Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

In Review Travel

[REVIEW]: Mega Boutique Hotel and Spa, Bali


Hello peeps!

After a long wait, I finally got the time to update this blog *cleans up spider webs off of this blog*. 

Been very busy with work until I forget that I still have this blog. I also realized that I have a shitton of unfinished posts stored in the draft. Finally, after some deep cleaning, I am back and ready to dedicate my time for at least week to post here cause I genuinely think that blog is still #in amirite?

So, back in May, one of my best friends for 11 years gave me a call to let me know that she had been asked for marriage by her boyfriend for two years. Words couldn't describe how happy I am for her because she was going to be the first one among us five to tie the knot. When she asked me if I could come to her wedding in Bali, of course I said yes! I was finally going to attend my first wedding in Bali!

Unfortunately, bunch of my friends were either flying with their partner or flying out on different dates so I had to travel alone to Bali. However, I always believe that solo traveling is a blessing on its own because that means I have all the luxury to determine my own itinerary without having too many heads interfering or I have to submit to other's requests.

After a rigorous search for a plane ticket (I bought the ticket back in May for a departure in July and it cost me literally an arm and leg, it was expensive!), I stumbled upon an article by IDN Times about some selection of boutique hotels in Bali. I actually had booked a room at Swiss-Belhotel Rainforest in Seminyak, but my booking was canceled for whichever reason weeks prior my arrival in Bali.

I finally decided to stay at this Mega Boutique Hotel and Spa because it looked really good on the net. However, I was really skeptical that the hotel would look in real life because you know, you can never trust those pictures that are posted on Agoda/Traveloka. I opted for the hotel's Executive Suite because they ran out of their Junior Suite when I booked the room via Traveloka. However, a couple of days before my departure, I found that the rooms were available and cost even cheaper than my Executive Suite that I booked. Unfortunately, you can't upgrade your room if you've paid for it using CC on Traveloka. What a weird mechanism, indeed. 

The hotel is located in Bypass Kuta, not that far from the airport (± 15 minutes). Like any other hotel there is, check-in time is at 2 PM. Lucky for you, you don't have to store any deposit so you can keep your money with you for shopping! You will only be given one access card which can be used for entering and lighting your whole room.

The room that I stayed in was quite spacious, measuring up to 34m². It comes with your usual amenities like toiletries and two towels. Nothing to be desired though. Pictures below:

Not the comfiest (and tidiest) bed I've ever slept in
The Walking Closet

My favorite feature in a hotel room, Jacuzi!

Afraid to miss that Game of Thrones episode when you're in the tub? Worry not!

Separate shower and toilet seat are available to your right

Working space with LCD TV that swivels so you can watch in bed 

Le bed

Huge ass mirror to help you get dressed in the morning (or for a night out)

A couch to help you get ready while tying  your shoes

The hotel's pool. It looks like this I swear (not my picture, courtesy of Traveloka)


Considering the amount that I paid for a room like this, I thought I got a better deal than expected. This hotel, however, fell short in some areas such as:

  1. The towel's texture feels weird. It doesn't absorb water? I don't know if it's the fabric used in the towel or what, but I could never dry myself off with the hotel's provided towel, unlike any other towel I've used before. 
  2. The water feels weird as well. The more I washed myself with it, the dirtier I felt? It doesn't scrub away soap and dirt well. I don't know if the water had chlorine in it, but I didn't like the aftertaste the water left on my skin.

The breakfast menu was quite varied and okay at best, but they had unlimited ice cream for you to scoop as much as you want, so that wasn't really bad.

So, if you're looking for an affordable hotel to stay in Bali, I would gladly recommend the hotel for you. Bear in mind that it's quite far from where the magic happens, like Canggu or Seminyak but it's really close to the airport so you will have little chance of missing your flight.


Till next post peeps!
Marcel

VERDICT

Mega Boutique Hotel & Spa

Address: Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai No. 259, SImpang Siur, Kuta, Pemogan, Denpasar Sel., Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361
Phone: (0361) 753111

🏙 : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🥘 : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
💵 : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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In Travel

National Gallery of Singapore


Hello there peeps! 

Don't burn me just yet, it's just - the year has been undeniably tough for me to walk in plus, work got in the way, even on weekend. But worry not, am back and would devote at least a week to turn all those drafts to something worth reading.

So this post would be about my last trip to Singapore. So after I indulged myself with fancy installations at the ArtnScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands complex, I continued my artsy trip to some galleries and museums the next day. Being a sucker for galleries and museums, I knew that I just couldn't miss the National Gallery of Singapore and boy did I not regret my decision. 

I decided to go to the National Gallery of Singapore since I've seen a lot of my favorite influencers that I follow on Instagram post their travel photos here. I got out of my hotel early in the morning so that I would have an empty gallery for me to browse and take picture around and I made the right decision. The gallery opens from 9 - 10 AM in the morning and it was empty as heck. So without wasting any time, I took the opportunity to roam around the gallery. The admission fee was a bit pricey though. Same like ArtnScience, this gallery has a general and special exhibition sections in which you have to pay extra if you want to see the latter. I couldn't remember how much it was but I guess it's around SGD 30 for all access.

Enjoy the awesome architecture that this gallery offers, and no, I didn't take pictures of all the paintings and sculptures. I hope you like this as much as I do. See you on the next post!

















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In Travel

ArtnScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands




Singapore is a popular tourist destination for millions of tourists every year, but it is such an enriching experience to visit Singapore as a solo traveller. My solo trip to Singapore taught me that the smallest of places can have so much character, with so much to discover and experience. To top that, Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world, ideal for a solo escapade.

Singapore would be a nice place for first time solo travelers because it feels very safe, and it is easy to get around on your own. During my recent trip to Singapore, I was hoping that my first ever solo trip would be exciting yet challenging at the same time - as I'll be traveling alone! However, that's not the case. Singapore is extremely safe and I mean this in a good way. Navigating around the city is very easy from stations to stations not to mention that the majority of people speak good English. Safe to say that Singapore is easy to tame.

Public transportation is convenient and easy to access. Buses, trams and an excellent subway system (the MRT or Mass Rapid Transit) are all inexpensive and efficient. As for me, I opted for the MRTs as the places I visited were close to MRT stations. (and taking taxi can cost a fortune!)

I knew that the focus of my trip was to visit as many galleries and museums Singapore has - as I've visited Orchard, Chinatown, Marina Bay, Sentosa for God knows how much. So before I departed to Singapore, I created a mini list of museums and galleries that I wanted to visit and see how long would one take to 

Long story short, after I completed my business trip, I went straight to the hotel that I stayed in from Changi International Airport using MRT. How did I know which train to take and station to alight? Easy peasy! I used this website called gothere.sg  It's an excellent web-based application that helps people to navigate easily in Singapore. Getting from point A to point B is a piece of cake for this app. It can tell you different ways to reach your destination from MRT, Bus, Taxi even if you're driving. It'll tell you which road to take if you want to avoid the ERP. Awesome right?



So, after I arrived at the hotel, I put all of my belongings, took a quick shower, changed my clothes and went straight to the MRT station again. It was around 3.00 PM and saw how much time I had left, I decided to kill it at the ArtScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands complex and boy did I make a right decision.

There were three different exhibitions that day, The Future World: Where Art Meets Science, Big Data, and Van Cleef & Arpels. It costs around 30SGD for the whole deal, but if you are currently staying at Marina Bay Sands, you can have up to 50% discount! The lady at the ticket booth told me that, and when I found out about that, I was disappointed as heck. But thankfully, she offered me another discount if and only if I could mention the room that I stayed in - and voila, I got 15% off worth of discount!

So here are some snaps that I took on my first day of solo traveling in Singapore. I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Enjoy and see you on the next post!











































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