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
29th April, 2016.
This morning, we decided to head to Seminyak. Knowing full well that we would require a taxi at some point, we started walking east along Poppies II. Not far from the hotel, we stumbled upon one of those things we always keep an eye out for while travelling, an awesome little coffee spot. Nebula is a cool little cafe and restaurant, serving good coffee and offering up free wifi for their customers. This is definitely recommended for a caffeine fix if you're in the area. In our case, we ended up heading to the coast in the morning instead of inland, so we didn't walk past in the morning again before we headed off to Sanur a few days later.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/200 @ f/10, 15.1 mm (ISO 640)
Approximate location: Jalan Popies II, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
After a short stop for a coffee break, we kept walking along Poppies II and out onto Jl. Legian, turning north towards Seminyak. We made a few stops on Jl. Legian, picking up a few supplies, including some of the best bug spray we've come across, Balinese company Utama Spice's Bug Begone and some Stop Cold to put a hold on the colds we'd both brought from home with us. A little further on we stopped again to check out a silver shop, although we prefer to do our silver shopping in Sanur, which has a pretty high concentration of silver shops for a sleepy coastal village. Another little walk and we were at the Legian Paradiso, where we grabbed a drink, although 43k rp is a little on the high side for a Bintang. A little way north of here we stopped in to a small supermarket to grab a soft drink, and found more coiled incense burners here, this time for 143k rp, the best price we would find them for on the whole trip. Leaving here, we flagged down a taxi for the rest of the trip to Seminyak.
Left - Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/160 @ f/10, 15.1 mm (ISO 640)
Right - Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/60 @ f/5.6, 15.1 mm (ISO 800)
Approximate location: Jalan Popies II, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
At Seminyak, we headed to Grocer & Grind, an Australian owned restaurant, who have recently opened a Sanur location as well. We opened our account here with a coffee each and ordered lunch. A chicken Caesar salad for Lori and a GG Melt (a chicken and bacon burger with melted cheese) for myself. When the food arrived, we ordered a couple of smoothies to accompany it.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/60 @ f/8, 15.1 mm (ISO 160)
Approximate location: Jalan Kayu Jati 8, Seminyak, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
After lunch, we took a short walk to the fairly new looking Seminyak Village Shopping Centre, but left empty handed, finding it just a little too fancy for our tastes. We continued to the smaller of the Seminyak square markets, where Lori picked up a few nice dresses for Mikah. We walked a little further to the larger market area, the Seminyak Flea Markets. Next to the Flea Markets, we stopped at a bar boasting the "coldest beer ever". While they were pretty close (the outside of the bottle was frosted), there weren't any ice crystals in the beer, so the 'coldest ever' claim is still in dispute. Regardless, it was still a good, cold, refreshing beer, and we were now ready to continue on to the Flea Markets. Here we found yet more cool clothes for Mikah before finding a taxi to get us back to Poppies II, where we would walk from Jl. Legian back to the Satriya Cottages.
Both - Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/640 @ f/8, 15.1 mm (ISO 320)
Approximate location: Jalan Kayu Jati 8, Seminyak, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
Back at the hotel, we made our way to the pool bar for a few drinks with our fellow travellers before heading back to our room to get ready for a banquet the hotel was putting on that night. Apparently they do this 3 times a year, and the cost of 200k rp per head (plus drinks), we were assured, would be money well spent.
Canon PowerShot G1 X - 1/80 @ f/4, 15.1 mm (ISO 1600)
Approximate location: Satriya Cottages, Poppies Lane II, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali
Dinner was a feast, set around the pool area, featuring Babi Guling (suckling pig) and a huge range of chicken, fish, salads and soup. This was followed by an equally impressive array of desserts. Everyone ate well, and the pool bar was kept busy ferrying drinks to the tables all night. Traditional Balinese dancers and a local cover band entertained us throughout the evening before we wound the night up with a late night dip in the pool.
