May 2nd, 2016.
Another lovely morning here at the Swiss-Belresort Watu-Jimbar. After a delicious breakfast, we took a walk. First stop was the laundry up the road, that we had used last year, to drop off our dirty washing from the last week in Kuta. The price was 20k rp per kilogram, with another 10k rp express service fee on top to get it back the same day. All up less than it would have cost to wash it ourselves in a laundromat back home. After dropping off the laundry, we wandered down to Hardy's to do a bit of shopping.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/60 @ f/11, 15.1 mm (ISO 800) Approximate location: 3 Monkeys, Jalan Danau Tamblingan 114-116, Sanur, Kota Denpasar, Bali
A couple of hours later, having bought everything from a 2.5k rp pack of cardboard dominoes and some more fountain pen ink to a pile of clothes for Mikah and about 6 small steel and brass sculptures, both for our house and for gifts, we made our way back out onto Jl. Danau Tamblingan, and started walking back to the hotel. Along the way, we checked out a few more silver shops and dropped in to 3 Monkeys for lunch. This was one of our favourite dining spots last time we'd been in Sanur. Todays lunch was a selection of Lamb Briouat with Tahini Yoghurt Sauce, Balinese Spiced Duck Fried Spring Rolls and Goat Cheese Fried Ravioli accompanied by a couple of smoothies and followed by a Pannacotta with Broken Baklava for dessert. The pannacotta here is amazing and it won Lori over last time we'd been in Sanur, to the extent that we came back several times just for pannacotta and coffee.
Hero3-Black Edition - 1/120 @ f/2.8, 2.77 mm (ISO 232) Approximate location: Swiss-Belresort Watu-Jimbar, Jalan Danau Tamblingan 114-116, Sanur, Kota Denpasar, Bali
After lunch, we returned to the hotel room, where I had a couple of gin and tonics in the plunge pool while chatting to our neighbours, a couple in their 70's from Rockingham who hadn't been to Sanur for at least 20 years and were pleasantly surprised by what they'd found. We then headed off to the pool bar for some Crazy Lori's and Uncle Phil's during the 3 hour long happy hour. At the end of happy hour, we headed back to the room, got dressed for dinner and made the short walk to pick up our laundry.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/60 @ f/5.6, 22.06 mm (ISO 1600) Approximate location: Swiss-Belresort Watu-Jimbar, Jalan Danau Tamblingan 114-116, Sanur, Kota Denpasar, Bali
On returning with our now freshly washed and pressed laundry, we called Mikah for a chat before heading to the hotels dining area for the Balinese Buffet, one of the regular (and well priced) offerings at the Swiss-Bel, this one being a huge spread of good local dishes, which sets you back only 98,800rp per head.
Over dinner we had a chat to a couple of sisters who were here on holiday from Sydney, swapping stories of our experiences so far in Sanur and Seminyak, before we decided to call it a night.
May 1st, 2016.
Today's the day we move out of the Satriya Cottages and leave the hustle and bustle of Kuta for the more relaxed pace of Sanur and the Swiss-Belresort Watu-Jimbar. As usual, we started the day with breakfast at the Satriya, then we headed back to the room, packed our bags and checked out, leaving our bags with the staff at reception. We headed west on Poppies II to Jl. Pantai Kuta and headed south via Kuta Square to Jl. Kartika Plaza. We headed to the Discovery shopping centre for the first time this trip, and spent a good couple of hours wandering the shops before heading to Burger King for a bite. I think this was the first time Lori and I have ever gone to Burger King in Bali, and certainly not something we're planning on making a habit out of. After lunch we flagged down a taxi to take us back to the hotel and ended up negotiating a deal to take us back to the hotel, load up our bags and run us out to Sanur all for 120k rp.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/250 @ f/4, 15.1 mm (ISO 640) Approximate location: Jalan Danau Tamblingan 42, Kota Denpasar, Bali
On arrival at the Swiss-Belresort Watu-Jimbar on Jl. Danau Tamblingan in Sanur, we found the room we'd requested wasn't available, however the hotel were happy to work out a room upgrade to a plunge pool room with what they referred to as a Hollywood bed, being 2 twin beds pushed together into a super sized king bed, which worked out really well for us. However, to make this happen, we would need to give them an hour or so to rearrange our room, which we were certainly able to work with. We took a walk along Jl. Danau Tamblingan, checking our a few silver shops along the way, and stopped at The Glass House, intending to grab a coffee each. Once we got inside and checked out the menu, we instead ended up having a slice of lemon meringue pie and a smoothie each, and we were both very happy with our selection.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/800 @ f/5, 35.208 mm (ISO 800) Approximate location: Jalan Danau Tamblingan 25, Kota Denpasar, Bali
After leaving The Glass House, we headed back to the hotel where our room was now ready, and finished checking in. We headed to the pool bar where Lori and I taught the bar staff how to make our favourite cocktails, a modified Toblerone with vodka, Baileys, Kahlua and hazelnut liqueur and ice, in a blender and given the name Crazy Lori, and my twist on a White Russian, simply a traditional White Russian with a shot of Malibu, that was given the name Uncle Phil for the week. While we were hanging out at the pool bar we met up with a a couple of travellers from Perth, who also ended up knocking back a few of our signature drinks.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/100 @ f/11, 15.1 mm (ISO 800) Approximate location: Jalan Danau Tamblingan 47, Kota Denpasar, Bali
After happy hour wound up at the pool bar, we headed back to the room, got dressed and headed out to Barb's Sports Bar, just a short walk down the road from the hotel, to watch the Formula 1 from Russia. A Nasi Goreng each and a fair few Bintangs over the next couple of hours only set us back 300k rp (around A$30 at the rate on the day), a fraction of what the same would cost back home. We walked back to the hotel, poured a gin and tonic and hit the plunge pool before bed. It surprised me that despite the plunge pool rooms being highly desired here, hardly any of the pools actually seemed to be getting a lot of use while we were at the hotel.
April 30th, 2016.
This morning we headed out of the Satriya Cottages and headed westward on Poppies II, then south along Jl. Pantai Kuta. A little way along, we stopped in to Starbucks for a coffee, as the hotel coffee just wasn't doing it for us. However a quad shot hazelnut latte from Starbucks certainly did the deal this morning. We walked the length of Jl. Pantai Kuta this morning, through the craziness of the tourist areas in the western parts of Kuta, across Bemo Corner, past a number of local warungs and into what appears to be Kuta's motorbike workshop district. Here we crossed the local river and headed to Toko Central, where I was on the lookout for a new plastic buckle to replace one I'd stolen off my old Tamrac Expedition 8 backpack to repair my Oakley luggage. This was not a problem, it turned out there were quite a few different options on offer, at only 15k rp, and with a gift of a bag of local fruits and treats thrown in from the store manager.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/1600 @ f/4, 15.1 mm (ISO 100) Approximate location: Outside Satriya Cottages, Jl. Poppies II, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
From Toko Central, we headed a little north and then east again and out to Jl. Sunset, where a short walk south brought us to the surf brand outlet shops. And, you probably guessed it, but Lori found some stuff for Mikah here too, shoes this time. We were ready to take a little break from walking by now, so when we were done here, we hailed a taxi to take us up the road to Carrefour.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/640 @ f/5.6, 44.042 mm (ISO 100) Approximate location: Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai 120 AB, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
By this time we were getting a little hungry, so before heading upstairs to do our shopping, we dropped in to the A&W in the basement where we shared a mango chicken pocket and fries, with a root beer float (apparently I'm a little weird for liking these) all to myself. Upstairs at Carrefour, we picked up a few basics, things like a cheap pair of thongs for me, some water to chuck in the fridge at the hotel and some small cans of tonic water to go with the Mansion House gin. I'd been hopeful that perhaps a large international chain like Carrefour may have actual bottles of tonic water, but no such luck unfortunately.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/40 @ f/5.6, 40.786 mm (ISO 800) Approximate location: Fat Chow, Jalan Popies II, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
After Carrefour, we hopped into another taxi, heading straight back to the the hotel to drop our shopping at the room before heading back out and next door to Fat Chow for an afternoon snack. We opted to again go with the two entrees from the other night, Tokyo prawns and chicken in pandan leaf. After a bite to eat and a gin and tonic here, we headed back to the Satriya, dropping in to reception to check up on our pool bar tab. It was pretty reasonable, so we decided to go back for another session. Just a quiet one here today, catching up with our fellow travellers and swapping stories about our days before heading back to the room to get ready to go out for dinner.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/15 @ f/3.5, 18.047 mm (ISO 1600) Approximate location: Kori's, Jalan Poppies II, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
Lori and I decided to walk down Poppies II and see what we could find that grabbed our interest. We ended up at Kori's, a Japanese restaurant with a serious Aussie twist, in a secluded setting just metres from the craziness of Poppies Lane II. The restaurant has a very Japanese feel to it, but with a very healthy dose of Australian items on the menu, including Western Australian beef and Tasmanian salmon.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/50 @ f/4.5, 24.541 mm (ISO 1600) Approximate location: Kori's, Jalan Poppies II, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
We had a lovely meal here, highlighted by the half shell scallops (pictured above), and accompanied by a drink each. The meal was a bit on the pricey side for Bali, but still a very respectable price at 550k rp for the night. Value for money wise, probably on a par with Fat Chow, and outstripping Sardinia Cafe by a fair margin.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/3 @ f/2.8, 15.1 mm (ISO 1600) Approximate location: Kori's,Jalan Poppies II, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
By now, we were both pretty tired, so headed back to the hotel to wind down with a drink, hit the shower and head for bed.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/20 @ f/2.8, 15.1 mm (ISO 1600) Approximate location: Kori's, Jalan Popies II, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
