Bali Day 1: Arrived Bali, Warung Mak Jo, Garuda Wisnu Kencana, Uluwatu Temple & Seafood Dinner at Jimbaran Beach

Date of Visit: 11th August 2012

Initially, this Bali trip of mine was supposed to be a reunion trip with my collegemates but at the end, I went with my university's housemate and my friend's sister instead. This is because my collegemates didn't manage to purchase the great deal during AirAsia's promotion whereas I managed to book it.  Despite only 3 of us going to Bali, I still continue with my flashpacking trip around this "Island of the Gods" together with my new toy - lil Santorini, my newly bought Sony Nex 5N at that moment.

#1: Arrived Denpasar International Airport, which commonly known as Ngurah Rai International Airport at 11:45 am local time.

We hired a personal driver/local tour guide beforehand through email and by the time we came out from the arrival hall, Mr Bagus who is our personal driver waited patiently for us. Before going to our actual hotel, we went to Tune Hotel to pick-up one of my friend who arrived Bali one day earlier before us. I found out Tune Hotel is another best option to stay in you plan to visit Bali, especially for those in tight budget.   

#2: Welcome drink and towel given by our hotel

Since we were too early to check-in and our room hadn't ready yet, we told Mr Bagus that we wanna have lunch before move on to the next destination. Instead of bringing us to those famous eateries in Bali, Mr Bagus proposed to bring us to a local eatery which mostly patronised by the local.  

#3: Warung Mak Jo located at Jalan Raya Uluwatu

#4: Our late lunch - Grill boneless chicken, mixed vegetables and fried beancurd

This small cozy warung serves not only Indonesian meals, but also Chinese and Western dishes as well. It may looks like a high-end restaurant from outside, but the price of each and every of it dishes is pretty reasonable and affordable. It's totally suitable for those budget travellers who looking for authentic Indonesia cuisine without hurting the wallet. The total damages for 4 of us, including drink cost IDR125,400 (approx. to RM43).

Garuda Wisnu Kencana

Garuda Wisnu Kencana is a private culture park situated at the southern end of the island of Bali. This park is devoted to the Hindu God Vishnu (or Dewa Wisnu, as he is known by the Balinese) with his winged mount, Garuda, the mythical bird who is his companion. 

#5: We managed to watch the beautiful traditional Balinese performance by the time we arrived.

#6: Standing 150 meters tall is the Hindu god statue, Vishnu

#7: Garuda, King of Birds and Lord Vishnu's winged mount

To be frank, besides the two huge statues - Vishnu and Garuda, nothing much to sight around here and we're surrounding by quiet environment. It was less crowded and not many tourists. There are one or two souvenirs shop around but we didn't bother to browse through. Open from 8 am to 8 pm, the admission fee of this park is IDR60,000 per person (approx. to RM21) which seems to be relatively expensive and not worth the price of visiting this place.

Uluwatu Temple

Uluwatu Temple, or officially known as Pura Luhur Uluwatu is a Balinese sea temple located at the south district of Kuta. According to the research, "Luhur" means something of divine origin while "Uluwatu" can be divided into "ulu" which means land's end" whereas for "watu" means rock in the old time language. This is one of the famous and popular attractions among the foreign visitors and it is highly recommended to visit here especially to witness the spectacular sunset view. Entrance fee to this place is IDR20,000 (approx. to RM7).

#8: The majestic cliff setting of Uluwatu Temple

Few things need to take note before visiting this temple. Firstly, it is advisable to dress properly before enter. Sarongs are available for free at the entrance. Secondly, keep a very close grip on all your belongings especially sunglasses, hair accessories, keychains and those easily being snatched and if possible, place all those belongings inside bag and zip tightly. This is because the temple is inhabited by large number of aggressive and ruthless monkeys, who are being trained to snatch visitors' belonging.

#9: Viewing sunset at Uluwatu is one of the things must-do in Bali 

#10: Kecak dance performance

Kecak dance (monkey dance) performances are held daily at Uluwatu temple between 6 pm until 7 pm where tourists can watch the performance with a spectacular and gorgeous sunset view served as a background. To watch this visually spectacular performance, you need to pay extra of IDR70,000 (approx. to RM24) as it is not included in the entrance fee for the temple.

Jimbaran Beach

We ended our night by having seafood dinner at Jimbaran Beach. This beach is located not far away from Uluwatu Temple. Eating seafood on the beach in Jimbaran is a quintessential part of many a visitor's itinerary when coming to Bali. There are abundantly of seafood restaurants set along the beach and most serve essentially the same menu with one basic dining format.

#11: Dining on Jimbaran Beach with cool sea breeze atmosphere

Besides ordered from the menu, we also went to the seafood tanks and choose the type of the seafood we wanna eat and then, the price was according to the weight of that particular seafood we chosen.

#12: Our dinner for the night - chicken satay, fried noodle, fried rice, veggies and grilled prawns

One of the biggest mistakes done by me was didn't inform our driver earlier on which particular restaurant that I wanna visit and turned out, the bill that we paid was really cutting our throat. Our total bill for that night was IDR560,000 (approx. to RM190) and frankly speaking, the food was so-so only and wondering why it was recommended by many tourists to have dinner here. Maybe it was famous mainly for its atmosphere.

In case any of you wanna go Jimbaran Beach for seafood dinner, I would recommend to go for Lia Cafe which received plenty of positive reviews especially by the bloggers.

And that capped my first day in the Island of the Gods. Stay tune for my second day adventures.