Thursday, June 25, 2015

Dreamland Beach, Bali

After my tour to GWK, Pak Putu asked if I wanted to detour and stop by Dreamland Beach. We passed by the entrance when we're on our way earlier and he said the beach is really beautiful. I have always love beach, of course I said yes.

We drove past golf course, private estates and shopping center under construction before reaching Dreamland. We have to park our car at the parking lot nearby and took a mini van down the steep slope to the beach because public vehicles are not allowed there. 

I was skeptical at first because the sight that greeted me once I got off the mini van wasn't quite pleasant. Stray dogs were everywhere and I tried to steer clear of them because I have read about dogs in Bali mostly infected with rabies.

Walked further down, I walked past stagnant pond filled with black water and littered with trash. What an eyesore. But I still got my hope high as I observed more and more tourist walked down the beach direction past vendors that sell ice cream and grilled corn.

But what I saw upon reaching the beach took my breath away. The sea water is so blue and beautiful.

My kind of paradise.

Although it was an overcast and windy day, the beach still packed with visitors. So packed that you cannot get a photo without a group of people photobombing you. There is restaurant nearby but it is only for their hotel guest I guess.


If I have a change of clothes and some extra time to kill, I will definitely walk further away to the right as it was quieter and less crowded and lay down my sarong and relaxing there. But I have no idea that we will stop by as Pak Putu suggested this last minute so I have to pass on the opportunity.



Red flag but people still swimming in the sea. #YOLO for them


I really love to stay longer but we had to leave as I wanted to continue my tour to Luwak coffee plantation and Uluwatu to catch the sunset.

If you're planning on lazing around doing nothing but hanging out by the beach, I definitely recommend Dreamland. It will better if you come in the morning when the beach is less crowded or you could just walk to the right side to a secluded area and have the beach all by yourself. My take of Dreamland, it is a beautiful hidden gem but the people there need to stop littering in the stagnant pond and take care of the surrounding area. 

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

GWK Cultural Park, Bali


My very post on my solo trip in Bali, after two months lol.

I'm not the most efficient when it comes to update my blog especially my travelogue but at least I'm trying. I wonder how does those full time bloggers cope with writer block/ procrastination and laziness. Anyway, I miss Bali so much when I was editing my photos. It felt like my 3 nights 2 days trip was too short. 

View from my hotel room. It rained and cloudy when I was there.


By the way, I stayed at Harper Kuta and the hotel is amazing. Normally I hate to sleep in hotel alone because it creeps me out all the time. But Harper Kuta gave me such a homey feel which I'm really grateful for. And the wifi is strong too which is a huge plus point for me.

The only downside of the hotel is that it is surrounded by clubs and bars. So the noise could be very disturbing at night. I only had hard time sleeping on the first night because it was really loud but the subsequent nights, I was too tired to even care.

But this is something that you have to face if you decided to stay at Kuta area anyway. Kuta is well known for its nightlife. Cheap beers and loud music are everywhere on the street.


My spacious and comfy bed.

I was so happy that the hotel was great and I paid less than RM250 for 3 nights because I offset it with my Agoda points. I saved so much and frankly my whole trip + flights + accommodation costs less than RM1.5k. I prepared everything a year beforehand when I booked my flight during AirAsia promotion. 


My favorite part of the hotel is the glass wall of the toilet. I can do my business and watching TV at the same time which I totally did. hahahha



I opted for tour from my own hotel since I was alone. I have no specific itinerary and I figure I just go with the flow. So, I hired a driver and he suggested the Uluwatu tour for me. My driver, Pak Putu is such a friendly man. I was skeptical at first because I had my guard up so high when I was alone. 

We chatted about our background and I found out that his daughter works in the same company as me. What a small world. Another thing that I like about him is that he never ever push me to buy/go to any restaurant or shop if I don't want too. Because I know that these tour drivers get commission if they recommend their client to some shops or restaurant.

I like his style so much that I hired him for my whole stay. So, he's sort of my designated driver for the trip. 

Our first stop for the tour is Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park. That's Pak Putu walking ahead of me with umbrella because it drizzling the whole time. ='=

I have never heard of GWK Cultural Park before. And actually feel quite stupid because I didn't Google it beforehand. If I had known, I'll probably skip this park because it was about Balinese traditional dance show, nothing really outstanding for me. 




There are 5 dances overall and each has a story of its own such as the welcome dance, the masked monkey and the evil vs the good man. All of the stories are dated way back.

With the masked monkey man




Pak Putu then brought me around the area to see the giant Buddha statue.





Me and the giant Buddha. The statue is still under construction therefore the missing limbs. Some more there are supposed to be a Garuda on top of the Buddha.

This is the Garuda that supposed to go on top of the Buddha statue. The whole statue estimated to complete in a few more years.





We walked through the creepy limestone wall to exit the park when suddenly I heard sound out of nowhere. Super scary leh because it was just me and Pak Putu and it was quite cloudy and dark. Then Pak Putu pointed to a loud speaker attached to one of the wall and laughed at me. -_______-

I spent less than one hour in GWK and find it actually quite boring. 

Oh, the entrance fee is IDR100,000.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

My Capsule Container Experience

Cheat post ahead! Copied it all from my Dayre because I feel like I want to. HAHAHA

So I have always wonder how does it feel to stay in hostel/dorm or even sleeping in a container. Well now I wonder no more because I've stayed in the Capsule Container in KLIA 2. 



This is my container. I opted for a 12 hours stay because I had 14 hours layover. It was RM100 plus tax which I gladly paid because I can no longer sleep on the floor at the airport or Tune hotel.
Surprisingly, the mattress is super soft and the space is not as small as I thought it will be. It is limited but comfortable enough for me. There's no door though, you will have blind that you can pull down when you're sleeping.


All of the containers are stacked together like in the photo. Lucky I got the lower bunk because it is quite troublesome if you got the top bunk. Have to climb up using the metal stair and probably will woke your lower bunk roommate up when climbing up especially if you are not a graceful climber like my container mate did that night.
I asked for a locker since I have luggage and backpack to store. Their lockers are however located outside, next to the check in counter. Which is very troublesome la. Like I need to take my pj and toiletries from my locker, walked past 2 electric doors which need to be opened by using your container card. The 2 electric doors are good measure for safety but location of the locker is too troublesome to get access to la if you know what I mean.
I already got my pj but forgot my undies, so have to back to get it again. It is a short distance but really troublesome. Like the next day, after my shower, I need my make up case which I forgot. So I need to go out to the locker to get it with my wet hair dripping. Lucky the check in counter was empty. It will be better if the locker storage is located near the container for convenience. But then it probably be too loud because of the metal locker clanking everytime you open it

My container tour! Hahaha they provide you with mirror compartment for your makeup but terrible lighting so can't do make up here.


You will have phone which is used to wake you up once your time is up. They have 6 hours stay and 12 hours stay. So once your option staying hours is up, you have to check out or else they will ring you to chase you out hahaha. Have a charging station too. Not sure what is the ventilation there for but probably for aircond. I put my hand there to feel the air but feel nothing leh. But don't worry la, it is not hot inside.


Pulling down my blind and I'm ready to snooze. Can see the shadow of the stair outside. Oh yeah, they provide you with clean towel too. So no need bring your own.


Now bathroom tour! So you will share bathroom with others. There are 2 showers with hot water and 3 toilets. The hot shower seriously feels like heaven sent after you been travelling the whole day. The bathroom is clean too.


The simple shower room. Oh yeah, I wish that they provide flip flop because you will need it for showering. In case that you're travelling in heels or sandal, sure you don't want it to get wet. Lucky I got mine. Or else you will have to shower bare feet. 

Make up station! They have hair dryer so no worry for wet hair.


And giant mirror for your OOTD hahahaha
Overall it was a good stay for me because of my long hour layover and I need a place to crash for the night. Except that other patrons were quite noisy eg. walking and talking loudly. Their wifi is reliable too.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Back to back vomit sessions

My June started off a little bumpy as I contracted some sort of stomach flu or food poisoning. I came back from the kampung earlier than my family as I needed to start working the next day. I remember being hungry on the way from kampung because we were rushing and the bf only managed to tapao-ed kampua which I'm not fond of.

Naturally, I only took a few bites and left it. I was ecstatic for our dinner plan because we were going for sushi. My favorite!

Since I'm practically in hunger the whole day, I may be went a little over board with my sushi. 3 plates of egg sushi and 3 plates of salmon. That was more than enough for me. But I had two chawamushi too. Don't judge me okay, I was hungry. 

When the night came, that's when the real trouble come. I was feeling bloated and a bit sick when going to bed but ignored the feeling. Usually, I have no trouble going to sleep but that night was a nightmare. Literally. 

I tossed and turned, not sure whether I was dreaming or waking up. Everything was a blur and my body felt so tired but my mind was wide awake. Come to think of it, I think I was having dream inceptions. 

But the sick feeling I had earlier became stronger and that was when I couldn't hold it any longer. I ran to the toilet and threw all of my dinner out. I was relieved afterward and thought that was the end of it. It was 5.14 am that time, 2 more hours before I need to wake up for work.

At 7am, my alarm rang and as though my stomach hated being woken up, the nausea feeling was back, stronger this time and I barely made it to the toilet. I ermm splashed some vomit on the floor. This time my stomach was empty and it was bile. 

I was feeling tired and weak. There was no way I could make it to work that day. So I took a sick leave. Lucky I did because I vomited again 2 hours later. I felt horrible and in great discomfort.

What pissed me off was when I went to the doctor. I went to my usual clinic at Simon Yii and he barely checked me for more than 5 minutes. Gave me injection and some pills to stop vomit. 

But his jab didn't work because I vomited again at 12 noon.

Then I took my pill and napping the whole day and feeling better at night.

Thank God the vomit series has come to an end now but I'm still feeling bloated. Probably indigestion problem. Gonna buy some banana tomorrow.