Indonesia 🇮🇩

After our fourth day in Bali yesterday, we had a relaxed morning and went to Aeni Spa Wana for a Balinese massage. It was nice and refreshing after the 4 days of sightseeing and activities. Coming back to the hotel, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. We got ready and walked to the airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. It was the first time we were flying VietJet Air. The line for check-in was quite long and it took a while for us to get to the counter. ...

We got up early and walked to the beach for our “swimming with dolphins” and snorkeling tour. We had booked it with Saraswati Lovina Dolphin for IDR 500,000. We met our boat operator and we were off. At first, there seemed to be a plethora of boats all heading out to sea, but as we went further out, everyone dispersed in different directions. Soon after, we started seeing dolphins around us. ...

We got up early and checked out of the hotel; we would be coming back here after a day. Our driver arrived at the hotel at 7:00 am, and we were on our way. We picked up some breakfast and coffee to go from a Mini Mart nearby and continued to drive on. Our first stop was Tanah Lot. This is a traditional Balinese temple located on a small, rocky island. It can be accessed on foot during low tide. Again, we had the advantage of being there relatively early and avoiding the crowds. The entrance fee for the two of us and parking was around IDR 120,000 and IDR 5,000. We were able to visit a small shrine at the base, but the main shrine at the top was closed to visitors. The tide started coming in while we were there, and we could see the water level slowly rising. We also saw the Enjung Galuh Temple nearby. ...

We got up early and got ready for our second day here. We booked a car and driver for the remainder of our stay in Bali. Our driver arrived at the hotel at 6:30 am, and we were on our way. We picked up some breakfast and coffee to go from Circle K and continued to drive on. Our first stop was the Besakih Great Temple. It is the most important, largest, and holiest temple of Balinese Hinduism. The entrance fee, including the sarong rental for both of us, was IDR 180,000. Having left from Kuta very early in the morning, we had the advantage of being one of the very few visitors there. It was a huge site with multiple temple complexes to explore as we climbed higher. We got to see everything at our own pace and then headed back down. As we were leaving, we could see more and more people coming in. ...

After arriving from Singapore yesterday, we got up early for the visit to Nusa Penida today. We booked a ride to Sanur Port using the Gojek app, and it cost IDR 141,500 to get there. We reached and located the Sanur Port building and were told that we had to go to the Semabu Hills Fast Boat counter to exchange the voucher for the ferry ticket. There was a long line at the counter. The looked at the reservation details from Klook and gave us each a badge with lanyard and also a voucher for the return trip. We walked back to the Sanur Port building and then proceeded to board our ferry to Nusa Penida. ...

Our flight, SQ 423, left from Mumbai a little before midnight. We had exit row seats towards the end of the lower deck and we were able to get priority boarding thanks to my United Premier Gold status. The meal service was dinner, more than an hour after take-off. We were able to catch a little sleep and before long we were starting our descent into Singapore. ...

KrisFlyer miles generally follow a fixed-expiry policy where they remain valid for 36 months (3 years) from the month they were earned. Unlike many other loyalty programs, this expiry is not extended by account activity; even if you earn or redeem miles regularly, the old miles still expire on their original schedule. My parents-in-law had some miles on Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer from their earlier travel to the USA. These miles were now close to expiry. They had no plans to use them, so that gave me an opportunity to look at what I could do with them before they expired. ...