The Bali Post

Bali. A cliched honeymoon destination for most of us Malaysians. Relatively cheap attainable flight tickets and hotels. You will be spoilt on choices. But you have to know where you want to stay of course. Question to ask yourself before booking include, are you a beachy kind of person or the jungle serenity type?

 Me? why not do both? So we split our stay. One at the Sakara Ubud Resort and another at the Rimba Jimbaran by Ayana. Let me share you my Bali highlights. Sankara is located in a small village in Ubud region. Its secluded from the bustling city and very private. Rates per night is considerably cheap and staffs are very friendly and most helpful.

After a two night stay we headed to the city, Kuta. One of the highlights in Kuta is most definitely our late lunch at Ku De Ta. A cool upbeat restaurant serving good food while hearing the sound of waves crashing the shore and wait for it, watching the sun sets by the beach. Thats the most Bali thing to do! Patrons can opt to lay on the grass outside (cushions provided) or have your food inside. Definitely love the vibe as well as the food.

Our next stay was in Rimba Jimbaran by Ayana. Entering the huge estate itself is already an experience. Rimba has a more modern contemporary setting while Ayana has the classic traditional Bali feeling. The highlights of our stay in Rimba would definitely be The ever famous Rock Bar, Unique Rooftop Bar and Kubu Beach. All these facilities are shared between guests staying in any of Ayanas Hotel. The place is so huge that you will need a buggy bus to take you anywhere you wish to be. And oh, you are provided a map incase you get lost. Kidding! Rates here are a little more expensive but definitely value for money.

Tip: If you are planning to go to The Rock Bar, be as early as 4.00PM as the queue might get a little unforgiving. But if you are staying in any of Ayanas Hotels, fret not as you will be given priority ;)

Next, the last stop we went to is lunch at Di Mare, Karma Kandara. We called for reservation earlier just in case there were no available seats. We had the most wonderful lunch at the cliff overlooking the beautiful beach, Karma. We then head down to the beach by a tram, and went to have coffee at the Karma Beach Bar. A perfect end to our honeymoon.

So for the lovebirds out there, you might want to consider Bali, as cliched as it may sound. You just have to avoid the overrated tourist spots and really do your research before going. Good luck!