Bali 2014: Day 3 – It’s just another Lazy Sunday

Sunday 9 November 2014

Nothing helps the Sunset like a couple of cold Bintangs’ and some Bali Peanuts.

Despite the tiredness from yesterdays surfing adventure, I sprung out of bed bright and early this morning.  There is a certain excitement about waking in Bali each morning – it seems a waste to sleep in – something that makes you jump out of bed ready to explore….not before a hearty breakfast though.

BREAKFAST

Just a short walk down the road from the All Seasons is the delightful little coffee shop Bella Vista Bali.  Situated across from Garden View Hotel on Jl Padma Utara it is a popular spot for breakfast.  The breakfast menu is well priced and contains ample options for everyone including Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon, Toast, and various other sweets and cakes (dessert can count as breakfast I am told…).

Plenty of food to fill you up for the day – I went the Bacon & Eggs with Toast. Dan the Pancakes. That isn’t whipped cream it is butter (rock hard frozen butter).

The star attraction here are their coffees, thus far the closest I have found in Bali to a “real” Australian style espresso coffee.  That being said I usually can’t go past a nice pot of Bali Kopi.  We paid up and headed out to grab a taxi – total price for lunch was Rp. 197k.

SHOPPING

We hopped a taxi down to the former sleepy village of Kuta to do a little bit of shopping.  I am sure you are all well aware of the name Kuta and the sad reputation that Kuta has as being over-touristy and over-commercialised.  It is but it is also a destination for some great shopping.  First stop was Bagus Watches at Kuta Square to pick up some gifts – usually a place you can easily sink a few $100’s; this time we were quite reserved, Dan only bought a pair of earrings and a bracelet for a grand total of Rp. 250k.  I couldn’t find a single watch that attracted me so didn’t buy anything.

Instead I opted to head off for a massage while Dan went to Matahari’s for a shop.  I just popped up the road to Raisha Beauty Salon & Spa on Jl Pantai Kuta for a quick massage.  Not a fancy place but good air-con and the massage was quite pleasant for Rp 60k (plus to be honest it saved me having to wander around Matahari! So that was worth double.  I have realised it is much cheaper for me to spend an hour having a massage as compared to an hour at a bar.

LUNCH

Shopping done we decided to wander our way down to Poppies 1; Poppies lane was one of the original streets of Bali – when the surfers and travellers started arriving in Kuta in the early 1970’s Poppies became one of the original tourist destinations.  And chief amongst that was one of Bali’s first ever Restaurants (and probably longest still operating) Poppies Restaurant.

Lovely garden surrounds. Plenty of room – we were eating lunch late so not much of a crowd.

We decided to pop in and have a quick snack – if only just to get out of the blazing sun for a few minutes.  On hot days like today lunch is always a struggle but we managed to sneak in a couple of cold drinks.  We had an entrée of Guacamole (sorry no photo – we must get better at photographing the food for you all), then shared a Nasi Goreng and some Ayam (Chicken) Satay.  Combined with a couple of cokes and bintangs’ lunch came to about Rp. 320k.

Chicken Satay – I always loved when it is served over charcoal at the table, keeps them so warm.

Nasi Goreng with a nice Satay Ayam (Chicken). Tasty, well cooked Nasi. Just the right balance of flavours.

After lunch we wandered back up to Jalan Legian and decided to walk back up towards our hotel – we had an afternoon booking for another treatment at PiPs Spa.  Our intention had been to hop into a taxi but I convinced a certain wife that it would be so much more enjoyable to walk.  I don’t know why there was so much complaining – it was only like 2.1km walking in the afternoon sun…..

SPA TIME

Finally made it to PiP’s Spa (I may have underestimated what a 2km walk is really like in Bali) well in need of a massage.  Today I opted for a 1 hour massage and a 45 min reflexology treatment; Danielle went with a Deluxe Facial and foot reflexology.  As always my massage treatment was wonderful, again just the right level of pressure and relaxation.  I am told the Deluxe Facial was splendid – it combines a facial (with Natural Australian products) with a warm stone massage on your shoulders and neck.

• 1 hour Traditional Massage – Rp. 70k
• 45 min Reflexology – Rp. 60k
• 1 hour Deluxe Facial – Rp. 215k

All up Rp. 410k for the better part of 2 hours worth of treatments for the both of us.  The only downside with the afternoon massage session is that you walk out ready for a good sleep – not exactly ready for a pumping night of partying.

SUNSET DRINKS

Neither of us had much energy to walk up to Jl Double Six tonight so decided to head down to the beach at the end of Jl Melasti to check out Bayu’s Bar.  We had a great night here last June when we were in Bali.  Bayu runs a small “bar” (read fridge on the beach) just towards the end of Jalan Melasti in front of Bali Mandira Hotel.

Nothing helps the Sunset like a couple of cold Bintangs’ and some Bali Peanuts.

Drinks are reasonably priced at about Rp. 25k per Bintang.  We plonked ourselves down on a beanbag and set in to watch the sunset.  Thankfully today the clouds formed up to produce a glorious colourful sunset.

Fabulous Panorama from the beanbags of Bayu’s Bar.

The sublime sunset of Bali. It draws the people every afternoon like moths to the flame. It has a certain magnetic attraction. You can’t help but sit quietly and marvel at the peaceful sight.

Dazzling, Gorgeous, Brilliant – there are not enough adjectives to describe the sight when the clouds and sky unite to give you a perfect sunset. Be quick though, once that sun gets close to the horizon it drops fast.

Also managed to set up the GoPro and take a quick timelapse of the sunset.  Check it out below:

DINNER

After a few drinks we were a little peckish so headed out to dinner.   I must admit that the Trip Advisor App is quite handy to use if you have no clue where to eat dinner, just jumped on to see what was “Nearby” and chose one with a decent rating and good reviews.  We ended up at Koko Bar and Restaurant – located just off Jalan Melasti at Jl Lebak Bena.  Basically it is right next door to the Magani Hotel so you can’t miss it.

Just a nice casual warung – not huge but it was pretty quiet tonight so we almost had the place to ourselves.  Started with an entrée of Calamari Rings and for mains had Grilled Prawns and a Nasi Goreng.  including a couple of beers and come Mocktails (yep cocktails without booze – they do exist in Bali) the bill came to Rp. 220k – quite reasonable really.

Food was all freshly prepared – in their tiny little kitchen – how in the world they can pump out so many meals from one little kitchen.  I think they would struggle on a busy night with everyone ordering food.  We sat for a while just people watching from the porch.  That pretty much did us for the night so we headed home at a very respectable hour (our mothers would be so proud we didn’t stay out late), via a quick stop off at the Gelati shop on Jalan Padma Utara (because there is always time for dessert).

Thanks for checking out today’s blog if you liked any of the places mentioned today do check them out via the links, today was a bit of a quiet one it was after all Sunday and traditionally Sunday is always a chilled day back home.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed the post and also if you want any information about anything you have read today – or Bali in general.  Thanks again and see you tomorrow.