Eat Pray Love – Bali Two

Bali as an island is bigger than most people would imagine. It takes about 30 mins by car to get from one place to another, be it to beaches, volcano mountains, towns or villages. Having a hired driver made logistic a lot easier for us and we got to 2 spend days in this wonderful place called Ubud.

 

“Ubud is a hot spot for literati, glitterati, art collectors and connoisseurs alike.  In fact, it’s arguably the best place to use as a base if you're visiting Bali; if you're looking for culture, comfort, nature and inspiration. Ubud is surrounded by most of the things that bring people to Bali -- scenic rice fields, small villages, art and craft communities, ancient temples, palaces, rivers, cheap accommodation and unique luxury hotels. And it's central location makes it easy to get from Ubud to the mountains, beaches, and major towns.” quoted from here.

Ubud Market is the best place to shop for clothes and bags, souvenirs, art crafts you name it, they have it. Don’t forget to bargain for a good price too!

This local food stall is a must visit for pork lovers when they set foot in Ubud. Ibu Oka is renown for their suckling pig, a place frequent even by many local chefs there.

  

Everyone on this table could testify the yummilicious succulent babi guling except for one, me. I’m not a huge fan for pork hence didn’t find the dish memorable. I would much prefer Naughty Nuri anytime, which I will write about it later.

 

After a hearty lunch feast at Ibu Oka, the group adjourned to a spa centre nearby for more indulgence: balinese massage, scalp treatment , manicure and pedicure. Talk about pampering now, aren’t we? lol

Some decided to go back to their hotels while some like us, proceed to the next destination: Tanah Lot. 

 

Tanah Lot, simple in its construction, is dramatic in its ocean-front location and is one of the main temples in the worship of Balinese gods. The temple itself is built on a small promontory which is only accessible at low tide. During high water the rock takes on the appearance of a large boat at sea, such is its shape. Sunset is the best time to visit Tanah lot, when the golden red skies frame the temple and waves crash into the rocks. Quoted from here

   

Truth be told, despite the long drive and all, this place really took my breath away at sunset.

There was a myth about this temple though. There is a superstition that this temple have a phenomenal power to end relationships that weren’t meant to be as well as securing true loves, applying to the couples who visit the temple.

Don’t take my words for it but so far it has been quite true relating to the people in my life!

Amazing sunset

Souvenir shops at Tanah Lot

This definitely marks the highlight of the trip. :)

Eat Pray Love – Bali One

How time flies, can you believe that we are almost approaching the end of quarter one already? What have we achieved though?! Checkpoint, checkpoint. Anyway I am actually on my way to London while writing this post. Will be plugging in a few more from my travel trips late last year (Bali + The States) which i never got round writing it, for your reading pleasure while I’m away for the next 2 – 3 weeks.  Enjoy!

 

This was my second visit to the beautiful island of Bali but this time, I made a slight change to the itinerary. I flew there 2 days earlier to enjoy some “me” time before meeting up with the group of friends.  The beauty of this island is you will never run out of things to do in Bali. From shopping and water sports to clubbing and spa or simply lazing at the beach, the list is pretty endless.

   

Day One. I arrived Bali in the morning. After checking into the beautiful boutique 100 Sunset Hotel, got upgraded to a suite, enjoyed a complimentary massage, did lots of swimming and sunbathing in between.

In the evening, I took the hotel shuttle service to Kuta Beach hoping to catch the sunset. One caveat though, I was approached and interrupted by tons of unwanted sellers; the first seller came by I politely said no and returned with a smile, but I started running away when I sensed the 9th seller walking towards me. lol Well, guess that’s the annoying part when you are on your own.  

 

 

beautiful sunset, don’t you think?

Nasi Campur – a local Balinese dish that one shouldn’t miss.

As I reflect…

Sometimes things may not happen as planned, while at times some things may go awfully wrong. We often complain life is hard on us... but when you look at the apocalypse of Japan’s tsunami on Friday, won’t you agree how lucky we actually are?

Imagine your house disappears, your car floats away like a toy, your family members missing... and everything you've worked for for the past 30 years of your life is swept away in just minutes. When I watched the CNN clip on repeat, it was surreal. I just couldn’t imagine myself being able to cope with the fear and lost of such a scale… 

Despite the awful weekend which I hope will never happen again in my lifetime, I feel really so lucky that I’m safe in the comfort of home and still have a chance to argue with loved ones. Life isn’t so bad afterall is it.

My heart achingly goes to Japan.  

Pressroom Bangsar

Last weekend was my sister’s birthday. Lazy to cook, I decided to treat sis to dinner at Pressroom @ BSC, it’s a vintage European brasserie serving French and English food. 

They have a good variety of wine from many countries, sis and I were so delighted to find our favourite Chablis in their wine list!

Anyway I’ll just let pictures speak for this post.

Smoked Duck Breast Salad (RM28)

 

Griddled King Prawn with Garlic and Parsley Butter (RM32)

 

Seared Tuna Salad (RM32)

 

Seared Scallop with Creamy Leak Sauce and Fresh Tomato (RM34)

 

friendly and cozy ambience but bigger tables would have been perfect.

 

Grilled Sea Bass with Ratatouille (RM35)

 

Duck Confit with Sauteed Cepe Rosti Potatoes & Grapes (RM39)

 

Grilled Fish of the Day (RM32)

Banoffee Pie (RM12)

At the end of the dinner, the staffs surprised my sis with a birthday song and shook hands with her. Overall a very enjoyable evening for us :D

reservation is recommended on weekends.

Lot G110 Ground Floor, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Jalan Maarof, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 59100

+60320958098

http://www.gastrodome.com.my/

The Haute Food Co

If you are looking for cozy new cafes in KL, here’s an idea. Thanks to Piffles who found this place through blog reviews and suggested that we should check it out. I’m the kind of person who is usually disciplined with the weekdays diet but when it comes to weekend (Sunday in particular), I tend to indulge a bit more and let my hair down. The Haute Food Co, Haute is pronounced as “Oht” is a small joint located in Plaza Damas, Sri Hartmas. 

You can choose alfresco or indoor but since the weather wasn’t breezy, we picked the indoor seats.

 

From the inside

 

there’s a variety of cakes, muffins and pastry to choose from

and homemade cookies too

Club Sandwich – a bit dry but otherwise it’s fine

Poached Egg on Toast with Sauteed mushrooms and bake beans – healthy and tasty

Roast Beef sandwich with a side of fresh salad

Sticky Date Pudding with Vanilla Ice-cream

 

The total bill came up to RM70++. It’s a good place to try out if you are looking for healthy food, we don’t have enough restaurants like this in KL. But personally, a cup of good coffee is very important as it determines my day but I find their fresh brew of the day simply lacks lustre.

 

The Haute Food Co.
H-0-2, Block H
Plaza Damas
60, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-6201 3168

Singapore Night Safari

I’ve heard about the SG Night Safari since ages ago and finally, I had a chance to see it myself earlier this month. Frankly, I’m not really a zoo person. I like animals but the ones I usually see in the zoo are pretty depressing, as they are either sedated to sleep most of the times or miserably locked in cages. tell me, when was the last time you visited a zoo and actually saw a cheerful animal? Anyway, point aside I was pretty excited about the Night Safari because conceptually the animals are supposed to be living in the wild!

A school of pretty flamingos dancing in the muddy pool

Half true, half not for the Singapore Night Safari. The animals are predictably located at specific spots shown in signages and some animals such as the leopards are still locked in cages. There’s only one big elephant in sight, I thought they are supposed to live in groups? So it wasn’t exactly the wild safari scene that I had imagined it to be, quite a far cry from what I usually see in national geographic. Despite all that, I’ve enjoyed my visit as a first timer.  

 

Asian Lion!

Zebras and Giraffes

The most interesting animal that I saw at the NS is the red flying squirrels. It really has wings! (but too bad no pics to follow as yours truly was too busy adoring the squirrel and waiting for it to “fly”)

 

Animal show is a must see at the Singapore night safari. It’s entertaining and you also get to see animals that’s not available in the “wild” such as the python below and the big white wolf. 

The python was probably trained to cheekily move its head to the guy’s private. Poor guy!

 

Cutest creature found at the animal show – Raccoon!

 

Overall a good visit for those who haven’t been to a proper safari, and probably an excellent choice to bring the kids for a family night out. Other than that, just don’t go with too high an expectation or you’ll be disappointed. Cost wise starts at SGD42 per ticket.

http://www.nightsafari.com.sg

Tit Bits of Singa-land

Some random pictures I took in Singapore recently.

 

Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin at Ion Orchard– I opted for chicken meat instead of their signature pork katsu but I have to say it’s delicious all the same. Be it the curry, batter, radish pickles or rice, all cooked to perfection.  yummy!

 

 

Muchos Mexican Grill at Clarke Quay. Good ambience but food was only mediocre… have definitely tasted better ones. I have a high expectation of salsa and guacamole you see :)

 

Hiking up Bukit Timah Natural Reserve. After all the eating and CNY pigging out, it’s time to burn some calories. I took the forest trail which took about 2 hours to complete, I could barely feel my limbs after that but a good workout nonetheless.

 

 

Indochine Empress Place by the waterfront. It has a good view overlooking the river and you can see Fullerton at the other side of the bank. Great ambience and good food too.

 

Chilling out at the hotel pool when I’m not working; swimming, jacuzzy-ing, reading a book and sipping cocktails… well, basically lazing around with no particular agenda in mind. A good way to recharge myself.

 

 

Up Next: The Night Safari