i know this entry is delayed for what, more than a month? well anyways,the memories still fresh in my mind – – – our very first vacation together, yay!

we chose bali because we both never been there and we were thinking of somewhere privacy which means out of malaysia.plus with beautiful beaches and learn new culture perhaps ;p furthermore, honeymoon not supposed to be waste with jetlagged and all so indonesia is just perfect 🙂

so few days after the reception at taiping, we flew to bali! 🙂

the flight

we departed from lcct at 10am+ to ngurah rai airport, denpasar.it was weekdays and even the flight was not full.oh btw, now airasia is a free-seating-airlines-no-more whereby each passanger has their dedicated seat.we were quite surprised coz we thot we need to like u know berebut seat and all ;p 3hours flight and we i slept almost the whole journey since we both havent got enough rest after all the ceremonies.huhu

hello bali!

our very first impression on bali was – – – panasnya!!!we hardly see clouds in the sky and the skies are blue.breathtaking i must say.bali is an island hence the heat.just like langkawi or penang.or even hotter kot hehe.we took a cab to the hotel and it cost us Rp210.000 approx RM70.this is the fix fare for the journey from airport-hotel anywhere in tg benoa.frankly, its much2 cheaper if you purchase the cab tix via airasia as the price was RM50+.nevermind.we were both excited to reach our hotel!*wink2* wp pakcik taxi tu ketuk mintak tip sampai brp rupiah ntah haih

the hotel

journey to grand mirage hotel and thalasso took almost half an hour.along the road we hardly see local ppl.mostly tourists.seriously.and they walk around the island.maybe another way to sunbathe kot;p i should say the hotel is quite nice.despite the mat salehs everywhere huhu.oh and our room……sangatla romantic hik2.i love it tho it was not exactly as the pic in the website but whatever.its still worth it 🙂 oh so we checked in and given a brochure saying that the day after will be Nyepi Day.

Nyepi Day

its like balinese’s new year i should say.its the day of silence.we were not allowed to go out from 6am till 6am the next day.the city will be in silence.we were not even allowed to open our balcony door.even the beaches were closed the whole day.we can only walk around the hotel and up to the garden outside.it was amazing coz we got the chance to learn their culture coz kebetulan the nyepi day happened during our trip 🙂 so we spent our time relaxing and resting coz we gonna have a full day trip tomorrow.yay!

paket tour ke bali trip

if you plan to visit bali someday,i would recommend this site. you can select packages depending on your budget or places that you wish to visit.as for us, we booked paket bali selatan tour for two.mind u, it’ll be much cheaper if you have a bigger group.but in our case,tak dapek nak nolonglah kan ;p also,we were looking for snorkelling and sunset dinner so its just perfect alhamdulillah 🙂 its not easy to cover the whole island within one day.but we manage to visit some of the popular tourist spots here.oh we have a dedicated tourist guide and the apv was great indeed.so here goes

snorkeling and glass bottom boat

the location was just few minutes drive from our stay.its still at tanjung benoa.we were given briefing on the activity and we took our snorkeling gears,change attire,keep our valuable things and off we hop on the boat.when the boat almost reach to the snorkeling spot, the boat-driver opened the so called glass bottom for us to see the fishes whatnot down under.we were both dissapointed because we cant see a thing except for the rumpai lauts yg sgts byks.and the water was not crystal clear.huhu.okay,nevermind.snorkel is an exciting thing to do.but again,we were also dissapointed as it was not up to our expectations.we both once went snorkeling at redang in 2006 (dgn rakan2 induksi lain.masa ni cinta belum berputik;p perlu ke justify haha) and relatively,snorkeling at redang was more exciting and the fishes,wah tersangatla jinaknya.here,the air keruh,ikan tak banyak,whatmore the batu karang – none!bottomline,our sea/island scores better.honestly 🙂

pulau serangan (turtle island)

after done with our not-so-fun-snorkeling,the boat head us to the turtle island.they have few ponds of turtles from the kids till the grandpa.the biggest was half of our bodysize.besar yakmat.then there were biawak,ular,enggang,and some wild animals and we were given the oppurtunity to hold and take pix with em.ular memang tak lah kan.cepat2 tarik suami pi kandang lain ;p the tourist guide here was very friendly.done with the island,off we went back to the shore and took our belongings and heading back to our hotel to change and perform our solah

lunch at GWK

GWK stands for garuda wisnu kencana.its a routine for the guards to check the vehicle upon entering the area.according to pak supir, the routine was enforced eversince the bali bombers tragedy back in 2005.when we enter the area, we saw this HUGE head.and at other place there were the hands and other parts whereby they will construct ’em to be a SUPERHUGE monumen.bali citizens are mostly hindu and the GWK is thier tuhan sort of.they consider the place sacred.so the lunch.since most of the ppl are hindus hence the food we didnt quite confident of the ‘halalness’.we asked so many times..

“makanan di sini halal nggak?”

“ya.halal.kami ga masak babi”

so yeah.forget about the ayam sembelih or not.huhu..we didnt eat whatever with chicken.so we ate the fish and vegi only.which were extremely delicious for us who only ate maggi-in-cup the day before.ha ha.alhamdulillah.we manage to feel kenyang.finally ;p then we went for a walk around the GWK park sweating like nobody cares.it was fun tho.learning other ppl’s culture and all

pura uluwatu

‘pura’ is temple.pura uluwatu is one of the famous temple here in bali.at the entrance, we need to tie a piece of yellow cloth around our waist,just part of their culture.we have been reminded on the crazy monkeys along the way(not crazy.but sacred so they say),up the hill.most importantly,careful of our spectacles.the monkeys might grab them  and bawak lari huhu.then,we have to climb stairs to reach the temple.no we didnt go into the temple because it was closed.the scenery was breathtaking.you can see the horizon from top and also mountains downhill.subhanallah.oh and the skies are crystal blue still 🙂 we took lots of pics here.on our way out to the exit, somehow my husband’s spec were caught by one of the mischievous monkey!i was shocked coz it happened in a split second.seriously.with the help of local peeps,they manage to some sort of pujuk the monkey and return back the specs.huhuuu.alhamdulillah syukur 🙂

pantai dreamland – kuta

its a very small beach i must say.we spent our time relaxing under the big umbrella,having teh botol, the famous tea of all time.hehe.we took deep breath and feel the air.its just amazing.feel each other’s company in one of the famous beach in bali ;p

kampung bali
is a souvenir shop.you may find loads of souvenir here.from the t-shirts to the local food and patung.ha ha.we were running out of time since we have to go to the beach for sunset.so we did a quick shopping.very quick ;p

sunset dinner at jimbaran beach

this was the highlight of our whole day trip.we were brought to jimbaran beach and its almost sunset!so we quickly pick our table and yeah the food is coming right away.we were starving coz we dont have proper meal throughout the trip.the dinner was superb.we had each a set of huge fish,shrimp,squid,crab and veggies.then 4 different sauces.it was amazing experience having dinner,at the beach,watching the sunset.subhanallah.and the food was amazing indeed.totally worth it.kenyang banget!:) this is by far the only most romantic candle light dinner i’ve ever been to.everyone must try.recommended.kat malaysia ada tak tempat camni?romantik sungguh *blush*

its already dark when we finished our dinner.only the spotlight and candles at each tables light up the beach.we head towards the hotel and prepare for our flight the next day!oh we managed to capture the sunrise from our  room balcony hehe cool huh

memorable journey with my dear husband.this will be the first and wont be the last,inshaallah.hoping to go for umrah next.with His will,inshaallah 🙂

p/s : itu je la gambar yang releven hik2

hmm.how should i start this entry.oh,first,alhamdulillah syukur that we made it.2nd,it was one of the best trip ever.very challenging i must say.hehe.we learned a lot about ppl in the other side of the world.some of the myths are verified wrong and so forth ;p

i’ve been thinking on how to put the looong journey in writing.nevermind.lets just go with whatever cross in my mind..

at first,i was planning to go for europe backpacking.envy my sista.however,with my nature of work and budget ie hard to get long leave and very high budget for long trip,i must satisfy with a week of visiting 2 popular europe cities, paris and barcelona!and alhamdulillah He permits despite the haywire schedule i have.haha.

KUL – BAH
so off we flew from klia on 24th jan morning.there was a bit miscommunication breakdown at gulf air check-in counter (that exec really pissed us off) that makes 4 of us had scattered seats on our way to bahrain.oh,its approx 7 hours journey by the way.lucky that we had perfect seats on our way to paris 🙂

initially bahrain was not in the picture as our main aims were paris and barcelona.however looking at the 12-hours transit at bahrain,we think why dont we have another country/city covered.and luckily,the travel agent provide lunch,dinner,transportation and accomodation for all transfer passangers!(for more than 6hrs transit).and plus,we dont need to pay for the visa(BD20 equiv RM180) coz it was also covered in the accomodation.hehe.so basically we get half day and half night bahrain trip for free.and the stamp on our pasport,of course.did i tell u that the visa/immigration stamps are also in our must-have list?saiko.alhamdulillah.

BAHRAIN (12 hours)
bahrain is a very nice city.typical middle east country,with the squarish-type of building.the bahrain international airport is located in the muharraq island, which is located approx 15mins away from the manama city,connected via a bridge.oh, we touched down at about 1.15pm bahrain time.it took almost an hour to settle the accomodation voucher,visa application and photo session.we hop on the provided mini bus and headed towards concord hotel(mind the missing ‘e’) with other transit passengers.the weather was quite windy and sunny, 14degC.very breezy city 🙂 we then checked in to a very cosy apartment c/w living hall,2 rooms,a kitchen and a bathroom.after had our lunch,performed our prayers,we browsed through the map taken at the airport.we decided to have a leisure walk around the city and to make sure that we get back to hostel before dark.so we walk down the main road,thru the backstreet—– only then we realized that there was not a single woman on the street.NADA.maybe the culture here i suppose.so it was a bit awkward for all 4 of us,girls,(bukan women ye) to walk around the city tanpa halatuju.we arrived at bab al bahrain,one of the main tourist attraction, when we heard the maghrib azan.so we decided not to panjangkan lagi langkah as the hotel is now half an hour away from where we were.so we headed back and its already dark when we arrived at the hotel.well the map was very useful as we get to know some of the buildings here and there across the street and so forth.i mean,for an unplanned trip,map is very important ya know 🙂 at least unintentionally,u get info while walking without knowing where to go ;p

well,here i share some of the pix..

the bus was ready to fetch us from the hotel at about 12mdnght and we headed to the airport.mentally and emotionally prepared for europe!

peeps,i dun hav the courage to write about paris yet.as paris is by far,the best city that i have ever been to.dont know where to start.its just amazing how i instantly  fell in love with paris. oh, and the disneyland.marvellous.happiness.alhamdulillah.will continue the story mory later yeah…

sneak preview..

*malas mau masuk ofis.isk*

later

today is the day.finally 🙂

doakan keselamatan dan kesihatan kami ye.semoga kami dipermudahkan segalanya.inshaallah.

countdown : 8hrs and 20mins

i flipped thru the going places magz few days back.it mentioned,2 mistakes that ppl normally do when they go travelling that requires loads of walking and running/long hours flight/vacation ;

1. wear high heels or improper shoes
2. overpacking

countdown : 24 days