Indonesia - Bali : The Cursed Island day 2

Bali trip - July 2014

Day 2 (Monday)

I was looking forward to today's itinerary but I did not see the super bad jam coming. The horrible traffic jam was the only impression imprinted deeply in my mind. Not sure if I was unlucky or what.. 

"Hey, how was your Bali trip?"

"Not good. worst traffic jam ever in my life"

"Jam, jam, jam, jam, jam."

Probably this is the real curse that separates couples.

My #ootd

*hehe.. It is similar to Malay's henna which only lasts for a few weeks.

We have engaged a driver to fetch us to four destinations but we only managed to go half of our itinerary. =(

Lake Bratan 

Tengalalang Rice Terrace + Ubud market centre (missed)

Catch sunset at Tanah Lot 

Dinner at Kudeta (missed)

I would very much appreciate people inform me of the traffic jam beforehand but nobody did. 

Per google map, from my hotel to Lake Bratan takes maximum 1hour20minutes. We took estimated 2 hours to reach the destination at around 10.30am.

Morning weather was unexpectedly freezing so we bought pashmina from the nearby stalls. The sky was a little gloomy too.

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

The awesome sun was hiding behind the gloomy sky. 

We were very lucky as it only drizzled for a short while. Otherwise, we were not able to continue our tourist itinerary in peace.

obligated jump shot

Morning mist..

We left Lake Bratan and supposed to head to Tengalalang rice terraces and Ubud market center. However, the driver advised us to change our itinerary due to the terrible traffic jam so not to miss the sunset watching at Tanah Lot. Unwillingly, we accepted the driver's suggestion and let him to decide for our lunch. 

He brought us to an alternative place where we could oversee rice paddy field. We were jam for another 2 hours. Lunch at around 1.30pm.

While waiting for our lunch, Bf went to explore the field.

Soto ayam Rp35,500

Crispy duck Rp95,500

Smoked duck Rp115,000

Watermelon juice Rp25,500

We finished our lunch as fast as possible as we did not wish to miss the sunset. The sun sets around 6.30pm. We set off from the restaurant around 2pm and hoping we can go Ubud market center to shop for awhile. The driver again told us that there is a similar Balinese night market at Tanah Lot where it sells exactly the same stuff at Ubud market center.

It seems like the traffic jam was never ending. We stuck in the jam for another 3 hours and finally reached Tanah Lot at 5pm. We were super early for the sunset.

my favourite grilled corn!

Grilled corn at Koh Samui still the best la~

You will have bad luck if you accidentally step on these offerings on the ground.

yays, we were finally going to watch sunset off the famous rock formation in Bali!

The temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide. Visitor are able to walk on the shore towards the temple only on low tides. Otherwise, visitors can look down from a cliff at the magnificent temple on the left and to watch the beautiful sunset on the right.

Low tide!

For a small donation, visitors can be blessed with holy water by priest and able to walk around the side on a path that eventually leads up to the temple.

Pirate-ship kite

The sunset was a little disappointing though.

For the record, we watched the sunset together at Tanah Lot! #fingercrossed

We left around 7pm and thought it was too late for our dinner at Kudeta. We were physically tired of the traffic jam so we decided to head back to our hotel and have dinner near our hotel. We stuck in the car for another 2 hours and paid extra for overtime.

For total of 13 hours, we have been stuck in the car for 9 hours. ~.~" 

The road back to the hotel was very dark with no streetlights and filled with trees on both sides of the car which made the road even darker and quiet. The only light on the 2 way streets was the cars' headlights and brake light. Our car passed by one private house on sale and I vividly remember that it was very secluded surrounded by big trees and the sign wrote "Happy Valley on sale". My bf saw me turn my head back to the front with no special facial expression so he asked me to look at the house again. I saw nothing. He paused for awhile and asked me if I see a mannequin standing upright on the advertisement board. I shook my head and we remained silence for the rest of the journey. Until we reached town area and I asked "How could a mannequin manage to stand on the thin advertisement board?"

#myquestionneverbeenanswered

#eeriestory

#definitelynotveryhappyvalley

Indonesia - Bali : The Cursed Island day 1

Bali trip - July 2014

I only got to know about the cursed myth of Bali from my colleagues when I decided to go Bali. Rumor has it that all unmarried couples who travel to Bali by themselves are cursed to break up. The version that I heard was couples who watch sunset together at Tanah Lot temple, their love will also set with the sunset.

Anyway, the myth goes like this. Once upon a time, there was a prince and princess in Bali and very much in love. One day, the prince decided to break up with the princess probably because of third party. The princess got very furious with the prince. In fit of anger, she put a curse on all the couples who visited Bali. 

Both Bf and I do not believe in myth and decided to put our 9 years of relationship into this test. If it works, then hallelujah. lol. We even joked "YES, finally a good reason to get a relief from this relationship." #okweverychildish

Day 1 (Sunday)

"We are going to a cycling trip in Bali!"

We were very excited about this cycling trip as this is our first time cycling oversea.

Now I can show off to people that I went to "tour de bali" before. #Isoundedquitebimbo

We booked the eco cycling tour online before our trip. They picked us up from our hotel at 8am and they were on time. On our way up to Mount Kintamani, we stopped by for a very nice view of rice terraces.

The aim of this tour is to take a step back from the Bali urban touristy areas, to see ‘the real Bali’ and to learn about the Balinese culture.

We finally arrived at our first stop for breakfast! The Lookout Restaurant & Bar is located at the peak of Mount Kintamani where it offers a spectacular panoramic view of Mount Batur.

Mount Batur

Indeed the best spot to see Mount Batur in Bali...

..and its crater lake.

Could not believe we are going to have breakfast in front of an active volcano. 

Balinese breakfast

I would come back here to stay for a night.

After breakfast, the tour guide brought us to have a heavenly but most expensive taste of their best gourmet coffee in the world.

Bf was learning how to be a good barista.

 Luwak coffee bean that I have always wanted to try. 

 Handpicking the good beans. 

Different type of coffee/tea for trying.

Ginseng coffee

Hot cocoa

Lemongrass tea

Pandanus tea

Rosella tea

Coconut coffee

Ginger tea

Saffon tea

Lemon tea

Vanilla coffee

Mocha

Luwak coffee! 

"The most EXOTIC, RICH, SMOOTH and EXCELLENT COFFEE from Bali. 1 cup only Rp. 60K"

This is how they promote their coffee lol

The famous cat-poo-cino

The taste was indeed very rich! It had a noticeable less bitter yet more sour than normal coffee. I was a little disappointed as the taste disappeared very fast in my mouth. Then it immediately shot back from my throat to my nose and stayed for a while in my whole mouth. 

I would say this is the most everlasting coffee aroma that stay in my taste bud. I am not a sucker for coffee though. I will continue stick to the coffee house near my office lol.

The real identity of the animal that shits out the most expensive coffee beans.

Given the name - cat poo coffee, I thought the animal is a cat. From what I see, it looks more like a baby bear.

The luwak, a small catlike animal. They gorge on the most ripe crop during the night, digest the fruit and expel the beans which farmers collect, wash and roast a real delicacy.

Finally was the highlight of the tour! 

 My tour mates. They were mostly Caucasians. 

Let's start the downhill cycling!

We were on our mountain bikes through the rural heartland of Bali, travelling downhill on non tourist village roads and forested areas, experiencing typical Balinese daily life and enjoying the beautiful countryside to Ubud. 

  

This banyan tree is so humongous that it makes the kid look very little.

Thousand of years.

Our last stop of the tour. We were served with Balinese lunch in the serene surrounds of rice paddies.

This fried spider dish was served to a birthday boy in our tour and he was forced to eat the insect under peer pressure.

We were fetched back to our respective hotel around 2+ in the afternoon. We were very exhausted so we rested and slacked in our hotel room till dinner time.

Bali Eco Cycling

Rp. 420,000 per adult

http://www.baliecocycling.com/

The sky was already dark at 6pm and felt like it was already 8pm in Singapore. We were not hungry so we decided to explore the town area near our hotel. We were quite shocked to see Korean's brand over there!

Their traffic jam... is worst than in Singapore.. 

Horse carriage! I feel for the horse though. The horses take in carbon monoxide every day even worse when they stuck in traffic jam.

Their most urban shopping mall! The price range is more on the luxury side. They have Mango, Armani Jeans, Pull & Bear and many big brands.

We continued walking along the street and settled down at Rosso Vivo for dinner.

Risotto al nerd di seppia con salmone alla griglia (Black rice ink squid with salmon fillet and beetroot sauce) Rp 130,000

Vellutata di mais con gamberoni alla griglia (Corn soup with grilled prawn) Rp 90,000

Linguine al gamberoni, calamari, tonno in salsa di pomodoro fresco (Linguine with prawn, squid, tuna and grilled prawn) Rp 180,000

Ended our day with this temporary tattoo imprinted on my body. =D! I have always wanted to have a star tattoo behind my ear but was too afraid of pain. I was super proud of myself for getting these temporary tattoo to strike off one of my dying wishes. hehe