One or two things that you have to be contend in Bali (and in Indonesia as I've also been told) is the traffic and the journey. A mere 5 kilometer drive could take you the entire hour, which I've personally experienced when we were leaving Finns Beach Club for Pullman hotel on Day 3 :D. My friend blamed me for jinxing it for us because I said everywhere you want to get to in Bali would at least be one hour. LOL!
Well, Ubud is 30km away from Seminyak, so it was pretty much given that we only arrived there after 1 and half hours. Though we had already had breakfast at the hotel, we took the recommendation of friends to stop by for coffee at Seniman Coffee Studio. We opted for the affogato and the vietnamese spring rolls. Oh my God, they were sooo good!
Next we walked around Ubud for a bit until we decided to give the Sacred Monkey Forest a go. The monkeys were well behaved and they were minding their own business. There were a lot of food to go around so they weren't really interested with the visitors. Of course, one should take precautionary not to expose their bags and carry around plastics bags. There was a lot of caretakers on the ground, so you ought not to worry.
My dad would not be happy with me visiting the park because the monkeys are like public enemy number one, remember? :). Their favourite food to steal at our house are the chicken eggs :D.
Sacred Monkey Forest
Right after, we took the shuttle to get back to Ubud main streets and picked up our car. The next destination is Pura Ulun Danu Batur, which is roughly 40km away. That translated to well over an hour of drive :D. To be honest, we wanted to go to Pura Ulun Danu Beratan - the pura (temple) by the lake that is on the 50000 Rupiah note. But since my friend was using his (smaller-screen) iPhone, the "Batur" word was hidden away. By the time we got to Ulun Danu Batur, it was already too late for us to realize that we went to the wrong pura. They are like 1.5 hours apart from each other. I was a bit disappointed but my friend said let's make the most of it.
It was pretty okay I have to admit. The best part was when we got to see the Gunung Batur and a partially visible Gunung Agung.
Right before it got any darker, we decided to grab dinner at Laka Leke restaurant, which was near the Sacred Monkey Forest. We actually wanted to have lunch there because it'd be even nicer to appreciate the paddy fields which was next to the restaurant during the day. But we wouldn't get as far as the Ulun Datu Batur if we had done so. Along the way, we stumbled upon a local night market. We had a great deal for our udeng - the headgear.
We were informed that we could have dinner with or without the dance performance. The only difference is the tax or VAT that we would be charged for. Since there wasn't much of a difference, we chose to have dinner with the performance. We were in awe with the kids. They were really, really good. Too bad it rained cats and dogs after 2 dance performance. But still, we got our money's worth.
Then it was time to get back to the hotel. Guess how much longer before we'd arrive at the hotel? :D. Nevertheless, it was awesome!
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| Day 2: Tijili Seminyak - Ubud - Pura Ulun Danu Batur - Laka Leke - Tijili Seminyak |
Well, Ubud is 30km away from Seminyak, so it was pretty much given that we only arrived there after 1 and half hours. Though we had already had breakfast at the hotel, we took the recommendation of friends to stop by for coffee at Seniman Coffee Studio. We opted for the affogato and the vietnamese spring rolls. Oh my God, they were sooo good!
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| Apparently 'rambu' means 'sign' in Indonesian - "No parking until the next sign". Rambu is 'fringe' in Malay |
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| Very yummy Vietnamese spring rolls |
Next we walked around Ubud for a bit until we decided to give the Sacred Monkey Forest a go. The monkeys were well behaved and they were minding their own business. There were a lot of food to go around so they weren't really interested with the visitors. Of course, one should take precautionary not to expose their bags and carry around plastics bags. There was a lot of caretakers on the ground, so you ought not to worry.
My dad would not be happy with me visiting the park because the monkeys are like public enemy number one, remember? :). Their favourite food to steal at our house are the chicken eggs :D.
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| Street market in Ubud |
Sacred Monkey Forest
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| Having a feast |
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| Say cheese! |
Right after, we took the shuttle to get back to Ubud main streets and picked up our car. The next destination is Pura Ulun Danu Batur, which is roughly 40km away. That translated to well over an hour of drive :D. To be honest, we wanted to go to Pura Ulun Danu Beratan - the pura (temple) by the lake that is on the 50000 Rupiah note. But since my friend was using his (smaller-screen) iPhone, the "Batur" word was hidden away. By the time we got to Ulun Danu Batur, it was already too late for us to realize that we went to the wrong pura. They are like 1.5 hours apart from each other. I was a bit disappointed but my friend said let's make the most of it.
It was pretty okay I have to admit. The best part was when we got to see the Gunung Batur and a partially visible Gunung Agung.
 |
| Love the scenery despite the hanging clouds |
Right before it got any darker, we decided to grab dinner at Laka Leke restaurant, which was near the Sacred Monkey Forest. We actually wanted to have lunch there because it'd be even nicer to appreciate the paddy fields which was next to the restaurant during the day. But we wouldn't get as far as the Ulun Datu Batur if we had done so. Along the way, we stumbled upon a local night market. We had a great deal for our udeng - the headgear.
We were informed that we could have dinner with or without the dance performance. The only difference is the tax or VAT that we would be charged for. Since there wasn't much of a difference, we chose to have dinner with the performance. We were in awe with the kids. They were really, really good. Too bad it rained cats and dogs after 2 dance performance. But still, we got our money's worth.
Then it was time to get back to the hotel. Guess how much longer before we'd arrive at the hotel? :D. Nevertheless, it was awesome!
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| Borrowed my friend's udeng because mine was in the car :D |
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| Food! |
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| With some of the dancers. The little kid in front of me was sooo cute and really talented and she's only 5! |
italian laa... vietnamese laa... abis tuh nasi liwet tak makan la?
ReplyDeleteItu Subda kan? Makan kat cibouk kat KL je. Haha
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