Where To Stay in Bali: Villa Manis in Ubud


Bali has been at the top of my travel bucket list for years. I've been day dreaming about their beaches, food, culture, and nightlife that I've only seen through photos. All I hear are praises about the place. Jacob and I originally planned to go in October of last year but we had to move our flight because his passport didn't arrive in time for our trip. We changed our dates to the end of May instead. However, we hit another bump on the road just a couple of weeks before our trip. Jacob found out he had fly back home earlier than expected for work. Our 8 day trip got cut down to 6 days. It seemed like luck wasn't on our side but I wasn't going to let that rain on my parade. I was still ecstatic to finally tick Bali off my bucket list.


Getting There


From Manila, you can either take Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific or Air Asia. Air Asia had the best deal for our dates. Each round trip ticket cost PHP14,000 per person. It was quite expensive because we had to pay a rebooking fee. Normally, it should be around Php8,000- PHP10,000 round trip. If you're lucky, prices drop to as low as PHP4,000 on promo. Our flight departed at 2am. We arrived Denpasar past 4 am. We arranged a driver to pick us up through the Airbnb we were staying at.
 

Where To Stay


I found Villa Manis while scrolling through Airbnb. (See the listing here) It's a One Bedroom Villa that has a pool right outside your door. There are only two other rooms in the property. Mary, the hostess, stays in the main house and there's another room by the back also up for rent. When we were there, there was a long term guest who has been there for a couple of months already.
The Wayans prepare breakfast for you every morning. You can also request what you want and they'll cook it for you.


  
 

 

Touring Around Ubud


We only had exactly 24 hours to explore Ubud. We arrived at Villa Manis at 5 am and we were leaving the same time the next day to move to Nusa Penida. We recharged for a bit then started our day with lunch at Bebek Joni. Our driver said that they had the best Bebek Goreng (Crispy Duck). I've never tried it before but Jacob has. He grew up in Indonesia and he said that I had to try it at least once in my life. I'm not adventurous when it comes to trying new dishes but he was able to convince me. I surprisingly enjoyed every bite! It's similar to fried chicken except it has more flavor and less meat.
  

Goa Gajah
Ubud is known for their temples. Majority of the Balinese are Hindu. They go to the temple to offer their prayers. When I was doing my research, I found more than 10 beautiful carved temples but since we were pressed for time, I just picked what I thought was the most unique. Goa Gajah or Elephant Cave dates back to the 11th Century as a place of meditation. 

Pura Taman Saraswati- a temple surrounded by a pond

Warung Bintang Bali- for the best spareribs in town

End our first night in Bali with wine

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