Discover the best in life: February 2009

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Bali : Kuta Beach

Grand Istana Rama:

After we returned from North Bali, we checked-in to Grand Istana Rama hotel, Kuta. With an excellent location on Kuta's superb beach, the hotel offers convenience, relaxation and some of the best surfing in the world a few steps from the door.

Partially renovated, the hotel has 146 rooms, bungalows and suites set in 1.7 hectares of lush, tropical gardens. All rooms and exterior spaces reflect the charm and fascination of Bali.

Address:

Grand Istana Rama

Jl Pantai Kuta, Bali

Tel: (+62) (361) 752208

http://www.grandistanarama.com/

Hard Rock Bali :

A short walking distance to Hard Rock Hotel Bali. The location is good for shopping and the beach is right across the street. The hotel has the largest free form pool in Bali which offers an array of activities for anyone and everyone to enjoy.

For me, Hard Rock hotel is similar like a music muzium for me as i can see a lot of special collections from the music stars such as Tribute to Elvis Presley, Rolling stones and Beatles.

After we visited the Hard Rock Hotel, we proceed to Kuta Beach. The sea water is not that clean as compare to last time that i visited 3 years ago. However, we still enjoyed the waves and taking photos under the hot sun!

Kuta is a well known destination among surfing enthusiasts. A long sandy beach with a lack of dangerous rocks or coral makes the area an attraction for beginners. I wish, i can take up a short course of the surfing next trip, in order to experience the fun of it.

Today Kuta is a showcase of excessive development. It is a chaotic, tightly packed mass of concrete and congestion with a run down infrastructure. The beach is overrun with touts and most serious surfers have headed elsewhere. For that reason, i don't really enjoy myself in Kuta if compare to Ubud and North Bali. Furthermore, there are a lot of youngsters ( i guess, they came from other provinces) gathered there and whistled at the gals, which i don't feel secure and comfortable.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Bali : Jimbaran seafood dinner

Melasti Kedonganan Cafe, Jimbaran:

We have our fresh seafood dinner on the beach under the moonlight.

We can choose the menu we want. The price goes by the kilogram and not really that cheap, but the good taste and ambience are worth dinning here.

The strolling minstrels featuring guitars and a double bass are good vibes and make money from tips. They will pass your way sooner or later so it can be fun to ask for a song and give them 10,000rp.

I ordered the squids, clams and prawns, together with rice and kangkung belacan. The total bill is about Rps 380,000.00

Before the dinner is served, my sister bought two grilled sweet corns from the hawker stall on the beach. Yummy!..

Address:

Melasti Kedonganan Cafe

Jln Pemelisan Kedonganan, Kuta Bali

Tel: (0361) 808 3888

Bali : Uluwatu, Kecak & Fire Dance

Uluwatu is at the southernmost tip of southern Bali. Uluwatu temple is built perched over the sea, this temple is one bali’s most famous sight. It blessed with the breathtaking view of the Indian Ocean and sunset as backdrop.

Entrance fee is Rp 3,000. As usual, we need to be properly dressed to enter and sarongs and sashes can be rented at the entrance.

Kecak & Fire Dance will be held at 6pm everyday. Entrance fee is Rps50,000 per person.

Kecak Dance is one the best known of many Balinese Dance which featuring Ramayana Story. The performance doesn’t use gambelan ( Balinese Music Instrument ) accompaniment. The background music is provided by chanting ‘choirs’ of men " Cak... Cak..cak..cak ” noise, by Kecak Dancer it self.

All of Kecak Dancers are bare chested, and just wearing sarong around their waists. The Kecak Dance chanting is superbly synchronised with raise their hands in unison, flutter their fingers and lean left and right, all with exciting coordination.

The sunset view from the Uluwatu temple, set right on top of the long tall cliff overlooking the ocean. The sunset against a backdrop of silver waves, the dark silhouette of the temple in front of the scene. This is the best time to take out the camera and capture the unforgetable Uluwatu sunset.

A beautiful sunset colors the sky orange as it slowly disappears away, replaced by the moon at night.

Bali : Monkey at Uluwatu Forest

Uluwatu is a small village on the west coast, south of Jimbaran. The temple is inhabited by large number of monkeys, who are extremely adept at snatching visitors' belonging, including bags, cameras and eyeglasses. Before we reached the temple, our tour guide warned us to remove our accesorries and keep our belongings safe.

The monkeys here were much more aggressive than those that live in Monkey Forest in Ubud. They would rush up to you and try to grab things out of your hand, or even out of your pockets or bags, and were quite scary. If you do have something taken, the monkeys can usually be induced to exchange it for some fruit or tipits. Needless to say, rewarding the monkeys like this only encourages them to steal more. Locals and even the temple priests will be happy to do the job for you, naturally in exchange for a tip (Rp 10,000 - 50,000).

Behind the cuddly facade lies a cunning thief. We joke that maybe the monkeys are being trained to do this dirty tricks in order to earn more tips.

Some of the monkeys here are being feed till big belly and unable to jump anymore.

Long-tailed Balinese Macaque- Look closer, they have "David Beckham" hair sytle - short and chipped hair, long and messy locks, gel-waxed floppy hair, long at the top and cut short through the back and sides, as well as other weird combinations of medium-sized patches and shaven top sectors.

While i enjoyed the sunset in Uluwatu, at the same time, i need to becareful of the naughty monkeys.

Bali : Nusa Dua

Nusa Dua offers the ultimate luxury in Bali, as well as a pristine complex of international resort hotels and conference centres. It hosts most of the major 5 star resorts and international restaurants with international price tags to fit.

Crystal clear water and stretches of white sandy beach of Nusa Dua. I feel relaxing by just watching the gentle waves come from the blue sea and caress the banks surrounding the luscious greens.

Pic below : Nusa Dua Resort & Spa. The resort has quite a "regal" style, being one of the first large resorts in the area. It verges on being 5-star with lovely rooms and a great range of facilities including a fantastic spa and huge pool.

Pic below : Melia Bali

We spent about one hour in Nusa Dua to take a lot of photos. After that, we spent two hours in the SPA.

Toya Spa:

Toya Spa is one kind of body treatment that combine water with traditional treatment. The Balinese architectural style in the Spa villas, combined with the countryside atmosphere with luxury facilities like pools, sauna, steam, jacuzzi, mountain water spring that could inspire a positive energy, feelings, beauty and relaxation.

I choose the 2 hrs traditional Lulur body treament (USD45). Lulur is ancient heritage from Indonesia whereby its only used by kings during the kingdom's important occasion. Lulur is an effective way to lift up any soil and insensitive skin, loose unpleasant body odor, prevent wrinkles, create a shiny skin. The ingredients were made from ingredients were made frm wild ginger, rose, cinnamon, lotus seed, and other selective traditional ingredients.

On top of that, they offer all kind of massages such as head, foot, shiatsu, stone, aromatherapy, balinese massage. Where else, for body treatment, they offer lulur, nyuh gading, boreh, usada bali, Avocado, Green Tea and honey treatment.

Look at their catalogue, they even offer luxury package up to 5.5hrs at US125 which include flower foot bath, aroma body wash, body treatmet, flower bathe, facial and creambath, manicure, padicure and lunch or dinner.

But the qustion is - do we really need that long hours package??