Day 1
Moi's second trip by budget. This time we took Jetstar instead. Wasn't such a good experience for S for his first budget trip as the flight was delayed by 3 hours. So our 7:15pm flight to Denpasar International Airport, adjoined to 10.05pm and then we had to wait another good 1 hour before the departure. AND the plane was from valueair instead of jetstar. Maybe because of the delay, we were served with a cup of water and muffin on boarding. 
AND GUESS WHAT!! MR FEET decides to join me at my seat in the plane too... ERRRRRRRRRRR... disgusting.
The 2.5 hours flight was rather fast so we reached Bali at around 1:20am in the morning. Bad timing though as the taxi booth inside was already closed and we got to haggle with the taxi driver outside for the taxi fare to the hotel. Well, Moi did my homework and understand that our hotel is less than 20 minutes away from the airport and the hotel and the airport direct charges US$10 or IND 100,000. If going by meter, the fare won't exceed IND 50,000. But nevertheless because of the late hour, we would at the drivers' mercy since we have so little cab to grab. So after haggle the price with one of the driver, we managed to agree at US$15 (from US$20).
The service at the hotel was wonderful. Staff was patient, warm and nice. They explain the charges in details with us and show us the conversion to IND and the difference method of payment. Room was ok (US$90/room/night), within expectation since Moi has checked it out over trip advisor before departure. Despite being a new hotel, it's showing obvious signs of wear and tear like mouldy ceiling, detached lamination from cupboard, wet stains on vanity top, greyish towels with holes, etc.
100 Sunset Boutique Hotel
Jl. Sunset Road no. 100
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Website : www.100sunset.com
Day 2
Didn't really plan much for this trip just wanted to go for spa and trek Mount Batur (Gunung Batur). Was really surprise when I met LY and her hubby at the hotel's lobby and really fortunate as they changed some Indonesia rupees with us. USD is not convenience to use at Bali as the shop will tend to charge you at a very poor conversion rate when you ask to pay in USD. LY also recommended a good and cheap local massage shop, REBORN less than 10 minutes away from the hotel. REBORN is beside the famous CoZy Spa which unfortunately we didn't have the time to drop in.
REBORN is famous for their Tui Na Therapeutic Massage so S has a try on that while I opted for the Balinese Massage. Moi felt uncomfortable initially as they led us into little rooms partition by only the curtain but surprisingly it was rather quiet and we could enjoy our massage in peace. Moi even heard someone snoring away. Kekeke! We went at 10am so we would able to enjoy their 10am - 2pm 50% promotion. For a 2 hour massage, we only need to pay IND 9,900 (SGD20).
After a good massage, we walked back to hotel and wanted to cross over to a local restaurant for lunch. WOW!! The street was just like HCMC BUT the traffic was damn fast and you just walked across. But the nice security guard outside 100 Sunset, armed with a whistle and a red table tennis racket, "assisted" us across. It's really comical to see.
The restaurant seems rather atas with a great number of foreigners e.g. Japanese, Australian and Koreans dining in it. They also have live music to soothing bali gamelan. Food was quite palatable though nothing too exceptional. S with his limited Malay managed to get us some food. Hahahahha! We wanted to order the fried chicken with indonesia black bean sauce, tahu goreng and lontong but ended up with....
Lontong (IND 3,000), Tahu Goreng, IND 5,000
Indonesia's tahu goreng is just fried beancurd without the peanut sauce and bean sprouts and lontong is really just rice cakes without the vegetable curry soup. Hahahahha! But the hilarious part must be the fried chicken as we got this instead - Chicken gizzards (Ampela) IND 4,000 (SGD 0.60).
Of course, we didn't touch the ampela and so S ordered Soto Ayam (IND 25,000, SGD 4) in place. I found the food too oily for liking and with a bad cough, it doesn't make it any better. S got himself a coconut drink at IND 12,500 (SGD 2), expecting it to be fresh coconut but got the can type instead. Heehee! Total lunch costs us IND 65,450 (SGD 10). 
We went back to hotel to hop on the free shuttle at 2pm to go to Matahari Kuta Square. Didn't really like to shop there cos most of the things just look so touristy and souvenir-like, things that we can get our pasar malan and also art living shop so Moi decided to give it a miss. We at around to look for good USD rates to change our USD to IND. Finally found PT. Central Kuta (Jl. Raya Kuta No.168, Bali 80361) offering IND 9,100 for USD100. So we made the change. It's important to ask and clarify that there is no other additional service charge and commission on top of the change.
We walked around and went to the kuta beach for a stroll. We were lucky to witness the ceremony of burnt offerings to celebrate triumph of the Good (Dharma) upon the bad (Adharma) on Galungan day. The offerings was intricate with many fine details and lovely.
We walked further along the beach and came to Discovery Shopping mall. At there, we bought some bread from breaktalk for tomorrow trekking trip to Mount batur and a wooden tea scoop at IND 15,000 (SGD 2.50). We then proceeded to settle for dinner at the food court while waiting for the sunset. Moi's throat was dried with much coughing so I just had the vegetable stew while S had chicken with rice plus a super sweet frozen cappuccino.
Vegetable stew and rice with chicken
Sunset at Segara beach (outside of Discovery Shopping Mall) was lovely. I wished we could just stand there forever. We made our way back via Blue bird taxi (so-called most trustworthy taxi in bali). The driver readily on the meter and when we were caught in a terrible jam and our taxi fare went up to IND 17,900. He gave us directions to walk back to our hotel instead and let us alight.
Day 3 starts at 1.30am....
Reborn Reflexology & Healthcare
Jalan Sunset Simpang Siur A.1
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Tel: (62) 361 767171 / 766744
Cozy Spa
Jl. Sunset Block A.3
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Tel: (62) 361 766762
Pondok Tempo Doelo
Sunset Road,
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Tel: (62) 361 9196868
Matahari Kuta Square
Jalan Bakung Sari No.1
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Solaria Restaurant
Discovery Shopping Mall,
Jalan Kartika Plaza,
Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
Day 3
To view the sunrise at Mount Batur, it is necessary for us to get to the top by 6am. LY did recommend her agent who quoted us US$75/pax for the trip while our hotel quoted us US$65 instead. Difference is lunch was provided for LY's package and they would be taking the longer route down the mountain towards the hot spring.
Mount Batur is about 1 1/2 hr ride from the hotel. The local agent, MA picked us up first. He was well-prepared with bread and drinks for us should we get too hungry. Moi was a little concerned with this climb since I had coughed continuously throughout the night before and had kept S awake. Both of us wasn't in our best condition and my throat felt extremely dried.
At the foot of Mount Batur, we were greeted by a local guide, KT who specialised in mountain trekking. All the local guides are from the Association of Mount Batur Trekking Guides. The price for short climb up Batur to see the sunrise is fixed at IND 300,000 (USD 35) per guide for a maximum of four people, IND 450,000 (USD 45) for a 5-6 hour trek around the main crater and IND 600,000 (USD 60) for a 7 hour exploration trek.
Moi has thought the trek is quite an easy walking trek but trekking along the brim of the crater can be quite a challenge as the space for footing is small and if one loses balance, you will easily be rolling down either side of the crater and smashed into pieces. S lost his balance at about 3/4 of the trek and nearly fell off the crater. My heart nearly fell out of my mouth. Luckily, KT was fast to grab him by his bag. As the trek got steeper with many loose rocks, I was glad that KT held my hand throughout and guided me. He shared with us many interesting stories about Mount Batur including the recent demise of the swedish guy that fell into the crater.
We were the first team to start trekking up so KT made a point to go slower to allow moi to rest more and also for the rest to catch up. In the quiet night, a stranger with us shared many interesting account of our lives and his dream. This is a little man with big dreams and aspirations for his family. S and I were very happy to make this friend on our trip. Looking up into the night sky, show us vast wide sky of numerous starlets. A rare view, or should I said impossible view in our city island. The view was just so stunning in all directions as we hiked around the sharp rim of the crater, with hot steam rising from the rocky sides of the caldera - a reminder of the forces of nature.
As it was rather cloudy, we would not able to catch a perfect sunrise but still it was lovely and the sense of accomplishment that we made it to the top was just so GREAT.
Despite our aching feet and S's scrapped leg, we continued to proceed to Tegalalang (Ceking) to see the rice paddy field. IT was simply breath-taking and lovely. Moi loves it so much. Couldn't stop snapping away.
Well, it was nearly 10am and we proceed to go for massage at Spa Hati. Spa Hati is in support of Bali Hati, a non-profit foundation established in February 1997 to promote the education and social welfare of the people of Bali. "Hati" means "heart" in Indonesian, and the name suggests that the heart, the beauty, of Bali is its people. We opted for their 1 hour package which costs us about IND 135,000 (USD 16). We requested to pay in USD but was shocked by the exchange rate that was quoted to us. The airport gave the rate at 8,800 IND for 1 USD but they are charging us at the rate of 8,050 IND for 1 USD. A big difference. The massage experience wasn't too good too and the facilities was inadequate. Overall, experience was not good. If not for supporting their mission, it's not a place that Moi will recommend anyone.
MA brought us to a secluded cosy restaurant viewing a nice river for lunch. S got a shock with the pricing. My chicken rice costs IND 25,000 (SGD 4) and S's large sandwich costs IND 15,000 (SGD 2.50). After lunch, our eyes were heavy from getting up early in the morning so we went back to hotel for a short nap before proceeding to tonight's program at Tanah Lot.
Departed for Tanah Lot at 4pm. It was an hour drive from the hotel to Tanah Lot. It was a highly recommended by 2 of Moi's colleagues so even though MA reommended to go Jimbaran for sunset and dinner. Moi insisted to go Tanah Lot. The view was simply awesome. The large cliff housing the temple and the great waves washing up from afar. Really beautiful.... see photos...
Association of Mount Batur Trekking Guides
Tel: (62) 366 52362
Email: volcanotrekk@hotmail.com
Spa Hati
Jln. Raya Andong #14, Peliatan
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Tel: (62) 361 977578
Website: www.spahati.com
Day 4
Today was the last day so we didn't have much time left. We made an appointment to redeem our 15 mins free foot massage from the hotel at 9am and proceeded to REBORN for an hour massage (IND 49,000 SGD 8). The free foot massage was really good at the hotel. Unfortunately it was our last day or I would love to book a session with them to try their massage too.