Ah, Bali. Satu perkataan ikhlas dari hati saya : Asyik!.
Well, one thing you should know, Chenta is very skeptical about our ‘jiran’ especially on safety and hostility. Setelah sekian kali memujuk, akhirnya dia setuju. So I grabbed AA promo which only cost RM326.00 return tickets (tax, fee,luggage, advance seat, foods and goinsure) for 3 of us. Now everybody can really fly! Actually I got few commentaries from colleagues saying something like ‘wah.. asyik Jalan sana sini’ dengan nada penuh sindiran. Apakah maksudnya itu? Gajimu > gajiku?. Ladies, there’s always a way to jimat, of couse with extra efforts like log on to AA website at 4am to get RM0.00 offer and sorts and mind you the tickets was bought on May13,2009!. Awak rajin? Hehehehe ok back to the trip, Chenta did help with the accommodations. He managed to snap 2 nights stay at TunEHotel Kuta, jimat lagi… ya, kami ni budget travelers! and another night at Nusa Dua (harga promo juga). Enough said, I was so looking forward to this trip!.
Day 1 :
It was Sunday, flight petang, we have ample of time, so Chenta came out with this strange idea. We took cab from our house to Kajang Komuter Station, train to Nilai, then feeder bus to LCCT. Cumanya instead to LCCT the bus went to KLIA and we had to take another bus to LCCT. Fuhhhh… tak berapa jauh perjalanan tapi luas betul pandangan!!
Sampai Ngurah Rai dah pukul 8++mlm so we took an airport taxi to Kuta which cost us Rp45000. The counter is pretty easy to find. Just turn right after the exit door from the International Arrival Building. Check-in, then we went out for dinner at Warong Made, Seminyak. Jalan kaki sahaja dr hotel. Been reading reviews from Malay forumers saying Halal and sedap. Tengok menu ada Bab*Guling!. Maka malam-malam itu kami order pancake and fruit juices!.
Day 2 :
Oh TunEHotel Kuta is located at the heart of Kuta area. Walking distance to the beach, extensive of branded shops, eateries and entertainments. Highly recommended!.
Pak Agong yang berjanji tetapi Pak Putu yang datang. Pak Agong menghadiri jemputan majlis cremation. Oh saya mendapat contact from En Hisyam Rahman a.k.a. Cok Dang. Terima kasih. Rp500000/day no time limit. Premium service. Unser. After quick recap from emails sent and suggestions from Pak Putu himself, off we go!
1. Ulun Danu Bratan – a temple by the lake. Santekk sangat pemandangan.
Iman and Mummy at Ulun danu and Chandi Kuning
2. Chandi Kuning - I bought a huge bowl made of wood and cinnamon for only Rp40000. Kasihan bila adik peniaga bilang sudah 3 hari tiada jualan!. Juga vanilla, about 42 sticks for Rp100000.
3. Lunch di Pacung – if you know where to get halal food around this area, you might want to skip this. It’s a buffet lunch mainly for tourist. The foods are pretty simple. Nasi goreng, lauk2, satay ikan, soup, salad fruits. It cost us Rp75000/person. Iman get to eat free. But you get a nice view of padi terrace and super duper clean and nice toilet.
what a view! and what's the ice for guy?
4. Alas Kedaton (Monkey Forest) – upon entering, a guide will be assigned to assist you around the area. I got this soft spoken kakak, very informative and all, at the end of the tour she invited us to her gerai (many there). Emm I didn’t plan to buy anything but Iman is engrossed with the small gendang! After much tawar menawar I got it at only Rp10000!. Nada mengalah, she said ‘untuk pelaris Buk’. Chenta said ‘ye la workmanship tak elok tapi tak kan la RM4 hengget je benda ni, awak ni pun..’ I was like what?
cool pic at Alas Kedaton
5. Uluwatu – Kecak & Fire Dance by the cliff – Wow!. The best itinerary! You can forget your stroller if you bring one. Its steps and steps all the way! Monkeys are super naughty here. I was attack 2 times! One of them tried to grab my brooch and the other one tarik jacket Iman yg I ikat kat beg. Maka kedengaranlah jeritan akak di Uluwatu. Heheheh. The kecak dance was super fun. I love the open, round theatre arena which located by the cliff. The wind, the sea, the energetic chanting 'choir' performances, the sunset, u got it all!
can you see his eyes?
6. Dinner at Jimbaran – of course there many seafood rest there. Pak Putu drops us at the one with dancers and waiters in nice uniforms (tourist spot). We specifically said we want Alia. Tidak secantik rest mahal but equally nice and filled with seasonal tourists esp mat salleh! The price is way much cheaper. Chenta bangga sebab dia yg duk buat research. I bet it looks gorjes during sunset. Kami sampai dah gelap!
We chose Rp180000 package/ Our dinner and Iman tak mo bangun sebab tak dapat bola HR!
7. HRC Bali – Jalan-jalan cari souvenirs. Even at sale, the price nak sama harga yg mcm kat London!. Dapat juga la sorang satu…. Eh, abah dapat dua? How come?
Day 3 :
The initial plan was lepak di hotel sahaja. But since we didn’t manage to visit Tanah Lot yet and can’t squeeze in tomorrow’s plan (different jalur), we opt for ½ day tour by tun* hotel.
1. Batuan/Ubud – Petruk Painter and few other galleries
We bought something similar like this but smaller in size and of coz cheaper price.
Along the way we saw many warong with signboard saying bab* guling here. One of them grilling the bab* outside the warong. Wow, they look gorgeous! Seriously! Ketika kami ternganga-nganga melihat bab* itu, the driver ask us ‘Mau cuba Bapak?’ hah! Apakah maksudnya itu??.
2. Taman Ayun – quoted from Pak Putu ‘sama saja, temple’. But I found it to be unique. Lush garden and the watch tower is a must.
he just cant wait to climb the watch tower! tak de pagar!!
3. Tanah Lot – it’s a mistake to be here at tengahari. We can’t get to the pura sbb air pasang, ombak besar and cuaca sangat panas!. Iman and me lepak at one of the many gazebo and Chenta proceed exploring the huge area with his camera. Then tapau nasi padang from halal gerai and headed to Nusa Dua.. woot!
Tanah Lot/There is another pura on the other side of the beach.
4. Nusa Dua – Many advised us not to go to Nusa Dua and they described it as ‘beach tak cantik, tak happening and all’. We found it dubious. Nusa Dua itself feels like Beverly Hills, sprawling luxurious hotels and a distinct lack of anything locals!. We (the whole van) were check thoroughly using something like bomb detector machine 2 times! That was upon entering Nusa Dua area and the hotel entrance. And at the hotel loby they have this scanning machine similar to yang kat airport tu! Wow... security is top notch! We stayed at Laguna Resort & Spa for USD118 (online promo). At first I tought it was a good deal for a Deluxe Lagoon View room, but it became much much better when they upgraded us to a Studio room! Yippee! And oh, we had a 24hour butler service! It was like, eh haus… nak teh tak? tinggg…. Butler datang…hahahahhahah, ya ampun: jakun!.
*gorgeous hotel beach and lagoon pools
After maghrib, we went to Bali Collection with a free shuttle bus service that runs from resorts. Everything here is spotlessly clean, unlike Kuta or Seminyak. On the downside, the place feels rather sterile, as locals don’t come here. It’s like an outdoor mall complete with small restaurants with outdoor dining, palm trees and a tranquil vibe. Perghhh… memang best, price tag also shown in USD.
*total relaxing /cool outdoor dining
Day 4 :
1. Barongan Dance – I think it was at Pusri Saren, Ubud. We ask for Batubulan but just can’t make it on time sebab jauh dari Nusa Dua. At first Iman was terrified by the barongan, lama2 boleh gelak. And during exit, 2 minah Salleh politely ask me to take Iman’s pic. Comel katanya. And he was happily posing for them. Anak…. anak.
2. Ubud – silver smith. Me done with jewelries (can’t find brooch yg comel) so tegnok-tengok saja.
3. Pasar Seni Sukawati – you can find almost everything you see around Bali here, with cheaper price tag! Bargain to the max. I found batik Bali are beautiful. Oh jet Iman itu hanya Rp10000 ya!. Beg cop Bali hanya Rp10000 sahaja. Beli banyak dpt discount lagi.. oh call me stingy but ada akak kesah? hahahaha
4. Tagallalang – Beautiful padi terrace. got a restaurant facing the terrace, duduk bersila di small decorated gazebo. Iman was crying out loud begging us to eat there. Ya ampun anak, mmg cantik tapi tidak halal!!!
5. Kintanami – spectacular view. Iman kelaparan, buffet makan fish fillet and nasi saja with fruits.
6. Tirta Empul – Pak Putu told me that each pancuran is for different prayer. On top of the pancuran, the pray was carved in Bahasa Bali. Salah satunya doa utk buat new building agar kukuh dan suksess. I was like what?? Pancuran untuk doa bonus besar ada Pak Putu?
7. Bebek Bengil Ubud – bebek bengil is as famous as bab* guling here. We purposely ask Pak Putu to singgah. Restoran ini gah di Ubud. Under construction. We ask the cashier on duty and she said yes, Halal Pak. I went to the kitchen hoping to see rows of hanged roasting ducks, but all I got were piles of semi roasted duck in a huge basin. They were prepared somewhere else, then cook as ordered in a whole. Sekor-sekor, tidak dipotong!. Ada goreng tepung, original, sambal etc. served with urab(kerabu) daun ubi and few sambals.
Payment
Iman nak mandi juga / peace to bebek bengil.
ilmu dari sembang-sembang bersapa pak pilot:
- Balinese sungguh polite.
- Nama depan atau nama Khas orang Bali selain dari memberi makna Hindu (kerana mereka beragama Hindu) menandakan urutan kelahiran misalnya:Anak pertama, kelima dan seterusnya : Putu, Wayan, Gede,Anak kedua, keenam dan seterusnya: Made, KadekAnak ketiga,ketujuh dan seterusnya :Nyoman, Komang,Anak keempat, kelapan dan seterusnya:Ketut dan seterusnya.
- Nama depan ini boleh dipilih cth jika yang Pertama sudah menggunakan Putu, yang Kelima mungkin menggunakan Wayan. Ada yang mengekalkan nama khas ini walaupun sudah tidak beragama Hindu. So, jika diperkenalkan dgn orang Bali yang katanya bernama Putu, tanyalah nama penuhnya.
- Dari nama juga boleh menentukan jenis kelaminnya, lelaki selalunya diakhiri dengan A dan perempuan dengan Ni. Cth : Lelaki: Putu Wardana, Perempuan: Putu Wardini
- Nama juga boleh menentukan kasta. Cth Agung: ini setara dengan keturunan tengku-tengku.
- Jika kamu berhajat untuk menjadi kontraktor lift, batalkan, business mungkin tidak maju kerana Bali tidak membenarkan bangunan dibina lebih dari 4 tingkat. Lift of course ada: di hotel.
- Outside every Hindu’s house there is a family temple, facing the east. Temple ini berbentuk kubah-kubah kecil yang cantik. Di sini ancestor mereka. Selalunya ada pintu dan pagar berukir cantik untuk temple ini. Jika kamu suka hiasan taman ala Bali, pastikan hiasannya bukan seperti temple ini. Kebanyakkan hiasan Bali semuanya untuk tujuan keagamaan. Even the painting pon kena teliti sbb ada objek2 penyembahan.
- Majlis cremation bagi golongan berada dilakukan terus setelah meninggal. Tetapi, bagi golongan kurang berada, dikebumikan dulu. Dlm masa 5-10yrs akan datang baru digali dan dibuat majlis, berkongsi dengan keluarga lain yang ada kematian dlm jangka masa itu. Majlis ini modalnya besar kerana akan menjamu makan sekampung dan ada acara offering lain. Ashes simati akan di arak dan dihanyutkan ke laut.
- Nyepi: once a year based on Bali’s calender– everybody goes quiet staying at home, no electricity and all business are stopped, if there’s any emergency, they got special line to call so that let say if you need ambulance, police will escort the ambulance to your house. You just cant simply drive on your own. Even tourists are requested to stay at their room and oh, airport will be closed too! So jika hendak ke Bali, janganlah waktu Nyepi.
- Agama Hindu Bali ini diajar sebagai salah satu matapelajaran di sekolah.
- Bagaimana Bali mengekalkan pelukis, pengukir, penari (artis) zaman berzaman? Cth : Balik dari sekolah, anak pelukis akan diasuh melukis dari lakaran hinggalah bermain dengan color mengikut usianya. Juga banyak institusi kemahiran yang khas mengajar anak-anak Bali yang berbakat. Yang tidak ‘berseni’ selalunya jika tidak menjadi peniaga/petani mungkin juga jadi tourist guide. Hehehe ini ayat Pak Putu ya.
- Pak Pilot usually get tips from the restaurant mahal when they take you there. Hence it's a biased recommendation. Tips are in a form of family meal packages. They can come back later with the family or they sell the package back to restaurant for the next tourist brought. Usually they settle for cash lah. Pak Putu explained this upon answering Chenta’s question “apa bapak diberi tips jika bawa kami ke restoran mahal”. Ya, kami minta maaf pada Pak Putu sebab specifically minta di bawa ke Alia semasa di Jimbaran. Budget ciput Pak…
- Oh jika mahu explore Bali sepuasnya, perlu dalam 4 hari penuh kerana jalurnya berbeza. Kamu mungkin bertuah dapat 2 sunset: di Uluwatu dan Jimbaran. Planning is crucial. Know where and when you want to go.
