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Monday, February 7, 2011

Eat, Santai, Love...Bali..-Feb2011-

It is our 1st wedding anniversary  (yeah, no more V day for us!) and Rahim is taking me to Bali! (I wrote this down 2 days before the visit....n its over now...huhuhuh..)

Yeah, so I visited Bali in 2009 and 2010, and now 2011?Hahaha, gonna make it as a yearly routine huh?Not sure..Have not pictured myself going to Bali again next year..Maybe Lombok is not a bad idea after all..Not that I dont like Bali, but I am gonna try out other romantic places such as Krabi, Sipadan, etc

There was no proper planning for this visit, and we were just thinking of having a free and easy trip.

Landed at Ngurah Rai Airport at 1pm in the afternoon, and without thinking, we went straight to Gunung Sari Restaurant located near the International departure entrance gate to have our lunch. We have had more than 5 meals here (from our previous visit), and I would say, not badd! This time around, we ordered Nasi Campur and Nasi Ayam Goreng, and the food was great! (Of course, I added 'Sup Asam Pedas' to the menu)..Price range? Rp30000 and below for a meal.

Nasi Campur at Gunung Sari
Managed to book a 3-days-2-nights stay in Kuta Seaview Boutique Resort &Spa few days before the trip though. Visit http://www.kutaseaviewhotel.com/ for more info on this luxurious/cosy boutique hotel.

Kuta Seaview from the street (Kuta beach)
Located in front of the famous Kuta Beach, few steps away from well-known Hard Rock Cafe/Hotel and a short walk away from the shopping malls,night life activities, etc, Kuta Seaview might not be your first choice if you were to visit Bali especially if you don't surf (and wish to be away from the people, noise, etc). But fear no more because even though Kuta Seaview is located on the busiest road in Bali, once you step in there, you'll forget that you are even in Kuta beach area. Its really serene, quiet and beautiful. With Balinese song playing on background, beautiful landscape surrounding all over the place and a nice refreshing apple-lemon juice/garland to greet you upon arrival, I think I have already fallen in love with this place at first sight..(and they have yet to show us our room). A beachfront restaurant (Rosso Vivo), a swimming pool with a sundeck, massage services, a bar with nightly live music, meeting rooms, and a tennis court are all amenities offered by the hotel. Price range? RM350++ for a normal deluxe room.

 Premier Deluxe Cottage
We were lucky because we have been upgraded to Premier Deluxe Cottage (means more service right?), since there is no available Lanai Deluxe Seaview Room that we initially booked (at first we thought seaview gonna be wonderful, but I have no problem with cottage since Kuta Beach is just few steps away). We were amazed by the room setting/design too. It smells expensive..hahaha..And we like the staffs too, they were very friendly to us (oh, I should write this comment on their website, in case they are giving me more discounts if I were to visit again..nah~)

We quickly took shower and changed our clothes (due to the fact that its really hot in the afternoon, and I smelled like shit!..haha), and went out for a short walk to get ourselves familiar with the area. Well, its freaking hot, and we couldnt stand the heat, so we went to swim at the pool 30mins after that. Oh, I just love the swimming pool setting/design. And it is more nicer at night.

Before dinner, we walked to Hard Rock Shop to get my sister a Bali Hard Rock t-shirt to add up to her collection (I had mine already, purchased in 2009, so I dont bother) and enjoyed our nice dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. New York Strip, Cajun Fish, Non-alcoholic Crushed Velvet and Berrilicious were our choice of foods that night (I have always loved Crushed Velvet, serves in Margarita Glass...my favvv...alala)..There was one local band performing that nite, which singing songs not to our liking, so we left early.And that's pretty much what we did that nite..well, I spelled "santai" as this blog title, which simply means "relax"..so wth?

Cajun Fish and New York Strip at Hard Rock Cafe
 The next day, we had our breakfast at Kuta Seaview restaurant - Rosso Vivo which serves breakfast buffet. You have to be extra careful if you are a Muslim, since even though we asked their staffs few times whether the food is halal or not, we can clearly see that pork ham is served together. I had bread, butter and jam..and few others for breakfast. Just to be on the safe side. :P

We rented a motorbike (or what they called "sepeda motor" in Bali) for Rp75K for one-day rental (which by negotiation, you can get it for only Rp50K), since we think that its an unusual thing to do for the fact that both I and Rahim do not have any motorbike license!Haha..Not a legal thing to do though, but we did it anyways...If you prefer a car, don't worry since the rental for a mini manual Suzuki Jeep costs only Rp150K a day. But bear in mind, Bali traffic is sooo bad! (Jalannya slalu aja macet), especially Kuta area, so if you were to drive a car, think again.

Bali area is very easy to understand. You just have to know what's located on north side of Bali (i.e. Seminyak, Tanah Lot), etc. Get a map, you should be ok. Since Rahim has a good sense of direction and can understand map very well, we dont have any problem to find places we wanted to go. And it was fun!!The Balinese were so nice and friendly, that couples of them stopped us to show us directions, and we didnt even asked.

Nusa Dua public beach


We kinda discovered a great place for swimming and "santai-ing". Simply follow directions to Nusa Dua, ask for Nusa Dua public beach direction, which does not offer any beach activities (i.e. parasailing, banana boat, etc), and wallllla~, you've found it..Most locals go to this beach if they were to spend some quality time with their family. Its also very near to Melia hotel and some other 5-stars hotels, and not crowded with people whom always try to sell your stuffs (i.e. Kuta beach area...sigh~~). Entrance fees? Nada~

We've called it "Hidden Nusa Dua Beach"..even though it is not really hidden...The water is very clear, similar to the one that we can find in Tioman Island, but not clear enough if you were to compare to Hapuna beach, Hawaii..but still, good enough for swimming.I just love the place, but decided not to swim because of the heat..(its 1pm when we arrived, so yeah, no more sun tanning activities for me)..I am already black, beautiful, and loving it!!hahaha

Oh ya, if you are looking for a beach that offers fun activities, you are actually referring to Tanjung Benoa. We went there during first visit so we didnt bother to go there again.



We continued our journey to GWK (pronounced Gay-Way-Ka), a cultural park which I love most about Bali. We had our lunch there; Nasi Timbel Komplit and Nasi Ayam Goreng, served with Mango Juice and hot tea, and went straight to take lots of photos! Entrance fees? Local Rp25000K, Others Rp50000K (try blending in with locals, they'll ended up charging u Rp25000K only...hihi)

And the love story continues...
  • Make a quick stop at Jimbaran - but didnt go to Jimbaran beach..well, I know that Jimbaran beach its famous for their seafood sunset dinner at the beach, but I've read few other travel blogs saying that nowadays it is already overrated; foods are more expensive and it's crowded sometimes..so we didnt bother to go there again. We've been there once...and its enough. Things you only do once!you'll never feel the same joy if you do it the second time

Jimbaran seafood sunset dinner at the beach

  • Went back to hotel, have a quick nap, swimming at the pool again..best!

    Kuta Seaview pool at nite
  • Dinner at Rosso Vivo- an Italian restaurant located at Kuta Beach, part of Kuta Seaview. Our food selection: a whole snapper with salads, and black-ink pasta with baby squid and spicy prawn; hot chocolate and blue pineapple. Enjoy nice music selection by Rosso Vivo and thats pretty much what we did that nite. Well, we've already spent a big amount of money on the room this time, why waste it?

Fettucine with baby squid and spicy prawn @ Rosso Vivo

  • The next morning, we had our breakfast at the hotel, checked out at 12pm, and went straight to Kuta Beach. Paid Rp200000K for manicure,pedicure and hair-braiding, and Rp170000k for beach-chair rental for 4 hours (its not supposed to be THAT expensive, last time we've paid around RP40000k for couple of hours...dang!..)

  • Afternoon nap at the beach. Santai~~
  • Took a shower and went straight to airport to have our lunch at Gunung Sari again. haha..oh ya, if you have more time, walk straight to the Domestic departure/arrival side of the airport, you'll find more restaurants serving halal food!
  • Kupang Sambel @ Gunung Sari

Till later y'all



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