Gateway to Indonesia~: Exploring Bali Day 1: 070809

Met the girls early at Changi Airport Terminal 1 for our getaway to Bali...voted as the world's best island recently by Travel and Leisure magazine..kinda tired but excited us went through the checking-in smoothly..had breakfast too..

Our maiden flight to Bali was via Lion Air, budget airline...well..since it's budget..it's expected to keep your expectations low haha..nonetheless, food was served on board which was a plus point..no in-flight entertainment on this flight...the duration was about 2.5h..very short..and we witnessed day break on plane that morning!

excited can ;)

breakfast on board

Shortly, we reached Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar of Bali.It resembled like the Siem Reap Airport to me..but this is slightly better. The queue at the immigration was rather messy as we thought which queue should we line up at..

luckily, everything went smooth and we met up with our tour guide Mr I Made Wijaya
We booked him sometime ago before our trip..had a hard time choosing which tour guide out of the so many options avaliable from tripadvisor forum..
and we were glad we didnt make the wrong choice!

The 1st impression he gave me was he is a very friendly guide. As the trip goes along, we realised he gave good suggestions on food, culture, historical background, people and information on tourist spots..safe driver indeed and we enjoyed his humor during the trip..

Need more cash to shop??We approached this local currency exchanger recommended by Made..rate was better than in Singapore!

We requested to check in our luggage before emarking on our itinerary..We stayed in this beautiful Puri Dewa Bharata Hotels and Village

The accomodation place is filled with this Indonesian architecture..give people a very relaxed feeling..just like a resort..the stay was comfortable..big enough..and provide free breakfast buffet..it also had a swimming pool but sad to say we didnt maximise it due to lack of time..

Features of Puri Dewa Bharata

And so...our 1st stop..not intentionally planned, but came along the way was a visit to this Coffee Making Outlet called Domba Coffee Bali- Indonesia

The guide at the outlet showed us how coffee was made, brought to our realisation that coffee beans consist of male and female types..the different taste of the coffee beans..receipe to make nice hot coffee and ice cold coffee etc..we happily made our 1st purchase at this outlet..all of us had a chance to sample the coffee..kinda an energy booster as it kept us awake generally except for Tracey, being "sent to dreamland" with the effect of coffee haha..

Also recommended by 鸭子in her travel show

Aug 17 is Indonesia's National Day

We set off shortly to Lunch as it was near noon time..Along the way..

Foreign-owned outlets

witnessed Kite-flying as the favourite pastime of Indonesians aside from fishing, soccer

And not forgetting almost each household rears cows haha..almost everywhere I see them..just like in Vietnam.

We chanced upon a kite shop during the journey..1st time seeing so many huge and colorful kites..all very intricate and refined designs..

So what's on menu for our 1st meal in Bali? That would be Babi Guling..or known as the suckling pig.. it tasted yummy but kinda hard..need some energy to bite through.we each ordered this mixed rice that consists of chicken..babi guling..some veggies..egg..and nasi..the soup we ordered was also yummilicious and all at a very cheap price of less than SGD5...

Offering seen at almost all shops in Bali as an offering to the deities

Trying to have some "eye-connection" with the kawaii doggies??

The campur rice and soup

The pig's blood cake??

A satisfactory lunch boosted our energy to visit our 1st stop...that is the Elephant's Cave..named as Goa Gajah..well no elephants over there though.one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites..("The primary figure was once thought to be an elephant, hence the nickname Elephant Cave."quoted from Wikipedia)

Kids nowadays know how to pose..anywhere..anytime!

Aunty in background also wanna join in photo-taking fun!

Getting some cool feel with the running spring water?

The Elephant's CAVE..

Rice padi fields..

This picture cant be taken in Sg!

This old man which I took picture with, was very entertaining with his style of taking photographs:"onneeeeee.....twoooooo....three......" he was very spontaneous in taking pictures and gave me a surprise after I saw the pic I took with him..hahaha

Our next stop is to Sukawati Market..originally our plan was to Denpasar market..but according to Made, prices may be touristy at that market..so he recommended us to Sukawati Market which offers more varieties and cheaper products..

You can see this souvenir everywhere.. -_-

Shopping Galore at one of the stalls selling scarves, sarongs, bags etc..almost all shops sell roughly the same thing..prices differ thoughand depending on the attitude of the shopowner..it greatly matters on whether we wanna make the purchase there or elsewhere haha...bargaining was fun and I must say at the end of this trip..everyone has transformed into a professional bargainer hehez

After this shopping trip...kinda exhausted..perhaps due to early flight that morning..we set off for Uluwatu Temple to see the Kecak and Fire dance..a very unique trance dance.."performed by a choir of 70 men of all ahes..In this dance, a person in a state of trance communicates with the deities or ancestors. Using the dancers as a medium, the deities or ancestors convey their wishes in the 1930's the old Indian epic Ramayana was included into the dance"--quoted from the explanation sheet given..

Monkeys at Uluwatu Temple were very fierce as I saw them pouncing onto people frm behind, grabbing hats..known to snatch spectacles away as well..

Scenic..

Awaiting for Sunset

Usually seen during ceremonies

The Dance

Beautiful Sunset

The dance lasted for an hour or so...brought us much entertainment and awe at the story presented..At the end of the dance, it was like stampede for the exit..kinda scary as it was very dark and we were afraid of getting lost as there was no reception at the mountains!
Luckily, we made our way to meet Made and went to Jimbaran Beach for a sumptuous dinner..

The ambience of having dinner along Jimbaran Beach was great...with the stars...seeing planes landing from the nearby airport..and some ships releasing fireworks in the beautiful night sky...there were also performances hosted by the different restaurants along the beach...the only displeasure we had was probably the waiting time for our food was way too long!!... abt 30mins I think...as all of us were really famished by then while seeing our neighbouring tables feasting on their food..prices wise was reasonable I think..at about SGD13...but I guess, there's probably better options for this price to get an even more sumptuous meal??