Half Day Trip to Bangli

It is rainy season now and it is my favorite season!

Well, Indonesia basically only has two seasons, such as wet and dry. But for me, sometimes Indonesia has three seasons, like wet, hot and superrr hot!

I had a last minute trip last weekend. I decided to go to Kintamani with my boyfriend. We were having lunch together when I said, “Let’s go to Kintamani now!”. He was just like, “Are you sure?”. It has been a long time that I wanted to go back to Kintamani. There are two places in Bali where you can find fogs and wear a jacket for the cold. They are Bedugul and Kintamani. I love these two places!

We departed from home around 13.00. We didn’t go to Kintamani straight away but stopped at Penglipuran Village first. We arrived there at 14.55. It should take 1.5hrs only but we had to wait for my boyfriend’s friends who wanted to come along with us.

It is a traditional Balinese village that preserved for tourism. The village is clean, green and Instagram-able. But actually, almost all the villages in Bali have a strong tradition that you cannot only see but also feel it. You can see it from the buildings or houses – most of them have the beautiful and typical Balinese carving; all the houses also have temple or Plinggih in the garden for praying; the people with their Balinese language or Bahasa/English with Balinese dialect; I Bleki or the black dog .. haha of course not all dogs are black here, but if they are black, most of the Balinese will call them I Bleki (Blacky); bale banjar or the place for the local community to gather with a Bale Kulkul; Pura Desa, and many other typical Balinese culture. 

Actually, I have visited this village two years ago. I found that there were more people came to this place yesterday. I met more local tourists than the foreigners there. 

The entrance ticket is only IDR 10,000 for local tourist or IDR 15,000 for foreigners. The parking area for motorbike is on the right side of the entrance gate and is not really wide. While for the cars or minibus/ELF, can park on the left side close to the entrance gate of the Pura Desa (temple). 

Welcome to Penglipuran Village. Main entrance gate of Penglipuran Village.

The gate of one of the houses.

The people in the village also open booth or warung to sell some foods and souvenirs. It is not compulsory to buy them. 

The bamboo forest is just behind the village. I didn’t explore it too much as I had to go to the next destination quickly. Otherwise, it would be too dark when we arrived at Kintamani and could not see the beautiful view of Batur Volcano and its caldera.

One spot in Bamboo Forest.

It was about 30 minutes drive from Penglipuran Village to Kintamani. It was very cloudy but the fog was not thick yet. And I really love it! I came here for that rain, cold and fog.

The rain has just stopped when we arrived which made the area wet and foggy. For me, it was the best ambiance. Denpasar was too hot even though in a rainy season. I don’t know why.

We went down to the caldera and it was awesome (as always)! But be careful as the road was very slippery, many cars and not too wide. Please note that there is no entrance fee to be here or to take a picture in the caldera area. 

Batur Volcano was covered by the fogs. It is cold and calm here at that time.

The last time I visited the caldera was in dry season and it was really hot. Did you know that the Batur caldera is one of the biggest in the world? That rocks I stepped on are the dried lava from the eruption of Batur Volcano years ago. It is very wide! 

Yay! Actually, it was raining when we took this picture.

So cloudy, so cold, so happy. For this time, we really have to wear our raincoats as the rain was getting heavier.

Kintamani is always cold though in a dry season. But in the caldera area can be hotter in a dry season. If we kept driving through the road behind my friends on the above pictures, we would reach to the Batur Lake, Ulundanu Temple and the Toya Bungkah Hot Spring. 

We did enjoy the trip though we have to keep wearing our raincoats the whole time there. We finally went back home at 18:00 and arrived 2 hours later. We drove very slow as it was raining heavily and the fog was very thick along the road from Kintamani to the center of Bangli. 

Sup Kepala Ikan Bu Pasmi Denpasar

Akhirnya setelah 1 tahun lebih mencari akhirnya ketemu juga tadi siang.

Dulu warung sup kepala ikan ini ada di food court Dewi Sri, tapi akhirnya pindah. Karena waktu makan dulu gak terlalu perhatiin nama warung atau wajah yang jualan juga, jadi deh rada sulit untuk caritau mereka pindah kemana. Yang aku ingat spandukya warna hijau dan dari Jawa, entah Lumajang, Bondowoso, atau Pasuruan gitu.

Sempet juga cari-cari sup kepala ikan merk lain, tapi rasanya beda banget. Kebanyakan rasanya asin dan amis banget. Selain itu ukuran kepala ikannya juga kecil.

Akhirnya coba-coba browsing dan stalking sana-sini, dapet juga warungnya. Aku nemu di Google map dan ada yang left review di sana dengan beberapa foto. Petunjuknya ada di spanduk dan foto makanannya. Aku ingat banget jenis piringnya! Lol I was so sure kalau penjualnya gak tutup or bangkrut, tapi pindah kedai. Atau mungkin yang di food court itu cabang, dan warung aslinya ada di suatu tempat di Denpasar.

Jadi lokasinya sekarang ada di daerah Sesetan, sebelum perempatan lampu merah Bypass Ngurah Rai dan tol Benoa. Ternyata namanya Warung Bu Pasmi… dan dari Bojonegoro!

Sup Kepala Ikan Bu Pasmi Denpasar. Ukuran kepala ikannya besar banget, cukup untuk berdua.

Rasa kuahnya seger dan gak amis.

Di sana juga jual Nasi Campur dengan aneka lauk pauk dan sayur mayur.

Menu Nasi Campur dengan lauk dan sayur yang beragam.

Harga seporsi Sup Kepala Ikan adalah Rp 60.000. Itu bisa dimakan berdua lho, karena ukurannya besar banget. Nasi putih seporsi Rp 5.000.

Puas banget! Sup atau kuahnya mantap dan gak ada bau amisnya. Alhamdulillah, akhirnya bisa kesampean juga. Sup Kepala Ikannya recommended banget.

Ini alamatnya:

Jalan Diponegoro No.83, Pesanggaran,Pedungan, Pedungan, Denpasar Sel., Kota Denpasar, Bali 80222

I am trying to reduce the use of plastic

Maybe it will be hard at first, but I believe it will work eventually. 

Well, I am more aware of being friendly with the environment since I’ve been working at VF. I also learn a lot from my colleagues here. 

In the office, we separate the waste by using three bins, such as for plastic, paper and wet/organic waste. For this, we are in a partnership with ecoBali. 

Rubbish Bins. Left for plastics, glass, and metal; and right for paper only. In the corner is for wet waste. Where does tissue belong to? Is it recyclable?

3R: Reduce Reuse Recycle. How to separate your waste.

We also bring our meals to the office by using a paper bag or canvas tote bag. 

Non-plastic bags. Reusable and degradable bags.

The company also makes custom canvas and non-woven polypropylene tote bag. We also give it free to the villa staffs as well as to the clients who stay in our villas. 

Too cool for plastic. Image source: https://www.instagram.com/dqzed/

I’m also starting to use a stainless straw. My colleagues and I bought it at 4lesswaste.co.
Now I always bring it everywhere I go. 

Bye plastics. The other way to participate more in the refuse and reduce the use of plastics.

Stainless straws. Light and easy to carry to everywhere I go.

I’ve ever watched a video of someone took a plastic straw out of a turtle nose. I was so shocked watching it. It could be one of the straws that I used for my milkshake or ice tea years ago .  I don’t want the other turtles or marine life experience it again. 

 

Christmas Vibes in the Office

Cold and cloudy. The perfect signals for welcoming Christmas for my Christian colleagues here. We don’t have snow here in Bali but at least the cold from the rain still works.

It will be my third years celebrating Christmas with the team. Last year, I set the Christmas tree at TC’s room. This year was done by Jenny and she put it in the living area downstairs. Though I don’t celebrate Christmas, I could feel the spirit of it from the Christmas tree and of course from all of my colleagues.

VF Christmas Tree. I am sure this tree will make my colleagues homesick.

Some of my friends are expatriates, some of them are from out of the cities in Indonesia and some of them will spend Christmas here, away from their family. And as a tradition, we always hold a special Christmas Lunch or Dinner and have a gift exchange, so that all of my Christian friends will not feel alone and still can celebrate the Christmas.

Two years ago, we played Secret Santa. So there was one person who became the coordinator. She/he would choose randomly who would be the Secret Santa for whose. The coordinator informed us (the Secret Sant) the person that would receive the gift one by one in secret. But we weren’t informed who was our Secret Santa. Then, everyone has to write the clues of the Christmas gift that they want. So all the Secret Santa will know and prepare the gift. When the Secret Santa wrapped the gift, he/she should label it with the recipient’s name but didn’t indicate whom the present was from then put it under the Christmas tree in secret. On the D-day, a week before Christmas, we would have found all the gifts under the Christmas tree and took one with our name. I got two presents from Jolien at that time.

Our blinking Christmas tree. Please excuse the colourful sandals there. They are supposed to be inside the shoe rack.

But last year, we didn’t do it as it was too late and we didn’t have enough time to prepare. So we decided to just exchange the gift at Christmas dinner. The rule was the gift must be not more than IDR 80,000. It was so fun as we had to collect all the gifts and everyone had to take one randomly. I got a nice bag from Sarah.

For this year, we have a special committee who will arrange the Christmas Dinner and do the gift exchange. The date hasn’t been decided yet, but the rules of the gift have been announced today.

Villa-Finder Gift Exchange. What am I going to wrap?

😃 Each gift is between 50 – 100K

😃 Random (take numbers)

😃 Please wrap it nicely and prettily

Alright! I’m so excited! I have something in my mind about the gift. I’m planning to buy it this weekend. I think the Christmas Dinner will be done around 19th – 21st December.

How’s the Christmas celebration in your office?

Update

The team who arrange the Christmas dinner and the gift exchange, also make “Sweet Santa”. There are some paper bags under the Christmas tree with our nicknames. We are free to choose which bag(s) we want to fill, everyone can give anything (that could fit in the bag) to anyone (not just one person but as many as you can/want).

The paper bags under the Christmas tree. They are not only for everyone in Bali office but also for the team in the Singapore office. Everyone can be the “Sweet Santa” for anyone.

The paper bags with our initials. Mine is MN.

The rules are nothing fancy and we can fill with something small (sweets/candies/sweet words, such as a card, notes, etc.). The team has just put the bags this morning and they will be there until 19 December before the Christmas dinner. No one is allowed to open the bag before dinner.

The rules and sticky note if we want to write something.

We also still have to bring the gift that we will exchange later. It also has been decided that we are going to have the Christmas dinner at Villa Lisa. The menu also has been decided but it will be a surprise. Last two years, we had Sushi for Christmas Lunch at the office and Italian Pizza from Luigi’s for last year. I hope we will have a new menu this year!!! You know what, after having Christmas lunch with Sushi last two years, I couldn’t eat Sushi for months!

The Christmas arrangement is sooo sweet! It is nice to see everyone is excited about it!

Train to Malang from Bali

It was my first experience to go to Java without my family. I went to Malang only with my friend. We didn’t really plan it but we made it in the end. Just another short escape.

As the title, we travelled to Malang from Bali by train. I really wanted to try to travel by train again after years. While my friend has never been travelling by train before and he was also very curious. I checked that we can use a train to Malang from Banyuwangi, of course not from Bali.

I booked the ticket via https://www.kai.id/. I should have departed from Banyuwangi Baru Station at 5:00 AM. It was so early and the only available train. My mother told me that I have to leave Denpasar before 12:00 AM as I need to take a ferry to be in Banyuwangi. I finally arrived in Gilimanuk Harbour around 10:00 PM. We parked the motorbike at the parking area under a canopy, close to BNI ATM and the locket of the walking guests. The place is safe enough. There were some other people also park the bikes there. In the end, after I left the motorbike for 4 days, we didn’t pay more, only once when we entered the harbour. I think it was only IDR 2,000.

We bought the ferry ticket on the spot. Don’t worry, the locket is open 24hours and will always be available. The ticket was only IDR 6,000 per person per way. So we spent only IDR 24,000 for two way and two persons. We were so lucky that the ferry departed 30 minutes after that. Then, in another 30 minutes, we arrived in Ketapang Harbour.

It is only 10 minutes walk from Ketapang to Banyuwangi Baru Station. We stopped by in the closest convenience store for 10 minutes then walked again to the station. The station was opened one hour before the train arrived. So, we have to wait in the terrace with all mosquitos for about 2 – 3 hours.

The station was nice enough, clean and modern. When it opened, we just needed to print out the boarding pass by using the standing machine like you do it in the airport and no long queue needed. I found that was really amazing and super customer friendly. So many changes and improvement happened since the last time I used this type of public transportation. I was amazed. Anyway, the train ticket was IDR 62,000 per person per way.

I was also amazed when I entered the train. It was clean, Air Conditioned, stewardess available and there are two plugs to charge your mobile phones. The last time I used a train, it was so dirty, smelly and many sellers inside.

We departed at 5:00 AM. It took about 6 hours to reach Malang Kota Lama Station.

Finally, we reached Malang but we got off at Malang Kota Baru Station instead.

We have booked a motorbike and rented it out for 4 days. I rented it here: http://rentalmotordimalang.com/. It was IDR 75,000 per day including 2 helmets and 1 raincoat. But I suggest renting another raincoat as it was not enough and wouldn’t be convenient to share one raincoat like what I did. The supplier brought the motorbike to the station or to the place that you wanted without any extra charge. And when you wanted to return it, they will come to pick up the motorbike.

We went to Batu straight away by the help of Google Maps. So easy and accurate enough.

We stayed in Batu for 2 nights and followed by one night in Malang City. We visited the places of interest there, like Batu Night Spectacular, Batu Secret Zoo, Jatim Park 2, the old but gold Selecta, Museum Angkot, Jodipan and many more. Of course, we also explored the iconic culinary spots there.

Baru Night Spectacular. Actually, we can also find it in Bali, in Krisna Funtastic Land.

 

Batu Secret Zoo. The zoo is big enough and varied in collections of animals. However, I personally think that Bali Safari Marine Park is much better than this zoo! 

Museum Angkot. I like this place!! It’s worth to visit! Though it looks like a big photo studio but still amazing. 

Jodipan the colourful village. It was really hot there as I visited it just before I went back to Bali, around 11AM. But the village is also worth to visit. The entrance is IDR 10,000 per person including a cute handmade keychain.

in front of the Museum Satwa 

It was a short, close and super fun holiday. The most important thing is I did enjoy the trip.

Sunday

Another weekend, still the same story.
For the first time after 3 years, I don’t like tomorrow. I want this Sunday to become longer. I don’t want to see tomorrow.

Anyway, that picture above was taken on last Sunday at Paras Paros Marina Lodge almost at the same time as now.