Archive for the ‘Indonesia’ Category

Road Trip To Bandung

Posted: May 31, 2012 in Bandung, Indonesia, Lakwatsa
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While in Yogyakarta, waiting for our afternoon flight back to Jakarta, I was busy thinking of what we’re gonna be doing the next day. Surely, I did not want to go around shopping in Jakarta again, so while Grace was busy talking about all her planned trips that did not push through, she then mentioned about Bandung. I asked her how far is it from Jakarta, and she said it’s about a couple of hours drive. So I said, why don’t we go to Bandung tomorrow then? We ain’t got nothing left to do and we got the entire day to spend before our late night flight back to Manila. So Grace got the help of her Indonesian co-workers and she booked us a rental car that’s gonna be picking us up at around 6AM tomorrow at the condo. I was pretty excited about this out-of-nowhere road trip that I immediately researched about the places to go to around Bandung. Grace’s Indonesian friend also made some suggestions as well.

We woke up really early again to prepare us for the Bandung road trip. At exactly 6AM, the driver was already waiting for us and off we went to spend the rest of the day in Bandung. It took us around 2 hours to get to Bandung, popularly knows as the Paris of Java, for its resemblance to Paris and the European atmosphere back at the colonial times. The weather was a bit cooler than Jakarta, it kinda reminded me a bit of Baguio. When we arrived, there was a parade happening or some event, since they had to close down the streets and reroute some of the vehicles to go another way. We decided to get out of the car to see what’s going on and they were actually celebrating the Dago Car Free Day. This happens every Sunday morning from 6AM to 10AM, where cars are prohibited in a certain area and locals are free to do whatever they want. You can see people skateboarding, bicycling, dancing, playing games, etc. It was actually a really cool idea for them to do something like this. We tried to watch the parade and some of the street-dancing as well before we decided to grab a bite to eat since we haven’t had any breakfast yet.

Now here’s the very big problem we’ve had about this road trip: our driver, who is originally from Jakarta, does not know the Bandung area very well and he doesn’t speak English! We were all very frustrated communicating with him since we don’t know where to go to as well. I just listed down the places and shops to go to and since he was not familiar with the place, he had to ask the locals where it’s actually located. Good thing I had internet access on my phone. With the help of Google, we were able to locate some of the places we wanted to go to.

Our first stop was Jalan Braga. Jalan actually means street in Bahasa. Known to be the chicest part of the city, Braga is filled with chic cafes, boutiques and restaurants with an European ambiance along the street and had made the city of Bandung earn the Paris of Java nickname. We had breakfast in Braga Permai, a very much recommended restaurant, which serves both local Indonesian cuisine and French-influenced delicacies. Braga has this very relaxing atmosphere around it and the mode in the area was very quiet and calming. After our late breakfast, it took almost an hour to find and go to our next destination in Bandung, which was Rumah Mode in Jalan Setiabudi. Grace wanted to do some shopping and we’ve heard that Setiabudi is like the Orchard Road in Bandung, were you can find shopping outlets offering big discounts off branded names and items. I was not really in a shopping mode that time since I lost the replacement batteries for my camera and my Blackberry. So I ended up sulking outside the shopping centers, waiting for Grace and Maira to finish their shopping. At around 4PM, we decided to go back to Jakarta, so that we can finish repacking our stuff since our flight back to Manila will be leaving at around 10PM.

Yogyakarta in a Day: Borobudur, Prambanan and Malioboro

Posted: May 28, 2012 in Indonesia, Lakwatsa, Yogyakarta
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Woke up around 3AM in Jakarta, had to get ready for an early flight to Yogyakarta in a couple of hours. We barely had enough sleep, approximately just about two hours. We made our way to the airport and checked in to our flight via AirAsia, which, for me, is definitely one of the best budget airlines I’ve ever been in. The service does not feel low-cost at all.

It was just an hour’s flight to Yogyakarta and we arrived at around 7AM at the Adisucipto International Airport. I had arranged with our hotel to have us picked up at the airport and it took us about 30 minutes to arrive into our hotel, the Venezia Homestay. I had made prior reservations via email with the hotel for our tour the entire time we will be in Yogyakarta. We were just scheduled to be here one whole day, so we had to make the most out of it. Once we arrived at the hotel, we immediately went down to confirm our tour. We had rented a car with a driver to drive us around Yogyakarta for 12 hours. I forgot what we paid and I really don’t care, I was there to roam around the city and visit Borobudur and Prambanan.

Our first stop was Borobudur, which took us about 2 hours from Yogyakarta. Borobudur has always been a dream destination of mine ever since I have seen pictures of it online. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the single largest Buddhist structure in the entire planet. The heat was absolutely unbearable, we arrived at around 10:30AM and it’s probably the worst level of burning, scorching heat I have ever been in, from all the travels I have done so far. But despite that, we were pretty much determined to circle around the temple complex and climb our way to the top. What really amazed me was the remarkable attention to detail that went throught the constructions of these monuments. I know it tells a story about Buddshist stuff and all, but I really didn’t care. I was there to enjoy the sights and the views. I learned one thing though, it’s a Buddhist temple complex, which separated it from the other UNESCO World Heritage Site, Prambanan, which is focused more on Hinduism. After that very tiring climb to the top of the complex, we went down back to our driver and decided to have lunch in this really cool and fancy Indonesian restaurant a few kilometers from Borobudur. After a few minutes, our next destination was Prambanan.

Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Prambanan has always been overshadowed by its Buddhist counterpart, Borobudur. The two sites are quite different in style with Hindu Prambanan being a collection of sharp, jaggedly sculpted towers in contrast to the vast horizontal bulk of Buddhist Borobudur. I liked Borobudur better though, maybe because of the way it has been created, and the keen details they have placed into the wall carvings just tops Prambanan in a whole new level. I was a little disappointed when I found out that some parts of Prambanan sustained significant damage as a result of the May 2006 earthquake that happened in Yogyakarta. The remains were left untouched and we can see some of the damaged temples as we walked around the area. There are a number of temples in Prambanan and we tried to get inside each of them to take some pictures. Each shard-edged temple is in representation of a Hindu God. Some of them even have their own shrines inside. I did enter one shrine and took a picture beside this tomb-like statue and it was definitely one of the eeriest feelings I have ever had there. Very eerie.

After circling the area, we went back to our van and decided that it’s time for us to do some market shopping. So we instructed our driver to bring us to Malioboro. Malioboro is a well-known shopping promenade and very popular among Indonesian as well as international tourists. Malioboro is 2 km in length and home to hundreds of shops and street-stalls offering various kind of handicrafts, shirts, trinkets, and delicacies. They’re even selling fried bats on the streets. I decided to buy some souvenirs and some shirts and it was around 6pm that we then decided to return back to our van so that we can have dinner.

Our driver took us to this wonderful restaurant called Via Via, which also doubles as a travel agency. The place was absolutely relaxing and packed with tourists. And the menu was just superb. I am so glad our driver took us to this place to have dinner. It was definitely a perfect way to end our one-day Yogyakarta tour. We arrive back at our hotel at around 9:30PM, slept a little longer than usual, since our flight back to Jakarta was scheduled to leave at noon the next day. Yogyakarta is truly one beautiful place, I have enjoyed much better than the modernized appeal of Jakarta. I wish we had one more day to explore this city but a day is enough for us to make the most out of it, given the time that we have.

Starting the Indonesian Getaway: Jakarta!

Posted: May 18, 2012 in Indonesia, Jakarta, Lakwatsa
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I had no plans in going back to Indonesia after our Bali trip last year, since I was more looking forward into visiting other countries that I have not been to yet. So when Maira, a college friend of mine, texted me that there was a seat sale again from Cebu Pacific specifically for the Manila to Jakarta route, I actually considered it. Since Grace, another college friend of ours, is based in Jakarta, and is working there as a partner in an audit firm, we were thinking that maybe we could drop by and give her a visit since we haven’t seen each other for almost ten years already. So we went ahead and booked a flight for an April trip. At that time, I was not able to book the Holy Week trip to Vietnam with my high school friends yet (which actually was scheduled a week before this Jakarta trip!).

I did a little research about Jakarta and most of the feedback I got from the online forums and blogs was that it’s just similar to Makati. That’s just about it. Then Karenjj, an officemate of mine, said she was also able to book a Jakarta trip a few months from our scheduled date. She mentioned about how much she wanted to visit Borobudur (at that time I seriously do not know how to spell this tongue-twister of a place). So I quickly googled Borobudur and when I saw the pics, I knew I had to go there. The thing is, Borobudur is located in another province, about a 2-hour drive from Yogyakarta, which is quite far from Jakarta. So I suggested to my friends that we go visit Borobudur and in order for us to get there, we had to travel via plane from Jakarta to Yogyakarta. So I went online and booked us the domestic tickets from AirAsia, which cost us around P5,000 roundtrip. Fair price, considering that we were that determined to really visit Borobudur.

So after a few months of careful planning, hotel reservations, organizing and scheduling, Maira and I are finally bound to Jakarta. I had to take a domestic flight to Manila since I am based here in Iloilo and had to meet up with Maira there. Grace met us up at the airport and we stayed at her condo in Taman Rasuna, which was quite a drive from the Soekarno-Hatta Airport of Jakarta. We arrived around 2am, did a lot of catching up and woke up early to roam around the city. Grace had to report for work since it was a Thursday, but she was scheduled to join us for Yogyakarta the next day, so Maira and I decided to roam around the city ourselves. Grace advised us to always take the Bluebird Taxi since they’re probably the only ones you can trust, especially if you are a tourist.

Jakarta is just like Manila. It’s a mix of Old Manila where there are street children, a bunch of sidewalk vendors and the scene of Makati, where you can find high-end shops and stores, a bunch of tourists shopping around, etc. It’s been some time since I was able to splurge on shopping so I’m fine with it. We went to a bunch of malls, from the high-end Grand Indonesia and Plaza Senayan, to the Greenhills-type Blok M. We basically spent the entire day malling and shopping since there’s hardly any tourist spots in Jakarta. Grace had to do overtime so we just went back to the condo around 7pm to wait for her. She came home around 12 midnight already, serious overtime there and took a power nap and tried to get as much sleep since we have to wake up in a few hours to prepare ourselves for our 6 AM flight to Yogyakarta.

Bali 2011 : Mount Batur, Thirta Empul Temple & Thana Lot

Posted: April 15, 2012 in Bali, Indonesia, Lakwatsa
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It’s our last full day in Bali and we wanted to get the most of it. The night before, we contacted a travel agency and hired a driver who’s going to drive us around Bali from 9am to 5pm the next day. Always remember to negotiate and ask for a discount. It never hurts to do so.

We woke up early and decided we’re just gonna chillout on this day. My body was literally aching from all failed wakeboarding attempts we had the previous day. Seriously, I cannot even bring myself to put a shirt on! Before our driver picked us up, we already planned out what we’re gonna do. We pulled out the Bali map and pinpointed the places we wanted to go to. Basically, we created our own little roadtrip. So when our driver arrived, we explained to him the route we want to take and if it’s feasible for us to return back into our hotel at 5pm because we have a scheduled pickup to go to a spa at around 7pm.

We really didn’t know how long the drive would be from one place to another but I just know for a fact that I wanna go to Thana Lot. I’ve seen it in pictures and it was majestic, so whatever happens, I will not leave Bali unless I am able to get a pic of myself with Thana Lot in the background. We visited some batik factory first, which I thought was just boring, so instead of staying there, we didn’t waste another minute and drove to our next destination. Our driver suggested we go to Mount Batur, an active volcano, which was about 2 or 3 hrs from Kuta. We thought, what the heck, let’s go, as long as we hit Thana Lot at around 3 or 4pm, I’m fine with it. So we drove for a few more hours, and I even managed to sleep inside the van, with the latest Indonesian pop music playing in the background. We arrived at the Mount Batur area, actually it was just a road across the volcano, not the volcano itself. The driver dropped us off at the Sari Restaurant, it was around 11am, and we decided to have lunch there. When we went inside the restaurant, our eyes literally opened wide with the amaaaazing view in front of us. We didn’t expect it to be like that. Right there, in front of us, was an open view of Mount Batur, it was so close, I felt like I can almost grab it. I wanted to sit and eat in front of Mount Batur that we waited for some diners to finish their lunch and get up and we took their seats even before the waitress was able to clean up their leftovers.

Once we were seated, I felt like I was in heaven. Haha! The view was just amazingly stunning I did not want it to end. Definitely one of the best eating experiences I’ve had in my life. I didn’t care how the food tasted, I was just loving the view from where I sat. The food actually was really good, but I was transfixed all the time to the volcano in front of me. It was also a little scary since the restaurant was situated on top of the other side of the mountain and I can feel little tremors from time to time because it was soooo windy from where we were.

After we had our share of snapshots and pictures, and after we finished eating, we drove for another hour or so to the Thirta Empul Temple, or Pura Tirtha Empul in Indonesian, a Hindu temple situated in the heart of Bali. Audrey and Naina had to pickup and wear the sarongs at the entrance of the gate, while me, they just told me to go inside. I was wearing these crazy pair of shorts that I got from Thailand, that could also pass itself out as a man-skirt or something. This was by the way, my most favorite travelwear ever. You can see from all my travel pics that I am always wearing this most of the time. And it saves me the burden of being banned from the temples or being forced to put a sarong over, which was really cool.

Once we entered the temple, I had goosebumps. They were playing some Hindu music, I guess, which gave me a really strange but good feeling. At that point, I really felt a different sense of culture and religion and I was very thankful I was able to experience that. When we entered into the Purifying Pool area, I was really amazed by the rituals and ceremonies that every person inside the pool was doing. They were basically inside this pool, and showering themselves with the water coming out of the cemented pipes on top, with fishes inside the pool as well. For me, it looked really strange but eye-opening. It’s nice to see how other people celebrate and practice their religion, no matter how different it would be from how we practice and celebrate ours.

It was around 3:30pm already and our last destination was Thana Lot. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. I really, really recommend everyone visiting Bali to go here. The place was just simply beautiful. I will probably run out of words describing it, but I literally felt I was in heaven (again!). The waves blasting to the rocks where we stood and the cold winds blowing around us, I didn’t want to go home. We were going everywhere trying to capture the amazing views from our cameras. We went up and down the rocks, to the edge of the cliff, we even saw some surfers there. The waves were really, really strong here. After we had enough shots of ourselves, we then went back to our van for another long drive back to our hotel in Kuta. Once we arrived, we went ahead and took a quick shower and waited for the van from the spa to pick us up since we seriously needed a traditional Balinese massage to end our wonderful Bali adventure.

We left 3am for our AirAsia flight back to Singapore where we spent one more night to enjoy Universal Studios before we left for Manila the next day.

Uluwatu Monkey Temple & Jimbaran Beach

Posted: April 14, 2012 in Bali, Indonesia, Lakwatsa
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At around 1pm, we had our driver waiting for us to tour us around the area. We asked where we can get the cheapest souvenirs to shop at and he brought us to this wholesale store called Krisna in the Kuta area. And yeah, they were selling really cheap stuff there. I bought a lot of souvenirs, from bracelets, to shirts, to some toiletries (Bali has the best lotions ever). After that, we went to the Uluwatu Monkey Temple to explore the mini-forest filled with monkeys everywhere. Literally, they were everywhere. Our guide told us to be careful with our belongings, and not to use any sunglasses, since these monkeys are very naughty and will probably steal them when they see you walking around wearing those glasses and bright necklaces. We went up and up and after some time, we decided that these monkeys seem to be harmless. Audrey and I wore our sunglasses and as we were walking up the temple stairs, I heard her scream! One of the monkeys actually took her sunglasses and decided to chew on it. I was so scared and immediately placed my glasses inside my bag. (I had the guts to wear my Lacoste shades here! Craaazy!).

So we had to let go of Audrey’s shades and continue on walking up the temple stairs and finally we arrived at the cliff. That cliff had one of the most amazing views in Bali! Breathtaking would be an understatement. The only scary thing was that there were no railings and no fences, and one misstep and you will find yourself falling into the Indian Ocean. But what the hell, I’m already here, so I instructed my friends that we take pictures of each other with that majestic view behind us, while my feet was actually shaking so hard from the fear of the open cliff behind me. I really wanted a perfect shot so I was very determined not leave that place until I had one.

Once I was satisfied with that shot with the Indian Ocean as my background, I immediately walked away from the cliff and called my friends to go down to the temple area and out of that mini-forest, monkeys still everywhere. We then went back to our van and decided to have dinner by the beach in Jimbaran. The sunset was amazing, by the way. We ordered some seafoods and chowed down like dogs. The ambiance was just perfect and there were Indonesian guys seranading every table while we were just relaxing and chilling on the beach, enjoying our sumptuous dinner. After dinner, we had our driver bring us back to our hotel where we ended up loungin’ on the infinity pool with its poolside bar, enjoying the night away and definitely having one of the most amazing and most relaxing nights of our lives. :)

Nusa Dua: The Scuba and Wakeboarding Adventure

Posted: April 14, 2012 in Bali, Indonesia, Lakwatsa
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So we woke up on the second day of our Bali trip, preparing ourselves for the next hour or so to do one thing we have never done in our lives before: go wakeboarding and scuba diving in Nusa Dua! As I was trying to figure out what to bring, I got my boardshorts ready, all sunblocked and excited, inside, my heart was pumping so fast. I have never done anything like this before. Though I know that there will be life vests available, I panic every time I am in the water and I am not stepping on anything. That’s what worries me the most. That I will panic in the middle of the sea!

So we went on a 30-minute ride from our hotel to Nusa Dua. When we arrived there, we had to negotiate with the one in-charge of giving us a good deal to include the underwater-camera for them to take pictures of us while we were scuba diving. Silly me I forgot to bring an extra shirt. Duh.

So once we have agreed with the price, we went ahead and changed into our wetsuits. I really felt like a penguin while trying to figure out how to wear this thing. Haha! I asked the Indonesian guy who was in charge of taking us to the sea if we will have some training as well since this is our first time to do something like this. He said yes, there is. So I felt a little relieved when I heard that. Some friends on Facebook were telling me during that time that in Boracay, they will bring you to a separate area or island to do some scuba training in a pool to get used with the breathing techniques, etc. (Thank you, Blackberry Internet Service for keeping me in touch with my Facebook friends while I was about to have a whole new life experience haha).

So off we jumped into the speedboat, getting ready to go to this place to do some training before we venture into the actual Nusa Dua sea. A few minutes later, I was already seeing huge ships, not just boats, but ships. Oil ships, tankers, similar huge vessels. And I got a little scared. I asked the Indonesian guy carrying the scuba gear where we are going and he just pointed somewhere in the ocean. I am not even sure if that was just a sea or if it was the Indian Ocean already! My insides were really about to explode from all the fright and I was trying so hard not to panic. He then called me and placed the scuba tank behind my back, asking me to wear it or something. And then that’s when I heard the scariest words I’ve ever heard in the last few days: “YOU JUMP”. I was like WTF?!?!? Jump??? I thought you’re going to train us? He said “Yes, training here. Jump.” I have no choice. I basically had to rely on this guy, who’s probably even younger than me, to take care of my life! So I jumped on the water, all scuba-geared and freaked out. He taught us the basic breathing techniques while scuba diving. We had this mask on and he said the only way to breathe would be to breathe out, never breathe in, since the water will get inside the mask and into our nostrils. So I did just that. Believe me, no matter how naughty and crazy I can be, I will always be an obedient person. Haha! I told myself, I can do this. So I tried to breathe underwater, and followed his instructions. And yes, I did not panic. After a few tries, I told myself, I am so good to go! The rest of my friends were also ready, I assumed. The Indonesian guys gave us some last minute tips with regards to hand signals, etc.

So when we were all ready— down, down, down we went! And it was EFFING A-MA-ZING! The feeling of finally conquering my fear of the oceans all gone, the sights down there were truly beautiful. I was actually touching the fishes! I think I even saw a seahorse down there. The Indonesian guys were busy taking our pictures and was instructing us where to go and where to pose and I was having the time of my life. After a few minutes, I felt a tap on my back and they were already signaling me to go up. I was like nooooooooooooo I wanna stay here!!! Dammmmn. So we had to go up back to the speedboat since our time is up. We were underwater I think for about 20 minutes. That was definitely one of the most amazing and fear-conquering 20 minutes of my life. I was so happy, seriously.

After that they told us we are going back to shore to change to our shirts and boardshorts coz we’re gonna do some wakeboarding. Sounds like fun and easy, right? Ugh. So we went ahead, changed and went back to sea again. The Indonesian guys demonstrated how to do it. Looks kinda easy. But I was seriously wrong. We all tried it and we can hardly stand for even a second! Audrey probably stayed up the longest, for like 4 seconds or so. Haha. Hey it was an experience! These Indonesian beach guys have been doing this for years. Their skin’s all dark brown from staying under the sun for so long. After a few failed attempts, we just decided to head back to shore since my skin’s burning already and it’s getting really, really hot already. After we’re all done, they gave us the CD with our camera shots and brought us back to our hotel.

Memories Of Bali – The Arrival

Posted: April 14, 2012 in Bali, Indonesia, Lakwatsa
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It all started in Twitter. We were probably bored with Facebook that we decided to connect with each other on this other social networking site. The main reason I was loving Twitter was that it was more direct and the approach compared to Facebook was more private, maybe because only a few people were using it then.

Me and the rest of my other high school friends, whom I haven’t seen for so many years decided to go on a trip. Somewhere.  Audrey who’s also here with me in Iloilo, and Naina who’s based in Singapore, came up with a whole lot of suggestions. We wanted to go to India, Australia, Korea, etc. We were at that point trying to find the best vacation place to splurge and spoil ourselves after working so hard individually that we really think a much needed break should be given to us. We wanted someplace easy to go to, well, the one that wouldn’t require a visa, basically. That’s when we decided to go to Bali.

We’ve all heard about great stories about Bali and how amazing the place is. So we were pretty excited about this trip.  Audrey did some research as to the best flights possible. During that time, there were no direct flights from Manila to Bali, so we had to do a stop-over in Singapore, also to pick up Naina as well. I totally forgot the total money spent for the preparation for this trip. I think it was around P20,000 each for the roundtrip tickets (Manila-SG-Bali) via Jetstar and AirAsia.

I took care of the hotel reservations and booked us at the most amazing hotel in Kuta Beach: The Discovery Kartika. I figured out, this rarely happens for us to get together and to actually be in Bali, so why not splurge a little? Though Audrey wanted a budget of P1,000 per night for the hotel, I told her, forget it, this is not Boracay. We’re booking this grandiose hotel priced at *toooot* haha. You can just go ahead and imagine how much per night was at that hotel or go ahead and check out their website instead. The infinity pool was the best part of it! Once the reservations have been prepared and it’s all done, we just had to wait a few more months till October arrives for us to come visit that paradise of islands.

We got a little scared when, a week before our trip, a magnitude 8 earthquake rocked Bali, of all places! And at the same time we were arriving during the 10-year anniversary of the Bali bombings. But what the heck, we already booked a big fee for the tickets and the hotel and there’s no stopping us anymore.

Audrey and I flew to Singapore on the first day of our trip via Jetstar to stay there overnight for the rest of the day before we leave for Bali with Naina at around 7am via AirAsia. Once we arrived in Bali at around 10am, I was pretty excited. Bali has always been one of my dream destinations and this really was a dream come true for me. The heat of the early morning sun felt so good and I can’t wait to explore this wonderful place. Immigration was a breeze but I got a little scared when one of the guards there pulled me aside to double-check my luggage. I felt a little scared, wait, really scared, since I was the only one from my friends who was pulled aside and I had to open my luggage in the middle of the security area. Anyway, I was able to pass through that scan and we went ahead to the money-changer for some Indonesian rupiah.

We had the hotel arrange for us to be picked up at the airport, and as we exit the gates, our pickup was there, all clad in his own Balinese costume. Cute! Haha. Once we arrived at the hotel, man it was sooooo huge! I felt like I was at the Malacanang Palace or something. The hotel itself is worth exploring on its own! We decided to change our clothes that would make it more suitable with the hot weather there. Yeah, very hot! We went ahead and roamed around the streets of Kuta and explored it a little, did some shopping and yeah, took a whole lot of pictures. This is the trip that we did not plan at all. We had no itinerary, we just decided to book the hotel and to explore the place once we arrived. Good thing there were tourist information booths almost everywhere in the area. We booked for our travel itinerary for the next day. And the guys decided on scuba diving and wakeboarding (things I have never done in my entire life!). I was just nodding but inside, there were knots inside my stomach. I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SWIM! I’m scared of the water and here I am in a foreign place about to scuba dive a number of feet in the middle of the sea the next day! Kuhhraazy!

There were tourists everywhere. Much more than what we can see in Boracay. And there’s a different vibe there, I guess, more of a cultural thing, since we get to see them on their temples and how they pray and worship as well. We retreated back to the hotel to have dinner and enjoyed this cultural dance presentation from the local Balinese people while we were eating. We explored the area some more and went to sleep to prepare ourselves with our water adventure the day after.