Yes, yes, my Despicable Me 2 inspired nail! Another last minute trip on the weekend with my monkey to Bali. This time, I did the homework - flights and accomodation.
We stayed at Poppies Cottages, a beautiful and peaceful place in Kuta. They offered free airport transfer, so that saved us lots of hassle. Kuta is still as horrible as 5 years ago, you just can't sit on the peace without being disturbed by people constantly trying to sell you things. Things definitely have changed, a few malls popped up, there are more restaurants and sky bars. Prices also shot up with food and souvenirs.
It was monkey's first time in Bali and he fancied the idea of surfing on Kuta. But after seeing Kuta, he changed his mind. So we had a stroll around Kuta streets, had our first meal at Five Monkeys for burger and hot dog. We got lost for a while, then went back to chill before heading out for shisha and beers. After that, we chanced upon Kopi Pot which had a very relaxed atmosphere for a bite. The bite turned out to be chicken satay, piece of blackforest cake, Bali apple cider and garlic bread.
The following morning, we also randomly walked into a place named Jokers Bar & Grill for breakfast. After that, monkey did a bit of shopping, he was thrilled he managed to get some good buys! Having aborted his surfing plan, we were lost deciding what to do, so I suggested a trip to Ubud on the bus. The journey was long (longer than the time we spent in Ubud!!) but it was worthwhile. At least he got to see the monkey forest, the artistic chilled Ubud and had the best cakes in Bali! I revisited Kakiang Bakery, my old favourite, just to have their strawberry cake... Little did I know, they have more cakes now, I was so spoilt for choices and had to order another mille crepe. No regrets, it was SO delicious!!! Even monkey was full of praises for them. That was my first treat for monkey, and in turn he bought me the souvenirs I wanted to get from the bakery. I also got mini scones as takeaway, I liked my raisin one. Monkey is addicted to shisha, so we had another... No babi guling this time as we were running out of time. Nearly got lost, thanks to my good memory, I found our way back to bus station just in time. The journey back to Kuta was a nightmare, two hours, and we were exhausted by the time we got back. So instead of going for more shisha, we ended up having a quick dinner at Un's Restaurant - lovely ambience and service!
The second night, we were woken up by croaking of frogs. I bet one was in our cottage, it seemed so near, it disturbed us every couple of hours but we never saw it. Monkey disturbed one that evening so I reckoned it must be on revenge! It was a horrible night, monkey couldn't sleep due to his allergy to mosquito bites so it kept me awake half the time. In the morning, he went for a run in the rain while I sat in watching TV. Then we had breakfast before heading to the airport at one.
We had a beer at the airport and chilled. The queue to check in was horrendous, I guess we were lucky we went a bit earlier. Also please remember to save 150,000 rupiahs for departure tax. It's a ridiculous amount of money but I think I recall paying the last time round too. Yes, money grabbing touristy destination :p
All in all, it was a rush but pleasant trip. It was nice to be able to re-visit Bali and have the chance to go back to my favourite bakery, this time with someone MUCH nicer.
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