Honeymoon Post #2 : From Ubud to Tanah Lot, Ended in Kuta

Hello Thursday! The first #ThrowbackThursday post is here.

This post has been in my draft for far too long. *my bad* :sigh: So, this is story about my honeymoon – it’s just two years ago, not too old, yes? 😀

Please enjoy!

It is a story of our first day in Bali. As I stated in this post, we choose to wake (as) early (as possible for our tired bodies – 8 am is still considered early for a honeymoon morning, right?). The rental car was delivered after breakfast and off we went to Ubud around 10 am. My husband is the one in charge to drive while I was navigating him with GMaps in hand.

Pecatu to ubud was not a short journey, it took almost 2 hours to reach our first destination: Bebek Tepi Sawah Restaurant. The restaurant itself was in a very large compound with real paddy field as the view (before this time, I ate in Bebek Tepi Sawah outlet in mall: to see a real one was joyful) – even if the paddy field was in planting season.

We ordered our favorite: crispy duck with plecing kangkung and some infused water (+ ice tea for my husband). I couldn’t remember the other side dishes that we ordered but I do remember how full our stomachs were. They cost us around $50 (around Rp 500.000 – the exchange rates were not as high as now).

With our full stomachs, we drove around Ubud, enjoying the green of its forest. We went to Monkey forest but only till its gate : take videos of monkeys and then off to Tanah Lot.

Gmaps was very useful in our trip, since we had no knowledge of the route. I have to warn you tho, Gmaps gave us the shortest routes, of course, but by the shortest I mean they really were shortcuts that made us take a very small road, even the one in the middle of a paddy field or small village. Thank God that our car was a small one!

I remember vaguely that our trip from Ubud to Tanah Lot took around 30-45 minutes. We arrived around 4.30 pm and my husband really loved the view. He took many pictures and I told him about the giant snake – he had to see the snake alone, since I am not a fan of snakes. I have visited Tanah Lot before in one of my work trip, so I was kinda noisy telling him where I have been when i was there with my friends.

We heard announcement about the Sunset with Kecak Dance and that was so appealing, but we both weren’t enjoying the crowd in Tanah Lot. We remember being told about the beauty of echo Beach and how serene the beach is : off we go to Echo beach, which luckily only took around 15 minutes.

Rather traumatized by the Gmaps’ routes, we asked local people how to get to Echo Beach to catch the sunset and liked the answer they gave. We were in time to see the beautiful sunset in Echo Beach.

We didn’t stay long in Echo Beach. We were going to spend the night in Kuta Area, since that was my husband’s first visit to bali, Kuta was a must visit place. By the time we get to Kuta, our stomach was growling but we need to take some pictures first so we can enjoy dinner. 😆

…and we went to Wendy’s for dinner! 😆

Our savior. ?

See you in the honeymoon post #3!

Love,

the daRk Jasmine

Marching March #SuperLatePost

Last march I went to Magelang and Bali for my university admission test. Nope, I am the examiner, not the participant. 😀

In Magelang, we had >200 participants, so we have to work harder but still had so much fun, while in Denpasar we only tested 48 participants… it was a holiday under cover.. 😀

here are some pics from my journey.. enjoy it!

11th March 2013

landed in Adi Sutjipto airport of Yogyakarta.. it was weird, you know, arrived in Yogya but couldn't stay there.. :(
landed in Adi Sutjipto airport of Yogyakarta.. it was weird, you know, arrived in Yogya but couldn’t stay there.. 😦

In Magelang, we spend the night in Grand Artos Hotel, such a lovely hotel that is in one building with grand artos mall. 😀

a View from my room in Grand Artos Hotel, Magelang, Central Java
a View from my room in Grand Artos Hotel, Magelang, Central Java
another great view from my hotel room
another great view from my hotel room

Magelang, 13th March 2013

delicious on-sale cake at Grand Artos Hotel
delicious on-sale cake at Grand Artos Hotel

Magelang, 14th March 2013

Little garden on the rooftop of Grand Artos Hotel
Little garden on the rooftop of Grand Artos Hotel
Relaxing near the pool
Relaxing near the pool
wise words in Mirota Batik's Rest Room - Yogyakarta.. just awhile before we went to the airport
wise words in Mirota Batik’s Rest Room – Yogyakarta.. just awhile before we went to the airport

I arrived in Bali on 18th March 2013 and stayed at Mercure Hotel just across Kuta Beach. What a wonderful Hotel with a wonderful view from the pool and the restaurant at the top floor.

Kuta, 18th March 2013

welcome to the sunny Bali!
welcome to the sunny Bali!
A garden in the lobby of Mercure Hotel at Kuta Beach
A garden in the lobby of Mercure Hotel at Kuta Beach

I have a really nice stay in Mercure Hotel at Kuta Beach, Bali

I have a really nice stay in Mercure Hotel at Kuta Beach, Bali

Beachwalk, a nice mall in Kuta
Beachwalk, a nice mall in Kuta
a statue in "Simpang Siur"
a statue in “Simpang Siur”

Kuta, 20th March 2013

a pool at the roof top, with Kuta beach as the grand view
a pool at the roof top, with Kuta beach as the grand view
breakfast at Mercure Hotel
breakfast at Mercure Hotel

Kuta Beach in the morning

Kuta Beach in the morning

Ubud & Jimbaran, 21th March 2013

-Ubud-
-Ubud-
Bentar Temple -Ubud-
Bentar Temple -Ubud-
we had to wear this sarong if we wish to enter the temple. nice one btw..
we had to wear this sarong if we wish to enter the temple. nice one btw..

Candi Bentar -Ubud-

Candi Bentar -Ubud-

still in Bentar Temple -Ubud-
still in Bentar Temple -Ubud-
-Ubud-
-Ubud-
Bentar Temple -Ubud-
Bentar Temple -Ubud-

after sunbathing in Bentar Temple, we went straight to bebek (Duck) Sawah Indah for lunch, unfortunately the service there took a long time and we were starving, but the view was magnificent!

The gate of Bebek Sawah Indah -Ubud-
The gate of Bebek Sawah Indah -Ubud-
having lunch in Bebek Sawah Indag, Ubud
having lunch in Bebek Sawah Indah, Ubud
charming view welcomes you in Bebek Sawah Indah -Ubud-
charming view welcomes you in Bebek Sawah Indah -Ubud-
Bebek Sawah Indah -Ubud-
Bebek Sawah Indah -Ubud-
le Me
le Me

-Bebek Sawah Indah-

-Bebek Sawah Indah-

reflection
reflection
ice tea for my hot body :p
ice tea for my hot body :p

Full tummy means happy body,, :p off to see the monkeys

a Monky in Ubud
a Monkey in Ubud
whadda naughty monkey! you know how to pick a girl, don't you?
whadda naughty monkey! you know how to pick a girl, don’t you?

Time for a farewell, we went to Jimbaran for Dinner but turns out that we have to wait longer for the sunset and it was very hot there before the sunset..

Jimbaran!
Jimbaran!
jimbaran at 5pm
jimbaran at 5pm

a bright sun. a shady beach

a bright sun. a shady beach

the life is starting at afternoon here
the life is starting at afternoon here
The sun is ready to set at Jimbaran
The sun is ready to set at Jimbaran
waiting for the sunset
waiting for the sunset
good bye, Sun! Good Bye Bali!
good bye, Sun! Good Bye Bali!

ps. all the pics are taken and edited in iPhone4s

See you in my next journey post..

can’t want to be in Makassar next May!

Love,
Tha Dark Jasmine