The Island Explorer

The last time I was in Bali, I stayed in Ulu Villas, thinking it was just a resort. I was shocked that it was a private compound, with only 4 rooms, all villa style. This was almost 5 years ago, and it was my first time to stay in a villa. This time, I made sure we stayed in a villa again. Bali is perhaps the birthplace of the villa concept, and thus, Bali has several options. I have been searching the net for cheap but nice villas, but I wasn't able to book one until the night before we left for Bali. The only one available was Pyaar, an Indian inspired villa in a compound called 4@Drupadi. The compound was located in Seminyak, the upscale neighborhood of Bali. I initially wanted a modern Balinese villa, but I couldn't find any. And besides, I couldn't find a price that could match the one I got. Imagine, $200 a night for a 3-bedroom villa. And the pictures from the net didn't look bad. So, I went for it, and told my agent to make the booking. Imagine my expression whe

On my last trip to Bali, I was not able to go to Ubud, the premier highlands town of the island, around an hour's drive from Kuta. Ubud is the supposed center of arts and culture of Bali, luring artists, writers and other creative minds. To us Filipinos, Ubud will look like Tagaytay, sans the beautiful Taal Volcano. It has the same atmosphere, cool and pleasant weather, and lush vegetation that stems from the mountainous backdrop. Ubud has attracted a lot of designers from local to international ones, thus, making it a great place to visit some fabulous design hotels and restaurants. We only had 3 hours to spend here though, as we intended to just have lunch in a hillside Indonesian restaurant. Ubud has more Western visitors than Asian visitors and I could see why. Ubud is a mountain village, painted with green rice fields, cascading waterfalls and gushing rivers and creeks. It can be any of the millions of rice plantations we have in the Philippines. What makes Ubud so special is

Kuta is the heart of Bali, where most of the action happens. The long and wide Kuta Beach has inspired artists, stoked surfers and attracted beach bums from all over the world I have never swam in Kuta Beach, because I don't find it that clean. Since it is a huge public beach, there are a lot of people here, and sometimes, the litter find themselves on the shoreline. The water isn't as clear as well. The Philippines has way better looking beaches. Kuta is a seaside town, and a very vibrant one for that matter. It has several shopping areas, such as the Kuta Square, a strip of international brands and local stores as well. The Matahari Department Store is also located here. Several hotels line up the beach road fronting Kuta Beach. Here, one can find the first Hard Rock Hotel in Asia. Since Kuta is a busy and congested area, most of the hotels here are not ultra luxurious. There is a wide range of accommodations to choose from, from cheap beach inns to high-end mega resorts, to

Welcome to the Island of the Gods - the ultimate island destination in Asia, Bali in Indonesia. After spending 2 days in Jakarta, my family managed to make last minute arrangements to the famed tourist spot. We were fortunate to find reasonable airfares (4k pesos roundtrip) via Air Asia flight from Jakarta to Denpasar in Bali. I have been in Bali 3 years ago, so I was expecting that much have changed. My parents were just in Bali six months ago, so I was expecting them to reminisce about their recent trip. We arrived at 8AM, after an almost 2 hour flight. After getting our luggage, I arranged for an AUV that would be delivered to our villa after lunch. Yes, we stayed at a villa. The best thing about Bali is that the island was the birthplace of villas - detached private accommodations that mostly boast of its own pool and luxurious amenities. I will be talking about our villa in my next entries. For now, we were picked up by the villa manager, and jetted off to Seminyak, the upscale ne