Destination Wedding! SQ to Bali, Conrad Nusa Dua, Room4Dessert, Babi Guling Pak Dobil

[yflyer]

And finally, the payoff...



Lip-smacking delicious pork done several ways: lean pulled meat, crisp crackling, deep fried innards, and a stick of pork satay. This also came with vegetables and a serving of steamed rice, along with a bowl of pork bone soup. Each plate also came with a dollop of mouth-searing chilli, which we asked for on the side.

This was a heavenly combination of flavours and textures. This was a magic formula, one so good that the restaurant did not need anything else on the menu to thrive. People came from all over to eat this, locals, tourists, everyone. Superb!

It definitely made sense to order additional pork crackling.



You had some on your plate as part of your set, but how could a couple of pieces possibly be enough? Yes, definitely order an extra plate of pork crackling. Not for the table. Per person. Trust me on this!

The wonder here was that not only was the pork crackling delicious, the lean meat was the absolute best and most tender I had ever eaten. Revelatory.



This was one of the best meals of our trip. I would definitely head back there again if I was in Nusa Dua.

[yflyer]

That evening, we checked out of the Conrad and headed to DPS.



Bali's main airport, Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, in Denpasar, is a huge world class facility, and among the busiest airports in Indonesia, after Jakarta.



It was a busy Sunday evening at the airport, with flights departing for in the next few hours, including many flights to Singapore on Scoot, SQ and KLM, an EK A380 bound for Dubai, and many other flights bound for Australia, Kuala Lumpur, Doha and elsewhere.



The check-in area...



The SQ check-in queue for economy when we arrived.



Thankfully the KF Gold / Business Class queue was far shorter.

We cleared the automated face-recognition gates and security quite quickly, and entered the airside shopping area.



Lots of shops...



...and dining options...



Airline lounges were a level up from the shopping level...

[yflyer]

The Tujuwan Lounge was the designated lounge for SQ (And apparently also every other airline except Garuda...)...



Initial impressions, a smallish lounge, with decor which looked a little tired. The air also felt a little warm and stuffy.



That said, the lounge was undergoing minor renovations at that time, with part of the lounge boarded up and closed, so it is likely the situation will change for the better in the near future.



There was a manned bar in the lounge, with a selection of wine, beer, liquor and cocktails.



There was also a full buffet spread of both hot and cold dishes.



This lounge had multiple seating zones. The challenge I had was that these zones were not well signposted, and the only way to discover them was to walk aound yourself and do your own recce.

There was an outdoor balcony area which overlooked the shops.



Miss yflyer no.2 and I spent most of our time on this balcony, as the interior of the lounge was a little crowded and stuffy.

It was only in the last 15 minutes of our time in the lounge that I discovered a narrow staircase that led downstairs into another section of the lounge, with much nicer ambience, and an even better F&B spread that the 2nd level.



If I had discovered this zone earlier, I would have spent most of my time there! This part of the lounge was cool, bright and comfortable!

This section of the lounge had it's own bar counter as well.

[yflyer]

There was a decent F&B spread in the Tujuwan lounge.



Spaghetti and local Indonesian noodles...



Chicken sausage Solo...



Beef Mongolian and sauteed string beans...



Aloo Gobi and steamed rice...



Sandwiches...



Fruits and salad...



Beef ball noodles...



...and cup noodles.

[yflyer]

The cocktail menu...


Wines at the bar included red and white wines from Hatten Wines, made in Bali.

Hatten white...



Hatten red...



Overall, I thought this lounge was adequate, but really too small for an airport like DPS. The highlight of the lounge was the catering. Ambience was only ok in the ground level section. The other parts of the lounge just looked tired. It was also very crowded. That said, there were renovations in progress, so perhaps things will be better in a few months time.

[yflyer]

We headed to the gate.



Large, spacious gate area...



Our flight, SQ947, DPS-SIN, was operated by Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner registration 9V-SCO.



On time boarding...



The aircraft type and cabin product for this flight was the same as for our previous SIN-DPS sector.



Flight time of 2 hours 11 minutes to Singapore today...



Hot towels were distributed...

[yflyer]

Meal service began shortly after take-off...



Two choices today, Singapore laksa or chicken stew.

I opted for Laksa.



The tray with lids open. The laksa looked very appetising. It was on the drier side, with less soup that in the hawker center version in Singapore.



The laksa tasted as good as it looked.



I took a look at Miss yflyer no.2's chicken stew...



Not bad at all!



Dessert was cake...



After the meal, I dozed on and off. Next thing I knew the cabin crew were prepping for arrival. We landed in Singapore on time, at around midnight.



This was a very good flight, with wonderful cabin crew and a very nice cabin product.

[yflyer]

Final reflections...

This was a wonderful trip.

Our flights on SQ were great. While these were short flights, I definitely felt that flying SQ really made a difference to my enjoyment of the trip. Flying there on SQ really got us all into the right vacation mood, and returning to Singapore on SQ helped mitigate that "end of vacation" feeling.

We were very happy with the Conrad Bali. It is an excellent resort, with wonderful rooms, facilities and staff. They take really good care of Hilton Diamond members.

One aspect of customer service at the Conrad I quite liked: after check-in, I was contacted by the Conrad staff on my WhatsApp number, and for the duration of the trip, any requests like spa reservations, dining reservations were made via WhatsApp to the Conrad staff, who invariably responded very quickly.

The upgrade to the pool access room was a stroke of really good fortune. I am now completely sold on the concept of direct pool access. I spent way more time swimming in the pool on this vacation than any other. If I were to return to the Conrad, I would not leave things to chance, and reserve a pool access room at time of booking.

My favourite meals of the trip were the Babi Guling at Pak Dobil, as well as our dinner at Room4Dessert. I was also happy with the F&B at the Conrad, especially breakfast, which to me was the best meal of the day.

A couple of things to note if you are heading to Bali: First, remember to fill out all the e-forms before arrival if possible (All 4 of them). They are a pain to complete online, but doing so will save you a lot of hassle upon arrival. Second, traffic along the roads can be very heavy and unpredictable, and Google Maps travel time estimates there are far from accurate. Don't be too ambitions with timings when planning a tour or journey!

Finally, it was great to attend a wedding in Bali. While any wedding is a happy occasion, I did really like the experience of combining a vacation in a beautiful location with a wedding party. It was nice to wander around the resort, meeting relatives along the way, and comparing notes with them on what to do, and where to go.

Thanks for reading!

[SQ218]

Great sunrise shots

[yflyer]

Great sunrise shots

Thanks! Great sunrise views from the Conrad. Wish we had time on this trip to head over to some of the other beaches to see the sunsets, but there simply wasn't time.