Bali Trip - Wasted Journey South

We raced south because I insisted to go to Rock Bar.

Rock Bar is located with Ayana Resort and it offers the magnificent sunset view over South Kuta because this particular bar is located on top of a cliff.

I called Rock Bar the day before and the staff told me that they did not hold reservation. She also emphasised that we should reach there by 3:00 pm.

We left Bale Udang Mang Engking at 2:00 pm. Theoritically, 1 hour is more that enough to reach Ayana.

Buuuuuuuut...

We were trapped in a traffic jam.

And we reached Ayana around 3:30 pm.

We walked straight to the entrance of Rock Bar but I could already see people queueing. When I asked the staff, she told me that it was already full. We could try to queue to see whether any other customer gave up their seat but it would be difficult for 7 people.

I felt so disappointed.

But we had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill. We had rushed and raced but we did not succeed.

Another bar by the entrance of Rock Bar

There is another bar by the entrance of Rock Bar. I guess this bar functions as the alternative place for people who fail to go to Rock Bar. To be honest, I did not feel it was appealing.

So I just sat by the pool

Mini waterfall

Swimming pool 

At the other end is the Rock Bar

Walking out 

Out

And out

Bye, Ayana. Maybe this time I had no chance to visit the Rock Bar but next time I should catch the sunset there!

Failing this quest, we had nowhere to go. So we went to pick up our pie susu, go back to Khrisna to buy some more souvenirs, go back to Naughty Nuri's to bring back some pork ribs, and get our dinner. The traffic was so so so so bad until we had our dinner at 11:00 pm where all foods had already finished. That night's dinner was the most pathetic one I had in Bali.

We then checked in to the villa, showered, slept, and got back to our own life the day after.

Bye, Bali! Thanks and I will be back.

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Bali Trip - end

Bali Trip: Farewell Ubud

And we didn't realize that we should go back to reality soon.

Our last day of the trip and our last half day in Ubud.

I woke up each and every one early morning because I wanted to do my favourite sport in Bali so so very badly.

YOGA.

Yes. YOGA.

In The Yoga Barn.

I couldn't remember where I got the information about The Yoga Barn but I really insisted to go even though the rest of my company did not do yoga.

The Yoga Barn is one of the biggest yoga centres in Ubud, focusing on healing and renewal. It is located amidst mountainous area in Ubud and consists of five yoga studios, a guest house, and big patch of greenery.

We chose 7:00 am morning flow and we drove out of the villa at 6:30 am. It was quite near to the villa but bro turned wrongly one time and we reached there at 6:55 am.

The registration counter

We have no prior registration. We quickly registered and I thought we were gonna pay IDR 120,000 (~SGD 13) per person as what stated in the website. However, since we were local, we only paid half the price. Lucky us!

And again, luckily we still got the places although it was not the best. Everybody was already there to reserve their seat.

It was not the biggest studio but it was totally cool to do yoga while looking at the greenery

We endured the class for 1.5 hours before being dismissed and feeling so refreshed.

Bro found his favourite pose in his first yoga class. Savashana. Corpse pose.

My tripod headstand.

The instructor's handstand variation

There is shower facility in The Yoga Barn but no toiletries and towel provided. Should you need to rent a towel, you can get it from the reception.

So we took our morning shower and enjoy the scenery.

I love it, totally! 

Green again at another side

In front of the classroom. I love the wooden building.

<3 <3 <3

The way out

Entrance to the gate house

We (or at least I) felt very happy and refreshed and of course starving. Bro then drove us to the famous Nasi Ayam Kedewatan Bu Mangku (Bu Mangku's Kedewatan Chicken Rice). This restaurant was originally from Kedewatan area in Ubud but now has opened many more branches elsewhere.

We went there and bought our nasi ayam back to the villa. Anyway, you can choose how much you want to pay for a portion. If I am not wrong, we bought IDR 20,000 (SGD 2.2) portion.

Steamed rice, delicious chicken, steamed egg, vegetable, chilli peanut, and gravy

And to be honest, I think of this meal as the best meal I tasted in Bali, especially the chilli peanut. Oh Gosh, my saliva.

After finishing our breakfast, some of them wanted to go back to Ubud Market to continue the shopping journey. So as they went there, I wanted to taste another gelato called Gelato Secret and compare it with Gusto Gelato.

Gelato Secrets by the road side near Pasar Ubud

Gelato Secret is more expensive than Gusto Gelato and scoop is slightly smaller. For three scoop of ice cream, we paid IDR 50,000 (~SGD 5.5). We chose durian, chocolate, and mango. All three are delicious and of course better than Gusto!

Gelato Secrets' Three Scoop Gelato

So I don't know what makes people rave about Gusto. Maybe the cheap price for the quantity? But if you really want a good one, go to Gelato Secrets. (They do not pay me to advertise, ok?)

It was almost noon when we left Pasar Ubud and continued our journey for lunch.

And we chose Bale Udang Mang Engking.

Bale Udang Mang Engking was opened since 2009 and focused on the prawn items as well as the atmosphere of the restaurant: bringing the village feel into the customers.

Bamboo table, traditional scale, and a two tins of traditional fish crackers 

A vegetable seller's cart

Reception table all from bamboo

That's what greeted us when we stepped into the restaurant, but this was just the front portion and not where we would have our lunch.

Walking in

Taaa daaa.

Just like Bebek Bengil and Bebek Tepi Sawah, Bale Udang Mang Engking offered eating experience in Balinese traditional huts. In my opinion, this one is more fascinating that the earlier two.

You can sit in your bale, facing the fish pond

And you can have complementary fish spa!

We were too busy playing with the fish and taking photos until we forgot to order. After sometime, we finally realized we came here to have lunch and started ordering. However, I felt a bit disappointed as some of our order could not be served because the restaurant was just re-opened from new year holiday and some stocks were not in yet.

Steamed rice, Balinese sauce fish, vegetable (which I forget what it is), Salted egg prawn, Spicy squid, gado-gado, fried noodle, honey grilled parwn

The top three of those dishes for me: fried noodle, salted egg prawn, gado-gado. The honey grilled prawn is apparently the star of Bale Udang Mang Engking but for me it's too sweet.

After eating our food, we continued to play with the fish. We also fed the fish with the leftover that it was fascinating to see how the fish rush to the food.

Happy eating!

We wanted to stay forever here

We wanted to stay forever here but we have our last destination to go. So we rushed back south.

Farewell Ubud! I will miss you!

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Next Post - Wasted Journey South

Bali Trip - Enjoying Paradise in Ubud

Wake up wake up!

It was our time to enjoy the scenery by cycling around Ubud like Julia Roberts. So we woke up early and got ready.

We asked the staff and he suggested us to drive out and rent the bicycle around the town.

So we got to go, but before that we enjoyed our fabulous villa and the breakfast.

Peeking inside the villa

Two storey luxurious villa. Cool, huh? 

There's a balcony at the second storey. Unfortunately we did not have time to enjoy it.

I want to wake up to this scenery everyday. Can I?

He looks like Balinese, huh?

Let's get going. Mwacks!

We started our journey. First of all, we should walk back to the place where we parked the car. The previous night it was dark and creepy, but this morning it was just fantastic.

The view. Oh I am in love.

We drove to one of the main streets in Ubud near the market. Only four youngsters decided to pedal around. We negotiated the rental price and we got IDR 20,000 per bicycle. We promised him that we would be back within 4 hours.

He then told us the preferable route. Initially we wanted to go to Bukit Campuhan (Campuhan Hill) but he told us not to because last night was raining and the road would be muddy and less safe. We followed his advice and drive to another way.

When it was still in the town, it was difficult because of the traffic. But once we were out, it was so nice and relaxing. We passed by forested area, villages, and of course paddy fields.

You can see how happy we were

Green and green and green 

Me with the greenery

Greenfie!

There were still a lot of pictures in dad's phone but I had yet to get it. He snapped quite a lot while we were cycling along.

When we returned to our starting point, I felt quite sore on my bumps and legs already. We did not realize that we had cycled for almost 2 hours. We then went to Pasar Ubud (Ubud Market).

Pasar Ubud with big access road and ample parking area. There is also parking area for bicycles.

Cute figurines

Paintings

Besides arts, Pasar Ubud also offers accesories and fashion items. There are a lot of alleys for you to stroll and there are a lot of sellers for you to choose. The market opens from 08:00am. One tip for visiting this market: come early and you will get the best price but you shall bargain!

And when we headed back to our car, we realized that it was already past 1:00pm and our extended check out time was only up to 3:00pm. Bro quickly went and bough the famous Nasi Babi Guling Bu Oka (Bu Oka's grilled pork rice) and we headed back to the hotel.

After showering, it's time for lunch.

The portion costs IDR 55,000 (~SGD 6)

I am not a pork person and I think this food is too overrated. The pork still smelled so pork and the flesh was not marinated. The rest, even the pork lover, also said the same.

After checking out, we continued our journey to another temple. Pura Tirta Empul (Tirta Empul Temple) is located by the sides of Istana Kepresidenan Tampak Siring (Tampak Siring Presidential Palace).

Tirta Empul means water that comes out of the ground. Pura Tirta Empul has a holy spring that flows to Pakerisan River. This temple was built around 960 AD and consists of 3 area: front, middle, and back.

According to the folklore, there was a mighty king called Mayadanawa. Due to his power, he regarded himself as god and banned his people to pray to other gods. However, one of the old monk called Mpu Kul Putih sought for help by meditating at Pura Besakih.

He got his help from Bharata Indra who brought his army to fight Mayadanawa. Mayadanawa and his army was not in par with their foes. However, Mayadanawa's wicked mind brought him to a plan. He created a poisonous spring nearby Bharata Indra's camp and caused a lot of people to die. Knowing this, Bharata Indra created a holy spring nearby to cure his army.

Getting the strength of his army back, Bharata Indra continued the  search of Mayadanawa. Mayadanawa tried to escape by transfiguring himself into a lot of creatures but to no avail. In the end he turned himself into a stone and got arrowed by Bharata Indra. Since then, the death of Mayadanawa was known as Galungan, which means the winning of good against evil.

Before entering the temple, we parked our car in the designated parking lot and paid IDR 15,000 (~SGD 1.7) per person as the entrance fee. By the sides of the parking lot, there is a row of shops selling clothes, accessories, and foods.

Before entering the temple compound, all visitors who wear shorts or skirts will be lent a sarong to wrap themselves. Those who wore long pants will be lent a yellow ribbon to tie around the waist.

The front porch of Pura Tirta Empul, called Jaba Pura

The middle area is called Jaba Tengah and consists of a squarish pond with thirty holy springs. Each springs are believed to have different effect for people who wash themselves there.

People, local or not, are queueing to wash themselves and get the blessings

While moving from the the second to the third area, we passed by a square that gave us unobstructed view of Istana Kepresidenan Tampak Siring. This palace was built during the time of the first president of Indonesia, Mr. Soekarno.

Can you see on top there?

The gate to the the back area

The back area, called jeroan, is the most important place in the whole temple as it is used for prayers and any other religious events. Unlike Pura Taman Ayun, we were allowed to enter this area. But when we entered, the drizzle turned heavier and we were stuck.

While waiting for the rain to stop

We waited for about 20 minutes before we gave up and called an umbrella girl to bring us out to the car park.

It was almost 5:00 pm when we drove out of Pura Tirta Empul. Actually I would like to visit the paddy terraces along the way in between Tampak Siring and Ubud but it was quite late for a visit to paddy fields so I gave up on it.

We just drove all the way back to Ubud and had our late lunch cum early dinner.

At another duck restaurant.

Bebek Tepi Sawah.

Bebek Tepi Sawah is translated as Duck by the Side of the Paddy Fields. This restaurant really supports that concepts by having rows of huts by the side of paddy fields.

The 'bald' paddy field

Another angle showing the bale (hut)

The stone ducks! And you really can find live ducks playing at the muddy field.

Look alike? We are to scare all the crows and save the paddy

We were seated at a hut facing the west so we could enjoy the sunset while having our dinner.

Crispy Duck

Smoked Betutu Duck 

Grilled Duck

To be honest, all the food here lost to its competitor, Bebek Bengil. No more comments are needed. However, we still enjoyed our time here.

Pretty sun setting at the west

We were to spend our night at another villa and we drove there to check ourselves in. This villa was known as eco-villa because the structures use bamboo as well as the facade. The design of the villa was cool.

Cozy corner 

Kitchen and bar

Living room

I was impressed at first but it was raining so hard at night and the roof was leaking so bad until some of our stuffs got wet!

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Next Post - Farewell Ubud