We stayed at Hard Rock Hotel, nearby Kuta Beach, for the first 2 nights. The room isn't exactly very clean and I've no idea why the bathroom has no lock, but the facilities there are great. The swimming pool is really huge and there's also gym, pool table and sauna. After we checked in, we went shopping nearby our hotel. The main shopping area's within walking distance, so it was quite convenient. The area's like a surfer's paradise. There're so many surfer shops and also polo shops. Price's definitely lower than that in Singapore. Apparently, the things there are even cheaper than in Australia, but I'm not sure. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant nearby the beach. We chose to eat indoors, but I think it's pretty romantic to eat outside along the beach. There were candles at each table and the view is also nice. A few people were playing with fireworks. Very noisy, but quite spectacular also. Oh ya, the food was of course delicious, but quite spicy. Not surprising considering that Bali is practically surrounded by the sea, so specialty there is seafood. When we got back to the hotel, there was a band from New Zealand playing at the bar near the lobby. They were playing some of the current songs, so a few of us decided to stay back at the bar. Even two very young cousins of mine stayed back and they didn't get chased out haha. Anyway, the band was quite lively. Great energy too. I was mostly just singing along to the songs, but we spotted a few people dancing, some quite hilariously. After I went back to my room, I could still hear the band performing. My mum looked incredulous when I told her I practically knew all the songs they were playing. Think she didn't know I was so into music haha.
The next morning, I went to the gym. Haven't worked out for quite a while; my stamina really sucks. Anyway, the next morning I had muscle aches even though I didn't really work out that much. Oh well... After breakfast, we went shopping again. This time, we shopped at the row of roadside shops selling all the Balinese stuff, from shirts, shorts, slippers to cloths, curtains, etc. The good thing is that you can still bargain with the stallowners, even though prices are considered relatively low already. We had 'babi guling' for lunch. I think it's quite a popular dish there. Didn't really like it, partly because it's too spicy. After that, we went to Kuta Beach for a while. The place was quite crowded and dirty. Off for more shopping after that. We shopped quite a bit while we were staying at Hard Rock because the shopping area was so close to the hotel; bought quite a lot of stuff too. On the way to dinner, my uncle who went for the Olympics told us about his experience there. He got to watch swimming and tennis! And he got to see Phelps, Thorpe, Hoogenband, Henin-Hardenne and Myskina! He got good seats too I think. And he got to watch the 200m freestyle race and the relays. I was so jealous! Later on, he showed me the pictures. Very small, but when I zoomed in, I could see Phelps and the rest. Oh well.. Anyway, I found out from my brothers that one of my dad's friends went to the 2002 World Cup to get Thierry Henry's authograph. But he was sent off in the match that my dad's friend watched haha.
Saturday morning.. it's Christmas! Went to the gym in the morning again. We were supposed to move to Hyatt Hotel, which is nearby Nusa Dua Beach. Before moving, my mum and I managed to shop a little bit more haha. Oh I also took pictures in front of the house, which's made up entirely of bread, cookies, etc. Really cool. In the afternoon, we went to the beach. We rode on the banana boat! It's really just a rubber boat that looked exactly like a banana. Only 5 people could go on at 1 time, so I went with my brothers, cousin and aunt. The boat was dragged along by a speedboat into the sea. Think we went quite far out, but the view was pretty nice. My youngest brother had told me that the banana boat would flip at some point, but up till that point, the ride was pretty tame. I think the people at the speedboat must've heard us, so they turned sharply and all of us fell over into the sea. The water was really salty (ok, I knew seawater's salty but I didn't expect it to be that salty). I managed to get back onto the boat after great difficulty. But moments later, the boat flipped over again and we were all in the sea. But I think it was quite fun. I think we all spent the rest of the ride wondering whether the boat's going to flip over again haha. The second boat, consisting of the rest, only flipped over once. And one of my cousins, who sat on the third seat just like I was, didn't even fall over! After that, I went jetskiing with my uncle. Pretty bad at that too. I would turn sharply at full speed and stop suddenly. Just didn't know how to control the jetski. Luckily, neither of us fell over.
We went rafting on Sunday. The company that organised the rafting trip arranged for a van to pick us up. On the way there, I had a nice chat with one of my cousins, whom I haven't seen in quite a while but was close to her last time. We talked about everything; it was really just nice to catch up with her. Rafting...it was quite exciting. The guide would shout commands at us and when he told us to lower our heads, we would all do that, wondering whether we were going to hit the rocks or something. We occupied 2 rafts and it was fun competing against the other raft. Not to mention that my youngest brother actually fell into the river while trying to hold the other raft back. All in all, the rafting trip was about 11km long and it was very tiring to row against the current. Surprisingly, my arms didn't hurt the next day. Instead, my shoulder blades did..and my legs, from going down and climbing up the stairs I think. The company also provided a buffet so that we could eat after rafting. We all just lapped up the food greedily. We were the first people at the buffet place and we were the last ones to leave haha. When we got back to the hotel, we just lazed around at the cafe near the lobby. We had vouchers for free drinks and we just sat there, talking and making fun of my youngest brother (ling ling hahaha). After that, we decided to play tennis..quite fun. And at night, I watched the MU vs Bolton match. MU won, so it was quite a good day.
Monday, last day in Bali. We actually wanted to go parasailing, but we couldn't because it was raining. We went snorkelling instead. It was really weird to wear the flippers and walk around in them. I didn't really enjoy snorkelling that much because I couldn't really breathe through my mouth and I was also seasick. Think I would've enjoyed parasailing more.
That was basically what we did in Bali. I really think we should've a family gathering every year; it's nice to catch up with the rest, but I'm not sure if it's possible. The only thing I feel bad about is that I haven't gone to church on Christmas for 2 years now. I think I probably got sorethroat from the trip too. Had seafood practically everyday. Not to mention that the meal times were irregular and I ate a lot. Really.
My brother and I were just talking about it the other day.. we would have 1 more hour if we come back home, because Jakarta's time is 1hr behind Singapore's. And we would have 1 less hour if we go back to Singapore. My brother told me he liked the feel of having 1 more hour to spare. I'm not too sure about it myself. But I think the whole time thing is very interesting.