back from the land of the gods.........
-
back...
hi all....was a fantastic trip, was so good i promise to go back every single year, so i will be starting a back to Bali fund!!!
below is my account of the whole trip.....pix will have to wait(got loadsa pix....including topless sunbather for Croco!!!) -
souvenir for me?
top nude sunbather guy with chest hair?
-
Welcome back!
-
day 1
SG to JKT, transit to Denpasar airport.
got picked up by our driver, Ketut.speaks fair english.took about an hour to reach our hotel,Putri Bali, which is in Nusa Dua.
he was trying to sell me spa and massage services form the hotel and outside along the way. i knew immediately that he was working for his commission. and trying to sell us seafood at Jimbaran as well(free transportation to and fro!!!!!
upon reaching the hotel, he gave us his card and told us to call him if we need any of the services that he mentioned!
a insistent bellhop carry our drag-along luggage, which was empty anyways, to our room.i din know whether to tip him, so i gave him 5000INR.
6pm.
rite after we checked out the room, we went straight to the recept counter and ask for a teski. we were re-directed to the taxi booth jux behind the counter.(which was run privately and has nothing to do with the hotel)
i know rite there that i was gonna get ripped and that my very first chance to polish up my bargaining skills......
sorry, i need one taxi pls.
taxi?u need a car with driver?
no, i jux need a taxi to kuta.
after mumbling to the other bored-looking girl at the counter
one way? driver can wait and send u back to hotel later.
no thank you, i jux be needing a taxi, one way!
disappointed tone:
that will be 65, 000 INR.
:thats very expensive!!
or u go dinner??seafood dinner at JIMBARAN??free transport to Jimbaran from here, later can drop u off at Kuta....
no, i dun want dinner at Jimbaran. i jux wanna go to Kuta.
more mumbling between them....
i gib u discount for teksi. 50,000 INR!!
no, its alrite, i'll make my way there.
fuming, we walked back to our hotel room. -
Yo,
Tell us more. I been there. Nice place. -
i called Ketut to ask about how to get outta the hotel to go to Kuta, he enlightened me that i cud actually ask for a metered taxi and the fare is about 35,000INR.
which is what i did. going to the counter and telling the same girl to call for a metered taxi, i cud sense her disappointment.
reaching Kuta at about 7, the cab driver dropped me off at a T junction. now i can either walk back,saw a few shops on the way here. or turn left or right....decisions,decisions.1st stop, slippers shop, since none of us were wearing any footwear, we were walking around the place barefooted.
1st pair of slippers we picked was a simple slippers with sequins that wud maybe cost $5-8 back home. price quoted to us was like 75,000INR.
after some bargaining, he agreed to sell us at 35,000INR. after paying him with 100,000INR. he claims that he has got no change and wants us to picking another pair. every single one that we picked he quoted more than 45,000INR. in the end we got fed up and told he that we are only gonna buy one pair. in the end he sold it to us for 34,000INR becos he's got no change an di have no more smaller notes.....he must have made quite a lot there...
oh well, 1st buy. now i know better.......
we were starving by then, so.....
next stop, dinner!!!!!
i am still bare-footed..... -
walk to this lill cafe thingie.....bloody cozy place, and the decor wud at least cost half a mill back home...
menu came and every single thing in there looks abs fab!!!
local beer:Bintang cost 15,000INR!!!
so we ordered 2 large beer.
crab with rice, and seafood kebab with rice....had a wonderful meal and it only cost us less that 100,000INR.
went for more shopping rite after food!!!i had to buy my footwear as the roads were littered with stones....the roads were really clean and free of litter...but i jux dunno why it was full of stones...and it was hurting like hell!!!
went th another slipper shop and got 2 pairs of slippers for 20,000INR.cool!!not very cheap as the slippers were of really poor quality, but then again, not too expensive either....
i m feeling like i can win this battle!!!
walk around more but cud not see anything that we like, until....
3rd shop!!!
surprise surprise...another flip flop shop....this one looks more expensive than all the other shops...it has nice shoe racks and NICE shoes as well, too bad i din take any pic of this shop...and best/worst of all, this shop has got price tag! -
saw a pair of slippers made outta straw that i quite fancy but din show it...
the price tag for that is 25,000INR. which is pretty cheap.(maybe cos i like it?)
she picked out 2 pair of heels at almost close to 300,000INR. so i ask for a discount.
oh no,cannot discount, good quality shoes...
but they so expensive(walk away)
okie okie, i gib u good price.270,000INR.
thats not much discount man. i want that pair of slippers as well.100,000inr.
no no...cannot. too cheap.
(walk away)
this went on for a while, everytime, he counters with a lower price but not good enuff for me, i starts to walk.
ok ok, u gib me your best price.
150,000inr.
no no....i must ........
(walks away without listening)
okie okie, u pay u pay....
so in the end i got 2 pair of heels and a pair of slippers at 150,000!!!
can u imagine how much je was trying to rip me off??!!!
the we went into the 7-11 thingie and bought 2 small beer and a 20's.
for like 20,000inr!!!
i bought one more beer for the cashier guy and opened the flood gates!!!!
he was talking non stop about how he was not working the next day,and that he cud bring us around...and blah blah blah....i suspect he was a Kuta cowboy wannabe....in the end i had to ask for his number to shut him up!!!!
next we jux went on walking along the road with the many shops selling almost the same things...tees,board shorts, silver,slippers, board equipment......
til we r at the beach!!the sun has long gone home, and it was pitch dark at the beach....no surfer dudes,no sunbathing chicks...all were gone, except for some scary looking local guys hanging around the place.....i knew Bali was relatively crime free but din wanna take the chance and got outta the beach pronto!!!! -
we kept walking along the main road beside the beach which was at least brighten by the street lamps...along the way, there were ppl selling mary jane,...but we ignored them...
then we came to a small path/road which we cut into and came across many lill cafes in there....which we will constantly come in the next 2 day.....freaking nice plc....if only we had the time to stick around more...
then we ended up in JLN Legian....with its legions of shops and eataries!!!!we walked around abit and decided to head back at aroung 9pm......
flag a teksi, making sure its metered b4 we climb in....and back to Nusa Dua we go, the expensive plc in Bali!!!
went to the pizziaria, had a pizza, fish and chips, more beer....b4 we turn in for the nite.......
-
I bought some very nice shirts and shorts by the brand of "Spy" in Kuta, I still can't find it in Singapore.
Even strangers ask me where I bought them. -
din see anything of that brand leh....Originally posted by FreeToFly:I bought some very nice shirts and shorts by the brand of "Spy" in Kuta, I still can't find it in Singapore.
Even strangers ask me where I bought them. -
Day 2..
there is a pre-arranged Kintamani tour at 8am. so we woke up at 6 am to go see the sunrise.the sky was rumbling in the distant and threatened to rain.
there were some dark clouds hanging overhead...still we went to the private beach and grabbed a few chairs,and slack on the beach waiting for the sun to rise.wind was blowing cold,but that was the best moment anyone can ask for...
when the sun rose slightly, it was a truely beautiful sight.Sun rising in the East and dark clouds hanging overhead...
went to have the hotel buffet breakfast at about 7am.below average selections.bread,eggs,rice,bacon,ham,cheese....the only thing that had taste was the eggs,u can have them scrambled,with cheese/mushrooms/peas.or even sunny side up.and that was basically what i had for all 3 breakfast when i was there. -
glad that u had a good time in Bali
and you are even better in bargaining than me..haha.. -
cool place hor?
looking forward to see the pics from ya...
so...where is my present arh? -
Originally posted by Maya061:glad that u had a good time in Bali
and you are even better in bargaining than me..haha.. 
yes i had a great time in Bali.so much so that i am planning to go back again real soon.
and about the bargaining part, u haven heard the worst...muahahahahahah -
dun worry, din forget u..and a few others....everyone's got something...din buy too much tho'.i cud have bought more...will go back to buy more!!!Originally posted by on tenterhooks:cool place hor?
looking forward to see the pics from ya...
so...where is my present arh? -
pictures pictures pictures..pls...
i wanna see... -
pix will come in earliest tonite.....cos i m at work now.Originally posted by Maya061:pictures pictures pictures..pls...
i wanna see... -
Originally posted by ratinacage:dun worry, din forget u..and a few others....everyone's got something...din buy too much tho'.i cud have bought more...will go back to buy more!!! you really got a souvenir for me?
wa...that's real lovely of you, ratty....me certainly appreciate your thgt!
bali really got so many things to buy meh? i din buy anything when i went there...stuff i wana buy, bo lui... -
got picked up by a different guy for the day's tour to kintamani.this guy was worst than the 1st. the moment we got into the van, he was pusing about the spa and massages and the seafood at Jimbaran already.
we went to pick up 2 more guys from another hotel. and off we go!!!
1st stop, Barong dance. what i ve been dying to see!!!but to my dismay, it was catered to the tourists, so its not really the authentic ones...oh well.
along the way, we saw 2 kids with a big kite.the kite was twice the size of either kids, and we were commenting that how do they fly such a big kite.
then we saw IT!!!lorries carrying kites so huge!!!each kite was like 3 storeys high at least, but the van was going too fast for me to take a good picture. i only manage to take one rather blurred pic.
thats the tail end of the lorry with one of the smaller kites
heard for the guide that there was a kite flying competition. and that all the best kites from all region is gathered there today!!!
1st gang we came across is dressed all in black!with the firecest look on their face.every single one of them.kids, girls and all the men. it looks as if they are going to war!!!scary i tell you.
the kites were really huge, so big i think that it will not have any problems if it decides to drag 4-5 people into the air....
too bad we din have enuff time to go see the kite flying.on hindsight actually we do have if the stupid guy din drive us around to all the gift shops.....sigh....
along the way, we came across many places doing Barong dance for tourists...
when we reach ours, it was no different from the rest.
dance was rather funny, i think to cater to the americans...nothing fantastic.
after that, he started to drive us around all the gift shops selling painting,wood craft,and such....nothing much to talking about til we reach Kintamani!!!!
-
when we reach Kintamani, i was in awe. the resturant we went to overlooked a volcano and a lake...u have to look at the pix to see fer yourself.
touts were everywhere trying to sell us one thing or another.
and at very very cheap prices as well if u ignore them.one guy was trying to sell me a wood craved laughing buddha for like SGD2!!!
then i saw 3 kids selling pencil...i din really wanna buy the pencils but still did.from the cutest kid.
bought a bunch of pencils from yellowie,when i finished my lunch, she was crying at the same spot,due to her not speaking english,i din know the reason behind it
lunch provided for in this really cool resturant. buffet lunch!!!!but then again, it was nothing to shout about.rice,soup,popiah,satay,friuts......the only thing good was the soup.
the kid that i bought the pencils from was crying when i came out from the resturant.i din ask why, cos she din understand english. wish i had some candies with me, but i din......
went to visit 2 temples after lunch....great interesting place, but din had time to explore deeper.....
when it was time to go back to the hotel, we ask the guide to drop us off at Kuta instead. all along the way he was talking to me about his services.so i guess he felt obliged for my request.even upon reaching Kuta, he was still yakking about it, so i told him i will call him, with no intention to do so....
6pm
Kuta again!!!! -
i'm beside myself with envy
-
it really sounds like heaven....
but must see photos... -
okie okie...the pix will be up tonite....i hope...keke....Originally posted by coolger03:it really sounds like heaven....
but must see photos...
anyone got a good hosting site??
and no, its no heaven to u, cos soft drinks cost more than the beer there....so knowing u, u wud be spending all ya $$$ on soft drinks,or getting very drunk....keke -
Kuta.
the van dropped me off at almost the same spot as the cab the day before. yesterday i went right,so to day i went left. saw loads of shops selling DVDs, and at 10,000INR each,b4 bargaining, it was really hard to resist not buying any!!!
we decided to go to the beach while there is still light!!so we walked about 20 mins and reach the beach.got swarmed by touts immediately!!
plait hair....tee shirts....tattoo....braclets......
one of them,kerry, was an expert in doing hair.
thats Kerry in the middle,janet on the rite
so i checked with her,how much to do extension and then dredlock my hair....
500,000INR
thats crazy.....
becos hard to do...
neways its getting dark, u come back tmr??
okie i will. if u give me a better price...
no worry....i gib u good price...
my name kerry,
my name janet,braclets for u??
my name john,tattoos!!!!
alrite alrite....i'll be here tmr after lunch.
ya, i know i take crap pics
walked away from the beach and came to the same stretch of cafes that we pass by yesterday. walked into one small cafe/resturant thingie....KOMOLA or sthing...
ordered beer as usual and a steamed snapper with balinese sauce with rice, and she had a chicken drum.fish was good, and cheap. drum was burnt....the place was freaking dark,i cud not see the fish bones properly,and she cud not see the burnt parts of the chicken.but it was all good!!!
after that,we walked towards the Kuta shopping area.........