One thing I realised when I was planning my itinerary for Bali was how huge it was, and how it was probably impossible to visit all the various areas within one trip. Nevertheless, since it was our maiden trip there, we wanted to make the most of it and check out as many places as possible. So we decided to hire a driver for a couple of days during our trip – and it was one of the best decisions ever! (: There are many of such drivers available for hire in Bali, and I believe most of them get their customers through word of mouth. So if you’re looking for someone to take you around Bali, you can consider our driver – Jering ^^ His number is +62 852 38038945, and he is contactable via whatsapp which makes communicating really convenient! He was really nice and patient, bringing us from place to place and waiting for us while we chilled by the beach for hours! He also gave us recommendations on planning the route for places we wanted to visit. I believe his prices are very reasonable, and competitive compared to other options – IDR 500,000 for a full day; IDR 400,000 for 7-10hrs and IDR 300,000 for 6hrs.
Anyway, so we booked Jering for 10hrs for one of the days during our trip, and we spent most of the time chilling on the beaches that day xD Though you may wonder why we chose to hire a driver just to drive us to the beaches…it was because these were located relatively far from Seminyak! And it was more convenient to have someone reliable to bring us from one point to another and back to our hotel at night. Here were the places we checked out!
1. Geger Beach, Nusa Dua
Easily my favourite beach in Bali <3<3 It was SO GORGEOUS!!!!!!! White sands, clear blue skies, what more could one ask for? It was so lucky that I chanced upon this place, and we really really loved it!! Located at Nusa Dua, this is where all the 5-star hotels are found, and most of the beaches are private beaches. Thankfully, Geger Beach was open to the public for a small fee, and it was totally worth the entrance fee (Y) The beach was less crowded, as compared to those in Seminyak, and the sand was incredibly white ^^
Plus, this was the closest we could get to a 5-star hotel. Geger beach is located right outside The Mulia. Those lucky hotel guests who get to step out into this beach everyday! We chilled at this beach for hours. And although it was close to noon and the sun was scorching, it was still surprisingly very enjoyable because the strong sea breeze kept us cool the entire time!
2. Sundara, Four Seasons Jimbaran
After we had enough of lazing at the beach, we decided to fill our tummies and headed to Four Seasons Jimbaran for lunch. Sundara is located in the hotel, but open to public, and it was one of the best dining experiences I had! Granted, prices were not cheap, but they were definitely reasonable for the kind of ambience compared to what you’d get in Singapore (<$20 for most mains). The cocktails were also the BEST that I had in Bali. Plus those nuts!! They were super addictive.
Ambience-wise, it scored highly as well, as we had this amazing view ^^^
We were sitting on plush sofas with this view right outside! Sooooo beautiful. Take me back right now, please! There is an infinity pool next to day beds outside which I believe you can probably swim in, even though we didn’t try. Day beds have a cover charge, which is more expensive than Potato Head (definitely gotta try that out).
3. Jimbaran Beach
Right outside Four Seasons hotel is Jimbaran beach. You can walk down the entire stretch of beach, and there is where you’ll find many restaurants serving seafood, which is the main attraction of this area (although we didn’t dine there). The waves here were really strong and we had fun walking in the water (:
4. Uluwatu Temple
I really liked this place. The view was stunning and I probably took a gazillion photos here, and would have taken more if not for the monkey mischief we got embroiled in >.< There are quite a number of monkeys here and be warned – they are really daring and naughty!!! If you’ve never heard this before, take what I say seriously – don’t wear any sunglasses/spectacles into the place, and take good care of cameras and other personal belongings.
It was a really scary moment when one of the monkeys literally JUMPED ONTO SAM and grabbed his sunglasses off his face! :O I nearly got a heart-attack watching, and it happened so fast that neither of us had time to react. The next moment, that awful monkey was chewing and tugging at his sunglasses and there was no way to get it back -.- Apparently you can use food to do a barter trade with the monkey, but it’s probably entirely possible that the monkey will just steal the food along with other belongings, so I don’t really advocate that. Moral of the story: Watch out for the monkeys.
Nevertheless, Uluwatu Temple had of the most breathtaking sunsets I’ve ever seen :’) You HAVE to come here to watch the sunset!! You should note that visitors are actually not allowed into the temple itself, so you’re really there for the view. And it was so so beautiful! I actually wish I could go there again…
5. Petitenget Beach
This is actually not part of our trip that day (we ended at Uluwatu Temple and dinner), but since I’m on the topic of beaches, I decided to just include Petitenget beach as well. This is right outside Potato Head, so you can definitely pop by easily. It’s not as nice as the other beaches because there are a lot more people. But the sunset is still really pretty though :))
Till next time, Bali (:
While it would have been ideal to stay in a villa in Bali, we opted for a hotel instead since it was just the two of us. We stayed at 
The hotel breakfast was really impressive too! Besides the usual buffet spread, which included a salad bar, hot dishes such as mee goreng and nasi goreng, a pastries section, yogurt, juices and fruit, the restaurant had a menu for ala carte orders as well! All already included in the price, of course. We could order as much as we liked, but we had to restrain ourselves, because there was so much other good food in Seminyak to eat! (I’m already dreaming of my next trip back there…) We could order things like eggs cooked any way, and even eggs benedict!!! Now tell me, can you name another hotel that serves eggs benedict as part of their complimentary breakfast?! We were so pampered there.
Move over, Singapore cafes. Seminyak has some of the hippest, coolest cafes we’ve ever been to! They were gorgeous. I’m really amazed at how the cafes in Seminyak managed to embody that incredible vibe of Australian cafes that Singapore can’t seem to have. Perhaps it’s the space issue? I’m not sure. I just loved, loved, LOVED the bright spaciousness of the cafes we visited in Seminyak, and the incredibly creative offerings they had on the menu! No boring eggs benedict there (I sound like I’m contradicting myself after swooning about it above, but no. Eggs benny at hotel breakfast = yay; eggs benny as the most interesting item on a cafe menu = nay). Instead, they had things like soft-shell crab everything and pulled pork sandwiches, yum! And the best thing? Prices at a fraction of what they cost in Singapore. GAWD. What prices are we paying at home??!!! This meal at Sisterfields consisting of two mains and a side cost us just a little over $20. I could eat this everyday.
Come by at around 5.30pm like we did, and chill around while watching the sun slowly set over the horizon. Bali has some of the most breath-taking sunsets. Just look at the picture above! To snag one of the day beds, there is usually a waitlist. But not to fret, because time will fly past while you’re waiting. The day beds have a minimum spending requirement of RP 500,000++, which is very reasonable compared to most other places.
We were lucky that our hotel was located strategically with bars just a stone’s throw away from it. One thing I loved about Bali was the range of quality cocktails its bars offered! Oh yes, I forgot to mention above, you’ve got to try the cocktails at PTTHead! They were so delicious. Slightly more affordable than that you’d pay for in Singapore, with twice the alcohol kick! On occasion I came across some funky-tasting ones, but for the most part, Seminyak has some of the best cocktails I’ve ever tasted! The Library has this fantastic happy hour deal all the way from evening to closing – buy three get one free, which means you pay around RP 300,000 for four cocktails! And the ones we had were pretty decent, especially for the price we paid.
Need I say more? Seminyak has a tonne of good food, and you can find all possible cuisines you can think of, that your stomach will be spoilt silly. Try Mykonos for your mediterranean fix. Though the food was not fantastic, but it was still alright! The cocktails here were one of the funky ones though. Don’t bother.
An institution in Bali, Hog Wild in Bali (formerly known as Naughty Nuri’s) serves one of the best ribs ever! For the most part, deliciously fall-off-the-bone tender, with an unlimited amount of sauce to go with it, and so affordable. We ordered a side of sweet potato fries to go with it, and it was pretty awesome as well!
myloves(: 