We departed early to Tegenungan Waterfall at 9AM. Mimi reached our hotel to pick us up 5 minutes earlier.

Ticket price was IDR 20.000 per person. There was a parking fee around IDR 5.000. There were some souvenir shops selling nice looking summer vibe clothes. I was tempted to buy a romper but I was so sure I could find the same romper in Ubud Market with a cheaper price but turned out I couldn't.

I didn't expect much from Tegenungan Waterfall. I wasn't really looking forward to this tourist spot because I felt it's just a normal waterfall which were similar to our waterfalls in Malaysia. The only reason I inserted this waterfall into our itinerary was to add more variety to our trip. Plus, visiting waterfalls is one of the popular things to do in Bali, right? Travelling with parents who were not as healthy and strong as they were before limits the choice of waterfall we get to visit and Tegenungan Waterfall was one of the most accessible waterfalls in Bali. The waterfalls that I really wanted to visit were those magical ones like Nungnung Waterfall and Lekeleke Waterfall.

OK since I wasn't impressed by this waterfall I would skip describing the place and just show photos instead.

Bird nest thingy for photographs

Tegenungan Waterfall

Tegenungan Waterfall

After the waterfall, we went to Bebek Tepi Sawah in Ubud for lunch. This place exceeded my expectation!

First of all, the environment was awesome. There's a calm country style vibe to it. And we get to dine at the little huts beside the paddy field! Place was very quiet and breezy. We enjoyed the view so much. My mum even asked my sis to follow her around taking photos for her haha.

We also really loved the Balinese food served by them. All the dishes we ordered suited our taste and their food presentation looked very colourful and appetizing. BTW I've read somewhere that you should order avocado juice in Bali whenever you see it in a menu in any restaurant. It's like you can't go wrong with avocado juice in Bali. I had only tried it 2 times in 2 different restaurants and both were good.

We ordered Crispy Duck (IDR 135.000), Bebek Betutu (IDR 140.000), Nasi Campur (IDR 70.000), Avocado Juice (IDR 28.000) and Fruit Punch (IDR 35.000).

Bebek Betutu

Crispy Duck

Nasi Campur

Avocado Juice & Fruit Punch

Although the prices were considered high but it's quite worth it since we enjoyed it.

Bebek Tepi Sawah, Ubud: https://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Restaurant_Review-g297701-d1953278-Reviews-Bebek_Tepi_Sawah-Ubud_Gianyar_Regency_Bali.html


The next place I planned to visit was Ubud Market or Ubud Monkey Forest but Mimi suggested us to visit Tirta Empul instead. I planned Tirta Empul and Tegallalang Rice Terrace for the next day initially because these two places seemed to be in the same direction on Google Maps but she said that there was actually no road that connects them both and we have to go different directions to get to these two places. So, it's better to go today since we had free time. Although I was doubtful but I guess we had to trust her because she's local after all.

Tirta Empul is a very famous temple in Bali that's like a must-go spiritual place for many foreigners. To me, it's just a temple. Sorry, I'm not a religious nor spiritual person haha. The reason I put it in my itinerary was for the sake of visiting at least a temple in Bali haha.

The entrance fee for Tirta Empul was IDR 50.000 per person. We get to borrow their sarong without additional charge.

Balinese door at Tirta Empul

The holy spring at Tirta Empul

Canang Sari

Canang Sari

Statue

When we were leaving Tirta Empul, we had to walked through a "maze" inside a souvenir market to get out of there lol. I think they sort of designed the roads as such to make us walk through the souvenir market as long as possible to boost their business? Anyway, we didn't really bother to look at the stuffs because I thought we would find better deals at Ubud Market. BUT, I regretted this decision because after that I found out that the shops at Tirta Empul probably sell much cheaper because they don't have as much crowd as Ubud Market.

Next, we went to Ubud Monkey Forest. It's just place where you can experience the tropical forest and look at mischievous monkeys. Monkeys are quite common in my country so I wasn't really excited about it. I didn't take any good photos of them coz I was busy taking videos. The ticket price was IDR 80.000 per person.

Monkeys in Ubud Monkey Forest

Monkey drinking water from sink

Wooden path in Monkey Forest

Dad acting cool

After the Monkey Forest, we went to Ubud Market. I was quite disappointed with it. The items they were selling were nice, but the prices were not as cheap as I expected. And the sellers were not friendly. They reminded me of the sellers in Hong Kong. Rude and arrogant. I even saw a tourist quarreled with one of the sellers because of the seller's attitude. So eventually, we didn't buy anything from Ubud Market.

Initially, I wanted to buy a Bali straw bag that's very famous so I was browsing around. Then I asked a seller and tried to bargain, she said it's net price and she was like really annoyed that I still tried to bargain with her when the price she gave was already very low. And when I asked to open the bag to see the interior and took some time to choose between the different designs of the fabric inside the bag, she kept complaining stuffs in their Bali language that I didn't understand but it definitely sounded like she was impatient. So at that moment, I decided not to buy from her. Err.... eventually I decided not to buy straw bag at all lol. Because to be rational, the bag is not practical enough for me. I would probably just keep it in my shelf after I got back from Bali. I wanted to buy a straw hat too but I didn't see any that I like.


We had our dinner at Naughty Nuri's Warung, Ubud. We ordered two Spare Ribs (IDR 260.000), two bowls of Rice (IDR 20.000), a glass of their signature Martini (IDR 120.000) and Orange Juice (IDR 14.000).


Naughty Nuri's Warung, Ubud: https://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Restaurant_Review-g297701-d1077574-Reviews-Naughty_Nuri_s_Warung_and_Grill-Ubud_Gianyar_Regency_Bali.html

Naughty Nuri's Spare Ribs and Martini

The pork ribs were okay but like I said, Iiga Warung's ones were more tender. The Martini though was really strong and nice.

Before, we went back to our hotel, we asked Mimi to bring us to somewhere to buy bread again. This time, she brought us to a supermarket called Bintang. I liked this supermarket because I think their prices were the cheapest in Bali, be it groceries or souvenirs. Since we had already exceeded the 10-hour quota of our driver service, we didn't have time to shop so I just made a mental note to myself that I will come back again another day for real shopping haha.

Mimi dropped us off at our hotel and we paid her IDR 50.000 in cash as overtime fee.



Our hotel for 3 days in Ubud was Alam Terrace Cottages. This hotel was the one that I most anticipated and had the highest expectation because it's the most expensive one I booked and from the photos it looked like my ideal place for stay in Bali. It has the Balinese style decorations that I liked.

The service was great as we were greeted with welcome drinks by friendly and super polite stafffs although we check in around 10PM at night. The place was situated outside of the main road, which gave it a secluded feel. Nevertheless, it's just within walking distance to the most happening road in Ubud -- Jl Raya Ubud. Never need to worry about what to eat because there were a lot of restaurants, pubs and 24-hour convenience stores nearby. Sometimes, if we're lucky we would bumped into cute little doggies who roamed around the small road that lead to our hotel entrance.

So, the location and ambiance of the hotel were great, but there were a few downsides. First, they didn't provide dental kit, so I had to buy toothbrush and toothpaste from the convenience store. We also spot some ants inside our room, probably because there were tropical plants outside. The water pressure of the shower was also very small and there seemed to be an unpleasant odour coming from the drain in the bathroom.

Price of our room was IDR 776.790 per night. I booked through Booking.com and was a little shocked that my room was not paid online yet. So we had to use my dad's card because we didn't bring enough cash and there was a charge of 3% for using card.

Pool view from our room taken in the morning

The rooms

Alam Terrace Cottages: https://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_Review-g297701-d6982694-Reviews-Alam_Terrace_Cottages-Ubud_Gianyar_Regency_Bali.html