What to do in Bali?

BALI 

After stuffing ourselves full at a beautiful wedding of a dear friend's, Deb and I sat outside and began people watching when a sudden idea popped into our heads. School was not for a few weeks and we could still go on a nice trip with our boyfriends (before they left Singapore to study abroad) if we wanted! 

We began chitchatting about the possible places and in my head I was thinking "If only......" but then I saw THAT sneaky look in my friend's gaze and i knew she was SERIOUSLY considering it. 

I WAS TOTALLY GAME FOR IT. 

So there was it. We took 5 minutes to notify the guys we were going on a trip and booked our flights and villa within the next 2 weeks. 

BALI IT WAAAASSS!!!! 

ACCOMMODATION 

We decided on staying at Jas Villas Boutique Hotel in seminyak beach and it was lovely. (I wrote a short review on tripadvisor if you're interested) Just like many other places it was given mostly great reviews but a few extremely unsatisfied one but since it was having a "flash deal" we grabbed it at that instant. 

Toilet in the master bedroom 

I always check the toilets (right after the bedsheets) to see if a rack exists for my toiletries because i hate putting my little bottles on the floor. 

For all of you like-minded people out there, you'll be glad to know there was!!! 

This little queer sink was enough to spark even more excitement amongst everyone ; we were already brimming with tons so it wasn't weird at all when everyone stood around it for 3 minutes going " Omg look at the sink. Omg. Look at it. It is too cute to be true" 

This was where we had our breakfast and a few very nasty scares with a house lizard

Walk way to the rooms (Master on the left, 2nd bedroom straight ahead) 

View from the 2nd bedroom 

Toilet in the 2nd bedroom 

Bed which we never used except for jumping off from into the water

Pool was great, not too deep and spacious for 4 people. The bedrooms have doors that opens up to the pool so you could literally decide to just exit the room into the pool

AROUND & ABOUT

Just about 5-8 minutes away from a villa is this huge supermarket where you can pretty much get everything you want. There is also a liquor store inside but the prices are not cheap.

 In Bali, alcohol isn't dirt cheap as it is in Thailand or even other parts of Indonesia, buying bottles on the street would pretty much be the same as getting non-duty free alcohol. I highly recommend you to buy your alcohol IN YOUR OWN AIRPORT'S DFS BEFORE YOU LEAVE FOR BALI. The DFS shop in the Bali airport terminal is in the departure hall and not the arrival. 

The 4 of us went to Bali with the intention of getting wasted throughout the trip but were hugely disappointed when we realized there was no DFS shop waiting for us on the other end 

We had to resort to this dubious looking bottle of whiskey which we picked up from one of the local spirit shops. It was a horrid idea because we all had bad stomachs the next day (yes even the great drinker was defeated )

Bali prides itself with many boutiques selling handmade items from bags, paintings to accessories and notebooks 

Just remember, you have to haggle EVERYWHERE you go. 

For example, a reasonable price for a pair of shorts (to me) would be between 50,000-80,000 rupiah (~5-8 USD) 

Most sellers would start anywhere between 100,000 - 180,000 rupiah for a pair. The richer you look, the higher their price goes. 

Some people would ask for 30,000 rupiah (Which is possible) but I wouldn't, just because I take my purchase as a form of helping the local economy. Even if i could squeeze the poor fella and get my pair of shorts for 2 dollars, it wouldn't feel good after knowing he didn't gain much profit. 

I like to see it as a gain-gain thing. As long as the shorts are at least half the amount I would pay back home, it's good for me. 

FOOD 

The streets of bali are packed with restaurants, bars and clubs for foreigners to spend their money in. 

If you want local food that locals go for, the trick is to go as inland as possible. 

But it IS true that most touristy shops are along the beach so when we got a chance to eat local food we went for it. 

THIS PLACE HOWEVER, was our absolute favourite hang out place. 

Brewers has tons of interesting concoctions and DAMN NICE quesadillas 

Their martinis are good and cheap and they come in quite a few varieties 

Amongst the choices were Lychee, Chocolate, Peace, Lavender and the average price was 40,000 rupiah for a drink. ( ~ 5SGD, 4USD)
THAT'S SO CHEAP COMPARED TO SINGAPORE
BRING IT ON

At first i was like " bring on ALL TYPES OF MARTINIS" (except maybe the chocolate martini)

But I gave up after one drink cos the quesadillas were filling 

QUESADILLAS - 30,000 rupiah ( ~ 3USD, 4 SGD )

Buffalo wings - 30,000 rupiah 

They also offered a whole page of very intriguing beers: 

Scottish dime (89k) - Beer, whiskey and Drambuie 

Rose Lychee Pilsen (45k) - Beer, Vodka, Lychee syrup, Rose syrup and Lemon twist

Lavender trap (49k) - Beer, Rum, Lavender syrup, Strawberry syrup and mint leaves 

If you're a fan of Jaegermeister, their Jaegermeister cocktails would blow your mind. 

At 50k rupiah a glass, try a Horn mix, Jacko, Halloween, American trip or a Jaeger Hina. 

CLUBS 

We didn't intend to club that night but after walking around for a while, the music got into our heads and when someone introduced house specials (1 for 1) to us, we (the girls) couldn't resist. 

I think this was one of those backpacker clubs ; backpackers usually organize nights out and bring their guests to different clubs on different nights. 

The atmosphere was pumping (And so were they) as you walk into the club and it was hard not to feel the infectious beat creep into my veins. I was bobbing around 30 seconds later. 

The drinks were really cheap (i can't remember how cheap maybe like 2 dollars a glass) but don't be fooled because they were mostly syrup and mixers. They probably watered down all their drinks to keep people drinking more 

The next night (after drinking the horrible bottle of whiskey), we visited sky garden 

It's this huge building with 40000000 rooms inside , no la just like 5 maybe. 

Different rooms had different music and the crowds were not bad but i think the whiskey killed us all so  we could only float around aimlessly. (went home after 15 minutes or something) 

BEACH ACTIVITIES 

The beach at Seminyak is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. I felt like I could live there forever. We were lucky to get great sun and a strong breeze that day. The day before when we tried walking along the beach, there was sand flying everywhere, into our eyes and mouths and just EVERYWHERE. I was worried we wouldn't get to visit the beach (which is lame given that we were in Bali) 

This was me walking out bravely into the huge waves ~~~ 

The boys were being lame and waited to see if I died or something first before going into the water. 

I loved it, the waves were big but not overwhelming and it was just fun trying to jump into them and (hopefully) resurfacing. 

WATER RAFTING 

Person in the picture below was our guide. He spoke english well enough and made our water rafting experience a really fun and engaging one. 

Water rafting is probably the best activity I would recommend you do in Bali. I've done it twice and would do it as many times as I can. Thanks to the haggler in our group, we managed to get a substantial amount of discount. The prices usually range from 35 USD 40 USD per person but we got our deal at 20 USD (200,000 rupiah) per person. Do try to haggle especially if you have a group of 4 people and above. Package includes transport to/from hostel and a buffet lunch (which was spectacular) 

For 2.5 hours, you get to enjoy the scenic views of the valleys while paddling to the guide's instructions. The paddling is kept to a minimum as the guide does his best to let the currents of the river carry us along. He occasionally shouts "Boom boom!" to warn us to hold on as we bump into rocks or go under low bridges.

We also got to rest at a stop-point and enjoy a refreshing shower underneath the waterfall. 

JET SKIING, FLY FISHING, PARA SAILING 

On the last day of our trip, we managed to squeeze in some time for water sports. 

Usually, they would charge 50-55 USD for a package ( transport to and fro plus a lunch ) but once again, we ( or rather just the haggler ) managed to get a discount and paid ~26 USD per person 

Jet skiing was "meh" for me cos I was a loser and didn't dare go too fast hahahaha. For us, we didn't really get to jet ski alone. A guide sat behind us and helped us when we needed him. For cowards like me, he sometimes took the lead and gave me a few exhilarating spins.

FLY FISH 

They bring you out on a boat, human strap you to the float and when the speed boat takes off, your arm is hooked under water tubes and that's the only thing holding you from falling into the water face first. 

I think we all agreed the speed boat ride was bumpier than the fly fish 

The actual fly fish ride wasn't that thrilling because we were just in the air and couldn't really feel the height or the speed

Lighter people tend to go higher and faster. 

PARASAILING 

1. You're hooked onto the sail 

2. Run

3. Lift off

4. Sail undisturbed for about 10 seconds 

5. Be yelled at to pull at strings 

6. Descend smoothly or mostly on your knees 

I did parasailing in Penang before and that was slightly more fun because it wasn't in a rush and they went for a bigger loop. At this beach there were about 8 operators (which meant 8-10 sails) all crowded in a small area. 

We came across this group of uncles playing cards and the pegs on their faces represented their losses.

Trust me, this guy was the winning one. 

I love Bali because as commercialized as it has become, it's a place that is still full of community and village spirit. There is so much heart in all of them  

These are past pictures I took from my previous Bali trip 

I look forward to many more Bali trips and I hope you'll enjoy your upcoming ones too!