Bali - Dolphin Experience @ Melka Hotel, Lovina

Today I woke up feeling EXCITED! Will be visiting DOLPHINS today!! WOOHHOOO!!! Our tour guide, Mr. Bina wass already waiting for us at the lobby to transport us to LOVINA, sharp at 9am! We would need to reach Melka by 1pm on time for our dolphin date! ^ _^



Inside Mr. Bina's car..Excited!




Stopped by Fruits and Vegetable market while we were on our way.


Although these fruits are sold in Malaysia, I suddenly felt like having some mangosteen so I asked the lady at the stall can I have just 6 pieces of it? She said no problem and coaxed me to look at other items on sale at her stall. I kept asking her how much does the mangosteen going to cost me but she insisted for me to look at other items first.


After a series of fruits sampling, I decided to just stick to the mangosteen, two small packets of Cashew Nuts (around 100 g?) and a small packet of "buah keras"/ candlenut. Thsese cost me Rp 500,000 (approximately a whopping sum of RM 177!!).


I told her I'l do away with the cashew nuts and the candlenuts and will just have the mangosteens, how much will it cost me? She asked me to bargain with her so I said if it is between Rp 20,000 - Rp 30,000 (RM 10 - RM 11) I would consider to buy.


She raised her voice and said she can't agree with such a price and the best she could give me was RP 410,000 (approximately RM 146).


I told her I can get these things less than Rp 20,000 in Malaysia... My bad that I had the wrong impression for the price in Bali. So, I walked away despite her shouting away on the different price.. the last I heard was USD 100! MADNESS!

Walked back to the car empty handed, told Mr. Bina, our tour guide what just happen and he was also shocked at the price tag. He bought some items himself which cost him around Rp 20,000 and he was glad I didn't proceed with the purchase. He did offer to buy the fruits on my behalf but I decided not to make anymore fuss about it.. I'll just go back to Malaysia to have them! =p

PIGGY!!

Mr. Bina said sometimes owners will loan their male piggy to those who only has female piggies so that the female piggies able to conceive after mating with the "temporary mate". SERIOUS~!!






Another stop at a rice terrace field...nice view.. (except that my mobile phone camera can't capture it well =p).

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Reached Melka Excelsior Hotel around 12pm. Instead of the 4 hours expected travelling time, it was just 3 hours =) Cool..we have some time to spare to have a look around at the hotel! ^_^

Paid Rp 540,000 per pax for the Swim With The Dolphin session + Dolphin Show session.

This was what greeted me when I stepped out from the reception area to the resort area.

Walkway towards the Mini Zoo and Dolphin pool.

Spa area..

Sun bathing area.

Swimming Pool.

One of the villa room entrance.

Room area.

Four Poster Bed.

One thing I can't help to notice for this room was that the enclosure of the phython was placed just next to this room! *shivers* I won't be able to sleep well with that knowledge in mind @_@.

Yeah, there's a mini zoo in Melka Resort =)

Eastern Blue Tounged Lizard.

Phython - This one is living next to the room I just mentioned earlier!

Otters sunbathing =p

The long tailed macaques looked sad.. I would be too if I am caged =(

YAAYYYY!!! Yes yes!! I am here to visit you! Thank you for the welcoming smile !!

So nice of you to treat me to a private show =)

It was still their break time before the "Swim with the Dolphin" session and "Dolphin Show".

No one else was nearby the dolphin pool.. so I sat down and watched them play.

Aww... so cute!!!

Before the Swim with the Dolphin session, I was advised to shower with soap to get rid of the sunblock I applied on my skin. There are shower rooms available and towels are provided if you don't have one.

In another pool, John was being fed his lunch by his trainer. I start taking pictures of them and I was beckoned to get into the pool to try feeding John too. YAAYY!!

You have to know that I don't tolerate well with fishy smells.. and touching a dead fish..yucky! But for getting friendly with dolphin's sake, I won't complain!! =D

Was trying to get a kiss from John the Dolphin but he was shy and so am I =p After a few tries, managed to get 3 kisses on his bottlenose!! MWAAAHHH!!! CUTE!

Since John was shy and he seemed to be still full from his lunch, the trainer decide to bring me over to play with Ucil at the other pool.

It was so surreal to be able to be in the water with a real life dolphin, touching its body, looking at it in the eye and its mouth looks like its smiling at me..

Today is the day for one of my dream to come true... such proximity to a dolphin!

Hey Ucil! Another photo please?? Nah.. she doesn't give a damn... LOLZ! I gotta say goodbye after approximately 15-20 minutes session. The dolphins gotta get ready to do a show next!

I enjoyed the tricks done by them during the show. It really amazed me how they do what they can do. It was really a cherished and unforgettable experience!