Bali Mini Honeymoon – Part Three

It was already 4plus 5pm by the time we got back to our villa after the cycling tour. But after a short rest, it was time to venture out again hah. We wanted to go to Spa Bali in Seminyak area (888 Jalan Dyanapura) but when we reached there, we couldnt get a slot. Hence, we made an appointment for 9pm instead and headed to Potato Head to take a look.

Potato Head

Potato Head is a happening beach club and I quite like its design and decor!

A pretty beach club with great vibe, decor and view!

The place was very crowded and all the prime seats were taken already hah. We managed to only get a bar counter seat and ordered a mojito. Since it is a touristy place like Ku De Ta, the prices are on the high side (in Bali standards) as well. But for the ambience and sea view and breeze, it is quite worth a visit.

Dinner was at Naughty Nuri’s Warung (Jalan Batubelig, 41) – famed for its BBQ pork ribs. We read about this place from a number of different sources and all have rave reviews for their ribs. The atmosphere there was fun and casual and we were seated in the outdoor area on a long table, sharing with some angmoh strangers.

Naughty Nuri’s Warung – the place for ribs

Of course, we ordered the famous pork ribs, and we also tried its grilled chicken (which dear likes alot hah), potato wedges and nachos. Food was inexpensive, and generally good. However, I thought the ribs were alittle overhyped and could be more tender hah. Anyway, it was a satisfying dinner! Oh, and we were quite tickled by the martini shaking “performance” by staff to customers who order their martinis hah. Pretty entertaining!

Glorious food

Post dinner activity was 2-hour spa at Spa Bali.

Relaxing at Spa Bali

I had body massage and scrub, while dear chose foot massage as well as manicure and pedicure. Prices were not too cheap but the ambience was quite good. Treatments were not bad as well, easing the aches from the cycling earlier in the day hah.

Finally it was the last day of our short mini honeymoon. After our last in-villa breakfast, we checked out and got the driver to drive us to another spa – De Nyuh Spa, which is located at Grandma’s hotel (funny hotel name I know hah) in Seminyak area.

Last in-villa breakfast at Oazia

Prices were comparably cheaper here and each of us took a 2-hour package of body massage, scrub and facial. It cost less than $30 for each person for this indulgence! We liked our treatments there definitely, very value for money.

Value-for-money spa at De Nyuh Spa

After the relaxing spa, it was time for some lunch before we headed to the airport. Lunch was at Sardine (Jalan Petitenget 21, Kerobokan), another place with good reviews. This restaurant has a very nice view of lush padi fields and looks especially pretty when the wind blows.

Lunch at Sardine restaurant

However, the food was quite disappointing or maybe it was just not to our taste. It was quite expensive as well.

This concluded our 4 days 3 nights of Bali trip! It was a great start of our lives as husband and wife. Now we are back to reality and back to work. We are also adjusting well to our new journey together. Next highlight to look forward to – Europe honeymoon in May 2013!

 

Bali Mini Honeymoon – Part Two

On the second third day of our Bali, we signed up for a cycling tour in Ubud with Bali Eco Cycling. The tour cost RP 360,000 (about $46) per person. We were picked up at our villa early in the morning and we started with a breakfast – with awesome view of an active volcano, Mt Batur, and its crater lake. We also met the other members of the cycling tour and there were 7 of us in the group.

Breakfast with a view

After the breakfast (which was nothing great), we were brought to a coffee plantation for a visit. At the place, we were also introduced to the famed luwak coffee, although I dont know if that is the authentic one hah.

Coffee plantation visit

Finally it was time for the highlight – cycling! We chose our bikes and helmets, and are ready to go!

Choosing our bikes and helmets

Before signing up for this tour, dear was a little apprehensive as she thought it might be too tiring. But my sis told us it is down-slope cycling and even grandmas can do it hah. Indeed, the whole 2-hour or so cycling was mostly down-slope and all we had to do was to hold on to our brakes!

We stopped by a typical Balinese house as part of the tour. It gave us a rare opportunity to look outside the touristy Bali which most tourists are familiar with, and have a peek at how a typical Balinese family lives. Though very backwards, but could sense their contentment and happiness, something hard to find in city living!

A peek into a typical Balinese house

We also had a stop among the padi fields and our guide shared more knowledge about Bali with us, and also shared his life stories too.

Lush padi fields!

Along the way, we also cycled past many villagers and the kids are ever energetic and welcoming, kept waving their hands and saying “Hello!” to us hah. The tour ended with a yummy Balinese lunch and we were driven back to our villa.

Yummy lunch to end the tour

It was overall a great experience and we enjoyed the tour. I would recommend this tour, to see another side of Bali less seen by tourists!

To be continued.

 

Bali Mini Honeymoon – Part One

Two days after our wedding, we went on our mini honeymoon to Bali! It was just a short 4 days 3 nights getaway, before our proper honeymoon to Europe this coming May hah. Our Airasia flight on 7 Jan 2013 was at noon and we arrived in Bali at about 3plus pm. Our driver from Oazia Spa Villas was already waiting for us outside the airport, holding a signboard with my name hah.

Our friendly driver

The journey to the villa was more than an hour and it was drizzling when we reached. We were being led to Villa Orchid, its one-bedroom villa, and the friendly staff showed us around the spacious compound where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. It was nice, except for the bugs and mosquitoes in the outdoor area. But this is expected, and is part and parcel of nature.

Villa Orchid, our home for 3 nights in Bali

After resting a while, we met up with my sis and her boyfriend for dinner since they were holidaying in Bali as well hah. Dinner was at Waroeng Bonita at Seminyak area. Quite a nice place but the food was average at best.

Dinner with sis and James at Waroeng Bonita

After a filling dinner, we headed to Ku De Ta for some drinks despite the heavy downpour!

After-dinner drinks at Ku De Ta

The next day, we woke up pretty early for white water rafting. I booked at Ayung River in advance with Sobek at USD 50 per person, which is pretty steep actually! The rafting itself lasted about 2 hours but the whole thing was overall quite mild, not very exciting. Many times, we have to paddle hard which was pretty tiring hah. Lunch was included after the rafting, but was nothing to shout about.

White water raffting at Ayung River

The afternoon was spent enjoying the 1-hour complimentary massage at the spa and sightseeing at Tenah Lot, a temple which is a famous tourist destination. Our villa provides free use of car and driver, and that really saved us a lot of hassle (and money hah). Tenah Lot was about 30mins drive away from our villa and the scenary there was quite nice. And expectedly, the place was crowded with tourists. We have wanted to go to Uluwatu (another famous temple) as well, but that was kind of too far away.

Pretty Tenah Lot

We headed for dinner at Seminyak area after Tenah Lot. We went to this italian restaurant called Ultimo, which enjoys rave reviews and highly recommended by some friends. The place was already very crowded at 6plus pm, but luckily we managed to get a table still. Food was decent and affordable. We ordered 3 main courses and a dessert to share hah.

Nice italian dinner at Ultimo

We decided to rest early for the night as it has been a long day and we got to wake up early (again!) the next day for our cycling tour hah.

To be continued.

 

Europe Honeymoon on Emirates!

I saw an attractive promotion on Emirates yesterday and decided to check it out. The all-in fares looked like a great bargain, and the travel period is till 31 May 2013. As we are planning for our Europe honeymoon in May period next year, seems like this is one good deal that should not be missed!

Promotion until 31 Oct 2012, for travel till 31 May 2013

Hence, today we started discussing and looking for dates that fit both of us. As I have only 21 days of leave left after our wedding in January, I am not keen to take 17 days of leave for a 3-week honeymoon that dear wanted (she has more than 30 days of leave!). I dont want to have only 4 days of leave left for the whole year, which is like so miserable! I am thus more inclined to have just a 18-day max honeymoon, so that at least I still have 7 days of leave to play with. After some discussion, we finally had a conclusion.

Our flight itinerary

Our honeymoon will be from 12 May 2013 (reach Paris on 13 May morning) till 30 May 2013 (departing Paris at night and arriving home on 31 May 2013 night). The all-in fare for each pax is only $915, which I thought is really cheap! Of course, we are not expecting SQ service standards and this is not a direct flight (stopover in Dubai for both ways). But we can live with this, in order to save couple of hundreds bucks hah. Oh and for 2 out of the 4 legs, it will be on the spanking new A380!

We dont really have concrete plans on the itinerary yet. Probably we will be going for France, Italy and Switzerland. This is the tentative plan as of now. Suggestions and recommendations are certainly welcomed!

*Hopefully I will not be called up for my reservist during this period!

 

OAZIA Spa Villas Booked!

We have spent the past couple of weekends researching for a villa for our mini honeymoon in Bali. We were looking for a one-bedroom villa, with private pool, which looks good and spacious, and within our budget of about $1,500 for 3 nights of accomodations (hopefully less!). Location wise, my preference is in Seminyak area where most of the action is, but at somewhere that can still offer peace and tranquility. With our budget, big brands like Banyan Tree are definitely out of reach. Hence, we will go for those private villas that are not too far off in terms of service standards and villa quality.

There are so many villas in Bali that are just too mind-boggling. Hence, we relied a lot on Tripadvisor reviews, and we also sought friends’ recommendations. In the end, we narrowed down to 2 villas: Ziva Villa and Ulin Villa. Both are of very different styles, but both appealed to us. But the rates are pretty steep, at about $1,400 for the honeymoon package at Ziva Villa and a whopping $1,800 for similar package with Ulin Villa. Goodness.

Ziva Villa

Ulin Villa

I definitely preferred Ziva Villa, for its modern decor and of course its comparatively more attractive rates hah. We almost booked this until dear came across a challenger from Jetsetter.com – OAZIA Spa Villas! The rates for its Orchid villa (their one-bedroom villa) are super appealing!

“Villa OAZIA Orchid is a traditional joglo house with luxurious outdoor living area and bedroom with en-suite bathroom decorated with traditional Balinese sculptures and rare orchid plants. There is a massive swimming pool, outside dining area and an intimate roof terrace where guests can enjoy stunning views of the surrounding rice fields – a living sanctuary with the space designed to bring out harmony and love.”

OAZIA Spa Villas

The normal rates are USD 325++ (21% government tax and service charge) per night. At Jetsetter.com flash sale, it is discounted to only USD 200++ per night! Hence, 3 nights accomodation will be only about $900! My only grip is this villa is located in Canggu, which is about 20 minutes drive away to Seminyak area. But they actually provide the use of car and chauffeur, hence not too much of an issue I guess! Such a great deal, hence we decided to go ahead and book it!

This villa provides the below special touches:

• In Villa daily breakfast
• Everyday exotic fruit basket
• Complimentary Balinese Massage treatment for each person
• Complimentary bottle of wine
• Complimentary Bali hand phone with a local number
• Personal Assistant if needed during your stay. An attentive, yet discrete team of Personal Assistants will be available for you. They will assist you with all your needs such as making reservations, arranging day outings, suggesting the best shops or restaurants.
• 8 Hours daily use of car and chauffer between 06.00am and 10.00pm.

Looking forward to our mini honeymoon in Bali!

 

Our Mini Honeymoon

We have decided to have our honeymoon in Europe. However, as our wedding day is in Jan 2013, we think that Europe is too cold for travelling (for us at least hah) if we are to fly like a day or two after our wedding. Hence, probably we will have our honeymoon only in May.

Since the real honeymoon is like 5 months later after the wedding, I thought it will be a great idea if we can have a mini version right after the wedding hah. Yes, the appetizer before the main course! Bali sounds appealing since both of us have never been there and it is pure bliss to relax and laze around in a Balinese villa with private pool for 4 days 3 nights. It should be a romantic getaway too! And of course, it is not too harsh on our pockets hah. We still need the cash for the main course you see.

Today I saw AirAsia is having a promotion for several destinations.

While seats last!

Return flight to Bali at only $102 per pax, all-inclusive! Such a great deal hah. Dont waste time already, decided to just book it! Shall settle the villa when the trip draws nearer. Recommendations welcomed (Banyan Tree and its league are too expensive and out of our budget though hah)! Oh regarding the AirAsia promotion, must book by 19 Feb 2012, for travel period up till 31 Jan 2013. Dont miss the bargain!