Royal Java Spa Experience

Before I went to Bali I've done quite a lot of research including reading blogs and forum and almost every sites mentioned about spa experience in Bali. So it immediately got listed into my To-do list in Bali.

I based my research mostly on TripAdvisor but when I was at Bali, the amount of massage parlor and spa in Kuta overwhelmed me. There are so much to choose from and frankly speaking, some look rather dodgy to me.

In the end, I chose to go my hotel spa. I stayed in Harper Kuta and they have in-house spa. 

Breakfast view in the morning

After breakfast, I made appointment for my spa treatment at 11am. There are so much package to choose from depends on what you want for your body. I decided to go with Royal Java because I like the sound of it. 

Once I stepped inside the spa, calming music greeted me. It was rather a quiet morning for them which was a plus point for me. I don't like going to busy spa as I feel like the staff cannot concentrate on my treatment and too much noise will definitely break the calm atmosphere.

I was led to the room above for my treatment and told to undress. This is my first time for full body spa treatment, so I'm not sure whether I should take off all of my clothes or keep my undergarment on.

Well, this disposable panty told me to take all off and put in on.

My treatment consists of body scrub, lulur, body massage and more things that I couldn't remember now. Well, this is what happened when I blog about the experience 4 months after. The only remarkable thing that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life is the boob massage.

No kidding guys! The lady literally took off the only cloth that covered my upper body. Her finger slowly dancing on my skin and scrubbing away the dead skin with lulur. Next thing I know her hands were on my boobs happily scrubbing away and massaging. 

I was shocked but it happened so fast that I have no idea how to react. I have never been to spa before so I'm not sure if the spa treatment includes boob massage.  

Taking my hot bath after the treatment. It felt so good.

My flower tea

When I poured in the honey and stirred the tea, it turned yellow.

See! But it taste so good.

I really love the spa experience except for the boob massage part. My package was IDR300,000.00 if I remember correctly. I would say it worth the try but if I want more pamper treat, I would choose full body massage over spa because it less hassle and no boob massage involve.

My Neighborhood dogs

Two months ago when I was getting ready to leave for work in the morning, I spotted a cute dog outside my gate. She looked tame albeit slightly dirty. I have never see her around before. I left for work and came back in the evening, she still around. This time I patted her.

She looked so innocent and just wanted someone to play with her. One thing that I can confirmed is that she's not a stray because she got her collar on. Every time I walked Pino, she walked alongside with me. I named her Nomi.

For a few days, I only spotted her alone but my mom found her owner and they lived a few houses away from us. One day, when I was walking Pino, I stopped by the house and guess what?

She has puppies!

Oh my God, these puppies are the cutest thing ever. They are so small and soft looking. I guess they only a few weeks old. When I first saw them, they can barely walk and still drinking milk from their mama. Fast forward to almost 3 months later, these pups are the most active doggies I have ever see.

My heart melts <3 p="">

Meet Kiki, she's the laid back version of her brother.

This is Koko, the hyper active puppy that loves your attention

I'm such a dog person that it doesn't take long for me to fall in love with these 3 dogs. However, I am really mad at their owner. I first discovered Nomi because she was running away from her house. I found out the owner always locks and leave them in her porch area for days without feeding them. Nomi escaped through the iron gate shown below because she is so skinny.

She just gave birth to 2 puppies and her owner didn't feed her regularly. Most evenings I would feed her and her little family some leftover food. They seems so happy and devoured the whole bowl in seconds especially Koko.

This was taken months ago, now they both had grown up and displays totally opposite attitude.

When I walked Pino in the evening, I often brought them along and they would run happily with him, except that Koko is such a bully to Pino. Maybe they just want to be friends with Pino but I have to admit that Pino is a bit snobby and has a strong alpha male attitude. So, our evening walks often consists of me chasing Koko to stop chasing Pino meanwhile Nomi blocking Kiki from chasing Pino too.

These puppies are so active that I often found them fell in the drain and had to rescued them. One time, Kiki was missing for 2 days and I thought she was gone for good. But at 5 am, I heard a loud barking just outside my house. I knew it must be her, True enough, I found her barking form the drain and covered in mud. 

More than 1 week ago, the same thing happened. Kiki was missing again. I didn't see her for days when I fed them. I thought she would come back like she did before but until now she still remains missing. Then 5 days ago, Nomi is missing too. Maybe she went looking for Kiki but it's been days and they both still remain missing.

I'm so sad and did tried to look for them. I searched around my neighborhood and shouted for them but no response, I'm really worry because it is been too long and I have no idea what happened to them.

Did Kiki fell into the drain again and didn't make it this time because it rained quite a lot lately and surely the water level is high. The drain was dry and empty when I first found her. I scare that she got washed away by the current. What happens to Nomi then?

She's adult dog and surely she know how to save herself. My mom speculated that somebody must have taken Kiki because she's cute. Could the owner took them away perhaps? Because they now hang around in front of my house instead of their owner's house. 

Koko is still active these day but he looks really lonely and sad that his mother and sister are missing. I hope Kiki and Nomi will come back soon. These are the dogs that greet me everyday once I step out of my house and I am already emotionally attached to them. I really miss seeing all of them playing together.  I wish for them to come back and reunite again.

Update:

I just found out that Nomi was taken by municipal council as they claimed her as stray dog. She is not a stray! She has her collar on. It's been 3 weeks I think and I just contacted my friend from the municipal. She informed me that after 3 months if nobody claim the captured dogs, they will be put down. T_T

I don't want that to happen to Nomi, I love her as my own. I did went to her owner house to talk to her about claiming Nomi back but she didn't even come out from her house. I was positive that she heard me calling her but no response. I'll try again tomorrow or else I myself will claim Nomi.

As for Kiki, she's still missing. I'm not sure where she is.

And Koko, he got really sick last week and vomited more than 7 times in the span of 4 hours. He refused to eat and lost weight. We had horrible storm 2 nights in a row and he was cold and shivering outside. When I found him underneath our car in the morning, my mom almost ran him over, accidentally of course. He was all wet and cold. We took him in and he rested 2 days in our porch, still refusing to eat. His body is covered with ticks too.

I was really worry that I will lost Koko too. Luckily on the third day, he got better and started to gain his appetite again. Today, his owner gave him bath. He is all fresh and clean, so full of energy and I'm so happy for his development.

Next thing that I need to do is rescue Nomi from the municipal council.

Dreamland Beach, Bali

After my tour to GWK, Pak Putu asked if I wanted to detour and stop by Dreamland Beach. We passed by the entrance when we're on our way earlier and he said the beach is really beautiful. I have always love beach, of course I said yes.

We drove past golf course, private estates and shopping center under construction before reaching Dreamland. We have to park our car at the parking lot nearby and took a mini van down the steep slope to the beach because public vehicles are not allowed there. 

I was skeptical at first because the sight that greeted me once I got off the mini van wasn't quite pleasant. Stray dogs were everywhere and I tried to steer clear of them because I have read about dogs in Bali mostly infected with rabies.

Walked further down, I walked past stagnant pond filled with black water and littered with trash. What an eyesore. But I still got my hope high as I observed more and more tourist walked down the beach direction past vendors that sell ice cream and grilled corn.

But what I saw upon reaching the beach took my breath away. The sea water is so blue and beautiful.

My kind of paradise.

Although it was an overcast and windy day, the beach still packed with visitors. So packed that you cannot get a photo without a group of people photobombing you. There is restaurant nearby but it is only for their hotel guest I guess.

If I have a change of clothes and some extra time to kill, I will definitely walk further away to the right as it was quieter and less crowded and lay down my sarong and relaxing there. But I have no idea that we will stop by as Pak Putu suggested this last minute so I have to pass on the opportunity.

Red flag but people still swimming in the sea. #YOLO for them

I really love to stay longer but we had to leave as I wanted to continue my tour to Luwak coffee plantation and Uluwatu to catch the sunset.

If you're planning on lazing around doing nothing but hanging out by the beach, I definitely recommend Dreamland. It will better if you come in the morning when the beach is less crowded or you could just walk to the right side to a secluded area and have the beach all by yourself. My take of Dreamland, it is a beautiful hidden gem but the people there need to stop littering in the stagnant pond and take care of the surrounding area. 

GWK Cultural Park, Bali

My very post on my solo trip in Bali, after two months lol.

I'm not the most efficient when it comes to update my blog especially my travelogue but at least I'm trying. I wonder how does those full time bloggers cope with writer block/ procrastination and laziness. Anyway, I miss Bali so much when I was editing my photos. It felt like my 3 nights 2 days trip was too short. 

View from my hotel room. It rained and cloudy when I was there.

By the way, I stayed at Harper Kuta and the hotel is amazing. Normally I hate to sleep in hotel alone because it creeps me out all the time. But Harper Kuta gave me such a homey feel which I'm really grateful for. And the wifi is strong too which is a huge plus point for me.

The only downside of the hotel is that it is surrounded by clubs and bars. So the noise could be very disturbing at night. I only had hard time sleeping on the first night because it was really loud but the subsequent nights, I was too tired to even care.

But this is something that you have to face if you decided to stay at Kuta area anyway. Kuta is well known for its nightlife. Cheap beers and loud music are everywhere on the street.

My spacious and comfy bed.

I was so happy that the hotel was great and I paid less than RM250 for 3 nights because I offset it with my Agoda points. I saved so much and frankly my whole trip + flights + accommodation costs less than RM1.5k. I prepared everything a year beforehand when I booked my flight during AirAsia promotion. 

My favorite part of the hotel is the glass wall of the toilet. I can do my business and watching TV at the same time which I totally did. hahahha

I opted for tour from my own hotel since I was alone. I have no specific itinerary and I figure I just go with the flow. So, I hired a driver and he suggested the Uluwatu tour for me. My driver, Pak Putu is such a friendly man. I was skeptical at first because I had my guard up so high when I was alone. 

We chatted about our background and I found out that his daughter works in the same company as me. What a small world. Another thing that I like about him is that he never ever push me to buy/go to any restaurant or shop if I don't want too. Because I know that these tour drivers get commission if they recommend their client to some shops or restaurant.

I like his style so much that I hired him for my whole stay. So, he's sort of my designated driver for the trip. 

Our first stop for the tour is Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park. That's Pak Putu walking ahead of me with umbrella because it drizzling the whole time. ='=

I have never heard of GWK Cultural Park before. And actually feel quite stupid because I didn't Google it beforehand. If I had known, I'll probably skip this park because it was about Balinese traditional dance show, nothing really outstanding for me. 

There are 5 dances overall and each has a story of its own such as the welcome dance, the masked monkey and the evil vs the good man. All of the stories are dated way back.

With the masked monkey man

Pak Putu then brought me around the area to see the giant Buddha statue.

Me and the giant Buddha. The statue is still under construction therefore the missing limbs. Some more there are supposed to be a Garuda on top of the Buddha.

This is the Garuda that supposed to go on top of the Buddha statue. The whole statue estimated to complete in a few more years.

We walked through the creepy limestone wall to exit the park when suddenly I heard sound out of nowhere. Super scary leh because it was just me and Pak Putu and it was quite cloudy and dark. Then Pak Putu pointed to a loud speaker attached to one of the wall and laughed at me. -_______-

I spent less than one hour in GWK and find it actually quite boring. 

Oh, the entrance fee is IDR100,000.

My Capsule Container Experience

Cheat post ahead! Copied it all from my Dayre because I feel like I want to. HAHAHA

So I have always wonder how does it feel to stay in hostel/dorm or even sleeping in a container. Well now I wonder no more because I've stayed in the Capsule Container in KLIA 2. 

This is my container. I opted for a 12 hours stay because I had 14 hours layover. It was RM100 plus tax which I gladly paid because I can no longer sleep on the floor at the airport or Tune hotel.

Surprisingly, the mattress is super soft and the space is not as small as I thought it will be. It is limited but comfortable enough for me. There's no door though, you will have blind that you can pull down when you're sleeping.

All of the containers are stacked together like in the photo. Lucky I got the lower bunk because it is quite troublesome if you got the top bunk. Have to climb up using the metal stair and probably will woke your lower bunk roommate up when climbing up especially if you are not a graceful climber like my container mate did that night.

I asked for a locker since I have luggage and backpack to store. Their lockers are however located outside, next to the check in counter. Which is very troublesome la. Like I need to take my pj and toiletries from my locker, walked past 2 electric doors which need to be opened by using your container card. The 2 electric doors are good measure for safety but location of the locker is too troublesome to get access to la if you know what I mean.

I already got my pj but forgot my undies, so have to back to get it again. It is a short distance but really troublesome. Like the next day, after my shower, I need my make up case which I forgot. So I need to go out to the locker to get it with my wet hair dripping. Lucky the check in counter was empty. It will be better if the locker storage is located near the container for convenience. But then it probably be too loud because of the metal locker clanking everytime you open it

My container tour! Hahaha they provide you with mirror compartment for your makeup but terrible lighting so can't do make up here.

You will have phone which is used to wake you up once your time is up. They have 6 hours stay and 12 hours stay. So once your option staying hours is up, you have to check out or else they will ring you to chase you out hahaha. Have a charging station too. Not sure what is the ventilation there for but probably for aircond. I put my hand there to feel the air but feel nothing leh. But don't worry la, it is not hot inside.

Pulling down my blind and I'm ready to snooze. Can see the shadow of the stair outside. Oh yeah, they provide you with clean towel too. So no need bring your own.

Now bathroom tour! So you will share bathroom with others. There are 2 showers with hot water and 3 toilets. The hot shower seriously feels like heaven sent after you been travelling the whole day. The bathroom is clean too.

The simple shower room. Oh yeah, I wish that they provide flip flop because you will need it for showering. In case that you're travelling in heels or sandal, sure you don't want it to get wet. Lucky I got mine. Or else you will have to shower bare feet. 

Make up station! They have hair dryer so no worry for wet hair.

And giant mirror for your OOTD hahahaha

Overall it was a good stay for me because of my long hour layover and I need a place to crash for the night. Except that other patrons were quite noisy eg. walking and talking loudly. Their wifi is reliable too.