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I recently was in Bali for the second time. This time, it was with just a few friends of mine and we chose to stay away from all the buzz of Kuta town and decided to stay in Ubud which is further north up in the hills of Bali. We rented a private villa all to ourselves equipped with a swimming pool, driver and personal caretakers to make you food as you wish. All these of comes with a price of course. You can rent the villa for about USD $250 per night which I think it’s not bad considering we had 4 of us and we stayed for 5 nights.

DAY 1: UBUD (Murni’s Villa)
Arrived at Bali slightly after lunch, tired from the 1 half hour journey from the airport after a 2 hour flight from KL. Before we reached our villa, we stopped by for some Nasi Ayam Campur which was recommended by our driver. Something quite different from the normal Nasi Ayam you get back in KL, as this consist of chicken liver and other chicken parts mixed with spices. It’s not too bad actually, but a word of caution as it is a bit spicy for those who cannot really take it.

Nasi Ayam Campur

After lunch, we checked in to our villa, to which we were greeted with welcome drinks and snacks. Here is a tour of our villa..

some crackers and ice blended lime juice to welcome us

our infinity swimming pool =)

the bedrooms and living room

After settling down, we decided to head to Ubud town for dinner and a nice night of Jazz. We went to Murni’s Warung, a multi-story restaurant which serves authentic Balinese dishes in Ubud town. I like the ambiance in this place as each level of the restaurant has a slightly different theme which caters for different occasion. After dinner, we then headed to Jazz Cafe for some live Jazz performances.

Us at Murni’s Warung

DAY 2: SEMINYAK
It was a day at the beach and shopping. The girls booked massages at this place called Jari Menari in Seminyak even before we arrived in Bali. They apparently require you to do booking weeks in advance and to confirm your booking upon your arrival in Bali as it is very well known and mostly fully booked. They are very famous for their “4 Palm Massage” which you will get a massage from 2 masseurs simultaneously. Prior to the massage appointment, we went for some shopping and also to the beach.

Oli and Jo posing while they went shopping

Along the way, stopped by this place called Fashion Point for lunch. This place looks like it’s an artist’s haven despite it being called Fashion Point. Furniture at this place are decorated with art pieces combined with Balinese statues to make it look authentic.

Insert bulb into wine bottle and add a few ornaments and wahlahh! a nice art piece..

Oh, this is my lunch btw – Fried rice w/chicken sate

Beautiful Seminyak beach…need I say more?

Oli, Jo & I @ Seminyak Beach

After the massages, we went for dinner at Ku De Ta, a place I would recommend to someone who wants to have do a marriage proposal or an unforgettable party. The place is a club/restaurant facing the beach where deck chairs and candles make up the lounge area during the night. Accordingly, the place is renovated every year with a new theme to attract customers. The food there is categorized as “Australian Fine Dining” (whatever that means), and it’s a bit on the pricey side. The 4 of us did had dinner there and the bill came up to 1.8million…Rupiah that is, but still its about RM 600+ after conversion. Seriously, it’s really nice and I would definitely want to go back there again. I wouldn’t go back there for the food, but the drinks there however are reasonably priced.

Jo, Oli & Mike fine dining at Ku De Ta

Our infamous bill…I suddenly feel like a millionaire!

DAY 3: UBUD TOWN
It’s a whole day of shopping for souvenirs and also eating famous Babi Guling or Balinese Suckling Pig. Now, our driver took us to the famous Ibu Oka Babi Guling, which has won an award for one of the top restaurants in Bali. I got to say, Babi Guling is simply out of this world. I would recommend it to all serious pork lovers out there.

Babi Guling with rice

I think these are deep fried pork innards and it’s damn tasty 

After lunch, we proceeded to the Ubud market, where we spent most of our time (and money) there shopping. I bought a few unique items as well as some paintings for my home. Most of us used up most of the cash we brought for that day.

I bought this steel hot air balloon lantern which I thought is cool

In the evening, it started to rain, and we slightly soaked, hungry and tired. We stopped by to have dinner at a nearby restaurant and then decided to head back to the villa and call it a night.

DAY 4: KUTA & SEMINYAK
We decided to head to Kuta beach today. After experiencing the beach in Seminyak, my friends thought Kuta will be just as nice. Boy were we wrong! I’ve been to Kuta beach a couple of years back, and I know how packed it can be and how irritating the street peddlers are. I hate it when I’m are being constantly pushed to purchase something when I already made it clear that I’m are not interested. Now imagine walking every 5 steps and these peddlers selling you the same thing again. It’s bloody annoying! Plus, the beach is hot and packed, you don’t even get to have a decent spot to put your things down to get into the water without being constantly bugged by these peddlers.

We were all annoyed, so we decided to just have lunch head back to the beach in Seminyak. But before leaving Kuta, the ladies (as usual) decided to go shopping again.

Shops in Kuta Square

This shop is called “The White Shop” where everything sold is…WHITE

I like this sign. It makes customers stop to take a look

Oli and Jo, happy shopping at Kuta

After swimming in the beach at Seminyak, we had dinner by the beach where we also managed to watch the sunset.

Sunset @ Seminyak beach

My dinner – Grilled fish with herbs and seafood

After the delicious dinner, we went to this place called Hu’u which is situated just off Seminyak beach. The place is an old colonial mansion, converted into a club/restaurant/bar. There are garden furniture, together with dimly lit lights and chilled out music to create a very relaxing environment. There is also a swimming pool in the middle upon entering the garden that doubles up as a centerpiece with an ice sculpture at night. Inside, they play more hard house music compared to the garden area. We didn’t try the food, but the drinks here are also quite reasonably priced. Another nice place I would definitely come back to try the food.

Jo and Oli chilling out @ Hu’u

DAY 5: KINTAMANI
Mike and Oli felt that they wanted to be spending more time in the villa “vegetating” since we’ve been out most of the time over the past few days. Jo and I however, wanted to go to the coffee plantation that serves Kopi Luwak, or Civet coffee – which is the world’s most expensive coffee. We wanted to simply get a taste of it to see what all the hype is about. Apparently, this coffee cost around USD$60 per cup in some places. We headed up to Kintamani, which is about an hour journey from our villa to have buffet lunch on the hill side facing the volcano. The place is nice, especially the scenery and the buffet spread was not too bad either. To me it’s a bit over rated, but then again it’s something to experience.

Simple buffet spread

The view from our table

Jo & I

After lunch, we headed to the coffee plantation where we were shown how the coffee was made, and the creature that made it famous.

“We are here!”

The Civet Cat that eats the coffee beans

Coffee beans before…

…and after being digested by the Civet Cat

It’s then dried..

then roasted..

then pounded into coffee powder..

Mix with hot water and you get a cup of Kopi Luwak

Overall, the coffee is nothing to shout about really. Despite it being smooth and you don’t need to add sugar to enjoy it, for me it’s just taste like another cup of coffee. Don’t know what the fuss is all about.

We then went back to the villa to rest. We didn’t want to go out that night, so we ordered dinner in to be served to us. It’s like our last night in Bali, so we wanted to be pampered with people serving us in the comfort of our villa I guess.

Us eating in on the last night.

DAY 6: BYE BYE BALI =(
It’s time to say goodbye to our villa and our vacation. It’s really been great and a relaxing one. We woke up, with breakfast served to us one last time and then begin to pack to catch our flight back in the evening.

Will miss this the most – breakfast being served to us every morning!

taken with our villa caretakers, guards and driver – awesome bunch

*Click here to view more pictures

P.S: If you’re in Bali and you need a personal driver, I seriously recommend you to call Mr. Made (pronounced Mah Day) at 081 64741286. He is reliable, honest and humble. You can let him know that Nick from Kuala Lumpur who stayed at Murni’s Villa recommended you and he should remember. =)

I recently been to Sabah (my first time in East Malaysia even) in hopes for fulfilling a dream and experience to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South East Asia. The trip was planned since end of last year, which gave us a lot of time to train and to get in shape. Mind you, I did train myself to build stamina by playing badminton, swimming laps in the pool and also running the treadmill and bikes in the gym. Some of us also went training in Batu Caves by climbing up the stairs and carrying weights in the backpack to simulate the climb. However, most of our group underestimated how difficult was it to climb, even though we were told that even old uncles could do it without a sweat…yeah right!

Day 1: En route to Kinabalu Park

We (all 16 of us), met at the Kota Kinabalu Airport where we then head to Kinabalu Park. We spent the night in a place called Grace Hostel in Kinabalu Park before we head over to the summit trail the next morning. We arrived there around 3PM as it was raining for most parts of the journey. Mind you, it takes about 2 hours or so from KK airport to Kinabalu Park. Temperature here was around 16 degrees Celsius, which was fine perfect weather. Surprisingly, Grace Hostel is a very nicely maintained place, with nice showers and clean bunk beds. We all expect something a little worse actually. I would recommend anyone to spend the night here if they want to make the climb.

it was foggy on our way up

Reception of Grace Hostel

Hostel living room…not bad eh?

Look..they even have shower gels and moisturizers!

Clean and nicely lit bunk beds

Day 2 and 3: The Climb to Laban Rata and Mount Kinabalu Summit

This is it the day has finally arrive. All that hard work training is for this moment. Well there are 2 trails up to Laban Rata, which is base camp of Kinabalu before the climb up to the summit. There is the Mesilau trail and the Timpohon trial. Mesilau is the longer (6km) but more scenic route, compared to Timpohon which is only 3km. Now if you ask me, for first timers, take the Mesilau trial up, and Timpohon trail down. The Mesilau trail, although longer, has more sceneries compared to just jungle and trees in Timpohon. Mesilau trail is also “easier” as the elevation is not as steep as Timpohon.

I must say, many of us underestimate the climb. All that hard work and training just gone down the drain as we all didn’t think it was this hard. All of us were training on relatively flat terrain like steps, gym or walks in the park. The terrain in Kinabalu consists of uneven rocks and boulders which were slippery and steep. My advice for first timers is to TRAIN and PREPARE properly before climbing. Seriously it’s not easy. We have a few guys in our group who were season athletes, and there was also a person who does triathlons, and even he to mentioned it’s harder than he thought.

Kinabalu trails – click to enlarge

Brandon, Kim, Lianne and I before the climb

The Mesilau Trail

The trail going up to Laban Rata

Us taking a break

This is probably the nicest part of the trail. Seems like you’re walking in the clouds! 

I got to say, I took longer than expected to reach base camp. I was also extremely unfortunate and disappointed that I tweaked my calf muscle in the process. I didn’t feel much pain upon reaching Laban Rata and I thought I would just continue the trail to the summit the next morning (at 2AM). But upon the first kilometer up, I could feel a sharp pain on my right calf which is uncomfortable and at times unbearable for me. Alas, it was rather unfortunate that I didn’t make it to the top and had to come down to base camp to my sheer disappointment. I figured I would rather not risk the injury any further as I still have to make the climb down to Kinabalu Park using the Timpohon trail, which consists of steep steps.

Laban Rata..it’s about 8 degrees Celsius here

This is the view of the sunset at Laban Rata

And this is the view from the summit, taken by Quin…awesome stuff!

Well, as you can see, the view from the top is absolutely stunning. It’s about 2 degrees Celsius at the summit so you actually won’t look weird wearing a ski mask at the top. I waited for the rest of the group to return from the summit to base camp where we then headed down to Kinabalu Park using the Timpohon trail.

This is what we have to endure on the way down…knee height steps!

…and this shot was taken on the way down, looking back

Day 4: A Day In Kota Kinabalu

When we got back down, we headed to KK town where we stayed at Marina Court Service Apartment. I got to say, for about RM750 per night for 8 people in a room (we had 2 rooms for 16 people), it’s a place really worth staying at. Its right smack in town, and it faces the sea front where shopping for souvenirs and fresh seafood is convenient. We didn’t had much time to walk around KK town as everyone was exhausted (and injured) and decided to just chill at the apartment until we head home. We did however squeezed in some time to do some shopping for gifts and memento to take home. We also did manage to go for a nice seafood lunch before our flight.

A view from of KK from the plane

This trip was a really good experience for me. It showed my capabilities, my fitness level and how far I can go to push myself but at the same time exposed my weaknesses and what I have to do more to keep myself in better shape. Do I regret making the trip? Hell no! It’s definitely one hell of an experience for me. Made a bunch of new friends who are both crazy and fun…something all of us forget to do every once in awhile…to have fun. Would I ever go again to try to make it to the top? Well, at this point I would say NO…but ask me again in a year or so and I might give you a different answer. :)

Photo Credits: Quin & Mike Lian

OMG! It seems I’ve been neglecting this blog for a very long while. This time for real, it’s not because I was too lazy to update, but I seriously hadn’t the time. It’s been a long 3 weeks or so with so many things happening at the office. It was a really crucial week last week, as there were some multi-million ringgit sign-offs which we required from the client, so a lot of preparation and convincing was needed to get the client’s signature. It can be really dramatic I tell you. But alas, it was done. Then again, that’s only the tip of the iceberg as there are more stuff in the pipeline in the coming months. With the World Cup fast approaching in June and July, a lot of my projects need to start soon. Everyone wants to cash in on the World Cup, and with my client saying things like “We want to do BIG THINGS” and “We want to DOMINATE” would give you an idea as to why I said it’s only the beginning. So if you don’t hear from me cum May to July, chances are you can find me pitching up a tent in my office.

Ok, since I’ve been out of touch with you guys for awhile, I’ll just summarized a few things of what happened

A New Love
In case you didn’t know, I finally bought a new Nokia N97 Mini and retired my 4 year old dinosaur N80. Yea, 4 years is the longest I ever hold on to a phone. I remember I used to always switch to the latest model every time something new came out. I once only owned a phone for 6 months before selling it off to get an upgraded version. I was that gung-ho back then.

baby I love you…

Anyway, this phone is a real gem. It does everything I want it too and can do everything any other phone can too. Why not a Blackberry or an iPhone you ask? Well, I was contemplating this phone and the Blackberry Bold 9700. I guess I made my choice under the assumption that everyone will get the Blackberry and I wanted to be different. iPhone? It was never in my list to begin with…don’t let me start about how I’m on the anti Apple camp. :)

A Goodbye
Goodbyes are always hard. Especially if it’s someone so close and dear who you have known for ages. My dear friend Sylvia is finally moving to the States with her husband Jason. I’ve known Sylvia since we were both in secondary school, together with her twin sister Sheila. We go to the same church, gone for camps together and we’ve kept in touch even after all these years. 

Sylvia, Jason and I @ WIP, Bangsar

Can you believe it’s been 16 years? Even when she is working in Penang, she never fails to call me and go out every time she comes back here for a visit. You can say she is one of my BFFs. Sylvia, I will definitely miss you loads…heck I already miss you now!! All the best to ya! *hugs*

A Goal
YES! I’ve finally paid for my flight tickets and accommodation to Sabah in July to conquer Mount Kinabalu. There is NO TURNING BACK already! Die die also must climb and get that cert. I’ve been wanting to do this for sometime now, but didn’t really take the initiative until my ex-colleague Mike decided to gather a few people to go. It will be my first ever visit to East Malaysia.

Mount Kinabalu, Sabah

Some people who have climbed up told me that you require to train for endurance in order for you to make it to the top. Then again, there are some who said you don’t really have to train and that even old aunties can climb. I would like to believe it’s the latter. It’s all in the mind I tell you. But anyway, my “training regime” has already begun. But let’s see what happens on a closer date.

Coming up next..

There are a few things coming up, later half of the year. Since I know I might be pretty busy in the coming months (and might not update this blog), maybe I’ll just let you guys know some of my travel plans and in case any of you want to tag along.

May
Weekend over Singapore (tentative) - I always go down Singapore for annual visits every year…so we’ll see

July
Mount Kinabalu (confirmed)

August
Bali, Indonesia (Dates confirmed. Yet to book flights and accommodation) - The whole purpose for this trip is because we’re celebrating a few birthdays together since they are a week apart from each other. So rather than having a birthday party every week, we decided to go big and have one massive birthday party. Brilliant isn’t it?

October
Melbourne, Australia (Dates confirmed. Yet to book flights and accommodation)- My pet sis Zara is having a garden wedding by the Yarra River on 10-10-10 (that’s 10th October 2010) after 10 years with her boyfriend. Now to have the wedding ceremony at 10:10AM with 10 bridesmaid. How can I not go for this??

Nov-Dec
A short shopping trip to Hong Kong or Dubai since my cousin keeps insisting I come visit. Let’s see if I still have left over funding for the year to pull off this trip.

Ok, there you go…some updates on the things that has been going on. I really hope I don’t have to keep doing these mass update posts and find more time to update this blog to keep you entertained…haha…until then..

This girl by the window, one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen. Seeing her from a distance, listening to music, seeing her pouty lips mumbling the lyrics, and grooving ever so gently to the beats hoping others won’t notice. I stared up at her for awhile, and when she noticed she gave a little smile. Who is she? I will never know. For she went away after I took this picture. I regretted not going up to her when I had the chance. Oh well, it was good while it lasted…for what its worth..she did make my day.

P/S: In case you’re wondering, this picture was taken at “That CD Shop” display window along Scotts Road, Singapore.

I was in Singapore again last week, mainly to meet up with my friends and party because the last time I was there (just a week before that), I only stayed for less than 48 hours. Well, I manage to meet up with Joyce and her friends and she took me to this place call Howl At The Moon. It’s located at Peranakan Place, along Orchard Road (specifically along an alleyway right next to CenterPoint Shopping Center). I’ve got to say I haven’t come across such a place back here in KL, and it would be great that they do open up a franchise.

“..Howl at the Moon takes the term "piano bar" to heights, with the piano players offering up witty discourse while encouraging the audience to "sing-along" to songs almost everyone knows by heart. Anyone who delights in good music will have a wonderful experience." - Howl At The Moon Tampa

If you want some fun having a guys/girls/group night out in Singapore, this is the place to be. There are performances from a band that entertains the crowd through a unique mix of music, comedy and sarcasm. What I like about the place that it has a “Phrase of the Night” board for the highest bidder. So, if you want to put up a quote or something quirky, all you have to do is to pay more that the specified price on the board and your quote will be up for all to see. They even have a “High-Roller” column, where bidding starts at say SGD$20. It’s really an ingenious way to get the crowd participate and to also generate income for the place…brilliant!

I just have to take this “Phrase of the Night” :P

I really had fun together with Joyce and her friends. If you know Joyce, you know how wacky she can be at times…

Joyce & I

The ladies

Joyce & I fooling around…

Juliet & I

The group shot..

I ended up super tipsy by the time I took the cab back to my hotel (it was around 330AM). The amazing thing was..the cab driver didn’t know where my hotel was exactly, so I told him to stop me somewhere nearby and I walked back (2 streets ok!)…not bad right?  Thanks Joyce for a really awesome night. It was really good catching up with you again. It was my first time there that night, and I can already tell you that I would want go back there again.

*Click here for more photos