Surfing Lesson at Surfer Girl Surf S’cool

I got an invitation for the soft opening of Surfer Girl Surf S’cool to learn to surf. I saw a lot of surfer everyday and arrange lots of surfing lessons for my guests but never think that I want to larn to surf. It look dangerous and look scary. All the negative feeling always come to my mind first. What if the waves are strong, what if I can’t handle the board, etc..etc..

The invitation looks fun, so I call them if learn to surf is dangerous and what will they teach me and how will I do that. They told me that it is safe, fun and there will be professional instructors teach me to stand on the board. So I ask my friend if she want to accompany me to learn to surf, but everybody refuse. Too many negative feeling as I have. When I desperately look for company, the assistant manager pass by and I ask her if she want to learn to surf? And she said she’d love to. Then the next morning off we go.

First they ask us to change with rash suit that already prepared with very girly color available. Off course this school are only for girl. They also ask us to put safety helmet and a high SPF sunblock for our face, arms and legs. The instructors are female too and they are so friendly and 2 male assistant for back up.


The instructor give us the theory to read the waves, paddle to the sea and ride on the waves. Well I cant wait to practice it. When it comes to practice, we practice first on the sand then to the water. Well it is not to difficult, paddle and ride the waves. We are not stand on board yet. Just paddle and ride the waves but I feel it is so much fun that I wont stop.


The second lesson is about how to stand on the board. This one is difficult. We practice it on the sand. And I can’t even stand fast. The sun is already too hot (it is only 10 am) and I feel exhausted because I got too excited on paddling on the waves. When we have to practice it on the water, Oh my god , it is so difficult. The waves keep me down whenever I tried to stand. I even hit my friend while trying to stand on my board. On one occasion I stand…. Oh yes.. I STAND… I can stand on the board while riding the waves.. Yahoo..! It is only like 1 or two second before I fell again because I can’t balance myself on board. But I feel so happy. I can be a surfer girl someday…. Hehehe..


The lesson finished at 11 am. It is already 2 hours we were on the water. All of us look happy and exhausted. All keep telling each other how it feels when they stand on the board.. My friend even ask me to do it again next time so that we can really really stand on board and ride the waves like a pro..


The Surfer Girl Surf S’cool gave each of us a certificate with our name on it mentioned that we have ride waves and stand on board. They even gave us a goody bags full of Surfer Girl Stuff, like Surfer Girl calendar, Surfer Girl Keychain, bags and lots more.

Holiday in Ubud

One day me and my husband decided to have a one day holiday to run away from our busy life to a quiet and peaceful place. The choice is Ubud. It is only 1 hour drive from Kuta and we thought we should entertain ourselves sometimes, stay in a hotel, eat in the restaurant and enjoy the hotel as a guest. Since we are hotelier we only enjoy our hotel as a staff.

We went to Ubud early in the morning as we have to do some inspection to some hotel near Ubud center to fit our budget before we decided to stay.
The first hotel we went to is Tegal Sari hotel. Their room are nice, large and have a beautiful view of the rice field. The standard bungalow priced Rp. 350.000 per night including breakfast and tax, but unfortunately the hotel is fully booked. L

The next one is Panorama hotel. Their room is nice too, Deluxe room is only US$ 35 and standard room US$ 30. the room have a ricefield view too. I kinda like this hotel but my husband don’t. He don’t like the way some staff look at us like we are coming from outer space. Yes, off course I understand. We are hotelier, we know what they think about us and my husband don’t like it.

So we move to the next hotel, Green field hotel. This is a nice small hotel too. They have a new villa build in the middle of rice field. We saw the villa which is very nice Balinese style villa. The price is US$ 85. In Kuta or Nusa Dua area a villa like this could cost you about US$ 200. So this is villa is cheap with a 5 star facilities inside the room. However it is still too expensive for our budget. The receptionist then offered a standard room on the second floor which is cheaper at only US$ 25. We saw the room which is ok for a standard room and we have the rice field view too from our balcony. The room has aircon, minibar, shower, telephone, tea and coffee maker and a queen size bed. So I think this room is fine. We decided not to waste the time to look for another hotel again so that we can walk around Ubud center or just relax at the pool.

We have lunch at Warung Enak, just next to the hotel. We sat on the second floor to enjoy the view. The service here is like 5 star. They gave us a cool towel upon arrival and complimentary crackers for starter. We ordered our meals and enjoy the crackers. My husband even ask for more because the cracker is good. Eating here is cheap. For two plus drink we spent only Rp. 66.000 (about 7 USD). We decided just to stay in the hotel to relax, my husband have a nap in the room while I went to the pool to enjoy my spa. There were nobody at the pool except the therapist who was waiting for me. The therapy massage I choose is just good (plus cheap, only USD 10), the massage bed is open air and have the view to rice filed which is soooo relaxing.

At night we went for dinner at Bebek Bengil, one of the famous restaurant in Ubud for Balinese food. The restaurant is just perfect, set in a secluded garden and rice field view, plus torch light along pathway, make it look romantic. We sat in a private table and ordered their signature dish, Bebek Bengil. It’s a crispy duck served with rice and vegetables. We eat until we feel so full. The duck is crispy and soft and delicious too.

We don’t eat any dessert because we want to try another restaurant. We have our dessert at Lotus Café at Ubud center. The restaurant is surrounded by Lotus pond, lots of Lotus. The ambience is very nice but I think the food and the service is just so so.. nothing so special.. My husband don’t like it, me too. We wish to have a drink at the bar, but most bar seems empty so we decided to go back to hotel.

The next morning, we have our breakfast served at their restaurant. With a full view to the ricefield that is so calming makes our breakfast special, because we usually eat breakfast in the rush at home with no view. After breakfast we take a walk to Ubud art market before checking out from the hotel. On the way home I thought, what a short vacation. I need to do this more often, beside I don’t have to go to far, we have all we need for holiday here in Bali.

Bali Fashion Week

Bali is raising on the fashion industry. I saw lately there are so many new boutique around Kuta and Seminyak area. One of my friend is just graduate from Fashion Design school and she is now entitled for the title Fashion Designer. Since she my best friend and often we hang out together, I could understand a little bit about fashion industry.

She design mostly for resort wear or beach wear. Yes, because we are on the beach area and her background is the same with me, tourism industry, therefore she choose to design resort wear.

During Bali Fashion Week, we are participating by watching the show and the exhibition… hehehe… maybe it is not participating only watching..
For my eyes I saw the costume was weird. They make clothes out of garbage, bottles, etc.. I was thinking who’s gonna wear that creepy clothes.. While my friends saw the design based on the detail and the art, she said that this is a free expression of the designer… Well ok, for me it is still weird.

She enjoyed watching the clothes and the design while I enjoy watching the models and my surrounding. The models are young and some of the male models are handsome, this I enjoyed much! LOL… There are lots of people watching. From their style, I understand that most of them are from outside Bali, a local tourist. Maybe they are participating in the fashion industry, maybe they are a fashion schools student from Jakarta or Bandung, or maybe just coming to watch the show. I can see it from the way they dress and put lots of make up in their pretty face. So far I know, Balinese don’t really put complete make up in their face except during ceremony. Balinese loves to keep their face natural or maybe because in Bali are so hot, if they put too much make up, they’ll be sweating and their make up will be melting..

We watched the fashion on the street along the way to Kuta beach. This is about the same as Kuta Karnival but are focusing only on the fashion. Some young street dancer also joined in this carnival and show up their talent. The busy street along Kuta Beach become a catwalk for the models to show up the colorful and attractive costume.

I got a chance to take picture with some of the models with their costume…

Martapura, The City of Diamond.

All my friends said, when I am about to go to Kalimantan, don’t forget bring a souvenir from there. I asked what they want me to bring. most of them said: Diamond!
Helloo… Excuse me diamond are expensive..

My husband take me to Martapura that day. We went to the central of Diamond and precious stone in this city. My mother going crazy when she saw there are so many shops selling many kinds of precious stone and they’re cheap too. I know nothing about precious stone nor diamond. I thought that they’re just a colorful stone. The one that I saw there looks like fake. But it is not. The truth is the fake stone looks like the real one. That is why, people who knows nothing about precious stone are not aware of the fake or the real one. Just like me..

My mother starting busy choosing and bargaining some precious stone for herself, for my father, for this, for that and for souvenir. The price for one set precious stone is started as low as Rp. 30.000. I think that is cheap. Because, even the fake bracelet with fake stone priced higher than that in Bali. Me and my husband are just looking around while moms busy with the stone. I saw my mother tested all the stone with the testing machine that she borrowed from the seller. Yes that is important, to know if the stones are real one.

My mother asked me if I want to buy a diamond for my pendant, I said no. I already have the fake one for my white gold necklace. She insist to buy me one. After a long bargain and testing and asking for the clarity, carat, etc.. She ended up with one medium sized diamond in a triangle pendant. I kinda like it too.. So when I asked about the price, the seller said he already gave a huge discount plus guarantee certificate to my mother. Well now I know that Diamonds are girl’s best friend. I never have a diamond before, but when I wear it, I feel like it just fits me well. It’s sparkling on my neck. I thank my mother for the diamond and she said ok! She asked me to consider it as my wedding gift..
Oh my glad, I am so delighted!

Floating Market

I have already put this place on my agenda as a must see! I know that Kalimantan is very famous for its floating market. I saw it a lot on TV. We went very early in the morning because the market only opens in the morning. It’s about 6 am, I woke up in the rush knowing that I am quiet late to visit the market.

We went there by traditional motorboat named “klotok”. It look the same as “ jukung” in Bali. Only different name. The river name is Barito, one of the most famous river in Kalimantan. I know that this river is huge but I don’t know that it is as wide as the sea. I saw lots of big ship taking lots of wood logs. The journey took about 15 minutes to reach to the floating market. It is actually can take only 10 minutes if the motorboat is not having a problem. The motor is stopped, I don’t know, by something in the water. It took five minutes to fix it and the current of the river took us backward.

I saw the floating market full of another smaller and bigger “klotok” The seller yelled offering their goods and the buyer paddle their boat from one seller to another. Me and my mom are excited. We saw a “klotok” full of traditional cakes. Some other “klotok” are surround it while buying cakes and enjoy it with a hot coffee or tea. The seller gave us a stick with a small hook on the other edge. While I am confuse what is it for? He told me that I can use that to pick the cake I like from his boat. Oh..that is interesting.. I pick one cake that looks delicious with that stick and ordered a glass of hot tea to accompany.

I sat in the front of the boat enjoying my tea and my cake. There is no cold wind, eventhough it is early in the morning.. The sun is already risen up but still not hot yet. My mom, my mother in law and my aunty in law sat in the middle of the boat enjoying their cakes and hot tea while chatting. My husband are busy photographing everything he saw

Some local tourist like me passing by and smiled (I know they are tourist, because thay bring camera and their face is just as excited as we are). I smiled back and waive my hand. They waived back to me too. I am glad to know that Indonesian people are still friendly. Smile is a polite manner to say hello.

My eyes catch a small café on the boat. It says” Soto Banjar”. Well that food is also on my list for must eat!. So I told my husband that we have to go to that Café Boat after looking around. The floating market is so busy, just as busy as common traditional market in Bali, except we are on the water not on the ground.. We bought some bananas, my mother in law said it’s for the monkey we will visit on the way back.

We have our breakfast at the Café Boat. I feel dizzy because this Café is keep on rocking. I could not enjoy the food so much because of the boat swinging. I think I got seasick, oh no, it’s riversick. I finished my meal fast and back to our “klotok”. I feel more comfortable here.

As my mother in law said before that we will visit monkeys. I was wondering where is that. We passed a small land in the middle of the river. It is looks like a small island raised above the water. The boat stopped there, and closer… I saw lots of monkeys, maybe hundreds of them. They are occupying the island. We throw the bananas from our boat and immediately they began to catch it. The monkeys are friendly so we step into the ground and gave the bananas to them.

On the way back, it’s about 8 am. The floating market was quiet. Only few boats around. I am wondering how wide is this river. My husband said it’s about one kilometers. He said he will bring me to see the bridge across this river. The name is Barito bridge. The same name as the river itself.

Banjarmasin Traditional Wedding Costumes.

Well..well..well..
I really have no time to write on my wedding day because I am just too busy with my wedding plus busy exploring the city.. I don’t know what to say. The traditional wedding costumes is just very different from my place. I am wearing so many flowers that have strong scent, from Jasmine, rose, cananga. Plus my head is so heavy with all these flower.
The thing that interest me is the flower bouquet. It is just really different from others. It is made of Jasmine and roses and some leaves, it doesn’t look like a hand bouquet.
I am just too exhausted. The reception start from morning till evening. I changed my dress 3 times and still have to smile to all the guests.

When the time is up. I am so glad that I want to put all the flowers that crown my head. I am glad to be the queen of the day. I just now realize that it is hard to be the queen, especially on the dress, make up and the hair do..

Banjarmasin, Here I come!

I am going to Kalimantan.. Hooray!!
It’s been so long since the last time I am traveling to visit another new place in Indonesia. This time I am going to Kalimantan, Banjarmasin exactly. Me and my husband are going to have our wedding reception there because most of his family and relatives are there. This is my second reception after the one we did in Lombok, my hometown.

The journey begin with Mandala Airlines from Denpasar to Surabaya. The plane is new and all the interior are still shiny. It only took 35 minutes to reach Surabaya airport. From above I saw Surabaya is full with buildings and factories. The land are red, unlike Bali which is green from the above. We passed Krakatau mountain. It looks so beautiful from the above, I can’t imagine how bad the damage it cause when last time this mountain blow up.

We met my mother at Surabaya Airport. She arrives from Lombok and then together we take Lion Air to go to Banjarmasin. Nothing special with this flight except the plane is old and we sat on the back of the plane and I can hear the sound of the machine which makes me worries, just in case the sound is getting slower then there must be something happen with the machine. Thank God we arrived safely at Banjarmasin Airport.

My first impression of the city is hot, even hotter than Bali, I think. The sun is hot and the wind is hot, plus lack of trees on the road.. There are lots or river I saw on the road and wooden house are everywhere. I can’t wait to explore this place more but I have to wait till the day after tomorrow because tomorrow is my wedding reception..

Shopping at Art Market

What else would you do when you are on holiday beside of relaxing? according to my inappropriate and random survey to my friends and some of my guests they would say shopping (well, okay most of them are women).

So because I live in a place that Mr. Joger say “ Every Day is Sunday in Bali” that’s mean I am enjoying everyday holiday, it is so unfair that I only recommend my guests to do shopping here and here and there, but me myself only ever pay a visit to that place but not shopping. I know everything about bargain, and morning price but seldom practicing my bargaining skill.

Last night my cousins who lived in Kalimantan asked me to buy some things that she forgot to buy while in Bali. I started my shopping experience with a list longer than my monthly shopping list. I feel a little excited because I can spend money and do shopping without losing my money (off course it’s her money). I went to Sukawati Art market, which is the center of all souvenirs from Bali.

I went there in the morning, because in the morning you can bargain to the very basic price you can get. Most of the seller here are Balinese, and Balinese believe that first customer will bring a good luck for the whole day, never reject the first customer.

My first search is for bags, some colorfull bags made of natural leaf. I started to ask the seller, actually in Indonesian, but I’ll translate it:

Me: Excuse me, Madam how much is this bag?
Seller: Oh that bag is cheap, only Rp. 75.000 (about USD 8)
Me: What, that is not cheap, still expensive. What about Rp. 30.000
Seller: No, Madam, you can bargain but that is too cheap. Have a look for yourself first and pick your favorite one with a reasonable price.
Me: Oh yes, I like this one. And Rp. 30.000 is reasonable price for me
Seller: Allright. I’ll give you the best deal Rp. 50.000. This is morning price already.
Me: Oh That is still expensive. If I can’t get Rp. 30.000 I’ll look for another store. (I started to leave)
Seller: Allright I’ll give you more discount. Rp. 45.000 and this is very cheap price. I cannot go any lower that this and you will not find it anywhere in other store that give you this price.
Me: My budget is only Rp. 30.000 madam. I have no more money.
Seller: Am sorry, Rp. 30.000 is too cheap, allright let’s make Rp. 40.000 and this is final price, please, I don’t take any profit for you
Me: Ok, let’s make it Rp. 35.000 and we make a deal
Seller: No, Rp. 40.000
Me: (Leave the stall)
After 5 meters from the stall
Seller: Ok Madam, I’ll give it to you, This is such a very cheap price and you could not compare to another store, which colour would you take?
Me: (with big smile). Thank you, I’ll take the pink one and it’s Rp. 35.000 right?
Seller: Yes madam, you are very lucky today.

After taking the money from me, she pat the money to all the goods that she display in her store and say “ Garus, Garus, Garus!”

That is the story, Garus means hope the goods will be bought by someone else and there will be lots of people buying in her store.

My Shopping journey continued. I bought lots of colorful beach sandals at Rp. 9.000 each, some bracelet and necklace, beach sarongs and colorful kids clothes.

After 3 hours nonstop, I feel tired and hungry. My car is full of shopping stuff and I think I have bought all that is on the list plus one or two extra cute things that I could not resist to buy. The sun are getting hotter. So I decided to stop and go back home…
Today is a good day!

Life On The Beach

I saw this beach everyday when I am working. I am just so glad that I’ve work in such a beautiful place in Bali and more lucky, my desk is facing to the beach. I saw many things happen on the beach, beside the big waves and the beautiful sunsets.

When I work in the morning shift, I saw some tourist enjoy the horse riding on the beach, which makes my guests want to try it too, as it looks so enjoyable and romantic. Also there will be some people jogging or walk with their dogs, it just seems like their dogs are so happy playing with water and sands.

In the afternoon there will be surfers who enjoy the waves so much and playing with them, trying some new tricks and new skills of surfing. Some guest lay down on the beach sunbathing, reading, listening music or sleeping.

When I am working in the afternoon shift, I love seeing to the sunsets, sometimes it just sooo… beautiful, the sun sets in the water and spread orange and red colours in the sky, sometimes clouds just blocks the sunsets. I saw many tourist walking on the beach stopping to enjoy the view. I don’t know what are in their mind, while they are stopping, but I’m sure they admire the beauty of the view.

On Sunday, the beach will be very busy. Lots of people play soccer on the beach, they laugh, they fall and they have fun. Families bring their kids to play in the water or build a sand castle which doesnt look like a castle. Colorful frisbees are swinging and flying around. I love to see these activities from my desk. Sometimes I got so jealous and wanted to join the fun in the beach, so if my off day fall on Sunday, I never miss the beach in the afternoon, playing frisbee or just walking around.

At night the beach is more quiet, no people passing by. The beach are dark but I can see the shining light from far away. It’s the lights from the fishermans on their traditional boats, looking for fishes to sell the next day. I know where they come from. I saw some fishing village in Jimbaran area and also in Canggu. The fishermans go fishing at night and come back early morning with fresh fish to sell. One night I saw no lights in the ocean and was wondering are the fishermans don’t go fishing tonight?. My colleagues told me that fishing is forbidden in full moon when the waters are not so friendly and the current and the waves are too strong. I am glad they don’t go. It could be dangerous for them.

Pre Wedding Picture at Dreamland

Dreamland is another beautiful beach in Bali. This beach is a dream beach for surfers because of it's waves and it is hidden by a high rocks and cliffs. Because of its location, not many people come to this beach but now this beach becomes very popular and started to have many people comes to visit and enjoy the beauty.


Me and my boyfriend decided to make our pre wedding picture in dreamland. the concept is casual, beach style. We choose to take the shoot early in the morning where it is not too hot and still not too many people on the beach. We are not models therefore we are a litle shy in taking pictures....


These are the photos: