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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright December 2022
After four years absence, we are back in Bali. The lockdown intimidated my wife and I from venturing out of town in Malaysia much less traveling overseas.
There's this phobia about being cooped up for 3 hours with strangers in a 737 cabin forcing us to keep our masks on from boarding at KLIA till we landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali.
If it had not been for our daughter we wouldn't be here in Bali with Covid-19 virus still in the air. She sent us tickets for us to visit her for two weeks.
When we received confirmation, my wife said it sounded like "Tickets To Paradise", reminding me of a title of a movie starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts of a love story based in Bali but shot in Australia.
But she told me we are far from the likes of the two celebrities. The only similarity is we received 2 tickets and we are here in paradise island to visit our lovely daughter who decided to run her movie business out of Bali.
Tickets are usually not the most expensive item for any vacation. The accommodation may eat into your budget sometimes as much as three times the value of an airline ticket. But it could be more if you chose to stay at a luxury hotel or a high-end villa.
Fortunately, we have a friend who owns five villas in Seminyak about 400 meters away from the beach. It's called Villa Kalimaya.
If you're familiar with Seminyak the villa is across from Hotel Samiya and a short walk from the famous bar and restaurant Ku De Ta. Yes we are right where the action is!
Villa Kalimaya is quiet, exclusive and private although it's in the middle of busy Seminyak.
We arrived late on 20 December. But at 11pm Tina Shazell our friend of 20 odd years and the founder of Villa Kalimaya group is still up waiting for us with a huge hot Bali style murtabak by the poolside.
It's different from Mamak style murtabak that we are accustomed to in Kuala Lumpur. There's no taste of spices or mince meat. Instead there's sliced beef with vegetables sandwiched between two layers of grilled pancakes.
It's delicious compared to the tasteless poorly prepared RM25 briyani rice served on board Batik Air we flew out of KLIA earlier.
Kalimaya One is well-designed and made up of one double storey bungalow with three double room chalets built around a beautifully landscaped garden. There is a 25 meter pool, a gym and a poolside bar where we sat and chatted way past midnight struggling to finish the murtabak.
I love the room. It opens out into the garden with an outdoor bathroom. This is the best part of my stay. Coming to Bali always reminds of the old kampung house in Alor Setar where we showered outside the house and forced ourselves to go to the outhouse a short distance away from the main building.
At night it was scary for us kids who feared darkness. But when you had to go you would need a kerosene lamp and a faithful member of the family to accompany and wait for you holding a flashlight fighting mosquitos in the dark.
This room in Kalimaya One is my favourite. I shower in a garden or soak away my tired body in a lovely bathtub looking up to the clear blue skies of Bali.
Of course, the toilet is nearby but still outdoors but they are better designed than the makeshift outhouse of my Alor Setar home in 1960s.
After a week in Kalimaya, we'll move to Tina's other villa at Brawa Beach in Canggu next door to Finch Club about 60 meters away from a busy surfing area and celebrate Christmas with our dear friends who are mostly Muslims but choose to enjoy the fun and games for the day nevertheless.
We'll be in Bali till early January. The Bali authorities has not decided to cancel its New Year's celebration. So we'll stay here and usher in 2023 by Canggu Beach.
It's a fitting occasion for me to celebrate my first anniversary of writing for Newswav. And to all my readers Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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