2009-08-19 Arriving at Bali

Life is always busy after long period of vacation. Picking up with works, sorting travel information, cleaning room, check car and etc, and of course important and time consuming work is sorting photo too :) Anyway, although still lots of things on task list, but everyday a little, it will be a mickle, will slowly finish it up. So not to delay further, here we go for the first post for my recent bali trip :)

It has been almost 2 years, or maybe longer since I last step into LCCT (Low Cost Cargo Terminal) international check-in hall. It really surprised me that it has been expanded so much. Last time there was only McD and few shop. Now there is even Old Town Coffee. The check-in hall is also much bigger than before. Another thing surprised me is Air Asia check-in counter.



There is a row of around 16 counter, with 13 operating at the time I tried to check-in, all for destination to Indonesia! Of course this is just around 1/4 of the total check-in hall size. Now I understand the proposal of Datuk Tony Fernandes of having Air Asia own airport.

After that, we proceed to international departure hall. This time we need to take escalator go to first floor, after custom and security check then take escalator down to the departure hall. The escalator was not there at all during my last time here :) Holy cow, it is at least double the size of two years ago.



Unfortunately our flight was delayed for around 1 hour. Luckily it delay no further than that. Another tips, always verify the departure gate at check-in counter. The departure gate shown at display TV are not updated :O.

I ordered a squid nasi lemak on the plane. In my mind, I still remembered the last Air Asia tasty nasi lemak. When I got my squid nasi lemak, I was a little bit disappointed. Although the taste is still okay, but the portion has decreased by almost half. Trust me, my appetite has been adjusted to Penangite normal lady appetite, no longer Beijinger appetite, my stomach was still not full after I finished it. So if you ordered Air Asia nasi lemak few years ago, please adjust your expectation if you ever order it again on the plane :) I did not expect this as the food price actually increased around 30%. By the way, it cost me RM 9.



Bali is in the same time zone with Malaysia. Denpansar airport is smaller than Penang airport I would say. The custom clearance is not as slow as that of yogyakarta, still acceptable. After that, I tried to look for the correct baggage claim conveyer belt. But all display TV on top of the conveyer belts are not turn on. Guess how you know which conveyer belt to collect your luggage? Look at picture below for the answer :D



Oh of course there is always some free map, tourist information brochure like hotel and car rental brochure available at this arrival hall. Since we have enough information, we did not stop and straight proceed to get a taxi.

Once you come out from the arrival building, pay attention to the Taxi signboard at your right. It was a very long queue, I can't remember how long it took us to get a taxi, it was at least 20 min. There were not enough taxi that time I heard.



At the counter, after paid, the taxi driver will come to you and show you the direction to his car. Not forgot to mention, most of the taxi here is Toyota Vios. As a Malaysian, you will understand my feeling when you see Toyota Vios is so commonly used as taxi :p And of course there are also Honda City :D As for car rental, it is popular to have Toyota Kijang, Suzuki and etc. Usually MPV or van.

It was quite late when we reach hotel. As we were tired and hungry to go to restaurant outside, we felt so lucky the hotel restaurant is still opened. Guess what, we are the only diner at that time :p


Satay (IDR 30K) - The sauce is different from that of Malaysia. After try other restaurant's satay in following few days, I think I can conclude that satay sauce here usually has peanut butter taste, as the peanut are grind very finely. The meet is not as 'fragrant' as of Malaysia satay. I still prefer Malaysia style satay and sauce better :D


Pizza (IDR 25K) - Surprised to see the price is cheaper than satay :O It tasted quite good though. The dough is not too thick and quite crispy. At least thinner than Pizza Hut's pan crust dough :p

Aug is considered peak season, and the hotel price is expensive. We stayed at Bali Sandy Cottages and it costs IDR 412500 per room, for two persons. During non peak season, the price can be cheaper by a lot :) But the weather make this a peak season period, you will understand why I say so in my upcoming few more posts :)

Stay tune.