Bali Trip "Sun, Sea and Surf!" - Day 1: Uluwatu Temple

Pardon me as I pause blogging about my U.S. trip for a while. OMG, I can't believe I'm still at Day 2 San Francisco! See, I even went to Bali and back and I'm still not finished with the States. =_=

Before visiting Bali, I'd always thought of it to be one of the most romantic places in the world. Its otherworldly peace and charm, with its beautiful sunsets, charming spas and mythical culture would be a perfect honeymoon getaway with my loved one. But after visiting Bali, I found out that we could get more-or-less the same kind of scenery (excluding the volcanoes!) and service (nevertheless slightly more expensive) in our very own Malaysian backyard!

Day 1 (1st of May, Friday)

I took off alone via Airasia from Penang to LCCT. I would be meeting the rest of the gang - Nicholas, Wei Xuan, Khoon Hau, Chen Jie & Christy, Chin Waan and Jin Shen - at LCCT. Nowadays, life is so much more easier with web-checkin! My flight was at 8:15am and I only needed to reach the gate before my boarding time at 7:45am. However, luggage needs to be checked in 45 mins before departure time.

Our flight to Denpasar, Bali took around 2 hrs 45 mins. Departure time from LCCT was 10.55am and we touched down on the short runway at 1.40pm. We took two cabs (about 60,000 rupiah per cab) to our hotel, Kumala Pantai at Legian Beach, a short distance away from Kuta area.

Driveway

Hotel Lobby

The hotel lobby is filled with intricately carved teak furniture and statues. Most of the furniture are for export to Europe and the States. I was fascinated by one very elaborate carving of the "Churning of the Sea of Milk".

Good to have a helping hand - the whole hall is filled with the smell of lacquer and polish

After we dumped our luggage in our rooms and freshened up, it was time to ease our growling stomachs!! We wanted to go to a cheap place for lunch, but there was some miscommunication with the driver (turns out 'warung' in Bahasa Melayu does not just mean 'foodstall' but also 'restaurant' in Bahasa Indonesia) and we ended up at Made Warung, which was kinda pricey for lunch (around RM20+ per pax including drinks).

Made Warung is located opposite this fascinating building

Does have some kind of an old world charm to it

Nasi campur - we were so hungry, we ordered one each! Tasty, but a bit too much for me...

World famous Indonesian Gado-Gado (rojak)

Bali is famous for its magnificient sunsets. We were in a hurry to finish up our late lunch as we had to rush to Uluwatu Temple (Pura Luhur Uluwatu) to catch the sunset. It took more than half an hour from Kuta area to Uluwatu Temple, going uphill, past one of the universities. This temple is one of the 6 most important temples in Bali. All along the way, our guide was nagging us about the monkeys (itu monyet nakal ya...), and to be careful of our personal belongings, especially our sunshades. Before entering the premises, we had to cover our legs with sarongs and sashes as a form of respect.

Sunset at Uluwatu

This very 'nakal'/'ganas' monkey snatched a wooden keychain from Jin Shen and proceeded to gnaw ferociously at it, determined that it was food! Leo says someone rears the monkey, if not why is its hair fashioned like that?!

All my pictures taken here turned out not nice... because I was too scared of the extremely ferocious monkeys... (I'm not usually scared of small animals btw...)

At the same premises every evening, there is a dance ceremony called the Kecak and Fire Dance. It tells one of the stories in the Hindu epic Ramayana, about a beautiful princess called Sita being kidnapped away by a demon king and then how she was saved by the white monkey god called Hanuman.

The unique part about the Kecak dance is: the accompanying music is not by musical instruments, but by a bunch of half-naked men sitting in a circle surrounding the dancers, chanting kecakkecakkecakkecakkecak... It's amazing how they manage to sing for so long and so fast... until their throats run dry. The dance area was thronged by people and we were sometimes thrown off by the smell of BODY ODOUR... =_=

Kecak Dance - Beautiful princess Sita and demon king. Can you see the half naked men... eeuu...

Kecak Dance - Hanuman the white monkey stamping out the fire

Kecak Dance - Hanuman stamped out the fire!

We went to Jimbaran for a seafood dinner by the beach. Some tempers flared, but now we know, it's a common fact that tourists will definately be overcharged at Jimbaran. We just ordered some sotong, mussels and baked fish that came with rice and fruits. (Also around RM20+ per pax.)

A band serenading us

Toward the end, what the heck, we all joined in the fun... as the band seranaded us with "Oh Carol", "Rasa Sayang" and an Indonesian folk song. It was an awesome experience having dinner with friends at the beach. Kinda romantic, don't you think?

Last but not least, we headed back to our gorgeous hotel pool for a night swim (Wild Things), Lays chips, Bintang beer and gossip!!!

Hotel Kumala Pantai - book through email at kumalapt@indosat.net.id