An Unplanned Vacation to Bali

“Tinung, tinung,” my phone rang (well actually that’s not the real sound of my phone but let’s just assume it that way).

I got one notification from my cousin, Kak Sharon. What would it be?

I and Cousin

“Han, are you busy?” She texted. I’ve known her for a long time, if she asks me this kind of question it means she needs me to accompany her somewhere. “Nope, Kak. Why? I am on a holiday mode.” I replied.

“Then let’s go to Bali.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Haha, nooo. I just want to enroll in a university there to continue my study.”

“Okay, but that’s just so far away from home. Mom and Dad would be angry.”

“Go ask my mom to help you get your permissions.”

“Really? Jinjjaeo? Jeongmal?”

“Ndehhhhh, hurry. I need to book some tickets.”

So, that’s the story behind my unplanned vacation. After I finished my second semester, her text saying she would continue her study there was extremely surprising. She did not even ask me about my college life, phew-_- I guess that’s why people said life is full of mystery.

Two weeks ago was amazing. I, Kak Sharon, and Vannesa, our friend who is the victim of this unplanned vacation also, were having a trip to Bali for about 6 days vacation, but the last two days were not in Bali, it was in Malang. Reminiscing about it again, it was lovely because God had guard and protect us safely until the time I wrote this. It was quite challenging, for that was my very first time to leave far away from home without parents, and when I say far away, it means to leave into a different island, without parents. You know, that kind of kid who can’t go far away without parents, and yes, I am one of them. I dont know if it does not sound scary for you, but it is for me. Well, it also means freedom anyway. Teehee✌️
Without any further due, let’s just begin the journey!

First day in Bali, I and my cousin, Kak Sharon, went there by plane from Jakarta, we arrived in Ngurah Rai Airport and immediately searched for a transport to Pantai Kuta to meet our friend, Vannesa, via Grab Car, an application in Android or iOs, famous for its cheap price and easy to book car app. After we typed “Mc Donalds Kuta Beach,” which was our destination to meet up with her, the fare and also the driver came up, which was predictable, it’s cheap and trustworthy. As we were going there, we had little talks with the driver and soon we arrived in Mc Donalds Kuta Beach. The weather was very hot, almost the same as in Jakarta. That’s one of the reasons why we got tired easily. After we met her, we went to our hotel to take a rest. So, we enjoyed our room in the hotel for a while, then took a brief walk around Kuta. After that, we met a place to rent a motorbike. So we bidded and got two bikes for Rp. 50,000 only per each bike and each day. Because it was our first day there, we did not know where to go until I suggested to go to Padang Padang Beach and they agreed. So in the evening, we went by motorbike to Padang Padang Beach for approximately about one hour trip. We arrived there when the ticket was not on sale again. At first, we were so panic because the trip was so tiring and we thought we could not enter the beach, but in the end, we could make it! With the help of the people there, we could enter the beach without paying the ticket fee. On the way to Padang Padang Beach, we almost had an accident. To arrive there safely took too many hours, so we speeded up our motorbike to arrive immediately. It’s hard to explain the situation, we were mostly separated because of the traffic jam and stuffs, which is confusing because we did not know the highway there and we only had one charged cellphone to use the GPS (reminder: it was our first time travelling in Bali by our own selves so GPS was so important), we almost got into an accident too but thankfully, we’re still in a good condition even up until now. I could feel the guidance that God sent for us that day. By the way, Padang Padang Beach had a very romantic atmosphere. Well it was just my opinion, maybe because of the weather when I was there and also the views. After taking some photos and playing with the waves, we’re going back to our hotel.

@ Padang Padang Beach

 

The second day, we went to Mahasaraswati University in Denpasar, my cousin wanted to enroll there. After that, we thought we needed more vacation, so we went to Sanur Beach. We were not in the mood to swim or take a picture, (except Vannesa, she’s always taking pictures to be posted in her Path or another social media), so we only sat facing the beach, enjoyed the air, and went back to our hotel.

 

The third day, because it was the last two days for us to enjoy Bali, so we went to Sukawati Market to buy some souvenirs. Some said that the price at Sukawati Market is cheaper than the other Markets near the beach, so we went there. And it was not a myth! It really was cheaper, for example, I got five cute dresses for only Rp. 20,000/dress. So recommended. But you need to master the art of bidding first before you came, lol. In the afternoon, we went to Uluwatu Temple, we had to pay the entrance fee for Rp. 30,000/each person. There were lot of monkeys there, they said the monkeys’ jobs were to keep the temple safe and holy. But you gotta be aware from them, especially if you bring foods or stuffs that attract them, they will try to steal it. There was one lady who had to go back home barefootedly because her sandals were like bananas and the monkey stole her sandals, lol. After Uluwatu Temple, we went to Pandawa Beach to chill for a while. We did not bring additional clothes, but we did some swimming. It was cold when we were on our way back home, because we went by bike and our clothes were all wet. After we went out from the beach, we were separated. I was with Vannesa, lost in the middle of the forest near the beach. We did not know the location of my cousin, Kak Sharon, but we kept on driving. The road was slippery. Vannesa, who was the all time favorite driver because I could not ride a motorbike, started to lose control of holding the motorbike and then, bam! We got into a real accident. The days before, we almost got hit by a car, a truck, or almost fall onto the road but it did not happen. But now, accident did happen. Not only us, after we met with Kak Sharon, unexpectedly, she got into a real accident also. We saw her legs bleeding in so many areas. We were in pain but we try to endure it. After we arrived at our hotel, we medicated the wound, took a quick shower and a rest.

@ Uluwatu Temple

 

 

For our last day, we only went to Khrisna and continue our way to Kuta Beach and Legian Beach for a short period of time. Then, we checked out from our hotel and went to Ubung Bus Station to go to Malang. We took a rest for a while at Vanessa’s house in Malang. Then in the afternoon, we ate our lunch at Madam Wang Secret Garden Restaurant. This resto was a recommended one! I really like the ambience and also the interior design here. It was very colorful yet so unique. The service was quite good also, they were warm and friendly. Actually, the resto was quite small, but oh well, it was comfortable for us, so yeah, I would definitely come back here and try another menus. After eating some delicious foods, we were going back by train to Jakarta, our hometown.

 

So that’s all about the guidance and protection that God sent when we were in Bali. Hoping to go into another vacayyyy btw. May God bless your holiday and vacation also!