We arrived Bali airport before 2:00pm, slightly ahead the schedule. AirAsia was afraid that nobody knew they made it to the destination slightly ahead the schedule, so they kept announcing this in the plane “We are happy to announce that we are ahead the schedule…” for several times. Err… well done, AirAsia! (-_-” isn’t punctuality one of the services that we should get?)

While waiting for immigration in the airport, we found a lot of tour brochures for our reading. We grabbed some of them to understand the packages and the prices so we can use it to bargain when we sign up the local tour later.

Once we stepped out the airport, there were uncountable taxis waiting at the airport parking area. They were like the flies sticking on us wanted to give us a ride. Even though we had said no, they still didn’t give up and kept following us and asking us if we want a ride., “Transport, transport? Where are you going? Legian? 300,000 Rupiah, very cheap… “

Well, never get into any taxi in the airport unless it runs with meter. At first we were told the price to Legian from airport was Rp200k. Then we continued walking towards the exit gate and the price kept dropping from 200k to 100k then 60k. We kept walking until we reached the gate, the price dropped to Rp 30k offered by the taxi parked at the gate. But we didn’t know whether 30k was a fair price, so we insisted to get the meter taxi. When we reached the destination, it was 28k which was close to 30k. Ever since the airport taxi case, we had the impression that we can only trust meter taxi.

We found a very cheap hotel, Blue Lagoon Hotel, which is the ONLY low end sea view hotel at Seminyak beach. It was only Rp 175k per night. This hotel is mainly for the surfers who learn surfing in Seminyak. Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone. The room was so old and spooky that I felt as if I was staying in the haunted room. So we moved out the next day to the quieter place in Sanur.

After settled our accommodation, we were starving. We decided to try some street food and we found Bakso at Seminyak beach. It was a food stall setup on a motorcycle with a big pot of soup and a lot of meatballs.

Without knowing exactly what they were, we ordered one bowl of it. It was very cheap, costs only Rp 5k. There were meatballs, taufu, something like wantan in it and with very small portion of noodles. The soup was quite sweet and tasty and the meatballs were made with pork, chicken, fish and beef, just like normal meatballs. Except the wantan with too many small bones that I didn’t really like it. The portion is very small that it was more like a snack rather than the main meal.

We found it interesting and kinda liked it so we had it again the next day. Until we chatted with one of our tour guides about bakso, we were told that most of the bakso contents of Formalin as preservative! Oh my God, I never know that noodle soup requires any preservative. I don’t know how bad the Formalin can cause to our bodies, but I definitely would not want to consume any street food with chemical in it. So ciao Bakso, it would be the last time I will ever eat you again.

After the light meal and the dive package discussion with one of the tour agents at Seminyak beach, it was already 5:30p.m. We rushed to Uluwatu for sunset but unfortunately we missed the sunset. The traffic in Bali was quite terrible, the traffic was heavy almost everywhere. And their sun set so early. In our country, Malaysia, the sun set at about 7 p.m. But in Bali, the sun set at 6:15 p.m. We should have done some research on that. Anyway, nothing impressive about Uluwatu. Its only attractions are the cliff and the temple.

Uluwatu Temple (Pura Uluwatu) is one of Bali’s six directional temples and Uluwatu’s only site of significance. More remarkable than the temple itself is its location, perched on a steep cliff 70 meters above the roaring ocean waves. There are more steep headlands on either side, and we were told that sunsets over Uluwatu are a sight to behold.

Entrance fee is Rp 3k, sarong rental is free. If you wear long pants or long dress that cover your legs, then you will not need to wear sarong. We were told by our driver Kecak dance (aka “monkey dance”) performances are held at the temple daily between 6 PM and 7 PM. Tickets cost Rp 50k. The show is performed for tourists and lasts 1 hour. We didn’t watch the dance as my boyfriend wasn’t interested and I had already watched it during my first visit to Bali.

After visiting Uluwatu, we headed towards Jimbaran for dinner. The dining spots in Jimbaran Beach are famous for serving delicious seafood with local recipes. Along the beach there are many opportunities to dine out. Many of the local peoples have opened up various cafes for passersby and tourists. This is very popular because of the enormous selection of seafood that they offer. Most of the tourists there love the romantic mood for the evening with fancy candles and musicians playing soothing music while having the dinner.

(I didn’t take any picture at Jimbaran beach. But to show you how romantic it is, I found this photo from google)

We were told by the driver that all restaurants at Jimbaran beach are now owned by one boss. It happened 2 months ago that all the prices in each restaurants have been adjusted to a single standard price. We were also told that they used to have different price lists for the customers from different countries. So we thought it was a good change that we do not need to worry about being ripped off but we were absolutely wrong. It was a complete rip-off to dine there. We ordered 1kg of King Sea Prawn that costed Rp 350k and 0.9kg Snapper that costed Rp 85k. After added the drinks and 15% government tax, the total bill was Rp 529k! The most expensive meal we had in Bali!

We were recommended by our friends that the food at Jimbaran beach was good and cheap but it wasn’t true at all. Firstly, the food there was obviously overpriced. Secondly, the food there wasn’t fresh at all, especially the snapper. We thought it should be fresh enough
to steam it but it wasn’t fresh and smelled quite strong that we lost our appetite to eat it. It could be the restaurant that we choosed didn’t serve good quality of food.

Anyway, unless you don’t mind paying for the ambiance, which is undeniable romantic and relaxing, otherwise the food was utterly overpriced.

After the dinner, we had a night walk at Seminyak beach before hitting the sack.

End of the first day in Bali.