On our way to Bali

The alarm went off at 6 AM and we jumped into action.  We have 1 hour to shower, dress, pack, and catch the bus to the airport.  When we got outside the sun was barely up and there was lightning in the sky.  We managed to catch the bus I planned to catch, although if we had missed it there was another one just 15 minutes later, so I wasn't too worried.

Here we are on the bus.  We didn't bother taking our backpacks off since we get off this bus in less than 10 minutes to transfer to another one.

We successfully transferred buses in the pouring rain and arrived at the airport bus stop less than 1 hour after we left the AirBnB.  We then had a 10 minute walk to the terminal.  We checked in to our flight more than 2 hours before the flight, so we have plenty of time to get through security (where they took my little cuticle clippers that I have been traveling around the world with for the past 9 years) and grab breakfast.  We picked the place with the shortest line, the fried rice stall, ate, then headed to our gate.  They actually started boarding about 1 hour before the scheduled flight time, which actually made for an early departure.

The only hiccup on the flight is that since it was a discount airline (AirAsia,) they didn't even provide free water and they would only take cash.  This seemed a bit odd to us since we were on an international flight from Singapore to Indonesia and they would not take a credit card.  Needless to say, we didn't have any cash and we went without the snacks and drinks we wanted to buy...lesson learned for the return flight.

We landed in Bali about 10 minutes early.  This is the photo of us on the way to immigration.

We made it through immigration and customs quite easily since we registered in advance, online, for the Visa that by the way cost $35 USD each.  We also filled out the customs form in advance, online, allowing us to pass everyone else that was filling out the forms there.

​We then managed to figure out the whole Grab (Uber) thing, got a ride to where we were staying (25 minutes or so,) and was relaxing in the room, then sitting outside at the pool by 3 PM.  Not bad for an international flight that landed at 1:20 PM.

​ Doesn't this lodging look just like you would expect of lodging in Bali?

Since we ate breakfast around 9 AM and we couldn't buy lunch on the flight, we were pretty hungry.  I found a seafood restaurant on the beach that looked good, so we ordered a Grab and drove the 20 minutes to Jimbaran Beach for dinner.

Here we are...well Tim...with front row seating for dinner and a sunset.  When we ordered, the waiter actually suggested we wait till after 6 PM to eat so we can enjoy the sunset before we were preoccupied by eating.  So, we ordered a couple of beers and an appetizer and waited the 45 minutes till 6 PM when the sun started setting.

And the sunset didn't disappoint.

Tim even managed to get a landing aircraft right when the sun was setting.  If only we knew the airlines, we could many sell this shot to their marketing department.

And then our dinner was delivered.  We ordered the Seafood Basket and it was filled with a large grilled fish, grilled shrimp skewers, grilled squid and pineapple skewers, and a large crab.  For the sides we had green beans in something, and 2 different sauces for the seafood.

It was quite the feast and we delicious.  And then, unexpectedly, at 7 PM 2 dancers came out and performed a traditional Bali dance.  Putting an end to our delicious and very enjoyable seafood dinner at sunset on a beach.

After dinner we took a Grab back to our lodging and relaxed in the room surfing the internet and blogging.  Tomorrow I have a long walkabout planned, so we hope to get a good night sleep and wake up early enough to give us time to finish the walk and return to our lodging to enjoy the pool.  So, until tomorrow...