White Beach In Nusa Dua, Bali

Beautiful white sand beaches in Bali. We have also lots of these in the Philippines. In a survey among tourists, the first thing that comes to their mind when the Philippines is mentioned are islands and beaches.

These beaches are so clean and pristine. Hope we could keep ours just like these and make them very accessible to all foreign and local tourists.

Hotels in Nusa Dua and Bali Beach

In Nusa Dua, there were the big, wide, spacious, beautiful and luxurious hotels near the beaches. Balinese cultural structures were mixed with the modern.

The hotels were near an area where they had water sports where our tour group also went. Our companions in the group preferred to look for an area where they could swim. We said it was no problem for us because we really had no plans to engage in the water activities as the sun was quite high already.


We went to another area and our tour group companions eagerly went swimming. It was a nice beach but i guess we have a lot of those here in the Philippines. Our guide even admitted that those in Boracay are much better than their beaches.

Our companions in the tour group really had a good time (...well they even had a good time taking pictures of ricefields at one point in our tour). We just lazed around and some locals approached us and offered us a massage. It was a great authentic Bali massage on the beach.

Mountain Temple

One of the stops in our tour in Bali was at a Temple on a mountain cliff. Before entering we were made to wear the sarong once again. It was quite a walk to get to the temple itself.


On the way to the temple, there were lots and lots of monkeys around. Some were on the ground and others on the trees. They looked fierce and were not afraid of people. A vendor was even selling a pack of peanuts you can feed the monkeys.





On the one side of the temple was a cliff with a magnificent view of the ocean, Our guide commented that some people compare the place with Australia.

A Volcano in Bali

One of the attractions where our tour took us to; was at a (dormant) volcano in Bali . We had lunch in a restaurant nearby where we had a great view. It was nice, but a view of the Taal Volcano and the Taal Lake from the Tagaytay ridge is much much better and more breathtaking. (This is even not mentioning the cool and relaxing air in Tagaytay).

Bali Batik

One of the souvenirs we got in Bali was a Batik painting on cloth. We were also able to buy an exquisitely carved jewelry box in another stopover at a carving factory .

Balinese jewelries and batik paintings

Part of our tour was to visit places which showcased more of Balinese cultural artifacts. We got to go to a jewelry shop and a batik painting factory. There were workers doing their craft and guides explained the processes.

We just happily went around these places and bought souvenirs instead of listening to these lectures. We had to rush our choices though and we even went back to our tour group late. We were able to get some batik prints for framing and some Balinese silver jewelry.

Culture in Bali

One thing we were also looking forward to in our trip to Bali was to see its culture. And aside from the play, the old temples were beautiful examples of their heritage. Some of the temples were not that big and were used by the surrounding community.

Tourists wearing shorts had to wear a sarong when entering these Balinese sacred places. It was just a wrap-around garment. In one place, a donation was encouraged and in another, a flat minimal fee was charged.

Our guide was wearing a Balinese traditional dress. He explained that it was customary for tour guides to wear them including the head dress. He was very courteous, and also very informative. We got to learn more about the places we were visiting and more of their culture.
Suparta also told us that he does not discriminate between his tourist guests. He is a fine embodiment of the friendly Balinese people which we got to discover as we stayed there.

Balinese Play and Dancers

The next morning, we were met by our guide at the hotel on time. With him were two other couples from Italy who were to join us in our tour group.

The first stop of the day's tour was to get us culturally immersed in Bali. We were taken to a Balinese play. There lots of other tourists there who were with various tour groups. The guides, the drivers, the tour operators and the ushers were very well organized. The venue was a simple one and not even air-conditioned. It was airy and accomodated the crowd of tourist who went there to see the scheduled presentation.



The play was nice and very interesting. Though the costumes were noticeably old (we went down to the very first row to get a real close up look of the performers), they were colorful and detailed.




The leaflet and flyer for the play gave a brief description/summary. The entire play was done in their language or dialect. But the exaggerated motions, facial expressions, sound effects and other gestures had the viewers in cadence with what was happening on the stage.




After the play, we even had our photos taken with some of the musicians and costumed characters in the play.

Inside Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel

The Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel was a nice hotel. It had a good location, nice facilities, a souvenir shop, a display area of beautiful paintings, a couple of restaurants, and more importantly a filling breakfast buffet.



And because we already had Suparta as our guide and a schedule for pick-up at our hotel, we did not waste any more time looking and booking for tour packages. We just had a blast taking pictures even just inside the hotel. The pool area was even bigger as we thought when we saw it in the morning.

The Hotel Chandelier

Honeymoon in Bali

We went to Bali, Indonesia for our honeymoon in December 2006. We have heard a lot about Bali as a prime getaway destination with beautiful beaches; but we did not really know what to expect. Somebody close to us also just came from Bali at that time and remarked that it was quite over-rated. Somehow, we thought that the expectations may have been very high because it was mentioned as a dream travel before the trip. Saying that after going there showed a hint of disappointment. But anyway, it did not affect us. We were going to have a great time!

Changi Airport In Singapore

The first leg of our trip took us to Singapore from Manila. We were at the Changi airport in Singapore after a three hour flight. The airport there was nice, was very clean and quite big. But more importantly, it had great duty-free shops. Since we had about a six-hour wait for our connecting flight to Bali (Denpasar), we had our lunch there and had a leisurely time.
If airports were like these, the waiting wont't be that bad if there would be delays in your flights. Our wait in-between flights passed by fast. There was an internet kiosk and even massage chairs we tried on for free. And since it was December, there were lots of Christmas decors. We had a good time going around, taking pictures and looking at the shops in order to canvass the prices of the items we were planning to buy on our way back. It was a good thing that we also had some time to spend at Changi airport on our return flight.

Snack Bar in Changi Airport

Flowers at the Airport

Kois at the Airport

Decorations at the Airport

It was another three hour flight to Denpasar from Singapore. The airport in Bali was not that big. There were lots of tourists though that arrived with us. We noticed that south-east asians had different lines at the immigration counters because we didn't need a Visa to get into Bali.

All in all, it was a hassle free trip. We just got delayed at the airport exit because we were near the back of the immigration lines. We got lots of brochures and we were looking for tour packages already. We did not notice we were in a slow moving line.

When we got out, we looked for our bags because it was already off the baggage carousel. We found them neatly placed in one area. We then looked for a money changer counter. We immediately became millionaires! At that time, US$100 was around 900,000 rupiah.

When we got out out of the airport, we were met by our ride to our hotel because we were the last ones out of the airport. On the way, our guide Suparta, offered his services to tour us. At the lines inside the airport, we got lots of brochures and leaflets which offered the same tours and we already thought of looking for one. Being a very amiable fellow who had quite good communication skills, we agreed to his offer so we won't be wasting any more time the next day. We were to join his tour group for the next couple of days.

We got to our hotel, the busboys got our bags, our guide checked us in, we got our welcome drinks and our keys. Before going to our room, we made sure that we were already scheduled to be picked up the next morning for our tour.

Since our adrenalin was still pumping, we decided to go around the nearby area and the hotel for a while. and before settling in; we saw that the hotel pool was very inviting. The water was so clear and warm. The lights were romantic. So off we went for a night swim to end the evening. This was indeed a honeymoon!

Our Hotel in Bali