Embarking on a liberty trip and go through metamorphosis (usually used to describe butterfly's advancing of life stage and changing of skin(molting)).
Destination: Bali- Seminyak
Don't be afraid of checking in early.
A lot of people like to check in at the very last minute - 45mins to an hour before flight departure.
I say, check in 2 hours in advance. you have to be at the boarding gate 30mins before take-off.
Do the maths, that leaves you a comfortable 1 hr 3omins to lounge around and cater to the time needed to walk over to the belt.
Free lounges with comfortable sofa armchair or arch laid back chairs are available with view of the planes and budget eateries such as GoGo Franks, Wang Cafe and Spinelli line next to it.
It's boarding time. I am pretty comfortable traveling with JetStar for short trips.
If you are luckily enough, u may be able to grab a good airfare deal.
Finally, here I am. Somehow it felt like eternity, where every second seems to be amplified in the air. Guess its traveling alone and not being able to get to sleep on the plane.
Denpasar airport. A vast difference from Singapore airport. I had a mental preparation about this from hearsay, but I have to say- seeing is believing. Nothing can describe the feeling except for your personal experience.
Singaporean traveller's note:
NO Visa needed to be paid for Singaporeans, so head straight past the Visa payment cashiers, than go to the right side aisles where the word "INDONESIAN...." is very prominent.
If you had arranged for airport transfer service, this will be the sight you will see, and do keep your eyes peeled for your name on the signboard held up by these drivers.
On a a funny note, when I arranged for my airport transfer, I was informed that my name and resort's name will be written on a signboard and to look out for it. I was impressed and kindda excited picturing the scene of people arriving at Changi Airport and ushered in aircon comfort feeling totally like a VIP.
Here's how it turned out....
After being stranded at the arrival area for 1 hr 45mins (let's skip the story behind it)
I finally hopped on board my black Suzuki car transfer which I arranged directly from the resort.
Here's where I will be residing for 5D4N's.
My cosy hive is a one bed-room suite service apartment.
Astana Kunti has 28 studio suite apartment at 2 storey building and 19 villas.
Seminyak area
I did some research to boost my guts and itinery before heading to this foreign island. I don't want to be looking like some gundoo bird waiting to be duped and thrown into the boiling pot.
One of the places that really caught my heart is The Junction located at Oberio, Seminyak Square.
The Junction is a bistro bar decked out in white paint translucently wiped over wood grainings and crowned with black/white floral prints. This is what I call as comfort zone. I like their furnishing which is clean, yet sophisticated with a touch of detail and style.
Intricate are they. They did not neglect the ceiling as well.
My iced cafe latte (20,000 rupiah = ard sgd$3 )
is all it takes for me to laze on a Sunday morning from 11am to 1pm soaking in my deep thoughts and reading with the great lounge music that has a twist of trance and bossa nova shaken into a perfect concoction.
their very own branded ashtray that inserts temptation into man's mind of smuggling it back.
walking along the streets of seminyak, I caught sight of a quirky and whimsical themed cafe. Nice~!
the temple gates looks very majestic
with the bustling nightlife and cocktail traits in Bali, its no surprise for the local folks to store petroleum in absolut vodka bottles. To me, its an unusual sight and being a collector of Absolut vodka bottles, I simply love it!
After a long 25mins walk under the scorching sun (ok,maybe 25 mins is not so long lar, but your feet becomes twice as heavy under the hot sun), I finally arrived at Seminyak beach!
The friendly greetings of "hi, how are you?*smiles*" from the Balinese along the walk definitely gave me a great motivation and lighten my feet
looking all tourissy
Lomo-tified
there are sundeck chairs like the one below which is plotted along the beach.
These chairs seem so innocently displayed out like charity to your beach relaxation enjoyment, but once you set your butt on it, the aunties wearing cloth hooded hat will approach you for the rental fee.
The standard monopoly price quoted is 50,000 rupiah for each sundeck chair (which includes a side table and shade under a umbrella which is good enough to cover you like a mushroom top.
I haggled mine to 30,000 rupiah for an hour usage
gentle peddlers will slide to your side one by one offering kites, temporary tattoo, sarong, sunglasses and leg massages. Just smile, say no and they will glide away.
picture for illustration purpose
i actually prefer the view my shades. It gives the sea a better dimension and the details gets highlighted like glow ink under neon lighting.
It's a lazy weekend, even for the dog whom I caught yawning away after a swim in the sea.
overtime, sand playing is no longer restricted to building sandcastles.
kids love to bury themselves in the sand.
These kids are halfway there, they got half body submerged in manhole. digging in deeper!
One of my fave pics!
Need I say more? Hot body in Bikini and 3 dogs along side.
Damn! I'm envious!
I strolled down to Petititenget beach and chanced upon Potato head beach club!
Oh my! It is a wonderland for those seeking the high end indulgence to a beach experience.
Beach clubs these days especially the ones in Bali like Potato Head and Ku De Ta lives to its name by having open air clubs with performing bands or DJ's spinning.
Potato head beach club hosts 4 sections:
-Dining
- Sun deck
- Bar
they even provide you quilt towel for you to dry after emerging from the pool or for you to line the sundeck chairs for your sweat from the tanning
- open area for fresh produce market and flea
my cocktail- Kookaburra 100,00 rupiah
Lunch: Half Roasted Chicken
Bintang beer - 30,000 rupiah
swimming pool with pool bar
Potato Head Beach Club is located at Jl. Petitenget, Seminyak
Another themed decorated cafe is Cafe Bali which infuses Bohemian style into it's interior.
Cafe Bali is around 10 shop spaces from Seminyak Square. For easy reference, ask the driver to bring you to Seminyak Square and alight there. You will see the prominent The Junction, walk along the stretch which is saturated with shops and cafes.
You will catch sight of the obvious white words that shouts out "Cafe Bali"
there's free Wifi here, which qualifies Cafe Bali as ideal place to surf the net and hang out hours without having to break a huge note.
Drinks go at average of 15,000 Rupiah
Chicken Cordon Bleu and Grenadine syrup drink
40,000 and 10,000
Do look out for their daily special set lunche where you can choose having Salad with Main or Main with dessert at 50,000 rupiah (ard SGD$7.50)
a small pool is fixed right at their backyard!
the view from where is set is a combination of both the above and the below.
This is where I was sitting at
There are a few other Beach Clubs in Seminyak area. 1 of which is CooCoo
CooCoo puts on a more basic look as compared to Potato Head beach club. Nevertheless, still a Ahtas spot to feel the glamour of being a tourist/expat here in Bali, swimming and tanning in Beach clubs rather than rough and rugged out on the beach.
I discovered AJ Hackett Bungy during my research and decided to head over to check it out and conclude if its worth the return trip to Bali on another season to try out Bungee Jumping in the sunset.
Jalan Double Six-
Double Six 66 club
conclusion? I think I will set aside a better fund for Bungee jumping in Australia instead.
fyi, the jumps here starts from 99USD per jump
66 club is directly at Kuta Beach, all it took was for me to cross over and vooaalaa! My feet is soaking the water in 2 mins!
I love the low tide and far stretched out water longitude which creates a nice reflection of the sky on the sea's surface.
The surfers look like they are walking in clouds.
it's not rare to see millions of mini crab holes like the amount of pores on our faces. These will create a scene as though the earth is breathing.
I caught a little fellow through my squirming eyes and transferred the image onto picture.
Seminyak is an upmarket town with boutique shops, Spa villas, Cafes, Bars, Beach clubs and local stores selling handmade accessories and dyed sarongs etc.
You get the best of both worlds here, all in one.
Spa Boutique Villa
One of the few recommended eateries that is recommended by a few bloggers is Kyoshi Japanese Restaurant which offers decent Japanese food at reasonable pricing.
They were having a live Jazz band performance indoors when I was passing through on Monday late afternoon.
There will be offerings places all over the pavements and roads, so be careful not to step on them and be deemed as offensive to the locals. (refer to the picture below)
The local Balinese population is mainly Hindus.
I made my way to Made's Warung.
The TOP highly recommended place by all bloggers for a great Authentic Indonesian fare.
Made's Warung in Seminyak has an enormous area that it even has space to lease out to branded stores.
This enormous place is equivalent to 6 bungalows land area in S'pore and includes courtyard, Al fresco bar area, and a huge carpark area which can hosts around 20 -30 cars.
The lemon puch kicks a real irresistable icy sourish punch and had me going back for more.
50/50 Nasi Campur and Gado Gado was what I ordered. 40,000 Rupiah
I was brought to heaven for the 10 whole minutes sampling and letting my taste buds study and infuse the flavours of this dish, before being brought back to earth due to the excess baggage of filling my tummy.
Made Warung is my best food experience thus far and it has my thumbs up with 5 spoons on a scale of 1 to 5. EXCELLENT is the word.
Kuta Square
Kuta Square is about 15 mins taxi ride from Seminyak and 30mins for the return trip (traffic congestion) the Taxi ride will cost you around 35,000 rupiah
you will find a area which resembles Bangkok's chattuchat but is small scale in comparision.
They have some passable tank tops and floral dresses, but other merchandises are copies of each other and shouts BINTANG all over.
It's Surfer's heaven here.
Smacked right in the middle of Kuta Square is the high end surfer's street where the shop house rows is like Bangkok's Siam Square.
Big names steals the limelight with Billabong, Roxy, Volcom all screaming out loud, along with its sidekicks of boutique surf shops
A good place to stock up your fridge and get some air-conditioned shopping without haggling is Matahari supermart emporium.
It is located in the middle of Surfer's street
if you walk down straight, it will lead you to Kuta beach.
Look out for the prominent stone structure which is used as framing for the entrance to Kuta Beach
after the stroll along Kuta Beach,I head back up to the road and walked leftwards where Hard Rock cafe is located.
a few miniture horse carriages lines up there.
together with Rych where I decided to rest plunge my butt down for lunch
I am craving for more Indonesian cuisine and set my order on Nasi Goreng Lokal
which is Indonesian Fried rice with vegetables,Chicken sate (chicken fillet skewered, fried and dipped in Satay sauce), prawn crakers, fried coconut,topped with egg omelette
38,000 rupiah
not forgetting to call for a icy cold bintang beer to chill down in the weather.
22,000 rupiah
Rych is voted Indonesia's tatler's top restaurant(I didn't notice the awarding year though)
It has 3 levels. Level 1 and 2 holds a alfresco area and indoor air-conditioned area.
Level 3 is a rooftop bar.
