Bali Trip Nov 2013 - DAY 6 (Last Day)

So finally this is my last day in Bali... Yeah eventhough it was my last day we still managed to visit a few more places since our flight back home is at 8pm. We continued using the free shuttle service by Bali Plus Priority Platinum Card that we purchased online from Malaysia. Please refer my previous post here to know more about this card ---> Bali DAY 1 

5 Nov 2013 - Kintamani, Tegallalang, The End

On the morning of our last day, we checked out of Tegal Sari Accommodation and went to the Plus Priority Lounge very nearby (in front of Monkey Forest) to wait for our shuttle to Kintamani.

The view of the villas of Tegal Sari from the reception counter before checking out...

From left, the first wooden villa with the thatched roof is my friend's Wooden Room followed by the gym
and then the massage area next to it... then is the pool area just in front of the 2 tall trees and followed by
another one of our Wooden Room...  There are only 2 Wooden Rooms in Tegal Sari... At the end of this
picture is that tall Tower Room which is meant for walk-in customers only which cost Rp.200.000. The whole
other side of the villas are also paddy fields.

This is the open air Ubud Plus Priority Lounge in front of Monkey Forest while waiting for our shuttle....

From Ubud it took us around 1 hour to Kintamani. Along the way up we passed by Tegallalang where there were endless home decoration shops by the road side. All 6 kilometers of it I would guess from all types of things you can think of made from wood, glass, ceramic, clay, stone, steel, cloth, seashells, recycled items etc. IF YOU JUST BOUGHT A HOUSE, YOU MUST GO TO TEGALLALANG TO BUY YOUR DECORATIONS! Heaven! I am truly sorry though coz I was not able to take any decent pictures of the shops as we were moving quite fast... But trust me... They really are worth going to! Some of my other friends and I did passed by the stretch of road on our first visit to Bali a few years ago and we had to ask our driver to stop every 100 meters because there's always something new to see and buy as we drove along the road. :D

So we arrived at the Grand Puncak Sari Restaurant in Kintamani. The only thing to do in Kintamani is to have your lunch at any of the restaurants lining up the caldera overlooking the majestic active volcano, Mount Batur. So I guess all the restaurants here in Kintamani serves buffet lunch at Rp.100.000 excluding drinks. Food was good but we just ate the seafood dishes though as it was not Halal certified. I actually asked the van driver (3 times!) to go to Batur Sari Restaurant as I read online that it was Halal but he insisted on taking us to Grand Puncak Sari as it was the best. Oh well guess he was looking for some commission from bringing us there and we didn't want to insist and risk our last day of fun in Bali by getting into a fight with the driver right... :) Can always try Batur Sari Restaurant next time. Hehe. Will definitely be back! 

Having lunch overlooking Mt Batur...and the Batur Lake on the right side. You will see it if you focus! :P
The weather was cool and windy.

Mt. Batur. As you can see, almost naked...without any vegetation on it.

Mt. Batur last erupted in 2000 but the traces of the lava field as you can see above (the flat dark area
with no trees) is from the eruption back in 1968. You can see also a small island of trees in the middle
of the lava field where you can imagine it survived the lava flow long ago. (Click picture to enlarge) 

Before boarding the shuttle to leave Kintamani we were ambushed by these sellers. 6 T-shirts for only Rp100.000 

We then left Kintamani back the same road we came towards Ubud and asked the driver to stop by the main tourist attraction in Tegallalang to view the gorgeous Tegallalang rice terraces. The rice terraces are just by the main road so it's pretty easy to go to. Even if you don't plan to go to the rice terraces you will definitely pass by the area going down from Kintamani towards Kuta. There are also a lot of souvenir shops here and a few choices of cozy lovely cafes overlooking the rice terraces. Stopping by here is definitely a must!

One of the cafes overlooking the Tegallalang rice terraces.

Another view of the rice terrace from the main road...

Perfect!

We chose this cafe...

Very refreshing mango lassi...

View of the souvenir shops by the main road....

Another cafe....

Another view closer to the rice terrace... 

This was the souvenirs I bought from Tegallalang. Only Rp 10.000 per piece. Only USD 1/piece.

We then rode the shuttle back to Ubud and then back to Kuta where we took a taxi to the airport. The shuttle doesn't have any route going to the airport...

So that was all from my recent trip to Bali in November 2013. It was definitely a really fun and enjoyable trip and definitely relaxing towards the end.... :)

Anyway... I will later post an entry on the Top Things To Do In Bali.... till then... take care all!

Bali Trip Nov 2013 - DAY 5

Hey you.... Hi... Thanks for stopping by... So this is my 5th day of my 6 day Bali trip.... :) 

4 Nov 2013 - Pura Saraswati, Monkey Forest, Tegal Sari

So in the early morning of our second day in Ubud we planned to just ride around Ubud town with our rented motorcycle before checking out of Ani's Villas to transfer to another hotel. We first had our lovely breakfast which was inclusive of the rental of our villa. And I was able to do some snooping around too at the other villa beside ours since the door was unlocked and nobody was in there. Hehe. It was more or less the same as ours. A little dusty though. Perhaps they would only do cleaning when the villa is going to be occupied.

This was the view from the balcony of the other villa I checked out at Ani's Villas. Very calming view indeed.

Healthy ending to our lovely breakfast at Ani's Villas...

So after breakfast we rode our motorbikes along Jl. Raya Ubud towards town and we stopped by Pura Saraswati on the left just before the main intersection of Ubud Market. This temple was small but very beautiful indeed with their water feature and the water lilies filling up both sides of the walkway. And I understand that some nights, there are dance performances staged here and various other venues in Ubud so if your are interested you may check the schedules of the dances around Ubud at the Tourist Information Center nearby Ubud Market. Please ask around where it is as I did not go there thus I could not tell where hehe. :P

Very nice Pura Saraswati. But this is just about it. :) To me still worth stopping by for some photo ops...

Another view of Pura Saraswati...

Closer...

Very Balinese Starbucks just at the entrance of Pura Saraswati. Your landmark if you want to look for P. Saraswati...

So after a few snapshots at Pura Saraswati.... well actually more than a few haha... we rode our motorbike to Monkey Forest. There is a temple in Monkey Forest but closed for public when I was there but the area is still worth going to. Entrance is only Rp20.000. And they didn't name this place just for nothing. There were hundreds of monkeys....errr more like baboons in this small forest! And can be quite intimidating too when they are hungry. 

Note To All: Please be very careful of your loose belongings here such as caps, sunglasses, cameras, bags etc...the monkeys here are so used to humans they are not afraid to approach you and take a look inside your bags looking for some food. Just stay calm and cool if they do approach you and walk away veerrry slowly...when you're safely a distance away, run for your lives! :P

Errrr cute?

Nice looking temple. Closed to public though but you can just go close to the walls and just peek inside.

A good place to have a walk. In less than 1 hour you can cover the whole area. It's not that big.

They are everywhere! Look at how this guy is holding his iPad close...yes you must do that too if you don't want your iPad to become the property of those monkeys. Or maybe he was just terrified haha. :)

That looks a little painful hehe. Oh yeah and check out the pose of that goddess statue.

She looks  bored...

So after exploring around the area of the Monkey Forest, we went to Jl Hanoman to look for a cafe to hangout for some drinks. Jl Hanoman does have quite a few nice looking cafes. It's a must to walk along this stretch of street. There will definitely be something for everyone. :)

The starting point of Jl. Hanoman...

After a few drinks and some relaxing at Jl. Hanoman...we checked out of our hotel and waited for the shuttle from our next hotel, Tegal Sari Accommodation, to pick us up. Yes Tegal Sari provides free shuttle to all its customers anywhere around Ubud town area. Tegal Sari is a very beautiful villa type accommodation built on a paddy field to ensure you experience the true Ubud culture. I really felt like not going anywhere at all after arriving at the hotel. Especially that our balcony had a very comfy day bed facing the lush paddy fields. Complete with a family of ducks out and about in the paddy field. Anyway...Tegal Sari is actually just nearby Monkey Forest. So it only took around 10 mins for the shuttle to reach Tegal Sari from our previous hotel.

Path going to the reception...

The reception...

The cafe area....where we had our refreshing welcome drink.

Going to our room...

Tegal Sari's own gym! Cool...

Tegal Sari's massage area...

The beautiful pool by the paddy fields! 

Our room facing the paddy fields. We took the Wooden Room that cost Rp550.000. The extra bed was Rp150.000.

Very clean & comfy bed with traditional Balinese ceiling.

Very huge balcony area complete with day bed...

Lovely...

Loving the balcony area....

Aahhhhhh.... Don't wanna go anywhere else...

Tegal Sari surrounded by paddy fields.

I seriously...seriously recommend all of you to try Tegal Sari Accommodation as well. But please book very early in advanced if you do decide to since this place is always fully booked throughout the year. I booked my room in March...for my trip in November! And even then some rooms were already booked for the same dates as mine. This place is seriously getting rave reviews in TripAdvisor especially on the inexpensiveness combined with their great service...which explains why its always full. But I know for a fact that Tegal Sari does have 1 or 2 rooms that they reserve for walk in customers only so if your are not able to book through their online website, then you can try your luck by walking in. :) Coz there were one couple who walked in and got a room when I was there at the reception checking in. I asked the reception about it and they said yes the room is only for walk in customers.

After checking in we had some fun in the pool...then we went out walking looking for a place for late lunch at one of the cafes at Jl. Hanoman... We found a vegetarian cafe and since we were a bit far away from the Halal restaurant we went the day before, we decided to try vegetarian food instead. I was in love with their fried noodles! Simple fried noodles with sunny side up on top served with spicy sauce. Just the way I like it. Yummy! :))

The very tasty vegetarian fried noodles...

The vegetarian cafe. Atman Cafe at Jl. Hanoman...

Later that night we went again to the same cafe we went the night before. Kafe. Again had their banana milkshake. :D There are lots of other cafes that you could try in Ubud. All seems cozy and looks cool. Some offer live bands too. You definitely should consider to stay a night or two in Ubud. I recommend you to stay over towards the end of your trip to Bali just to relax and wind down after your few days in busy Kuta. Till the next entry. See ya. :)

Bali Trip Nov 2013 - DAY 4

Hi again all... So this is my 4th day in Bali....

3 Nov 2013 - ( Ani's Villa, Ubud Market, Campuhan Ridge Walk)

After a few days of fun and uhmm... a little partying in Kuta, hehe.... it was time for us to move our butts to a more quiet and relaxed place... Where...? Ubud of course. So around 10am, we checked out from Hard Rock Hotel Kuta and went straight to the Plus Priority Kuta Lounge to board our 10.30am free shuttle to Ubud... Do refer my previous post on this shuttle service here ---> Bali Day 1. It took us around 35 mins to get to Ubud from Kuta.... The Plus Priority Ubud Lounge was exactly nearby the main entrance to Monkey Forest but we asked to be dropped nearby Ubud Market since it's nearer to walk to our accommodation in Ubud from there.

So we finally arrived at Ani's Villas in Ubud. Our home for the first night in Ubud. Phew it was quite a walk! Haha it seriously seemed nearer when I viewed the walking distance from Ubud Market to the hotel in Google map! :P Plus the fact that all of us were carrying our bags which were already filled with some new stuff bought the days before didn't help! Haha I was scorned by my friends for not arranging to take the taxi. That walk made us decide to rent motorbikes from the hotel right away! :D

NOTE TO ALL: If you're interested, Ani's Villa is situated exactly in front of the Bridges Restaurant right after the bridge on your right if you're from Ubud town. Bridges Bali Restaurant is on Google Map. Most hotel sites do not describe this so it is hard to find this place just based on their incorrect location on map of the hotel sites like Agoda etc...

Nice...

We took the villa which had an outdoor living area, outdoor dining area, a kitchen and 2 bedrooms.
The villa had 3 queen beds so it was perfect for the 6 of us. The villa cost exactly Rp1.200.000 per night.
Only USD 120.

The villa is built facing the stream down below...

Nice bed and rooftop. Check out that baby cot! Perfect for families. :)

The seating area just beside the pool. Another villa (that door) is just in front of the pool.

Really love the area. Perfect for relaxing after a few hectic days in Kuta. :)

More view of the pool area and beyond... Hehe. Oh there's a temple under renovation exactly
in front of this hotel facing this pool area so currently the view is a little uninviting. Should be
beautiful once the temple renovation is completed.

Ani's Villa is situated exactly in front of the Bridges Restaurant right after the bridge on your right
if you're from Ubud town.

One of the areas for breakfast. Oh yes the daily price includes a set breakfast. You can choose from
a few set choices mainly egg cooked to your liking with bread, fruit salad and a glass of juice.

The view of the villas and the currently on renovation temple right across.

So after a short rest in our villa, we immediately jumped into the pool for some needed cooling off. It was a really hot afternoon! Especially after our almost 600 meters walk carrying our heavy luggage going to the hotel hehe. The pool was really clean but was also deep! Think it was 2.5m at the deepest end.

We then went to look for some Halal food for lunch on our cool rented motorbikes! Woohooo! Luckily we had just enough brave boys who were willing to 'drive' the motorbike for the rest to ride hehe. So off we went. Btw the motorbike rental was Rp50.000 per day.

The Bali gang... :)

Me & my rider...

We found a Halal place to eat named Putri Minang...of course that sells Padang food. And delicious too. This restaurant is just along the main  Jl. Raya Ubud. When Ubud Market is on your right, go straight ahead along Jl. Raya Ubud until you reach Jl. Hanoman to your right. Do not turn right. Just walk straight ahead for another 50-100 meters and this shop will be on your right. There is another Halal cafe beside this restaurant. 

The usual selection of great spicy yummy Padang food.

My lunch with brown rice. Errr not liking the brown rice hehe. Tasted too healthy.

After lunch we went straight to Ubud Market... Ubud Market is quite huge. I would recommend at least 3 hours here for you to cover the whole area. Paintings though are cheaper in Sukawati I & II (there are 2 Sukawati markets nearby each other) so go to both and explore if you have the time... I did not go this time around but my friend did and bought a few paintings at Sukawati II..

Cool fancy colors!

A lot of shops here selling all kinds of paintings...

Ubud Market...

Ubud Market...

Good combination right?

Seriously a lot of tourists here...

After testing our bargaining skills, we went to Campuhan for the Campuhan Ridge Walk. Please read the Campuhan Ridge Walk in TripAdvisor and there will be hundreds of great comments and tips and how to go on this walk. We did not follow the walking route as we had our motorbikes so we rode straight to the other end of the walk from Karsa Kafe. I highly recommend doing this walk if you really came to Ubud to experience the quietness, greenery & scenery. When I was there we could only hear the sound of the river below, the birds and the grass caressing each other in the late afternoon breeze. Loved it. Just don't start walking too late in the afternoon or you will be walking back in total darkness hehe. Better to arrange a transport back at Karsa Kafe if you happen to be there after sunset. Early morning is the best time of course.

This is the path coming from the other end of the Campuhan Ridge Walk...

As far as the eye can see. The ridge in between to valleys complete with rivers. It was Bali Kuningan
holiday hence the many people (all teenagers!) who were enjoying the serenity with us....

The Bali gang...

Private villas...

This is Karsa Kafe. Your bonus at the end of your walk. Seriously good shakes and smoothies here.

Views from Karsa Kafe...

My mango smoothie. Superb!

Us at Karsa Kafe...

Sunset at Karsa Kafe...

From Karsa Kafe we went straight for dinner. We chose the Halal restaurant right beside where we had lunch today. Please refer above for directions.

This is the Grilled Chicken (Ayam Bakar) with brown rice. What's with Ubudians and brown rice? Hehe.
This set comes with a glass of ice lemon tea and vegetable soup. Rp30.000.

This is my chicken cooked in coconut cream. Yummy! Just ate this by itself. Say no to brown rice! :P

Since we were in Ubud where there really were a lot of cool chick cafes to hangout at, we decided to just spend the rest of the night at this cafe simply named "Kafe". Seriously. Just imagine the confusion every time you are talking about going to this place with your friends. "Lets go hang out at Kafe tonight" "Which cafe?" "You knowww....the Kafe" "Uhmmm but which cafe????" "The cafe is called Kafe!" "Seriously man...this is not helping" "Dammit its Kafe with a K!" "Owhhhhh!". Well.... Anyways...the cafe is seriously cool and cozy with their wooden furniture and fluffy cushions. They offer a lot of drinks to choose from and quite a number of healthy drinks too! Food menu were quite interesting too. All of our drinks were really good. The cake too tasted great! I tasted the Brownies with Ice Cream. Very moist, sweet but slightly bitter chocolaty taste if you're into it. I know I am. And my drink was Banana Milkshake. So good the next day I ordered the same again! :)

They receive a lot of good reviews in TripAdvisor. And here's a link to their sort of website ---> Kafe, Ubud Oh if you fancy going here...it's at Jl Hanoman 44b...it's almost towards the end of Jl. Hanoman on your left if you are from Jl. Raya Ubud...

The 2 storey Kafe. :)

Cozy...

Some of the drinks menu...

Sounds interesting...

Yummy looking desserts!

Just love the place...

That's all for day 4 in Bali.... to be continued with day 5....see you again soon! :)