MoFate's Drop in the Bucket List

We get a 30 day visa on arrival for Indonesia, and we decided to make the most of it by spending 26 nights in the country. Our trip was divided into four major regions: Lombok, Bali, Yogyakarta (or Jogja), and Jakarta. Everyone said to skip Jakarta but Mohit insisting on visiting due to his delusions of moving to SEA in the future.

Indonesia has a fascinatingly diverse landscape. A tiny island like Lombok has great beaches, apparently awesome surf breaks (we wouldn't know but the hordes of Aussies were a tip off), beautiful reefs for diving and snorkeling, towering volcanoes to hike, and picturesque rice paddies to stroll around in. It's also quite accessible if you can ride a motorbike/scooter (but please don't try to learn in Bali.) The roads are pretty well maintained, and people follow the traffic laws (most of the time.) We were able to ride ~600km on scooters across Lombok, Bali, and Jogja. We also found the people to be very friendly and easy to talk to, even when they didn't speak much English.

From a cost perspective, the country is a great vacation spot:

$26/night for a mid-range room at non-chain hotels, homestays, and Airbnbs
$6pp for meals including an entree and drink
$5/day for automatic scooter rental
$15 for a day of snorkeling
$65 for two dives in Lombok including transportation (car + boat) - more expensive than Malaysia and Philippines but not bad compared to the US

Fun facts

Trash burning seems to common practice across Indonesia. Trash that includes plastic. So yeah... buy a mask from the drugstore.
If your Airbnb host ever tells you to check out the local "Idul fitri parade", make sure to ask her about the traffic situation in the town. Otherwise you might get stuck in the middle of the parade on a scooter for 2 hours listening to school boys and girls singing some very repetitive lyrics.
Never cheap out on a haircut in Ubud. Rule of thumb, if the "barber" has to be called in on a motorbike to the "spa" and looks like he's never used scissors on human hair before, go somewhere more expensive.
If a sketchy guy asks you "mushrooms?", he's referring to the drug.
You could have bought a few hundred square meters of land in Lombok for a motorbike about 10 years ago.
If you've ever wondered how to carry a surfboard on a scooter, just visit Kuta (either one, Lombok or Bali.)
Breaking down the tourists in Ubud: 70% women, 10% families and couples, 15% middle-aged men (looking to mac on said 70% women), 5% white people without shoes
When Czech couples tell you they're helping local business with building bamboo building, always double check to see if they're running a bamboo eco lodge business charging $140/night for stays...
Always check the proximity of your hotel to a mosque in Jogja unless you like being woken up at 4:37am for prayer
Nevada is a common brand of jeans. Unless there's a Nevada in Indonesia, we're very confused as to why Nevada jeans would be appealing here.
50% of Balinese people are named either Nyoman or Wayan.

Lombok

Senggigi (north-east) is the resort area with great access to snorkeling and diving at the nearby gilis (small islands) and Kuta (south) is a great spot for surfing. Senggigi definitely has a chiller, safer, family friendly vibe while Kuta has a frenzied, Aussie surfer bro vibe.
Getting to your hotel is best done with Blue Bird Taxi. They aren't allowed inside the airport pickup queue but you can meet your taxi in the parking lot that's just in front of the airport. Its a tiny place and we were able to find out driver even after dark.
Get a local SIM card. For 20,000 IDR ($1.50) we were able to get a Telkomsel SIM card with 2.5GB of data that lasted us the entire time in Indonesia.
Airbnbs and homestays on Agoda/Booking.com are the way to go for cheap but very decent accommodation. Most places include free breakfast which beat most American Residence Inn shitty cereal and muffins, so it's worth checking if your place offers it before booking.
Place to visit:

Scooter ride to Mt. Rinjani base with beautiful views of the volcano and rice paddies along the way
Gili Layar for snorkeling/beach laying by hiring a boat from the several family run boats here
Diving the wreck off of Senggigi
Mataram mosque at night
Beaches near Senggigi including Pentai Sentagi, Nipah, and Pandanan
Beaches near Kuta including Pentai Mawi, Selong Belank, and Pentai Tanjuan Aan

Our favorite restaurants:

Senggigi - Temptations, Omah Cobek
Kuta - Warung Flora, awesome fresh juice place right next to the Alfamart (left side if you're facing Alfamart)

Bali

Kuta (south west) is the "ruined tourist area" with a series of beautiful beaches, Ubud (central) is the Eat, Pray, Love tourist heart of Bali, and Sideman (east of Ubud) is the quiet rice paddy filled Bali we all imagine when we book our flights. Though we didn't get to visit, we hear Amed (east coast) is the divers haven for viewing awesome fish like mola mola and a deep reef called the Wall.
If staying in Ubud, try to stay away from the three main streets: Monkey Forest, Hanoman, and Raya Ubud. You can easily scooter or walk here for lunch/dinner if you stay a couple of streets away. If you want a more remote experience, try going more north towards Tegalalang. We recommend Kupu-Kupu Villa on Airbnb for ~$35/night.
Definitely take a Grab from the Airport to wherever you're staying. The local drivers in Ubud are pretty aggressive towards Grab/Uber/Gojek so they can continue their racket of ripping off tourists so getting a Grab out of Ubud can be challenge. But they're very available in Kuta along with Blue Bird Taxi, a good backup to Grab.
Places to visit:

Jatiluwih rice terraces - 40,000 IDR pp for entry to walk around the very large rice terraces. The ride from Ubud has nice country stretches and takes about 2 hours one way.
Campuhan ridge walk - free and a quick 5 minute scooter ride from central Ubud . The walk itself took around an hour with some light hill climbing. Great views of the forest filled with palm trees and ending in, you guessed it, rice paddies.
Munduk scooter ride for beautiful mountain roads with lake views ending in a quiet village (check out Jojo's Warung and ride down to Munduk Rice Terraces (walk along the path until you stumble upon a cafe - best coffee we had in Indonesia)
Sideman - chill rice paddies village on the verge of blowing up with tourism. Stay at Great Mountain View resorts.
White Sand Beach, which should be renamed Soft Sand Beach, and Karamas beach are nice day trips from Ubud. Make sure to stop at Swan Cafe at Karamas beach to watch the surfers perform nearby.

Our favorite restaurants:

Ubud - Moksa (fancy vegan food), Dayu's Warung (vegetarian Indonesianish), and JB Warung (its near Kupu-Kupu Villa)
Kuta - Warung Tujuh (Indonesian), and The Pad on Legion (breakfast)

Yogyakarta (Jogja)

Luckily no geography lesson needed for Jogja. People go here mainly to visit the two UNESCO World Heritage sites: Borobudur and Prambanan temples.
Jogja is much more densely populated than Bali or Lombok so only ride a scooter/motorcycle here if you are okay with Asian traffic. Seriously, you have to be able to weave through cars at red lights and keep up with the sea of bikes. Definitely not a place to begin learning.
Tips for visiting Borobudur and Prambanan:

Buy the combo tickets, you end up saving $20 compared to buying separately
Get to Borobudur early! The regular ticket allows entry at 6am, so get there by 6am. There will already be people in there who paid for the sunrise 4:30am access, and the hordes of locals + tourists will start arriving by 6:30am.
Take the slightly longer but non-highway route back from Borobudur to Jogja. And if you have the energy, stop by Punthuk Setumbu for a great view of the distant volcanoes.
Get to Prambanan early as well, just after an early breakfast. Many tourists end up doing Borodubur and Prambanan the same day, so Prambanan gets really busy in the afternoon (we heard.) Be sure to walk over Candi Sewa for a much emptier but no less beautiful temple in the same compound.

If you have a free day, make a day trip to Canting Mas Puncak Dipowono. Its next to Kiliburu National Park and offers great scooter ride ending in panoramic views of the Jogja countryside. The road if good except for the last few miles, which are very rocky and hilly.
Pantai Baru, a black volcanic sand beach, is also a good stop on your extra day on the way back from Dipowono. We only saw Indonesians on the beach, which was a first for us.
Our favorite restaurants included IndoChine (a Vietnamese restaurant... we don't get the name either), and Gadgah Wang (expensive but good.)

Jakarta

Meh, avoid it.

Summary of pictures

Lombok

The beginning of scooter life!

Ride to M Rinjani from Senggigi

Beach at Gili Layar

Gotta build random stuff to attract selfie taking tourists

Idul Fitri feast cooked by our Airbnb host Yana!

Ignore the trash

Pantai Mawi in Kuta, Lombok

Pantai Tuanjun Aan for beginner surfing!

Fate getting bolder and bolder in her picture taking with every scooter ride

Jatiluwih in the off season

Campuhan ridge walk

The random cafe in Munduk Rice Terraces where the signs are in French and the waiter is fluent in English

Ornate decorations found in most Balinese homes

Great Mountain View resort really lives up to its name

Where are the ducks going?!

One of many processions that occur frequently in Bali for reasons unknown to tourists

Fancy shmancy vegan food at Moksa

Prambanan temple in the morning

So glad locals are allergic to walking; we practically had Candi Sewa all to ourselves during our visit

Borodubur!

Indos really love platforms at viewpoints

The four months of travel in 2017 began in Malaysia. Well technically it began in SF with the Aroon + Akhila wedding, but that was really only because of the cheap flight deals out of SFO :P
This post is divided into the four key areas we spent time in over the three weeks (May 30 - June 21) we were in Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands, Penang, and Perhentian Islands.

Kuala Lumpur

KLIA Express train from airport to KL Sentral is very convenient but is pricey. At 55 rm per person, the train is much more expensive for 2 people than a Grab (Uber of Malaysia), which costs costs around 70 rm per ride.
Transport within KL is easiest through Grab and transport to most places on the west coast of Malaysia is easiest via bus. TBS, the main KL bus terminal, is really well built and buses seemed to be running on time.
We had a good experience with Airbnb in KL. For ~$40/day we had a 3 bedroom apartment two stops on the monorail from KL Sentral.
If your trip happens to fall during ramadan, as ours did, you're actually in luck! The ramadan night markets are worth checking out for the sheer volume of people and food. The food is cheap and pretty clean. The Kampang Baru ramadan market is the biggest and starts getting busy in the evening around 6:00pm.
Other things to see include the Thean Hou Temple for a nice view of the KL skyline, Islamic Arts Museum, walking around Jalan Alor, Lot 10, and Pavilion mall.
Our favorite restaurants included: Simple Life Healthy Vegetarian, Idli Only Cafe for breakfast, Asif Biryani, Sarang Cookery for nasi ulam, and The Majestic Hotel for ramadan buffet

Cameron Highlands

Easybook.com lets you book buses within KL, including your seat numbers. The ride from KL to Cameron Highlands was around 4 hours. We took GT Express and it was very comfortable.
Getting around Cameron Highlands is best done through scooters or taxi. Scooters are a little expensive, around $20 for 4 hours, but worth it to explore the tea estates.
We stayed at Father's Guest House in Tanha Rata. No complains about the rooms, they were clean and not many mosquitoes. The common areas were nice to hang around in and drink their free tea. Its also walking distance from the bus station.
Tea - We recommend checking out both the Boh Tea Estates. The one in north past Brinchang is much larger and the ride to it is beautiful. The one near Ringlet is smaller but has a great short walk to a hilltop viewpoint. The Bharat Tea Estate, just under the Cameron Valley Teahouse (not #2), is definitely worth the 2 rm fee for walking around in. Just don't eat there like we did. The "scones" suck and the tea is overpriced.
Other things to see include Big Red Strawberry farm (but go early for a breakfast shake to avoid the swaths of tourists), Sam Poh Temple, and a walk around the golf course.
Our favorite restaurants included: KHM for awesome fresh scones, tea, and pickles, Singh Chapati for Amritsar style food, afternoon food market in Tanha Rata (it's on the main road, you can't miss it). Avoid Cameron AA Curry House.

Penang

The bus to Penang was another 4 hours from Cameron Highlands. GT express wasn't available so we took Unititi, which was good as well. Once you reach Butterworth bus station in Penang, you will be assaulted by taxi drivers wanting to drive you to Georgetown. Just follow the European backpackers or signs for the ferry, whichever you see first, and take the 2.50 rm ferry to Georgetown. The ferry takes 15 minutes and drops you off in the historic district of Georgetown.
We stayed at B Street Hotel on Beach Street. The positives is that the hotel is newly built, so the room and bathrooms are nice. The major cons include weak ACs that take thirty minutes to really start working, and the fact that "Beach Street" or B Street Hotel does not show up on the search for Grab. Actually most of the places we wanted to go to did not show up on Grab so you just have to drop a pin and speak to the Grab driver on the phone.
Things to see include: self guided street art tour (just grab a map from your hotel and walk!), Pinang Pernakan Mansion, Burmese and Thai Temples (right across the street from each other).
Our favorite restaurants included: Cookoo Bird Laksa, The Leaf, Tofu House, Jawi House Cafe (we only stopped for a teh tarik but the place looked great), Yin's Sourdough Bakery for breakfast, Sushi Kitchen for surprisingly great vegan Japanese food.

Perhentian Islands

Getting to Perhentian is a pain in the butt, but its totally worth it. We flew into Kota Bharu ($20 flight from KL), took a Grab to the Kuala Besut jetty ($15 ride), and a speedboat to Perhentian Kecil ($8 one way). Door to door this took 12 hours. But apparently this is better than the bus option based on the horror stories we heard from other travelers.
We chose stay on Kecil instead of Besar since its cheaper. Besar is mainly high end resorts. And within Kecil we randomly chose the Coral Bay side, not Long Beach, which was very lucky. Long Beach is the drunk side, Coral Bay is the quiet side. We stayed at Shari-La Resort that I cannot recommend. Ombak, where Riddhi stayed, looked much better.
Diving/Snorkeling - Fully recommend using Sea Voice Divers. Mohit completed this OWD course here, while Fate and Riddhi did snorkeling and a discover scuba dive. They were very nice in accommodating a mixture of divers + snorkeler. Mohit's diving instructor, Felix, was fantastic. The equipment, except wetsuits, is well maintained and the instructors/dive masters know the waters really well. Their prices are also slightly less than everyone else on Coral Bay. And they are owned by a guy who was born on the island, so if you're into supporting the local economy...
Things to see include: do the hike up to "the windmill". The view is phenomenal, just be sure to bug spray up or you'll be eaten alive. Walk across the island to Long Beach and have a beer. You can walk out around 60 meters from the beach and still be standing. Kayaking on the western coast of the island is fun and lets you stop in at pristine beaches for however long you want.
Our favorite restaurants included: Unanimous decision here was Ewans. They are pretty quick in the service (considering island time) and the food is good. The milkshakes (M&M, Oreo, and Mars) are all awesome. Amelia's has great food and good prices as well except the service can be sloooooow. Ombak generally sucked since it was very very overpriced. People seem to love sitting there, watching shitty English movies, and paying $6 for a small beer. Shari-La dinner buffet is meh as well, though at-least it's not as expensive as Ombak.
Mohit made a video of our times in Perhentian!

Fun facts

Airport yoga is a thing apparently. Middle aged Europeans were just sweating it out in a hallway in KLIA with some music blaring as people walking by them.
Turns out that KL is not walking friendly. We thought we'd walk from Thean Hou Temple to our Airbnb but were rescued by a random British lady offering us car ride since our side was about to end and become a highway.
Old men on motorcycles shout "yo yo yo!" to foreigners cutting off traffic.
Cameron Highlands has hydroponically grown strawberries and lettuce. Not sure why, but people were all about it.
Our guide 'Too Son' at Pinang Pernakan Mansion was a real character. If you ever run into her, be sure to pretend that you're Muslim and have her convince you to convert.
Monitor lizards are the raccoons of Perhentian Islands.