Archive for January, 2007
Funny how once in a while you get a blast from the past. Today while checking out places in Tuban, I wandered past the first hotel I stayed at in Bali, or at least, when I moved here on Jan 1st 2003. I remember arriving in Bali, loaded down with gear, a rolled up sign under my arm and enough Bootsnall t-shirts to start a stall. Catching a taxi from the airport, I ended up at the cheapest place on main street Kartika Plaza, Yan’s. Back then I paid 100,000rp a night and thought that was good, until I checked out Poppies Lane. Passing by today I asked the prices, which were 175,000rp for an AC room and 125,000rp for a fan room.
If I had a choice I would stay somewhere else, but for a weary traveler, just arrived and not knowing the lay of the land, it will do. Food and services are all around. Yan’s also has a restaurant and small internet cafe.Yan’s menu is as follows:
Appetizers - including Calamari Fritti (marinated squid, deep fried and served with salad) for 22,500rp.
Soup - including Chicken Corn Soup (shredded chicken with sweet corn) for 16,500rp.
Indonesian / Asian Favourites - including Sate Campur (grilled or skewered beef, chicken and pork meat, topped with peanut sauce, served with home made pickles & crackers) for 22,000rp.
Pasta - including Spaghetti Bolognese for 25,000rp
Pizza - including Pizza Generoza (tomato, mozzarella cheese, garlic, onion, oregano) for 31,000rp.
Main Courses - including Pan Fried Skin Snapper Fillet (Served with sauteed vegetable, potato wedges and tomato and basil mayo) for 39,000rp.
Sandwiches / Burgers - including Club Sandwich for 26,500rp.
Dessert - including Caramelized Balinese Banana (had to laugh at this one!) served with ice cream, for 21,500rp.
There is also a breakfast menu, which starts at 8am. The restaurant is open till 10pm.
Yan’s Cafe
Jl. Kartika Plaza
Tuban
Bali
(0361)766629
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Bluefin is a modern-age Japanese concept restaurant. I have not eaten there as yet, but walking past, the design of the place alone demands attention. The impressive wine racks are pushed up against the front window. Located just down from Stadium Cafe, on Jl. Kartika Plaza, Bluefin has a Japanese fusion menu. Seating can be outside at a table, at a low Japanese style table, or inside in the cool.
The menu is as follows:•Soup - including Miso Shiru for 28,000rp
•Salad - including Bluefin Salmon Salad (mixed greens and sliced fresh salmon in sesame chili mayonnaise dressing, topped with flying fish roe) for 36,000rp.
•Starters - including Streamed Mussels & Clams (white wine and vegetable in a soy sauce and virgin olive oil) for 32,000rp.
•Robatayaki (Japanese style char-grilled “on skewer” of meats, seafood, fish and vegetables, combined with many sauces or assorted fusion spice sauces) - including Robata Double (15 skewers for 2 people) for 128,000rp
•Age Mono (dipped in egg batter and coated with panko breading or tempura coated with then deep fried, served with tartar, tempura sauce and tonkatsu sauce) - including Single (7 pieces) for 59,000rp.
•Nigiri Sushi - including Deluxe (10 pieces) for 135,000rp.
•Sashimi - including Single Local (9 pieces) for 39,000rp.
•Exotic Funamori (for 2-3 people) - Salmon, red tuna, fatty tuna - Othoro sashimi, Chutoro, Kanpachi, Gindara (cod fish), Ebi (prawn), Kurotobiko (Black) and wasabi tobiko (green) sushi, Fun fancy, Spider & Tiger Eyes rolls for 325,000rp.
•Gunkan - including Othoro - Fatty Tuna (2 pieces) for 29,000rp.
•Temaki / Cone Shape - including California Temaki for 28,000rp.
•Maki Mono / Traditional Rolls - including Unagi to kyurimaki (Eel and cucumber roll) for 32,000rp.
•Fusion Rolls - including Caterpillar Roll (Eel and cucumber wrapped with avocado topped with sesame seeds and flying fish roe - 8 pieces) for 38,000rp.
•Sensational Fish & Seafood - including Heart of the Ocean (Deep fried lightly flavoured assorted seafood - lobster, prawn, snapper, squid and onion, with spices and herbs served in a special sauce / oroshini sauce) for 185,000rp.
•Sensational Beef & Chicken - including Bluefin Steak (sauteed imported tenderloin beef, cut into dice, with a light black pepper sauce, served with sesame garlic spinach, garlic wasabi potatoes or steamed rice) for 99,000rp.
•Sweet Temptation - including Hazelnut Mille Feuilles (Chocolate cookies served with vanilla ice cream, snap biscuit and pouring with hazelnut liquer) for 25,000rp.
Bluefin is open for lunch and dinner.
Bluefin
Jl. Kartika Plaza #16
Tuban
Bali
(0361)764100
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Pasar Seni Kuta (Kuta Art Market) is located between Kuta Square / Jl.Kartika Plaza and the beach. Its quite a large area and has rows of stalls, selling the same stuff you’ll find all over Kuta. The idea ‘if it works for your neighbor, copy it’, has been fully blown out in this neighborhood and most people are twiddling their thumbs, due to the downturn in tourism. Wandering the art market today I did see some wooden clocks, that were in the shape of a giant wrist watch, quite clever. There were hanging Jesus’s, picture carvings with elephants, 4ft long carved lizards painted in Aboriginal motifs, Hawaiian shirts, baseball hats, surf shorts, Bintang t-shirts and mess-topped bamboo food dishes.
It costs nothing to browse a pasar seni, and if you don’t want to but just say, “Saya lihat-lahat saja.” (I’m only looking).Pasar seni is open from 9-10am and closes at 7pm-8pm.
Pasar Seni
Kuta Beach
Bali
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Pregina is a Balinese and seafood restaurant, located on Jl. Danau Tamblingan, in Sanur.
Open from 9am-11pm, Pregina serves a delicious selection of Balinese foods. There are Balinese restaurants in the main tourist areas, such as Glory Restaurant, in Legian. The predominant Indonesian style of food served in the tourists areas, tends to be the generic,
nasi goreng, cap cay, mie goreng and Javanese favourites. Any time I see a good Balinese restaurant, its worth checking out.
The menu includes:
•Starters - including Kuah Be Pasih (Balinese Fish Soup) for 10,000rp, and Sup Sari Laut Asam Pedas (hot and sour seafood soup) for 17,000rp
•Salads - including Green Papaya Salad for 15,000rp, and Mango & Squid Salad for 20,000rp.
•Jukut (Vegetable) - including Jukut Urab / Urab Pakis (mixed boiled vegetable / fern tips with grated coconut) for 12,000rp.
•Siap (Chicken) - including Betutu Siap (Balinese roast chicken with yum leaf) for 20,000rp.
•Be Pasih (Seafood) - including Kare Sari Segara (fish, prawn and squid curry) for 22,000rp.
•Dessert - including Jaje Dadar (Balinese pancake) for 8,000rp.
Pregina
Jl. Danau Tamblingan #106
Sanur
Bali
(0361)7862397
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Gopi Style is a cute little shop in Sanur, that specializes in cushions. Located on Jl. Danau Tamblingan Perahu, the shop is quite visible, due to the bright colored cushions in the window. Cushion covers are stacked inside the shop and available for 40,000rp-70,000rp.
The inside stuffing is an extra 22,500rp. Cushions come in a variety of styles, including Japanese, Chinese and Indian. The staff told me that all the items are made in the shop and the predominant material is cotton.
Currently there is a sale on till the end of January, with 25% off. Gopi Style is open from 9am-8pm.
As well as cushions, Gopi Style sells soft furnishing, including bedspreads (750,000rp-1,000,000rp), crafts, lamps, fashion items, including a robe (215,000rp) and accessories.
Gopi Style
Jl. Danau Tamblingan #3
Sanur
Bali
(0361)735929
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Wage Silver is a silver jewelry shop located on Jl. Danau Tamblingan, in Sanur. Items on offer include silver and shell bracelets for 272,500rp, earrings for 78,000rp, small necklaces with a stone for 93,500rp, silver rings for 85,000rp-110,000rp, ankle bracelets for 90,000rp. Wholesale prices of 25% discount, can be had for 10 pieces, or a repeat customer.
Most visitors to Bali figure out that Celuk, on the way to Ubud, is the place for silver jewelry. That is true, the street through Celuk is 1km of silver and gold jewelry places. For those people staying in Sanur, who don’t want to travel to Celuk, you might find something eye catching at Wage Silver.
Wage Silver is open from 10am-8.30pm.
Wage Silver
Jl. Danau Tamblingan
Sindu
Sanur
Bali
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Warung Bento is a Sanur eatery, that combines the best of Japanese and Javanese food. From the outside, you’ll notice a Japanese style place, with bamboo decoration and Japanese sign. Inside is seating room for around 20 people, with a simple decor.
The menu features a selection of bento’s including:
•Beef BBQ Bento
•Grilled Beef Bento
•Chicken BBQ Bento
•Chicken Cutlet Bento
•Grilled Chicken Bento
•Ginger Flavoured Grilled Pork Bento
•Pork Cutlet Bento
•Japanese Curry Bento
•Capcay Japanese Bento
•Cumi-cumi Japanese Bento
•Fried Fish
All these sets are 30,000rp
Other items include:
•Fried Rice - 15,000rp
•Fried Noodle - 15,000rp
•Capcay - 15,000rp
•Natto - 7,000rp
•Chilled Tofu - 10,000rp
•Mixed Vegetable Salad - 5,000rp
•Spaghetti - 30,000rp
•Grilled Chicken - 30,000rp
A small beer is 10,000rp
Warung Bento is open from 10am-10pm, but the manager told me for a private party he can stay open till 1am.
Warung Bento
Jl. Tamblingan #27
Sanur
Bali
(0361)282572
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Sanur is a quiet resort area on the SE coast of Bali. It is also home to many expats, with the International School located there. Today, while checking out some of the shops, along Jl. Danau Tamblingan, the long main street, Sanur felt quiet. It seemed to me many places had ’sale signs’ and the sidewalks were not so crowded. At Jl. Mertasari, I turned of and headed towards the beach for a look.
Today was cloudy and humid, not exactly beach weather. Correspondingly, most of the water-sports people, and beach vendors were sitting under shady trees hoping for business. Further along the paved beach-walk, the rock and leaf speckled beach became a golf course-like scene, with flat rows carved in it, by resort hotel staff. Its the same in Seminyak, where staff rake the beach creating a more picture perfect view of paradise. European holidaymakers at one hotel lounged close to the beach-walk, waiting for massages or the next cocktail. I’m sure you can get deals on rooms right now.
source : www.baliblog.com
January 23rd, 2007
Pasar Badung is the huge market area in central Denpasar, famous among locals. Today I drove Ika, Jevon and my mother-in-law there, to check things out. You never quite know how somebody will react to a place. A westerner could view Pasar Badung as a wonderful example of Asian culture, or a stinking example of lack of hygiene and organization. But how would somebody from Java view it? The market is located on Jl. Veteren and took maybe 20 minutes to get to, because of traffic and my driving. Parking across the road on the Jl. Kartini, a Parkirman (parking attendant) quickly got 2,000rp out of me.
There is no entry fee to the market, and our first stop was cruising some of the food vendors outside. Ika and her mother didn’t seem super interested in snacks, as they had each powered a huge bowl of rice, vegetables and tempe before leaving the house. I got a 5 sticks of ikan laut (mashed sea fish, grilled). The vendor asked for ‘empat ribu rupiah‘ (4,000rp) smiling. I offered ‘dua ribu rupiah‘ (2,000rp) and got it, her and the locals laughing. “You don’t know the local price, ” laughed one guy. No worries, I think 2,000rp is okay, and I know by now that hitting the ‘bule‘ up money is a national sport out here. In Asia, your market skills are constantly tested, nothing personal.
Walking around the edge of the market, Ika spotted a cake shop and picked out a bag to take home. Up on the 2nd floor, were bags of spices, sacks of ingredients and piles of garlic. Ika squealed as a mouse jumped off of a sack towards her. Ika’s mum bought a large feather duster for 15,000rp, which would cost 25,000rp-30,000rp in a regular shop. Also on sale were many large pieces of kitchen equipment, such as giant woks, the kinds used to cook pisang goreng (fried banana) at the night market.
Back outside we took a look at the fruit market, and saw wani’s, the mango like fruit with a creamy white meat, and giant mangos. The general consensus was pretty positive and I think Ika and her mother, would enjoy another visit, if they had things in mind they needed.
source : www.baliblog.com
January 17th, 2007
Ika’s mother requested a visit to Ubud, for reasons I’ll get to later. Ubud is one of my favourite areas, because of the density of artists, great Balinese ceremonies, great places to eat and lovely scenery. On the way into Ubud I asked them where they wanted to eat. Ika has been to Ubud before and likes Casa Luna. They said they wanted nasi campur (mixed rice), which is harder than you’d imagine in Ubud. Downtown is loaded with restaurants, aimed at tourists. They often serve good food, but its a million miles away from the ‘point and get’ nasi campur shop. Ika remembered us passing a place before, and directed me to it. Located at the very southern end of Jl. Hanuman and around the corner, the Warung Nasi Pak Sedan, was busy with Balinese locals.
I went through the kitchen towards the rear of the place, which was somebody’s house. On the way I passed piles of garlic and other stuff, in the process of being chopped up and prepared. One guy was wearing the bottom half of what looked to be a policeman / official’s uniform, plus the peak hat. He was sitting there peeling vegetables.
We all asked for nasi campur, which means the staff will assemble a plate of items. A certain amount excitement goes with this, as you are not totally sure what you’ll get. Mine had rice, various bits of meat, eggplant, a bit of vegetable, hot sambal and Balinese salty spices. I was quit pleased with mine and will go back sometime. The cost for all 3 meals, plus 3 drinks was 27,000rp.
Warung Nasi Pak Sedan is located close to the petrol station, just south of Ubud in Pengosekan.
source : www.baliblog.com
January 17th, 2007
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