ZICOlaw Network Bali Retreat 2015

So my firm had announced this trip as early as January this year. At that time it still seemed like such a long way to go, but then now the trip has come and gone. Not to sound cliche, but time really flies. This was my second time in Bali, as I had previously come here with hubby and a group of friends back in 2011.

We travelled on the morning of 30 April, taking a flight from Penang to KL at 5.50 am and thereafter the connecting flight to Denpasar at 8.50 am. So not surprisingly, most of us were up by 3.30 am to make it to the airport one hour before departure. We reached Denpasar by noon, and the shuttle buses took us to the hotel.

The multi-coloured luggage bags made for a good photo opportunity - what I like to call "Instagram worthy photos" :)

On arrival, we had a group check-in since there were so many of us, and I had the yummiest welcome drink ever. I was told it was mango tea.

The firm put us up at Sofitel which was located at Nusa Dua. We were told that it was a 5 star luxury hotel, and we were not disappointed. The hotel grounds were really amazing - more opportunities for Instagram worthy photos!

The rooms were really nice too, and they provided Lanvin toiletries! I had a nice bubble bath on the day I arrived, something which I hardly get to do at home haha.

The Senior Associates had discussion/training sessions on the first day and half of the second day, so after the sessions were over, we headed to the beach for some R&R.

Once the rest of the Associates arrived on the second day, we decided to have a late lunch. We were recommended to go to this place called Dirty Duck. It originated in Ubud, but there was a branch nearby in Nusa Dua so we headed there. No regrets, as the food was really good. We were in a party of 13 people, so we ordered quite a lot of food, but managed to finish everything!

That night, we had dinner at Jimbaran - grilled seafood by the beach. We were in smaller party this time, but the food was equally as good.

The next day, we had our network photo session, so we were given special t-shirts and white sunnies to wear. Besides the official photos, of course there were all the selfies and unofficial photos!

These were most of the lawyers from our Penang office (missing a few).

The firm had organised a half day tour to Tanah Lot in the afternoon, but I did not join the tour since I had been there before, You can read about it here. So I just rested in the hotel and did some souvenir shopping at a nearby shopping centre. 

In the evening, it was time for the Absolutely White Beach Party at Nikki Beach! The dress code was (yes, you guessed it), Absolutely White, so we were all dressed in our white dresses, white pants, white tops etc. 

It was a fun evening, with performances by various offices and the Jakarta office won first prize which was USD1,000!

After Nikki Beach, we headed for Hard Rock Hotel in downtown Kuta. Kuta did look a lot different from when I was there last.

The next morning, after breakfast, we went for more souvenir shopping as some of my colleagues did not manage to do any shopping the day before. We checked out first so that we could have more time outside since our shuttle bus to the airport was only due to arrive at 1.30 pm. Even the reception area was super nice with these swing chairs for us to sit and wait.

After shopping, it was back to the hotel to catch the shuttle bus for our 4 pm flight, but not before one more look at the magnificent view from the lobby area. Phone cameras honestly don't do justice to the actual scenery.

Goodbye and thank you Bali for a wonderful 4 days. It was great making new friends, meeting up with old ones, and for all the fun and laughter. We work hard and we play hard too!

After 4 days and 3 nights away from home, it was good to be back with my family and especially these 3 little ones! Hubby did a great job in looking after our princesses and the house didn't look too shabby either haha. It's nice to have a break once in a while, but nothing beats coming home :)