Day 3 in bali today!
Arrived on the 10th after a transit flight at jakarta. somehow managed to survive 4 hours strolling the limited and boring duty free shops at jakarta airport, and sipping on a mocha frapp from starbucks.
Took a cab to mercure sanur resort - bought a taxi coupon: 85000 rupiah.
Check-in at the resort was smooth and fast - dun believe what you read at the forums - mercure sanur is really pretty good value for money. SGD100 from zuji.com. Buffet breakfast at USD14 per pax. The beach at the hotel is definitely not meant for swimming. You walk 50 metres into the sea and the water reaches your ankle. Walk another 50 metres out, and the water still barely touches your knee. Then again, the water is so clear you can see all the marine life: hermit crabs, small mantis shrimps, anemones, and some things that look like urchins...
Hotel provided a shuttle bus to hardy's supermarket, from where we walked to the sanur beach market in search of tootsies. Unfortunately, the shop was closed by then. Popped randomly into the other shops and bought bintang tees at 20000rp each, and billabong copy shorts at 30000 each.
Dinner at a restaurant (Benno's) along the beach. We were served a tiny cocktail in a shot glass while we browsed the menu. Had a whole grilled snapper, 8 grilled king prawns (their heads are big, but their bodies kinda small), a cocktail, and a glass of pineapple juice (more like pineapple puree!), all for 200000rp including taxes. Mains came with a choice of rice or chips, salad or boiled veges.
Bought 3 small bottles of the local rice wine at hardys for 28000 before heading back to the hotel. WARNING: they tasted nothing like our usual red or whites, and definitely not like the taiwanese rice wine. It is way more sour than sweet, but mixes pretty good this way: 5 parts orange juice, 1 part rice wine. Found out by trial and error in the hotel room. haha.
Engaged a local driver/tour guide to bring us around the next day (11/12/07) at 400000rp for 10 hours. Found this guy (didi) well recommended on tripadvisor.co.uk. But he wasn't free and his cousin (putu 081-856-2867) turned up instead. He gave me a call from the hotel lobby 20 minutes prior to the arranged time. We went to batubutan for the barong dance (50000rp / pax), which was pretty good but had alot of rubbish scenes added in for tourist entertainment, some of which were pretty obscene. We then drove all the way up to gunung batur, where the view was absolutely fantastic. It's a volcanic crater within a crater. We had a buffet lunch (75000 + 20% tax / pax) at a restaurant on the edge of the outer crater. Food is nothing fantastic, though the view probably justifies the price).
On the way back, we stopped by a silver workshop, a coffee plantation, and a art gallery. All of these places were seriously overpriced. The typical tourist traps. I must admit the coffee was pretty good, but at 20000rp for 100gms, it costs more than the most expensive columbian / blue mountain blends you can get in singapore. Stopped for 5 minutes at tegalallang for a quick photo oppurtunity with the rice terraces. Went to this temple called tirta empul - the temple surrounds this never ending source of water that emerges from the ground since AD 962 (according to lonely planet). Pretty cool. Numerous touristy shops here too... and things here are darn cheap. Billabong board shorts are at 15000 at pair (i didn't even have to bargain, i was just walking pass, and the further i walked from their stalls, the lower their prices went... =P Wooden keyrings are at 5000rp for a pack of 5).
We asked to be dropped off at Kuta. Strolled the numerous shops selling the touristy stuff. If you like the "genuine copies", the quality and variety at Kuta wins hands down. Prices though, are much higher (i got 2 pairs of board shorts with complicated stitched designs at 35000 each). Had dinner at the original Made's Warung. Nice atmosphere. Reasonable prices, no service charge, no taxes. But the food isn't anything special.
Today (12/12/07), engaged the same driver to bring us to uluwatu, and for a transfer to ubud for 200000rp. Uluwatu is perched on a cliff. Much of the temple is out of bounds to tourists. What you're really here for is the cliff. For the Aussies, you'd be reminded of the 12 apostles back home. The waves here are a sight to behold too...
Stopped at KFC for lunch. Can't believe KFC still serves the food on ceramic plates here.
Arrived at Alila Ubud at a quarter to 3. It was pouring when we arrived, and there was no covered porch! Kinda disappointed, cause this boutique hotel sets me back SGD 280 per night! Fortunately, the service here quickly puts me at ease. There is no TV in the room, and no IPOD either...
Took a free shuttle into ubud town and headed straight for the market. Bought loads of ladies slippers (leather sole with straps adorned with shells and beads at 10000rp a pair). Dinner at this restaurant called NOMAD. Wow... the food here is amazing... we had some tomato pasta in white wine sauce, which easily beats any of the 5 star hotels back home, and this set meal - balinese food tapas style: we chose 6 dishes to go with rice. Also had a nice glass of iced cappucino and a real sour glass of kalimansi juice (they called it lemon juice). Adds up to 100500rp. A steal really... best meal i've had in bali thus far...
Will be trying out mozaic come friday.
That's all for now... some things for the singaporean traveller (i know there're some on this forum...)
1. bring your toothbrush and toothpaste: both hotels so far do not provide these.
2. change your money here. money changers are all over the place. Rates vary alot, but you can easily find rates better than mustafa back home.
3. sim cards: you can get these here at 50000rp inclusive of 10000 credit. the indosat one has this idd dialing starting with 01016 followed by 65-your number. It's supposed to be cheaper...
4. if you want to engage a local driver/guide, best to contact them through sms while you're still at home. Some joker here offered me 600000 for 8 hours, and tells me that's the 'minimum price'.
have fun dudes.