Happy happy until morning in Bali

Turning 36 and still single would surely make any woman miserable. But my girlfriends are the noblest beings.. They made sure my 36th birthday was celebrated the best way possible.

It started with just talks about partying at an island somewhere for the single girls. First it was Langkawi.. Then it was Redang.. Then it was Mabul. Then Someone came up with Bali.. And revisiting Bali has always been in my things to do list since I last went there in 2007.. Bali has always been one of my favorite places on Earth.. The culture.. The people... The parties.. The beaches.. The shopping.. The temples.. I love them all. So we decided a short getaway. The four of us. JJ, Nina, Shima and I finally decided on the dates and they said it would be great if we celebrate my birthday a little bit early this year. So 6-8th December 2013 it was.

We flew on Air Asia. The anticipation was not there at all. We were all busy at the office. I only managed to book the tickets and the hotel rooms only 3 weeks before we went there. I also contacted Ketut at the last minute because we didn't get the tickets until the very last minute. Ketut agreed to drive us while we're there. Upon telling him it was my birthday weekend and wanted to party till morning he was all smiles... His birthday was a few days after mine and he understood. #wink

We took a late flight out. We only arrived at about 10:30 pm. There was no time difference between KL and Bali so there is no need to adjust your watches. We booked the Royal Eighteen Resort and Spa through their website. It was a hassle because of payment issue.. There was a problem on my side. We had a network problem on the day of booking and payment did not get through. Luckily the hotel staff, Ms Tikka was very patient with us. She made the arrangements so smooth for us. We requested for airport transfer from the hotel. The plan was to get to the hotel right away and check in. Ketut will meet us at the hotel and we'll go to the most happening place in Kuta. We had no idea where that is. We figured Ketut would know. Lol.

The plan was fine.. Until the airport transfer did not show. We waited for a good half hour before we decided to call Ketut. Ketut came to the rescue and we arrived at the hotel safely. We checked in. Lodged our complains... And didn't get our fruit baskets and our welcoming drinks! Luckily we didn't realize we missed them until a month later ;p 

The room was nice and modern. We paid about RM300 per room for two nights. Since December is somewhat peak season it seemed reasonable. I loved the AC. We opted for no breakfast. Since it was non-halal. No point of getting them anyways..

The hotel we stayed at.. a bit pricey but considering the location.. ok laaa

Ketut took us to Legian. It was near but the traffic was terrible! So we got to know Ketut a little.. Lol.. He took us to Sky Garden to be exact. I think it was a three or four level building. The top most floor is open air. So we could call it a million star club.. I guess ;).. The entry fee is IDR 100,000 for tourists . Not sure how much it costs for the locals. I opted for 2 cans of Cokes that night. The music was up-to-date. I didn't even know half the songs they played! Lol! There were some drunk guys who went on stage and started stripping. They were thrown off instantly. Bummer! 

We left the club at about 2:30 pm. 

When we arrived at the hotel, it was already 3:30 pm. And Ketut text me saying our tour starts at 8:30 am! Whaaattt???

Day 1 over... 

Our room.. hehehe... 

I guess we were excited.. We woke up early. By 8:15 am we were ready to leave.. Then JJ and Nina had to go shop for sunglasses cause they forgot theirs :p took them a good half hour to get one. Hahaha.. Women! Ketut suggested we watch the Barong Dance.. And then to Ubud for some handcrafts and Kintamani for lunch. I wanted to see the padi fields of Tegallalang and Nina wanted to end the trip with sunset at Tanah Lot. Ketut obliged.. But first we wanted to have our breakfast at McDonald's.. In Bali all the fast food are Halal certified by the Indonesian authorities. So not a problem in getting halal food. We invited Ketut also but he insisted that he's not used to eating fast foods. I guess that's why he has good physiques. He patiently waited for us outside by the car while we ate. We finished eating at about 9:20 am.. And Barong dance ended just 20 minutes earlier. Lol.. So we headed to Ubud.. Our first stop.. The silver village. Shima wanted to get some jewelleries for her aunt.. We also stopped at the Batik cemter where we got more souvenirs.. Hahaha.. Tourist sangat kann? After shopping we headed to Kintamani. Ketut took us through the villages.. So we managed to catch a glimpse of the procession of one of the temples.. It was colorful.. The ladies are beautiful in their kebaya.. And the men are handsome in their white shirts and sarongs. 

Balinese has so many rituals.. A Balinese goes through so many rituals even before he was born until the day he dies. - Ketut

Rituals everywhere in Bali. 

Beautiful ladies in Kebaya

We then were taken to a coffee farm in Tampaksiring. Kadek was our guide at Tampaksiring. He speaks good English and he seems to know what he's talking about. Ketut waited outside the farm. Kadek showed us the different trees they have at the farm and the tour ended with sampling of the different teas and coffees that they sell at the end of the short tour. It's a magnificent idea. We should have that in Malaysia. Do we have that here? 

The samplers we got to taste. I think I spent about a million here :-/ 

Coffee!!

Having these tours and samples are fine strategies.. We all ended up with bags of coffee and tea as souvenirs. Hahaha suckers! 

We finally reached Kintamani. Ketut actually planned our lunch there but we wanted to have nasi padang. So he suggested having late lunch at Ubud before we headed to Tanah Lot for the sunset. We were fine with anything he suggested. 

Kintamani was breathtaking.. It's an active volcano in Bali. And that's where Ketut's hometown is. We were hungry so we took some quick photos there.. 

Beautiful... :) 

Ketut tried so hard to ensure that we got what we wanted. I wanted to stop at Tegallalang and he did.. But he did warn us that they just harvested the paddy fields so there wasn't much to look at.

Tegallalang was beautiful. And women are not supposed to see shops when they are hungry. Lol

LOVE!

Shop shop shop

We finally stopped for lunch at Ubud. The food was nice but cold. I guess because it was really late when we got there. And as soon as we're done we went straight to Tanah Lot for the sunset. It was a long drive but my girlfriends are a loud bunch.. So it wasn't a boring drive. Ketut was teased a lot.. Again.. He was a VERY patient man. Hahaha..

We arrived at about 4:30 pm. The girls managed to get some IND Rupiahs before we left Ubud. They should.. Tanah Lot is a good place to shop for souvenirs. We shopped a little.. Bought some items as souvenirs for people at home. I got myself the famous Balinese souvenirs. Some wooden dicks. They come in different sizes and colors. And I mean colors..

The souvenirs I got... hahahah

Ketut said there wasn't any significance to the Balinese culture.. Only that tourists love them so much so that they keep making more.. Hahaha learning that I just burst into laughter. That is Econs 101 for you. Where there is demand, there is supply. 

There were big clouds., so we figured we'd be happier shopping than waiting for sunset near the temple. Tanah Lot actually means Land in the Sea. It is located in Tabanan. The temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide.the breathtaking scenery turns out has been through a restoration program funded by the Japanese government. To enter the temple, tourists (foreign) has to pay IDR30,000 per person plus IDR5,000 per vehicle. The tourists will be dropped at the entrance of the temple and walk through a conveniently located markeplace where you can shop for souvenirs. 

Wore the wrong shoes for sightseeing. 

The temple is said to be guarded by poisonous snakes ..which is why there is a Snake Park just outside the temple, and a huge sleepy  and full (I hope) anaconda at the second gate. Then you will pass a third gate where you will finally see the temple. 

See the temple? When it is high tide no more access.. 

It is eerie and yet amazingly beautiful at the same time. It's actually breathtaking and my photos are not doing Tanah Lot justice.

After seeing that we won't see the sunset, we continued shopping. Yeah.. We never get tired of it. 

We left Tanah Lot at about 7:00 pm. Seems that everyone left at about the same time. Macet! We arrived at about 8:00 pm and I was tired. The girls wanted to hang out at Hard Rock Cafe before heading to Legian again to celebrate my birthday. I opted to sleep. So they left me at the hotel and walked to the cafe and grabbed dinner along the way. By 10:30 pm they were back and Ketut drove us all to Legian. We invited him to join the party and he invited some of his friends to join us. His friends are the cutest.. And very young. We felt like a bunch of cougars. But what the heck.. We were in Bali... Lol. We danced and had a lot of fun until morning. Yeay!

Sunday morning...

Again we woke up early... I guess we didn't want to waste our time sleeping in this paradise. We split because Shima and Nina decided to try the hotel spa, and JJ and I decided to get some more souvenirs at the Art Market. 

This is just the entrance!

With JJ

It was a hot day.. Beautiful day but a bit too hot and we didn't have breakfast so we didn't spend too long a time shopping. After getting our souvenirs we asked for directions to the nearest Nasi Padang and we were shown to Nikmat. Though I would prefer "meNikmati" cowok Bali ... The gurls preferred food. Lol the restaurant serves an array of nasi padang, halal dishes and very reasonably priced too.. Awesome

We hurried back to the hotel and checked out.. Ketut picked us up early because we wanted to make a quick stop for some last minute shopping at hard rock shop. Lol! 

We had such a good time in Bali. Truth be told, we spent more time in the car than any other place.. due to the heavy traffic. But it was a quickie that I extremely needed, and the company helped also. I really had the time of my life there.. Thanks to my girls... It was the most awesome birthday celebration ever. Let's repeat! Please... Jom we go happy happy until morning.. in Bali.. hahaha.. :D

For more info on Ketut's services please go to his fb page fb.com/ketutbaliouting. Or contact him at ketutbaliouting@gmail.com or +62 8786 148 0399