Bali Driver - Denpasar Driver - Kuta Driver - Nua Dua Driver - Kintamani Driver

Bali, a place where you get a mixture of eastern and western culture, located in Indonesia, but with a taste of its own, such that you don't feel like you are in Indonesia.

The best way to travel around Bali is to hire a local driver who can speak English and knows the places well. Before hiring a Bali driver, it is important to check whether the driver:

1) can speak English (if you do not know Bahasa Indonesia)

2) has valid driving license (without this, the driver may try to avoid local policeman inspection by taking a longer route to reach the destination)

3) has a car with good air-conditioning

Depending on the car model, the price for hiring a driver for a day varies. If you are willing to take Toyota Advanza, for instance, the price can range from 300,000 Rupiah to 400,000 Rupiah, depending on the number of hiring hours. Toyota Kijang or Toyota Innova, a bigger multi-purpose vehicle can take more people (8 people, generally), will cost at least 450,000 Rupiah and above.

Ketut Suwendra

While I was in Bali, I have engaged Ketut Suwendra as our tour guide and driver. He brought us around in a new Toyota Advanza car. Together with his brothers, Made and Nyoman, they formed a team to provide the best possible services to tourists.  They also have good Toyota Kijang and Toyota Innova vehicles, and it is up to customers to decide on the preferences.

Ketut Suwendra is an experienced Bali driver, who can recommend places to see in Bali, according to your travel preferences. He can bring you to the most beautiful places in the island of bali, providing you with the information of local history and culture. He is always seen wearing a friendly smile. He is always so courteous, trustworthy and respectful to us during our few days’ tour under him. We felt very secured and safe under his guidance. 

Contact Information for Ketut Suwendra:

Mobile or Handphone contact : +62 8179781331

Email contact : iketutsuwendra45@gmail.com

His websites and website reviews :

www.iketutsuwendra.blogspot.com.

www.discoverbalidriver.blogspot.com

Below are the list of places and things you can do in Bali, recommended by Ketut Suwendra :

Bali Day Tours

* Kintamani day tour
1 Thopati: traditional batik painting
2 Batu Bulan: barong and keris dance
3 Celuk: gold and silversmiths
4 Batuan: home of painters
5 Mas: wood carving village
6 Tegallalang: rice terrace village
7 Kintamani: lunch beside the spectacular view of an active volcano  
8 kopi and spice plantation
9 Sebatu: Holy spring water temple
10 Ubud: local market and monkey forest

* Bedugul & Tanah Lot Temple day tour
1 Mengwi: Taman Ayun temple
2 Pacung: most beautiful rice terrace in Bali
3 Bedugul: beautiful lake Beratan & temple in the lake
4 Alas Kedaton: Monkey forest & bats
5 Tanah Lot: temple on the rock & sunset view

* Uluwatu day tour ending with romantic sunset seafood dinner at Jimbaran
1 Nusa Dua: water sport activities
2 Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park  
3 Uluwatu: temple on the cliff & watching Kecak dance during sunset
4 Jimbaran:  romantic dinner with grilled fresh seafood by the beach

* Besakih & Klungkung day tour
1 Gianyar: Bali Safari Park
2 Klungkung: the old court justice (Kerta Gosa)
3 Besakih: the Mother temple in Bali
4 Goa Lawah: bats cave & temple
5 Kusamba: traditional salt making village

*Singaraja & Waterfall day tour
1 Bedugul: beautiful lake Beratan, temple on the lake, & botanical garden.
2 Gigit: waterfall & clove plantation
3 Lovina: the black sand beach, lunch served at Lovina local restaurant & dolphin watching
4 Banjar village:  Hot spring water
5 Papuan village: rice terrace

* Ubud & Tanah Lot temple day tour
1 Celuk: gold & silversmiths
2 Singapadu: zoo & bird park
3 Batuan: painting village
4 Mas: wood carving village
5 Ubud: monkey forest & Ubud market
6 Taman Ayun: the family royal temple
7 Tanah Lot: temple on the rock, by the sea & sunset view

* Other activities
1 Water sport
2 Spa (aroma therapy)
3 Elephant safari
4 Atv ride
5 White water rafting
6 Scuba diving
7 Dolphin watching
8 Fishing
9 Bali safari & marine park
10 Camel ride
11 Horse ride

Kolams - Deepavali Celebration in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Deepavali, a beautiful Indian celebration that brightens up the mall with the "kolam" decoration. You can see the "kolam" in almost every shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, just like you can see Christmas tree during Christmas festive season.  The "kolams" below are taken from the shopping mall in Bukit Bintang Road, namely the Berjaya Time Square, Pavillion shopping mall, Fahrenheit 88 shopping mall, Plaza Low Yatt, just to name a few.



Kolam in Plaza Low Yatt


Seeing it from a distance :

Kolams in Berjaya Time Square

Fahrenheit 88 shopping mall have a few of these kolam below at the few entrances of the mall :

Kolam in Fahrenheit 88

Pavillion shopping mall impressed many with its 3D Kolam, designed by the teachers and students of The One Academy, a famous college in Kuala Lumpur. The peacock appearance is believed to attract the Goddess of Wealth.  The lighting oil lamps signify the triumph of good over evil.

3D Kolam in Pavillion Shopping Mall 

Restaurant Lian Fong Yuen in Dungun, Terengganu



Wild Pork Curry

 If you are looking for Chinese restaurant in Dungun, a place where the wild pork curry is a popular dish, consider this Chinese Restaurant called Lian Fong Yuen, located in Lim Teck Wan Road in Kuala Dungun China Town.  A simple, straight-forward Chinese restaurant, with no air-conditioning, but satisfy your stomach with reasonable price, that is what you can expect from this family owned restaurant. It doesn't open until 6pm, so don't try to find it earlier than that.

They offer really tasty Chinese food ranging from fish, crab, prawn, chicken to pork, almost all the common Chinese meals you can expect. And you get beer there too ! 


You can read more information about the variety of the dishes and the price from the web link below :

Best Chinese Restaurant In Dungun, Terengganu - Restoran Lian Fong Yuen

Logos Hope Tour – A Memorable Experience | Logos Hope Ship need a new generator | Logos Hope is Looking for A Chief Engineer

Logos Hope shop at Port Klang, Malaysia

I visited Logos Hope ship with the pre-arranged tour.  It was not only fantastic and informative, I was really touched  by their graceful gesture.  I went there with my friend who has a son diagnosed with muscle dystrophy (Muscular dystrophy is a group of inherited disorders that involve muscle weakness and loss of muscle tissue, which get worse over time.)  The boy can walk slowly, but a wheel chair is helpful.  We stumbled upon a wheel chair at the Klang Port terminal building, and the guard there was so kind as to let us borrow it to wheel the boy to the ship.  When we reached the ship, a Logos Hope worker was waiting at the boarding ladder. We asked him whether we could leave the wheel chair nearby.  He said instead, he will ask a helper to assist us to carry the wheel chair up to the ship. Taken by surprise, we were touched by his kind gesture. 

We entered the ship with gratefulness and excitement.  The ship smelled refreshing like a hotel. The carpet looked clean and new. We walked down to the reception counter. A young man greeted us, and I let him know that we were there for the pre-booked tour.  I mentioned to him that my friend’s son has some restriction in walking, though he can do some mild walking and climbing the staircase.  He saw him, and said that he would talk to the guides to see if they can do something about it.  At that moment, we were not sure at all whether my friend and her weak-muscle son could go for the tour at all.  

We still had 20 minutes to spare before the tour, so we went to the bookstore. It was Thursday afternoon, hence the ship is not so crowded.  I bought a few books with good bargain and returned to the assembly place for the tour.

Two tour guides came.  They have arranged one tour guide to take my friend’s son with the wheelchair to in the lifts.  Another tour guide will bring us around in the normal tour where we need to take the staircases. I was so touched that tears almost came out of my eyes.

Where Captain drives the ship

Eileen Chua, a Singaporean lady, was guiding me and my family.  She brought us to different level of the decks where we visited the dining hall, worship hall, captain’s room, lifeboat, Hope theatre, and a few others.  She explained that there were 4 such Logos ship before, namely Logos I, Doulous, Logos II and now Logos Hope.   Born in Germany, Logos Hope was already 40 years old when the ministry bought it in 2004. It was previously used to ferry cars. After 5 years of repair work, in 2009, it started sailing with about 400 members on board.

The generators in the ship are in desperate need of replacement, they have to pray for every sailing trip, with the fear that the ship will not reach the destination with the old machines. Therefore, any donation will be very helpful. 

They are also in desperate need of a full time Chief Engineer in the ship. Presently, there are 4 engineers on board, but the chief engineer is coming on and off the board, working part time.  So, if you get the calling, you can contact the Logos Hope ship at the following website :

OM Ships International

Cost of Living Expenses in Sydney Has Increased Substantially !

Travelling to Sydney, consider bringing more money to spend !

I just came back from a business trip in Sydney, Australia. The last time I travelled to Sydney to work was 2 years ago. From this trip, I felt that the cost of living in Sydney has increased quite substantially.  For example, as I was scouting for fruits such as banana in Woolworth supermarket, I came cross 1 kg of banana with price tagged AUD10.49 ! 1 kg of peaches costs AUD19.90.  It is end of Spring season, and these fruits are probably imported, but I cannot believe the price can be so outrageously high.  The locals were telling me that the reason for the sky-rocketed fruits price is due to the flood in Queensland, which destroyed many farmlands. I think, inflation paid another role for the increased expenses.  The Australians are getting increase in wages for the inflation, but it isn't enough to cover the increased expenses.

RESTAURANT FOOD

When dinner time came, as I was looking for food to buy for dinner, I was also struck by the restaurant food price.  For a simple plate of noodles from an Asian restaurant, you will need to pay about AUD14 a plate.  I recalled it costs only AUD10 or AUD11 a few years ago. For any decent restaurant, you will need to pay at least AUD14 for a meal, and that is excluding drinks !  For a nicer or porch restaurant, you will have to pay AUD25 or more just for the main meal.

BUS or LOCAL TRAIN

The local transport is also getting more expensive.  Just to travel 5 minutes using a local bus from a shopping mall to my hotel, I paid AUD3.30 for the trip !  For an underground city train ride of about 8 stations, it costs me AUD4.00.