bali

[Bali] A trip to the “ZOO”

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It’s back to my Bali posts again. So sorry for the delay cause I have been really really busy. It seems like all the events are coming together in May.

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Bali Day 2.

We started the day early as early as 8am after the first day (http://maybelinesim.sg/2015/04/26/bali-holiday-inn-express-holiday-resort/) because we booked a day trip for a day filled with water activities.

 

The breakfast hours in Holiday Inn Express Kuta Square was 6am to 10am and with it being an express hotel, I expected lesser variety of food but I was quite surprised to see the food there. Since I was there for 4D3N, I had 3 chances of trying out their breakfast there and it seems like they change their menu daily. I don’t see much repeated food among the three days.

 

I like to eat clean if I have to eat in the morning so the first station was the fruits.

 

If you want it quick, grab one or two muffins before you head out!

 

The food were all hot and warm and the staffs were really helpful in clearing the plates, or assisting us with the plates and necessities.

 

There will always be mains like noodles and rice every single day. So if you don’t feel like eating (example) fried rice today, go for the fried noodles.

 

I think I had 6 slices of omelette. Hehehe. I was hoping that they would give us scramble eggs and I was literally praying for that every night. LOL.

 

Pork Sausages and many many more but I was too concern about my tummy so I only snapped a few photos of the food :/

 

And cereals! I realized that most of the tourists there attacked the cereals first.

 

Even the drinks were thoughtful.

Orange juice, Apple juice, Pineapple juice, Soy bean, Fresh Milk, Skim milk.

 

We filled our stomach with a whole lot of food before traveling out to the sea.

 

The transport and activities were booked a day prior to Day 2 which we found at Kuta Square.

 

It was about SGD130-140 for 4 pax which includes Glass Boat Tour (which was quite a SCAM in my opinion), snorkeling, turtle island and then dinner by the beach at Jimbaran Bay Beach.

 

We were quite lucky that the sky was clear.

 

 

 

 

 

But sadly, we could only see one species of fish and the water was way way way too cloudy. We snorkeled for less than 30 minutes and gave up.

 

 

 

 

Turtle Island – It only cost you SGD2++ per pax and I really like this place than the snorkeling done earlier because there were a lot of hands-on that you won’t get experience in Singapore. I call this a Mini Zoo, probably better than the actual Bali Zoo. It was cheap and we spent 1.5 hour there!

 

 

 

 

The huge turtle you see there is the oldest, older than any one of us and nobody seems to be able to lift him up. It was low tide so that explains the dry shell. See! This was what I mean by hands-on. Where else can you find such close encounter in Singapore?!

 

 

 

 

 

And this proud bird here. Hehehe.

 

 

William and Lip carried the snake while James and me preferred not to. The mouth of the snake was actually taped together using the scotch tape which I find it amusing lol!

 

The fruit bat!!!! You have to swing it for it to open it’s wings. All of us had a go with it, even me!!

 

 

 

 

We took a short rest after playing around and ordered a cup of Pop-mee which usually cost SGD0.50 in their supermarket but we paid SGD1.70 there. Still reasonably priced in my opinion. The coconut cost SGD5 if I am not wrong!

 

While some of us ate and some of us continued to explore, Lip saw crabs in various bright colors.

As for why I felt the Glass Boat Tour was a scam because it wasn’t like this…

Credits: http://www.arunatoursbali.com

 

It was as blur/narrow as this, and the glass/plastic was super cloudy looking as well. It was almost opaque.  So what can we see? NOTHING.

 

And on our way back to the island after a good 3 hours, we saw a sinking boat! It seems like it is quite common there because no one was surprised.

 

Till then…

 

I’ll be back with my experience on dining by the beach and our Day 3 in Bali 🙂

[Bali] The Holy Crab

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As our bali trip is drawing to an end, there isn’t any better way to complete it apart from having a FANTASTIC closing dinner, right?! So here we are, at (I would say) easily the best Louisiana-inspired seafood restaurant, The Holy Crab.

Ask me if I think this restaurant need to do any form of sponsors to create any more form of awareness? I would say ABSOLUTELY not! This seafood restaurant is already a little celebrity of its own in Bali if you read up reviews online. Nonetheless, we were very priviledged and thankful to be invited for a food tasting with them.

So here we are at the doorsteps leading up to the restaurant after a short drive from our hotel in Kuta. I must say the restauant exterior does stand out admidst its relatively rural vicinity. Apart from its nicely-decorated & well-litted exterior, I appreciated the fact that there is always someone to receive you outside the restaurant. The waiters/waiteresses will take the initiative to welcome you warmly into the restaurant.

 

 

The humourous Lousiana air filling even its carpark area. So for those who drives, rest assured your car will be well taken care of while you enjoy the seafood delicacies ><

 

 

Here we are with our FEEDBACK on the restaurant’s exterior! What you see is what you get! Two thumbs up! ><

Next question then is: What about the interior?

 

 

*LAGI CANTEK!* (which means EVEN PRETTIER in Bahasa Indonesia which thankfully i picked up during one of my Uni years 🙂 )

The most outstanding part of the interior would be this cheeky-looking Crab (potentially the Holy Crab itself maybe?) spreading all over the slab of wall next to the staircase that leads to the second storey. Being two-storeyed, I don’t have to say much as to how spacious the interior was.

 

 

Nice contemporary checkered flooring & a well-equipped bar for those who seeks to fill their stomach with flavourful cocktails and mocktails instead of seafood!

 

 

As we stroll to our table, the constant thought that lingered around my mind was… the dinner price tag!

Well, I know I shouldn’t think of that since it was nicely sponsored for us. But who wouldn’t think of that judging from whatever we have seen thus far!

 

Guess what! To our pleasant surprise, they offered bundle packages for 2-4 pax at very reasonable rates! (For oversea travellers eg. Singaporean like us, this price tag is considered very reasonable using a currency rate of SDG1 to 9k IDR. That is almost just $20 plus for the shrimp bag for TWO pax!).

 

 

If that don’t fancy you, then go for the Ala Carte in the menu.. There is a wide array of mains & sides to choose from the menu seeking to satisfy even the most picky seafood eaters!

 

 

The Stars for the Night! Here, we have the Lobster, King Crab craw, Mudcrab, Crawfish and Snow Crab craw nicely laid out by one of the kind and patient waiter.

 

 

#FOTD time! *Snap Snap*

 

 

For me, I am particularly excited and facinated by the King Crab Craw at the top of this picture! Cos I have heard and seen so much locally but yet to try it ! In fact, I would think that is one of the more pricey ones of the lot (*if based on local Singapore pricing).

 

Finally, to our Grand Feast of the Night! Much THANKS to Rain, our pretty & professional host whom kindly prepared the menu for that night!

 

Notice also something REALLY interesting on our table?!

Why are all the food slapped on top of the table & where are our cutleries, waiter!?

 

This brings me to the SPECIAL eating concept of Holy Crab: They want you to TOTALLY forget about table manners, forget about your fork and spoons. In Holy Crab, it’s all about the FUN & ENJOYABLE eating experience! In there, your bare hands and mallet are the tools of choice. *Period*

 

 

Some of the delicious sides that accompanied our mains.. Deep Fried Chicken Wings

 

 

Shrimps in their own special sauces. We were told the sauces were invented by the Chef (who is also the owner himself after his stay in Lousiana)

 

 

M’s Favourite! She kept harping that the Fish strip was the best she tried so far (Not just in Bali context! Including Singapore hor!)

 

 

While she was busy getting smitten in the Fish Strips, I took my plunge into the long-awaited seafood! All mouth-watering seafood were served in their very own special spicy Cajun sauces! Here, we have…

 

 

..Clams..

 

 

..& my own personal favourite of the night : the King Crab Craw!  I must say the marriage between the fresh craw meat and the in-house sauces was almost flawless! Unfortunately, I do not have the mouth of a hamster, else I will store at least a table full of them in my mouth! Lol!

 

 

Also, Rain has kindly ordered their seafood in toasted bread for us! Comes in a variety of prawn or crab meat. Don’t force me to choose between them, I would have no answer to that question cos both are equally as SEDAP SEKALI!

 

 

Another of my Favourite would be this palatable Crab Cake served with Fries.

 

 

So much for the seafood! What about the drinks then?

 

Remember this is Bali! How can we miss out on their very own local Bintang Beer… & the best part served ICE COLD Chilled! Even their beer mugs were chilled in the freezer!

 

 

In summary, my first trip to Bali was an exceptionally fantastic one and largely it is because of the food they offered take for instances, what we had in Holy Crab. In fact, what Holy Crab offered was easily a notch above the other local food fare. I couldn’t have asked for more in terms of the quality of seafood offered in there!

 

In Holy Crab, thre isn’t any pretentiousness, you can just throw that facade of table manners away and be yourself to enjoy the best of seafood in the most flavourful & addictive sauces!
Location:

The Holy Crab – BALI
Jl. Petitenget no. 50
Kuta Utara, Badung
Bali 80361

+62 819 0122 2722
+62 819 0122-CRAB
+62 361 4741391

 

I will definitely be back when I visit Bali again!

[Bali] Our Stay In Holiday Inn Express

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Sponsored

You guys know that I just came back from Bali right? I am very very grateful to HolidayInn Express for hosting us during our stay in Bali.

 

We took the 7am flight and camped at the airport since 3am for some Duty Free shopping and breakfast so we were VERY VERY VERY tired when we arrived in Bali at 10am. Nonetheless, that did not dampen any bit of my mood and excitement in visiting Bali! As soon as we hit the plane, only ONE letter came into mind: Zzz.. 2 hours plus later, we reached Bali (Depasar) Airport!

 



We were greeted by the beautiful and peaceful looking interior of the hotel and the check-in process was quick because the friendly staffs were all very experienced. From the lethargic look on our faces coupled with those unavoidable Jia Jia & Kai Kai eyes of ours, I bet they knew how tired we were after the SUPER DUPER early morning flight.


In terms of their front desk customer relation, I must say they deserve 2 thumbs up !! Not only were they prompt in replying our requests, you hardly see a tinge of frustration on their faces despite our interminable requests. They even went the extra mile to help us with some of our hotel planning and recommended us on some of the activities we can do.




My very first photo in Bali!



You don’t find the usual hotel glitteries around Holiday Inn Express. And it is basically because of this, i feel much closer to home with their simple & clean layout.

Don’t expect to see hotels in Bali to those skyscrappers sort like some in Singapore. In fact, this is already one of the tallest around town. You will see why I say that from the roof pictures below.




After checking in, what we did next immediately was to explore the room and the facilities!

First up, the room…




To some people, the word “Express” does lead to some form of skeptism. But to be very frank, the hotel room does not have the likes of an “Express” hotel room. The room is clean with a super comfy king-sized bed!





Room is spacious, definitely enough for two to roam around without knocking into each other!





Our room overlooked nicely into the courtyard which end up being a hugh perk as we could easily check if our tour guide/drivers have arrived at the lobby even before the reception can call us!




Next to the facilities!

We headed straight to the roof and was pleasantly greeted by the pool which J eventually did swim a couple of laps on the last day of our stay! My baby can be quite a clean freak and judging from the fact that he did not even make a noise over the pool water, i guess it passed the cleaniless test! 🙂







A nice little hangout area, particularly useful at night for a group of friends where they chill around and admire the nice starry night in Bali.





After exploring, we went back to take a quick shower and rested for 40 minutes before heading out to explore Bali.


40 minutes of rest and it took less than 30 seconds for this lazy bum to climb into bed! He absoultely have no idea I snapped this!





Shortly, I also joined in to enjoy the comfy bed..




*4o mins passed*


See those REJUVENATED face of ours and all ready to hit the Bali streets!





This brings me to the other benefit of staying in Holiday Inn Express! That is once you get out of the hotel, all the supermarket, malls, art markets so on and so forth are within a stone’s thrown away distance! In fact, you are already at the Heart of Kuta itself!





You will see quite a few familiar brands in Kuta square such as Rip Curl, Havianas, Polo RL etc. Best part is you will find the prices there much cheaper than in Singapore. Take for instances, a Havianas slippers cost easily 15-20% cheaper there!





Apart from shops, you will find many fast food restaurants eg Mac, KFC so rest assured you are never ever gonna starve in Kuta, Bali regardless how picky an eater you are.

Because Kuta Beach was also near, we walked over for a stroll and to dine by the beach for lunch.





Less than 15 minutes walk, we were already at the famous Kuta beach where surfers like to visit!

Not just a good place to surf but also a good place to do #OOTD & #photooftheday!






More OOTDs at the back alley.




Putting the back alley for even better uses apart from OOTD: *Opps!* -> *Ooo La La!*


Tofu eaten!




Rayban fans caught in a candid moment!




Our first day in Bali was pretty much spent combing the streets of Kuta and the beach. Surprisingly, there are so many things to buy and shop there and I spent almost one third of my IDR there!

Apparently, after one day of shopping & exploring, we were all pretty dead beat! We had a quick shower with the well-equipped amenities eg body wash, shampoo, toothbrush etc before heading for bed. Both of us were soon sound asleep without much external disturbances or noises.

Stay tuned for the next post, you will see what the hotel has to offer for breakfast and we we did in Bali!