Lombok 2014 - Day 1

This is my write-up on my recent department trip to Lombok. We took the early morning flight (8.40am) from the spanking new KLIA2. We had breakfast at the food court; the Ipoh hor fun was pretty good!

We arrived at Lombok around 11.45am. It was funny that the airline provided the customs form but not the arrival/departure form. Hence the delay to the transfer company due to people filling up the forms prior to passing immigration. The transfer guide was friendly enough; he brought us to lunch at for the local favorites: ayam taliwang, peleceng kangkung and fish (I forgot the name! I think it's Taliwang Rama)

Restaurant sign

Peleceng kangkung - yummy sauce!

Ayam Taliwang - terrific!

Fish

Teh botol

The chicken is small, a bit bony but the spices used to marinate the chicken is terrific! The fish isn't bad either! I tried teh botol - similar to teh-O here...nothing special IMO. After lunch we headed straight to the hotel. A few rooms were not ready for check-in so me & my female friends decided to kill time at the hotel spa. The hotel converted 2 rooms into the spa - they didn't have enough female therapists for 5 girls (only 2 female + 1 male); but they gave 10 min free massage, so we took turns. I took 10 min shoulder + neck and 10 min feet. The feet massage was REALLY something; the therapist dug his nails into my feet and it was a new experience for me! I gotta say, the 10 min was pretty intense! 

Pathway to the cottages

When we were done, the rooms were ready so we checked in. We stayed at the garden cottage; 1 room was upgraded to the villa which was really amazing - the shower has an open roof concept so it's like taking a shower under the sunlight! Hotel landscaping was nice; there were ponds and lush greenery - it really felt like a secret garden hideaway. I didn't take photos of the rooms, such a shame! I did take photo of the pool and made a mental note to swim there at night - the pool is open 24/7, however there will be no staff/towel available after 8pm.

The pool

We then took a walk along Senggigi beach - here there are boats, peddlers selling jewelry, T-shirts etc. The sun was setting and provided us with a lovely serene view. We walked towards Sheraton Senggigi and I understand the price tag of that hotel - it has a strip of beach so patrons can drag the lounge chairs to the sand and watch the sun go down. We went to the spa and the price was comparable to that in our hotel, with beautiful little huts near the sea so you can hear the sound of the waves while their therapists pamper you. We made booking for massage the next day 6pm (after our waterfall tour), then headed back to our hotel to get ready for the BBQ dinner. 

Boats on the beach

Walking along the beach

Catching the setting sun

We engaged Charles Rasul from Tour Lombok to arrange for BBQ dinner on the beach at the restaurant at Graha Senggigi Hotel. We boarded the bus and my heart swelled with pride and excitement as we approached the beach. There were 2 long tables and the BBQ was served buffet style. The weather was perfect and the food was pretty good; drinks were not part of the package but they weren't expensive. The staff set up a fire to set the mood. Everyone had a good time mingling and eating; I'll gripe about the small BBQ grill (the food output was slow) and the location of the grill was such that 1 table was constantly "smoked". 

We opted to walk back after the meal and everyone dispersed; some to a local pub, I went to the Orchid Spa. Me & my man went for the 1 hr massage: it wasn't fantastic but he fell asleep and it was a relaxing session for me. Can't complain as it was quite cheap (approximately RM15) We headed back to the hotel to sleep as we've an early start tomorrow. 

 

Read about Day 2 here :)