my 2 cents worth: my bali trip (part one)

12.37pm

greetings and salutations one and all. wow, it was a good break for me after 2 years of not going anywhere. lets not count going back to my hometown which is kuala lumpur, Malaysia or up to penang, which is my husband's hometown. technically, that's not called a holiday, to me its called visiting our parents, family and friends.

my husband was going to bali on a business trip for 5 days so he asked me if i wanted to tag along coz he knew i had been harping that i wanted to go for a short break and probably i guess thats why in order to shut me up, he asked me. of course i said yes, i would be mad if i turned down such an offer!

long story short I arrived at my hotel in bali just past 11pm!! yep! imagine that. my flight was at 6.30pm and it took just 2 over hours to reach there. flight was pretty smooth and we landed on time too. but what held me up was the stupid immigration. man, the queue was long! so many people and there were only less than 8 counters opened for the masses. spent about 45 minutes in line before my turn. honestly, im not so surprised because that's how it is over in Indonesia. when we were living in Jakarta back in 2004-2006, it was the same thing at the airport over there too. so just be prepared when/if you ever go there ok.

by the time I got to the hotel I was starving. as I took jetstar(budget airlines), they didn't serve any food as you have to purchase and frankly, the food didn't look that appetising to me therefore I didn't order anything, just bought a cup of coffee which cost me S$3.50.

got to the room and hubby was already waiting and had ordered food for me. bless him! as it was pretty late already, i didn't have a chance to check out the hotel and its surroundings. so the next morning, we got up and went to have our breakfast. let me tell you, there were lots to eat and you are spoilt for choices. the restaurant was just next to the pool area so it was a nice scene.

there were lots of people around too as it was on the weekend. the place was packed but not overly noisy like some places. the hotel staff were friendly and attentive. there was an area allocated for small kids to play. for those of you who have kids, this hotel is a kid friendly place and the hotel im talking about is the westin resort nusa dua.

they have 3 pool areas and also a saltwater pool! even a pool with a waterslide for both adults and kids, which was supervised by a lifeguard. of course around the poolside too you can see lifeguards around to monitor kids.

after breakfast we decided to take a walk along the beach to check it out. by that time, my husband had already finished his meeting so he was a bit free, that's why he can accompany me. the beach was heavenly. the sea wasn't rough at all. it was calm and i could see kids and parents building sandcastles or just frolicking in the sea. the hotel provided bikes for rental, there's jogging paths along the beach, you can play badminton or ping pong(for free), there's a kid section where you can drop your kids off at a play school(something like that) where they will be entertained for a couple of hours so that the parents can go off and do as they please. on top of that, the hotel also has aquaerobics, jungle trekking, kayaking etc. anyone can join in. you can find all the list of activities (for the whole week) in your hotel room. but please bear in mind, some of these activities you have to pay.

should i carry on? im sure you can just picture yourself there right now huh? well you gotta try it out yourself and see. the hotel also has free shuttle busses to 3 different locations - bali collection(a small little village-like place near to the hotel with shops and eateries/restaurants and a small departmental store called sogo), then there's dfs galleria, which we didn't go and finally to beachwalk mall which is right in the heart of kuta. we tried 2 out of the 3. (bali collection and beachwalk)

now, kuta is the most happening place/area to be. the hustle and bustle of that area. very touristy. they recently opened a mall there which is called beachwalk and this mall is the one that is providing this free shuttle service to hotels around bali to lure tourists there. smart move i should say. when we were there the last time which was back in 2005, we stayed in kuta so we roughly knew what to expect.(except that this mall is new) although i must say, there were some changes after the last bali bombing. and by the way, we walked past the memorial with the list of names of those who had perished in the tragic bombing.

well my 5 days there was pretty good and relaxing. we had 2 days of body massage which was what i was dying for. plus i managed to get some tanning done and now im paying the price. my face is peeling and my body is red. hehehee...no i don't mind. its not all the time im doing this so i think im ok. my husband has got a perpetual tan going on so he doesn't need one whereas im anemic therefore its hard for me to get dark so that's why i love the sun especially when im at the beach or by the pool. im not one who hides in the shade under a tree or wear long sleeved blouses to cover up. but i wonder why some women do that especially when they know they are at the beach. might as well just stay indoors and don't come out at all.

anyways, here are some photos that i took so that you guys roughly know what im talking about so you can plan for your next trip, to bali.