Sunday, November 21, 2010

Island of the Gods, indeed!

As per my previous post, H and I went on a short getaway to Bali... Islands of the Gods. The moment we arrived at DPS on Wednesday (17th Nov), we were greeted with BLUE BLUE SKIES. For someone who came from a smog-filled city with over-cast skies, the BLUE BLUE SKIES certainly made me think that Bali is indeed the Island of the Gods! And at night...the moon was so big and round - soooo beautiful.

Anyway, our room rate at the Padma Resort At Legian came with airport transfers and we were whisked off from the airport in a jiffy. Why did I pick this hotel? Figured that since boys are not with us, I wanna explore the Kuta/Legian/Seminyak area. If they are, NO way I can explore anything. I would be lucky to even be able to dine at the hotel restaurants! They always want to have room service!!! Decided on Legian Beach. From there, surfed the WWW abit and decided on The Padma Resort as it is rated the #1 hotel on Legian on TripAdvisor, and the rate was sorta okay. We paid USD 169 per nite (inclusive of all taxes, breakfast and return airport transfers).


This is how our newly-refurbished deluxe room looks

They upgraded our room to the next grade level...which basically just means that we have a terrace that looks over some kind of pond.


This is the view from my terrace. The bottom part is actually the pond.

What we did next was to go jalan-jalan. Walked quite a bit...from the hotel to Kuta (through Poppies II, had lunch at Made's Warung. Wanted to go to Un's but it was soooooo empty in the day. So no fun lah! ) to Dicovery Mall at Tuban. H said "how come holidays with you these days entail lots of walking ah???". Walked back towards the beach just as the sun was setting...

Crowds admiring the sunset @ Kuta Beach

There was a lot of people on the beach...as far as the eye can see... People all waiting for the sun to set. H commented "what is there to see? Sunset is Sunset lah". This gadget freak only kept quiet after I told him to capture a nice picture with his Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Sooooo Romantic!!!
The Lovey-Dovey Couple? Of course NOT us lah!

Actually...didn't realise it until after we booked our trip. It actually somewhat coincided with our wedding anniversary. So can say this trip is for our anniversary lah. Heheheheh...

We had dinner at Bubba Gump as H wanted to have the baby back pork ribs. Can't remember what I had....but did have a yummy Mangolada - a mango version of Pina Colada. And walked all the way from the restaurant back to the hotel!

The next day, we chilled out at the Lagoon Pool for abit...discussed on our possible future postings etc etc. This talk did not go too well. Bleah! Almost ended up fighting so decided to go for a walk. We walked on the beach.... Again, walked a whole lot. Walked from our hotel all the way pass Ku-de-ta, to The Legian (which is actually on Seminyak) where we had a couple of drinks - H had a healthy banana smoothie and moi? I had a alcohol-laden Legian Sunset cocktail.

We then set-out to have lunch at Wah Wah Gourmet Burger and Wine Bar, which is situated between The Legian and Ku-de-ta (via road and NOT beach). Had read from online reviews that the joint is opened by a Shanghai designer/painter etc named Wah; and that the Wagyu tenderloin burgers are awesome. So had to give it a try.

Can't remember the names...but here's what we had...

Mini Wagyu Tenderloin Burgers with Foie Gras

Mini Wagyu Tenderloin Burgers with Crispy Prosciutto, Cheese and Quail Eggs



...all washed down with wine (H) and Wah-tini (Moi)
What's the verdict on the burgers?
Yummilicious!
Yes. A tad expensive for mere burgers ~ approx USD 14 - 16 per plate, but I supposed for Wagyu tenderloin, foie gras, prosciutto..... we shouldn't complain?
And what do you know? As I was getting out of the washroom to leave, I saw that H was chatting with a Chinese guy....who turned out to be Wah himself. We continued to chat for a bit, and he ended up losing a mug of beer to H over some silly bet.
I wanted to jalan around Seminyak abit more...but H would have NO more walking for the day. So we took a cab back to the hotel to have a rest. Errr....actually a PIGGY nap, waking up just in time for dinner.

Had made reservations at the Pearl Restaurant, a French restaurant attached to a small hotel on Double Six. Apparently, the French chef's parents run the hotel. Found out about this place from numerous online reviews, plus a write-up by a Bali-based food writer.
I have to say that the food was excellent. Pity I didn't take any photos on my conventional camera. H couldnt wait to dig into the food. He only allowed one session of picture taking with my phone. I had the Fish Tartare in Two Ways for starter, which was pretty good. I would have given it top marks if I didn't had the Tuna Tartare over at Nougatine New York. But I supposed not fair to compare with the NY restaurant as that chef has a 3* Michelin. This chef is really quite young. Read that he just completed his course/training at a 1* Michelin restaurant in France about 2 years back. Eh...did I mention that he is very good-looking??? If H was not there, I probably could eat him up as well! Hahahhaah...
How do I know how the chef looks like? He came out to explain the menu and to give some recommendations. And again, when we finished to check if everything was alright.
H had a lobster bisque for starter. We both shared a lamb shank and the Dessert Tasting Plate. Overall, the food was pretty good and prices reasonable (for French Food...not comparing with your average Kon-loh Mee). We would definitely come back to this restaurant when we are in Bali.
That's the end of our trip! We took the first flight out on Saturday morning. Yeah..two nights only, as my silly husband did a boo-boo. See my previous post as to how this boo-boo came about.
Dropped H off at the office on my way home from the airport....
And what did I have to do as soon as I got home?
Mark my boys' Math sheets...math problems that I have given them before I left...
So basically ... from BB to MM,
ie.... Bali Bliss to Marking Maths

7 comments:

blee said...

nice scenery!

Mamapumpkin said...

Hahaha!!! Damn farnee u!! U sure not Bikini Babe to Mad Mom?? Ask ur boys & see?

stay-at-home mum said...

Thats my kind of vacation! Envious!

Bryan and Brandon's Mama said...

Thanks for the recommendation to Pearl. Sounds so darn good!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

LOL @ Mamapumpkin's comment - Bikini Babe to Mad Mom. Good one! That really cracked me up!

D

p/s: Think if I ever go to Bali, I'll just look up all your Bali posts!

NomadicMom said...

blee - The scenery outside the town would be much much better... paddy fields and all...

MamaPumpkin - Hey. You are right! More of Bikini Babe to Mad Mom!!!

SAHM - Too short though...

DK - But the restaurant list will change over time one ler...

Anonymous said...

Thanks For blog with beneficial informations.

Lilypie 6th to 18th Ticker
Lilypie 6th to 18th Ticker