Bali

I had to clear my core leave for this year: 7 consecutive workdays and nobody was free so I randomly booked a trip to Bali myself: 17 Sept to 21 Sept

My first time in Bali! I didn't really plan much, I just knew that I wanted to visit Ubud and the beach area so I booked the hotels to stay alone and just see what's there to see.

Arriving at the airport and after haggling with the taxi driver, the trip to Ubud is around 30SGD.
I walked around so much in Bali.

 I checked out Yoga Barn, the famous yoga retreat in Ubud just 15mins walk away from my hotel. This place is amazing.

 I signed up for an 8pm Vinyasa Flow class which was really awesome. I have not practised yoga for so long. My body was so relaxed and stretched after the class. There were all foreigners and I talked to a lady from Cyprus who stayed there for 5 days already.

 It's the Ubud Water Palace which I accidentally chanced upon. There were no signs anywhere I just went in because there's a starbucks in front.

 Omg this is the famous pork rice set called Ibu Oka. Everyone must go there to eat. It's so good.

Monkey forest which looks like a set from Indiana Jones movie. So many monkeys running around. Then this ang moh lady who had itchy fingers grabbed the tail of one monkey and it became aggressive and went to bite the lady's leg. The lady was smiling all the way and thought it was cute. Crazy.

After Monkey Forest I went for a higher level of Vinyasa Flow class and it was as awesome. Almost all the guys in front could do all those difficult poses. Who said guys don't practise yoga. 

I could do the crow pose!

At night I chanced upon this awesome restaurant/bar Spice by Chris Salans and the manager/chef is a Singaporean! This crispy pork belly took 9 hours to prepare and just melts in your mouth. I finished it in 3 minutes. It was so damn good and cheap. The passionfruit mojito was also delicious.

This chocolate cake is one of the best I have tasted in a while. Soft and no overly chocolatety with jackfruit sorbet for only $5. I would go back to Ubud for this.

After 2 days in Ubud, I took the kura kura bus to Seminyak, the beach area and this burger below is from Sisterfield's.

My room at Courtyard Seminyak! It was at the corner so the toilet was extra big. There was a walk in wardrobe and rain shower. What not to like about this? (maybe only the price)

 I usually don't take selfies but the beach was too beautiful.

Sunset

 I walked all the way to Potato Head Beach Club and found a nice spot by luck. 2 really good drinks and 1 pulled pork sandwich.

The next day were more walking and beaches. 

And tanning

I wanted to end my day by watching the sunset at Ku De Ta with 1 drink.

And that became 2 drinks

 Sunset

Highlight of the trip: I was chilling and waiting for the sunset with my second drink when this lady asked if I could share the table and I agreed. Then she started talking to me, asking me where I was from etc. I found out that she was from Jakarta, moved to Singapore for a while and now she and her husband moved to Bali for good, although her husband flies regularly for work. She then introduced me to the manager of Ku De Ta without knowing my name. We talked about car situation in Bali, housing and family issues. When her 2 bank RM friends came, she said she want to celebrate and opened a bottle of champagne. When the bottle popped, all the surrounding people, mostly ang moh, were staring at us with envy eyes and the ang moh lady in the opposite table gave me a thumbs up LOL. She then proceeeded to order edamame, lobster gyoza and oyster dumplings for us and I had 3 glasses of bubbly champagne.

In the end we exchanged phone numbers and she wants to meet me if she comes to sg and I will meet her when I go to Bali as well. LOL. Crazy and fun evening to end my trip.

The breakfast at my hotel, Courtyard Seminyak is really awesome. Fresh fruit juices and coffee, Indo cusine, noodles, all sorts of eggs, american breakfast, sorts of bread, waffles, fruits, ice cream ARGH I'm getting hungry. They were all so good. I would definitely stay here again!

I ended up bursting my budget. I spend around 1.1K for everything. Hotels were majority costs, esp the Seminyak. Overall, Bali looked a little bit like Thailand and the people are really friendly. Service were excellent, drinks were cheap, but not as cheap as I expected. The beach area were a little bit boring though. I would go back there with friends next time, or maybe when I need a break.