4 days in Bali

This was my second time visiting Bali, but the first proper one where I got to visit more food places and saw some tourist sights (as the last one was with the firm, and we only had 1 day of free time).

A list of the places we visited, and some pictures! (Of lower quality, as I was lazy to lug around my Fuji)

We started our first day with a late lunch at Potato Head, which was just a 5 minutes walk from our hotel, followed by exploring the shops around the Seminyak area.

The unmistakable interior of Potato Head

Our choice of dinner for the night was at the famous Ku De Ta. A gripe about Ku De Ta though: they were sticklers for what you could order depending on where you were situated. For instance, if you sat on the second floor of the restaurant, you could only order the 5 course set dinner, and at the al-fresco restaurant tables, only the ala-carte menu. We asked for the ala-carte menu (and repeated this a number of times) but were nonetheless brought to the second floor by the reception staff. When we asked for the ala-carte menu, we were told by another wait staff that we were seated at the set dinner area and had to go back to reception to get a new table if we insisted on dining ala-carte!

Finally, when this was all sorted out and we were seated at the al fresco tables, we saw the wait staff bringing dishes which did not appear on the menu. When asked, we were told that these were items on the "bar food" menu and that we could not order any items from it unless we moved to the bar area! So we had no choice but to only order items from the ala-carte menu and later requested to move to the bar area for the sole purpose of ordering items from the bar menu. Food-wise, the appetisers from the ala-carte menu were rather well-done, but the bar food turned out to look better than it actually tasted.

For the remaining days in Bali, we booked a driver to take us to the more far flung places. Day 2 was spent in Ubud where we visited the art market, temple, and the rice fields, and of course to taste the famous Dirty Duck. For dinner we had local street food (albeit in the comforts of a restaurant) in the form of Hujan Locale. All the dishes we ordered were bursting with flavour, but in particular, I would highly recommend the fish curry!

The 'art' at the art market. To be fair, there were art pieces being sold (not photographed) though the same designs can be found at different shops.

My very skinny dirty duck

On Day 3, we decided to start the day easy with a massage / manicure / pedicure. We tried Amo Spa, which was a short walk from our hotel. While I am personally not sure about the quality of the massage (my friends said it was just ok), the mani / pedi weren't too bad, and came with a short hand, foot and shoulder massage. Cost-wise, it is on the pricey side compared to the other places in Bali, but the interior was modern and clean, and they used new tools for each new customer, and will open the sealed packet of tools in front of you. So I would recommend this if you place a premium on hygiene. (We initially tried to book a place at BodyWorks but it didn't have enough space for all of us and the attitude of the counter staff left more to be desired). 

We then rushed to Revolver Coffee a few doors down which is said to serve the best coffee in Bali, and packed breakfast. (It is a very small space, so you need to look carefully or you'll blink and miss it.) I had decaf coffee, but consistent with my friends who had the regular coffees, we felt that it wasn't that great as it was very acidic with a slightly sour aftertaste. The breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado and cheese was, however, pretty awesome. 

The afternoon was spent lounging around the beach in Nusa Dua, and a short visit to the Uluwatu Temple nearby. 





We watched the sunset at the famous Rock Bar (go early at 4 -5 to get a table, as reservations are only  open to hotel patrons). The views were great, but the food was frankly overpriced, and we spent more on 4 servings of bar food and 5 drinks than on each of our meals at Potato Head and Ku De Ta!



We then proceeded for a seafood dinner at Jimbaran, which I suppose is one of the touristy things one must do in Bali, but the food was nothing to shout about. 

On our final day in Bali, some of us headed to The Library, a cafe in Seminyak with a really cool vibe and interior, then regrouped for breakfast at Biku. (They serve both local food and Western brunch, and the high tea menu looks extremely value for money). I had the mee soto, which was very comforting. The remainder of our afternoon was spent at Tanah Lot (where you can walk to the temple only when it is low tide), and finally at Shelter Cafe to while the rest of afternoon away before our flight back.



Overall, it was a very relaxing trip. Pity that there was too much good food, and too few mealtimes!