Hong Kong,
Ubud, Gili T & Seminyak – October 2017
Bali PHOTO GALLERY / Hong Kong PHOTO GALLERY coming soon
DAY 1 – Hong Kong, (Tues 10th Oct 2017)
After 12 ½ hours we finally land in Hong Kong, tired but really, really excited. Not only is this a new country for Lee and I to explore but I’m super excited to be catching up with some of my old Aussie mates.
With the joy of Lee’s free international roaming, we decide to call upon our trusted friend Google and walk to our hotel. We decide that 30 mins isn’t far, however totally underestimate the heat and the humidity. Boy oh boy, it’s hot!
Our hotel, the Best Western Plus, is actually alright. It’s slightly dated but clean, spacious and we think we’re in a good location (near Sai Ying Pun).
After freshening up we head out to explore what the early evening has on offer, again opting to walk. We stumble across 208 Duecento Otto a cool looking bar and sample a few not so local cocktails (Aperol Spritz and Negroni’s anyone) and end up sharing a pizza. A little taste of Italy…in Hong Kong!
DAY 2 – Hong Kong (Wed 11th Oct 2017)
People say that when you come to Hong Kong there isn’t necessarily a long ‘to do’ list, but instead it’s about absorbing the atmosphere and living the Hong Kong life for the few days you’re here…so that’s what we set out to do (and to our understanding that’s lots of eating and drinking).
However a trip to Victoria Peak is a must, the highest point on Hong Kong Island! Confident I know what we’re doing, we head to the local bus terminal…and 45 minutes later of steep, windy roads with the occasional shear drop, we make it to the top, not realising that we could have got the Peak Tram that would have only taken us 10 minutes…Oh well, at least it was scenic and we’re doing it the local way. The views really were amazing!
Without a plan for the rest of the day we get the Peak Tram back down to the bottom and realise we’re close to Hong Kong Park so decide to take a peek in there, including walking around Edward Youde Aviary. From there we walk to the shopping district (Admiralty, Central and SoHo) and have a gorgeous lunch at Dumpling Yuan (on Wellington Street), a Lonely Planet recommendation. This place really didn’t look all that from the outside but it really was so good.
With tired feet we decide to head home but not before we stop at Winstons Coffee, a really cute coffee/cocktail bar (213 Queens Road West). Did someone say Negroni?! Back at the hotel we have a quick rest before heading back out to meet up with Kirsty and Andy, for what turns out to be a really funny drunken night! After getting lost on route (and nearly having a mental breakdown because it’s still so bl**dy hot and humid) we eventually find them at The Boilermaker; after copious amounts of wine, we then head onto to F.A.B (French American Bistro on Hollywood Rd) for a nightcap…or two!
DAY 3 – Hong Kong (Thurs 12th Oct 2017)
With a very slow start to the day we grab some lunch near our hotel, at what you’d describe ‘a place locals go’. Rammed full of business men and school kids, the food was absolutely delicious. We then slowly made our way over to Central Pier to catch the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui, where Courtney and Nick were hosting their pre-wedding drinks at Aqua. Because we’re so early and it feels like a million degrees, we decide to kill time at Harbour City, a really posh shopping centre, but to be honest we were only there to take advantage of the air-con!
A quick stroll around Cartier and Tiffany & Co and (unfortunately no purchases were made), we head to Aqua, where for the first time in years I get to catch up with Courtney, Siobhan and Kate. It’s soooo nice to see these girls. After knocking back the bubbles and white wine we catch the ferry back to Hong Kong Island, along with Slob, Brett, Hamish, Kirsty and Andy and head into SoHo for another round of gorgeous dumplings, this time at Wang Fu (again on Wellington Street). After filling our bellies, Lee, Kirsty, Andy and I head back to F.A.B for a cheeky few more cocktails…despite the fact that we should be saving ourselves for the big day tomorrow, it’s another late one!
DAY 4 – Hong Kong (Fri 13th Oct 2017)
The Big Day!
Having completely underestimated this heat, it’s a last minute outfit change for me! We jump on the Metro at San Ying Pun and head to the Ferris Wheel near Central Pier to catch the coach that Courtney and Nick laid on. Their beach wedding was on Lantau, described as Hong Kong’s largest and most beautiful outlying island
After a 45 minute ride we arrive at the venue, a cute beachside restaurant that’s been specially decorated for the big day and a beautiful alter on the beach. It really does feel like something special.
As expected it’s a boozy affair: the Moscow Mules were flowing, the food was amazing and the beach ceremony was perfect. We partied hard into the night until it was time to catch the coach back to HK Island, however in typical Courtney and Nick style, the night didn’t finish there and after a drunken goodbye with Siobhan and Brett, a handful of us went into SoHo/Central.
Lee and I somehow managed to lose everyone, however ended up having a brilliant night together, drinking and dancing the night away at Al’s Diner…Hong Kong’s finest (dive bar)!
DAY 5 – Hong Kong, (Sat 14th Oct 2017)
As expected Courtney and Nick’s wedding comes with a price, and that price is one BIG FAT hangover!!
Out of courtesy we drag our sorry butts out of bed and head to Shek O Beach for their post-wedding BBQ. It’s great that their wedding festivities are taking us further afield, we probably wouldn’t have explored Hong Kong’s beaches otherwise, but today isn’t a day we want to spend 45 mins in a taxi…but we do. Upon arrival we see that the beach is lovely and feels a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of HK city centre. That said, the weather has turned, we’re hanging…and Nick kindly advises us to check our flight as there’s a typhoon on the way! All this time we’ve been worried about flights in and out of Bali because of the volcano that’s threatening to erupt and now we’re talking typhoons!
Anyway, it was good to catch up with Courtney, Nick, Kirsty and Andy to discuss last night’s shenanigans, despite everyone’s lack of enthusiasm. Come 5pm we say our goodbyes, board the coach and head back to our hotel to pack up our suitcases before curling up on the bed, wishing for a new day!
Next stop Bali…
DAY 6 – on to Bali, (Sun 15th Oct 2017)
Having nailed public transport we checked out of our hotel and walked to Sai Ying Pun, catching the MTR to Central where we then hopped onto the Airport Express. By now the typhoon warning had hit level 3 and with heavy dark clouds filling the sky, I was a little anxious about our 5 hour flight ahead. It was a little bumpy to say the least!
Thrilled to have landed safely we hit the chaos of Bali Airport; it took a while to get through customs but as soon as we did we were met by our driver Tudo (arranged in advance through our accommodation, The Peacock Inn) with the drive to Ubud taking about 1 ½ hours.
Having been left in charge to book all of our holiday’s accommodation I was a little nervous to see we’d arrived at what looked like somewhere that was still being built and somewhere far away from the main action! I couldn’t have been more wrong; a little walk down the path and we were met with a gorgeous pool and checked into our lovely room with a huge double bed and brilliant sized bathroom/shower. Furthermore, after heading out to explore we discovered we were seconds from the main strip…panic over. I did good!
That night Lee tucked into a gorgeous local fish curry and me a chicken/rice dish at Nomads (which I’d highly recommend) and then finished the night off with an ice cream.
DAY 7 – Ubud, (Mon 16th Oct 2017)
Our first day waking up in Bali and despite being rudely awoken at 5am by the local cockerel, we were super excited. We had an amazing time in Hong Kong but our livers needed a break and we needed to slow the pace down.
After having breakfast (which was kindly delivered to our veranda) we headed out to explore further, Lee practised crossing the road without being hit by a scooter and I practised not falling down any potholes. With the place hotting up we were soon back to our apartment to jump straight in that pool. Bliss! Despite it looking pretty overcast the temperate was high and it was a welcome break from the humidity. The clouds didn’t last long though so we were soon sunning ourselves (later to discover “burning” ourselves!).
We had some gorgeous sushi for lunch (which was ridiculously cheap for the amount we had) and spent the rest of the day either by our pool or exploring the shops and local market. Later that night we had cocktails at Chill Out bar, dinner at Gedong (another really good dinner) and more cocktails at Nomads before getting another ice cream on the way home and calling it a night. And sleep
DAY 8 – Ubud, (Thurs 17th Oct 2017)
5am wake up call from the local cockerel – tick!
After our breakfast and morning swim we decided to head to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, home to 600+ “grey haired and greedy long tailed” Balinese macaques and quoting Lonely Planet “are nothing like the innocent looking doe-eyed monkeys on the brochure”.
WARNING: (among others)1) DO NOT PANIC, if the monkeys jump up on you, walk away slowly
2) DO NOT RUN, keep calm and don’t scream
3) DO NOT LOOK MONKEYS STRAIGHT IN THE EYE
4) TAKE CARE OF VALUABLES, they may steal your sunglasses, jewellery etc.
To say we were a little nervous was an understatement, especially as Lee had foolishly googled the sanctuary and learnt that them jumping up on you was actually really common. As we walked in I expected us to have to look hard for them…they were everywhere! They were sneaky and they were fast to assume you might have something worth stealing. Lucky for us we didn’t have our bags with us, as it wasn’t long before we saw a monkey jumping on to a girls’ back – she’d gone into her bag to get her camera out and the monkey thought food!
With my Canon DSLR firmly around my neck, knowing that any minute now I’m probably going to have to decide between fight-or-flight, I look over for Lee to reassure myself that he’ll come to my rescue…to see he’s too busy having a confrontation with one of the larger monkeys who’s trying to steal our water bottle. Needless to say the monkey won and Lee had his first encounter with a grumpy and aggressive alpha male.
For the rest of the day we wondered in and around the streets and through the market taking last minute photos and getting caught in huge downpours. For dinner we went to Oops; a bit dubious at first (who names a restaurant Oops) but it turns out this was my favourite meal of the whole holiday – Kemiri Cod Fish (Cod fish braised in Indonesian style coconut milk candle nut broth served with long bean, fried baby potato, slived tomato sided with steamed rice).
DAY 9 – Gili Trawangan, (Wed 18th Oct 2017)
Woke up early again today to the sound of that bl**dy cockerel but today it was OK as we had to be up and out early, as we were heading to Gili T. Picked up promptly by Patagonia Xpress at about 7:20am, the drive to PandangBai was pretty smooth (apart from Lee not feeling too well). Upon arrival all was well organised and we were swiftly given our ferry “boarding passes” and wrist bands stating which island we were heading to.
30 mins in and the boat stops in the middle of the really rough sea and it’s like all those dreadful reviews we’d read! Luckily a false alarm and we’re off again, however this journey really isn’t for the faint hearted, this part of the ocean is well known for being rough (and I think extremely deep) and safety standards on Indonesian boats is notoriously poor. We did a lot of research before booking Patagonia Xpress but all in all I’d say I was happy with them and felt reasonably safe.
(I’ve since learnt they’re permanently closed….not sure why though).
Arriving on Gili T was really exciting, the place looked beautiful. Gili T is the biggest of the three islands yet it’s still small enough that there are no cars, just horse and carts. We soon found our accommodation, Tir Na Nog; at first I thought I’d made another booboo as it appeared to be the islands Irish Bar (don’t get me wrong, I love a good Irish bar…but not when I want to sleep), but actually our accommodation was brilliant, equipped with a large open-air bathroom and something that looked like a four-poster bed.
With Lee still not feeling well he opted to have a lie down, so I amused myself by the pool. With bright blue skies and a hot beaming sun, it really did feel like paradise.
Come the evening we had a little stroll, had dinner at Natys restaurant, went for a walk up to the busier end and finished the night at a beachside bar, chilling on beanbags with a JD in hand. Only complaint was that it was really quite windy…although luckily still warm!
DAY 10 – Gili Trawangan, (Thurs 19th Oct 2017)
Possibly my favourite day of our holiday, today we hired bikes and rode around the whole island, stopping every now and then for either a drink or a swim. Gili Trawangan really is beautiful and so worth the bumpy boat ride to get here. Our only regret is that we didn’t stay here longer.
Come the afternoon we lazed around the pool, again enjoying the gorgeous weather (albeit a bit windy) and had a little wander around. Much to his annoyance, I wouldn’t let Lee return our bikes as I’d heard where to go for the best sunset and so come 5pm ish we were back on our bikes, watching the sun go down.
We went to Scallywags for dinner, a popular seafood restaurant that quite a few people had recommended to us. Five langoustines and a swordfish steak to share…it was soooo good. Unfortunately for Lee, he hadn’t quite got his appetite back, however that just meant more for me! We then headed back to Tir Na Nog, our Irish bar/apartment (where Lee was often referred to as Mr Radford, haha) and enjoyed a lovely night drinking whilst listening to some live music. All in all, a really, really good day.
DAY 11 – Gili T to Seminyak, (Fri 20th Oct 2017)
Sad to be leaving Gili T, we have breakfast, check out and make our way up to the “port’ (no boardwalk, just the bit of beach where the boats come in). Today we’re travelling back to the mainland with Bluewater Express, which through various research seemed to be the most reputable company, although to be honest when the boat came in, we were a little shocked at how small it was.
Wow, what a journey. The next 2 ½ hours were horrendous! The sea was sooooo rough and so choppy, I felt like we had purposely paid extra to be on an ‘adrenaline seekers’ boat ride. EVERYONE around us was throwing up into sick-bags, as the boat seemed to jump 10/15 ft. in the air. Credit to Bluewater Express, their staff were really good and we mostly felt safe…it was just a really unpleasant journey that went on and on and on! When we docked at Serangan, we got paired with a Swedish couple and the four of us were then driven to our accommodation in Seminyak. They told us how they’d travelled with Bluewater Express to get to the Gili’s a few days prior and how that journey was absolutely fine, but no, not this one (and she was one of the many throwing up!).
It took a while but we finally found our accommodation, Villa Lalu, set back a little from the busy roads of Seminyak. Not as modern as what we’d previously experienced, however the surrounding gardens were lovely, the pool looked amazing and it had an old-fashioned charm about it.
That night we headed to Ryoshi House of Jazz, a Japanese restaurant which was really good and then made our way down to the beach to park ourselves on one of the many beach bar beanbags.
DAY 12 – Seminyak, (Sat 21st Oct 2017)
After breakfast we took a stroll to see what Seminyak is all about; first impressions is that it’s a lot busier than I anticipated and it’s the first time we feel like we’re being a bit hounded. Every shop we walk past it’s “Mister, Mister, come take a look” and every 10 yards a different taxi driver is beeping at us, “taxi, taxi”, NO! If we want a taxi we’ll stop and ask for one, thank you! It started to get very grating and our patience was wearing thin.
Anyhow, we walked the long way to the beach, making sure we covered as much ground as possible and notice that Seminyak really does have a lot of lovely shops (the ones not pestering us to come in). We arrive at the top end of the beach and see it goes on and on, it’s so long. Unfortunately the sea is too rough for a proper swim so instead we just dip our feet.
By now we’ve walked loads and it’s hot, so we opt to get some lunch at a beachside bar. When I saw the large rat run under where we were just about to sit, that was probably the moment we should have looked for somewhere else to eat…but no, we park ourselves here and had a really below average toasted sandwich. Feeling a little restless (as we can’t swim and everyone wants to over-charge us to use their sunbeds) we decided to head back to the tranquility of our villa and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool.
Later that night we had dinner at Grain, just off of Jl. Raya Seminyak, which was really nice and listened to some live music (and watched a funny bunch of women get drunker and drunker). With it being a Saturday night (and quickly nearing the end of our trip) we decided we had to make the most of the evening and so wondered down Jl. Camplung Tanduk and had a cocktail at Mozzarella. Not wanting the night to be too pricey we left there and stumbled across Lucky Day Sports Bar; I personally felt like we could have been in Benidorm but anyhow, it did the trick. The more and more Jack Daniels we drank, the weirder the night got (funny that!). It wasn’t long before a very drunken Australian “local” asked if he could join us and before we knew it, he’d pulled up his stool, shortly followed by his Balinese wife. What with him being quite an arrogant, egotistic, sexist chap and her speaking quite poor English, it was an interesting night of conversation. At this stage I’m not sure what Lee and I were thinking but from there the four of us went for a ‘nightcap’ and had a couple more drinks in another bar down the road, before making our excuses and calling it a night.
DAY 13 – Seminyak, (Sun 22nd Oct 2017)
After last night’s slightly boozy affair we both opt for a day by the pool. Perfect weather for our last full day, our last day to really top up our tans.
If you visit Seminyak it seems a trip to Potato Head Beach Club is a must and so that’s what we decided to do on our last night. Prepared for the long queues we’d been warned about, we rocked up and luckily got in straight away (it seems the threat of Mount Agung erupting really did deterred a lot of tourists). Anyway lucky for us as it wasn’t long before we were laying back, sipping cocktails.
A short stroll along the beach and we arrived at La Lucciola and had another gorgeous meal, again another worthy recommendation and a perfect spot for our last night.
DAY 14 – Seminyak, (Mon 23rd Oct 2017)
Our last day of what’s truly been an awesome holiday. We didn’t venture far, instead we lounged around the pool, reading, chilling out and reflecting on the last two weeks, until we got a taxi to the airport.
From Bali back to Hong Kong for a 4 hour stop-over, we then had a nightmare 12-hour flight back to London, both with severe food poisoning…but I’ll spare you the details.
The End!
- TRAVEL DETAILS
FLIGHTS – Cathay Pacific = £1,268.34 (for the both of us)
DEPART: London Heathrow (8:10pm) – ARRIVE: Hong Kong (3:05pm +day)
DEPART: Hong Kong (10:10am) – ARRIVE: Bali Denpasar (3pm)
DEPART: Bali Denpasar (4:10pm) – ARRIVE: Hong Kong (9:05pm)
DEPART: Hong Kong (12:55am) – ARRIVE London Heathrow (6:30am)
BOATS to and from Gili T
Patagonia Xpress – £46 / approx. IDR 835,000 (for the both of us)
Bluewater Express – £82.50 / approx. IDR 1,501,000 (for the both of us) - ACCOMODATION
Hong Kong – Best Western PLUS / 5 nights = £508 (HKD 4,941)
Ubud – The Peacock Inn / 3 nights = £65 (IDR 1,139,297)
Gili T – Tir Na Nog / 2 nights = £105 (IDR 1,850,320)
Seminyak – Villa Lalu / 3 nights = £110
