EAT, PRAY, LOVE in Bali – Part 1 (The First Sunset)

Reminiscing the plot of EAT, PRAY, LOVE (EPL) film starring Julia Robert made us getting ourselves a return ticket to Bali. Yes! We had always promised ourselves that one day we should bring our travel feet all the way to this beautiful island even that our aim was not to meet the healer, Ketut Liyer and the local Traditional Balinese Medicine Shop owned by Wayan. We finally made it. Alhamdulillah.

Bali is actually an island and it was the smallest province in Indonesia. But hey, it might be small in size where you can actually drive to the entire coast in one day, but the destination is quite far from one another. It is located in between Java and Lombok with a majority of Hinduism followed by a slightly minority of Muslim and Christian. Fret not, even of the small population of Muslim, you can actually get a delicious Halal Food within the island.

Honestly, we’ve not did enough studies nor reading for this trip. It was just a short trip for both of us but we always believe that we could fit ourself to the island for the next 4 days. Just 2 days before departed, we actually secured a local tour guide to bring and drive us around to the outskirts area (to save our time) for a day! We only paid IDR 350k and it turned out to be quite cheap plus with a return airport transfer which cost us only IDR 100K. This is way cheaper than using the taxi.

Our local guide, Agung. A very devoted Muslim who travel all the way from Surabaya to start his living here in Bali.

The new Ngurah Rai International Airport

One of Kuta mainstreet

Being the first timer here, we definitely opt for a stay in Kuta as this is the major tourist spot in the island. After a quick browse considering the price, location and guest reviews, we finally ended up with Jocs Boutique Hotel & Spa by paying approximately RM60 per night. Personally, it was a good selection since it was located within a walking distance to Kuta Beach and other major attraction around.

Just to kill the time, we then decided to chase for sunset at Kuta Beach in the late afternoon. By walking down the street, our very 1st impression of Kuta is that it’s totally congested, crowded and even chaotic at time. We could observed touts and spammers around but we are definitely not their target as they thought that we’re local, just like them. To be frank, the whole environment of Kuta Beach lies in front of our eyes was something that we don’t even expected. The 5km stretch which was noted as the best beach front in Bali could be even better and cleaner. To save it all, Kuta Beach then reveal her best sunset of the day.

We then walked along the Kuta beach front till FF’s suggested that we shall stop for a cup of drinks. We then saw a big mall that caught our attention which is Kuta Beachwalk. The architectural was amazing. It came to our surprise to know that it was formerly a hotel and it has been converted to a new a shopping mall with its own concept.

While walking up and down the upscale mall, we were then invited to start our journey to the world of Indonesia cloth tradition. It all started when we spotted some special tunnel with some light effect which caught our eyes. It open its door everyday as early as 10.00am till late evening of 7.30pm. It was believe to be owned by a cloth maker / fashion designer, Josephine Obin Komara. You’ll be immersed in the world of beautiful fabric and traditional local batik. Rare pieces can be seen on display too! As this is the latest addition to the mall, you might one to pop out if you were around just for a dose of art and culture.

We wrapped up the day at the nearest Mc’Donalds outlet for our dinner. We got ourself non other than the only set which are not available in Malaysia Mc’Donalds which is ‘Panas Special’ consist of a white rice, a piece of fried chicken and scramble egg together with a glass of carbonated drink.

We will continue our journey on Part 2 soon.

Simply us,
Zara AB & FF
The Province of Chroma