Arrival: Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali
I excitedly welcomed myself to this "I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport" of Bali!
This was my first arrival to this 'a bit new' international wing of Ngurah Rai Airport, as the other times I came to Bali were via domestic flights from other parts of Indonesia (mainly Jakarta) to the domestic wing of this airport at that far end. Lumiliko pa yan pakanan to 3 more gates there. That is as of now!
I said "as of now" as this airport has a history of "make a new international building then make the old one into a domestic building"! Their latest upgrade was: "awsomize the domestic into an international terminal, and make the international into a domestic terminal". These 'houses' with square roof is now the international gates since the 2013 APEC. Prior to that, this wing facing the camera was domestic!
A seatmate on this flight told me those square red roofs are part of the Balinese Architectural Theme.
Once out of the plane, first thing I noticed was the nice-colored floor of the aerobridge! Red carpet?
Actually it has a different kind of feel. Not a carpet or rug, more of like taraflex on a badminton court?!
On entry to the building, you usually turn left to the arrival area (immigration and baggage claim)..,
The stairs and escalator comes from the departure gate lounge upstairs - closed during flight arrivals.
And oh, you must go down another level via an escalator. Only then can you see/ride the walkalators!
I could see on those windows, this hallway is the gap (space) between the 'square roofed' structures.
There are available 'comfort rooms' (toilets) along the way, I peeped in one of them.., eto..,
Clean with no offensive smell whatsoever - which is not common! Maybe its the bulaklak on the sink!
Finally turning right to immigrations area. The carpet design reminds me of another airport. Hmm..,
Wasn't I lucky there was no crowd? Note this my fellow travelers! Yeah, at about 10AM on a Saturday!
That ceiling art reminds me of the Kinetic Rain (Teardrop Art) at Singapore's Terminal 1..,
Well, those are not tear-shaped things. They look like square baskets painted in silver. I posed to see if they were moving, like it does in Singapore's Changi Airport. No they were not. Baka naka-off! Ganun?
Now I remember, the carpet looks like Changi Airport's!
Anyway, I proceeded to immigration, and it was a breeze. Maybe only our flight arrived at this hour!
The baggage claim area. That is carousel number 5 to the right. Maganda, me garden pa sa kaliwa!
Customs clearance is a quarter-turn to the right.., walk a bit, and.., another quarter-turn to the right!
Here here.., this is where you turn right to customs area green lane - nothing to declare - derecho lang
Of course medyo nahiya naman ako (ng konti) sa suot ng limang pasaherong yan. Executive look! Ako naka-shorts! Pero naligo sa Changi! To my training clients, ayan ang gamit ng 'proper business attire'!
The arrivals lobby.., or dahil ang sikip ha.., let's call it arrivals hall! Mga tatlong dipa ko yan (or less)!
This is immediately after passengers emerge from the customs check area, behind the wall at left. As you can see, after the glass doors at right is already 'the outside' of the building. Now, compare that to the arrival lobbies of other international airports that you have seen so far. This one is notably narrow.
But come to think of it, who needs a big arrival lobby when no one is allowed there, except for arriving passenger to pass through going out, right? For me (at least), I use arrival lobbies as my 'safe area' for waiting for my ride out of the airport, instead of heading outside to a world of unscrupulous "vendors"!
And how many passengers think like me and wait for their rides at 'arrival lobbies', right? So, this won't get congested anyway. Thus, okay lang! This 'narrow' arrival lobby with good outside view is practical!
Oh, going straight to that far end is the way to the Novotel Airport Hotel (about 300 meters), and even onwards to the Domestic Terminal (about 900 meters) which are both an easy walk by a garden park. See the blue desk? That's for (paid) international to domestic terminal transfers. Bakit pa? I say, walk!
But OMG, hotel/resort representatives have their counters outside the arrival lobby! So, I went out..,
There I found the representative of Intercontinental Bali Resort waiting for me. Ah that's another story!
Meanwhile, I said "I need a puff" and the hotel representative pointed me to this place. I smoked here!
This is outside the airport's main building (a parking building, I think). But I was just on the side of the road! Ah well, the rep told me people can smoke just about anywhere as long as its outside a building.
Alright, we're done with my arrival at Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Let's go to my resort next!
I said "as of now" as this airport has a history of "make a new international building then make the old one into a domestic building"! Their latest upgrade was: "awsomize the domestic into an international terminal, and make the international into a domestic terminal". These 'houses' with square roof is now the international gates since the 2013 APEC. Prior to that, this wing facing the camera was domestic!
Once out of the plane, first thing I noticed was the nice-colored floor of the aerobridge! Red carpet?
On entry to the building, you usually turn left to the arrival area (immigration and baggage claim)..,
And oh, you must go down another level via an escalator. Only then can you see/ride the walkalators!
There are available 'comfort rooms' (toilets) along the way, I peeped in one of them.., eto..,
Finally turning right to immigrations area. The carpet design reminds me of another airport. Hmm..,
That ceiling art reminds me of the Kinetic Rain (Teardrop Art) at Singapore's Terminal 1..,
Now I remember, the carpet looks like Changi Airport's!
Anyway, I proceeded to immigration, and it was a breeze. Maybe only our flight arrived at this hour!
The baggage claim area. That is carousel number 5 to the right. Maganda, me garden pa sa kaliwa!
Here here.., this is where you turn right to customs area green lane - nothing to declare - derecho lang
The arrivals lobby.., or dahil ang sikip ha.., let's call it arrivals hall! Mga tatlong dipa ko yan (or less)!
But come to think of it, who needs a big arrival lobby when no one is allowed there, except for arriving passenger to pass through going out, right? For me (at least), I use arrival lobbies as my 'safe area' for waiting for my ride out of the airport, instead of heading outside to a world of unscrupulous "vendors"!
And how many passengers think like me and wait for their rides at 'arrival lobbies', right? So, this won't get congested anyway. Thus, okay lang! This 'narrow' arrival lobby with good outside view is practical!
Oh, going straight to that far end is the way to the Novotel Airport Hotel (about 300 meters), and even onwards to the Domestic Terminal (about 900 meters) which are both an easy walk by a garden park. See the blue desk? That's for (paid) international to domestic terminal transfers. Bakit pa? I say, walk!
But OMG, hotel/resort representatives have their counters outside the arrival lobby! So, I went out..,
Meanwhile, I said "I need a puff" and the hotel representative pointed me to this place. I smoked here!
Alright, we're done with my arrival at Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Let's go to my resort next!
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