Southern Bali [02 & 05 / 06]

We arrived at Bali Denpasar airport on the 2nd June via Air Asia. On our flight, we catered for the popular Nasi Lemak as we enjoyed it during our previous trip to Bali. We were greeted by a sunny and clear blue sky at the airport. The weather, surprisingly, is not as hot as Singapore. And off we go on the airport bus towards the terminal.



It is a short 1min ride and we arrived at the 'terminal gates'. It is shaped in the traditional Balinese architecture.



GWK Cultural Park

We cleared the customs and rendezvous with our driver. We hired a driver for 1.5 days from Gelo Tour and Transport. This transport company is very reliable, the drivers are great and the price is extremely competitive. 1 day is equal to 24-hours and their rates are less than half charged by typical drivers. The first stop of the day is GWK Cultural Park which stands for Garuda Wisnu Kencana. Garuda is the mythical bird and Wisnu is actually Vishnu, the great Indian God. Entrance fee for adults is 60k IDR. After arriving, we immediately catch the Barong and Kris Dance.



There is also the monkey king running around the audience.



At the end of the hour long performance, the audiences can take photo with the dancers. During photo-taking, they will say 'Money, money, money'. Please donate money to the donation box. Thereafter, we began walking around the area. There is this amazing cliff like structures around the compound. You can understand more about these structures by sitting in to understand the Story of GWK. There is a video of it in one of the building.



A statue of Garuda in the middle of the compound. 



And behind it is Vishnu himself. If you wonder where the hands are, it is in the next photo.



Here it is, a distance away from the entrance of GWK.The story of GWK mentioned that the project was completed halfway, as such, it seems to be quite an empty place. There are other more interesting sights in Bali. Unless you really have nothing much to do, then could just drop by GWK for an hour or two.



Ulu Watu

Next, we proceed off to the famous temple of cliffs at Ulu Watu. Observe the photos of the majestic cliffs below.



The sea waves clashing onto the cliffs.



And more of it from another perspective.



There are many monkeys in Ulu Watu. So please be careful when walking around.

Jimbaran

After Ulu Watu, we proceed on to Jimbaran beach for its seafood. It is only a small area where all the seafood shops are concentrated. The beach is wide and flat. We arrived around 5pm and began walking around.



AJ likes the bbq corn very much. It comes in 2 flavours: spicy and sweet. The sweet corn is fabulous.



There are many seafood eateries in the area competing for customers. The prices now are more competitive with fixed prices. It is no longer like the older days where they charge high prices to tourists. There are also many set menus where you can choose freely. 



We went to the Menega Cafe which has been recommended through online reviews. It is fabulous. The seafood are all charcoal bbq as seen below.



And here is me posing with the food.



Follow by AJ. It cost around 400k IDR for 2 set meals, with additional crabs and drinks.



Let's take a closer look at it.



It is coming close to 5pm and the sun is setting. Here is the view from the seafood shop.



The sun slowly descend and the sky turn into a mix of orange and yellow.



The feeling is just awesome, having seafood by the beach with candlelight.



By 6.15pm, which is the sunset time, the entire beachfront is filled with people.



After dinner, we took a walk along the beach.



From here, we departed to Ubud which is continued in another blog post. The below continue on the last day after Ubud.

Taman Ayun Temple

We saw on the map of Bali that there is a temple called Taman Ayun just between Ubud and the airport. We decided to check it out. Here is how it looks like.



And more photos of it.



Before leaving for the airport, we decide to have our lunch at Jimbaran again. This time we tried Made Bagus Cafe.



The food is not bbq-ed as Menaga Cafe.



On our way back to Singapore, we caught this very beautiful sunset from the plane.

Ubud [02/06 - 05/06]

AJ and me are now back on our annual holiday trip to Bali. This is our second time in Bali and this time round, we will be staying in Ubud for 4 days. We hired a good and affordable driver from Bagus Gelo tour for 1.5 days which they brought us from the airport to southern bali and up to Ubud. On the first night we are staying at Jeti 3 Bungalow. It is located along Jalan Monkey Forest road. The location of Jeti 3 Bungalow is quite difficult to find as it is located at a small side road from the main road. Only a small sign indicate that it is located in here. We made 2 rounds and finally found it.

The resort has a large and beautiful pool.



Here is a peek into our hotel room. It is very well-ventilated, has a great balcony view, naturally cooling, there are no insects and we can leave our door / windows open for the natural air.



Breakfast is provided and here is our breakfast area.



The green pancake is really good.



Walking out of Jeti 3 Bungalow, there is this other resort call Alamanda Accommodation. The door is very beautifully designed.



The Balinese make flower offerings to the gods regularly.



Campuhan Ridge Walk

This is one of the more popular walks in ubud. The starting point is the river intersection located along Jalan Campuhan, just off the Warwick Ibah Spa. It has a steep incline walk down from the main road to the bridge as seen below.



Walking down from the bridge, we begin the trail proper. Both sides of the trail are rivers and visitors will be able to appreciate the splendid sights from it.



We are able to see the local residents huts overlooking the river and hills.



And the many cultivated rice terraces on the hills.



Towards the end of the trail, there are many art shops with the painters peacefully painting.



There is this splendid view of the rice fields where visitors can just sit by and enjoy the moment.



We sat down and have a drink.



And enjoy the rice field view below.



Lying down in the huts, we can see the reflection of the water onto the roofs.



And here we have a photo shoot.



It is lunch time and we are off to the famous Babi Guling in the area. The cook is now preparing a whole pig for the feasting.



And distributing it for all the restaurant patrons.



It is a norm to have meals sitting down on the floor.



Here is what I have ordered. (oops. I started starting the soup)



Directly opposite from our lunch area is the Ubud Palace.



It has some very well-preserved sculptures in there.



A 5-min walk from Ubud Palace down Jalan Monkey Forest road, pass the Tourist Information Centre, we arrive at Kou Cuisine. It is located at the left hand side of the street if you are walking down from Ubud Palace. We bought a few jams.



We also briefly walked past Ubud market.



For our second day in Ubud, we move to Rama Phala Resort and Spa. It is located a short distance from Coco Supermarket, the junction of Jalan Hanoman and Jalan Monkey Forest.



The exteriors of the hotels look nice.



The furnishings are also quite alright.



There is an open-sky shower. But there are 2 things which we do not like about here, and they are: the water has an iron smell to it. According to the hotel management, it is safe and they have already indicated there is an iron smell due to groundwater. Secondly, the sink is a bit too tall.



Other than that, the hotel looks nice, with a large pool for tourist to relax.



In the evening, we went to check out the Kecak dance. This performance is at Pura Datu Karu and we can get the tickets from the Tourist Information Centre. We bought the ticket at 7pm from a lady standing around the TIC and it is a 5mins walk north from there. It cost around 50k Rp for each person. It is said there are 100 performers for the Kecak dance.



The chants reminded me of Chinese / Japanese Buddhist chants. The rhythm is similar.



Anyway, the story of the Kecak tell that of the Ramayana, where Hanoman helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. It is around 1 hour long, and the atmosphere is just fascinating. It is a must watch for a visitors to Bali.



We got back to our hotel at 9.30pm and we ordered Pizza Bagus which promptly arrive at 10pm.



Breakfast is provided and we had pool-side dining.



In the afternoon, we went to check out more spa and massage. On the way there, we walked past the Monkey Forest and there are lots of adorable monkeys. Can you identify which are the real monkeys and which are the statues below?



We went to Venezia spa which has a good padi view from the room.



The many flowers and herbs which they used.



For dinner, we went to the famous Dirty Duck Diner.



It cost 255 Rp for the Balinese Smoke Duck set below. 1-day advance booking is required for this special order. There are other dishes in the menu and it is not required to have advanced booking.