Perks Of Staying In A Private Villa

My hubby gave me a puzzled look when I told him that I booked three separate accomodations during our Bali Trip.  He later understood when I explained that the spots we wanted to explore were in different locations.  But another reason behind my decision was because I also wanted to compare different accommodations and find out which one I would prefer should we ever go back to Bali. Yes, we're definitely going back! 

Of the three places we stayed at, my favorite was Suara Air, a private villa. 

Suara Air was 3-bedroom villa located outside of Ubud central.  It was set among a forested area where a river runs through thus giving its name Suara Air which meant "song of the river".  You could book just one bedroom or choose to block all three rooms if you were coming with your family or with a group of friends. Since it was just my hubby and I, we booked just one room.  

Let me share our experience and the perks of staying in a private Balinese villa.

You Experience Absolute Privacy

Compared to hotels, staying in a private villa gives you your own space, lots of it.  This is very important because Bali could get so touristy specially during holidays.   When renting a private villa, you don't just get your own room, you get your own house, your own home away from home!  You have your own garden.  You don't have to share the lounge area with people you don't know.  You have your own breakfast area. And you know that that reading nook will always be empty anytime you want to spend the afternoon reading. 

We transferred to Suara Air on a Friday. It was around Chinese New Year that time and we expected all the three rooms to be fully-occupied.  But when we got there, I was delightfully surprised to find out that the other two rooms were empty.  We were alone. We had the whole place to ourselves.  Thank God for the favor :)  

Hubby and I were going to celebrate our first anniversary as a married couple in a few days. We were so thankful that we got to really have some time-alone.    Without other guests around, we could truly focus on each other, have meaningful conversations.  We were able to evaluate our first year of being together and share how each of us has grown as an individual.  

 Its infinity pool is set among a backdrop of trees. The flowing river serves as the background music.

At night time, there's nothing but the sound of crickets and geckos :) 

You Get Your Very Own Pool

I enjoy swimming and I prefer Olympic-sized pools. Suara Air's pool was not Olympic-sized but it was the biggest I have seen during our trip.  It was huge compared to the others. 

Having our own private pool also allowed me to wear my swimsuit comfortably!  I have no confidence issues wearing a swimsuit in a sports complex when I need to exercise and do laps.  But I'm not confident enough to strut in a swimsuit in a public beach or hotel. So I enjoyed our own pool area where I could walk around and swim and sit and relax in my swimwear without worrying whether it was too revealing. Or whether I looked pregnant when I sat.  And I didn't have to worry if hubby was checking out some hot ladies.  You could say that I am a wise and strategic wife hahaha!

My ilovekoi swimwear was revealing too much skin... and too much fats.
So I could only do this pose. Hashtag post-marriage body.

You Wake Up to Serene, Peaceful Mornings

Unlike others who spend their vacation to catch-up on sleep, I love waking up early when on holiday.  I enjoy discovering the beauty of the place just before everyone else wakes up.  I also grab that opportunity to spend time with God. Yes, I still prefer having my own one-on-one dates with God, without the hubby. 

While we were there, I didn't listen to worship songs on my iphone. Instead, I just listened to the sounds around me. The soft rustling of the trees.  The bubbling water of the pool.  Someone sweeping the leaves on the grass.  Some birds chirping. The flowing river.  The hushing of the wind.  The crowing of the rooster.  The dancing leaves.  Some footsteps of the staff.  The flipping of pages of the book I was reading.  And I was reminded again that we could truly hear God if we remove the noise in our lives. 

 

You Set Your Own Rules

This is why private villas are perfect for families and couples specially those on honeymoon.  You have the entire place to do whatever you want.  You can hug and kiss your hubby for as long as you want. You can walk around in your PJs or night gown. You can let your kids can run around without worrying that you will disturb other guests.  

You can also go swimming even under heavy rains and no one would judge you, Haha!

  

You Receive Personalized Service

Three days in a villa of our own made us feel a little more special and relaxed.  We were less worried and more carefree knowing that the staff were focused on all our needs.  

Private villas have their own set of staff.  The more expensive and luxurious ones even provide you with a chef who will cook anything you fancy to eat.  Suara Air wasn't really a luxury villa I would say.  We didn't have our own chef.  But we still had the comfort of ordering food from our room or by the pool lounge and had it delivered to where we wanted to eat.  We knew that we were the only customers they were serving. We had the assurance that the waitress won't forget that we asked for more sugar and a refill of our Bali kopi.  

The hotel was located outside of Ubud central so the villa provided a free car service. We had our own driver, Wayan.  He would fetch us anytime we requested and would bring us anywhere in Ubud.  We didn't have to worry that he would be late because he still had to send another customer.  He was always punctual. At the end of the day, he would would wait for us at our agreed spot and would take us back to the villa.

 

  

Like many other tourists, you may always choose to stay in hotels and resorts because you think that renting private villas is expensive.  Or maybe because you are just a bit worried that the place is fake and you just don't want to deal with caretakers.  But based on my experience, you could find many affordable villas that would suit your budget. Whether you have a lots of money more to splurge or not,  Bali offers many options.   And if you want to make sure that you are dealing with a genuine caretaker, check out the online reviews before booking and making the payment. You may also ask me for tips through the comment section :)

Going to miss this place. 

Getting Lost While Finding An Organic Cafe

 

Our Campuhan Ridge and Sari Organik experience in Bali :)

 

We spent a total of ten days in Bali.  That's pretty long I know. And many people were surprised when I told them that we were spending several days in the island of the gods. And I could understand because usually Bali itineraries were limited to 3-4 days. 

 

I realized that holidays should not be sooo packed that you could only see the major tourist attractions.  It shouldn't involve just taking photos to be posted in facebook or instagram but lacking the real experience of what it's like to live in that place.   I believe travelling should be slow and unhurried.  Come on! What is the point of escaping from the busyness of the city if you would hardly have time to breathe during your vacation?  Holidays should allow us to slow down and and momentarily forget about time. 

 

We spent six days in Ubud, much longer than our stay in Seminyak.   We had plenty of spare time  even after we have visited the major attractions. We had so much time that we didn't mind even when we got lost in our wanderings.  If we were on a tight schedule, even the slightest delay would get me annoyed  and panicky.  But because we didn't have to worry about time, instead of fighting, we would just laugh and enjoy the sceneries we stumbled upon.  Most of the time, we just kept walking, eager to make more discoveries. 

On some occasions, we got seriously lost which was what happened when we decided to walk along the Campuhan Ridge.  We wanted to have some healthy breakfast among the rice paddies at Sari Organik. We later realized that these two places, although they were both tucked among Ubud's picturesque rice-paddies, were located in two completely different paths. 

We decided to wake up early to avoid the scorching sun.  And the many tourist that could un-knowingly photo-bomb our photos.  Our driver courtesy of Suara Air picked us as ealy as 5:30am. It was still dark when we alighted at Ibah Hotel.  We followed the instructions of where to turn and what to look for as suggested by some kind tourist who previously experienced it.  

Here is a complete guide on how to get there and what you would see along the way. 

We started as early as 6am. 
Except for another group of 3 Caucasians, it was pretty much just us.



It was Sunday and we sang hymns while walking.
It was a different kind of worship.  

It wasn't obvious that I dragged this sleepy-head out of the bead.

 

 

 

After more than half an hour, we still haven't reached Sari Organik.  We thought it was strange because the blog I checked mentioned it took only 20minutes from the main road. When we have reached the end of the ridge and we were then walking past villages and shops selling selling art pieces, we decided to check the map from the Ubud Life magazine which we always had with us. (It was given by the kind staff of the AirBNB villa we stayed at. ) After checking the map, we realized that Sari Organik wasn't located along the ridge, but was located along a different path, a totally-different one. And the only way to get there was to get out of where we were and go to the correct starting point.  

 

We had to walk for another hour before reached the main road again. We took a cab and the driver dropped us off after the Campuhan Bridge which was just few blocks away from Ibah Hotel where we started off earlier.  It took us 20 minutes to reach Sari Organik just like what the online guides said.  So what was so special about Sari Organik that we took great lengths just to eat at that café?

 

  

Sari Organik as its name implies is an organic café set among the rice paddies of Campuhan.  It is one of the ultimate places to get organic food in Bali.   They have their very own farm where they take most of the food they serve.  In fact, customers have the option to go and pick their raw food from the garden and then the staff will cook it for you.   Hungry and tired, we opted to just let the staff do the picking.

 

 

 

 

Some juice made of Kale and other leafy-veggies.

 

The veggies used for this omellete were not shipped from somewhere else
 but were picked from their very own organic garden.

I've never eaten spinach for breakfast :)

So we had our breakfast.  And for about more than an hour, we did nothing.  Except maybe a few things.  We stared at the rice fields, counted the dragon-flies we saw. Flipped through the pages of Ubud Life magazine again. Observed a French family and admired how the dad read stories to his children and wife. Whoah! So some fathers still do that?

 

Once we realized that we've spent to much time "doing nothing" we paid our bill and resumed with our aimless walking. 

 

We walked through what seemed like an endless path of rice paddies.  Aside from the locals greeting us "Selamat Pagi" which meant "Good Morning",  we were greeted by ducks, yes ducks! Plenty of them!   I've never sees ducks in Singapore except those cooked ones hanging in the kopitiams!  And I couldn't really remember when was the last time I saw real, live ducks in the Philippines as well.

 

Sometimes I envy God because he is not bound and couldn't care less about time. If you had all the time in the world, what would you love to do? Share in the comments section.  

A Love Affair with a Balinese Dog

This is a story of a dog we met during our Bali trip.

His name was Luki.

We met him during one of those free and easy afternoons when we had no particular tourist spot or café to visit.  It was our seventh day in Bali and our third day in Ubud. We have explored the main street, Jalan Ubud Raya and we have frequented Jalan Hanoman more than a couple of times because of Kebun, our favorite cafe in Ubud.  We've done our super-relaxing massage which is a must whenever you are in Bali.  The other day, we had a tiring day as we climbed Mount Batur.  So that Thursday  afternoon, we were just wandering  and it was pretty-much uneventful until we met a special dog. And that day turned out to be one of the most memorable days we had in Bali. 

The place was Jalan Bisma.  Like other streets in Ubud, it was lined with smaller temples, quaint cafes, home-stays and villas. We were greeted with nods and smiles by the locals as we walked past them. Occasionally, a lady wearing the traditional Balinese clothes with flower offerings passed by.

Ubud is Bali's artistic hub. 
And the people staying in Jalan Bisma expressed their art on the streets through this.

Balinese loved using flowers. 
White flowers were used to make these stairs even prettier.

Cobble-stone streets with old-world and artsy places to eat or just relax.

 

 

 

We stopped by one of the shops so my hubby could buy some shirts. It took him more than the usual amount of time he took to buy clothes.  One because he was haggling which is a necessary and valuable skill when shopping in Bali. And two because deciding whether to buy a "Hurley", a "Bintang" or an "I Love Bali" proved to be a very difficult task.  I patiently waited and just sat on the floor, amused that he was having difficulty deciding. And that he was shopping.  

 

Then this little dog with brown fur and round eyes came out of nowhere. Unlike the other Balinese dogs who announced their presence with loud barking even from far away, he quietly approached.   He was obviously shy but was curious just like any dog.

 

I started tapping his head and he responded by licking my hands. I liked him and he liked me.  When my hubby saw him, he liked the little dog too. No, he loved him, almost immediately actually. And Luki felt the same. And they had a nice time cuddling.

 

When we started walking off, he followed after us and refused to go back.  That night, when got back to our tiny Balinese villa, we kept thinking about him. 

 

 

 
The following day, while enjoying the famous pork ribs at Naughty Nuri's we still couldn't get Luki off our minds.  We decided to visit him again and asked the staff of Naughty Nuri's to pack our leftovers so we could give it to him.  

We were so happy as we walked along Jalan Bisma again,  excited to see his cute little face. We wondered how he would behave when he sees us again. Would he be as friendly as he was the other day? Would he love the yummy ribs from Naughty Nuri's?   

As we walked, we realized we didn't know exactly where he lived or even who his master was?  We went to the store where we saw him the other day but he wasn't there.  We started calling out his name hoping he recognize our voice or his name and would come out.  But he was nowhere to be seen.  We kept looking and calling for him.

After getting temporarily discouraged and distracted with the other dogs in the neighborhood,  we saw his little frame walking next to the store where we saw him the other day.   We excitedly followed him to where his house (or his master's house) was apparently. When he saw us, he recognized us and he was so thrilled, wagged his tail and ran towards me then to my hubby.  I think he liked my hubby more than me. But maybe cause hubby had the Naughty Nuri's ribs with him haha!


These Bali dogs found my hubby very attractive haha! Thanks to the ribs!

We gave this dog some of the bones. 
But he didn't show us love and warmth as Luki showed us.
 It was an unrequited love.

 

Cuddle and photo-op before he ran to my hubby for those pork ribs!

 

 

 

Look at them! Totally unashamed of PDA!

We gave him the ribs. Lots of it.  With lots of love and pats on his tiny head and rubs on his neck.  When we started walking away, he again followed after us. This time he followed until we got worried that he might follow us back to Singapore haha!  Or that we might kidnap and smuggle him out of Bali.    

But when we passed by the rice-fields, he got distracted by the dragonflies and went to  play with them. We were left on the sidewalk waiting.  By then, we had to pork ribs to lure him. So we slowly walked away. 

Somehow, you always remember the back of the people you meet.
Or maybe those of dogs.

That night, while having dinner, we wished we could have stayed longer and played with him more. Or that we could have brought more pork ribs.  On our last day in Bali, we wanted to see him again but opted not to.  Goodbyes are always heart-breaking.

Have you ever met anyone or anything that made you fall in love with a particular place? Feel free to share in the comments section.