I'm back! Excuse me while I word vomit for a bit now - so much has happened in the past 3 weeks! I left my job as a Sales and Marketing Executive and was in a bit of a daze. 14 months had passed way too quickly and I guess working does that to you, going to and fro from work every day and doing the same things repetitively. I shudder at the thought of typing another work email. For the 1.5 weeks after I ended work I was just shuttling around, going out, meeting friends, dinner, supper so on. To be honest I was feeling quite overwhelmed - what next? where next? what now? and also pretty useless - as a diploma holder, what options do I have?
Thank God for Bali - I really mean it! It was a much needed reprieve from the insane life in Singapore, and time to just rejuvenate and refresh myself. It provided the inspiration I yearned for. It was very much unlike the other holidays I'm used to where I shop non-stop from the start to end, which I love as well! This one was a lot more relaxing where there was very little shopping but a lot more soaking up the scenery and chilling in small cafes. On top of that, we decided to stay at several villas that we found via airbnb which was a very different experience from a hotel.
This blogpost will be not so much a travel guide as I only spent a short while there - but more of to share my experiences there and to inspire you on your trip there!
Alrighty - on to the blogging!
We flew by Tiger Air on the way there and Valu Air by Jetstar on the way back, booked via eDreams which was roughly $250 per person for a return flight. Both were decent for a budget flight!
We reached Denpasar Airport around 6pm but only managed to leave by 7pm because their immigration queues are CRAY. Literally winding lines of people were all over the place and it was hard to navigate. Thankfully we have an ASEAN queue! It was a whole lot shorter, we would have definitely taken an hour or two more if there wasn't this line.
After we finally found our driver, we were starving and asked our driver, Wayan, to stop us somewhere for dinner. He brought us to this stretch of restaurants which reminded me so much of Holland Village! We ate at Pundi Pundi Restaurant, which on hindsight was a really great first meal. I ate the Ayam Bakar which means Roasted Chicken (if I'm not wrong!!) and it was delicious. Came with a side of water spinach and beansprouts, rice and soup which we later realised was a staple at all the restaurants.
And a very fresh Strawberry Juice! I realised they don't add ice to their drinks, which is great (not watered down!) and not at the same time (not cold enough!)
Finally, our villa! My sister and I were poring over airbnb a month prior to the trip and we came across this lovely little place which we called the Hobbit Hut because it was so tiny and cosy! The real name for it is Eco Bamboo Lodge (I've tagged the airbnb page!) and it is exactly what it sounds like - an eco friendly hut mae out of bamboo. It's located in the middle of a rice field, 15 minutes away from Ubud City but deep enough in the rice field to be secluded and quiet.
We had a friendly worker pick us up at the roadside and we walked/ trekked about 500m in to our little lodge! It was quite an experience, trudging through the slightly muddy floors with one torchlight, with endless padi fields on the left and a 5m drop on the right. Couldn't get good photos of the place in the dark, but when we saw it we were so amazed. Go check out the official photos on the bnb page!
I loved the open air shower! Of course, it was strange at first but it was amazing - when I looked up, all I could see were stars. We sat at the porch for some time, just enjoying the night breeze and staring at the endless sky of stars. Frogs croaked, crickets chirped and fireflies flew around: it was magical in short, and it felt a bit like something out of The Princess and The Frog. Finally, we crawled into our small bunk above and fell asleep the the sounds of nature.
Here's the picspam taken in the morning!
Hot tea and poached eggs for breakfast! I'm not a fan of un-fully cooked eggs so I skipped on the poached eggs ("such travesty!!!!" you scream) and ate most of the quinoa!
Our teeny hut!! There's no security system or locks or DOORS which is a little unnerving, but the balinese have a very trusting culture! We set out quite early in the morning, about 9am.
Where we bought 3 bottles of water for 90 cents altogether :o
After some walking around where we found a quaint little organic store called Bali Buda where I bought some hair and body oils (obsessed with oils lately!), and a second hand book store, we had an early lunch. Wasn't too impressed and I also forgot the name of the restaurant - oops!!
Next stop - coffee! I didn't drink anything but my mum said it was good - and it she's quite picky with coffee!
Stumbled upon this market full of crafts and touristy things - tie dyed dresses, beaded sandals, y'know what to expect. I got a lace applique top for $6, bargained down by my dad who is THE pro at bargaining. I can only get it down a couple dollars but he somehow walks away only paying a quarter of the opening price. #TRUTALENT
At this point we were a little tired from walking and decided to head to Uluwatu which was a 2 hour drive away. We called up the driver and hopped down!
Uluwatu Cliffs are beautiful but I definitely didn't expect it to be so touristy! We had to get tickets to visit the area, and wear a sarong as well as it was surrounding a Buddhist Temple. But well worth it of course, when you get to see this:
So beautiful!! But watch out for the Temple's resident monkeys which are very daring, we saw one grab this lady's sunglasses and snap them in front of her. HARDCORE.
By the time we got back to Ubud, it was dinner time and so we stopped at Warung Mina, a recommendation by my mum's friend. We had the set meal for 4 which was super yummy! Grilled fish, prawns, satay, soup and veg. To begin with I'm already a huge fan of Indonesian food, but the food I ate there was beyond my expectations. So much flavour with such simple dishes - amazing.
I really meant to blog about all my 7 days in Bali but I'm feeling really sleepy now... will continue another day! Also quite uncomfortable because of my wisdom tooth poking through and I'm dreading seeing the dentist..!!
Alrighty, part 2 soon!
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