Om suastiastu!

Om suastiastu!

(At least I hope that's correct. I got it off Google for "saying hi in Balinese")

(If it wasn't, the thought was there)

(It is the thought that counts, right?)

(Right)

I just got back from Bali less than 2 weeks ago with 5 of my girlfriends, because two of them are getting hitched! So it was a short get-together hen's trip. It was 5 days, but technically and factually it was only 3 because we flew to Bali at 9pm on 11th, and back 7am on 15th.

Royal Brunei.... Take this as a public plea to amend the timings of flights to Bali, please?

So we booked a villa through airbnb in Seminyak, and it had 4 rooms which could cater up to 8 pax. They were 6 of us so it fit us comfortably. The villa came with airport transfer at 240K rupiah for 2 cars, due to our luggage which couldn't fit into one. We arrived to the drivers waiting for us with signboards, which was a first for me. Haha. Also, one thing we had the distaste to experience was a man coming out of nowhere "helping" us to carry our luggage only to later demand payment for his services. It stunned us because we thought they came with the drivers. He asked for 500K rupiah, of which we gave him 400K which he accepted reluctantly. We were later told by the local drivers that these "helpers" are always there and that he are not inclined to tell them to go away because its not a good thing for them to do.

Okay, anyway.
Our villa was acceptable, I suppose, but I expected something more which I am not sure why because I was there when we made the decision to choose that villa. We chose it over a few shortlisted ones because it had the biggest pool, and that meant a lot to many of us.

The villa is old, the cracks are visible on the walls, and the villa is not as clean as we would've liked; the floors felt sticky. The pillows in our rooms did not have pillow cases on them and we were unable to use any of the safe deposit boxed because they seemed to be jammed shut. A dragonfly died on Day 1 and there it stayed for the remaining days, with its new-found ant friends.

However, we had a "live-in" helper who was there to help make breakfast (they actually lived in a small house outside the villa). We could tell her what we wanted a day before and she would return with the groceries and a receipt for you to pay off. The pool was nice too, but it was very deep (I'm 5' and the pool was at least 6' and it is the same depth entirely). Location-wise, it was okay. We got a personal driver taking us around so location was not a big problem for us. We had a driver for 600K/day for 6 pax, which is not expensive at all. He was also very helpful in guiding us (aka take pics for us) and was very friendly, and he could speak English well.

Overall the villa was acceptable, but I would not return.

The pool

Just be my the pool

We took a gazillion photos by the pool, in the pool, next to the pool, outside the pool- you name it. We also rented floaties (because what else is more insta-worthy?) from an Instagram account for 2 days. They delivered it to us and collected it when we were done.

We basically had the watermelon, pizza slice, clam and donut floaties.

We spent a lot of time taking photos on these floaties because it was not easy to position them. You literally just float away on a slice of pizza, which is really most people's dreams but it did not do photo-taking any favors at all. However, the floaties kept me afloat in the (deep) pool so thank you for that, floaties!

Different swimsuits because they were taken on different days. We spent a lot of time in the pool (aka taking photos).

Yours truly livin da life

I really don't know how many bottles we devoured on that short trip! haha

Breakfast!

The last supper

Will blog about our excursions around Bali in my upcoming posts!

Bye!

My first airbnb experience

My first airbnb experience!

My first airbnb experience was in Singapore when we went to catch Elton John live in concert last November. Hotels are ridiculously sky-rocket expensive, particularly those down Orchard Road. They go at least $220/night. We stayed at National Inn Express previously at around $180/night but I heard they've increased their prices since.

So anyway, we decided to opt for airbnb because it was cheaper and truth to be told- when my bf and I travel, we are both practically never in the room because we are too busy out and about. We only use the room to shower and sleep, and we're normally gone by 9am every morning and back at 10pm earliest. So it is usually not the wisest option to choose a swanky hotel.

I went on airbnb and found a couple of nice places, I always look for the ones with good reviews and ratings. I found one which was in Orchard Road, at one of the upper class condominium areas. I initially thought we booked the entire apartment but when we arrived, the host, who greeted us at the entrance of the condo, informed us that the apartment is no longer for rent due to some internal building law. But that didn't really bother us.

The host, Landy, was a very friendly person and he gave us a lot of recommendations for food in Singapore. He even shared a glass of wine with us, he runs a vineyard somewhere in Europe. 

The condominium and the area was very safe because it is like an "Upper East Side" and the condos there all have 24 hour security guards. We could walk to ION in less than 10min, which we did the first couple of days, and then after that we opted for taxis using the myTaxi app which was really convenient. Walking wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't so hot!

Nice living room of our airbnb place

We slept in the room in the middle

Our room!

It was tiny but it really didn't bother us. We also had a washroom to ourselves.

The stay included breakfast as well, but we as adventurous souls did not utilize the breakfast because we loved food hunting in Singapore. Landy has a helper who was always very keen to help us, we tipped her before we left. 

Our host worked in the media industry so he was well-established as a person.

I would definitely recommend his place, and it is safe to say that our first airbnb experience was good, so thumbs up! :)

I guess the next time I will opt for airbnb is when we go to Bali...