Reety's Ubud - Eat, Shop and Drink!

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Same Same But Different

Welcome to Bali! Well.... after much inner resistance I finally decided to give in and explore a little of Bali since so many Aussies rave about the place... I have lots of mixed feelings but for now this blog is about a little piece of Heaven in Bali, Ubud, recently made famous by the book and subsequent movie: Eat, Love, Pray...

I arrived in Bali just before lunchtime and was surprise to see my driver waiting already.. I had a two hour wait for Kylee to show up so was expecting to wait at the airport and the driver meet us when she turned up.. He was really lovely and explained that he would put my bags in the car and then I could either go grab something to eat or just sit in the air conditioned car to wait! I chose to get food (surprise surprise) and after safely locking my bags in the car I headed off... straight to McDonalds!! After ordering my food, I suddenly realised I didnt have my purse on me.. yep it was in the locked car! I told her I would be right back and raced back to the car... unfortunately the car was there but the driver was not.. I was SO grumpy as I was hungover and thirsty and didnt have a cent on me!

I decided to ring Nat who was already at the hotel waiting and see if she could get the hotel to contact the driver but as I was speaking to her he thankfully turned up.... I've never felt so relieved! Money in hand I went back to Macca's, grabbed my order then found a small internet cafe to do some email catchups..

Kylee arrived and it was so good to see her after 13 years since the last catchup... We caught up on 13 years of chat in the hour drive to Ubud taking in the scenery as we went ... Upon arriving at our hotel we found Nat waiting and our room, ordered some room service and drinks and sat around chatting. Casey and Rob showed up having checked in next door at Greenfields but upon seeing our room, they decided they were being ripped off and decided to find nicer accommodation!

Our hotel was just gorgeous.. It was truly a bargain.. I think we paid about $55 a night and it was simply gorgeous... a large room overlooking the rice paddies with a gorgeous little balcony and a large 2 person bath in the bathroom.. would be perfect for a couple!

I was exhausted from the night before so decided to have a nap while Kylee and Nat went for a walk to check out Ubud. Once they were back, we got ready for dinner and met up with Casey and Rob at Warung Enuk next door to our hotel. About half way through dinner Helen and Bianca finally arrived having just flown in. Dinner was quite nice and we all had Entree, Main and Dessert, washed down with some really yummy cocktails. We called it a night pretty early.

Shopping Heaven

We rose early and decided to go explore Ubud and do a little shopping. My goal was to wind up at Ibu Oka for lunch. Ibu Oka is a small Babi Guling (Roast Pork) restuarant made famous by Anthony Bourdian in his television show "No Reservations". Within minutes of walking down the street, I was completely in love with Ubud, a view which wouldnt change over the next 24 hours. It was a gorgeous little quaint Artists town, full of funky little silver jewellery and Art shops. There was no hassle from the shop owners at all and the quality of the shopping (and pricing) was great. We spent the morning wandering the streets from shop to shop shopping up a storm.

About 1pm we ended up at Ibu Oka for lunch. Kylee isnt a pork fan so she decided to go find food elsewhere while we ate our fill of pork.. the food was GREAT. We ordered a Babi Guling Special which came with pork meat, pork skin, rice, blood sausage (surprisingly I was the only person to like the blood sausage.. a kick back to my Scottish heritage) and another unidentified pork product which we all liked but are still not sure what it was! Nat and I also ordered a 2nd serve of meat and 2 serves of pork skin... it was like glass! Very yummy!

After we finished lunch we decided to go and treat ourselves to a spa. We decided on one of the cheaper ones we had seen along the way. A decision we would regret later on. We all started with a Balinese massage and once that was over, Kylee was out the door (the only smart one in the whole group). We then had pedicures and hair cream baths.

Hair Cream Baths are a Balinese speciality you dont find in SE Asia. If you like the washing hair/massage head part of your visit to the hairdressers you will LOVE these... however after this first experience in Ubud I wasnt a fan (nor was anyone else) - a good Hair Cream Bath starts with them washing your hair twice, then they put a cream mask on your hair, followed by a head massage and then a shoulder massage. They then put your hair under a steamer while they massage your arms and hands. After your hair is steamed, they rinse your hair then put a tonic in your hair... its so relaxing and your hair feels great afterwards.

I think we ended up paying about $21 per person for 3 hours of massage, pedicure and hair cream bath... a bargain but not the best experience. We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We were meeting Casey and Rob at Cafe Des Artistes and I had pre-ordered a special Balinese meal. We were having 2 ceremonial Ducks and a Balinese buffet called "Rijasstefel" pronounced wrist-a-fell.

Dinner was really nice, apart from when some of the girls discovered that our ducks were in fact WHOLE ducks including head and beak! Hehehe... classic moment! While at dinner Helen presented us all with our own personalised beer stubby holders (see pics) .. a lovely thoughtful touch which I loved!

After dinner we headed to the Laughing Buddha Bar for cocktails. Here we drank yummy cocktails including the very yummy Ginger, Coriander and Lemongrass Mojito! We called it a night just after midnight and headed back to our hotel. I said a very sad goodbye to Casey and Rob here as they were flying out the next day!

The next morning we decided to get some last minute shopping done before heading off to Legian. The morning was spent rushing around getting all our shopping finished. We lost Helen and Bianca along the way so Nat, Kylee and I had lunch at a random little restaurant that was advertising Crispy Duck (always a sucker for that!) before heading back to the hotel for our transfer to Legian. With a sad goodbye to both Ubud and our hotel staff, we were ready for part 2 of our Bali adventure!

There are three pages of photos, apologies in advance, but I couldnt cut it down any more!

Reet x

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Comments

[lorraine]

Loved it!
Thanks for sharing your adventures once again! Great photos, good read too!! Look forward to the next chapter! cheers lorraine

[Lynn Tate]

Looks lovely
Hi Reet...the pix looks amazing & it sounds like u had a great time. Must say tho, i'm still trying to work out if i'd go there. lol

[Kernie]

hi reet, looks like you had a good time in bali. so many fun drinks and yummy culinary delights! i am looking to get to adelaide and do a farm stay around march 18th. my canberra friend has been a great host and has showed me some of the coast, the mountains...and next we will see the plains. i had a medical issue, and needed to stick around here....so, decided i didn't have enough time for KI. so, anyway...i have totally enjoyed your blogs....you are a wonderful writer and photographer!