29JUN-02JUL2011 WED-SAT - BALI ITINERARY

the itinerary of my bali trip as follows:

29 JUN 2011 WED - BALI - Driver & Guesthouse

30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 1. Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse, Ubud
30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 2. Kopi Luwak (OKA Agriculture)
30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 3. Mount Batur
30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 4. Tegalalang Rice Terrace (Ubud)
30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 5. Pura Tanah Lot Sunset
30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 6. Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck)

01 JUL 2011 FRI - BALI - 1. Lovina Sunrise Dolphin Trip
01 JUL 2011 FRI - BALI - 2. Brahma Vihara Arama (Small Borobudur)
01 JUL 2011 FRI - BALI - 3. Pura Ulun Danu Bratan
01 JUL 2011 FRI - BALI - 4. Pacung Terrace Field (Labhagga Restaurant)
01 JUL 2011 FRI - BALI - 5. Pura Taman Ayun
01 JUL 2011 FRI - BALI - 6. Durian, Spa, Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck)

02 JUL 2011 SAT - BALI - 1. Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse
02 JUL 2011 SAT - BALI - 2. Ubud Palace & Market
02 JUL 2011 SAT - BALI - 3. Ibu Oka's Babi Guling
02 JUL 2011 SAT - BALI - 4. Pura Uluwatu
02 JUL 2011 SAT - BALI - 5. ByeBye Bali

29 JUN 2011 WED - BALI - Driver & Guesthouse

good thing about taking late afternoon flight is that i can take bus from home to town & change to mrt to reach the airport, instead of taking taxi... saved me about S$20+ :)

1. left home at around 1:45pm, on board bus 190
2. reached city hall mrt at around 2:25pm, on board east bound mrt
3. reached tanah merah mrt at around 2:55pm, on board mrt to changi airport
4. reached changi airport mrt at around 3:03pm :)

reached terminal 2 row 9 at around 3:10pm [SQ946 1640HR, we already checked in online, so can take our own sweet time] :

SQ946 SINGAPORE/DENPASAR 1640/1910:

after clearing the Bali Customs at around 8pm, mr diki (from Bali Tour Drivers) was already waiting for us at the arrival hall with my name on the sign board, st was quick enough to spot it :)

[i emailed my draft itinerary to a few tour operators for them to suggest and quote, got replies from 4 operators, picked the cheapest one... (this also has got very good comments in his guestbook), the confirmation was done just 1 day before flying, no deposit needed, just email confirmation (likewise for the accommodations at Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse)...
'st said she trusts me, let me handle everything'*... i told her leave it to fate... if driver never turn up, we will find alternatives then... if no accommodations, find alternatives then... as such i brought along my 'acer aspire one netbook' which i have all the backup info in it.]

* st was super busy with work before the trip... she was like don't even aware where we would be putting up at and where we would be visiting... hahaha.... so do pardon me for copying the info i got from wiki, and pasting them in my posts, for st easy reference :)

we were very satisfied with the services rendered by Bali Tour Drivers and Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse! i considered myself very lucky to have choosen them :)

Our transport costs:
- Wed, Airport Pickup rp150k (about S$22)
- Thur, 10am-8pm rp350k (about S$52)
- Fri, 3:30am-4pm rp500k (about S$74)
- Sat, 10am-6pm rp350k (about S$52)

Our accomodation costs:
rp250k (about S$37) per day
[suppose to be rp300k (about S$44) because of guesthouse upgrade but the website not updated when i made the reservation, so i got the old rate]

the journey from the denpasar Ngurah Rai International Airport to Ubud is about 1 hour... wow the road hor... made me almost vomitted, actually cannot blame the road la, it is my motion sickness.... haiz...
i always make a point to have these with me... 白花油, medicine for giddy/vomit, headache and clear phlegm plus plastic bags in case i vomit (hahaha like old auntie)... can't be help... this motion sickness has been with me since young... my family doctor has got motion sickness too, he said he hates going tour... i have motion sickness yet enjoy traveling... why is my life always against odd???
luckily the 白花油 alone worked well here :)

diki helped us with the guesthouse check-in, discuss about our itinerary for tomorrow before heading off...
we walked to the nearby convenience store to get a big bottle of mineral water... st was hungry so we had supper at around 10:15pm at the nearby eating house 'KAFE'...

we ordered a chicken nasi goreng (rp44k) and a pot of rooibos tea (rp16k), total bill rp69k (about S$10)

i wasn't hungry, just wanna try:

the nasi so so only, nothing special but i heart the rooibos tea :)

30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 1. Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse, Ubud

i woked up at 7:30am, first thing i did, took these pics [last night was dark cannot see anything]:

view from the window at my bed headboard:

so nice view hor:

view from our balcony:

9am breakfast (included with the accommodations, Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse), the banana pan cake with chocolate rice & cheese is so yummy, we asked the young chef where he learnt to cook this, he said he tried with different ingredients and this turned out to be good, i had bali coffee, i usually drink kopi with fresh milk but they don't serve milk, so kopi black:

today Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse has ritual to pray for the opening of their 'new building':

the driver (mr yoman) is picking us up at 10am, so we went nearby to walk walk see see after our breakfast:

the bali people take 'pray pray' very seriously... on the road, at almost every main entrances of each building, you will see such in the morning:

buddha statue with chio pink background:

time to go back guesthouse to 'putt putt' lol... and to get ready for today's activities:

the guesthouse is hidden inside:

the path to the guesthouses:

the main entrance of Kunang-Kunang Guesthouse :

the front view:

the room on the left on level 2 is our room [we had our towels hanged at the balcony] :

the stairs rather unique:

our balcony, cosy hor:

a 'pot' of tea everyday:

30 JUN 2011 THUR - BALI - 2. Kopi Luwak (OKA Agriculture)

OKA Agriculture -  to try the most expensive coffee - the 'cat's poop coffee' - Kopi Luwak

Kopi Luwak / Luwak Coffee (Civet Coffee), is the world’s most expensive coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. After 10-12 hours inside the digestive system, the beans will be fermented before they defecated. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness.

coffee berries:

the civet:

the poop [disgusting? don't know who is the first one, 'the pervert?', who is so courageous to take the beans from the poop to process them into kopi? yeeeee? ] :

frying the kopi beans:

the processed kopi luwak beans:

the bali kopi beans:

cocoa:

papaya:

salak [snake skin fruit  蛇皮果]:

pineapple:

durian:

tock ginger?:

now... to try kopi luwak:

the free hot beverages -  ginseng coffee, ginger tea, bali coffee, lemon grass tea, cocoa:

this is the rp50k (about S$7.50) cup of kopi luwak:

st doesn't drink coffee direct, only by-products like tiramisu, coffee cake,... because her gastric cannot tahan coffee... however must try at least a mouthful of this expensive and 'disgusting' kopi luwak lei:

um... i usually drink coffee with just fresh milk, don't fancy kopi black... but die die must try this expensive and 'disgusting' kopi luwak lei:

the coffee beans were ground till very fine... will not melt like those instant coffee but still smooth though the powder not drained?, see the sediment settled at the base of the cup:

ya... it's strong but not too overpowering... the aftertaste is fragrant and soothing... don't have that kind of 'sour' aftertaste... but is it worth the price? definitely not to my liking :)

in fact i heart the lemon grass tea the best but very expensive lor! forgotten exactly how much, but more than S$10 for a small packet!

the chocolate quite nice too:

fruits stall:

this is Tamarillo  爱情果, nice chinese name indeed, nice taste too: