Trip to Bali- Day 1

My husband & I went for our first trip since we were officially married.

We made a trip to Bali, Indonesia. We spent 5 days 4 nights there and we decided that we would love to make Bali our "annual trip". We pretty much covered most of the "must see" places but there are still places that we have yet to visit.

Han bought tickets to fly to Bali last year. Took advantage of the Air Asia free tickets. We got return tickets at RM 511 for two persons. The price includes the check-in baggage fee and meals for two for both trips.

I was afraid that there will be a delay as we didn't take the first flight on Monday. Luckily, there wasn't any delay and our plan for Day 1 was on schedule.

Gate T10.

We were waiting for a good 20minutes for it to be opened.

Han can't sleep in the plane. So he reads.

As for me, I dozed off the moment the plane took off and woke up just for food! :P

FOOD!

We ordered 1901 hotdogs and bought a bottle of Lipton Clear Green Tea.

We arrived Bali at 1.30pm and we took a taxi to our hotel, The Oasis Benoa, Nusa Dua. (It cost us IRD 105,000.) As we were on our way to the hotel, we witnessed a Balinese ceremony. A bunch of people from a village nearby the Nusa Dua beach was walking towards the beach with their offerings. We were told by the taxi driver that it is a ritual for every village people to walk to the nearest beach and perform a ceremony at the beach before Nyepi Day. (I'm going to tell you more about Nyepi Day on my Day 4 post.)

If you can see the village people dressed in white.

They are carrying a long cloth that looks like a flag. Comes in various colours.

The ladies are carrying fruits/food on top of their heads and the men carrying "umbrellas"

It usually takes about 40minutes to reach the hotel from the airport. Because of this ceremony, we took nearly 2 hours to reach our hotel.

This hotel was recommended by a close friend of mine. I chose the Superior Room which cost us USD 55 ++ a night. (Please note that service charge & tax is 21% of your total bill.)

Our welcome drink!

I like it cause it's sourish & not very sweet.

Han was admiring their furniture.

He's even planning to buy furnitures from Indonesia.

Our room is just by the pool side!

I like their mineral water bottles.

It's not plastic!

A beautiful view from the lobby.

Since we had lunch on the airplane. We decided to just chill in the hotel room until 4pm. I scheduled for us to go for a spa. Since Han was busy before the trip, he didn't have much time to plan the trip with me. So I made all the arrangements so that he could have a relaxing holiday.

I've decided to treat him for a spa on our first day at Bali (I have to admit, it's for me too! :P). We went to Sekar Jagat Spa, Nusa Dua. It was rated as one of the best spa in Nusa Dua by members of Trip Advisor. We were greeted by a friendly receptionist. She gave each of us a welcome flower (Frangipani) and a cup of Black Tea.

Me with the Frangipani.

Han with his.

Well, he does look weird with a flower.

Black Tea!

I love this tea. I found out the ingredients from the receptionist.

It's Black Tea boiled with slices of Ginger, Honey & Lemon! YUMMM!

I opted for the Balinese Spa Ritual which cost IRD 1.5million for two persons. For 3 hours, we were pampered with a traditional massage (which they used Frangipani fragrant lotion), body Lulur (Body scrub. They used rice as a scrub. It gives your body a cooling feeling.), Mandi Bunga (flower bath. We were also given a slice of swiss roll & black tea while we were in the tub.) and we got to choose between a traditional hair cream bath or a facial treatment. (Han chose the facial and I opted for the hair cream bath.)

It was a very nice experience as we have not gone for a spa. We enjoyed it and I'm glad to have chose to "relax" before we started our sight seeing & shopping.

After the spa, we headed for dinner at Bumbu Bali. It was recommended by my colleague and Trip Advisor.Lucky for us, it is located just next to our hotel. The place was very crowded and even though I made a reservation a few days in advance, we still had to wait for about 10 minutes to be seated.

We were greeted with a very loud "SELAMAT MALAM" by these staff at the grillers and also a welcome flower.

The view of the restaurant.

A little right up on Bumbu Bali on it's menu.

Welcome drink!

It's Yoghurt Banana drink. Taste YUM!

We were served this welcome drink while waiting for our seats.

Keropok with Sambal served as appetizers.

The sambal is very nice & spicy!

My drink. Organic Wild Berry Tea.

Han's drink. Soursop with Natural Yoghurt.

They serve 3 types of rice.

Nasi Minyak, Nasi Putih & Nasi Merah.

Our main dishes.

The curry is named Hasil Laut Bumbu Kuning. It's assorted seafood in turmeric sauce.

The Sates. The darker one is called Sate Lembat Bebek: Minced Duck and the lighter coloured one is Sate Lilit: Minced Seafood on Lemongrass.

The other main dish.

Be Celeng Base Manis: Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce

Us before we started our meal.

We didn't really enjoy the food there. It was very salty and I was still recovering from my food poisoning, so Han had to finish up most of the salty food. We left the place wondering why there are so many people dining there. Perhaps our taste buds are different. I have to say, we payed for the environment.

The dinner came up to IRD 444, 000.

We then headed back to the hotel and decided to take a walk by the beach. The sand was not as fine as the ones you can find at East Coast of Malaysia. However, the waves are much stronger.

The night view of our hotel. This is the main entrance.

The night view of the pool.

It is just by the beach.

And us!

You can see that Han still has his flower from Bumbu Bali. Mine is hidden.

We got someone to help us take a photo by the pool.

There's a HUGE tree right in the middle of the swimming pool. :)

We decided to call it a day early. Our tour guide was scheduled to pick us up at 8am the next day.

Our recommendation after Day 1 at Bali:

-Always carry enough small change in IRD so that you can give tips easily. I didn't prepare enough small change as the money changer gave me all IRDs in 100,000s.

-If you have time, go for a spa before you start your journey.

-If you have the love for very salty food, you may try dining at Bumbu Bali.

The day before the holiday

My husband & I will be going for our holiday from tomorrow til Friday. It is our first ever since we got married officially. Many people will ask "Honeymoon ar?"

Well, my husband said "No. This is not our honeymoon." Because he would like to bring me somewhere nicer for honeymoon. :) I'm not complaining. hahaha..

Well this trip also made us both work harder at work cause taking the whole week off meaning we have to finish everything and hand it over to our colleagues before we enjoy. As the Chinese saying goes "First bitter, then sweet" (Sien Ku Hou Tian, do read it in Mandarin if you can).

I have been wanting my parents to go for a holiday. The last time they went on a holiday was our family trip to Malacca when my sister came back in August last year. My dad would love to go to Anfield, Liverpool to watch a Liverpool home game! I do hope that he will fulfill this dream. My mum on the other hand, just loves to travel. Don't really matter where. :)

Since I'm going for a holiday, I shall dedicate this post to the memorable holidays that I've been to.

Trips with my family

We went to Pangkor Island in 2003.

My dad making the "W" sign and my sister at the back ground.

I could still remember bringing my notes to study cause I had a major exam a few days after the trip! :P

All of us at the resort. It was then known as Pan Pacific Resort. Now it has changed to Pangkor Island Resort.

We went to Malacca in August 2008.

One of my dad's favourite during the "makan trip".

Us at the apartment with our Putu Piring! :)

My trip to Singapore with my sister & mum in January 2009.

The 3 of us on our 2nd day at Singapore.

My mum and I imitating the cow. :D

There are other trips with my family. Just that we didn't have a digital camera then. There's only a few that I can remember at this moment. Our trip to Pulau Kapas when I was 12. To Singapore and Hong Kong when I was about 12. We have also travelled to all the states in Peninsula Malaysia together (mostly tagging along my dad when he was on treasure hunt) except Kelantan.

Trips with my husband.

Malacca

(we made it a point to go to Malacca at least once a year.)

Char Siew rice! It's MUST have when we go there.

haha. we look so young then. :P

Pulau Redang in 2005.

The photo is a little one-sided because we had to put the camera on a rock to snap a photo together.

The night view.

This is one of my favourite photos of us together.

Trips to Singapore.

We went to Singapore a couple of times. Once is during the Christmas season and another to watch Phantom of the Opera musical.

The Christmas tree at Singapore.

Trip to Pangkor Laut Resort.

Han trying to build something.

We'll always have to take photos this way since we do enjoy traveling just the two of us.

Pangkor Laut BEEF BURGER!

It's one of the best burgers that I've ever tasted!

When I order burgers, I would always compare it with this one and to date, I still can't find any beef burger in Malaysia that can beat this one. :P

Trip to Pulau Perhentian.

On our way to the resort.

Making our mark. Of course it was eventually washed away.

Trips with my bestmates.

Trip to Port Dickson with my bestfriends from primary/secondary school.

The Muhibbah gang!

It is our first trip together after knowing each other for more than 10 years!

Left to right: Syaza, Sulo, Tuty and me!

I went to Langkawi with Syaza and her family when we were younger.

Malacca with my bestfriends from Form 6.

Sen Chee (standing beside me), Tan Lu & Su-Yin (Seated from left to right).

We also went to Genting with a bunch of other Form 6 school mates and we shouted our hearts out cause STPM was a killer! Well, at least we all made through one of the toughest examination in the world. :P

We made another trip up to Genting 2 years ago just before Su-Yin left for UK to further her studies. This time it was just the four of us. We still enjoyed "screaming" our hearts out. :)

Trip to Fraser's Hill with friends.

My husband & I with our friends from university.

From left to right: Eric Low (Han's bestfriend), Wee Kin, Us, Bryan, Chee Leng, Shiao Chew & Shi Min.

Of course, there were trips that I went alone. I was lucky to have went to London, Ireland, Prague, Germany & Japan when I was in Secondary school. My parents sent me to London when I was 16 to visit my aunty. I met up with my cousin from Singapore and his friend and they brought me to Ireland, Prague and Germany. I went to Japan when I was 18 to visit my sister. (I have photos of these trips only in hard copy. :) )

When I started working, I got the chance to travel around Malaysia and not just Peninsula Malaysia.

I'm very thankful to have travelled to so many places especially traveling around my own country. I believe that I should explore Malaysia just as how tourist like to explore Malaysia.. :) [Perhaps that's why my husband & I prefer traveling locally. So far we have only conquered Malacca & Islands together.:P]

Don't speak too soon!

I was just blogging about how many years that I haven't checked myself into the hospital. Last night I nearly "broke the record".

I was down with food poisoning yesterday. Vomited and had diarrhea the whole night. My stomach was in an "insecure" mode as I don't really know what it wants.

I do have a weak stomach and I do my best to keep it healthy. Many people would advise me to be more cautious about it since my dad's case. Thanks for all of your concern! I have been very cautious about it ever since I've been making it a "habit" to be hospitalized once a year until yesterday, I was poisoned by food!

My stomach is a pansy!

Look at the amount of medicine I have to take to kill all the "poison". In actual fact, all I needed was the Antibiotic and carbon but because my stomach can't stand the acidity the Antibiotic gives, I have to take some medicine to line my stomach so that the Antibiotic won't hurt it. Very complicated huh? And of course, since it's food poisoning, there's always the packet of Paracetamol needed. Luckily I only had to take one doze of the Paracetamol. :)

I had a good rest and I'm glad that after my afternoon 3hours long sleep, I'm back to my old self. More energetic than before I rested. When I woke up this morning, all I wanted was 100plus (which my mum refused to buy for me). I just feel so drained from waking up every hour because of the discomfort. I was hoping to have a good night sleep so that I could go back to work today. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I had to utilize the MC my doctor gave.

Now, I'm hungry. Craving for something soupy to calm the stomach and 100 plus! I do hope my mum would surprise me with one. *fingers crossed*

It's back to work tomorrow! It's interesting cause I can't wait to go back to work! haha.. :)