Bali : Day 1

A, J and I went to Bali this holiday. We'd bought our air tickets only early in July. We monitored the airfare for a long time, but the price never dropped. In the end, we could not wait any longer and finally bought our return flights for RM1050.10 each. We flew Malindo Airways all the way from Kuching, with a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur.

J, for her own reasons, insisted on ground tour arrangement. A and I thought it wasn't necessary because the standard practice was to hire a driver to bring us around the island. We even had the contact of the driver who were previously hired by our friends. J was firm in her stand ... so in the end, we compromised - 5 days on tour, and another 3 days extension where we would go around on our own. 

We booked a 5 Days 4 Nights Full Board Tour. The package cost RM860, and included hotel, transport, meals, entrance fees and a free body massage. Though the package was reasonably priced, there were downsides. Firstly, we had to compromise on the hotel. The designated hotel in the package was Zia Kuta Bali, so if we wanted to opt for a better hotel, we had to pay more.

Secondly, we also wasted much time on travel arrangements. For example, we visited some areas twice - once during the tour and another time during our extension. What a waste of time and money and energy ..... and I believe that because of this poor arrangement, we had to cancel at least one or two of the attractions that we had originally planned to visit. 

Another downside was that the travel agency in Bali had contracted a freelance driver to bring us around - it was his first time driving tourists around (after a long hiatus); he got upset the second night, after he found out that he would only be paid IDR200,000 a day; and after that he grumbled to us about how much he had to pay for petrol, how much he had to pay for our meals and entrance fees, and his doubts about where to make his claims and also how long it would take for him to be paid in full. On the third day, he brought his 19-year-old son along. He claimed that he was tired, and so his son did the driving that day. On the fourth day, only his son showed up. The son said that his father was sick ... hmn ...

Other than that, I had a wonderful time during this trip - it was a much better trip compared to my travel to China in June, simply because I visited more places, I experienced more things, and generally, the Balinese were more hospitable people ....

That day, our flight to KL was supposed to take off at 12.05 p.m. We'd met so many of our acquaintances at the airport! It must have been a peak travel season. Our Zumba friend, D was flying to London for 2 weeks. Our colleagues, S and N, were holidaying in Perth for a week. Another colleague, N was bringing his whole family to Tawau for a few days ... J's friend was flying to China ... it was no wonder that the airfare was pricey at this time!

But then, to everyone's annoyance, our flight delayed to 1.30 p.m. I initially wanted to eat lunch at KLIA ... but then had to change my plan. I had to eat at KIA first as it was past my lunch time. We went to eat at the food court ....

Cantonese-style fried beehoon, RM10.85

Not nice at all - lacking in taste and style ..... sigh

Our flight to KL finally took off .....

Malindo's meal had improved! 

Pizza, a mini muffin, blackcurrant juice and a cute bottle of water 

Pizza was quite pleasant to snack on ...

Before long, we reached KLIA with time to spare .... it was my first time visiting this jungle board walk at the KLIA Satellite Building ... 

KLIA Jungle Board Walk
Small, but the plants were lush, and I loved the water detail ... 

We also window-shopped here a little bit, browsing at brands like Coach, Longchamp, Michael Kors and taking note of the prices.

Our flight to Bali took off on time .... this flight was en route to Brisbane, via Bali. 

Chicken Biryani for dinner ... 

All of us found the meal to be tasty - the rice was fluffy and flavourful; there were only a few pieces of chicken but they were nicely cooked in spices; and the pickled nutmeg provided the balance.

I sat on the first row .... which was devoid of any passengers .... :)) 

Enjoying myself sitting in front all by myself ..... 

It wasn't my original seat. I was originally seated behind this row (Row 5) along the window; because I found it difficult to get out to the toilet without disturbing the 2 strangers sitting beside me, I asked the flight attendant whether I could sit in front. "No passengers ... can," was the reply. Yippee. :))

We landed in Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport after 9 p.m. .....

I thought the arrival hall was impressive! Much nicer than ours back home in Kuching .... 

We went through the immigrations quickly ... but it took a long, long time for our bags to come out. Outside the arrival hall, we met our driver Pak Awan for the very first time. 45 years old; quite an enterprising businessman who owns 6 cars. He's got drivers working for him. Other than that, he's also involved in building construction, and building materials business .... 

Pak Awan spoke good English, so we were able to communicate well. We were driven to our hotel at Kuta, where we would be putting up for 4 nights - Zia Kuta Bali.

Our room

This is a 3-star, budget hotel. The room was small for 3 but reasonably clean and comfortable. Our most important criteria was location - this hotel was located very centrally - the beach was within walking distance. There were plenty of malls and shops nearby - plenty of things to do in the day and night.

Jalan Pantai Kuta, Jalan Raya Kuta,  Jalan Kartika and Jalan Legian Kaja were all within walking distance

We quickly got ready for bed after a long day travelling ...