The Gallivantings of Daniel Franklin Gomez

Where shall I begin? I’ll fragment my Bali ingress up, because there’s so much to delineate about, and I’ll endeavour to keep it brusque, fingers crossed.

Day 1 – As what I’ve plotted (see previous entry), the times were generally precise (told ya I’m not Indian – LOL!). The Airasia flight was ON TIME. Yes, ON TIME. I lounged next to an Indon on the flight. If that was a sign of things to come, it didn’t look good at all. The dude’s noisome odor seemed to have enchanted flies on the flight. YES, there is nothing wrong with your eyesight, there were FLIES on the plane. Hahahaha! They need a holiday too I guess!

We flooded in at the Ngurah Rai Intl Airport with minimal hassle (and did the hustle – cue Do the Hustle song). We were greeted by a driver named Budi, who motored us to our Allseasons Hotel in Legian, which was under 1km away from the renowned Kuta beach. On the way there, we drove passed the 2nd bombing (year 2004) location. The place was untouched, exposing blackened dilapidations for all to see. I think it is a stark reminder to those who lost their lives.

The hotel was FANTASTICALLY gorgeous, and for RM97 a night, it was a deal of the century! The actual rate was purportedly RM190, but thanks to the Matta Fair in March, we got catchpenny rates. They checked us into our own separate rooms on the ground floor of the hotel, just a footfall away from the pool, the ambience was picturesque. I was awestruck.

Myself and Ravind (dude in the photo) gallivanted around our new home, consumed Soto Ayam, and then blueprinted our itinerary over the next couple of days. We then visited the hotel spa, got a kickass 2-hour massage package for just under RM110, which was a steal! The surrounding was bedazing. We were definitely in paradise.

The nightlife though was kinda disappointing. “Sepi”, as Indonesians would describe it. “Quiet” as iteys whiteys (white folks) would describe it. Taxis here are freakingly overpriced because most of the hotspots are situated on one-way streets. We forked out a minimum of RM15 for every cab ride.

The cab fella chauffeured us around, trying to fleece us, only to discover that we were Malaysians, then things got a whole lot better. We went to suss out the local’s favorite club, Kamasutra, but the place was placid. So we ask the cab driver to drive us to some bars that are the stomping ground for locals. The dude somehow misconstrued that as a hint for sex. He brought us to a brothel in Sanur, and we were overwhelmed with 30+ Indonesian women, circling around like vultures, looking for some meat to devour. I don’t think so!

5 minutes later, after blarneying the cab driver that this is not what we wanted, we got him to drive to Hard Rock instead. On the way to Hard Rock, we passed an engaging bar strip, which was only a stone’s throw from the first Bali bombing area in 2002. We checked out a place called Paddy’s Club. And no, it’s not Irish at all, though we did mollycoddled ourselves to Guinness Stout all night long. Drinks are expensive in Bali.

The local women were pretty decent. Way better than Phuket and Koh Samui. And the good thing was, it didn’t have a sleazy feel to it. We didn’t come here looking for some meaty action (though if we got some for free we wouldn’t be too upset about it – haha!). After a couple of Guinness, I went up to a local chick boogieing near us, and influenced her to join myself and Ravind. She danced really well. I was shanghaied. She tried confabulating with me, but I guess I was too drunk to be bothered in the first place, so I left it to Ravind to philander with her.

Our gallivanting ended at 2:30am. Watch out for more Bali reflextion in my next entries. In the meantime, I shall leave you with a couple of pics of my hotel room and its surroundings.