Verdict on the Hotel Oasis, Benoa

On the southeastern coast of Bali, neighboring the popular Nusa Dua resort area is the small village of Tanjung Benoa. We stayed in a twin sharing deluxe room, its spacious and clean. We did however spot a coakroach in the bathroom, but got it extinguished by the House Keeping staffs!:-)The room opens up to the swimming pool which was sooo inviting. And the Hotel on the beach. This is a place you wanna be if you wanna soak in the pool and just put your feet up and relax. The breakfast was crappy, not much choices.I ate toast and eggs almost everyday!! After 2 days we couldnt take it any longer. If I am ever back in Bali, i’ll probably try another hotel la. Here some pictures…

  

Day 3 - Tanah Lot & Uluwatu

Our first stop at 10 am, was the Pasar Oleh Oleh Bali. Here you  can find almost anything and every kind of souviner at a reasonable price. Prices are fixed here. I got some Javanese scrub of the well known Sekar Jagat brand here. Was looking for some fridge magnets but still could not find nice ones here. You will need at least about 30 minutes, to look thru this entire warehouse full of souviners.

 

Temperature was quite high now. Next we made our way to the Tanah Lot temple. This temple looks like a floating one if the tide is high but when tide is low, people can walk to the temple. Tanah Lot also houses the best markets in Bali for knick nacks, souviners and arts. I would recently recommend this place for shopping , you can bargain and  get the prices you want!! I picked up a t-shirt, costume jewellery and art piece:-) Sort of regreted buying some pieces earlier.

Next stop…….LUNCHHH…..we decided to check out the Mc Donalds in Bali!! The menu was the same, price a bit less but the environment and interior layout was very different… there was Mc Cafe which serves coffee and cakes like Starbucks and also an internet cafe!! so cooolll

 

 

 

 

After recharging our “batteries”, we noted that the weather was still blazing hot. So we decided to head to a Spa to book a session for the next day and also find a shopping mall, to buy an additional luggage bag, to bring back our purchases. Weelll, what do expect when you have 2 ladies on a shopping spree..hehhe

It was almost 4pm , when we reached Pura Lulur Uluwatu . The temple sits on a cliff and the view is purely amazing!!

I try to mention much about the monkeys here. Precautionary signs have been put at a few places to remind about their aggressiveness. I did not experience any bad incidents with them, but I did take off my sunglasses  just in case. But the monkeys stole my friends hair scrunge!! wonder what the monkey is gonna do with it…hmmmm

At sunset, Kecak dance performance is held here everyday.

  

Kintamani & Jimbaran Bay - Bali

Day 2 of our stay in Bali, we got up early, and were met by our tour guide , Ketut, with whom we have arranged a trip to Kintamani via Ubud and finishing of with a sunset dinner on the beach at Jimbaran Bay.

As me and my friend was keen on buying some art pieces, we stopped in few art galleries along Ubud. We found that although you can bargain in these galleries, they are nonetheless, XPENSIVE!

Lesson Learnt : Although Ubud is know as the place for arts and handicrafts, would be a better idea not to get your art pieces here as the place is commercialised for tourist.You will be able to get your hands on similar pieces elsewhere at a much much lower price. We did!!

Next destination, was the Kintamani Volcanos or known a Mt Batur. From Benoa, where we stayed, it took us almost more than 3 hours to reach Kintamani. Mt Batur is an active volcano, located north west of Bali. It was cloudy and drizziling on our way up here. I was really hoping that we could take some shots of Kintamani before the rain starts. We were lucky, got there just in time, to catch a glimpse of the breathtaking Mt Batur and Lake Batur, and for some shots of course!!...before the rain came down.

Our tour guide, dropped us of at an overpriced restaurant, which obviously was a tourist spot cause of the amazing view of the volcano it provides. Strangely though, they only have a buffet spread....hmmm. We did not have our lunch here as we have cleverly packed some food for the road from the hotel.  After having some drinks, we headed back down south. On the way, we stopped at the rice terraces. Rice terraces are a main part of Bali's landscape. We was told, the higher you go in elevation on the island, the more spectacular, the terraces are!

At the spot though, beware of the street hagglers, who does not take no for an answer easily. They can be quite aggresive. My advise, no eye contacts and act dumb, is the best way out..tried and tested. And Oh, by the way, the man posing in the picture above, expects at least 3000 Rupiah tips....he's not for free!!

Next, we headed to Jimbaran Bay...took us almost 3 hours on the road to get there. And i was most certainly looking forward to a lovely sunset. Jimbaran didnt dissappoint me at all, gave me one of the best sunset shots i have ever taken. Check it out...

Dinner at Jimbaran Bay is also commercialised...the seafood wasnt at all great!!  Kuala Selangor seafood is 10 times better for sure

Kuta -Bali

Back from Bali after a lovely awesome holiday, packed with much sought after rest....ahhhh...was nice. We went out to Kuta on the first day of our holiday in Bali, for some night life. Kuta is the centre of night life activities in Southern Bali and a shopping heaven with its lines of shops, boutiques and galleries.

Kuta was also the site of the Oct 2002 Bali Bombing. A permenant memorial has been built on the site of the destroyed Paddy's Pub on Legian Street. The memorial is  set with a large marble plaque, which bears the names and nationalities of each of those killed. Made me feel quite sad to be here...

Later that evening, we decided to have our dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.Its located just across the famous Kuta Beach.  I must say, this place had a lot of character and feel of Rock n Roll, with a museam of Rock n Roll memorabilia. The staffs were polite, friendly , fast and gave us the best service we could wish for. The music was good, which a huge screen TV , playing the music videos, could you just spent you entire evening. A must visit place in Bali