Bali trip with Farmily Day 4-6

22/12/19 Sun: Didn't like their buffet breakfast compared to the ala carte ones, but sadly it would all be buffet breakfast since Saturday onwards. Had RiCheese fast food for grablunch and to be honest, the spiciness for the chicken only kicked in a bit later haha. 
After some episodes of "Leverage" and "Limitless", James, Gwen, Potato and I met the hotel driver at 3.30pm at the reception for our trip to Uluwatu Temple. *550K IDR for 5-hours' of service, excluding extra 1+hour of service for him to wait for and drive us back after dinner and the tickets for entry into the temple and the kecak dance performance.* It rained while we were on the car, which was about the only time it rained in Bali when we were there... weather forecast was not very accurate la~ 

Potato was told to queue to get our entry tickets (35K IDR per person), while the driver went to buy the kecak dance tickets (100K IDR per person) for us. One had to wear sarongs if their attire were deemed not appropriate, and all guests had to tie the orange sash on us before entering the temple grounds.

Uluwatu temple is built by the sea, and hence the sea views were fantastic, but not the gruelling heat on us though. *Some photo credits to James!*

We were warned to be careful of our belongings, even glasses as the monkeys there could steal it. Potato and I heard a child crying loudly and then saw one monkey holding onto a lady's hat from afar.
The 1-hour Kecak Ramayana and Fire Dance started at 6pm. The driver told us the open-air seating space could accommodate up to thousand people, and the performance space was packed everyday. Luckily, we found seats together.

Potato learnt about the Kecak chant in NIE, and he was intrigued by the music, so we might as well hear it from the "professionals". The choir of 30+ men were great~ so in sync with their singing for that one hour. The music accompanies the story of Sita who was abducted by Rhawana, and how she was being saved by her husband Rama and the White Monkey Hanoman in the end.

The White Monkey stole the attention whenever he appeared as he would playfully disturb some audience or sit beside them lol. A whole lot different from the performances I've seen so far... a good experience. 
Met Ian at Drifter restaurant for dinner a short distance away. 

They sell lots of surfers' merchandise. *PotaTOHs ordered Potato and Sweet Potato Taquitos as we saw that on the menu haha!* I enjoyed my creamy prawn poke bowl (85K IDR) a lot too~ cheap and yummy as compared to Singapore's. However, the Roselle drink with honey was so sour that I wonder where had the honey gone to?

The driver drove us back to Karma Jimbaran at 8+, 9pm. We caught another few episodes of "Limitless" before turning in for the night.

23/12/19 Mon: PotaTOHs gave up our thought of going to Campuhan Ridge Walk in Ubud as the weather forecast was not reliable and the driver service was expensive. Moreover, we did not get any sim cards this time round, and the receptionist told us it would be hard to find cabs in that area. 
Stayed in to nua with Ian while James and Gwen went surfing. *A lot more "Limitless" haha~ the guys were hooked onto the show man!* 3 of us walked over to Samaste, a mall nearby and we settled on Chinese food for lunch. *I had chilli crab cup noodle beforehand already hehe~*

The酸辣汤、小笼包、流沙包、虾饺and三色蛋were not bad, but however their "signatures", which was supposedly拉面were not up to standard. Though we saw them hand-making their noodles on the spot, both the ramen Ian and Potato ordered were too soggy. After that, we thought of going for some "Daytona" racing game at Time Zone next to it, but alas~ there was no Daytona there. We decided to nua back in villa till evening before meeting James and Gwen for dinner.

The weather looked dark, and hence we settled for dinner nearby at Jimbaran Beach. Potato picked Menega restaurant. The place was pretty packed when we reached. At first, we had to sit by a table nearest to the sea, but dang the tides kept coming in and it "sanked" the table and chairs. I didn't feel comfortable at all and good thing we moved to another table later.

We ordered seafood set for each person, which was about S$20 per person. There were one grilled fish for each person, prawns, veggies, fried calamari and lala. So-so la. Gwen bought grilled corn (S$2 per stick) for us to try too. It was a bit sweet. 
Ian's flight back to Japan was at night, and so we bade him goodbye at the villa at 10pm. *Our short gathering came to an end~ time flies!*

24/12/19 Tues: Besides gin and tonic, some red wine here and there, the guys also finished the carton of Bintang beers they got! *Travelling with family almost always meant that I would be drinking a lot during that period when I don't drink at all usually lol!* Had a few rounds of Yaniv with Potato and James before 4 of us checked-out at 12pm and went to Harum Cake and Cookies, a place famous for their kueh lapis according to Gwen. 

I bought one prune kueh lapis for 200K IDR. They were soft and not too sweet, really good. We walked over to a shopping mall, but found nothing to eat, so we grab car to Kopi and Kue for lunch.

The Nasi Goreng Potato and James ordered were delicious~ S$5+ only! My avocado and prawns wrap (S$6+) was nice too, but not filling enough. *I guess this is how relaxing and people-watching in Bali works too...*

Walked around the tourist markets later on, and Gwen bought a small bagpack for herself. The afternoon sun was hot as usual, and soon it was time for PotaTOHs to head back to Karma Jimbaran, while James and Gwen went over to Rock Bar for their drinks and dinner. *We each changed S$300 for the trip, and I had another S$100+ extra, and I had less than a S$100 left when we came back.*

We hopped onto the free transport in our package and left for the airport at 4.45pm. Took us only about 20mins to reach. *Auto-clearance at Bali airport was fast~ I was amazed by that and also Potato's注意力haha!* Had spicy pork ramen (S$12+) while Potato ate shoyu ramen for dinner before we boarded JetStar 3K246 at 7.25pm bound for Singapore. *I realised that the routes from SG to Bali and vice versa requires a bit of maneuvering and turning in the air, which I don't enjoy much. The plane back circled for quite a bit midair before landing too.*