Anyeong Noona

Showing posts with label Bali. Show all posts

"Cause maybe someday, we'll figure all this out. We'll put an end to all our doubt."

Anyeong from Bali! Noona is currently reliving its Balinese experience from her humble bode in Singapore where she lives the reality of her life. Hahaha. Haiz, the pressure of life makes her having a pain in her stomach now (wait, maybe it's the period not the life per se). Back then, Dongsaeng has spent a lot of quality time with his best pal (literally spent the whole night until morning Noona tell you) and the best pal suggested him to try Eat Well. Eat Well is located in the hipster area of Seminyak and we managed to eat here at our last night in Bali.

Eat Well is a restaurant specialising in steak. It especially offers a lot of pork meat from ribs to steak to burger. But you don't have to suck thumb if you don't really like to eat pork because Eat Well also has alternatives to the non pork-eater fellas such as lamb, fish, beef and chicken.

Food Menu from Eat Well at Seminyak Bali

Cousin has been complaining about not eating enough greens but the Garden Salad served at Eat Well does not seem to be healthy in the slightest because it is served with crispy bacon and yummy BBQ sauce. At least, cousin did get to eat her fresh greens before the whole thing is condemned under the sauce and crispy bacon. Hahaha.

Crispy bacon green salad from Eat Well at Seminyak

Dongsaeng obviously does not give a care in the world about the greens and went straight to the crispy pork belly. Noona wonders where do the fats from all these food go into his body because he is so bloody skinny for goodness sake. The sauce for the pork belly is so good by the way.

Crispy Pork Belly from Eat Well at Seminyak Bali

Not satisfied by meat alone, Dongsaeng also insisted that we should order the butter rice too. It does taste good when you eat the crispy pork belly together with the rice to be honest with you.

Butter rice from Eat Well at Seminyak Bali

The aunties were a bit sick of eating pork because it seems that our foodie adventure in Bali has been involving a lot of pork meats (the Balinese cook awesome pork dishes, mind you). So we ordered grilled chicken for them. It's served with two kind of sauce, once is spinach mayo and the other one is ranch sauce. Grilled chicken taste okay.

Grilled Chicken from Eat Well at Seminyak Bali

Oh wait, apparently all dishes here come together with the spinach mayo and ranch sauce. Here is the pork ribs. While the pork ribs taste not bad, Noona still prefers the one cooked by Iiga Warung.

Pork ribs from Eat Well at Seminyak Bali

Last but not least, Omma wanted some fish. Okay omma, anything to please you but obviously the fish gonna taste so so. Hahaha.

Fish Fillet from Eat Well at Seminyak Bali

Eat Well is located at:

Jalan Raya Basangkasa No 36

Seminyak, Kuta

Bali

Opening hours:

Daily 10AM - 11PM

"Lying in the gutter, aiming for the moon.

Trying to empty out the ocean with a spoon.

Up and up, up and up."

Noona has just met her friend who just came back for her recent honeymoon. While honeymoon tend to be associated with "relax" and "romantic", Noona's friend seemed to have a unique-and-yet-taxing honeymoon experience with her newly-wed hubby. She and her hubby went to Bali for their honeymoon but they (or more like her hubby) chose the adventurous route for the honeymoon. For example, they embarked on an adventure to Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan which are considered to be quite tough and not for the faint hearted. And for sure not for the newly-wed couple unless that's how they prefer to get intimate during the honeymoon, by overcoming challenges together. Hahaha.

Anyway, if you are looking for a relaxing place to spend your honeymoon in Bali, you may opt to go for the relaxing part of Bali such as Nusa Dua area. Noona and her family had a chance to visit the St Regis Bali at Nusa Dua beach. The visit is actually suggested by Noona's cousin who is very curious on this resort.

4D3N Bali Trip: The St Regis Bali, Nusa Dua

The lobby at the St Regis Bali is so grand and you will be immediately greeted by the hotel staff upon arrival. That's when the problem arose though because actually none of us has made any reservation with the hotel and yet, we still insisted to come because our curiousity got the better of our healthy mind. So how to get out from this situation? It's time to put on your acting mask.

The lobby of the St Regis Bali at Nusa Dua

Omma immediately acted as someone who's about to marry off their daughter to some chaebol because there's no way poor people can afford to get married at the St Regis Bali. So Noona had to play around with her since she's the supposed-bride-to-be (despite her lack of real man at her side) so that the hotel staff is eager and even welcoming us to walk around the premise. My goodness, the decoration for a normal stairs can be so beautiful in the St Regis Bali.

Flower staircase at the St Regis Bali at Nusa Dua

The wedding chapel is located at the far back side of the hotel because it is facing the beach so we had to pass through the green green grass.

And here we are inside the chapel which can only cater to 30 people max. To be honest, the idea of getting married at the St Regis Bali does not seem to be a bad idea after all considering that Noona has been a pretty much anti-social human being for most of her life and hence, she does not have many friends to invite in the first place. LOL.

The wedding chapel at the St Regis Bali Nusa Dua

The view outside the wedding chapel is breathtaking. The empty space will be decorated with table and chairs as this is where the wedding banquet will be held for the invited guests. The number of people you can invite for the banquet is limited to 60 people though. Hahaha.

Outside the chapel of the St Regis Bali at Nusa Dua

The lights will be turned on at night and the whole place will be romantically lit. Awww. Can totally imagine that. But still cannot imagine who will be the man on the altar until now. Wait, isn't that the most important thing to obtain before all these details? Life's tough.

Side view of the pond outside chapel of St Regis Bali Nusa Dua

Just beside the chapel, there are some villas and a swimming pool. The swimming pool looks so nice and so relaxing, Noona seriously feels like putting on her swimsuit and just jump into the pool since the weather is so hot.

Right opposite the swimming pool is where you can laze to your heart's content while facing the therapeutic blue ocean of Bali. Perfect for a couple who just want to snuggle with each other, no?

Umbrella beach at the St Regis Bali at Nusa Dua

Nusa Dua Beach has white sandy beach with smooth sand. While the location is pretty far from the bustling city center like Kuta and Seminyak, it is a perfect getaway spot to run away from crazy and busy reality.

Anyeong! It is soon gonna be the day where the attached is busy spending money for the loved one while the single is reminded of their singlehood status, yep, the V-day. If you are not interested in the day itself, how about planning for a trip instead? Noona herself has been wondering if she should go for another short trip (like a week-kind of a trip) but for now, let's just reminisce the good ol' time in Bali while saving up money for the next trip.

If you have the chance to go to Bali, you should never miss out the chance to dine on the beach. Jimbaran beach is famous for this dining experience and once should not go to Bali without experiencing this activity at least once in their trip. The famous restaurant to go to for this kind of activity is usually Menega Cafe but our driver insisted us to try New Moon Cafe. Probably because he earns commission from this cafe instead of Menega.

4D3N Bali Trip: Dining by the sea at New Moon Cafe, Jimbaran

Oh well, anyway all of these cafes/ restaurants are located alongside the same beach, Jimbaran so we decided to go with the driver's wishes and go find our table. There were so many tables available when we came around 5PM-ish. The sun sets around 7PM in Bali so we had so much time to kill while waiting.

The best way to kill time here is by chatting the afternoon away. Since there were 6 of us, the conversation seems to just keep on flowing from the usual family matters to work to life/ worldly affairs. Or anything random under the sun, really.

The sun set at Jimbaran Beach was pretty cloudy back then so we could not really catch a beautiful round sun coming down under the sea kind of sunset. Instead, before we know it, the sun has already went down behind the clouds and disappear right beneath the horizon.

We would not be able to last that long while chatting if we did not order a fresh young coconut. Sweet and refreshing indeed.

Since the sun is setting, it's time to make some orders for dinner. We were too lazy to move to another dining spot anyway. When you are going for this kind of dining activity, be prepared to pay a high price for basically every dishes on the menu. The first dish that we ordered is the veggie, the simple kang kong.

Cah Kangkung from New Moon Cafe Jimbaran

Next is the fried battered squid, which cannot go wrong really.

Fried Calamari from New Moon Cafe Jimbaran Bali

The most expensive of them all is of course, the grilled fish. Not sure what kind of fish is this but Omma was making a fuss over the price tag of the seafood sold by New Moon Cafe. Oh well.

Grilled Fish from New Moon Cafe Jimbaran Bali

Oh wait, turns out Noona was wrong about the most expensive dish. Because apparently Omma has ordered some jumbo prawns (which she ordered by number instead of weight). Taste good thankfully. Hahaha.

Hot Sambal Prawn from New Moon Cafe Jimbaran

The atmosphere is so good when it's completely night time as you can just chill while being blown by the gentle sea breeze.

Dining by the sea at New Moon Cafe Jimbaran Bali

Some buskers came to our table to perform a song (with hope that we pay them money, of course) and since they are able to perform Coldplay's Fix You (despite some key errors), we gave them token of appreciation for their attempt. Kinda make me can't wait about watching Coldplay in this coming April. Yeah!

Restaurants by the sea alongside Jimbaran Beach Bali

New Moon Cafe is located at:

Jalan Pantai Kedonganan, Kuta

Opening hours:

Daily 10AM - 12AM

Anyeong! Noona just had an amazing peking duck dish from the last CNY lunch which was sponsored by big boss, thankfully! Talking about ducks, do you know that Bali has a lot of yummy duck restaurant especially in Ubud area? Ubud is an area in Bali where you can enjoy the view of rice field, which is something different from the usual beach and ocean vibe of Bali island. It's 1.5 hours driving from Kuta but if you love to see a lot of green terraces, you may love Ubud.

Since there are so many rice fields in Ubud, most restaurants in Ubud offer the chance for its diners to have their food while sitting surrounded by the rice field. Natural dining experience? Hahaha. Noona's family chose to have their crispy duck lunch at Bebek Joni since we had never tried the crispy duck from this restaurant before. We could not get the table in the rice field area though and have to settle sitting in the normal area. Oh well.

The rice field area belongs to Bebek Joni restaurant is pretty huge. You can walk around on the pathway if you want to see the rice field closer.

Rice field at Bebek Joni Restaurant in Ubud Bali

Do you see the eating area which look like gazebos? That's where the rice field table located. A lot of diners wish to eat there so it is kinda difficult to secure a table there it seems.

Dining beside the rice field at Bebek Joni Restaurant Ubud

Right, enough fuss about the rice field table. After all, we came here to have crispy duck feast. Let's check out the menu and start ordering. Stat!

Our order came pretty slow probably because of the huge lunch crowd. Thankfully, there are some crackers which we could snack on. Noona kinda pitied her cousin who had not eaten anything since she woke up. She looks pretty ravenous and murderous at the same time. LOL.

After 30 minutes of waiting, our crispy duck set is finally here. Nothing fancy about the set to be honest. A piece of crispy duck, some veggie, crackers, the awesome Balinese sauce and a plate of white rice. Bebek Joni's crispy duck has a nice crispy texture to it and it tastes great with the chili sauce although personally Noona prefers the three types of sauces offered by its competitor, Bebek Tepi Sawah. It's a matter of preference really.

One thing that annoyed Noona's omma the most is the fact that we have to use cash to make payment which is kinda ridiculous because a portion of the crispy duck costs pretty expensive around IDR 100,000 (around SGD 11ish) and that's a really huge amount of cash when you pay for the whole family of 6. Thankfully our cash is enough to cover for the rest of the expenses till our last day in Bali. *phew*

Bebek Joni is located at:

Jalan Raya Goa Gajah, Pelitan,

Ubud, Bali

Opening hours:

Daily 8AM - 9PM

"Is it better now that I'm not around?"

The past few days have been so freaking damn annoying. Noona did not have the mood to write about anything (let alone to work) since she was in a...uhm...kinda awkward and annoying situation. She was not even in a official relationship and yet, she's still pissed when someone gave her a mixed signal after so much "investing-in-a-relationship". Uh okay, dunno what she's typing about. So let's just divulge in a travel porn story.

Okay that sounds kinda wrong. There's no porn stuff at all in this travel post.

It has been two months since the last time Noona went for a holiday to Bali. It feels like forever, Noona can tell you. We visited Ubud, 1.5 hours distance away from Kuta. If you are looking for something different from beach and sea, you should make your way to Ubud because Ubud provides you with a chance to chill while enjoying a different view. The greener one.

4D3N Bali Trip: A Cafe with Rice Field View at Bali Pulina, Ubud

This was the first time Noona went to an agro tourism spot in Ubud, Bali Pulina. If you are a local visitor, you will have to pay entrance fee of IDR 100,000. Overseas visitor will have to pay USD 10 if Noona recalls correctly. If she has to comment about Bali Pulina in one sentence, it's a coffee plantation/farm with a rice field view. It's pretty interesting really because for a start, you will have to make your way through the lushes greenery...

...to see the main star of Bali Pulina, the luwak. Luwak is an Asian palm civet who loves to eat coffee cherries and then digests and defecates them. These naturally processed coffee beans are then processed to make one of the most expensive coffee in the world, Luwak Coffee (or also known as Kopi Luwak).

Luwak looks pretty fierce though despite the fact that they eat coffee instead of meat.

Some exhibition where visitors can see the tools and ingredients required to process Kopi Luwak.

Kitchen where Luwak coffee was made at Bali Pulina

It will be great if guides were available to explain to us what are those stuffs (which to Noona looks like some kind of beans and spices) but the guides were all fully occupied as there were many visitors that day. So Noona has to make her own guesses on the coffee making process but looking at her brain capacity, it will be fast before she lost interest in the whole back-office operation stuff.

Ingredients for luwak coffee making at Bali Pulina Ubud

Noona thinks this is where you "cook" the coffee beans before further grinding them into coffee grounds. But she admits she does not have to be Sherlock to come into this conclusion. Hahaha.

Roasting Luwak coffee beans at Bali Pulina Ubud

The next exihibition houses some random farming tools. Farming is such a hard work but without farmers, we will not be able to eat what we love to eat in our daily life. Let's appreciate them more people! #clappingforfarmers

The beautiful part of Bali Pulina appears when you walk further past the cultural exhibition area of farming coffee. You will arrive at the viewing platform where you can enjoy the view of the tegallalang rice field. If you are a fan of the mountain, you may enjoy this kind of peaceful view compared to the ocean therapy.

Tegallalang Rice Field View at Bali Pulina

Your entrance fee of IDR 100k comes with a food and drink voucher which you can use at the cafe here. There is only one cafe at Bali Pulina so you will not miss it. You can choose either to sit at the al fresco area or under the shade of the rooftop.

Cafe with rice field view at Bali Pulina

Each table will be offered a set of coffee tester. All coffees offered here are made from the coffee ground defecated by the luwak. So yeah, this is your chance to try out that expensive Luwak coffee.

From the right side to the left side, here is teh taste offered. If you'd like to taste the original luwak coffee, Noona personally encourages you to go for the pure Bali coffee, which happens to be the strongest and the darkest coffee selection offered.

After we have made our own personal coffee selection (mine's ginger), we also received the complimentary banana fritter which taste great with coffee. The thing is, since both the coffee (unless you opt for the pure Bali coffee) and the banana fritter are both sweet and hence, attracted a lot of unwanted guests, the bees. Noona has mastered the art of eating the fritter, drinking the coffee, taking picture while shooing away the bees. Haiz. What a tiring feat indeed.

Banana fritter and luwak coffee at Bali Pulina Ubud

Once we have finished our meal (and our battle with the bees, yea, we failed to coexist), we decided to move on to our next destination. There is a souvenir shop located right before the exit of Bali Pulina. You can buy souvenir and gift for your loved ones if you'd like to. The souvenir store has a lot of fancy stuff to offer from the handmade handcrafts to soap to of course, coffee grounds.

Balinese handcraft souvenirs at Bali Pulina Ubud

The coffee grounds are packed nicely in a pretty box too so you don't have to do extra and just need to pay and give it to whoever you want to give them to. Fancy, no?

Bali Vanilla Luwak Coffee at Bali Pulina Ubud

Bali Pulina is located at:

Banjar Pujung Kelod, Tegallalang

Sebatu, Gianyar, Kabupaten Gianyar

Bali

Opening hours:

Daily 8AM - 7.30PM

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Anyeong Noona

4D3N Bali Trip: Eat Well, Seminyak

4D3N Bali Trip: The St Regis Bali Resort, Nusa Dua

4D3N Bali Trip: Warung D'Sawah, Kuta

4D3N Bali Trip: Dining by the sea at New Moon Cafe, Jimbaran

4D3N Bali Trip: Crispy Duck Love at Bebek Joni, Ubud

4D3N Bali Trip: A Cafe with Rice Field View at Bali Pulina, Ubud