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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. =)

Of late, I have been going bar hopping a lot. No, not because I’m happening, but because there are some really good Jazz acts that are really worth going to. On Wednesday, some colleagues and I decided to go to Sevenatenine for their Bar Night, which featured their international mixologist and also it’s our excuse to finish up our bottle which was "parking" there since September. Also featured was a quartet group called G-String. Kinky as it might sound, they are actually quite good. Thanks Jolene for getting us a table right in front of the stage. We were later joined by my friend Michelle and Joshua to what was a nice night out.

Rabin & I

Chui & Sonia

Our bestest best friend, Mr. Johnny Walker

Rabin and his "Around the World" drink…he was gone after that

Michelle & I

G-String!

On Friday night, I was at Alexis Ampang together with Elisa and her friends for Ida Mariana. This is my first time listening to her perform and I must say, she is really good. Sorry about the blur images below though. Didn’t have my camera with me then, so have to resort to using my mobile’s camera which is practically useless for night shots. Us sitting quite a distance away didn’t help either.

Ida Mariana

Then last night, I was at No Black Tie for another performance. This time it was Albert Sirimal (guitar/vocals), Badar (percussions/vocals) and a special guest saxophonist. They don’t have an official name for their band though but they were really really good. They did really good Bossanova renditions of Carol King’s I Can’t Hear You No More, Lionel Richie’s Stuck On You and even Michael Jackson’s Human Nature which I thought was absolutely brilliant!

The unnamed band…which was really good

So there, my quiet and chilled out week filled with Jazz. I’m starting to believe that I am getting a bit too old for clubbing nights already. Don’t get me wrong, It’s not that I don’t enjoy clubbing, I still do…it’s just that going for a Jazz night out is simply more fulfilling.

After a stressful week of work last week, I decided to have a fun filled weekend. Yes, I really needed the weekend to unwind…chilling out, catching up with friends and just not think of work basically. On Saturday night, I met up with some friends for Moonshine at The Apartment KL, where Mia Palencia and Reza Salleh was performing. I must say, whilst the music is good, the venue isn’t really built to stage this kind of performances. The ambiance isn’t as good as say…No Black Tie or maybe because the positioning speakers and setup was not good. Nevertheless it was a nice event.

Mia Palancia (center) feat. Melina William & Zalila Lee

Reza Salleh

Zara

Su Ann & Zelly

Elisa & I

After the event ended…it was still rather early to be headed home on a Saturday night. So we all decided to party at TwentyOne for a bit. We were joined by Richard who is the manager of The Apartment and a friend of Su Ann and Zelly.

Zelly, Su Ann & Richard

The next day, I met up with Rabin, Loong Heng and his wife to support Team Malaysia at the A1GP at the Sepang Circuit. We manage to get free tickets for the grand stand area but it was packed to the brim and we have to settle for the secondary grand stand (for all you non-motorheads, Sepang has a dual grand stand area). No complains of the seating arrangement, since it was free!

Go Team Malaysia!!

All of us @ Sepang

Well, Team Malaysia did finish in third for the feature race which sent roaring cheers from within the crowd. Malaysia Boleh!

Phew! I actually feel more tired now after the weekend instead of recuperating. But I guess, everyone has a different way of relaxing…mine is just all about having fun and doing the things you like doing…nothing else matters.

As mentioned in previous post, my friends and I went to watch Diana Krall perform at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on the second day of the Hari Raya holidays. Here are some picture which I took discreetly (we weren’t suppose to take pictures, but I did anyway…without flash of course).

The stage, prior to the start of the concert

Eager fans of Diana Krall

Diana Krall and her band

While Diana Krall was…well Diana Krall, which was excellent, overall the concert was kind of a let down. All of us felt a bit short changed when the concert only lasted about 1 hour 30 mins. To make it worse, I think the venue was not made to hold acoustic events such as this as I personally feel the sound could have been better. Oh well, it certainly was an experience nevertheless.

After the concert, we adjourned across the street at Sevenatenine for drinks and to chill out.

Ee Lin, Suzanne & Evie

Zara & Evie

Evie & I

This last pic was purely for fun ya…so don’t get any stupid ideas! It wasn’t meant to be up, but since my friend decided to post it up on Facebook…so I thought WTH…just let the whole world see it too! Hahaha.. :p

Woohoo! Diana Krall is coming to Kuala Lumpur…and I just got tickets to watch her perform on 2nd October at KL Convention Centre. I managed to gather a few friends to go watch it with me, and in total…I had to buy like 11 tickets during my lunch break today. The cheapest tickets were going for RM288 and if you’re a Visa card holder, you get it at RM262.20. Quite pricey for a concert ticket if you ask me, considering it’s like the cheapest and the farthest from the stage…but hey…it’s Diana Krall wei! So you can imagine the guy at the ticket counter asking me for a second time if he had heard correctly that I wanted 11 tickets. According to him, at most people buy 3 at a time…because it’s expensive…and I’m the first person who wanted more than 10 tickets at one go! Well, that’s what you get when you got to be the one who buys for a bunch of jazz lovers.

can you count how many tix there are?…hehehe

Anyway, for the price I’m paying, it better not be a disappointment.