They call me Goddess... because I am one..: I went to Paradise!!! (PART I)

Back from Bali!!!

Summary of my trip : 13 - 16 May 2009, Wednesday - Saturday. Long post horr.. dun fall asleep lehhh....

Treat this as a reference if you guys are planning a holiday in Bali.. heheheheh.. one of the best part of holidaying is PLANNING for it. Try the forums @ TripAdvisor.com. Plenty of advice and you can post your questions there too!

The Journey

Took AirAsia from Changi Airport, Singapore. We left JB around 5am, and surprise, surprise.. no jam at causeway. We reached Terminal 1 by 6.30am and had breakfast there. Hang around till 8am for the check-in, as our flight was due for departure @ 9.55am.

There was a slight delay and we reached Bali 30 mins behind schedule. Same when we depart from Bali =_=

However, I was quite impressed with the plane. The first time I took AirAsia from JB to KL, the seat I had looked like it has seen better day! But this time, the plane looked new, and the seat was comfy! Hmmm.. happy, happy..

The Villa

After all the drama selecting the villa, we finally got the Garden Villa, managed by Serene Villa.

Upon arrival, a row of drivers were hanging outside the arrival hall, holding placecards with their guest's names. I was taken aback at first, coz there were sooooooooo many of them! hehehehe.. Finally, I spotted my name :)

Once we reached the villa, there were like 4 or 5 guys standing at our villa's doorstep and chanting, "Welcome to Bali", "Welcome to Serene Villa", etc, etc while taking our luggages.. It was all a blur lorrr...

The pool :)

One of them showed us around the villa, and at the end of it, reminded me to lock the wooden door in front, and I was like, "What wooden door??" You see, when we arrived, all I saw was people greeting us and ushering us to the villa with welcome drinks, until I didn't notice that we actually walked in from a door!! HAHAHHAHAHAAH!!! I must've looked so stupid!!!! :>:>:>:>

This is where we stayed - 3 bedroom villa. Serene Villa, Seminyak.

Overall, I was happy with the villa, but thought that for the money I paid (around USD400 per night) the villa could be better maintained. The service was excellent though. We had 2 persons preparing our daily breakfasts in the villa, a gardener trimming the grass and cleaning the pool DAILY and a security guard outside our villa!! I WAS TREATED LIKE A SUPER VVVVVVIP lorrrrr.... Man, love to go there again :)

The Driver

We hired a driver, recommended by a taxi driver we took on the first day, when we went to Kuta from our villa.

He looked like a honest guy, but blurrrrr lor... He needs to ask for directions alll the time!! HAHAHAHAHAHA.. but ok lar.. we not rushing for time.

The cost : IRD400,000 per day (10 hours). That's around RM140.00 for a car that fits 8 person. Super cheap lorrr (Exchange rate around RM1 to IRD2,850).

The Food

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!! Love love love the food!!!! And it's not terribly expensive either.

Apart from the first day when we had our lunch in a warung, and dinner at a foodcourt @ Kuta, we had most of our meals in restaurants. Total bill for 8-9 pax for 6 meals, (the driver joined us for 3 meals) @ IRD450,000!!

After lunch on the first day, we took 2 cabs to Kuta Beach @ IDR30,000 each. The moment I stepped foot there, I had my hair braided (IDR80,000) & hand 'tattoed' (IDR70,000) Hehehehe...

Nice lehhhh.... :>:>:>:>

We had dinner at an open-air food court in Kuta Beach. Food consist mainly of seafood like grilled squid, Assam fish, etc.

We also had Bebek during one of the lunches. Bebek is actually a duck dish

Looks dry, but NICE!!

We also had pork rib in the same restaurant that serves Bebek.

SUPER GOOD!! It was tender and juicy, with a hint of sweetness.. YUM YUM!!!

But I can't remember where's the restaurant located. The driver told us this is the best recommended restaurant that sells Bebek. It has individual 'huts' for each big table lorrr... very very spacious place. However, the service a bit sucky. No one brought us to the table or hut, we had to walk and look for one ourselves. The when we saw one that we wanted, a waiter shouted at us from afar that the hut was reserved. He then told us to take another hut, which is further in.

Around Bali. The rice field is located in the restaurant itself.

The place was VERY spacious lorrr.. so we need to walk a bit in. Then when we were about to enter the hut, another waitress raised her voice at us, saying that another guest had booked it!!! KNS lorr..

I screamed back at her saying that her colleague asked us to sit there, and that she can check with him if she's not satisfied. I would not have been so irritated if they had been a bit more polite. Thank God the excellent food more than made up for the sucky service. Maybe their business too good liao lorrrr...

For the 2nd night, after all the sight-seeing, we went to Kuta for dinner again. This time, we walked along the road and walked into a restaurant called Ketupat. There's a pool in the middle of the restaurant lehh.. Prices are reasonable but service a bit slow. But the staff are wayyyyy friendlier and apologetic.

Another place that I recommend is the Jimbaran Bay seafood stretch. We went to the driver's friend's restaurant. Can't remember the name again... hehehe...