The last time I went to Indonesia was when I was 15. It was a 2 days 1 night trip organized by the school and it was a Geography trip. We went to Manado and damn, really beautiful landscape and we were fortunate to stay in a resort up the mountain which served really delicious chicken wings for breakfast!
After that trip, I've always told myself that I need to go there again. Because 2D1N wasn't enough! I still haven't got the chance yet, hopefully sometime next year. Sheila's been asking me to travel with her and I think next year would be a good year for Manado.
This year I finally stepped foot on the sands of Kuta Beach. Most of my friends have been to Bali and I've always wanted to go there, I even told my previous partner that I wanted to go there but she said it's boring. It was boring for her probably because she's been there so many times. I'm thankful that my friend, Net, actually asked me out of the blue to go to Bali after my Solo Trip 2013. Because if she hadn't asked, I think I wouldn't have had the chance to and because of this trip, I found another travel buddy which I am so thankful for.
I rarely fly but this time round I didn't opt for any checked-in baggage. Well, reason being I didn't even intend to shop. So it was just my trusty haversack and I! Since the flight to Bali wasn't too early, there wasn't a need to catch a cab so I met Net at the MRT station and off we go from the West to the East. Met another 2 of her friends at the airport! It was so awkward, I mean, I naturally am an awkward turtle, plus I've never met them before so I was worried if I was going to take a while to warm up to them. We checked-in and we had our breakfast first since we had the time and then time to fly off! When we touched down in Bali, Kadir was already waiting for us and the first stop was the currency exchange. The rates there are better actually. First day was mainly just exploring around since the adventure only starts the next day! So first day was exploring and going through the endless outlet stores!
The highlight of this Bali Trip was definitely dirt biking. Which was done during the 2nd day. Glad that all of us managed to wake up on time. Wait, not exactly on time but we weren't that late. The ride to Tabanan took a few hours from Kuta so we had plenty of time to sleep. Reached the location and time to get changed. Net managed to choose her bike first since she knows how to ride while the 3 of us pillion with the crew to the training ground. We got our bikes, all manual except of Nana's bike, she got the automatic one! A few hours of training there. My first fall was because I hit some kind of wall and the training ground was right beside a school and the whole bunch of kids were laughing at me. It was so hilarious. Net said I looked like I'm mowing the lawn when I rode the bike, it's my posture, for sure. The whole experience, it was beyond amazing. We wanted adventure and Bali Dirt Bike definitely gave us adventure. The weather gave us extra adventure too! I've never operated a bike before, I'm always the pillion. So basically, I had a crash course while I was there. I fell plenty of times and my bike stalled countless times. But I swear, I'm definitely doing it again. The trail was scary but it's definitely thrilling. The crew was helpful and patient. They were friendly and easy going. It started pouring heavily while we were biking so all of us seeked shelter under the trees since we were in the jungle. All of us became pillions after that because we were non-experienced riders and it was unsafe to ride. We stopped at a tiny hut with an view amazing view of the paddy plantations. And then off we go to one of the crew's house and had durians there. Durians during a heavy downpour with amazing buddies and amazing people, just perfect. We were all drenched but it didn't matter. It was an unforgettable experience and I can't wait for the next time I'll be doing it again. After we returned the bikes and cleaned up, we had some light food before the few hours ride back to the hotel. We fell asleep again and bathe once we reached the hotel. Net suffered a lot of bruises since she fell down a hell lot, especially when she had to ride the automatic bike, damn heavy! Out for dinner after that and then some shopping for them (I really didn't shop during this trip!) before getting some shakes and then off to some bar whereby Net and Mira made Nana and I tried Jungle Juice. I was shocked at the size of it. It's good but we drank responsibly so none of us got high or drunk. Maybe Nana did, damn funny. We wanted to walk back to the hotel but it started drizzling and Nana and I needed the toilet damn badly so we cabbed back instead. Washed up and had our shakes and I think that night I was the last one to fall asleep because I was very alert. But I did had a good sleep after that.
So what did I do on the 3rd day? Dreamland. Woohoo! I love it, I love it. Finally some sea water after so long! Net rented two body boards because she wanted me to body surf with her. Well, I've never done it before so I got her to teach me. Well, we are both scared of deep waters so we didn't go far. Plus, we kept running away from the waves because they were always very big. God knows have many times I rolled over and did flips when the waves came crashing. But I had so much fun. Then Net lost her glasses when the waves hit her, well, at least now she got all the reasons to always come back to Dreamland. Her eyes are there. We spent almost the whole day there. We had a scrumptious dinner at Bale Udang after trying so hard to decide where to eat. Kadir really brought us to the best food places in town. Not forgetting shopping places too. Well, the next time round I'm there, I'm definitely shopping. Especially for shoes. And oh, boardshorts too. That night I wrote my postcards and reminded myself to post them the next day since it's the last day.
As usual, it's always hard to leave. I didn't want to leave. I'm sure we didn't want to leave either. Kadir waited for us and we had breakfast first. We had a Polaroid picture taken there with Kadir in it so we gave it to him to keep it! Then I had to withdraw some money since I'm running low of funds and then off to the post office to mail my postcards. I'm glad there wasn't a queue. Then we went to Krishna to get souvenirs before heading to the airport. Bid goodbye to Kadir and Bali.
Net and I had a whole row to ourselves and I slept the entire time. Landed in Singapore and my Brother, Qama, was waiting for me at the gate. 4 more Polaroid frames so we had Qama to help us take pictures for each of us to keep. They left while Qama and I headed to Commonwealth to meet Shaf. And yes, I was still with my trusty haversack. Did some catching up and off I go, cabbing back home. Marking the end of my Virgin Bali Trip 2014.
