Bali food, nightlife and Kuta beach

Second part of the whole trip I made a few weeks ago, but this time its about Bali. If you missed the first part of the trip which some friends have dubbed as ‘ASEAN trip’, do feel free to click here to read it.

Despite spending a few days on this lovely island, I’d cut short this post so that it wouldn’t be too draggy and boring.  I know how travel post can be, so I’ll write it so that you’d still want to read on. At least I hope so…

Compared to Phuket, Bali was simply superb if you’d just want to relax. The whole island is enchanting, and Kuta/Legian/Seminyak beach was just awesome despite the fact you could hardly find a spot which didn’t have the sign ‘No swimming. Surfing only’ displayed.

Regardless of that, there’s plenty to do in Bali, and with Malaysian Ringgit (RM) being stronger than Rupiah (IDR), you’d feel a bit ‘rich’.

With that said, I found it rather interesting that villas and private accommodations seem to be more prominent in this Indonesian coastal city, compared to hotels as I decided to book a private villa which came with a private pool for about RM1700 for the whole stay.

Despite knowing that the culture in Bali was famous for its massive Hindu influence, we decided to skip all those religious rituals and temples, to just enjoy the whole Bali town and beach as it is.

One thing we did want to do was bungee jumping, but unfortunately, it was closed due to construction =(

Nonetheless, the days at Bali were interesting enough to enjoy, with hours spent just relaxing on Legian beach as an old massage lady politely requested to give us a massage for about RM25/hour. Mind you that Kuta, Legian and Seminyak beach is actually the same beach, with Kuta being the more crowded of all, and Legian and Seminyak being less occupied and more relaxed.

The massage we had was very relaxing and welcomed, as I found myself gazing at the surfers in the sea. – “I don’t see this back home” I said to myself.

Shopping was another fantastic thing to do in Bali as shops offered imitation goods for as low as RM10 per piece. It was interesting to find that the shoppers had two type of prices namely; ‘bargain price’ and ‘last price’ for most of their merchandise.

With Donovan being a good bargainer, we ended buying a lot of our stuff at what I call ‘dirt cheap prices’.

Food was surprisingly delightful in Bali as local ‘warungs’ outclassed high-end restaurants in terms of quality, quantity and well, taste. For a mere RM4.00, I could have a very delicious plate of nasi campur (not the same as nasi campur in Malaysia), and a can of carbonated drink.

The infamous ‘Babi Guling’ (also known as suckling pig) was indeed a dish to remember, despite us having it at a place not known to many.

The problem however was when these ‘warungs’ didn’t open at night, forcing us to dine at pricey eateries, which were only unique in decor, but lame in terms of food.

When the sun came down, Bali’s nightlife came alive, but it was really nothing compared to what Phuket (Bangla Street) had to offer.

At some point, I figured that the bars in Bali took any Tom, Dick and Harry to perform because out of the few I visited (which seemed happening), none seemed to stand out with their singers failling to hit high pitches, and the band being less interactive with the crowd.

Oh hell, some bands couldn’t even play an Indonesian song as I requested. Quite shameful considering Bali was part of Indonesia.

When it’s time to return home to our Villa, the option of hailing a taxi remains the best choice as Bali streets, no matter how safe, are rather poorly lit in the wee nights. We tried walking home during our stay, but ended regretting the decision because it was just difficult to find our way at night.

However, during the day, the whole place is actually only like 10 minutes apart.

As if a ritual, a night dip in the pool is a must after all the night life to ensure we maximized our cozy villa facilities to the max.

With our flight to Bali scheduled in the afternoon, we managed to go around souvenir shopping, and revisit ‘Warung Enak’ which was serving the ‘Nasi campur’ for lunch.

Well, as we departed Despansar, I’d just have to say that I’d love to return to Bali in the future because the hospitality of it’s people, coupled with the wonderful beach and amazing food makes the island simply delightful to relieve yourself off all the stress at work.