Birthday Trip to Bali, Indonesia

It has been a very long time since I opened and updated this blog. Although I have been traveling quite a it, I haven't posted anything for reasons that: I'm very busy and have no time to blog.
Okay...I'm trying to make excuses about this, I have to admit, I'm not a good writer and I just have very little patience when it comes to writing my thoughts. But I have decided that if I share my travels with people in the net, maybe, in some ways, I can contribute in helping others with anything and everything, like all other bloggers who have helped me by giving insights regarding places I am about to go, by checking their blogs in the net.

So here goes.... Welcome to my first blog in ages....hello to Bali, Indonesia!!

Before I went to Bali, I was not really that excited in going there as I live near Boracay, and I am a big fan of Palawan, that I was sure that Bali will not impress me. But thanks to the low fares of Cebu Pacific... I decided to just grab the flights when the fare sale advert flashed in my laptop!

The Welcome Fruit Basket in our Hotel Room

 Arriving in Bali's Denpasar Airport....I noticed the airport in Bali, since we arrived in the old airport, is un impressive. However, the new airport is going to open soon, targeting the year end of 2013. The airport is small. When I got out of the airport, there were money changers. My advice is not to change a lot of your currencies as the exchange rate is bad here. Try to change in USD to Indonesian Rupee. Exchange rate as of June 15 2013 at the airport is 1 usd = 9500 rupee. The rates outside are 1 usd = 9830 rupee. Also avoid trying to change your peso to rupee. You will end up getting half of what you can get if you changed to USD.

Next that I learned is, upon exiting the airport, make sure to get the taxi from the official taxi queue outside the airport. Many drivers will try to talk you in getting their cab, knowing that you are clueless, they will say they charge you half the price, when in fact, they charge double the price! So we grabbed the cab... And off we headed to Nusa Dua. I swear and I really recommend, that if budget allows, try to stay at the Laguna Resort Nusa Dua. I have stayed in many other hotels before, but with this one...I have no complains at all specially the service! The hotel has a private beach and it has a big and small man-made lagoons inside the resort.

At the Laguna Resort Nusa Dua

The private beach of The Laguna Resort Nusa Dua

The Hotel room in the Laguna Resort Nusa Dua

Upon checking in I was very impressed with the hotel. It was massive and beautiful! From its pool, to it's spa and sports gym facilities, it's simply beautiful! The receptionist asked us to sit down, gave us our welcome drinks, while they made the check-in procedures. When I got in the room, I was very impressed. I love the fact that birds just come to our balcony and the view of nature is just fantastic. So, we had a nap, then went for a swim in the beach in the afternoon and then to its lagoon pools and fake waterfalls. The ambience of the resort is really nice. Check out their website: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=277

The private beach

Balinese Cultural Dancer

Dinner on our first night in Bali was amazing! We went to have a seafood dinner at Jimbaran Bay. It is an experience that I suggest everyone who comes to Bali should try! The beach is amazing! It's so different from all the beaches in the world, because the waves are so strong and big..it is even scary yet fascinating. The strong waves makes a big smashing noise all the time. There are many seafood restaurants lining up at Jimbaran Bay, all with candlelight dinners by the beach, each with its own entertainment. In our restaurant, there was a Balinese cultural dance, while I can see that from the other restaurant beside ours, there was fire-dancing as entertainment. The fire-dancers are so well trained that their talent and skills in this surpasses that of those fire dancers in the beaches in Boracay, Philippines.

At the Monkey Forest

The next day, we went to rent a car! Car rentals here are so cheap! USD 20 dollars a day for self drive! Our only mistake is that we didn't hire a driver! I suggest you hire a driver it's just going to cost you an additional of max 20 usd for 10 hrs a day, but it will save you the hassle of driving at the traffic in Bali! My travel companion, who is also a Manila driver, cursed that Bali is the worst place for traffic that he has ever driven! For every day we drove, we have always wasted 4 hrs minimum in the traffic! So if you want to be saved from all these hassles, hire a local driver as they know the road very well, and the shortcuts! It's Cheap yet we didn't take it, thinking we would love the adventure of driving in Bali, but later, regretted 100% that we didn't hire a driver! It was tiring! Also the gas is so cheap, it was only usd 0.40 per liter! Gedde, from autobali.com is very reliable and offers very reasonable price. On our second day, we went to Ubud! We went to a restaurant in Ubud Went to visit the Monkey Forest. For first time tourists in Bali, a must see! Entrance to the monkey forest is around 2 USD per person. Not bad at all. Just make sure to take off the sunglasses in your head, when a monkey approaches you. A cute little monkey went to me and jumped to my head, and I thought he was so cute, until he tried to get my sunglasses. Luckily, I managed to get it first. Yet he didn't give up, and took the flower hairclips in my hair! So just be careful. And if the monkey gets stuff from you, never try to grab it back as the monkey might bite you! Instead, take my advice and hide your belongings in your bag! We went driving around Ubud area, if you come early, try to visit this area as its full of artsy stuff for souvenirs, from wood to ceramics.

That night,we went to Take Japanese Restaurant in Legian, Bali. I very much recommend this restaurant for authentic Japanese cuisine. The owner is there as well in the restaurant almost all the time involve in its operations. We tried another Japanese restaurant the day after, called Fukutaro near the entrance of Nusa Dua. I tell you, this restaurant doesn't come near to the quality and authenticity comparing to "Take" Japanese restaurant. Anyways, my tip is this.... Try not to do a self-drive when renting a car in Bali. For an additional of a max of 20 USD for a driver, you can avoid getting stuck in traffic as the Bali drivers knows their way around. Enjoy Bali!!! :)