BALI for a 10 days ¦¦ what to do, first-timer tips, affordable airbnbs (2024)

I've been to Bali twice every year for the past three years, so I feel like I have a really good grasp on what to do, where to go. So I'm really excited to take you along in this vlog, but also share with you everything I know and give you suggestions for making your own trip to Bali. Uluwatu is probably my favorite place to stay in Bali because the beaches are superior. There's amazing surfing and really cute restaurants, also just a lot of cute hidden Airbnbs like this one. I checked in at about 4pm after a long flight from the US. I honestly found this Airbnb just by chance and I was so in love with it, I wish I stayed longer than I did. Also side note, I always include the links to the Airbnbs I stay at in my travel vlogs down in the description, so keep an eye out for that. And if you haven't already, please remember to subscribe as a free way to support me. You don't have to, but it would mean so much. And here's the bathroom, the shower is beautiful, there's a nice little privacy screen here, cute little mirror. Hello. Oh, my little airport hair got crazy. I had a really long week ahead of me, so I was excited to just take the afternoon to myself, chill, read a book, enjoy the welcome drink. The spot is all cozy in bed. I'm kind of silly, I forgot an adapter, so I think my phone is going to die, so I'm going to have to go run and ask someone if they have an extra adapter or a phone charger. So, my original plan was I was going to go downstairs and get some dinner, but I'm feeling so tired and jet lagged, I think I'm just going to take a shower and then read my book and fall asleep. I feel like I just got a list in my body for this one, you know, and I'm hoping I wake up tomorrow feeling a lot more refreshed because, like, right now I'm just feeling exhausted, but that's what you get for lying direct. Because of jet lag, I woke up at the crack of dawn. I think it was 6 a.m. when I woke up, but I wasn't mad because it meant I could enjoy the morning and just watch the sunrise. Hey guys, these really cute monkeys came and joined me and one of them stole my pen. I'm actually a little scared of monkeys because in Bali they can be quite aggressive, but I decided to journal for a little bit before getting ready for the day. I'm off to go get breakfast now because I am hungry and I don't want to wake up my friend Kylie. Also, walking up these stairs is a workout in itself, so I don't think I really need to do a workout today or, like, at all on this trip, honestly. One of my favorite cafes in all of Bali is this cafe, Suka Espresso. They have multiple locations, one in Ubud, one here in Uluwatu. I think they opened one up in Canggu or Seminyak as well, but if you ever come to Bali, check them out. I love their chia pudding bowl, it's so good. Then after getting a light breakfast, I decided to do a quick workout because it just makes me feel so good to start my day doing something active. I also think it really helps with jet lag to move your body and because Bali is so humid, I purposely wore a swimsuit that I could just jump in the ocean right after my workout. And today was the day we were going to check in to the Ayana Hotel, which was a really cool experience. You can watch my other video there, but this was my first ever complimentary trip on behalf of the hotel. For background, I've always wanted to be a travel creator, and so when they reached out and offered me a stay in exchange for some views and content, I was just so excited. This just goes to show, follow your dreams, anything can happen. That was a really cool experience, so check out that video and you can watch that entire vlog there. I already mentioned that Uluwatu has some really cool surf spots, but I went to Nusa Dua to surf just because it was wet season when we went, and as a beginner, the waves were just much better here. This beach is also really cool to come and just hang out at. Honestly, my advice for when you travel to a new place, especially Bali, is just go and take yourself and just figure it out. Showing up and exploring a new random place is the best way to go. You don't need an itinerary, just go and take yourself. After our hotel trip, we went to Ubud, and this was our Airbnb. Super cute, just the two of us. Also, one thing I loved about this Airbnb that I didn't expect was breakfast was fully included. Super cool. I got this mango yogurt smoothie bowl, but they also had other things to choose from, like an egg sandwich. I love how in Bali, the food is always so fresh and so healthy. And afterwards, I felt like doing a workout, so I took myself to Pilates. Also, I recommend downloading the app Gojek to get around. You can hire a motorcycle for less than 40 US cents. Cents, yes. Crazy. Anyways, I loved this Pilates studio. Really great class. And then me and Kylie went and got some food at this restaurant called Liap Liap, which I've been to before and really love. It's traditional Indonesian and Balinese food, which I had to show my friend Kylie. The spicy kick after. Ooh. I like the hiccups. Oh no. Because it's so spicy. Wow. Is it good? It's just spicy. That's all. That's all it is. I thought you liked spicy. I do, but I didn't expect it because it looks like a braised thing. Then later that afternoon, I met up with some friends and went to this beach club called Single Fin, which this was my first time going to, but it's in Uluwatu, actually. Super cool vibes. Very nice, chill. You can watch surfers. I joined this girl Mia and her friends, who I had actually met through Instagram, which was so cool. And we went out to dinner after having a little sunset drink. The next day, I just had a very chill day and went to my favorite cafe in Ubud called Milk and Madu. I ended up eating here, I think, five times throughout the trip. The food is really fresh, affordable, great quality. I ended up getting this whole breakfast special for about $8 USD. And I didn't really do anything this day besides eat, do some work, and just relax. But the next day, we were going to go explore some waterfalls. So if you want to skip to that, you should. This is me just doing a quick little mukbang. It was so good. I came back here for dinner and had their chicken caesar salad and some potato wedge fries. Ugh, I'm a sucker for a good salad and fry combo. I also believe balance is key and I was craving a dessert, so I had this cheesecake simply because it sounded so good. Good morning. It's currently 7am, which isn't that early. Like, if you've seen my other Bali videos, I've gotten up basically at the crack of dawn to go and do something like this. But we're taking it easy. Me and Kylie don't really want to have to wake up that early today. So it's 7, we're going to go and jump some new waterfalls that I've never been to before. And my driver, Toya, who, if you ever need his contact info, I'm going to put it down here because he runs his own business. He's a great driver. All of his friends are really incredible. But he basically helps manage tours and stuff. So he is taking us to three different waterfalls. He texted me the names, but I forgot them already, so I'm going to put them here. And yeah, I'm so excited. So let's go jump off some waterfalls. Brain jacket. I knew this would happen. I checked the weather. Pro travel tip. Check the weather. Also, so my dad joined us for this trip. I didn't realize. Before our waterfall hike, we stopped and got a coffee at Alchemy, which also has really great meditation classes if you ever want to go. I got myself an oat milk cappuccino, which is my go-to hot coffee, and a chia pudding with this coconut yogurt that was really good before showing up for our first waterfall of the tour. I enjoyed my chia seed pudding as we were driving to the next waterfall. That was me admiring how pretty it was. We are... Whoa! Almost died trekking through the jungle. Don't look at that vlogger. That's cool. That's true. Oh my god. It's so slippery. I have the worst shoes for this, to be honest. All these waterfalls were beautiful to experience, but this next one was probably my favorite because we could actually swim in it. We just got to the third water spot, waterfall spot, past these beautiful rice fields. Let's go. Look, Ma! This is what they advertise online! Kylie was making me laugh because she was like, this is what I think of when I think of Bali and what I see online. Let's go. Jungle explorer. We've been Kylie's hat. We're like... I wish I could put on like an Aussie accent and be like, yeah, it's the wild... The wild flower. Also, growing up in Singapore, I love the different types of tropical fruit they have here, so try any if you haven't had them before. After our waterfall excursion, we came back and decided to just relax, take it easy. After a nice shower, I took out my journal and just decided to reflect on the trip so far, how everything was going. I'll be honest, I'm not that good at being consistent with journaling, but I'm trying to get there. You know, slowly but surely. So I'm showered and changed after our waterfall trip, and I'm going to go take myself to a cafe and eat some lunch because I'm getting kind of hungry. I'm wearing this dress that I got at a boutique ages ago now, and I can't remember the name of it, but if I do, I'm going to add it here. But yeah, let's go get some food, and I'm going to do some laptop work, and then maybe end up doing something else in Ubud this afternoon. I'll keep you updated. I went back to Milk and Madhu and had the Caesar salad because it was just so good the first time. I spent a few hours editing this video and came back. Kylie was also working before we decided to go out for dinner at this cool restaurant that some locals recommended. This is Kylie making fun of me, being like, no phones allowed. But this place had a really cool vibe. The interior was really nice. The food was honestly mediocre, but the drinks were good, and I think this is the type of place to come to if you're trying to look for a nice ambience and night out. We watched the sunset, and I think they could tell we weren't super happy with the food, so they actually gave us this free dessert, which was really, really good. So that was really nice of them. Thank you. Today we were going to go on a volcano hike, which I have done before, but I was really excited to do again because I love doing this hike in Bali. I put on my hiking clothes and also filled up my water bottle so I could stay hydrated. We're going hiking today, so excited. Our shoes were still so wet from the day before because it was raining so heavily, so I had to wear my flip flops into the car and carry them. I also got these two super sweet coffees to power me through the morning, and the drive took about an hour. That's one thing to keep in mind. Driving places in Bali can take some time, so be prepared. Also put on a ton of sunscreen because I'm trying to protect my skin. And then we used Get Your Guide to have this one-of-a-kind local experience. Get Your Guide is the best place to unlock the most unforgettable memories for travelers. They offer over 60,000 curated experiences in more than 3,600 destinations worldwide. Their website and app makes it so easy to book and access tickets with no printing required. I booked this Mount Batur hike for me and my friend, and it was one of my favorite activities we did while in Bali. Our guide knew which route to take would be the best for the views, and also based on our fitness level. Also, I'd like to think I'm pretty fit, but fair warning, I had to stop a couple times during this hike to catch my breath. It was very much a steep incline for a short period of time, but it was so worth it, even when you get to the halfway point. Honestly, our guide was the best. He was celebrating us every single step of the way. He was really good at pointing everything out to us. Also, I felt like I was so energized from those two coffees. I felt like I could literally run up this mountain, and Kylie hated me for it. She was like, girl, slow down. Also, you can try Get Your Guide by using the link in the description. Anyways, I think some of the highlights of the hike were, as we were going up, there were little cats on the mountain. There were also monkeys, but the coolest thing was that at the summit, our guide helped us use the volcano steam to hard boil some eggs. And of course, the view at the top was just beautiful. The monkeys were hanging out here, too, because surprisingly, it was a little cold on this mountain and the steam is what warmed them up. But side note, I'm actually kind of scared of monkeys, especially when they're trying to steal your food. See, it's kind of scary. But I highly recommend trying this, even if it's just for the experience of eating an egg cooked from a mountain. So cool. We boiled them. After our hike, I was starving, so I got this pepperoni pizza, which I know is very American of me. But you know what? I was craving it. And then we went out for our last dinner in Bali. If there is one restaurant you go to from this video, I really highly recommend Honey and Smoke in Ubud. It was so good. Mukbang time. Is it mukbang or mukbang? Let's say mukbang. Octopus. So good. The chicken is so good. The chicken skewer was so good. I'm also a huge fan of octopus, so I enjoyed that. But the cherry tomatoes I showed earlier were a surprising winner of the whole dinner. I also put down in the description the links to the restaurants we went to and what we ordered so you can try as well. But that was it for this Bali vlog. Thank you so much for watching. Make sure to like and subscribe and I'll see you in the next video.