Bali: The Isle of Gods Day 2 (Part 2 of 2)

19th March 2010

After checking out of Tjampuhan Spa Hotel, we are on the hunt for Babi Guling, which is a local specialty, especially so in Ubud. Babi is Pig while Guling meant Roast so Babi Guling is… you guessed it, Roast Pig! The most famous restaurant that serves Babi Guling is a restaurant called Ibu Oka. Do note that there are two Ibu Okas restaurant with one being most frequented by tourists, which sit right on the Ubud centre itself and the other one located slightly out of town. Since we have Pak B to drive us, we headed to the one out of the cultural centre itself to avoid the many tourists that will flock to the restaurant as well as to avoid fighting for a meal in Ibu Oka for they only roasts one whole pig a day. The price is reasonably cheap but yet skewed towards the higher end for the locals. Pak B mentioned that local would usually not feast on the Babi Guling except during wedding as the price is way too steep for a meal at IDR25,000 (4 regular meals’ worth for the locals) for scrap meat or IDR40,000 (6-7 regular meals’ worth for the locals) for choice meat. The portion is generous at that price and it is truly an authentic Balinese feast. Highly recommended and two thumbs up for the Okas!

The Ibu Oka branch located outside Ubud Centre

Bali: The Isle of Gods Day 2 (Part 1 of 2)

19th March 2010
Part One

Today is going to be a long and exciting day as I have made plenty of plans for sightseeing. I managed to engage a certain Pak “B” to drive me around on the rented Avanza and the fees that he charged is very very reasonable at IDR150,000 which worked out to be around ±S$23 or ±US$16 for the entire day! Although it is fun to drive and explore on your own, when time is of the essence, it is always better to get a local driver and in this way, both parties win. I get to have a driver at a very low price and Pak “B” gets to earn roughly a week’s worth of his monthly salary for a single day’s labor! Please see below on the list of questions you might ask and the hopefully satisfactory answers to those Qs:

Q1- Tour package also provide a driver, so what’s the big deal?

An – Yes they do BUT bear in mind that tour operators charge you the driver’s cost per pax. Pak “B” charge per car and Avanza can take up to 6 pax excluding the driver! Go figure.

Q2 – Tour package shows you much more places, right?

An – Yes they do, including places that you may NOT want to go. For my case, I just pick up one of the many brochures from the airport, go through the itinerary, choose where I want to go and show it to Pak “B”, voila!

Bali: The Isle of Gods (Day 1)

18^th March 2010

Both my wife and I have long planned for this trip to bring both our parents for a vacation in Bali. The plan was conceived 9 months or so in advance to benefit from the cheap promotion flight offered by Air Asia. Care to make a guess of how much we paid for a return ticket? It costs us around S$55 excluding the airport tax in Denpasar Ngurah Rai Airport. We bought a total of 7 tickets for my in laws, my sister in law, my mother, my sister, my wife and myself.

[Tips: Remember to keep IDR150,000 for the airport tax while taking the flights to return from Denpasar to wherever you hailed from]

[Tips: For those that require a VISA to enter Bali, you may get it at the airport itself. As for those that do not require one, you may proceed to the right of the VISA checkpoint and keep walking till you reach the custom checkpoint]

The vacation however will be in two parts i.e. my wife and I will be traveling to Bali earlier to enjoy some of the exploration on our own from 18-20^th March whereby we will be joined by my brother in law (Last minute addition) on the 20^th itself. The rest of the group will be joining us on the 21^st March itself. I have rented a car (Toyota Avanza) for the entire trip as it will allow me to explore more and this time round, I am really looking forward to seeing more of Bali and its surrounding. Driving in Bali is very enjoyable as the people here are “gentle” drivers which I am very much inclined to believe is due to their religion that beckons its followers to respect all living things. Speed limit in general all over the island is 50kph.

[Tips: The Toyota Avanza that we rented costs us only US$20 per day and the fuel economy is decent. Petrol in Bali is cheap at ±IDR4,800 per liter i.e. approx S$0.70] 

Brian ^v^ Natalie

This is my first wedding photography attempt and I know that its not near to what it should be but I am sure this will prepare me well for future weddings.

Brian and Natalie knew each other in the UK or more precisely, Birmingham. Chemistry is natural between the two and in no time, both of them got into the river of love. The dawn of their union beckons as the two decided to make a covenant to stay by the other person come what may until the wick of their candles cease to emit light.

Paris/ Milan Day 1

27th Dec 2009

This is our final day in Paris and we are bound for our flight to Milan at 1100hr so we had to check out of our hotel early to make our way to the Orly airport early for check in. We made our way to Charles de Gaulles Etoile where our shuttle bus is waiting to pick us up. The pick up location is just beside the Arch de Triomphe so I managed to have my final snap of the great structure early in the morning where cars and tourists are scarce, which makes a photo!

Bar area of Marriott Champ Elysees