Bali, Indonesia.

Bali is well-known for its beautiful beaches especially for surfers. Well, me, I am no where near a surfer but I still fell in love with the small island. On contrary to the popular belief that Bali is a honeymoon spot, I actually felt that you can simply enjoy it with family and friends too. It has more to serve than just romance. Besides, depending on how you travel, the travel can be reasonably cheap too. My expenses for 4 days 4 nights there was approximately RM 900.

*This is an itinerary especially catered for those who will be staying at Kuta

Accomodation:

JOCS Boutique Hotel, Kuta- 3 stars

I will recommend it especially for those who are on budget-comfort. I manage to grab the plane + room with breakfast promotion from Air Asia Go with just RM500+/- per pax for 4 days 4 nights trip (my plane arrives at night on the first day).

Their breakfast is repeating from 3 choices: American Big Breakfast, Continental and Asian. The portion is huge and it comes with various beverages so all you need to worry is to choose your favourite options the next few days if you book with their breakfast.

It comes with rooftop jacuzzi which operates from 8am - 8pm and bar.

Website: http://www.jocshotel.com/

Few general points:

• BARGAIN when shopping / ANYTHING ELSE. If they start their price as high as 100K, you can actually minimize it to 30K by saying you buy a few more pieces. Trust me, I did it.
• If you are going in a group of youths and seeking for an adventure/on budget, I recommend renting the BIKE/SCOOTER/MOTORCYCLE. The cost is greatly reduced as the driver + car costs about 500-800K / 10-15 hours and they will bring you to popular tourist place for dinner such as Jimbaran Beach with hidden costs. I compared it to the ones that went there by local tours and the one that I went by myself, it is huge difference. A day of full rental of a bike is 60K. Petrol(bensin) is around 15K for a full tank. You can get a local sim card with 2GB data for GPS purpose for 67K (BARGAIN). Basically, bike is really common in Bali so you don't really have to worry about safety but honks are common too. 

• I'm very cautious about water especially during travelling as I do not want to fall sick so I usually only drink mineral water. Of all the marts around such as Indomart, K Mart, Mini Mart etc, Indomart has the cheapest mineral water and Mini Mart sells it almost by double the price.
• SUNBLOCK & ALOE VERA GEL. If you are riding on a bike and following my itinerary, you'll be happy to have a jacket/cardigan.
• Try out their Magnum ice-cream. They have really good flavours compared to Malaysia. I personally love their Black Espresso.

*All NER is as of July 2015 10000 rupiah ~ RM 2.80

Day 1: Tanah Lot - Lunch: MG Bakmie - Nusa Dua Beach - Tirtha Chapel - Uluwatu Temple - Dinner: Jimbaran Beach (Lia's)

Tanah Lot - Beautiful pura (temple) by the beach. It is very well known which is slightly north from Kuta. Being a tourist, this is a why-not place!

Entrance fees: 15K / pax ~ RM 4.20

Bike's parking: 2K ~ RM 0.56

On the way back to Kuta, you will passed by Denpasar. If you are a noodles person, MG Bakmie is famous for the Indonesian noodles. It is most well-known for chicken mushroom bakmie (50K ~ RM14) and ginger tea (10K ~ RM 2.80)

MG Bakmie

Address: 108A, Jalan Raya Puputan (Google Map - MG Bakmie)

Nusa Dua Beach - I wouldn't recommend you to go here unless you are a surfer or you would love to enjoy a drink by the sunny beach(you can do it by Kuta Beach too so really, no need to travel so far). There is no water sports activities here. In Bali, you can only find water sports activities at Tanjung Benoa beach where you can get the packages from tours along the road. You will have more information on Day 3 for water sports activities.

Tirtha Bali Chapel - It is a famous place for weddings. No pictures are allowed here but if you have spare time, why not? It is indeed beautiful. Upon arrival, you will be asked to fill in a form where you can say maybe your relatives or even yourself is interested to held a wedding there. Then, you'll have a guide bringing you around. Mind you, it's beautiful.

Website: http://www.tirthabridal.com/

Uluwatu - Yet another beautiful pura by the cliff.

Entrace fees: 20K / pax ~ RM 5.60
Parking: 1K / bike ~ RM 0.28

Kecak Dance is at 6pm daily. Entrance fees is 100K ~ RM 28 / pax.

Here is a video that will give you an idea on how to explore the secret place in Uluwatu which I discovered.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzFoW2kQsQs

Dinner: Jimbaran Beach. This is a must try. Having a candle light dinner with stars to gaze over by the beach. I'd recommend you to come over here about 5.30pm - 6pm where you get to witness the sunset. If you would like to sit closer to the beach, for Lia's Cafe, you'd have to reserve in advance. They are one of the most famous cafe along the beach. Seafood package was reasonable at Lia's Cafe. For 10 big prawns, white squid, tuna fish, clams, rice, vegetables and 2 local coconuts, it only cost us about 275K ~ RM 77. Mind you, it costs way more if your driver or tour brings you here.

Total spent for Day 1: 644K ~ RM 180.32 for 2 person.

Day 2 - Pura Taman Ayun - Lunch: Kintamani - Krishna (Denpasar) - Dinner: Puri Bali Indah

Pura Taman Ayun - 50 mins ride from Kuta. It is average but has historic feeling if you are that type of person.

Time: 8am - 6pm
Entrace fees: 15K / pax ~ RM 4.20

Alternatively, you can opt to go to Pura Ulun Danau @ Bratan Lake which I did not go as it was the opposite direction of where I will be heading next.

Kintamani - Highly recommended but you will definitely need a sweater for this place especially if you are riding a bike. It's cooling like Malaysia's very own Cameron Highlands, only cooler with strong wind. I went there for a lunch buffet by Lakeview Restaurant with its magnificent view. 1.5 hours from Pura Taman Ayun.

Entrance fees: 30 K / pax ~ RM 8.40
Buffet lunch at Lakeview Restaurant: 100 K / pax ~RM 28

We were lucky to passby a local ceremony on our way back to Kuta. From the ceremony, you can see how united these people were.

On the way back to Kuta, you will pass by Pantai Lebih, If you are riding a bike, you'll probably need a break because it's another 1.5 hours back to Kuta from Kintamani.

Pantai Lebih
Parking: 2K ~ RM 0.56

Krishna - On the way back, you can drop by at Denpasar to visit Krishna which is a local store that you must visit. They sell all kinds of souvenirs, batik, clothes, food and basically everything else with a much cheaper price and you can save your time on bargaining. There are a few branches, the one that I went to is Denpasar and I passed by one on the way back to airport. You can google for the branches nearest to you. Be sure it's the Krishna you are looking for and not some mini marts as they have many shops named under Krishna. This is their website: http://krisnabali.co.id/

Dinner - Puri Bali Indah Restaurant, Kuta. They serve pretty good Chinese cuisines with reasonable price.

Address: Jalan Melasti, Kuta

Phone: + 62 361 751644

Operation hours: 11.30am - 10.30pm

Total spent for Day 2: 1.5mil~ RM 430 for 2 person. (inclusive of water sport activities reservation for Day 3)

Day 3: Water sports activities - Lunch: Lemongrass, Kuta - Ubud - Dinner: Naughty Nuri's Warung

Tanjung Benoa Beach - The only place for water sports activities at Bali to prevent their beaches from being contaminated. How smart of the authorities! I will recommend you have to visit this website: http://www.bali-water-sport.com/ to have a rough idea on the price list of various water sports activities you want before you head to bargaining with those tour people.

Tour package includes parasailing, donut, fly fish and transportation to-fro from hotel: 350K / pax ~ RM 98. It is much cheaper if you compared it to Malaysia's price. You can rent Go Pro camera at there or you can simply bring your phone with waterproof casing just like what I did. You wouldn't want to miss the camera moments!

Here is a video of my paragliding experience (Totally worth it!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C9_4WHhC3o

 Donut

Fly fish

Lunch - Lemongrass Restaurant, Kuta. This is a restaurant near my hotel which sells Thailand cuisines. Although the Tom Yam soup is just ordinary as I prefer the creamier ones, the food is actually recommendable. It is usually packed between 1pm-3pm and they are expanding so I guess it's worth a try.

Price: 200 K for one tom yam soup, one green curry pork, one banana juice, one pot of ginger tea and 2 pots of rice. ~ RM 56

Website: http://www.lemongrassbali.com/

Ubud- We then head on to Ubud which is well-known for the royal palace and SPA HEAVEN. There are 2 spas recommended namely Botanical Garden Spa and Zen Spa. As I went there during the summer break, both spa bookings were full for their famous massage + mandi lulur package. Fortunately for me, one of the customers bailed from Zen Spa and I manage to get in. Hence, you might want to consider reserving if you are going during the peak season. It is actually very happening here so you might consider coming here during the noon as I missed out a lot here especially the evening Ubud Market.

Zen Spa

Price: 200 K / pax ~ Rm 58 for 2 hours inclusive mandi lulur, Balinese massage, body scrub, yogurt moisturizer and fruits + ginger tea.

Website: http://www.zenbalispa.com/

Dinner - Naughty Nuri's, Ubud. Famous for it's ribs, THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Price: 300 K for ribs, pork chop, banana juice and orange juice. (Their ribs and pork chop are of large portion so it is actually really worth it) ~ RM 84

Naughty Nuri’s Warung

Jl. Raya Sanggingan (Across the road from Neka Museum)

Ubud, Bali

Phone: (361)977547

8am-10pm daily

As I went back to Kuta, I was approach for a pedi-mani session by one of the therapist of many spa shops along the road. As I did not have chance for pedi-mani session that I wanted to do in Zen Spa, I thought why not and their price is really cheaper.

Price: OPI Pedicure and Manicure inclusive of 2 nail arts, polish, cleansing and hand/feet lotion is 150 K ~ RM 65.

This kind of spa shops can be easily located throughout Kuta. I will not really recommend this service. If you want to do it, book it from Zen or Botanical as they have trained therapists for these services. They are not really trained to do pedicure and manicure but rather massages. This is just another service for them to earn more. Their nail art is really bad too. They do not have a dryer and every time they accidentally scratch my fingers while doing the others, they had to reapply everything. Eventually they lose patience and the product ended real bad close up. 

Total spent for Day 3: 1.2mil~ RM 344 for 2 person.

Day 4: Kuta Town and Beach - Bali Cake, Denpasar - Airport

The final day was just walking around Kuta town and beach. I also finally had the chance to visit the jacuzzi of my hotel. 

Lunch- Bloody Sweet, Restaurant and Bar, Kuta

We just walked around and feeling hungry. The name of this restaurant attracted us and so, we walked in. It's basically a Indo-Chinese Restaurant with variety to choose from. If you are from PJ area and aware of a restaurant known as Piccadily, this is the Indonesian version of it.

Price: Approximately 200K includes a set of burger with chocolate milk shake and Indonesian soy sauce chicken rice with banana smoothies.~ RM 56

We then took a taxi to Bali Cake, Denpasar to buy the famous layer cake. The one that I bought is nothing fancy and it costs like 135K ~RM 40 per cake. Although the peanuts that they sell is quite amazing, I'd recommend you to explore others and let me know if you found the good ones! Apparently, Ixora is more famous over there so you might want to try that one.

Total spent for whole trip inclusive miscellaneous such as taxi to-fro airport, sim card & groceries: 5.5mil ~ RM 1600 for 2 person.

Alternative activities & to-be-back reason:

1. White water rafting

2. Sukawati Market

3. Sky Garden

4. Cliff Bar - Ayana Resort

5. Ubud Market & Town

6. Pura Ulun Danau @ Bratan Lake

7. Mt. Agung

8. Dolphin Tour

9. Restaurant Ibu Oka, Ubud - Opposite the Royal Palace (Selling the famous Babi Gulung)

10. Kopi Luwak

You just got to look around for a place where the sun shines so bright that it dims your worries.