Wednesday, November 24, 2004
title: my bali trip
back from bali!! i had great fun in bali for the past 5-6 days, although some stupid things popped up. for example, my youngest brother and my mother were sick before going to bali. they were still sick when in bali.
then, i was sick too. cough with lots of digusting phelm. i'm still coughing now, btw.
ok, so we took the morning flight (9am) to Bali, SQ 141. my brother had great fun watching 'friends' and 'everybody loves raymond' on the flight. and he grossed me out when he stuffed packets of butter into that tiny bread roll lor. wa lao, so fattening and scary. i even offered him MY packet of butter.
we landed in Bali around 12pm, i think. whatever. haha, the different between changi airport and the bali airport is vast. VERY vast. but really, its not the worst airport i have been to. i think the puket one is crappier. wait, the worst one i have ever been is JFK. not the design, mind you. its the crappy service that made it win hands down.
anyway, we took transport to the hotel we are going to stay, which is the
Hard Rock Hotel. the traffic was so damn freaking bad. not a single traffic light in sight. and everybody is jay-walking. what's worse, the roads are so freaking narrow that obviously, traffic jams can arise very easily.
but finally, we reached the hard rock hotel. i think it took us a hour sia. if we walked, we would reached it in half an hour. damn. anyway, the hard rock hotel was brilliant. the location damn chio too, because juz opposite is the Kuta Beach(the super famous bali beach lah) and if we walk just 5 mins, we would reach the heart of the shopping area!!
hard rock hotel was damn cool. they have this
centrestage, where bands would peform every night. and this cabana pool, which is so damn freaking huge. this pool is a
free-form pool, and there's this bar in the middle of the cabana where you can order drinks and swim at the same time. hahahahaha. i was in the cabana almost everyday.
bali is very easy to navigate around, WALKING. i mean, bali is probably the only country outside singapore where i dared to walk and shop around myself, because everything is so compact together. i will talk about this later.
oh, and my mother signed us up for a 3-day surfing beginner's package at
Bali Learn To Surf. surfing was great. in the first lesson, we spent half an hour at the pool to learn how to balance on the board(while paddlling lah.. not standing up) and i actually had trouble with that. -_-'' i kept falling out of the board.
however, when we got to Kuta Beach to learn to catch those waves and STAND UP, i managed to stand up on my very first attempt!! muahahahahaaha!!!!!!!! ^_______^ but obviously, it was lucky lucky lah. surfing is not that easy, you know. it take years for those professional surfers to surf like how we watch them do on television.. especially the tube-ride (which is the one where you surf inside the wave.. damn chio)
the surfing instructors were damn friendly too. the group i was in(the three of us, and surprisingly, two other singaporeans) had a instructor named tong. strange name, i know. i won't comment on it further.
he's damn funny with his indonesian accent and actions. but he's a good instructor lah. its very easy to warm up to him. the funniest thing was probably when he asked the two singaporeans whether is the girl the guy's sister. i mean, its so damn obvious they are a couple on holiday.
the balinese are really really friendly people. totally a world apart from stuck-up singaporeans who thought the world of themselves. they are also really religious people. they will have an offering everyday to their gods(they are Hindu, but a different kind of Hindu that we know). the offerings were presented in a little box make out of some leaf with various stuffs inside. sometimes even sweets. i saw these little offerings EVERYWHERE in Bali.
oh yah, and one very cute thing. everything the drivers drove past a temple, they will honk at least twice as a form of respect. so damn kawaii lor.
but surfing is sooooo tiring. i was pretty wiped out on the very first day. and did very badly on the second day. ;___; my brother was worse. he fell sick after surfing the second day. i think he drank too much saltwater. cause we even went boogie-boarding after surfing. the waves were pretty huge lor. compared to singapore. but it's probably chicken-feet to pro surfers. i was sooo tired after one wave after another kept on hitting me. i was in very serious danger of being exposed lor.
but anyway, again, i managed to ride the wave on the 1st attempt of boogie-boarding, which is also known as body-boarding. riding the wave means managing to 'surf' right up to the shore. if you didn't manage to ride the wave, the wave will just go past you and you will be left in almos the same spot still paddling/kicking like an idiot. the adrenline of catching the wave is tremendous, i tell ya. i mean, its NATURE giving you those feelings. its very different from riding on roller-coasters lor. i feel much shiok when surfing/body-boarding. i will definitely resume these both sports next time. and learn how to TURN!!! turning is the most shiok-est part, big-time.
so, after the 2nd day, i was totally bummed out. totally out of energy. i was completely dead. my brother fell sick and my youngest brother gave up. poor guy, he still didn't manage to stand up on the surfboard. he can't even body-board. ;__;
so, we postphoned the 3rd lesson lah. even the instructor said its impossible to surf for 3 days straight for us beginners. i mean, its not easy lor. the waves can really tire you out. when the energy of the wave hits you, boom!! *sighs*
but when the day arrived, my brother was still sick. i ended up as the only one still pia-ing. haha. i definitely did much better than how i did in the 3rd lesson. but i definitely need more practice!! surfing was extremely great!!
however, got sacrifices lah. i had blisters on my fingers. and rashes on my knees due to the friction caused by the surfboard. oh yah, and i was konked on the head too. on both arms too. and my toe-nail. it broke almost into half.
but i don't mind. coz when riding the wave, that's one of the best feelings in the world.
ok, now to shopping. i am telling ya, kuta is a surfer's paradise for clothes. on a single street, there are stores of ROXY, RIPCURL, QUIKSILVER and BILLABONG. OMG. i was going giddy when i saw those stores. those who know me very well know i am obsessed with surfer clothes. very obsessed.
i absolutely love roxy and billabong. mind you, even though bali is in indonesia, bali is not cheap at all. their surfer clothes quite ex lor. i only managed to get 3 tops and a boardshort. *sighs* oh, and a bikini set too. all with the budget of S$120. its actually not bad lah. coz singapore is definitely much more expensive. one shirt (with much better quality) in bali cost around S$25-$30. one shirt (with shitter quality) in singapore costs almost S$50 lor. WTF. i should have gotten more clothes lah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY ROXY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ARGHHHHHHHHHH!! I definitely regret it big-time now!!! i should have told my mother 'take it as i owe you money lah'.. wa lao eh!!! those tops really damn chio lor!! very very very chio with complicated designs and nice colours!!!
oh, other brands like stussy, prada and versace also available lor. oh, and tommy hilfiger too. omg. omg. omg.
i will definitely be going back to bali again!! that time, i will definitely sweep all my roxy, ripcurl and billabong stuff!! even my brothers went nuts over the quiksilver range of boardshorts and t-shirts. and they are not fashion-conscious people. as long they have a t-shirt to wear, they can deal with it. but imagine them going nuts over those quiksilver designs!!
yes, its official. quiksilver is the king of surf brands and roxy is the queen. muahahaha!!
we stayed in hard rock for 4 nights. hard rock's great. really great. i saw so many guitars autographed by various bands around the world sia. damn cool. and the food in hard rock cafe's not bad too. i especially love the brownie sundae dessert. i was exceptionally hungry in bali. its definitely due to all those surfing and body-boarding. and yes, i am pretty dark by now. i was even bitching bout it yesterday when i looked myself in the mirror and all i saw is a super-red face.
but PT said its not too bad lah.. as in, my tan. i am not too dark. so.. phew. haha. i will try to maintain this tan.
i want to go back to bali and stay at the hard rock!!! and shop and surf!! i mean, there are HUGE HUGE stores of surf-wear too carrying the various brands. there's this particular shop where i was dying to go to but didn't have the time. it's called Surfer Girl. its absoluely huge. i mean, it carried all the possible surf brands and range of accessories and clothes for specially GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i didn't have the time to go!!!!!!!!!! the shop was soooo huge lor!!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*breathes in and out*
ok.
there are also other surf shops like The Curl, The Station, Jungle Surf.. and MORE MORE MORE. like what i said, its a sufer's paradise for clothes and accessories.
so, on the 4th day of bali, we checked out of hard rock hotel and went to this dumb resort that my mother got rooms for free in Jimbaran. it sucked big-time. the location is damn ulu, and i itched like mad when i was there. however, the best thing about Jimbaran was their beach. we went to eat dinner at the beach. YES, AT THE BEACH.. with tables and chairs and everything on the sand. the main purpose was to catch the sunset while having your dinner. and by nightfall, there was this band singing to entertain you. it was great.
however, all of us couldn't stand the resort any longer and booked a villa in Seminyak and moved out the very next day.
the villa was nice. it had its own private pool which i spent hours in it. however, its definitely not for city people like us. coz there were bugs everywhere!! BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
millipedes, ants, dragonflies, whatever. oh yah, and FROGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was so creepy to walk around at night in the villa and noticing a bunch of frogs hopping around lor. i even saw a huge lizard. i screamed when i saw the frog. and killed a couple of huge millipedes.
so, hard rock is definitely better. MUCH MORE BETTER. imagine lor, everyday got people clean up the room for you, there's lots of channels available on the tv, and there's even a stereo system. and the best thing is definitely the location, right in the heart of Kuta.
i die die must go back Bali next time. the only bad thing was, the food. super crap food. oh, and Bali's not too cheap too. but the roxy stuff definitely better-looking and cheaper than singapore lah. the range and variety was super huge lor. they even had these goodness damn huge freaking billabong luggages lor. REALLY HUGE ONES. i think can stuff 2 months worth of clothes inside. maybe even more. and i mean those that you change everyday.
can i go back to bali???
as for today, i went to have a haircut. PT accompanied me. she got darker. but i won, hands down. hahahahaha!! i had the haircut at SuperCuts at Far East Plaza. Okay lah. i don't think i will go back there though. coz my aim is to try out the various salons, then choose one that i like the best. next: Icon by Shunji Matsuo.
CAN I GO BACK TO BALI???????
Written at 10:01 pm