Because the boys has too much energy to blow off, they decided to fling each other in the air. The girls succumbed soon after and decided to partake in a bit of Pool gymnastics.
Rounds consisted of the flying (Silver)Fox, Face plant, bromance flings, gf flinging and canon bombs.
Some of these pre-impact pictures really look like they were going to hurt!
After dinner at BREEZE, we headed over to Ku De Ta for some cocktails before heading back to the Villa to continue our party.
Ku De Ta is one of the more popular bars in Bali, attracting loads of tourists to this watering hole. Cocktail prices are a bit expensive for Bali standards, so it’s probably best to go there just for sunset drinks. They are well known for their yearly White Parties, but I’m not too sure what all the hype is about. Unless it’s some stellar line-up of DJs, it’s basically a beach party where everyone dresses in white?
The last picture is of us girls playing 5/10 thumbs.. READYYyyyyy!!
Ku De Ta
Address: Jalan Laksmana 9 Seminyak, Bali 80361 Indonesia
Tel: 62 361 736969
Fax: 62 361 73 6767
On our second night in Bali, we decided to eat out at a nice restaurant by the beach, and the first place that came to mind was BREEZE at The Samaya which overlooks Seminyak Beach. It’s not my first time there, but it was my first time there at night.
Here’s a little write-up from their website:
The menus that Chef Michael Shaheen showcases is an interpretation of Euro-American and blends the best of the environment with his own vision of contemporary American and global cuisine. Using the many indigenous ingredients Chef Michael’s menus are dictated by the local harvest and giving them as he defines a “Simple, Seasonal and Uncomplicated approach with a connotation of modern plated presentations, with very light full flavoured reduced sauces, and an air of freshness which appear in his dishes.
The food was good, prices reasonable, but what really did it for me was the venue and ambience. Eating with the sounds of waves continuously crashing on the beach was incredibly therapeutic for me. As someone said, the experience can be summed up as “comfortably casual in an elegant way”.
On my plate that evening was Local Wild Snapper with Truffle Scented Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Asparagus, Fennel, Oven Cured Tomato Reduction – 235 Rp
Breeze at The Samaya
Jl. Laksmana, Seminyak Beach,
Seminyak, Indonesia
Opening hours: 7am – 11pm
Telephone: (62 361) 731 149
Capacity 100 seats
What I love about the Villa is the amount of space we had. It’s unlike other holidays where you spend very little time in your hotel room. Here, there’s just no reason or need to leave the compound. If a ‘rest & relax’ holiday is what you’re after, there couldn’t be a better arrangement than this.
Afternoons were spent reading by the pool, swimming, sleeping, chatting and getting massages.
And you wonder why people stay here for months on end?
Waking up the next morning for surf school was a challenge. We dragged our sluggish selves out of bed and fed our bellies with some breakfast before packing ourselves into the van.
One of Amanda’s old friend Dedik has a surf school on Kuta beach called Double D surf school Bali. So Tony, Duncan, Chris, Marisa, Bella and I decided to give it a go!
It’s definitely not as easy as it looks, be prepared to fall off the board 100000 times before you finally ride a wave.
Look at us! We’re surfin 
I reckon we did pretty well for first-timers.
This is what they offer with their courses:
1. Free pick up & drop off
2. Quality surfboards & equipment
3. Sun protecting rashguards
4. Drinks
5. Showers, clean towels, & lockers
6. Insurance
For more info & bookings
website: www.surfschoolbali.com
e-mail: info@surfschoolbali.com
Phone: +62 81 7067 0046 or +62 361 780 6124
In Bali, we all stayed at a Villa in Seminyak called Villa Azaya. It was ridick!?! Beautiful place. Amazing interiors. Gorgeous landscaping. Great service. There was just too much for us to take in all at once when we arrived. Best to explain in pictures!
Also managed to find a website describing the Villa below.
# of Bedrooms : 5
Total Living Area : 1000m2
Total Grounds : 2200m2Villa Azaya is a contemporary-styled, five-bedroom, Bali rental villa, located just 50 metres from the beach in the Petitenget/Seminyak neighbourhood on Bali’s southwest coast. Covering 2000 square metres, the property comprises a large two-storey building complemented by a fully independent two-bedroom guesthouse, stand-alone gym, poolside gazebo and 20-metre swimming pool, well integrated within an expansive, flat-lawned garden.
The five air-conditioned bedrooms each feature ensuite bathrooms, there is also a living room, dining room, feature kitchen, and guest office/library, while the guest house incorporates its own living & dining room complete with small kitchen.
Ipods have been installed in every living area, and a Bose 321 home entertainment system provides sound in the living room, dining room and pool bar. WiFi internet access is available throughout the property.
Master bedrooms
The two, sizeable, master bedrooms are located on the upper floor of the main building. Each is air-conditioned and each features a teakwood floor, a dressing area and an ensuite bathroom; each is complemented by a rooftop terrace with a lovely view of the garden, the neighbouring fields and a glimpse of the ocean. Each spacious master bathroom is fitted with a bathtub with handheld shower, a double vanity unit with a large wall mirror and twin washbasins, and a toilet.Guest House
The self-contained guest house offers independence and privacy; it is quite separate from the main building and accessed by a wooden bridge over an ornamental pond. This single-storey building incorporates two bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom, and a centrally positioned, open-sided, living & dining area complete with a small kitchen. The living space is furnished with segmented sofas and a glass-topped coffee table, and equipped with a satellite TV/DVD player, Nintendo Wii game system and an iPod dock.Each bedroom is complemented by an ensuite bathroom with an open-air shower, a bathtub, a vanity unit with washbasin and mirror, and a toilet.
There is large open-sided ‘bale’ pavilion in the garden, with a raised wooden floor and a high roof, rattan sofas and a dining table for eight. It is cooled by natural breezes and two ceiling fans.
Gym
The air-conditioned Gym is a single-storey stand-alone building, located close to the swimming pool. It has a mirrored wall, sliding glass doors and is fully equipped with a treadmill, upright exercise bike, Concept2 Indoor Rower, multigym, free weights, adjustable bench, stretching and yoga mats, and an exercise ball. There is also an iPod dock.Staff at the villa
The villa is staffed with one full-time Villa manager, Two cooks, Four maids, Four security guards, Two gardeners and One pool attendant.Courtesy of Villa Azaya
More posts of Bali coming up where you can see pictures of the villa in the day.
I’m starting to enjoy these spur of the moment trips I make with friends. And I’m so glad I’m in a job now that allows me to travel more this year.
2 months ago, I get Kimmy msn-ing me in a frenzy about cheap flights to Bali on Air Asia.
www.airasia.com >> Select date & destination>> Personal particular>> Submit>> DONE!
In no time at all, about 10 of us were booked on a flight to Bali at the beginning of November. It was just a couple a months back I was in Bali with 2 other friends for some ‘me time’, but this time round it was the complete opposite. This was a time to socialise, have fun, party and emerge back into society with a more confident, happy and steady head on my shoulders.
We all met up at the airport in the arvo to catch our 7pm flight to Bali, and while buying duty free, someone brought up the idea of having a free shot at the Absolut bar. Oh well why not!
so Zileena, Kim, Marisa and me had a shot to kick start one of the best holidays I’ve had all year.
If you were wondering why we were pouting in the bottom few pictures, Kim swore by this lip gloss she got from Boots UK called ‘Mother Pucker’ which makes your lips tingle and plump up!
First evening there and we decided to head out to some beach club. Wasn’t that great so we ended up coming back to the villa to continue the party. More blog posts to follow on our Bali holiday.
It’s that time of the year where we make our yearly pilgrimage up Penang Hill for the Kayuh Lasak Penang Jamboree. Last year, the organisers took a break. So we were all pretty psyched when we heard it’d be back this year.
Day 1 was spent doing the necessary such as race registration, breakfast shopping and preparing for the big ride on Sunday. It was Jo & Grace’s first time to Penang, so we made sure to cover the famous makan spots around town on Saturday too. That is a separate blog post all together.
Day 2 – Race Day!
5:45am: Wake up, shower, wiggle into cycling shorts, get water bag out of freezer, breakfast, pump tyres, check bike, spray lube, check I have all supplies in bag: spare tubes, tool kit, hand pump, energy gels, happy food.
And we’re all set to go!
We stayed quite close to race central, so it was a 15min warm up cycle to the start point. Met up with the rest of the crew and before you knew it, start horn begun our several hours of torture.
This is the first year I was doing the Penang Jamboree without Wayne, and I did feel anxious knowing there was no one but myself to rely on. For the past couple of Jamborees, it was always comforting to know that he was just a phone call away. This year, I spent most of the ride solo.
It was Me Vs Penang Hill.
As usual, if you don’t manage to get in the front pack, you quickly get bottle-necked at the climbs. What you will see are hundreds of people pushing their bike up 30 degree tarmac climbs with the hope that every hairpin turn would reveal a flatter gradient or downhill section.
Here’s an elevation map from Ming’s bike computer.
At every checkpoint, marshals will give you a little sticker on your race plate to indicate completion of that section. And only if you complete the whole route do you get to be entitled for the grand lucky draw.
A few picturesque highlights of the ride would be at the top of Tiger Hill. There was one point of the ride I just stopped and watched the fog roll in between the hill peaks, nature’s air-con at work.
I finished the race broken and humbled. Clearly my inactivity was showing at my poor performance especially on the climbs. As usual, the hill claimed many victims; riders with cramped legs were sprawled in pools of mud, scattered on the side of the trails like litter. And every now and then, you can hear screams of pain and agony in the distance. Ah, another cramper!
For me, I went home with chaffed inner thighs – friction from my cycling shorts. It’s not pretty and definitely not comfortable especially in the shower when water touches the raw skin.
Again, as I say every year, I’ll be back Penang!
I’m about to post a Penang Jamboree 2009 entry, and realised….. I HAVEN’T POSTED THE ONE I WROTE IN 2007!!!!
Here it goes…please remember this was written in 2007
It’s been one year since the last Penang Jamboree, and I don’t know what possessed me to do it again!
Read more…
Earlier this year, I went on a spur-of-the moment trip to Redang Malaysia just to get away from it all. Find a willing travel partner, and was all set to go. It was a long weekend, and I was in need of some colour, pasty white was soooo last season *tsk*.
I have to say, it has to be one of the prettiest beaches in Malaysia.
Where to stay
Most people, especially those going with families, would usually opt for the Berjaya Hotel on the busier side of the island. But if you’re looking for something quieter and more rustic, stay at the Coral Redang Beach Resort on the other side. The rooms aren’t great, but honestly, you won’t spend much time in there anyway.
Things to do
As touristy as it may seem, it’s still worthwhile to go snorkelling at the marine park just 15mins boat ride away. Don’t forget to bring your underwater camera, because you can take some pretty amazing photos on a sunny day. If you don’t have one, don’t fret, the dive centre rents out underwater cameras too.
If you dive, I heard they make two trips out a day to wrecks.
If you just want to chill, do what I did, park yourself on a deck chair for the day, read my book, tan and swim. And if you’re a geek like me, there’s free wifi resort wide.
Getting there
Another tip if you’re planning to go to Redang… take a flight! The 10 hour journey there on bus and boat was truly painful!
You can actually find most of the information you need on wikitravel.
Spent the long weekend at Redang Malaysia snorkelling, sitting at the beach, reading
It was a nice getaway, more photos to follow soon.
Our hungry stomachs led us to a small alley of the shopping district. The dimly lit street stall was packed with locals, I guess that’s a good indicator on how you find the cheap and good eats.
With only a few tables available and limited seating, in Hong Kong it’s very common to share your table with strangers. We sat down with a gentleman slurping away at his noodles. When asked what the speciality was, he said it was the fishball noodles with beef brisket. Sold. Sounds fantastic!
While we were waiting for our noodles, we continued to chat about Hong Kong past and present. He walked us through a tiny bit of Mong Kok history, and pointed out places of great eats. I guess we’re not that different, Hong Kong-ers love their food as much as Singaporeans do.
The steaming hot bowl of noodles was amazing and a great introduction to our culinary journey as we eat our way through Hong Kong. The kway teow noodles were thin and slippery, similar to the kway teow teng （河粉汤) you get in Penang. Fishballs were soft and spongy, and the beef brisket so tender. Soup was a beef stock and incredibly full of flavour, and if you like, a dollop of their chilli sauce would give it that extra kick . The best part of the dish was the beef tendons, which is that light brown piece of meat you see in the top right picture above. Its consistency is like the bottom of a jelly bowl. You know when you make jelly at home, the bottom is slightly harder and chewy than the top? That’s how it tastes like.
Our table friend finished up his meal and proceeded to ask the 老板 lao ban for the table’s bill! We insisted that WE pay for his dinner after giving us such a detailed introduction to Hong Kong. We lost the fight and thanked him for the lovely meal.
He wheeled himself away in such a hurry we didn’t even get his name.
I’m not sure the exact address of that place, but I tried to take a picture of the signboard (scroll up to see the photo). Anyone know what it says? Danli, help me out, was it opposite some bookstore?
It’s going to be hard to document everything I did in Hong Kong, so instead of a wordy post, I’ve decided to put together photo collages and write down the key highlights of each day. This series of blog posts is also an archive copy for myself. I’ll try my best to fill as much information as I can, such as addresses and recommendations, just in case you’re planning your itinerary to Hong Kong.
But for now, here’s a video of my 10days in 3mins.
I hate to admit it, but I’m slightly jet lagged. I’ve been sleeping at 9:30pm every night and haven’t had time to post the updates. But I promise I’ll finish this USA travel journal asap.
And i got lazy with the photos. Putting them into poloroid templates takes too long, so i basically plonked them together side by side.
Third day in the U.S., we are still in San Francisco. Going on bus tours, you tend to be rushed from one place of attraction to another, so today we decided to explore the bay by bike!
There are several bike rentals along Fisherman’s Wharf, all you have to do is provide a credit card, fill out the indemnity form and off you go. If I’m not wrong, its about $25 for the whole day. You can choose from a village bicycle, mountain bike or a tandem.
We started off cycling along the bay, where we saw a group of Segway-ers on tour. Our initial plan was to go on a Segway tour, but it would have cost us nearly $200 each!
It started off quite chilly in the morning, so we had our hoodies on, but 15mins into the ride, we’re stripping off layer by layer. We cycled up to the Golden Gate Park through Presidio, stopping along the way to take photos or catch our breath. We stopped by the Rose garden to smell the roses, and plan our bike route for the rest of the day.
While we were sitting on a wooden log at the Rose Garden, we were so amused by a this little squirrel who had no fear of humans. He ran up to us, hopped on to Waynes knee, sniffed us out, realized we didn’t bring any food, hopped off, and scurried away. It was so cute!!
I won’t lie to you, but the cycle was quite painfully long! We took hours to reach The Legion of Honor. He California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a fine arts musuem, and i thought it would be nice to have a walk through with Wayne, and try to explain different art movements and appreciating the vast number of master pieces under one roof.
We saw works by Calude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Auguste Rodin,Seurat, Cézanne and Picasso. There was even a special showcase on Women impressionist artists which I quite enjoyed. Growing up, I took art lessons from my mum, and when you reach the Advance class, she’ll teach us to paint on canvas mimicking the strokes,style and color of that movement. And i remember enjoying that very much.
One of the paintings which got me to take a second look is the one pictured here that looks like Keanu Reeves! I took a photo of it and sent it to my sister! Hehehe…
After a somewhat neverending day, we headed to our last stop, the Golden Gate Bridge. We’ve been cycling for hours, and were seriously contemplating just going back to the hotel to veg, but it would have been such a waste not to cycle across the bridge.
Thank goodness we took some good pictures yesterday, because today, the fog rolled in heavy, and you could hardly see five metres in front of you. We cycled past a sign which read “crisis counseling”. Did you know, on average one person jumps off the bridge every 15 days? Shocking! Read the wiki entry below!
Suicides
The Golden Gate Bridge is a frequent site for suicide. The deck is approximately 260 feet (79 m) above the water. After a fall of approximately four seconds jumpers hit the water at some 88 miles per hour (142 km/h), which is nearly always fatal. Most of those who survive the impact die in the frigid water.People have been known to travel to San Francisco specifically to jump off the bridge, and may take a bus or cab to the site; police sometimes find abandoned rental cars in the parking lot.
Currents beneath the bridge are very strong, and some jumpers have undoubtedly been washed out to sea without ever being seen. The water may be as cold as 47 °F (8 °C), and great white sharks, which tend to congregate around the Farallon Islands, are sometimes seen under the bridge.
An official suicide count was kept, sorted according to which of the bridge’s 128 lamp posts the jumper was nearest when he or she jumped. The count exceeded 1,200 when the count ended in 2005, and new suicides were averaging one every two weeks. There were 34 bridge jump suicides in 2006 whose bodies were recovered, in addition to four jumps which were witnessed but whose bodies were never recovered, and several bodies recovered suspected to be from bridge jumps.
The California Highway Patrol removed 70 apparently suicidal people from the bridge that year. Currently, it is said that a person jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge every 15 days. An additional 200 may be added to the suicide count on the bridge, due to fog, night time jumpers and other jumps which couldn’t be counted.
As of 2006, only 26 people are known to have survived the jump. Those who do survive strike the water feet-first, usually suffering broken bones and internal injuries. Even when a jumper is promptly rescued from the water and rushed to the hospital, most die of internal bleeding from ruptured spleens. Only one person has ever been recorded as having made the jump without serious injury: in 1985 a 16-year-old wrestler landed on his buttocks and swam ashore; his first words reportedly were, “I can’t do anything right.” Another young man survived a jump in 2000, although the impact broke his back and shattered multiple vertebrae.
Credit: Wikipedia
We returned the bike and headed back to our hotel where we completely knocked out.
I forgot to add something to the Day 2 entry. We came across the famous bushmen on Fisherman’s Wharf. He’s a busker who makes money by scaring people from behind a handmade bush! And he’s been doing that since 1980 earning $60,000 on a good year… for doing just that.
And a bakery you must visit is the Boudin Bakery. They serve lovely Clam chowders in a sourdough bread bowl and a pretty decent cup of coffee. Hmmm….
Hokay, here goes. The whirlwind US holiday. So after settling in at our hotel, the next day’s itinerary was jam-packed with activities.
We set off pretty early to take a walk down Fisherman’s Wharf, but nothing much was open. Walked pass the USS Pampanito, a World War II submarine. Had a glimpse of the Alcatraz from Pier 39 and spent some time checking out the sun bathing sea lions. It’s so bizarre, these sea lions just swim into the marina and plonk themselves on to the wooden berths.
The Pier 31 was a nice stroll, lots of little tourist shops, street performers and restaurants. A bit early for lunch, so we watched a magic show, and tried on some crazy hats at Krazy Kaps.
Walking further down the street, we spotted the all famous In-n-Out Burger joint. I can’t begin to tell you how many friends have ranted and raved about this fast food outlet. They keep telling me its a must try and it’s only available in the West Coast. I think out of 10 people I spoke to about our holiday, 8 of them said we HAVE to try this burger. So we did.
With so much hype and expectations, the burger and fries DID live up to its reputation. There’s not much to choose from, it’s either a Double-double, hamburger or cheeseburger. But seriously, it’s so good, that’s all they need to serve.
By the way IN-N-OUT Burger is California’s first drive-thru hamburger stand.
After lunch we decided to take the City Sightseeing tour bus around the bay and across the Golden Gate Bridge. We went through the Marina district, a brief stop at the Palace of Fine Arts, continue on to Pesidio which is the area for the rich FILTHY rich, then it was a ride across the Golden Gate Bridge.
A bit about the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s not red by the way, it’s actually International Orange! Here are a few ‘did you knows’.
After the bus ride, there was still time to fit in another very San Francisco experience, riding on the cable cars!
The San Francisco cable car system is the world’s last permanently operational manually-operated cable car system, and is an icon of San Francisco, California. The San Francisco cable cars are one of two moving National Historic Landmarks. While the cable cars are used to a certain extent by commuters, their small service area and premium fares for single rides make them more of a tourist attraction.
credit: Wikipedia
It was a cool experience, and definately a very touristy one. Wayne looked like he was having fun hanging out of the sides of the cable car.
To finish off the day, we walked back to the Fisherman’s Wharf to have dinner. Apparently, you can’t go to Fisherman’s Wharf and not try their clam chowder and boiled crab, so we had both. After such a long exhausting day, we retired happily and snuggly under the cold sheets of our hotel room bed.
