I took leave today to go to Matta Fair. Its my first time there. Wanted to look for ground transfer to Bali. Yeah, we booked the flight early this year (hehehe) when AA offered great fare to Indonesia. We didn't tell anyone about it cos we didn't have other details for the trips, like accommodation and itinerary. No point telling others when you don't have enough details right, hehehe. We purposely waited for the Matta fair to get a good deal on Bali hotels/tours. And the second reason is also to find a good rate for Bangkok. A couple fren is going to Bangkok on the 1st week of May. We thot we'd love to join them, if possible :)
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Once we bought our entrace ticket which is RM3 per person, took our free tote-bags, the first thing we did was to check-out the Bangkok package. Man! They were so many people! Initially we thot we could get a good package deal but we surveyed and make inquiries and nothing came out to our budget. The flights be it Air-Asia, MAS and Thai Airways were so expensive, it cost about RM1,200K for one person for flight only, belum masuk ground transfer and accommodation lagi!! No wonderlah, its peak season since 1st May is Labour Day around the world (i didn't know, bee told me, hehe). We really really wanted so much to join our good friend to Bangkok but its just not meant to be. Sorry guys, maybe next time insyallah, next destination??!!
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At last after making several inquiries, several stops at most of the booths, walking around the exhibition halls for many rounds, collecting brochures along the way, being harassed by numerous sales promoters, kaki pun dah sakit, finally, we managed to get a good deal for Bali.
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All the while, bee already decided that we should go there for relaxation and stay at some 'less-crowded' place. As you know, i'm a beach lover, so i wanted to stay in some beach-front hotel but hotels in Kuta/Legian area does not have private beach and i'm not that keen on Sanur area. We've been checking-out Bali maps via internet for the past few months and we decided and identified to stay somewhere in Tanjung Benoa/Nusa Dua area which is more quiet. We also read so many reviews about hotels/resorts/villas around the area.
We were about to engage with one hotel representative from Bali; until we came across Tradewinds Travel Agency who matches our requirement but with more goodies added-in such as; ground transfer, full board halal-meals and 2 full days tour. It might cost a little bit more but i guess it saves our time looking for meals and tours (actually i takda masa nak check-out on meal places and tours.....overwhelm with work-work-work).
Bee suggested the resort since we both fell in love with the place after looking at their promising brochures. It looks relaxing and peaceful. The hotel is only 20 minutes away from the airport and they have shuttle service twice a day to go to Kuta town which is only 25 minutes away. At first bee wanted to stay in Ubud area but I don't want to stay in a too secluded area altho' the sceneries were beautiful. Alas he gave in to me and we unanimously decided to stay in Tanjung Benoa. Insyallah, we'll be going there some time in June. Up till today nobody knows (incl my immediate family n relatives) about us going Bali except for those who reads this blog, hehehe.