The Beaches in Bali

My Traumatic Experience as an Alleged Drug Trafficker
Island of the Balinese

Since the previous day was already temples-overloaded, Dyanie and I allotted our last full day in Bali to check out their beaches and stroll the shopping area in Kuta.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Teba House in Ubud was the (almost) perfect accommodation we're looking for. This traditional family-run guesthouse is everything but Balinese. Well maintained and cheap.

these flowers are everywhere

every room has its own veranda

a Balinese shrine in the middle of the rooms

mini pond with a deity
(absent ako siguro nung tinuro yan sa school kaya di ko siya kilala)

room rate is P1,670, this includes free breakfast for 2 and fairly decent wifi connection

Could have been the perfect accommodation only if this is located somewhere in Kuta or Legian areas. Fyi, Ubud is an hour drive from the airport. To be fair, we appreciated the quietness of the neighborhood, but staying here gave us less shopping and eating options.

Teba House
www.ubudtebahouse.com
tebahouse@yahoo.co.id

Moving on..
Our driver Nyoman picked us up again and drove us to to the famous warung of Babi Guling. But since we're too early, he offered us to check out the Temple of the King first.

Temple of the King
only the invited guests (royalties) are the only ones allowed to enter

the colors of the clothes have meanings

Finally, Ibu Oka was opened to serve its guests. This specific restaurant is famous for its Babi Guling. Just like Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice which we tasted in Singapore, Ibu Oka was also recommended by none other than the food critic Anthony Bourdain.

Nasi + Babi Guling Special for me

Babi Guling = roasted pork with stuffed herbs and spices

low tables with flat pillows as chair @ Ibu Oka

spicy meal - pork's skin, meat, intestine, and other unrecognizable body parts. ^_^
tastes ok (and spicy!) but not outstanding. it's just like our lechon

After we had our lunch, we decided to stroll the market place in Ubud. Others say you can find the cheapest products here.

javanese dolls, shadow puppets, and masks

balinese art with decorative frames

And of course, we bought some Bali singlets in red, pink, black, blue, violet, and so on! It's just Rp20.000! Mind you, this is not a wholesale price. Dyanie and I were just very aggressive to buy these singlets at this price.

for the record, Bintang is the best selling brand of beer in Indonesia

did you really think i designed this BINTANG-ero singlet myself? ^_^

Nusa Dua
This beach is a 2-hour drive from Ubud. Based on reviews, this place is less crowded compared to Kuta and Legian beaches.

a lot of 5-star resorts are located here

Nusa Dua beach

the tide is very low at mid afternoon yet the waves are strong.

disregarding the traumatic incident in the hands of the arrogant and unprofessional custom officers in the airport, i find this beach uhmm - let's just say Bali's main attractions are temples, not beaches ^_^

Beach near Uluwatu Temple
Since Dyanie and I we're not so satisfied on the 1st beach, our driver brought us here.

the statue in the bridge

looks better than Nusa Dua's, but still not good enough to impress me and Dyan

plus, there were monkeys on the trees. scary!

Uluwatu
We planned to watch tha famous Kecak dance as the sunsets in this temple. But here's the thing, fierce monkeys were all over the area! Monkeys are sacred for Hindus. We were almost convinced that everything would be in control. But as we're about to wear a sarong, a monkey near the entrance gate started to scream and it acted wild! So in short, we ended up choosing not to watch the performance.

Uluwatu with wild monkeys - No, thanks!

Jimbaran Beach
This beach front is famous for it's sunset dinner in the shore. It was about to rain when we arrived so we waited for the sky to clear first.

it's starting to rain

The sky finally cleared and the bunch of restaurants along the beach started setting up their tables. We picked a table nearest to the beach. We ordered chicken and squid, instead of lobsters and prawns. According to the forums Ive read, seafood are very pricey.

chicken satay + calamares + fried noodles
good enough, but not outstanding. the highlight was not the food, but the view and location.

no sunset at Jimbaran

good thing, there's another attraction to see - a dance performance @7pm.

Kuta Square
For our last night in Bali, we decided to stay in Kuta area. It is a short 15-20mins drive to the airport by the way. Since we didn't have any accommodation yet, Dyanie and I looked for a cheap but decent place to stay for the night. We ended up at Kodja Beach Inn.

Kodja Beach Inn, centrally located in the heart of Kuta square

room with aircon and bathroom for Rp200.000 (P1,000)
clean but very creepy room

Best thing about staying in Kodja Inn, this place is situated in the heart of Kuta.

Kuta Square

Billabong and Surf outlets - on sale!
very limited items though

Starbucks is just around

May 31, 2011 - a few hours before our flight (my birthday! ♥)
Dyanie and I were so paranoid about going to the airport again. We ended up checking our things one by one, over and over again, just to check if there were no "drugs" inserted or planted inside our bags. We even threw away our belongings that may bring us to checking (black plastic bags, sponge, etc) Praning and traumatized.

We were very nervous as we stepped inside the airport. Nervous to see those Custom Officials again. Nervous to be a random suspect again. And I guess my instinct was right. The security officer PUT A STICKER on my luggage. It says something like it needed to be checked for security. Tangina this! Ano ba talaga nakikita nyo sa scanner?

at Denpasar airport
for the last time

I still lined up in the check in counter as if I didnt have a "For Security Check" sticker in my luggage. Thank goodness, the agent disregarded it. Whew. That was close. Im not singled out anymore! Hallelujah!

my birthday meal

All I wished was to fly out of Bali, immediately.

the 1st and the last time I'll be seeing you

The goodness of the sites in Bali cant really erased the traumatic incident we experienced. Just so you know, 2 of my airfare tickets got forfeited because I dont want to go to any airport anytime soon. That incident also changed me, Im not the brave solo traveler anymore. I suddenly dont consider going to India and other 3rd world countries. I'd rather save hard for some cheap holidays to New York.


Here are some lessons I learned:
○ aside from checking out the best attractions in your target destination abroad, also take time to read other people's bad experiences in that place. fyi, there's no such thing as "unique case". everything is possible to happen again.
○ take note of the Philippine Embassy's contact number, in case something happened, you know where to seek help.
○ and most of all -- i need to stop traveling on my birthday! for 2 straight years, I've been in hysteria while celebrating my birthday outside our house. I swear to stay home next year. =)