So after staying up late after our New Year celebrations in Bali and getting only 3 - 4 hours of sleep, we woke up bright and early to take a 9.00am ferry out to Giliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.

1 January 2015 (Thursday)

We arrived at Gili at about 12.30pm, earlier than the check-in time which was supposed to be 3pm but the villa we stayed at made quick arrangements so we could check in earlier! Yay for Kelapa Luxury Villas! ♥

Look at the three of us, attempting synchronized swimming bahahahaha

Anyway, we got the 3-bedroom villa named Villa Orchid and it was such an awesome villa to lepak lepak!!!!! The food was great and the service was excellent too, we had absolutely no complains. We were checked in by their staff Bayu, who was very friendly and helpful and patient!

The location of Kelapa Luxury Villas itself is a little dalam for my liking though, it's not by the beach or anything, so we had to take horse carriages in to reach the villa. Villa provided bicycles so it's a 10 minutes' ride to the main shops and restaurants.

We ordered food in since we were too lazy and tired to cycle out. Spent time swimming and chatting and napping before taking horse carriages out to our very special dinner on our first night in Gili.

Why special? Because.....

..... our dear Fattah proposed to our dear Faezah lah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GOT SO LOMANTIK NOT KENA PROPOSE ON GILI BEACH. 

Part kena propose tu memang lomantik ah. Part nak kena plan surprise dengan the groom-to-be tu more like lunatik aku jadinya hahahahaha.

I think we almost blew our cover a few times planning for this surprise wedding proposal lor! But everything turned out really, really, really nice and heartwarming in the end, although I couldn't believe it when the bride-to-be started crying halfway?!!! I'll spare her from embarassment and not post her weepy face shots here lah hahaha. But don't both of them look so damn radiant in the above picture awwwww

Okaylah, actually I know why she started crying, it was quite sebak okay, they've been together since FOREVER (Okay, when we were all 14) and like what I said to Faezah right after I congratulated her... "Long time coming, isn't it, babe?" I was there when they first met and to see them happily arrive at this life chapter after so many trials and tribulations is truly an amazing thing, and an honour of sorts.

After rounds of congratulations and toasts and "selamats" (hahaha inside joke) we tucked into dinner which was fully paid for by the groom-to-be WOOHOO SIAPA NAK MINTAK AKU TOLONG PLANKAN PROPOSAL DINNER LAI LAI haha

And when dinner ends, that's where the kuda story starts. 

It was quite late when we were done with dinner so the streets were deadly quiet and dark since Gili kan belum fully developed. No proper roads and no proper lights to illuminate the way when you want to travel around the island.

Since we didn't want to walk back to the villa in the dark with our stuffed tummies and we didn't have our bicycles with us, we got the restaurant staff to arrange for 2 sets of horse carriages to bring us back to our villa (which came after 1 hour by the way, geram je aku tak boleh picit 6552 1111)

Faezah, Saliheen and I took the first horse carriage together and as we were cutting through the forested area in the darkness, with only the rhythmic sounds of the horse's feet click clacking through the bumpy tracks and the mud sloshing under the carriage wheels when suddenly... *BAM* OUR HORSE WENT NUTZO LAH SIAL.

He started neighing hysterically and started kicking its legs up into the sky and our carriage rattled so much from his sudden jerks and jolts that our carriage almost toppled over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TAK KELAKAR BEB. 

Itu kuda pikir dia geng kuda kepang beb.

The first thing that flashed through my mind was this is it, this horse is going to gallop too fast, too crazed, too erratic for its jockeys to catch up and we are going to spend the next few seconds deciding whether to jump off the carriage, roll onto the muddy tracks and risk sustaining injuries as we crash through the roadside graves (there were plenty on the way to our villa) or hang on for dear life not knowing where this freaking kuda is going to gallop towards in the dark and just fervently hope it doesn't slam the carriage away and hurt us in the process.

But lucky there were 2 jockeys (More like 1 jockey and his friend decided to come along on his night shift lolz) because both of them managed to grasp the carriage ropes in time as the horse surged forward and somehow found the super strength to rein the horse in time. Kita kat belakang dah tersynchronized ah kita punya WHOAAAWHOAWHOAwhoaWHoawhoooaaaWHoa macam choir tak bertauliah.

It took them about 5 minutes to sort of calm down the horse and guide the horse back ke pangkal jalan. I think it was about that time I decided I wasn't going to return to fucking Gili until they pave proper roads so we can move around on motorbikes or buggy carts, at least! #pamperedcitygal

Besides it was quite kesian to see the horsies trudging along all around Gili! Apparently the horses are well fed and they work in shifts but, you know... still.

Oh, and in case you need some visual aid, horse carriages in Gili look something like these:

Check out how 'open' the carriage is yer. Nasib baik aku berat geng, kalau kudut confirm aku dah slip through and tercampak keluar. Well, come to think of it, maybe kerana aku and Saliheen berat, the kuda tetiba mengamuk and nak mogok kot??? Hahaha ha ha ha ha ha

2 January 2015 (Friday)

Group snorkelling the next day! Honestly, I wasn't keen to go because: 

(1) I promised myself I'd take it slow in Gili (which part of snorkelling is relaxing, you tell me?) 

(2) I've snorkelled in Maldives which was already gorgeous and memorable - how can Gili top that?  

(3) I'm not really a water activities person (I love everything that has to do with the sky - parasailing, bungee jumping, skydiving, count me in. But the sea? Nah-uh, not my thing) 

But Saliheen didn't want to go if I didn't, and I know how much he loooooves the water and when he's happy, I'm happy so kita pergi lor. 

Unfortunately I wasn't particularly impressed by the spots we went to at all, there was a lot of rubbish in the sea, and when I saw one packet of Indomie trapped under a reef underwater and three freaking plastic bags floating around me at one particular area, I lost it. Sat out the rest of the snorkelling trip ha ha. Part balek seram sikit because the skies were dark, the rain threatened to pour and our little boat was getting whipped back and forth by angry waves.

Part dah sampai balek villa lagi best and what I was looking forward to because after washing up, it was time for our massages! Arranged for in-villa massages and even though getting massaged on sun-chair cushions laid out on our villa bedroom floor weren't my idea of an ideal massage experience, the quality of the massage more than made up for it.

The masseuse I got was soooooooo good!!! I told her all about my abused thighs from trekking in Bali and expected the pain to be unbearable when she started kneading my thighs but there was no such thing. She was so gentle but so so so effective!!! All the knots and aches in my joints and thighs were all gone by the time I slipped her the huge tip she deserves lah!

Anyway, we timed our in-villa massages such that when we were done, our in-villa barbeque session would have already started... and it did. Perfectly on time. YUM YUM YUM! 

Sorry, gambar makanan blur sikit sebab aku dah excited and tak sabar nak makan haha. And actually ada banyak lagi dishes but no need to see lah, just know that they were all sedap. Everything was grilled to perfection!!! Needless to say, we had a nice hearty meal on our last night in Gili :)

3 January 2015 (Saturday)

Nothing much to say pasal our last morning in Gili ah, we had our usual breakfast, rode out to Ombak Sunset for more photos on their famous swing (see below), did some last minute shopping and then headed back to Bali to catch our flight home. 

I think the journey from Gili to Bali made this one of the worst days from this trip? We had to wait for close to 2 hours for the ferry in Gili, we were in the ferry which was thrashing through crazy waves for close to 4 hours (when it was supposed to be less than 2 hours) and then another 2 hours inside a cramped passenger van which brought us to the airport in Bali.

(Apparently we were stuck in the ferry at sea for almost 4 hours because the sea went wild and the waves went higher than the ferry sampai my friends started fearing the worse and looking out for exit points lol can you believe I freaking slept through it all?  I've always thought that in cases of emergencies, I'd be the first one to die because I'm always so clueless and ignorant of my surroundings)

Will I return to Gili again?

That last day really made me re-think as to whether I would return to Gili again, honestly. The exhaustion from travelling to and fro Bali and Gili sucked. The journey was time consuming and energy sapping and takes the fun out of a relaxing beach holiday, imho.

The food was good and the beaches were pretty and blue on the surface but I also couldn't get past having to choose between horse carriage, bicycle or my own pair of legs to move around the island. Too much time, too much hassle.

If I ever do return, it's because they've done something about their transportation choices and I'd fly out to Lombok instead of Bali before taking a ferry out to Gili so that the travelling time will be quicker. I'd also choose accommodation that is on the beach and near the famous Ombak Sunset swing, like Hotel Ombak Sunset.

Will I return to Bali again?

As for Bali (which I've blogged about here), I'm really not that thrilled about it either. Which sucks because I know it's because of my own personal experience? It was my first time in Bali and everyone who's been in Bali told me before I left that I will love Bali and what it has to offer. I did not.

I got hassled everywhere I went, almost every seller I encountered was aggressive or out to cheat, the traffic jams were unbearable and a colossal waste of time (apparently only during New Year period though!), I didn't get to taste enough good authentic Balinese food, I was blindsided into doing outdoorsy shit that my body and I were not prepared for (e.g. trekking downwards for millions of miles before water rafting), I didn't get to have proper good time to relax on the beach, I didn't get to be at places I wanted to be because we were either short on time or everywhere was jam packed.

I won't write off Bali completely, though. I don't mind returning to give it another chance but I'll probably do it differently: 

(1) Choose another area other than Seminyak (Shopping not so shiok and no street food in Seminyak wtf)

(2) Choose a villa that is nearer to the beach 

(2) Take it slow and not pack too many activities in one day. I'd want time to go Tanah Lot and Waterbom!

(3) Get a good knowledgable driver who will not be goblok and recommend shitty places out of his ass

(4) GO TO BALI DURING OFF PEAK PERIODS GODDAMNIT.

Will I travel overseas again to celebrate the New Year? 

Sure. But only if it comes with a nice private villa by the beach, with my husband, who will not mind celebrating the stroke the midnight with cuddles by our private pool instead of battling it out with swarms of sweaty slimy revellers. Other than that... KIRIM SALAM SUDAH.

Yok Kita Pergi ke Bali & Gili!

My girlfriends Faezah and Rai and I as well as our partners made travel plans for the end of the year!

We've already decided at an earlier meeting (one of our friend's anak's birthday party) that we will travel to Phuket on 30 December 2014 so kita punya plan last Friday was to meet up at my place to: 

(1) draw up a tentative itinerary for Phuket;

(2) look at possible flights to Phuket;

(3) look for possible accommodation in Phuket for consideration.

What we eventually did:

(1) drew up a tentative itinerary for BALI AND GILI instaed;

(2) BOOKED our flights and transfers to Bali and Gili;

(3) BOOKED our accommodation in Bali and Gili.

HAHAHA SEMUA AH TUKAR!!!!! Instead of travelling to Phuket, we're now travelling to Bali and Gili. And instead of travelling on 30 December, we're adding one extra day so we're leaving for Bali on 29 December pulak. 

Pastu since we were all so worried that prices will go up up and up, we looked at the possible flights and accommodation, found them cheap considering our popular dates, and everyone just went "Book sua." 

Don't know whether it was excitement or 3am delirium ke ape (yes, we were still discussing our options at 3am like the burung hantu that we are), but we were obviously in a #YOLO mood that night morning LOLZ

I'm still reeling over the fact that I am finally going to celebrate New Year's day overseas for the first time in my life and at Ba freaking li, no less - this will be my first time in Bali, you know!!! (I've been reluctant to travel to Bali after reading No More Tomorrows, a book based on the true story of Schapelle Corby)

And since I'm still reeling, let's gush over the villas that we've booked for our holiday! 

Boleh tak? Takkannnnn tak boleh kan.

Our villa in Bali!!!

I think we will lepak the most by the private pool! And from the map, it seems like the villa is a short distance away from a shopping mall and supermarket so senang lah gitu. Not that we have to worry about travelling around the island since we've settled our driver in Bali as well - he'll be on call 24 hours whoop whoop.

And here's our villa in Gili, insya Allah!!! (We're checking with the villa people whether we can request for this one - they have five 3-bedroom villas and this is the one we like the most)

Really lovin' the open concept of this villa! Open air kitchen, open air bathroom, open air dining area segala. 

We checked the map for Gili and it seems like this villa is about 10 to 15 minutes walk to the beach. Will most probably naik basikal (provided by villa) everywhere and cut down the travelling time since there are no other transportation like cars and buses in Gili. 

Oh, hello there new countdown!!!!! :D :D :D

 Six months to the madness, tak sabarnya!!!!! Time to research, research, research!

For Bali, we're currently planning on visiting Tanah Lot, Kuta and Canggu areas, checking out Hard Rock Cafe Bali, Potato Head Beach Club and Jimbaran Bay, trying out white water rafting, cliff diving (kalau ada), flying fish, and lazing at the beach. Might skip Uluwatu's kecak dance because ada yang tak interested and ada yang penakut haram *cough* my husband *cough*... but we'll see what happens when we're there lah eh.

Nothing much for Gili because it'll be more relaxed than Bali so we're most probably gonna chill at our private pool and enjoy the beach aje. And do the Bean Boozled challenge HEH HEH HEH.

If anyone's been to Bali and have recommendations on where to go or what to do, please jangan segan and jangan silu to passing info okay? I also very tak segan and very tak silu ask for recommendations hehe.