a.nother day with anna
A.nna anna // singaporean. my dream is to some day live in a countryside and have a lot of dogs. reach me on mail | facebook | instagram set foot & written on anilao | bali | beijing | dublin | iceland | hong kong | london | mongolia | phuket | mongolia | russia | sydney | taiwan | yunnan dear fellow globetrotters - 6 different types of cold - globetrotter's must-knows - skydiving experience xx instagram Archives November 2012 May 2013 October 2013 December 2013 February 2014 April 2014 June 2014 July 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 July 2015 September 2015 December 2015 November 2016 January 2017 March 2017 April 2017 August 2017	Thursday, March 2, 2017 Why I Love Bali? My love for Bali goes to the moon, orbit one round and back. I first set foot in Bali in December 2014 and since then, I've been back and forth Bali at least twice a year. That's when I started #AnnaInBali. I love everything there - the food, the people, the swimwear outlet, the beach, diving, the sun. The list goes on.. I sell Bali and I'm gonna share with you the things you can do (and where it can be done), places I've stayed and food places I'd recommend. FOOD FOR THOUGHT For starters, there are many food & beverage which Bali is popular for. I'm gonna use we because I feel like I belong there already. We are better known for bali guling, nasi campur, bbq pork ribs, kopi luwak and mie goreng. (#thisislife: $2 local beer & mie goreng, served under the pavilion) I had to google and yes mie goreng comes from Indonesia. Unlike the local mie goreng we have in Singapore, their mee goreng is superb. I can eat mee goreng at least once a day when I'm there. In the easiest way I can bring this across, it's a less preserved (imo) and tastier indomie mie goreng. You feel me now? Every place has that one signature dish, kopi luwak was one of it for Bali, but personally I'm not a fan of it. It's too bitter for my liking. Also I didn't read much into it but it looks inhumane to me. Here's a civet cat at one of the local farms I visited: Not sure if it's worth the try because honestly it's not like it taste any better than our usual cup of joe, but just wondering what are we really supporting if the demand is still there for every tourist. It was not until my 5th trip I tried babi guling. I don't remember which we went to, it was an on-the-way and recommended by our local driver kinda thing when we were on our way from the airport to Candidasa (guess you can narrow down which outlet I went to from this route I took). I'm not a big fan of carbs so whether is it babi guling or nasi campur, I can only say it's a definite must-try local specialty but still, give me my mie goreng and nobody will be hurt. I think both of these are the kind of food which are easily found around Bali, so don't bother traveling out just to find a "recommended" one because they taste more or less the same. One of the restaurants which I really love is Ultimo in Seminyak. A 3-course dinner for two cost around $70 and you get a dozen of oysters for starters, two main course, dessert and 2 rounds of drinks. Trust me, you don't get that anywhere close to $70 in Singapore. The food is amazing and to top that, there's live band and the ambience is to die for. Forget about Potato Head & Kudeta, Ultimo will do the job if you're looking for good food, reasonable price and great ambience. Ask anyone who frequents Bali and I'm pretty sure they'd agree. Reservation is not required but I've seen people queuing really long to enter so no harm booking in advanced. Another restaurant which has been deemed by all food bloggers that you have to visit is Merah Putih. I don't deny the food is good, but unless you're willing to spend $150/pax for dinner, I suggest you try Mama San instead. If you look at say TripAdvisor, they've got 4.5 out of 5 stars which is still on par with Merah Putih, so.. Anyway, call it thrifty/stingy, I wouldn't pay $xxx for a meal. I think it's a ridiculous way to spend your money but you do your own math.  Lastly, forget about all the raved hipster cafes, you can have them back home. Seriously just grab some Bintang and chill by the beach, live the Bali style. ACCOMMODATION I am forever spoilt by the number & types of villa Bali offers. From one bedroom to a whopping six bedrooms villa, pool villa, water villa - you name it, they got it; not forgetting hotels as well. For villa, I'd recommend Bracha Villa. Huge age bedroom, private pool, both outdoor & indoor dining, spacious living room for the price starting from $230+ per night for one bedroom. It's definitely not the cheapest I must say, I've stayed in 2-bedroom villas at the price of $170 per night as well but you pay for what you get. My take is still Bracha Villa ftw. They've fantastic location as well. A short 5 to 10 minutes walk takes you to restaurants like Ultimo & malls like Seminyak Square. For hotels, I'd recommend Golden Tulip Devins Seminyak. Again not the cheapest but definitely reasonable. Price starts from $120, but normally I'd pay for deluxe room where I get jacuzzi in my balcony. Wahaha, this is how you should spend your money. Hotel comes with an infinity pool and a really nice blue restaurant which makes breakfast merrier. Relatively centralized as well given that it's right next to W Seminyak. A 5 mins drive takes you to Mama San and a 5 mins walk takes you to Merah Putih. I've stayed in both Bracha Villa & Golden Tulip Devins more than once and they're still my top choices. I am the kind of person who is not the most willing to pay for better quality so you can trust me 102% when I say the price is reasonable.  THINGS YOU CAN DO Saved this for last because 4 out of 5 times in Bali, my purpose was to dive. Which if you do dive, then of everything in Bali I've already recommended, please forget about them and only take this - dive with Gangga Divers @ Lotus Bungalows. Not going to elaborate on this because I can go on for days but if you do dive, do try them out. They made Bali home for me and if it's not for them, I'm not even sure if I'd fall in love with diving.  That is also to say I didn't explore Bali like most people did visiting Tanah Lot & Uluwatu Temple. Can't share much about that but here are some other activities which I did that doesn't take me 30m underwater.  Banana boat, flying fish, donut float etc at Bali Marine Water Sports in Nusa Dua An adrenalin-kind-of fun day at Waterbom Bali  Seafood feasting in Jimbaran  Outlet shopping around in Kuta - easily 50% off brands like Havaianas, Billabong, Ripcurl  Massages - spa treatments are really cheap compared to Singapore, a 2-hour session cost maybe $30-$40? If you're out for the Balinese massage, it can start as low as $10 per hour.  Writing this just makes me want to go back to Bali. I've spent a good 2 weeks there bumming out before and it's just not sufficient. And there's still so much more to see; I haven't even been to and dive in Lombok :( I used to be a city person, I've always preferred cities and the thought of doing nothing by the pool bores me; but Bali changed my perspective. I can't say the same for the other islands I've been to but Bali will always be a home away from home for me. Read my previous posts on Bali here, here, here & here. Labels: activities, agoda, annainbali, arrival guides, bali, beach, dive, dive spot, food, indonesia, sea, sports Saturday, November 22, 2014 5 Globetrotter's Must-Knows I've decided to share a few website and apps which I found absolutely useful (in my opinion) and you guys might just find them as handy as there are for me for your upcoming trips! P.S If you've any other recommendations that I've not listed, feel free to drop me an email to share with me! :) 1. TripAdvisor Info: TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travellers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. Whenever we decided to travel, the first thing we wonder would be where to go, what to do and what and where to eat the best local food. After some basic research and narrowing down the places you wish to go, or things you would like to do, TripAdvisor it! TripAdvisor is filled with people like myself, who shares our experiences about certain activities or company and even hotels!  For instance, I was thinking of taking up a tour with Manlai Budget Tour Group during my days in Mongolia and the first thing I did was to find out if the tour was going to be worth my money and time. Hence, I TripAdvisor it, and thank God I did. This was ranked one of the first few in the search engine, I'm pretty sure many are pissed with the service Manlai provided. (Read more here.) I understand that some travellers can be more petty than others, ending up leaving a more exaggerated bad review, but if in general, 9 out of 10 complains about XXX Company, maybe you should reconsider your options with them.  2. Arrival Guides  Info: ArrivalGuides is the world’s leading network for destination information, distributing high quality and up to date content and unique city break guides. More than 50 million travellers use our information annually to be inspired, plan their trip, to enjoy and get the most out of their vacation at the location. ArrivalGuides is available on both iPhone and Android phones! It's one of my latest findings, and I must say it's the best thing ever. Nope, you do not have to pay for the app. If you actually visit their website, you can find out almost everything about your next dream destination - things to do, where to eat, where to stay (this is the part where I personally find is how they promote their ads for hotels and flights but no harm taking a look right). You can download the guide in PDF and get it printed if you're not planning to have any gadget with you during your trip.  Alternatively, you can download the app, which works even offline. Arrival Guides not only help you better understand your next destination, you can simply just browse through to kill time to find out about other cities and countries. It's the perfect app, you can read it on the plane, basically anywhere.  3. AirBnB Info: Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodation around the world — online or from a mobile phone.Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and 190+ countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetise their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions. Gradually I find that I've been staying in bed and breakfast more than hotels. I personally prefer living like a local than being treated as an expat. AirBnB covers a lot of places in the world, and it works great for me for a few reasons: I get to speak to the host before booking their apartment They've AirBnB-approved photos, hence they can't upload a fancy luxurious hotel room and claim it's their apartment It's cheaper than hotel, probably up to 30% cheaper Cook your meals on days you don't feel like eating out You get to choose to live with the host or renting the whole apartment. Both have it's pros and cons.  When you live with the host, you get a host. Whenever you've a question getting around, he/she is there to guide you BUT it does feel a little uneasy that they are always around and you just don't feel as at home as you would without a host. When you rent the whole apartment, you get the apartment to yourself. You'll still meet the host when they pass you their home keys, but that lovely home is all yours for as long as you book it.  You can walk around naked, as long as you draw the curtains. (FYI, you can even rent your apartment / room on AirBnB) Discount Code: Ateng57 ($68 off your next booking) 4. Agoda Info: Agoda is one of the fastest-growing online hotel platforms worldwide, listing hundreds of thousands of hotels and providing services in 38 different languages. Basically Agoda is a hotel booking website. The prices listed are cheaper than hotel itself, but you get the room type you book, no less than the penny you paid for. First and foremost, I must make it clear than Agoda's may not be cheaper than Booking, Roomkey or Asiarooms. But the only reason why I always book with Agoda is because they are the only platform with rewards' system. You get points for booking and points for reviewing after your stay. The points are credited into your account almost a month after you depart BUT the I've accumulated quite a bit of points since all my bookings, I've saved almost USD70 for my last few trips.  Upon check out, you get to exchange your points for credits to off-set your total bill. After some comparison, sometimes Agoda may be a few dollar more expensive than the other platforms, but for each 12,500 points, you will get a USD25 off. That works out better than other platforms, for sure! (It's easy to reach 12,500 points, you get 2000 to 3000 points depending on how much you've paid for the hotel. And for every review, you get 500 points.) Lastly, most room deals come with free cancellation. You'll realized that only those heavily discounted deals come with no-cancellation policy. AND, the best part about managing your budget for your trip? Agoda offers the Book Now, Pay Later feature which the amount will only be charged to your credit card 3 days prior to your booking date. Any cancellation done earlier will incur a USD15 charge only.  5. Numbeo Info: Numbeo.com was launched in April 2009. The research and available data at Numbeo.com are not influenced by any governmental organization. You need to get on the site to understand the info. Numbeo provides cost of living, property prices, crime rate, health care, pollution, traffic and quality of life for all big cities. I've been using Numbeo to find out the cost of living in the country I'm traveling to. It helps me budget how much I'd need to spend on transportation, an average meal and groceries (if I'm staying in AirBnB, I get to cook).  It's pretty accurate I must say. It's always good to budget your expenses and not overpay for goods and/or services.  Labels: agoda, airbnb, arrival guides, arrivalguides, numbeo, recommendations, reviews, roomkey, singapore, tips, travel, travel blog, travels, tripadvisor
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