Fun in Bali, Indonesia

Bali, often referred to as Island of Gods, is a popular tourist destination and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music.

The most popular places in Bali are Kuta, Seminyak and Ubud. The first 2 are more lively and packed. Head to serene Ubud if you love to be surrounded by rice paddy fields and rainforests. There are many spa-liked resorts and luxurious villas with fantastic views.

I have never been to Bali before as I am the sort of person who don’t really know how to appreciate the sun, the beach and the arts. How boring I can be right?

Well, I had my maiden trip in Feb 2017 to experience Bali.

Immediately after stepping out of Denpasar Airport, I was bursting with perspiration because of the extremely hot & humid weather at this time of the year.

Welcome to Bali. I had my welcome lunch at the Jimbaran Bay Seafood.

I have to agree that it is quite scenic to dine at the beach area but the ambience might be better to do dinner in the evening.

There is a nice themed cafe, Revolver Cafe in Seminyak which coffee lovers would enjoy. They serve great finger foods to dessert apart from coffee.

I would strongly recommend you to have a go at their ginger-carrot cake if you have a sweet tooth like me, really solid and power.

Dinner was at this pork-themed restaurant, Hog Wild with Chef Bruno in Seminyak. You are advised to make prior reservation as it gets really packed after 7pm.

Nice & interesting decorations inside the restaurant. Hog Wild with Chef Bruno is a rousing and scrumptious spot to eat and get wild in. The restaurant is known for its unbelievably wicked pork ribs and brutal martinis. It also offers an array of mouthwatering cuisine as well.

This is the tenderlicious wicked pork ribs which you have to order.

Not forgetting the beef ribs in your order list as well.

Their seared sashimi-quality tuna steak is a must try dish.

The char-grilled chicken steak cannot be missed too.

The chicken quesadilla is nice too but do not warrant me to shout for it though. Afterall, this is more of a Mexican dish but localized to suit the local taste.

To top it off, washing down the food with a mug of their local Bintang beer is definitely a deadly concoction.

The next morning, I had my breakfast at Sisterfields (similar to Dean & Deluca) located in Seminyak too. This restaurant is super popular with tourist.

Their breakfast spread is awesome and spoilt for choice as everything item on the menu seems to be calling out your name.

Brioche French Toast – matcha custard, banana & yogurt sorbet, banana crumble, canadian maple syrup.

Pulled Pork Charcoal Roll – fennel & cabbage coleslaw, house-made bbq sauce, french fries.

Sisterfields Big Breakfast – scrambled eggs, bacon, mushroom, roasted tomato, potato rosti, hollandaise, farine bakery sourdough.

Chilled Squid Salad – green peas, edaname, bottarga, gremolata dressing.

Sisterfields Dirty Burger – 160g beef patty, smoked cheddar, pickled onion rings, mustard, aioli, house sauce, fries.

Can you take it?

I can’t if I were you.

Thereafter, I went to this unique cool cozy place, .TEMU for coffee.

.TEMU brings back the old experience of a localized Warung Kopi (Coffee Stalls) in a modern setting with the utmost commitment of serving quality coffee to patrons.

They have a outdoor live band performances at specific time of the day and patrons can just enjoy their coffee with the jazz music being played.

Next, I had lunch at this Indonesian restaurant at Sunset Road Street which specializes in Babi Guling.

Dinner was in Queen’s of India at Kuta, near the hotel that I am staying. The meal was satisfying, ordered their mutton dum briyani, tandoori chicken, fish tika and prawn masala to go with butter naan.

In Kuta, I stayed at the Anvaya Beach Resort.

This is a great hotel to be in.

Breakfast spread was splendid as it caters to wide range of cuisine to suit each individual taste bud.

The view from the breakfast place was magnificiently beautiful. How I wish I could wake up every morning to this view. This is what real life is all about.

I went on a day tour to Ubud to visit the Tengalalang Rice Terrace, Mount Batur and a coffee plantation.

Tengalalang Rice Terraces in Ubud is famous for its beautiful scenes of rice paddies involving the subak (traditional Balinese cooperative irrigation system) and it is now marked as one of the UNESCO World Heritage site. Most tourist will make a stop over this site when in Ubud.

This is great lunch view from The Amora Bali restaurant overlooking Mount Batur, one of the active volcanos in Bali.

Thankfully, it wasn’t erupting at that time. 😅

After lunch, I continued my tour to a coffee plantation, Luwak coffee plantation to see the most expensive roasted coffee in the world, from cat poo.

You will get to sample the local blends. Naturally, you can also get to sample the prized Kopi Luwak (at a cost), or beans that have been eaten by the civet cat, not-really-digested, then pooed out, collected up, cleaned, roasted and ground for our drinking pleasure.

This is the entire process of making Kopi Luwak.

The prized Kopi Luwak at IDR 50,000 or USD 5 a cup. Frankly, if you ask me how it taste, it taste like blend coffee to me. Nothing fantastic. Still prefer our Yakun or Killiney coffee.