Categories
Bali Photography

Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali

Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali

Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I last posted on my blog so will start with something simple and nice – Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali. 😛

Yeah, this time the location is overseas at Bali and I am helping my brother again. We (including my mum) also took the opportunity to sightsee since we are already here. Will work on the blog post soon. 🙂

Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali

Introducing the team:

Styling: Winnie Loo
Hair & Makeup: Angel Gwee
Photography Assistant: Ronald Tan
Model: Carmen Solis/ Diva Models

Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali

Weather was rather erratic as we went in March 2011 and it was wet season between the months of October to April. Nevertheless, we got lucky and had sunny skies for the morning during the shoot!

Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali

Enjoy the photos!

Photo Shoot at Kuta Beach, Bali

Close up shot of Carmen Solis. 🙂

Categories
Bali

A Day in Bali 4

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Today is our last day in Bali so after breakfast, we went to take a dip in the swimming pool as there wasn’t much time to go anywhere else and also we need to check-out latest by 12.30pm. I swam around for about 2 hours (until 11am) and then went back to room to take shower and pack up our stuffs.

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Our room at Kuta Beach Club – while waiting for my partner to use the bathroom, I had a bit of time so took some more photos of the room. Haha!

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Photo of the bathroom at Kuta Beach Club (which my my partner was complaining about). For the rest of the room photos, you may also refer to “A Day in Bali 1“.

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View from the private balcony in front of our room. There is also a clothes rack provided for you to hang out to dry your towels, board shorts, swimming gear, etc.

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Still had a bit of time before check-out so I relaxed at the private balcony…with my remaining Bintang beer

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After checking-out and leaving out luggage at Kuta Beach Club, we went out to have lunch at KFC. I wanted to try the A&W at Matahari but my friend, who have tried it previously during the trip said it wasn’t nice…

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The air-conditioned lower floor was packed so we went up to the 2nd floor, which is non air-conditioned. It was pretty warm as it’s 1pm in the day!

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Next, we took a taxi to Cozy Spa at Sunset Road Blok A/3 (North Simpang Siur), tel (0361) 766762. I have called to make a booking a few days ago for 4 person for 3 hours from 2pm to 5pm as our flight back to Singapore is at 10.20pm. It was planned so that we can have a relaxing massage and yet spend the time away. Please do call and make reservations as it’s very popular!

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Cozy Spa – Best Regular Spa Award.

Our selection:

  • Foot Reflexology Aromatherapy (1.5 hours)
  • Cozy Body Sensation Massage (1.5 hours)

I can’t remember the actual prices but it was around Rp 200,000 for each person for the above selection. Both the above are good but the Foot Reflexology Aromatherapy is outstanding and I highly recommended it!

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Front counter at Cozy Spa. Cozy Spa is a non-fanciful regular spa which offers very reasonable prices for their spa packages.

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Cozy Spa – Waiting area / drinks counter. Wait here for your name to be called and then will be led to room by the masseuse. For the body massage, you can specify whether you like you masseuse to be male or female. As for the foot reflexology, I understand that it’s all male.

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After the 3hrs of theraphy at Cozy Spa, we took a taxi back to Kuta Beach. Our favorite place! Haha!

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Almost sunset time at Kuta Beach…and then I spotted a white streak in the sky…was that a shooting star?

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Went to Hard Rock Hotel Bali to walk around again…

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Swimming pool at Hard Rock Hotel Bali. Seems fabulous!

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Entrance of Hard Rock Hotel Bali. The signage here is very popular for photo taking!

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At Hard Rock Hotel Bali- guitar used by “The Rolling Stones”

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Dinner time! My friend suggested to go to the nearby Hard Rock Cafe Bali.

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We were led to the 2nd floor of Hard Rock Cafe Bali. There was already some dinners around already.

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Hard Rock Cafe Bali – Caesar Salad.

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Hard Rock Cafe Bali – Grilled Marinated Chicken Breast Rp 119, 000.

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Hard Rock Cafe Bali – Cajun Fish Rp 99, 000.

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After our dinner at Hard Rock Cafe Bali, we took a slow stroll back to Kuta Beach Club to retrieve our luggage and then took a taxi to Ngurah Rai International Airport.

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Entrance of Ngurah Rai International Airport.

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We checked-in at Ngurah Rai International Airport and then walk around the shops. A starting incident happened is that we wasn’t aware that we had to pay Rp 150,000 per pax as departure tax at Ngurah Rai International Airport as we thought all the taxes was already inclusive in the air tickets. It wasn’t mentioned that we had to pay in the air tickets itinerary too. We’re lucky that we still have some rupiah left…

Anyway, we had a fabulous 5 days in Bali and even before leaving, we were already thinking of visiting Bali again! Goodbye Bali, visit you again soon!

Categories
Bali

A Day in Bali 3

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Usual routine of having breakfast at Kuta Beach Club but today we started the day a bit later as we only have snorkeling planned at 10am. The rest of the day will be pretty OTOT (own-time-own-target) so we are going to take things slowly…

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One of the interesting decorations at Kuta Beach Club.

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Waiting for the driver to come and fetch us for snorkeling at Nusa Dua. He’s late so I took the opportunity to take some day photos of Kuta Beach Club.

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Entrance of Kuta Beach Club. We waited for around 10mins before the driver arrived.

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Journey to Nusa Dua area didn’t take very long and we were brought to a water sports provider along Nusa Dua beach. Checked our snorkeling equipments and off to sea!

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Testing in open sea on the way to snorkeling with LX3 inside the DiCAPac WP-610 Waterproof Case. Click on link “DiCAPac WP610 Waterproof Underwater Case for LX3” to read the review of the case.

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Photos of fishes taken during snorkeling. It’s pretty difficult to take a good photo as the fishes are swimming around to eat the bread thrown by tourists. Yes, I wasn’t the only group there at the snorkeling site, there was around 6 to 7 boats crowding around.

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Yeah, there was a few scuba divers as well too! The snorkeling took around 1 hour and we took a rest before leaving Nusa Beach.

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While going up the vehicle to send us back to hotel, I spotted a lonely make-shift food stall…

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Back to hotel and then we wander out again – Passing by Ramayana Hotel and Spa (as always), it looks good and location (next to Kuta Beach Club) is great too!

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Rows of shops opposite our hotel (Kuta Beach Club). Our area is really convenient and there is also a 24hr convenience store next to Ramayana Hotel and Spa.

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For lunch, we had a quick bite at McDonald’s at Kuta. It was lunch time and it was pretty crowded, mostly with tourists.

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A very nice-looking restaurant. It look even more magnificent during the night!

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With nothing much on the itinerary, we headed off to Kuta Beach to take a stroll. It’s a beach holiday after all 🙂

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Kuta Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Bali.

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As usual, it’s a very nice weather at Kuta Beach. It’s warm so we sat down to have some Bintang beer (Rp 20,000 each) as well as to chat with some of the locals.

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Taken from our seat (with shelter from large umbrella). The surfboards are used for those who are taking any surfing lessons.

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After lazing around Kuta Beach for more than 2 hours and guzzling down 5 bottles of Bintang, it’s time to move on. We went in to Mecure Kuta Bali to have a look. My, this is a nice hotel too!

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Entrance of Mecure Kuta Bali.

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A nice looking restaurant with swimming pool within.

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Strolling around to sight-see…

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More of walking around. 🙂

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Passing by a restaurant/bar which had a poster – “We serve bloody cold beer”.

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Passing-by the 2002 Kuta bombing memorial that was built on the site of the destroyed Paddy’s Pub on Legian Street.

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Sky Garden Lounge – heard rave reviews about this place and the 3 storeys offers different lounge experience.

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Ordering an Italian ice-cream to cool down from the hot weather.

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Passing by a shop selling Bali kites. Kite flying seems to be a popular and traditional form of entertainment/sport for Balineses.

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Paddy’s Club, believed to be the re-opened Paddy’s Pub.

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Uluwatu – Hand made Balinese Lace. We didn’t go in but I remembered reading that they offer high quality lace.

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Dinner time! We went around Kuta (Poppies) to look for a place to dine, after comparing a few, we settled for Un’s Restaurant!

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Un’s Restaurant – Complimentary frozen margarita. This rocks!

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Un’s Restaurant – Superb setting and ambiance! We were given seats outdoor.

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Un’s Restaurant – We were given complimentary chicken nugget before our main course. Completely surprised by this!

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Un’s Restaurant – Mango juice Rp 12,000. My partner had Banana juice Rp 12, 000.

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Un’s Restaurant – It started to drizzle slightly and we were moved indoors. It was a good move as towards the end, the rain was pouring down fiercely!

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Un’s Restaurant – Red snapper fillet Rp 89,000. Fantastic!

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Un’s Restaurant – Greek Salad Rp 39,000.

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Un’s Restaurant – Complimentary Krupuk.

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Un’s Restaurant – Rendang Beef Rp 55,000. The total for the dinner came up to Rp 241,362 (inclusive of 6% service and 10% tax). The meal at Un’s Restaurant was one of the best I had in Bali and I highly recommended that you dine here too!

The rain have started to cease and we hurriedly made our way back to hotel to meet up with our friends to try to finish up the Absolut Berri Vodka. We also did some swimming in the night and it’s cold! Tomorrow will be our last day in Bali and time seems to pass by so fast when you are having fun. Nevertheless, we still look forward to spend another fulfilling day in Bali!

Categories
Bali

A Day in Bali 2

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The next morning, after breakfast at Kuta Beach Club, we met up with Ketut

(our English-speaking driver) at 9am at our hotel lobby. Check out “A Day in Bali 1” for my review of him!

Today’s itinerary is as follows:

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After around 2 hours of winding journey (going into the hilly areas), we reached Jatiluwih Rice Terraces. It lives up to it’s name

Jatiluwih as Jati and luwih, where Jati mean really and Luwih mean beautiful. Jatiluwih is a favorite tourist destination in Bali,

famous with the beautiful rice terrace unfolding from the foot of mountain until the coastal side.

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A local passing by with his cow at Jatiluwih Rice Terrace.

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We met a local couple taking wedding photographs at Jatiluwih Rice Terrace and asked for their permission to take as well, which

they kindly obliged. 🙂

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You can take a breather here while enjoying the magnificent view of Jatiluwih Rice Terraces.

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Beautiful panorama scenery of Jatiluwih Rice Terraces.

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Time for lunch and we went to Labhagga Restaurant Pacung which offers superb views of Pacung Rice Terrace while you dine.

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Labhagga Restaurant Pacung is located at Jl. Raya Baturitim Tabananm Bali and is buffet-styled. The buffet lunch costs Rp 85,000 for each adult and we

also ordered 2 large Bintang at Rp

30,000 each as well as 1 lemon juice at Rp 12,5000. Total for 4 person adds up to Rp 495,000 (including Rp 41,250 tax and Rp 41,250 service).

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Wide variety of food selection at Labhagga Restaurant Pacung. Many more available too!

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My first serving at Labhagga Restaurant Pacung. 🙂

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The nice view of rice terraces and the mountain from our table while having lunch. There is no need for fans/air-con as Pacung is

in the highland with cooler temperature.

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A close-up view of the Pacung rice terraces.

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While leaving Labhagga Restaurant Pacung, saw a few locals playing music outside…

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Next destination is Gitgit Waterfall, which Ketut (our driver) recommended to go after lunch as we need the energy boost.

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The reason being that we need to walk for approximately 30 mins before reaching the waterfall and the terrain is relatively rough,

with uphills and downhill climbs.

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Passing by a group of children playing around…

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Gitgit Twin Waterfall.

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Gitgit Twin Waterfall (in dynamic mode). Wonder why this trip I am playing so much of the dynamic feature…hahaha!


Children Playing Tarzan at Gitgit Waterfall, Bali, Indonesia

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A shop selling various products – drinks, spices, souvenirs, etc. Well, it’s not cheap here…

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Magnificent view of Gitgit Waterfall. You can feel the energy of the water from here!

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Alright, time to leave Git Git waterfall…passing by some shops on the way out.

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Following, we went to Pura Ulun Danu (Lake Bratan).

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Magnificent architecture at Pura Ulun Danu Bratan.

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You can go for a cruise if you like and enjoy the cool weather…

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Pura Ulun Danu (Lake Bratan). What a heavenly-like

view!

Pura Ulu Danu was built in the 17th century on highland Lake Bratan. This gem-like temple is half on the mainland, half on a tiny

island. The complex is dedicated to Vishnu, the preserver, in his guise as Dewi Danu, who protects all living creatures. Small

and charming, it comments on the spirit of place without leaving a big footprint. A peaceful, shimmering vision.

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Locals fishing around Pura Ulun Danu (Lake Bratan). Wonder whether they

have caught anything?

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At another quieter area of Pura Ulun Danu (Lake Bratan)…

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For those interested to take cruises, you may do so here. There are various transport available – speed boats, atap boat, sampan,

etc.

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My friend wanted to go pick strawberries but they are not in-season yet (mentioned by our driver as well!). How are the

strawberries in Bali? Are they any good?

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On the way to Tanah Lot, we were caught up in a massive jam

and our vehicle wasn’t moving at all. Also, in Bali, most areas only have 1 lane for each way. As it’s taking too long, our driver

suggested that we walk instead so as not to miss the sunset at Tanah Lot. The jam was acutally caused by a kite competition! The

kites are huge and protruding out from the vehicle body, which made the transporting very slow!

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Some of the locals who participated in the kite competition gladly posed for us to take photos.

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Entrance fees for Tanah Lot is Rp 10,000 per pax. Think we

have walked for 30 mins and have not reached yet….hahaha!

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Finally reached and we just missed the sunset at Tanah

Lot…. so sad!

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Beautiful panorama of Tanah Lot Temple.

Excerpt from Wikipedia.org (Tanah Lot)

Tanah Lot is a rock formation off the Indonesian island of Bali. It is home of a pilgrimage temple, the Pura Tanah Lot

(literally “Tanah Lot temple”) and a popular tourist and cultural icon for photography and general exoticism.

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Sunset at Tanah Lot.

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This area holds the holy snake, where you can pay to have a look… 🙂

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Queuing at Tanah Lot Temple. Wonder what is that for?

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Superb sunset view at Tanah Lot.

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Sunset at Tanah Lot. Still lots of people around capturing

the moments!

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Walking out to the carpark from Tanah Lot and passing by the

many retail shops. We left before the large crowd at Tanah Lot left but was still caught in the massive jam. It’s probably due to

the the after-effect of the previous jam as well as the peak hour. It took us around 1.5 hours to reach back to Kuta Beach Club (our hotel) and after-which, we thank Ketut for his good service for the 2 days. We decided to

split up with our friends to have some romantic time on our own (they also need so!). 😛

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For dinner, we took a taxi from Kuta Center to Warung Sobat at Jl Batu Belig No. 11A kerobokan Kuta.

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Interior of Warung Sobat. Fantastic ambiance!

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Warung Sobat – Fresh Garden Salad Rp 15,000.

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Warung Sobat – Spring Roll Rp

10,000.

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Warung Sobat – Griglia Mistro Marinara Rp 32,000. It’s a seafood mixed grill consisting of tuna fish, ocean fish, calamari and prawns.

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Warung Sobat – Scampi Fritti Rp

27,000.

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Warung Sobat – complimentary dessert. What a nice gesture! it’s good too!

We also had 2 large Bintang at Rp

27,000 each and total for the dinner is Rp 138,000. Very reasonable pricing and yet superbly tasty! Hmmm…I think I prefer Warung Sobat over Made’s

Warung… 🙂

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After dinner, we went to Hard Rock Hotel Bali.

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CenterStage at Hard Rock Hotel Bali, which hosts a live band every

evening. Initially, we wanted to have a drink here before we end the night, but the place was way too smoking for us so decided to

just take a walk around Hard Rock Hotel.

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Walk around for a while and took some photos. Then, we strolled back to our hotel for an early rest as we had a long day.

Tomorrow, we will be going snorkeling at Nusa Dua. I had

initially planned to go Nusa Lembongan but then decided to go for a simple one instead. For the snorkeling package, it was arranged

by Ketut (our driver) for USD20 per person for 1 hour of snorkeling (inclusive of equipment and boat rental). There will be someone

to fetch us from our hotel the next morning at 10am. 🙂

Categories
Bali

A Day in Bali 1

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We met up with our English-speaking driver at 8.30am (after breakfast at Kuta Beach Club) at our hotel lobby. I have booked for his services via email before reaching Bali and he charged Rp 400,000 per day (around 10 hours) which includes 7 passenger vehicle with air-con, driver, gasoline and parking fees. After engaging 2 full days of his services (visiting around Bali), I found him to be honest, polite, safe (driving), punctual and willing to accommodate (change of plans, itinerary taking more the 10 hours, etc). Highly recommended! I forgot to take a photo with Ketut but I will definitely use his services again when I travel to Bali the next round! His contact details are below:

Driver: Ketut Darmayasa
Email: ketut_balidarma@yahoo.com
Hp: +62 85237151520

Today’s itinerary will be:

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First stop – Ubud market. If you are interested in cultural shopping, you may visit Tohpati Village (hand-made Balinese batik), Celuk Village (Silver craft centre), Lodtuduh Village (painting craft) and Mas Village (Wood carving) while on the way to Ubud.

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Food and drinks stall in Ubud market.

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Ubud market- Balinese bamboo wind chimes.

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An overview of Ubud market. It was slightly drizzling when we were there. 🙁

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Ubud market – wet area where many food products are sold to the locals.

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Balinese performing their morning prayers at a temple located at Ubud market.

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Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka at Jl. Tegal Sari No 2. Ubud. It was not opened yet when we arrived so we waited around for a while. It’s better to be early than late as they close once they sell out for the day. By the way, Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka was also recommended by Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations show. 🙂

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We got a table inside and made our orders – Daging Babi Guling Rp 40,000, Sprit (drink) Rp 7,000, Fanta (drink) Rp 7,000 and Krupuk (crackers) Rp 7,000.

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Daging Babi Guling Rp 40,000 at Warung Babi Guling. This is superbly tasty! Yum yum! We only ordered a small portion to share as we wanted to go on tasting other delicacies.

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Next, we ask Ketut (driver) to bring us to Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner) which was located a stones throw away at Padang Tegal, Ubud.

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The interior of Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner) – very spacious area with Indonesian-styled seating on a raised platform. Fantastic setting and ambiance!

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Famous Bebel Bengil Crispy Duck Rp 68,000 at Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner). This rocks!

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We also ordered Barbecue Pork Ribs Rp 65,000 at Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner). I still prefer the Bebel Bengil Crispy Duck! 😛

Other then the above, we also ordered 1 Avocado Juice Rp 24,000 and 1 Mango Juice Rp 26,000. Total for the meal is Rp 211,365 (including 5% service and 10% tax).

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While eating halfway, it started to rain and we got stuck in the our pavilion so we really took our time to consume our food. For every pavilion, I noted there was 2 waitresses around waiting for any call for service. When it was raining, they also quickly help to lower the blinds to shield us from the splashing rain. The rain was big but short…and we were able to continue with our journey.

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Next destination, we went to Tegallalang Rice Terrace.

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Tegallalang Rice Terrace – offering a spectacular view of rice terraces.

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Tegallalang Rice Terrace is also known for having the longest row of art shops in the whole of Bali. I had initially planned to have lunch here but we were too full after the breakfast at our hotel and snacks at Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka and Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner). Haha!

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Next, we went to Kintamani (Mount Batur), which is an active volcano and it has erupted about 24 times since year 1800 and still active up to now. On the right side is Lake Batur, the largest lake in Bali and is used as an irrigation source. With the beautiful panorama and cooling weather, it is clearly the must-visit place for tourists!

For those more who are more adventurous, you can try trekking at Mt. Batur to catch the sunrise, you start the trek around 2am and trek for 3hours before reaching the optimal point for watching the sunrise. I wanted to plan for this but had violent reactions from my travel mates. Haha!

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Following, we went to a Oka Agro Wisata Bali (Farm / Coffee plantation) at Br. Temen, Susut, Bangli (Jurusan Tampaksiring – Kintamani) Bali. Here you can see a Balinese roasting out Bali Coffee.

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Guess what? The famous coffee seeds that are digested and then dumped out by Luwak (Asian Palm Civet). From left to right, coffee seeds that are dumped out, coffee seeds that are cleaned and coffee powder (roasted and grounded). I didn’t dare to open the container which has the dumped out coffee seeds to take a whiff. Haha!

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We were given some samples for tasting. From left to right, ginger tea, lemongrass tea, chocolate, Bali coffee and ginseng coffee. I find all of them nice! By the way, they also sell the powder here so if there is anything to your liking, you can buy it. We bought 1 packet of 450g natural lemongrass tea (100% organic) at Rp 180,000.

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Free Bali tobacco for anyone who smokes! Natural as well! ^^;

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There is a kept Luwak (Asian Palm Civet) for all visitors to view. The Luwak must be sniggering that all these folks are eating my dump! Wahaha!

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Since we are here, just gotta try the Luwak Coffee at Rp 30,000 per cup. I thought it was very aromatic but too heavy for my taste but nevertheless, it’s still a very good coffee! My friend said it was not his cup of tea, of course it’s not, because it’s a cup of coffee! Wahaha! Corny joke… 😉

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Uluwatu Temple – Please take off your glasses, hats, earrings, hair pins or anything loose. Otherwise, the monkeys around will snatch it away from you!

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Fantastic view of the cliff and the ocean.

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Uluwatu Temple, built on the cliffs of Indian Ocean.

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Here comes the monkeys…there are many of them and they are very fast! If they managed to snatch anything away from the tourists, there are some locals around to help recover the item by feeding the monkeys. In return, they ask for tips from the tourist when they are returning the item. This incident was witnessed by me!

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Pura Luhur Uluwatu is one of Bali’s kayangan jagat (directional temples) and guards Bali from evil spirits from the SW, in which dwell major deities, in Uluwatu’s case; Bhatara Rudra, God of the elements and of cosmic force majeures. Visitors are not allowed into the temple’s compound.

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Look at the amount of people around to catch the sunset. The further end is a circular stage where many people are gathering around to get good seats to watch an art dance called Kecak Dance, which is held every night at Uluwatu Temple. It costs Rp 70,000 and starts at 18:00.

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Sunset at Uluwatu Temple (landscape).

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Sunset at Uluwatu Temple (portrait).

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Sunset at Uluwatu Temple (portrait & using dynamic mode).

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Sunset at Uluwatu Temple. The sun is dissappearing soon and we chose to leave before the rest of the tourists move off to avoid any jam in the carpark.

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Finally, it dinner time and we headed off to Jimbaran Bay for seafood. We took a while to locate the Lia Cafe Jimbaran (my choice as it’s reasonably priced) as our driver wasn’t too sure of the place. The other place in Jimbaran Bay, which I will try if I have more time will be Sharkey’s Seafood.

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Fresh seafood for selection at Lia Cafe Jimbaran.

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You dine at the beach area overlooking the sea. For those who are able to come earlier, you can catch the sunset from here too!

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Too dark here, so I have to use the flash to show you what’s on the table. 🙂 We ordered a large Bintang beer here for Rp 30,000.

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Here comes our side dishes – soup, salad, potatoes, rice, vegetable and 4 different types of sauce.

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Lia Cafe Jimbaran – Paket (package) B consists of fish (0.5 kg), crab (0.5 kg), prawn (7 pcs), clams (7 pcs), 2 soft drinks, soup, salad, potatoes, rice, vegetable, 4 different types of sauce and dessert (fruits) for Rp 200,000. My friends had this!

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Lia Cafe Jimbaran – Paket (package) C consists of lobster (0.5 kg), crab (0.5 kg), prawn (7 pcs), clams (7 pcs), 2 small bintang beer, soup, salad, potatoes, rice, vegetable, 4 different types of sauce and dessert (fruits) for Rp 290,000. My partner and I had this! We both love it!

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I think we had dinner for almost 1.5 hours and Ketut (driver) waited patiently at the carpark for us to finish. By the time he sent us back to hotel, it was already 9.40pm and over 13 hours since he met up with us in the morning at 8.30am. No complains from Ketut. Superb attitude!

Passing by the hotel bar area and there was a live band going on. It was a Saturday night!

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The receptionist at Kuta Beach Club told us that our room have been changed to a double bed configuration. They have previously told us to pack our luggage and they will move it to the new room once it’s ready (since we are out). So here comes the photos of the room…the table lamps are of different colour…

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Kuta Beach Club – Standard Double Bed room. Well, I got the room (at a good location) at around S$100 per room per night so it’s decent enough for me but my partner was complaining about the dirtiness of the washroom, the bedsheets, mosquitoes, etc, etc, etc…

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Kuta Beach Club – our double bed room is on the ground floor as opposed to the twin bed which was on the second floor. I believe all room types comes with their very own private balcony for relaxing but this particular location is good as it faces the swimming pool!

The next day, Ketut (driver) will be meeting us at the lobby at 9am. The itinerary is as follows:

Please do check back again!

Categories
Bali

A Day in Bali

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Hi all, how are you doing? Guess where I am? 😛

I am at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 waiting for the 1905hr Jetstar Asia flight to Bali, Indonesia. For this trip, there will be a change as it not just me and my partner; my friends (another couple) will be joining as well.

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Stop by DFS (Duty free shop) and bought 1 bottle of Cape Mentelle (red wine) S$30, 1 bottle of Larrikin Barro (white wine) S$32 and 1 bottle of Absolut Berri Vodka S$26.10 so that we can consume it while in Bali.

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The flight took around 2hours 30mins and it around 2205hr when we reached. Walking out from Ngurah Rai Airport (Denpasar, Bali).

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Then we went to queue at the Taxi Service counter (right side after you get out of the entrance) to get our voucher (Rp 50,000) to Kuta Beach Club.

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Taxi ride took around 20mins due to the traffic and we finally reached our hotel – Kuta Beach Club.

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After we checked-in, I walk around the lobby and snap the entrance view of Kuta Beach Club. I have made reservation for double bed but was given twin bed as the hotel was running full. This was rather disappointing as the reservation was made on 22nd March 2010, about 4 months from our check in date.

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Welcome drink at the lobby of Kuta Beach Club, Bali.

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First Bintang beer of the trip! Think it was the most expensive I had of the trip too (Rp 45, 000 for 1 large Bintang)!

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Had our snacks at this nice-looking restaurant where the food was anything but good. It was rather expensive (see beer price above) as well and clearly a tourist trap. Haha! After the dinner, we went back to the hotel to have some Vodka before going to bed.

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The next morning, we had breakfast buffet (inclusive) at Kuta Beach Club. Decent but nothing to shout about…

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Nice view of lobby of Kuta Beach Club in the day. We went to the reception after breakfast to request for a change of room to double bed – managed to get 1 room changed and was promised the other change the following day.

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Next, we went back to room to change and head off to the swimming pool. Yeah!

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Photo taken with DiCAPac WP610 Waterproof Underwater Case for LX3. Click on link to read the review of the case.

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Sunken pool bar where you can order drinks while swimming but it doesn’t start business till around 11am.

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Around the pool area, there is facilities for playing table tennis (free) if you like to.

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Following the swim, we showered, got changed and then went out to walk around to grab lunch as well as sightsee.

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Rip Curl shop in Kuta. My friend got a pair of slippers here.

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Passing by Hard Rock.

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Then we went to Kuta Beach to walk around. What a nice beach!

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Along Kuta Beach, there are many peddlers around selling sarongs, drinks, tempoaray tattoo, massage, surfing lessons, etc.

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Lunch at Salvador which is along Kuta Beach. They offer water pipe (Sisha) smoking too!

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Giant Beach Burger Rp 37,000. Yummy! We also had 3 large Bintang beer at Rp 29,000 each.

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Cheese Burger Rp 25,000.

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Spaghetti Marinara Rp 32,000. It was tasty though I would prefer it a bit more wet.

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My friend bought a coconut from this stall along Kuta Beach but he said it wasn’t nice…and threw it away…

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Mercure Kuta Bali – The hotel is just along the beach and it looks fantastic! I had initially considered to book this hotel but as we are not going to hang around too much in the hotel/beach, I thought it is more appropriate to go for a hotel which costs lower and of reasonable location away.

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It’s a hot day so we went to Matahari to walk around and also to enjoy the air-con. There is a supermarket in Matahari as well so please get your drinking water, snacks, beer, etc here as the prices are generally much lower than other retail shops.

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You can try the Fish Spa Therapy at Matahari at Rp 100, 000 for 20 minutes.

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Bali Hai beer at Rp 15,500, bought from the mini mart beside our hotel (Kuta Beach Club).

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Also got Bintang Beer at Rp 17,000.

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Around evening time, we stroll beach to Kuta Beach. Bali is truly nice beach holiday destination!

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It’s almost sunset and many people are already gathering around to see it. Kuta beach is known for it’s fantastic sunset view!

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Enjoying the sunset view at Kuta Beach.

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Another sunset view at Kuta Beach.

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The sun is almost gone…

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Went back to Kuta Beach Club to freshen up. Above photo shows the area where we had our breakfast in the morning.

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There is also a pool table beside the swimming pool. I know it’s chargeable but I can’t remember the rates.

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Out on the streets again.. this time for our dinner at Made’s Warung Kuta.

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Horse carriage for rental. Remember to negotiate if you like to go for a spin…ermm…horse ride.

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Dinner at the famous Made’s Warung at Kuta. There was already a long queue when we reached!

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The interior of Made’s Warung. I wanted to sit upstairs as it’s not so crowded but my friend retorted that it might be warm and I told him that there are windows/fans upstairs. Nevertheless, we still got a table downstairs (courtesy of my friend) just in front of the entrance – with the company of many waiting customers behind us and the free smell of carbon monoxide from the vehicles that whizzes by. Now this is hot (& smelly)!

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Made’s Warung – view from the 2nd storey.

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Made’s Warung – Lumpia Udang (Shrimp Spring Roll) Rp 25,000.

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Made’s Warung – Sate Chicken Rp 30,000.

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Made’s Warung – Curry Chicken (comes with rice) Rp 65,000. This is very good!

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Made’s WarungCaesar Salad Rp 40,000.

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Made’s WarungGado Gado Rp 25, 000.

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Made’s WarungNasi Campur Special Rp 55,000. Total bill came up to Rp 306, 000 for 4 persons, other then those dishes mention above, we also had 1 Aqua Rp 7,000, 2 Banana Honey Juice Rp 30,000, 1 Mango Juice Rp 15,000 and 2 Nasi Putih Rp 14,000.

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Walking back to Kuta Beach Club and passing by Hard Rock again.

Going to have an early night we have booked a driver to bring us around for the whole day tomorrow. The itinerary will be

  • Ubud
  • Tegallalang Rice Terrace
  • Kintamani Volcano
  • Coffee Plantation
  • Uluwatu Temple
  • Jimbaran Bay (Seafood)

Check back again!