When in Bali
by shz
The journey from airport to the hotel was quite a way, one hour away to be exact. We were welcomed by our supir who was going to give us the tour for the next two days. I was amazed by what I saw from the van’s window, a lot of motorcycles with women wearing kebaya and batik looking lovely came back from their rituals, as it was full moon that night. The cultural vibe is certainly strong there.
I can’t remember all the names of places that we went, but what I saw will never be erased from my memories for sure. People washing clothes by the river, the green of paddy terraces arranged so systematically on every hills, the galleries that sell incredibly cheap good arts or the beautiful walls on every houses are just too good to be true. But most of all, I am startled by how artistic the people are. Even the way they lay bricks for pavements are like the work of arts, if only we have the same appreciation over little things like that in Malaysia. Its a slow life there, people are not rushing themselves. Hence so is for their works, be builders or artists.
We stayed at Taman Harum which live up to its name. It really is a beautiful place and a true Balinese stay. The rooms are limited and I think it was the first time in many of my travels where I stayed in a place without a buffet breakfast. I mean, they’re only catering like 10 guests when we were there and breakfast was almost ala carte. With so few guests around, we kinda had the pool all to ourselves every morning. And the garden, phew… the gardens are harum indeed.
Well, I did some few photographic attempts despite the hectic of bringing an one year old around, they’re not very impressive but I think they’re worth showing. Bali is one of the most photographed places in the world, so really, there’s nothing you haven’t seen before from mine. On the other note, the weather was quite crappy in October. It rained a lot but only for few minutes and then it gets really hot and humid. Normally on shady, bleak, rainy days like that my pictures will be very, very shit but surprisingly I love the soft tones and the mild light it brings to my subjects. Maybe its just different in Asia and hey, what a good news because I plan to stay here forever. 😉
I’ve uploaded them in my Facebook account, and yours truly’s pictures, well, obviously in this blog. I hope you enjoy them, as I did.
you did a right decision to bring her along to bali 🙂
we started to drag along our daughter to perth when she was 10months and as you put it “when she doesnt even know where her nose is! LOL. but we had great time, then again to an almost backpacking trip to europe when she was 1 year plus WITHOUT THE DADDY and surprisingly she behaved well despite some tantrums in the flights. now everytime were out to travel in japan , i got many remarks about her like those “senang bawak berjalan” 😀
so my point is , if u want ur baby to love travelling as much as you do, dont be afraid to train them as early as you can !
i hope i dont sound like bragging here LOL just want to share my piece of thoughts 🙂
Oh wow! You live in Japan? We are planning to go there in February (bought tix already!) but Daisy is not in the itinerary because we suspect we’re gonna do a lot of backpacking, plus its going to be crazy cold that time of year right? What do you suggest? I really really want to bring her, but do you think it’ll be a hassle?
Daisy behaved well on both flight to and back from Bali, maybe because it was just 3 hours. How long does a flight to Japan from KL? And is the public transportation there are stroller friendly? Would appreciate your insight!
hi shz.been your silence reader since i dnn’t remember 😛
LOVE your writing & photos.
so..finally you’re coming to japan!!which part if u don’t mind me asking.
i always wondering..’bile la shaliza mokhtar nak dtg jalan2 kat jepun?..and i’d rather choose S.M instead of S.* (you-know-who) if both of you were in japan at the same time!’
(for S.* fans outside..Please, don’t take this personally)
i live in tokyo right now..been here for 11 years.
it’ll take 7-8 hrs to fly to tokyo.
and yes..the public transportation here (except during the rush hour time) are stroller friendly..same goes with the shopping complex and tourist places.
i think good girl like Daisy is gonna behaved well..insyaAllah.
let me know if you need any help..as it’ll be a pleasure to help u 🙂
HAHAHAHAHA. Oh wow, thank you sooo much.
Yes I am finally going to Japan – TOKYO yo! You know me, very cheapskate – will never fly any airlines unless its low fare ones. So when AirAsia announced the new route to Tokyo I was stuck in front of my computer screen for two days trying to get the cheapest fare. Hahaha. But I wasn’t thinking when I bought for February. Just recently found out that it’ll be coldest that time of the year – and I have given out most of my pretty coats to charity back in UK! Darn it!
And I think I probably have to sell my limbs to survive 6 days in Tokyo. It is sooo expensive! Initially I thought of going to Kyoto and the price for taking the bullet train is the SAME with return tix from KL – Tokyo! Gila ya. I plan to eat sand and stones for the next 4 months because otherwise I probably not going! Wow, 11 years in Tokyo? Do you have big house? Can I crash? HAHAHAHA – Kidding!
I actually have got almost everything planned out, but will probably need someone to review it. Might be a good to have a discussion here as well so that anyone else planning on going can benefit from it. Yes?
were coming home soon for good soon tho! sob sob.
if ure planning to bring along daisy id suggest to bring a good baby carrier coz the public transport here is definitely not stroller friendly especially in tokyo. and the strollers here are mostly in petit size like those maclaren n combis. i hardly find any quinny / peg prego here , so thats why we didnt bring our when we went to tokyo! LOL. however the restaurants/ malls here are mostly baby friendly! you wont have hard time to find any changing room / baby rooms 🙂
btw its about 6-7 hours flight , if ure taking MAS, theyre usually mindnight flights so the baby can sleep in the bassinet. (ayra was too big tho she cannot fit it LOL i ended up carrying her on my lap all night long! blegh) dunno about AirAsia tho 🙂
btw when we travel here were using ergo babycarrier, hubs will carry her, and ill be carrying a back pack full of her stuffs LOL and a camera of course!
you can always leave the rest of your stuffs in a coin locker for the whole day, available at every train station. so its pretty convenient.
hope this helps!
not stroller friendly* for big strollers LOL
owh btw what i meant with a good baby carrier ,avoid those like baby byorn types , that would definitely hurt your back for long-time carry. ergo worked well with us. 🙂 macam bawak 10kg back-pack sahaja 😛
sorry for the spam! haha
I saw your blog and see you carry your baby all the time! She must be as light as feather. Daisy is sooo heavy, even without carrier! I don’t think we can carry her all around Tokyo if that’s the case. Geez, have to think think think…
Hi Sha,
I’ll definitely look for Taman Harum if i get a chance to go there! Thanks for sharing. In fact u always share lots of interesting things here.
err…how did u bring the stokke there? did u pack in a box and put it in a cargo?
It was surprisingly convenient. We just had to push her to the plane and left it there. Didn’t even have to dismantle it because AirAsia people will just pick it up and put it in the cargo. When we arrived we just had to wait for awhile for the people to take it out. So I’m very pleased with it.
When we were in Bali we hired a van and a driver the whole time, so getting around was easy. I think I’m going to write an entry about how Xplory changed my life. Hahahaha
Taman Harum is a beautiful place to stay, but if you can afford a little bit more, I suggest you stay in a nice hotel at Jalan Monkey Forest, which is the center of Ubud. Taman Harum is quite away like 15 mins drive, but they provide free shuttle service to any Ubud area.
hahaha not at all! berat gila! shes like 12kilos! we usually do back carry coz she too heavy for front carry now! LOL
you can still bring the stroller tho, we tried once but its super leceh what with the other bag n stuffs especially if ure staying in different hotels, and moving from to another using the public transport.
unlesss..a.a let u guys crash at his/her place! haha
happy planning shz!
i see. i always leave my Xplory at home. takut tak convenient nak bawak naik plane esp. on budget plane.
Yes, pls write abt it, k! hehe..
[…] Went to fantastic place called Bali. […]
shaliza,
how much u pay for the two days tour with the supir ye?
i’m going to bali this chinese nu year.. and still haven’t make up my mind yet whether to use personal tour guide atau upah any pak supir utk jalan2.
Hi Anne.
The rate for our supir was Rp. 360.000 net/day. I think you should have a supir because it will save a lot of your time trying to find how to get from one place to another. Its quite a journey from one place to another, surprisingly even though it is just an island. Unless you are spending a long time in Bali to venture yourself.
Rp.360.000net include his taxi fare atau upah dia je yer?
The tour guide is cum driver. Hahaha. Yes, so you’ll be paying only that for both. Call them here : http://www.bali-thepages.com/balitrip/ and ask for Pak Dermawan. The best supir in the world. Haha
thanx darl!!
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