Bali Trip "Sun, Sea and Surf!" - Day 2: Kuta beach & Temple Sightseeing

Day 2 (2nd of May, Saturday)

The next day, we woke up early for the breakfast buffet after a sound night of sleep despite the gigantic lizard fixture on our bedroom wall. We had no time to lose! What precious little time we had in the morning was to be spent on the beach - rushing into the sea's embrace and sunbaking on the beach!!!

Legian Beach - just outside our breakfast area. This beach is an extension of Kuta beach.

Waves were high. Kuta is not known as a surfing heaven for nothing! I didn't try surfing, unlike Chin Sen and Nic, and I regret now. :-( Well, there's always a next time since flying to Bali is so cheap.

There was a guy walking around asking whether we wanted to get some hand-drawn tattoos done. We rejected a few times, but finally gave in! :-P Hau got a lizard motive, Kak Waan a butterfly, and Chen Jie a tiger one.

My first henna tattoo. Like it? It gives me an itch now, maybe I'm allergic to henna or something! :-( The words were supposed to be "Bali", but I changed them to "Leo". I missed him in this romantic place! Being naughty, I couldn't resist running into the sea before the painting had dried. As a result, my tattoo was smudged by my long hair and while posing with Nic... :-(... the tattoo artist look pissed!! What the... is it so hard to redraw? And somemore in the end he charged me and Hau a total of 20,000 rupiah for the additional fixes.

While getting "tattooed", it rained!!! We all hurriedly squeezed under the two umbrellas... luckily it was not long before the skies cleared. At 11a.m., Chen Jie, Christy, Xuan and I had to leave for the temples, while the others remained at the beach because Nicholas wanted to get a tan. Sigh, I wish we could have spent more time basking at the beautiful beach! But on the other hand, I was really glad I chose to go temple sightseeing which was on our itinerary anyway. I wanted to spend time delving into the cultural heritage of Bali, because their unique Hindu belief and architecture are what makes Bali all the more mythical and enchanting...

Pura Taman Ayun

Our first stop of the day. Pura Taman Ayun, which means "most beautiful garden", was one of the holy temples built in 1634 A.D. by the king of Mengwi - the 2nd kingdom of Bali. It was noon and the weather was very, very hot and humid. The temple grounds were unshaded and we were walking under the direct sunlight...

Candi Bentar or 'split gate' of Taman Ayun - they have these curious gates all around Bali

Gateway to the inner courtyard of Pura Taman Ayun. Our guide, Nyoman, told us that the gates would only be open for visitors during temple festivals. There was a plaque beside the gate forbidding women to enter the gates during their menstruation period.

Nyoman gave Christy and I each a fresh frangipani flower. :-)

Statue at the gate

And now for some creative shots...! ^__^

Leaves of the frangipani tree framing the bright blue sky

The Journey of the Frangipani Flower - 1 (鸡蛋花故事系列 - 1)

The Journey of the Frangipani Flower - 2 (鸡蛋花故事系列 - 2)

The Journey of the Frangipani Flower - 3 (鸡蛋花故事系列 - 3)

There are many shrines in the courtyard, and a waterlily moat. The shrines depict Mount Meru by having many layers in odd numbers - 3, 5, 7, 11. The higher the number, the holier the shrine.

After being exposed under the midday sun, we desperately needed a cool drink, and a bite. We went to the food stalls selling 'bakso soup' (chicken meatball soup with rice) directly opposite Taman Ayun temple.

The chicken meatballs were starchy and unflavourful. Note: not recommended!

We continued our journey to the next temple at the Bedugul Highlands. Along the way, we stopped at a cool hillside place (temperature was something like Fraser's Hill) to view the beautiful rice terraces.

There was even a little fountain! Like in a dream...

The hotel overlooking the rice terraces is Saranam Eco-Resort and a room there costs around RM200 per night(?). I thought it incredibly sarcastic for the so-called 'eco-resort' to have a very dirty dumpsite at the stream just beside it, leaving a black mark on the eco-tourism the resort is promoting. After earning so much, shouldn't they have a social responsibility to clean it up?

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

This is a temple dedicated to the water goddess Dewi Danu, located by the banks of Lake Bratan in the Bedugul Highlands. The weather here was extremely lovely!! A refreshing change from the extreme heat at Pura Taman Ayun. This temple was built by the same guy who built Pura Taman Ayun.

The beautifully designed courtyard opens up to Lake Bratan.

Behind me is Pura Ulun Danu Bratan. The mountains were covered in mist. It was a bit chilly, and I covered up with my sarong. I bought this sarong 7 years ago from Pulau Redang.

There was a little jetty where boats were used to ferry tourists across the lake. Although this was not really an 'attraction', there were many wannabe 'models' here... jumping on the shaky little jetty and throwing back glances for the 'professional photographers'. OK, I'm one of them... haha... I had one very 'leong' shot where I lifted my sarong to the wind... you can visit my Facebook for it, I'm not going to show it here for obvious reasons... :-P

Catwalking at the gardens of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan... poser... kekeke

One group photo with the lovebirds - Chen Jie & Christy

Tanah Lot temple

Time seemed to pass by very fast and it was time for us to meet up with the other group to watch the sunset at Tanah Lot temple (海神庙). Even if you skip all the other places, this temple is definately one of the must-visits in Bali!

Visitors halt at the entrance at the left; only priests are allowed to enter the holy site.

Sunset at Tanah Lot - The sky changed into a myriad of colours as the orange glow dipped under the horizon. Onlookers gathered in throngs with their cameras to worship the setting of the sun. The colours intensify and get more beautiful after the sun has set, bathing the landscape in purple and blue as the waves crash below, transforming the entire scene into a piece of heaven on earth, too beautiful to describe.

Utterly satisfied after the captivating sunset, we headed back to Kuta area for dinner at Poppies restaurant. Poppies is located in a quiet alleyway and has a very romantic and hush-hush ambience about it. Most importantly, the food is delicious! Must try if you are in Kuta area!


Six of us ordered the 'Rijsttafel' (Rice Table) to share. According to the menu, it is a 'truly magnificient feast of small tasty portions of Indonesian delights from all around the East Indies. This was the colonial Dutch way of sampling the best food from Indonesia.' Xuan ordered the King Prawns while Chin Sen ordered Nasi Campur (again!!).

Left: pork satay, Center: fish satay, Right: chicken satay

Throughout dinner, I was feeling feverish due to the different weather conditions throughout the day. As we traversed through the streets of Kuta, I was in no mood for bargaining/shopping. And by the time we reached the Hard Rock Hotel, I was half dead with a bad flu and swollen throat. Oh no, I'm so sorry for acting like a wet blanket. :-( Again, here we split into half where 5 of us took a van back to our hotel, while Nic, Hau and Xuan went for a drink in some pub.

Hard Rock Hotel - I love this quote!!