Bali Beautiful. (part 1)
FINALLYYY.
Wow, that was one of the craziest weekends I’ve had in a reaaaalllyy long time.
Now usually “crazy weekend” means mad parties and chockful of events,
but in my case, it’s mad deadlines and chockful of WORK, is what it means!
Not sure if many people know this, but besides AOF, im doing a bit of writing on the side.
And so on this auspicious weekend, all (and i mean ALL) deadlines happen to fall here.
And the auspiciousness only grew when my body decided to fall sick at the same time thus rendering me useless less productive -_-
Oh well. Not that im complaining though.
Can’t say i don’t thrive on stress even just a little bit. 
But nevermind, now that’s all done and out of the way, i wanna de-stress and sift through happy Bali pictures :)
So instead of 1 giant long-ass post, ive planned this to be a 3-part miniseries 
Because im merrily editing pictures and reliving happy Bali moments and then i realize,
Homaigod i have SO many pictures! 
and soooooo so many stories to tell you.
Not necessarily in chronological order, alright. Just, stories. :)
2 big luggage, 2 laptop bags, and a beach bag. :D
Neither of us could bear to leave our laptops at home. Hopeless workaholics, we are.
Back home in KL city, you know when you see a really nice woodeny home and you say, “what a nice Balinese house”
or a cozy wood-adorned restaurant and you say, “what a nice Balinese restaurant”
Well, in Bali, you don’t say that anymore because EVERYTHING is super nice and well, for lack of better words, Balinese!
Everywhere, and every place is decked up in wooden, earthy decor, traditional carved out timber, plants and greenery. Every corner of Bali is so picturesque.
As this was our first time in Bali, we were given quite a bit of recommended places to visit, including restaurants.
But now that i’ve seen the place, i think you can’t really go wrong with any of them. Just throw a rock, you’re bound to find a decent place to eat at, with charming art & decor.
Lunch @ Delicious Onion, Seminyak
My spicy seafood salad, yum!
Random stalled truck passing by, oh no!
Next up, we went to Kuta to shop around look at the shops. 
Your quintessential touristy spot. Long streets with bars, restaurants, massage spas and even tattoo parlours. And of course, shops selling everything from clothes & souvenirs to tour packages!
I refrained myself from buying too much from here. Extensive shopping experience and common sense has taught me that tourist spots = expensive.
But it was nice walking around amongst the hustle and bustle!
There sure were a lot of cars, but i think there were way more motorcycles than anything else.
Motorbike rental seems very popular amongst tourists, because it’s so easy to maneuver around trafficjams. Plus, cabs are pretty expensive!
We spent a fortune on cabs during our 5d4n stay in Bali. Will definitely consider renting a bike there next time.
Didgeridu’s!
This musical instrument shop was damn cool, i think everything in it was hand made.
Had to take a break halfway – weather was super hot!
We passed by this one shop and I started laughing like a mad woman.
“HAHAHAHAAH OH MY GOD I HAVE TO SHOW THIS TO DEBBIE”
DOES THIS SEEM FAMILIAR TO YOU. YOU BETTER SAY YES.
I ran across the road and scoured the shop for that Bikini T-shirt (ie. Robin Scherbatsky’s bridesmaid dress) in How I Met Your Mother. *click!*
And walked out in a huff after seeing the price tag.
“270,000 rupiah for a shirt, a bit mad right!” (about RM100)
We walked and walked, and politely said no to every peddler trying to sell us all sorts of gizmos, manicures and tattoos. Eventually we ended up on Kuta Beach.
Everyone told us not to bother going there. But we figured, well since we were here, and it’s out VERY first time in Bali, we should try out every place, even the mainstream tourist spots. Who knows, maybe we’ll like it there!
So after my first time at Kuta Beach, I can proudly say – I WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN.
Super packed with people, peddlers, surfers and tourists, and the beach was quite dirty. Just wanted to sit on the (dirty) sand and stare at the waves also cannot, 2 peddler ladies came up and tried to sell me damn expensive manicures. And they kept touching my hair too, wanting to braid my hair GAAAAH STOP INVADING MY PERSONAL SPACE.
We spent like 7 minutes on Kuta Beach, and then we left 
beh tahan man.
I’m looking through my pictures and didn’t find any of Kuta Beach. Yeah, ’cause it was just that uninteresting.
Ok besides the pushy peddlers,
really, everyone there was super nice Tourists are funny, and the locals are super polite and helpful!
We wanted to spend a full day at the beach, and couldn’t decide between Sanur and Dreamland.
We spoke to a couple of taxi drivers, and of course our hotel receptionist. Both beaches are supposed to be great but the verdict landed on Dreamland it is!
I was praying a million times hoping it wouldn’t turn out like Kuta. Because Dreamland was about an hour away from Kuta and Seminyak, which was where out hotel was.
(will talk about our hotel in Part 2 – IT DESERVES A WHOLE POST TO ITSELF)
DREAMLAAAAAAAAAND! <3
Homaigod it’s so bluuuueee. And green. And purdyyyy. And the waves there are MAD!
David and i raced to the water like 2 children would, and already the FIRST wave knocked us back!
And my bikini bottom flew down to my knees
“Waaaah babes evil waters, im getting out!” *yanks my bikini bottom up*
Sigh :)
Brought 2 books with me this trip – How To Walk In High Heels, and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.
The first is clearly the light, fun, frivolous one. So then once i think i’ve had enough bimbo and airhead-ness in me, i’ll switch to the sad, serious novel! And then if that depresses me too much, i’ll just switch back! :D
Found a stray doggy chilling under my deckchair :)
Went exploring and taking pictures with David after that.
Camera in one hand, and a Bintang beer in the other!
Waves are damn strong!
The waves made pretty swirly patterns in the sand <3
When in another country, must try their local food. :)
And tapao back to eat in our hotel room. MMM MMMN.
Best. :)
Related posts:
Bali (part 2) – Bali Nights!
Bali (part 3) – Bali Markets & Kecakcakcak!
Currently listening to: Evenstarr – LIES ♫ (via cravecharts.com)
(♫ genre: local, slow sunday)
April 18th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
[...] about another hotel like a deranged madwoman, and dub it BEST HOTEL EVAAAR too! Related posts: Bali (part 1) – Bali Beautiful! Currently listening to: Keane – Somewhere Only We Know (no pun [...]
May 27th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
[...] Part 1 and Part 2 [...]