As part of my year end escapades, I recently went on a short trip to Bali. Even though it was the peak holiday season, I was surprised that tickets up on AirAsia were still very decently priced just a month prior to travel, and seats on the SQ return flight was still widely available. On the day of departure, we checked in at Terminal 4 using the Self-Check-in counters.
Passed immigration and security into the duty-free shops.
T4 FIDS. Mainly AirAsia departures.
View of T4 departure hall. It was not busy at all at this time of the evening.
Popped into the Blossom Lounge for some quick bites. It was my 3rd visit to this lounge this year, and hence just sharing some photos of this pretty decent lounge.
Food selection was limited but quality was above average.
Headed to the gate at G2, where boarding had commenced early as the aircraft had arrived ahead of schedule.
11 December 2019
Indonesia Air Asia
QZ 509
Singapore (SIN) - Denpasar Bali (DPS)
A320
PK-AXU 'Lombok Livery'
Economy Class
Flight Time: 2H14M
Boarding our Lombok-liveried A320.
Red headrest priority seats and Emex row seats.
Across from my normal seat.
Tight legroom as expected.
Inflight literature.
It was drizzling outside.
Completed was completed swiftly and crew doing pre-departure checks. Safety demo was performed manually.
It was only a short taxi to the runway.
Departure from Rwy02C.
Service started shortly after departure, with the distribution of pre-ordered meals followed by BOB sales.
Meals and drinks sold. Service was generally casual and friendly.
I pre-ordered an Indonesian Nasi Padang, and max-ed my meal with a pasta salad and a chocolate muffin. The pasta salad and muffin were normal, while the Nasi Padang tasted authentic (served along with keropok) but rather spicy.
The other pre-ordered meal was the Korean Sweet and spicy chicken, which was pretty normal and a 'safe' choice.
Visit to the lav towards the end of the flight. It remained quite clean though as expected, stocked only with the necessary amenities.
View of the forward half of the cabin. Flight was not full, which was surprising for the holiday season.
We were soon descending into Bali, flying above northern Kuta.
Landing in Bali and taxied to the remote bay.
Look at my seat during disembarking.
Down to the tarmac to the bus for the short ride to the terminal and immigration. At DPS, it might actually be better to park at the remote bay as the normal gates can be a very long walk to immigration.
Immigration and customs queues were not too bad at the time of arrival (I had much worse on my past trips) and we were out into our ride to the villa within 30min. Stayed at Sun Island Boutique Villa at Seminyak. It was conveniently situated along a main road, but villas are well-hidden behind quiet and peace.
Each villa had a private pool, and was also well-furnished.
View of the villa pool in the morning.
The rate includes daily breakfast, which is ala-carte and can be ordered into the villa. We had breakfasts daily in the villa. The breakfasts were pretty tasty and beautifully presented.
Headed down to Kuta for some shopping, as well as a short stroll along the beach.
A ceremonial procession along the beach.
Bali bombing memorial.
Nice Balinese dinner at Warung Padmasari.
For dessert, Bali limited-edition Magnums!
An early start the next day with again in-villa breakfast.
For today, we had hired a private driver for a tour of Central Bali. First stop was Tegenungan Waterfall.
Sights at the waterfall.
Next stop at Elephant Cave.
Cleansing at Tirta Empul Holy Water Temple.
Lunch with a view.
Tegallalang Rice Terrace
Monkeying in the forest.
Ubud Market
Wonderful dinner at Kendi Kuning. Third time to this restaurant and the high standards remained.
Breakfast on the last day.
Late tasty lunch at Made's Warung. Last dose of Balinese food before departure.
