybody else in the frame.
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| Two people taking shots, one person trying to feel the breeze |
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| Another someone walking pass and some other people filling in the frame |
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| A lady occupying almost half of the frame |
However crowded it was, we still spent quite a lot of time here to view the scenery and chit-chatted like we never did before. We closed our visit with a group photo.
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| Going down to the exit |
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| Group shot. Thanks, Stranger! |
We then drove to a cliff-side cafe called Elkabron. This cafe is one of the hippest places in Bali currently. Initially we planned to spent the sunset here before heading to Jimbaran for seafood dinner.
So we drove and we drove and we drove. The place is so far and difficult to find. When we finally found it, we were told that in order to enjoy the place and the sunset we should spend IDR 300,000 per pax (~SGD 28). We knew that there was minimum spending required but it was IDR 100,000 per pax. Apparently the price had been increased and we found spending IDR 300,000 was not worthy.
We moved on to our next destination. Seafood dinner at Jimbaran.
Jimbaran is famous as the place for having seafood dinner while enjoying the sea breeze and sunset. When we reached there, it was almost sunset and we headed to Menega Cafe without hesitation although there were a row full of seafood restaurants there.
After being treated as ping-pong ball by the staff, I finally found a guy who was in charge of the seating. I told him that there were seven of us and we would like to be seated outside. He then signalled to me that he 'could help' and asked me to place my order.
So then we went to the front to choose our menu. Menega Cafe is specialised in grill so we just chose the seafoods. We ordered fish, prawns, mussels, and squids.
Back to waiting for our table, I gave a little tip to the person in charge and he straight away prioritised our queue. Not more than 10 minutes after tipping him, we got our table and we managed to get the sunset.
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| While waiting for our table |
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| Sunset!!! |
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| Romantic seaside candle light dinner, awwww |
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| Kerang Bumbu Bali (Balinese Sauce Mussels), Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish), Udang Bakar (Grilled Prawns), Cumi Goreng Tepung (Deep Fried Calamari), Tumis Kangkung (Stir-fried Kangkong) |
After having our tummy filled, we moved on back to the villa. For the first three night, we booked a villa in Seminyak Area called Kumpul-Kumpul Villa. The location of the villa is superb although the building is already quite old. The two-room villa with one extra bed cost us IDR 6,120,000 (~SGD 625) for three night.
We slept soundly that night. The next day adventure was approaching.
Love is in the air,
Little Feet
Next post - Nusa Penida with Sun, Naughty Nuri's with Stars
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