Bali 2014: Day Twelve – Back to Sanur

Tuesday 18 November 2014:

We awoke to our last morning in Ubud.  As is always the case always mixed emotions – sadness at having to leave Ubud but excitement at heading back to Sanur.  Sanur is really a place that resonates with us in Bali just matches our lifestyle nicely.  Looking forward to catching up with our good friend Fredy later today.

Heading back to Sanur – one of our favourite places in Bali. Such a cool relaxing beach area compared to the hectic Western side

This morning I thought I would save you from enduring more photos of our breakfast and I would show you some more photos from around the grounds of the Gerhana Sari 2 Bungalows.  We really enjoyed our time here – this place is not a fancy 5-star resort, it is a simple little place run by a lovely family and located in a really handy spot on Monkey Forest Road.

The lovely view from our balcony. Being a small complex of only 6 bungalows you will rarely see other people during your stay.

These are the newest bungalows, upstairs have air-con I believe and downstairs are fan only.

These are the older two bungalows. From what I could gather you can’t book these through bookings.com you can book them direct to the brothers.

The view to the side of the complex. This is looking back down towards Monkey Forest Road – you will see the restaurants there I think it is Pisari and the others nextdoor

Next time we head up to Ubud we will definitely stay here again.  Once we had finished packing it was time to head off – our good friend Fredy arrived to take us down to Sanur.  Longtime followers of our blog will know that whenever we are in Bali we only use one company for our transportation needs and that is – Drivers with Distinction – and specifically Fredy.  Fredy has a great passion for Bali and really enjoys showing people his little island.  Please consider contacting him if you are looking to see a bit of Bali when you are there – his website was hacked and taken down a while back so he hasn’t got a new one up yet – but hit him up on Facebook to book him in as your driver – https://www.facebook.com/bali.fredy.

Fredy in his “office” I swear he knows every secret road in Bali – every shortcut and special parking spot!

SANUR

Traffic was pretty light today – we have to go to Sanur via Legian to pick up our leather products we ordered the other day (god that seems a long time ago!).  Still managed to make it just around lunchtime.

Our accommodation for the next few nights will be the Semarandana Guest House – we stayed here last trip to Sanur and really enjoyed the small size of the place but its handy location to the main sights of Sanur.  If you know where the Tamukami is in Sanur this is the next driveway north of there – really in a handy spot.  We booked a Deluxe Room this time, last stay we chose the Studio Flat which was lovely but more room than we really needed.  The Deluxe is just a little bit smaller and a great value at Rp. 450k per night.

Deluxe Room – nice large bed, plenty of cupboard space. Bathroom with large shower.

Plenty of space to stretch out, lounge chair and TV;

Our room was located up on the top floor around the pool deck and I was worried that there may be too much noise, but it was totally fine – in reality there are only 14 rooms so you are not exactly going to get 100’s of people crowding around.

LUNCH

After we had settled in we wandered up the road to grab some lunch – via our favourite Salon for some treatments of course – so we popped into Black and White Salon while I had a Balinese Massage Dan had a Facial.  Treatments here are always absolutely first class really good quality products and great staff.  Came to Rp. 220k for both treatments.  After we were sufficiently relaxed into our Sanur mode – our choice for lunch was an old favourite the Sanur Beach Market Restaurant.  Located right on the beach at the northern end of the Sindhu Beach Markets.  A lovely setting with tables out on the sand under the shade of some nice low hanging trees.

Sanur Beach Market Restaurant – nice simple food, usually well prepared. The seafood is usually quite good.

The Garlic Grilled Prawns – Order by weight desired. Always good sized plenty to eat.

Pork Ribs – Not exactly a “huge” portion but plenty there to eat

Food and Drinks came to about Rp. 280k ($28AUD) so quite good value for a lunch/dinner meal.  Service is always quite good.

The lovely Sanur Beach. Feel free to hire yourself a chair and laze here all day. Plenty of food and drink to keep you company

After lunch we popped into Tootsie’s Fixed Price store to stock up on some more clothes and gifts for friends – wow didn’t take the wife long to blow the “daily budget” for the trip – spent about Rp. 955k.

DINNER

We wanted to try something different for dinner so opted to head all the way down south to check out The Fire Station Restaurant.  The Fire Station is a funky little Pub/Grill down in south Sanur – it can be a bit of an Ex-Pat Aussie “spot” but it is so for a reason.  Meals were amazing here and the wine list is really special – featuring some very good value Australian wines.

As is usually the case with us – no reservation – so we managed to sneak in and get a table before the dinner rush.

Love the funky artwork throughout the inside.

Definitely not a “Balinese” warung – this place is very modern and funky – but don’t let that turn you off.

Our entrée of Twice Cooked Crispy Pork Belly, served with Caramel reduction, chilli vinegar and coriander (Rp. 55k)

Dan opted for the Braised Beef & Red Wine Pie with pastry crust and fries (Rp. 120k)

How amazing do these guys look – 12 hour slow-cooked & chargrilled pork ribs with bbq sauce and fries (Rp. 130k)

Despite the huge meals we amazingly had room for dessert – Chocolate Tart

Wifey had – Classic Key Lime Pie (Rp. 60k).

What a great evening meal – really enjoyed our time at The Fire Station – service was prompt and friendly.  It certainly does get busy and yes there are plenty of Aussies around but honestly the food is amazing so definitely give it a go.  The bill came to about Rp. 650k but that did include some wine and port after dinner.

We headed back up the road to call it a day – sorry didn’t get up to too much today – but I do think I have made up for the lack of photos yesterday?  Looking forward to tomorrow – we are catching up with Fredy and Dean again and spending the day with them learning how to make Bubi Guling!

Thanks again for following along with the blog.  Hope you are enjoying our Bali trip and have hopefully learnt a few things.  Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you liked (if anything) Have you been to Bali?  What is your favourite spot?