BaLi's ItinerarY

22nd Mar 2008

A really relaxing and quiet day for the 4 of us. Had breakfast as usual in Starz Diner.

Rest for awhile before changing into our swimming attires. Planned to have a day of fun in Waterbom today. Casey wore her newly bought bikini :

It feels nice isn't it to be chubby yet so confident of your own body? I would be too if I am a kid. I wouldn't give a damn about looking fat or worrying if my boobs are too small (they are, I'm not gonna lie) or other stuffs like that.

Sam borrowed the car from Monex so officially today we had a new driver hihihi.... Waterbom is actually pretty near to where we were staying but since kids were too lazy to walk, we took the car instead. It took longer time since u had to make so many rounds to finally reach the place.

Boomerang was closed due to the latest excitement they are going to add to the place called "Superbowl". I think it's kinda like Tornado in Wet 'n' Wild or The Rip in Whitewater World. Seems to me it's like that although it doesn't look as exciting as either one of them.

This time we only went on the slides twice but we did stay there to have lunch and only left the place at around 4pm, just before it started to rain. We went to Surfer Girl in Legian since Sam said it will be useless going back to the hotel as it was nearing dinner time. Kids bought a shortall and a skirt each while I got myself a pair of shorts from Roxy.

As it was weekend n it was Saturday night, the route back to Kartika Plaza was jammed. It took us an hour to reach the place. We were all famished by then. Ordered a glass of Mango Sparkler:

the usual Shrimper's Net Catch:

and a Bucket of Boat Trash for myself:

This pic of the Boat Trash was taken from the internet coz my hand was too dirty to take a pic of my food hehehe... It was filled with deep fried shrimps, slipper lobster and mahi mahi. They are sooo yummy. For dessert, the kids had Chocolate Cookie Sundae:

Oh, and this is how the restaurant look like (using my N82):

23rd Mar 2008

Again, had our breakfast at Starz Diner. Same old stuffs so I'm not gonna post the pic. Around 10.30am, we went down for a swim at the hotel's pool. It's the time I tried my underwater housing. I thought it would be a piece of cake but I couldn't stay that long in the water and it's hard to see the images on the LCD screen with the sun shining so it wasn't the best I could get. Need to learn how to stay inside water for at least 10 mins. Maybe then I can take better ones.

I feel really reluctant to post the pic of me in it actually coz that way u guys will know just how tiny my boobs are but what the hell, I'm born with skin thicker than Great Wall of China so bombard me with insults for all I care :P

We didn't swim for long coz kids were screaming for food so we left the pool at around 1pm. Kids took a shower after we ordered for room service while Sam went out to buy Nasi Babi Guling. This was my lunch:

It's very yummy but I don't know where he bought it. They said that the best Nasi Babi Guling in Bali is in Ubud called Babi Guling Ibu Oka. Never tried that before but it's already in my agenda the next time I go there.

At around 3.30pm, we went to Crocs shop opposite Starbucks since Casey has been asking her dad for a pair of sandals for days. The 4 of us got a pair of Crocs each, present from Sam hihihi... We took this pic before we cross the road:

This is my new pair of Crocs:

The kids and I went back to the hotel while Sam went to look for stuffs to buy for Tedja.

Sam actually invited Yon & NoniQ to have dinner with us that night but NoniQ couldn't leave her restaurant so we left the hotel at past 6pm to fetch Yon. I almost gave Sam the wrong name of her hotel but luckily she sms me first to tell me about it. Just realized her hotel was so near to where we were staying. Yon stayed in Harris Kuta. The lobby was situated freakingly deep inside. It was crazy. I would be too lazy to walk out if I stay there. We then drove to Kartika Plaza to have dinner in Bluefin, just 2 shops away from Asian Spice, the restaurant Wiwin went to a couple of weeks ago hihihi.... By the time we were there, it was pouring heavily. Luckily the security guards at the car parks had umbrellas in store so they lent them to us.

Bluefin is a Japanese Fusion Restaurant. That shows how careless I am when reading stuffs. The ad they put up, is a pic of a red lobster on a plate n me being a smart ass conclude it's a Chinese restaurant. Yes, I am that smart hehehe.... Anyway, I ordered a glass of Baby Red:

This drink is soooooo refreshing. The fact that the strawberries aren't sour is a big plus. For the food, I ordered steak. Forgot the name of the steak but it was served like this:

Yon and Casey ordered Chicken Teriyaki while Cecil ordered Tempura. Sam also ordered a small lobster (it's the only one they had left actually weighing not more than 250gr) and that all cost almost Rp 800K =.= Pretty expensive since the restaurant looks kinda average. Nothing too classy. Kids chose to sit in front coz the seatings were like the ones u can find in tatami rooms. This is a pic of the kids, Yon n 1 fat lady in Bluefin Restaurant:

The rain didn't stop even after we finished dinner. Had to borrow the umbrellas once again. Sent Yon back to her hotel before we went back to HR Hotel. After the kids were asleep, Sam went to Stadium Cafe to watch soccer game while poor old me was left to pack the luggage. I made it sound terrible but the truth was, there was nothing much more to pack since I did it a little at a time and not at the last minute. So, after packing, off to bed I went.

24th Mar 2008

Woke up at 7am and took a shower. Woke the kids up and made them shower too before we had breakfast. Monex's driver came at around 9am to fetch us to the airport. Before we left the hotel, we asked the bellboy to help us take a pic:

To my surprise, there weren't that many people in the airport. My 1st time seeing this kind of sight in Ngurah Rai Airport so I was kinda amazed. The plane (Lion Air) we went on this time was a much better one even though the seats still sux.

Arrived in Jakarta at exactly 12pm. Dropped Sam in his office and we then went to my MIL's house.

That story has to be in my next blog coz my fingers are about to break anytime soon.

BaLi SafaRi

21st Mar 2008

Had breakfast in Starz Diner inside HR Hotel.

It was an okay breakfast. There were other better buffets but it's still passable.

At around 11am, the driver from Monex Bali came to fetch us and drove us to Bali Safari & Marine Park which was situated in Jl. Bypass Prof. Dr. Ida Bagus Mantra. Yon was there the day before and she said it was good so we thought of bringing the kids to see what it was like. Had to call Yon and asked her where it was first since the driver said there were 2 safaris in Bali. While driving there, Sam had a talk with the driver. Apparently, this driver used to work in Hard Rock Cafe and a couple other hotels previously and he was a chef specializing in Mexican food. Sam said Tedja and him are interested to open a restaurant in Bali. He seemed really into this project so he asked this guy to look around for a place in around Legian or Kuta to start the business. Sam will probably be back in Bali next month. How I envy him huhuhu....

Arrived in the park at around 12pm. Took a tram to the whatever terminal. Forgot the name and had to take another tram where the actual safari began. A pic of Sam n me and a couple of Ria & Suli's look-alike *kabur*

There weren't many pics I could take coz Sam was always in a hurry and there weren't that many beautiful sites (at least in my opinion). Of course u can take pics with the animals like what Yon did but the kids didn't want to do it. Bali Safari has this hotel called Mara River Safari Lodge.

They are beautiful coz they are situated inside the safari and u can wake up and look out of the window and u will see the zebras grazing around. They referred the place to "sitting down to a beautiful African sunset" How ironic. They also have this restaurant called Tsavo Lion Restaurant where u dine in this huge restaurant enclosed with large glass windows where u are facing the lions' habitat. It's really cool. Overall, it's much, much cleaner than Taman Safari in Cisarua and more worthy to go to. The animals look more well-fed too even though I still feel the lions were under-nourished but still, they look healthier. The downside was that the park is new so there isn't that much to see yet. We had our lunch in Uma Restaurant. It's filled with international food and I ordered Pad Thai from the Thai corner.

They also have Water park & Funzone. They sound great when u say it aloud but the area was pretty much a dissapointment in reality. It's very colorful though with small pools for the kids to soak themselves and get wet.

We left the place at around 3pm. Headed for the hotel and then went to HR store where Sam bought me and the kids a HR tee each. I forgot to take the pic. Will do so next time. Then the kids and I sat down in Starbucks while Sam went to look for sunglasses. Played around with my camera and I found this cool scene mode called "Color Assist" (yes I'm so suaku) where we can retain a certain color and turns the rest into monochrome.

Went back to hotel to put down the stuffs and at around 6 pm, we went to Pepper Lunch for dinner. Yeah, u read it right. All the way to Bali and we had Pepper Lunch =.= The good thing was the kids love the food so much and they always finished their food... I mean they left the plate spotless! And u can only see them do that when they eat in Pepper Lunch or Angus House. It was raining when we reached the place and even after we finished dinner. Sam had to go and buy umbrellas for us.

Sam was complaining that I'm not dressing up like I'm in Bali. U know what I mean? In Bali, people normally wear sexy clothes and there I was 2 days in a row mostly wearing tees with sleeves. Sam said I should be wearing bikini when we go swimming. I told him I didn't bring them and anyway, I'm so fat now so I don't feel comfortable wearing it. He insisted that I get one and he took us to this small shop, Too Hot Bikinis, opposite Starbucks. Kids got themselves each one a pair too and mine was chosen by Sam.

Went back to hotel and waited for NoniQ and Yon to come. They arrived at around 8.30pm. Yon gave me this:

While NoniQ helped me to buy what Cn asked for the other day:

She also helped me buy windchimes which Livy asked me to help her buy. I purposely said that I'm only helping my relative to buy it in case she didn't want to accept my money when I wanted to pay. True enough....NoniQ really didn't want me to pay her. =.= So Liv, if u are reading this, the windchimes is from NoniQ dearest hihihi.... We asked Sam to take a pic of us but he always took such blur pics and when he finally got it right, Yon's eyes were closed. I have to ask her permission first about putting her pic up coz I don't want her to make a voodoo doll out of me and prick needles at it just because I put it up without her consent hehehe... NoniQ looks as beautiful as ever. Ah well, since Yon was in the middle, I can't possibly just crop my face and NoniQ's so this is just to show u how NoniQ looks like when I saw her.

We went to Starz Diner to sit down and chat and Sam followed which leave us little to talk about. Couldn't update NoniQ much as they left the place at 10pm since kids were already sleepy. Wish I had more time to talk with them. It's been so nice to see NoniQ again.

To be continued....

Staying @ Hard Rock HoteL

I can't sleep yet so I thought might as well stay up to blog a little. I'm going to stretch my stories so it makes u think my trip was far more interesting than reality hihihi.... It's really fun for the 4 of us even though there were lesser places we went to this time.

The afternoon before our departure, I made Baked Pork Chops for lunch.

We left the house around 2.30pm for the airport. Our flight was delayed for an hour. Sam said this was my 2nd time taking Lion Air (honestly, I couldn't recall). It was like we were caught in a terrible nightmare. The seatings were all so crammed and for Rp 2 mill/pax, we didn't get any food at all throughout the 90 mins flight. A real torture if u ask me.

By the time we reached Denpasar and were dropped in the hotel, it was almost 9pm already. We stayed in Hard Rock Cafe Hotel. Our 1st time staying there (seakan2 uda sering bolak balik Jkt-Bali hihihi). Sam booked a loft room. This is how it looks like:

Very spacious even though the overall look is just average. They have 3 freaking queen-sized beds! 2 below and 1 at the top. We walked to Warung Made, which Sam claimed to be very near. Kids and me were already exhausted so it was like a long journey for us. The Warung Made we went to this time was smaller than the one we went before with my MIL.

I ordered Nasi Campur Spesial :

I don't know if it was because I was damn hungry or because the food lives up to its popularity but the moment the food entered my mouth, I felt like I was about to melt coz I was happy beyond description hehehe....

Walked back to hotel and it was almost 11pm Bali's time. Had a quick shower and fell asleep the minute my head touched the pillow.

To be continued....