Bali 2019

Amidst all the Christmas and New Year madness, we manage to squeeze in a very short and but restful vacation to Bali. We all know this little island holds a very special place in our hearts - it is where I had my Hen's Night as well as mini honeymoon! Bali is such an accessible destination with amazing resorts, delicious food and all the cafes and coffees you can have set in front of a beautiful landscape the locals are fortunate to call home.

WHERE WE STAYED
Bidadari  Private Villas & Retreat Ubud Bali

We decided to take things slow in Ubud and booked a quiet villa nestled in a lush foliage up in the mountains. Prices are slightly dear for accommodation in Bali but let me tell you it is worth every bit of it. Breakfast and teatime snacks are served in-room daily and the spread is fit for royalty! We have fruits, baskets of pastries, hot meals, drinks, juices all dished out one after that made us horribly spoilt.

Did I also mention the view?

Yes we are talking about infinity pool perched on a mountain drop. This is tropical paradise at its best.

The only thing you might find trouble with is getting up and down the steep steps daily as the villas are all built below ground surface.

We spent the next 4 days predominantly in our villa, only heading out via their free car service during meal times. In fact we loved the villa food so much (and convenience too really) that dinners are usually just room service for us hence, there wasn't much exploration outside of Ubud city center this time around.

You can't leave Bali without having one meal (or two, or three!) of Babi Guling! BG to Bali is what Chicken Rice is to Singapore; you just can't miss it. This perennial dish typically raises the brows of new travellers because Babi is pig and one would think Bali, being part of Muslim Indonesia, pork would be uncommon.

But surprise surprise, Balinese practise Hinduism hence it's common to see establishments serving pork all over!

Typically consisting of crispy pork skin, braised pulled pork, pork crackling and some sides like veg or intestines served together with rice. This outlet is sooooo gooood. We avoided the going to the one within Ubud city center which is meh and chose to venture slightly further out to Babi Guling Gung Cung where locals come in to do takeaways.

If in Ubud, you gotta head here!

Babi Guling Cung Gung
Jl. Suweta No.23, Ubud 80571, Indonesia

An extremely disappointing experience at Ubud's Naughty Nuri... being the original outlet we had such high expectations but the food fell seriously short. The pork ribs were tough and meat not flavourful. The other dishes fell way below expectations too. I had such a glorious time at NN in Seminyak which not only had a cleaner and more pleasant environment but the food was way tastier.

I'm guessing the owners are putting more focus on that outlet instead as the one in Ubud was shockingly quiet on a lunch time we actually did a double take to make sure we were in the right place.

Prices are on the steep side as well and I will recommend you to not shell out here. Take a day trip to Seminyak and have NN there instead!

Naughty Nuri's Warung & Grill
Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud 80571, Indonesia

Venturing into Ubud market where straw bags rule. They aren't cheap though with an average of one costing between SGD20-30.

Obligatory coffee stop which is a perfect respite from the unbearable heat and humidity.

I felt the crepes here were not fantastic and on prices are on the dearer side. It's a pretty 2-storey cafe (albeit cramp) which lies within a stretch of other hippie vegan food joints. Nothing spellbinding here.

The Spell Creperie
Jl. Gootama, Ubud 80571, Indonesia

Food photos will never be same 😂

Hippie Fish Ubud
Jl. Raya Ubud No.14, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia

Coconut loving baby

And that was pretty much how we spend our days in Ubud. We skipped the option to visit Monkey Forest (I'm terrified of monkeys!), padi fields (too far out) or take the infamous Bali swing photos mainly because we wanted to take things rrreealll slow and most transportation to those places will need to be self arranged so we skipped the hassle.

It might seem boring and a complete waste of opportunity to explore more in a foreign land but really, the break was all we needed!