My First Solo Trip to Bali
By Kevin Moe Myint Myat
Written on 30th March 2024
On 11th November 2022 , It was a great morning before the flight. I woke up fresh and felt ready to start the day. I already packed my luggage and my backpack. I went to the nearby restaurant to have a soup for my breakfast to soothe my hunger. The train ride to the airport takes a while and I might have taken a nap on the train when I reached the airport.
The airport was crowded with lots of travelers and arriving tourists. I checked-in at the kiosk near the flight counter. Everything was smooth and after I checked-in, I roamed around the mall near the airport to spend my time before the departure time of the airplane. 
Selfie around Jewel Changi Airport
It took around 3 hours to arrive from Singapore to Bali Ngurah Rai Airport. It was marvellous and I was super excited to land on the Bali island for the first time. You know what, I was listening to Beach vibe songs and hyping myself for this experience. The Damperser airport is clean, also crowded with tourists, and have lots of local people to help out the tourist.
First, I went to a booth to buy a SIM card. The salesperson there asked me how many days am I going to stay in Bali and provided me a SIM card to suit my needs. To describe the Damperser airport, it is decorated with ancient Balinese architecture. The gate looks pretty amazing and it made me take a selfie there. 
Ngurah Rai Airport is decorated with ancient Balinese architecture.
It's already late when I arrived in Bali, around 7-8 PM. I booked a Grab taxi and went to my hotel which is in Kuta. To be exact, it's near Jalan Kartika Plaza. The ride from the airport to my hotel is breathtaking. The new scenary makes me feel deeply relaxed and I had a good chat with the taxi driver. He told me there is a G20 Summit happening in Bali at that time and that's why there are lots of travellers.
The ride was swift because I already did my research back home that the hotel would be near the airport. I checked-in at the hotel which was also easy and simple. The hotel staffs helped me bring to the room which is spacious for a single person and the services were awesome. After I've unpacked my stuffs and laptops, I listened to some music and take a nap....
I woke up again after resting for awhile and beating the jetlag. Since I'm on a tight schedule and it's just a 3-day-2-night vacation, I quickly wrote a travel plan on a note that was given at the hotel room. I googled and listed down some of the great tourist attractions that I can visit in Bali. It was like this.
- Seminyak beach on 12th November 2022
- Legian area on the same day
- Bajra Sandi Monument on 13th November 2022
- Sanur beach on the same day
- Sindhu Beach Market on that same day
- Uluwatu Temple on 14th November 2022
After listing down my travel plan, I walked out of the resort to start roaming around the night of Jalan Kartika Plaza. Just right out of my hotel, there were many shops, bars and tattoo parlours. It is truly amazing to see the colorful actions of tourism on this road. I walked for few steps and there were friendly local people started saying "Hello" to me.
They asked me where I'm from, gave me a bracelet which is made out of cloth said to be worn by the locals and made a chit-chat with me. Like I've expected, the people turns out to be a group of friends who started local businesses like motorbike rental and tattoo studio. Due to their delightful gesture and fun-loving culture, I was hooked and rent a motorbike from them as well as schedule a tattoo session for the next day.
I rode the bike through the insanely crowded Jalan Kuta traffic and reached Kuta beach. The thrill was amazing and truly stimulating at the same time. I had a great look at the beach, breathed the sea breeze and rested for awhile. After I have my satisfying ride, I was a bit hungry and I saw a street store selling Satays. I bought a packet of satay to bring back to the hotel and enjoyed for myself. They only costs around a few rupiahs. 
Pretty satisfying ride around Kuta beach 🏍️
Satay is so tender and meaty 🍢
Next morning to the Seminyak beach
After a night of sound sleep, I woke up to the wonderful sounds of singing birds around the hotel. Around the hotel, I saw lots of statues resembling the tiny gods of the island and a Garuda statue too (Garuda which is an icon of Indonesia and an emblem as well). I prepared for swimming because I just needed that vitamin-sea by now. I swam in the Pantai Jerman which is the beach just right infront of the resort. The resort itself has its own swimming pool and a bar in the middle of the swimming pool which is amazing.
I've had myself a Bintang beer and soaked myself in that swimming pool before taking a shower and prepared to start my vacation day. First off, I went on a long motorbike ride along the Kuta beach, go up to Legian beach, up until Seminyak beach. Here we can see the difference between Kuta beach and Seminyak. Seminyak mostly have more of beach enjoyers, surfers and ministores along the beaches. I can see lots of sunbeds and small chairs given by the respective stores for the tourist to relax and chill. I had some coconut water for myself to cool down from the heat of the sun.
I spent most of the day roaming around the west coast of the Southern Bali, eating local foods like Babi Guling and Nasi Campur. And while the sun is setting, I came back to the resort and prepared for the tattoo session which is scheduled at 9pm. The tattoo studio is truly professional and went through all the great steps of printing the stencil of my design, measuring the area that is going to be inked and working on the size. The price was also pretty affordable and I also asked for a quicker session because I have the plan to see the nightlife of Bali at Legian street. As one might have guessed, yes.. it is a Garuda on my chest. 
I won't lie, it's quite painful in the chest area :')
Thank you @KutaInked for a shoutout on their Instagram post
After the tattoo session, I rode to the famous Jalan Legian where I've heard most of the nightlife scenes in Bali are happening. The whole Jalan Legian was pretty packed with traffic, bars and clubs. It's mesmerizing to see the tourists ; enjoying and partying their time in Bali.
After the sightseeing, I am also quite sore from the pain on my chest as well. I decided to head back to the hotel and slept. The next morning, I went to Pantai Jerman, had a Nasi Goreng and a coconut water as my breakfast. The beach was quiet and serene. The tide seems to be in a perfect flow. After that, I went back and showered to prepare for my next travel list item. Coming out of the resort, I looked around and found a restaurant nearby.
Next morning to the Southern east coast of Bali
I've befriended a few hotel staffs and they recommended me to have Bebek Batutu (which is a grilled duck in Indonesian) while in Bali. So I ordered a Bebek Batutu for my lunch at the restaurant and then booked a Gojek bike to Bajra Sandhi Monument. It took around 30 minutes to arrive at Bajra Sandhi Monument. The monument was amazing and inside, it shows the history of Bali, statues of Balinese Hindu gods and the skyline view of the Damperser city
I could see many activities around Bajra Sandhi monument compound. People are jogging and there were some students doing some PT activities. 
Me with Bajra Sandhi Monument 👍
It's going to be evening soon and I booked another Gojek to Sanur beach. I arrived at the Pantai Bangsal area of Sanur and I can see there were multiple people looking out for Nusa Penida ferry boats. Unlike the south west such as Kuta and Seminyak, there were more local people and also have more family-friendly vibe here.
I walked along this long stretch of the beach and soon arrived at a e-bike rental shop. I paid a few rupiahs and get myself an e-bike. I figured they might have banned motorcycles to ride on the beach walk and therefore the need for e-bike or bicycle path. The slow ride allows me to have a better sightseeing of Sindhu Beach Market, the small shops and many people chilling.
I rode to the end of the Sanur beach coast and decided to rest at a stop and took a photo there. 
The quiet vibe of Sanur 🏖️
I had my Pina Colada at a restaurant with the sea view. There were live performances as well where the customers can join to sing too. I love Indonesian culture! The song was pretty great and it just sank to my memory. The song is "Islands in the Stream" by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. How suitable with the current vibe!
I walked back away from the beach and reached at Sindhu Night Market and have some Bakso Sapi for my dinner. Bakso Sapi is a soup dish with beef balls and vermicilli noodles. It comes with condiments like Thick Soysauce and Chilli sauce. After my dinner, I went back to the hotel and rest for the night. 
Yummy!
Last day in Bali
The next day is my last day in Bali and I started packing my things. I checked out of the hotel and asked them to keep my luggage at a store room. There were some time to spend before the night flight and that's why I'm going to use it to visit the wonderful Uluwatu Temple which is a bit far from Kuta.I took a Gojek ride to Uluwatu temple and paid a visit there. Woah, the sun was pretty hot too but the wind I get when the motorbike is going on high speed on a clear road saved me from the heat. Well, this is a tropical weather after all.
So here's the thing, the name Uluwatu comes from ulu, meaning 'lands end', and watu, meaning 'rock'. That's why the scenery of the island's end is very beautiful.
I love Bali ❤️ Well, this is it. I took a Gojek bike back to the hotel, took my luggages and the backpack and went to the Ngurah Rai Airport. It took another 3 hours for me to get back safely to Singapore. Thanks for reading :)