the Big Bali Break (BBB)

Now chewren, I know it's been way over a month now that I'm back from the land of awesome and cheap Bintangs, and most of you are probably miserably drowning in your notes/work... so, here's something to cheer you up!

After my 6-day solo stint in Bali and Lombok (mainly), I flew back to Bali to meet G and Bun. They made a super spontaneous decision to come to Bali (while we were studying for exams), and I'm so glad they came! It would definitely not have been as fun without the two of you.

After my 20-minute flight from Mataram Airport (Lombok) to Denpasar Airport (Bali), I walked out of the airport to flag a Blue Bird taxi. I learnt that Blue Birds can only pick up passengers from outside the airport, as only 'airport taxis' (also blue in colour) can pick up passengers from within the airport compound. 'Airport Taxis' operate on a fixed rate basis; so you guys will have to agree on a price before the driver moves off, while Blue Birds are metered. Just to give you a rough idea, I paid 60,000Rp (~S$10) for a 15-minute ride on the airport taxi to Kuta Beach and only 25,000Rp (~S$4) for a Blue Bird from Kuta to the airport. That price difference sort of set the tone for me on which taxis to flag down for the rest of the trip.

Where we stayed

We stayed at Mecure Roxy; located directly along the beach front on Jalan Pantai; two doors away from Hard Rock Hotel. The room's bill came up to about a hundred odd per night. Room was pretty clean, sheets and toiletries were changed daily, and they had most of the channels you can think of on cable tv. I slept really well in our room; and there were mornings where G would tell me I'd been dreaming that I was scuba-diving in the night while sleeping beside her because I was breathing really deeply. Our hotel had a lovely infinity pool; one that overlooked the beach-front, a place where guys picked up girls, cocktails were served and a place where you could just take a nice, cool dip; a nice respite from the duper hot weather.

What we ate

entrance of Ibu Oka

On our second day, we rented a car (driver inclusive) from Mecure to explore some corners of Bali. We paid a total of S$60 for a really old Suzuki model, and our driver, Putu. Fuel charges were not included; so you'll have to pay to top up the fuel tank along the way. We set out of Ubud, for lunch. I was so damned eager to try the famed Babi Guling (Ibu Oka) that Bourdain's been such a fan of on his show.

We were on the road for nearly an hour and a half with nearly empty stomachs; stocked up on some tidbits and we tried pink Pringles for the first time. There was nothing really special about it; give me BBQ/Sour Cream Pringles anytime.

while waiting for our Babi Guling

We arrived at Ubud finally, and had Putu drop us just across the road from where Ibu Oka was. There were not as many tourists around as there were back at Kuta, less touts, and that made it a little easier to get around. Anyway, you can sit at any empty table you can find in Ibu Oka, and then ask for the menus from the servers and place your orders.

the yummy food's here.

I was prepared to be disappointed since there might have been the possibility that it's highly over-rated, but I'm really glad I wasn't. Not about what I came there for anyway. I loved the roasted, cackly skin with the thin layer of fats underneath and I loved the tender and well-spiced pork. Can't remember exactly how much it was, but I'm guessing it was around S$3-$4. Didn't really care much bout the vegetables and gizzards that came with the set though. I'm going to order just the skin & pork combination the next time I visit!

a lunch-satisfied Chang.

Following our delicious lunch at Ubud, we headed down to Ku De Ta (along Seminyak) in the evening for dinner and some drinks. Ku De Ta's like the bestest beach restaurant that I've been to; the ambiance was great, the view was good, service was great, the people are beautiful and the food and drinks were yummy too (though a little pricey). Would be damned romantic to visit the place with your special partners; and I had two with me (am I lucky or what).

We ordered some pizzas, a little finger-food, cocktails... and looked at the beautiful post-sunset sky (missed it by 20 minutes, pity!) while waiting for our orders to be served. I really liked the pizzas, and even though it's not exactly cheap, they have this 2-for-1 sort of promotion going on.

In between camwhore-shots like these, we played finger drinking games. G taught us a few games and we started ruining the nice ambiance by shouting really loud, not that anyone really minded. Everyone was just in a happy mood while they were there.

This is totally random, but, the individual toilet cubicles there are sound-proof! The three of us got into 3 different cubicles and it became super quiet all of a sudden. I started talking to the two of them but there was no reply from either one of them. When we all came out from our cubicles, only did we realize that we'd all been trying to talk to one another but the cubicles were soundproof. You can do super big business in there and no one will hear you, how considerate!

pretty lights at the entrance of Ku De Ta.

On another day, the girls got to know this local guy, Chris, working at the surf school we went for our lesson at. He drove us down to Jimbaran Beach for a big seafood feast. There was so much food on our table; we had deep-fried calamari, grilled snapper, kang kong, prawns and 2 big lobsters. Most expensive meal of our trip.

all the yum.

the place Chris brought us to

michelle, you okay? :p

We started the "michelle, you okay?" joke that night, after Chris told her she looked like his ex-girlfriend and kept checking on her while giving her a ride back to our hotel. lol.

beautiful sunset at Jimbaran

When we were not busy feasting, we had simple food like Nasi Campur (pictured). I had a great deal of Mee Goreng during my entire stay (really like that it was loaded with MSG and cheap), and G was really unlucky to have a worm in hers at breakfast on our last day there.

What we saw

You can find all sorts of colours and shapes on Bali. The people dress in all kinds of different colours, there are religious processions going on every now and then; most of the people here are devout Hindus who would visit the temples on a daily basis. You can find no deck-chairs on Kuta Beach because it's reserved for such ceremonies; deck-chairs start appearing on the Legian Beach area.

ceremonious offerings...

teggal lalang

Teggal Lalang. I think we were brought to the wrong place leh; I looked at my friend's pictures of supposedly Teggal Lalang as well, and they look vastly different. This picture's just reminded me of the super nerve-wrecking ride we had to get here. I thought we were going to drop off the cliff and die.

Bottle-openers shaped in the form of penises -_- There were lots of them everywhere, especially at the Ubud Market we went to for some shopping. Sure to raise some brows in conservative Singapore; but I don't remember reading anything about them having anything to do with fertility as well. Guess it's just a novelty product, should've bought one back to tease Mumsy with.

Balinese lady dressed in traditional clothes with a big basket of tropical fruits atop her head. good job!

Surfing!

We signed up for a US$30/pax lesson with Odyssey Surf School that was located just at the door-step of Mecure's entrance. As with all other kinds of courses, we were first introduced to the basic concepts of standing up on a surfboard, how to move the surfboard safely and effectively when in the water, etc etc.

Warming up. Don't ask why I looked like that, I have zero idea.

Standing up was presented to us as something really easy to do. There were only 3 steps involved.

1. Push off, Push-up position

2. Back leg up

and finally, 3) front leg forward.

Looks deceptively easy, but it wasn't exactly THAT easy. Look at how I fell funny.

Though I'd have to say, I did a pretty good job for beginners :p
(just joking G! stop making me feel paiseh leh)

Windsurfing at PA's probably the reason why I managed a teeny bit better.... ... ... ..

or not. I sprained my left foot while beaching, and my last 2 days in Bali was spent limping around. Ta ma de.

Last story to share about Bali. I realized that the girls and me were going back on different flights; they were leaving at 1 p.m. and me, 5 p.m only after they arrived. I spent 3 hours waiting at the airport for check-in, alone with only Kite Runner to read, my sprained foot and a duper big backpack to lug around.

Right. That's it!

ps. I realized we haven't been to the really touristy places around Bali, say, Tanah Lot, Uluwatu, and temples like such. I want to head back sometime soon!