Bali 2.0 day 8

My last full day in Bali before i fly off tomorrow. I thought I should talk a bit about my bargained accommodation.

Like I mentioned earlier, it cost only RP180,000 per night and it comes with breakfast. The room is not very posh but it comes with an ensuite bathroom. It doesn’t comes with water heater but in Bali, you don’t really need one. The B&B also comes with a swimming pool. Seriosly, what’s more to ask, right!

This B&B being situated in Poppy Lane 2, is close to the happenings at night, and yet near to the very accommodating surf at Kuta Beach.

The only draw back about this place is that it could be very noisy at night. One will hear the noises from the entertainment clubs and pub nearby and the tendency of the drunken backpackers playing around the pool in the middle of the night. But then again, for a price of RP180,000, this is not something to complain about.

I spent the rest of the day buying last minute gifts for friends, and another surf session in the late afternoon.

The night was spent at the ever favorite Sky Garden Club along Legian Street. Being a saturday night, the crowd was crazy and the show was entertaining…… party the night away as I know the next time I visit Bali again will be another long time to go.

Bali 2.0 day 7

Nothing much happening today, other than watching some pro surfing and finding a nice spot to chill and relax for the rest of the day. This is what vacation is all about!

Bali 2.0 day 6

When you’re at the same place for more than 5 days, everything just started to settle down like a norm. I woke up earlier to go for a surf. Surf wasn’t as good as the other day. The waves were just closing up as soon as they started to break.

The rest of the day was just spent walking around Kuta, dropped in to a local warung, had Bakso and local balinese coffee, then started to talk with some local Balinese. It’s funny how although Malay and Indonesian share similar language, there’re many terms and slang that are unique to each of these languages. I had fun using Malay to speak with the locals and learn up some Indonesian.

Kuta beach during sunset can get really crowded. I’m amazed at how groups and groups of tourist from different part of the world gather at the beach to hang out and to catch the sunset.

On the other end of Kuta beach, there’s this “save the turtle” campaign that were giving the general public to adopt a small sea turtle by releasing them into the sea.  This is also their fundraising activities so that they can have enough fund to continue their sea turtle conservation program.

The crowd at the beach just continue to grow at dust. I continued to stay on for awhile until I felt that I have enough of it. Tomorrow, I’ll need to unwind at a more quiet beach. Canggu will definitely be the place to be for tomorrow.

Bali 2.0 day 5

Woke up extremely early in the morning and head out to Canggu beach for some early chill-lax time.

I have planned out to do a long ride out from Kuta to Tanah Lot today. So Canggu is my pit stop before I continue on my journey.

The scenery just got nicer as I was moving further away from the party town of Kuta. There’re many local balinese houses scattered around at between the many paddies field. What a sight!

Then, after the long but interesting ride, I was encountering a sight that have been very much featured in travel brochures and magazines, the Tanah Lot temple!

It’s so beautiful that one must be there to witness the charm of Tanah Lot. Apparently the temple was built back in 15th century. The structure of the temple does look solid to me and will probably be there until the next century.

I was truly marvelled by the temple site! The temple and the background really makes up a good photo shot subject. Of course, one needs to snap a pic with the iconic temple as background to prove that one has been to this part of Bali.

There’s a Kecak Dance happening at the site at 6.30pm every evening. But a ticket of 20,000 rupiah is needed to witness the traditional dance. So I just though it wasn’t worth that money and time to wait on till the dance.

After that, it was time to head back to the party town, Kuta. Whatever’s happening tomorrow, I’m not sure. But I’ll keep it as relaxing as possible!

Bali 2.0 day 4

Woke up kinda late today, at almost 10am. Well, I’m on holiday, so not pressing for time at all. That’s the luxury of a true breakaway. And as planned, getting myself ready to go surfing. But first, the board needed a good coat of wax. Then it was a long walk through the Poppies Lane to the beach with my surfboard.

The waves were very forgiving this round and good for me to get back into surfing again. I realised that I’m not as good as before, maybe because my body is more tuned towards a runner rather than a surfer now.

It was a good 1 hour plus of surfing session before I head back to my room. I thought that was enough for the first day and maybe come back again the day after.

The rest of the afternoon was just checking out the rest of Kuta until evening.

Next day’s plan is to check out Tanah Lot at further north from Seminyak. So it’s another early night for a good rest.

Bali 2.0 day 2

It’s a beautiful morning at Kuta. Well…. waking up at a place away from home is always refreshing. Because it’s been working non-stop since December, I didn’t want to stay around Kuta and decided to head north towards Seminyak area, hoping to look for a quieter beach and town.

It was a wise choice as the beaches there are definitely less crowded and not many hustler who try to sell massages or handicrafts.

The township at Seminyak is also surrounded by many paddies field, making it such a beautiful settings for photo shootings.

Didn’t really do much else other than discovering my survival’s essentials for the next 1 week at Bali. Those being getting to know where’s the cheapest mini-market, the cheapest Warung or eating places nearby.

The night was concluded with the walk down the beach front of Kuta beach and just watching what’s going on and happening at this Bali’s capital of tourist (the actual capital of Bali is Denpasar).

Going for a jog down the beach tomorrow morning. That would be fun!

Welcome to Bali 2.0

Hello Bali again! Touched down at Bali this afternoon, and it felt great!

This is my second time to Bali, and I’ve made advance arrangement with my trusted local Balinese friend, Froggy, to arrange transport and accommodation for me.

Arrived in the afternoon, so first stop was to go for lunch. Froggy took me to this famous Nasi Padang (Padang rice) nearby the airport.

They have so many varieties of dishes to choose from. We asked to have all being served to our table and we would just take whichever dish we want from the many choices.

Got a room at Poppies Lane II and it’s going for RP180,00 per night. Works out about RM60++ per night. Not too bad, considering that it comes with pool facilities. 

Pretty much just rested the rest of the days as I got up way too early to catch the flight. Another 8 days on this beautiful island. Can’t  wait to explore something new.

Chinese Opera

Was at Penang over the weekend to help out with my friend’s proposal to her gf. Of course, she said yes to him!

The very next day, we went for cheap but awesome tasty seafood at Bukit Tambun for dinner.

In front of the restaurant, there was a makeshift stage with a chinese opera play happening. What a slowly lost art nowadays. I hope this unique art would stay on as time passes!

Xi Men Ding

The local call it the Movie Town, or Movie district. Xi Men Ding is just a brief walk away from my hotel. A look at it made me felt as though I’m in Japan. Flashy neon light sign board, and large TV screen hanging on the side of the talk building.

Once you walk into the cluster of shopping district, you get lost in many interesting fashion boutiques for the young and hip. The only thing I regrated was that I didn’t spend more time to stay and explore Taipei city.

 

Things would get more interesting at night in this area. There’re different street that dedicated for different kind of things. I.e., there’s a street famous for renowned tattoo artist in Taiwan, and a street dedicated to selling all kind of costumes.

Next to the happening Xi Men Ding is the historical land mark, the red house. The name came about because of the red bricks being used for the structure of the building. It is said that this was the first ever theatre in Taiwan. Many plays and movies has been showcased in this building since long time ago. The building still stand out beautifully one part of Xi Men Ding.

That’s all for my remaining half-a-day in Taiwan. Now that I know there’re so much more things to explore in Taipei city. I shall focus on exploring just this part of Taiwan on my next trip here. Goodbye Taiwan, we shall meet again soon!

The big Taipei

Taipei is famous for many things, food, clothing, the strong Japanese influenced culture, the clubbing scene for the happening, and the tallest building Taipei 101.

Spent the night before at the hotel room planning out how to get around the city to catch the most out of the remaining 1.5 days here in Taipei. It was good that the hotel is strategically located towards some iconic landmark. The first thing to check out in the morning was taking a stroll down the road to the President’s official administration building.

I’ve read about this interesting building some time ago before planning this trip. Seeing it in front of my real eyes was amazing! This building was built during the Japanese occupation period, and remains till this day. Got into the queue to take a guided tour inside the building. The guide was very dedicated and very informative. Some of his explanation was too out-there for me to understand. But it’s a nice tour to get to know how Taiwan came about till this day.

Next, it was just another short walk to the late Chiang Kai Shek memorial. The whole square where the memorial hall situated was astonishing enough. There’s a grand gate over looking the memorial hall, with 2 theatres at both side.  It was grand as!

Once enter the memorial building, you’ll see the monument made of the image of the late Chiang Kai Shek, the former president of the ROC. There’re 2 soldiers standing at both side guarding the monument, with the changing of guard take place every hour.

The few floors below are actually a dedicated exhibition hall that exhibits his life processions and stories. The thing fascinated me the most is his 2 rides, the Cadillac cars.

Looks like the late Chiang Kai Shek had got a good taste in choosing his ride.

After that, took their metro and went to check out the famous must-go museum in Taipei. The grand palace museum, where once can check out all the national treasure out from the main land China.

 

Next, it’s the moment, to get a close look at the famed tallest building in Taipei, the Taipei 101. Couldn’t explain more, I’ll just let the pictures do the story telling.

Didn’t manage to go up to the observation deck, as the weather wasn’t that clear to allow me to see far, therefore it didn’t justify well for paying to much and see nothing from the top.

That night, went out to check out some of its night life. Party starts by 11pm. It was wednesday night, so the party went pretty wild into the night for most clubs. I went to check out this small club in the city centre, as I couldn’t find the better known Luxy club :(

Nevertheless, the deal was so good in Taipei. I only needed to pay NT$500, which is about RM50, and I get to enjoy free flow of bear, wine, cocktails and shooters. Whatever’s on their drinks menu. Definitely can’t get this back in Malaysia.

The party went on to 5am for most clubs, but I only manage to stay till about 3.30am, and I’m felt too exhausted to party on! Will definitely hunt down the more happening clubs to check out on the next trip to Taipei.

 

Tea, Strawberries and Hot spring

Spending the night at boat house was a whole new experience for me. The whole boat house kept rocking through out the night. But I guess I was too sleepy to be bothered by it.

Once morning came, I packed and left the boat house early. As there’s really nothing much I can do. The weather is too cold for canoeing or for a nice swim in the water. So I thought, may as well get back up to the shore and check out as much other things.

Once on land, went to this tea house to get some famous local tea. The guy was so friendly and seems to know a lot about tea. He was explaining about how different tea from different altitude produce different grade of tea. There were so many stories behind each grade of tea. In the end, bought some nice premium highland tea from him.

Satisfied with the tea drinking, it’s time to hit the road again. It was quite a drive out from Sun Moon Lake, before arriving at this particular town that’s famous for 2 things, Strawberries and hot spring.

The driver took us further inwards of the town to a better orchard. As soon as I stepped out from the car, there’s an elderly couple, seems like the owner of the orchard, were standing there and warmly welcome us. They are so excited about us coming over to their orchard that they brought us around to check out what they have. Other than strawberries, they have mandarin oranges, cabbages, and many others that I can’t recall. They briefed on how to pick the best berries. Didn’t know it was to technical. Was able to pick a basket full of strawberries just in time before the rain came.

The rain stopped just in time for a nice session of hot spring! Nothing beats a nice dip in the hot spring in the middle of cold winter days. Went to this public hot spring place called “rock soup” (direct translation) with only NT$200 entrance fees. They have nice open air hot spring holes with nice mountain view, and some water jets that provides good enough pressure to massage your body by being in front of its outlet. Got to learnt that different hot springs in Taiwan has different benefits due to the different content in the water. For this particular one that I went, it suppose to improved the blood circulation while rejuvenate the skin. True enough, my skin remains smooth for the next couple of days, and even weeks. Really something that you can’t miss while in Taiwan.

Left the hot spring reluctantly, and head on to the big Taipei city by night. Taipei, the exciting city. More stories to come for the next day!