Bali 5 day 4 nights

To the hubby, Ubud was his paradise. When I went to Bali the first time with the girls, we did lots of shopping. This time with the hubby, I thought we weren't going to spend much time shopping. Ended up that most of the Bali trip was for him to go shopping.

I've blogged about the Bali itenarary here for the first trip I had for Bali. I reused most of the itenarary but ended up having a different experience.

Day 1
We reached Bali at 12.30pm. Rented a car, drove to Ubud for about 1 1/2 hours. This time I had the GPS to guides us and looking back to my first trip where we only dependant on maps, I have no idea how we manage to find our way around.

Checked into Da Lodge, which I blogged about here. And then start exploring Ubud, first stop was Naughty Nuris. If you go to Ubud, you need to try their spare ribs. It was my 2nd time there and it was just as good as last year but it's expensive compared to other restaurants

The hubby was happy because he loves loves loves street markets and he loves loves loves to bargain.

And he was fascinated with the things he saw there

If you're going to shop at Ubud Market, make sure you bargain to at least 70% off the price they quote you. I bought a dress for RP40,000 (~RM14) and another for RP25,000 (~RM8.80). My local driver said that the one for RP40,000 is still expensive. The original price they quote to me was RP100,000. Also, if you can, speak Malay to them. They tend to charge you a little cheaper compare to what they quote the westerners. I have seen them quote different prices to me and a white woman for the same thing at the same time. Difference was she spoke to me in Malay so that the white woman couldn't understand.

Most shops close early at Ubud and it gets dark after 6pm. Next time, a good thing to do at night would be to go to the Ubud Palace to watch the dance there which we didn't go this time. I was very surprise to find the weather in Bali so cool compared to my last trip when it was so hot.

And that's the end of Day 1.

Day 2
Next day, the hubby and I decided to go to Sukawati Art Market. I remember Soma telling me last year that it's the place where local folks go to buy stuff to sell to tourist. We kept exploring the street markets there until we reached the end of the road. And there's where the hubby found his shopping haven.

A whole market just filled with lots and lots of wood craving. The hubby lit up like a little boy getting candy. We went round and round and bought so many stuff there including a big Buddha statue. And the price there is so much cheaper compared to the regular tourist shops. We bought the big Buddha statue for RP770,000. We went to another shop somewhere else in Ubud and it was RP3 million.

The market closes at 12pm, otherwise the hubby would have gladly spent the whole day there bargaining his way.

On the way back, we stopped at a shop by the road selling mirrors and we ended buying more stuff from there.

We made purchase and followed the wood craver back to his home behind the shop for him to attached the mirror to the wood craving.

And I got to explore the compound of a typical Balinese house.

They kept a pig and Mr Pig and I were fascinated with each other.

The pig stopped eating and come forward to stare about me. Pigs have such big noses.

We wandered aimless again and found Ibu Oka2 which is a more upgraded version of Ibu Oka1 I visited last year. Prices are also more expensive.

After lunch, we went back to check into the very nice but expensive villa I booked. Will blog about that later.

At night we went to Sang Spa which I blogged about last year here, where I finally got to see the hubby wearing the grandma underwear in a bath tub full of flowers. Was I turned on? Hmmmm....

Half way through the massage, I could hear the hubby snooring. He snored so loud that he woke himself up. Pay money for the massage just for him to sleep through it. Esh.

<Hubby won't let me upload the photo of him in the flower bath,

so use your imagination here>

We went to Dirty Duck for dinner. It was already dark and we couldn't see the padi fields but I'm sure that it must be absolutely beautiful to watch the sunset there.

The crispy duck there was yummy.

At night, we went back to the villa, and I had to go online to top up our check in luggage at Air Asia due to the many wood cravings the hubby bought.

And Day 2 ended wonderfully well with the answer to the Sang Spa question above (to tell you the truth, I was more turned on by the beautiful villa than the spa).

Day 3
Next morning, we had to say goodbye to the beautiful villa and beautiful Ubud. Before we left, we stopped at Sukawati market again to buy even more wood cravings.

We stopped to eat at a street stall. Ate the Bakso Ayam (or was I called something else, can't remember).

Like all places, if you want to try the best food there, see what the locals eat and try that. The bowl of noodles with meat balls was really really yummy.

To me, Ubud is the best place in Bali. It's rich in culture and nature and I was sad when we had to leave Ubud. The only thing I don't like though is how much the sellers there try to cheat you, hiking up prices something to more than 10 times more expensive than the orignal price.

We drove to Kuta and checked into Amaris Hotel. After that we headed to Tanah Lot to catch the sunset there. The hubby was bored looking at what I thought is a beautiful temple. He got excited again when he got to go shopping at the street markets outside where he bought a painting of Tanah Lot.

Drove back to Kuta, walked around the street shops there for a while and that's the end of Day 3.

Day 4
Next morning, we rented a motorbike and explored Kuta. Bought one of those helmets that lots of tourist were wearing. And I got really sunburnt after riding on the motorbike.

Hung out at Kuta Beach for a while. Then we went to Flap Jacks to have waffles, pancakes and crepes. Best waffles I've ever eaten.

We wandered around with the bike, stopped to fill up petrol and saw this super cool dog riding with its owner. I wish my dogs could ride on the bike like that

Wandered out of the busy streets of Kuta and the hubby found his second shopping haven. A whole place filled with stone craving. He was tempted to ship some of the statues back but decided not to because the cost to ship it back is more expensive than the statue itself.

We went back to get our car and drove to Pantai Geger. I'll blog about this place later because this was the most favourite place I went.

After Pantai Geger, we went to Uluwatu. We reached at 5pm, Kecak Dance was at 6pm. My dear hubby saw people going into the dance area and the kiasu-ness in him wanted to go in there so that we could get the best seats. I was sulking because it was still early and I wanted to see the temple but didn't get to in the end thanks to his kiasu-ness. Place was crazy packed with tourist.

Drove back to Kuta. Went to Made's Warung for dinner. The place was full and we had to wait for a while. If you go there, order the Ribs with Young Papaya. One of the best things I ate in Bali. I forgot to take a photo of it though. The one below is Nasi Campur.

And that's the end of Day 4.

Day 5

Next day, our flight back was at 2.25pm. But because I loved Pantai Geger so much and I was cursing myself of not wearing a bikini when I went there, I had to go back again. To be continued in another bloggy post. Gotta go for dinner now (which I'm already late).