The Bali holiday feels so long ago that I’m already longing to go for another holiday. To be honest, I wanted to go on a holiday the minute I arrived back in Perth (=_____=).
Our 2nd day in Bali was about exploring areas outside of Kuta. But we couldn’t resist stopping by our favourite shopping mall in Bali, Matahari. The brief stop turned out to be more of a shopping spree, in the end we had to go back to the hotel to put down our shopping bags, shopping is surely the best type of holiday activity (^___^)Y. Next to eating hehe.
Seminyak immediately felt quieter compared to Kuta. The streets were lined with fashion boutiques, local designer stores and art studios. This was where I first fell in love with Bali silk dresses which are pretty, innovative and so comfy.
The first stop in Seminyak was Sip, a french restaurant highly recommended by friends whom ate there five times in the last trip to Bali! Apparently the chef used to work in France in michelin stared restaurant so I was looking forward to this lunch.
The interior of Sip was cozy and warm and the service staff were excellent. Their menu looked fabulous and I felt like trying everything, in the end we settled for their three course lunch menu special (I think around 20,000 rupiah per head?).
My chosen entree was tuna and salmon carpaccio which was appetising, nice and tangy.
R’s entree was fish terrine with its interesting colours and texture. It was actually really nice, not fishy at all, light and delicately flavoured.
My main was mahi mahi, potatoes with this very bright green sauce which I suspect was made of vegetables. It was all very simple and nice, not heavy at all.
R had the steak with frites and salad. He was disappointed with the steak thinking that the cut wasn’t particularly good. But he admitted that the frites were good, this coming from a person who would always ask for mash to replace fries.
I was surprised when the apple tart came out, I really didn’t imagine such a large serving, but this was actually easily edible with it’s light pastry and thin slices of sweet fuji apples. Would have been even better served with a scoop of icecream I reckon.
I can’t remember what this chocolate cake was called but it was rich and gorgeous, nice. Overall, Sip didn’t live up to our standards (you tend to have pretty high standards when friends say that they ate there pretty much everyday!) but was still pretty good. I think if I were to return, I would definitely not go for for the standard lunch menu and choose from their wide and interesting range of ala carte dishes. Btw, they have a really cool toilet which is worth visiting 😉
Sip
Jl. Raya Seminyak no16A, Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia
# 62361730810 |
After the heavy lunch, we went for a long long walk along Jalan Seminyak. It was a hot day and there was no shade anywhere. I remember dripping in sweat and feeling very tired. We were searching for this ‘Seminyak Square’ which we assumed would be like Kuta square and surrounded with shops. It was disappointing to find this shopping centre was literally half empty and still half built.
Another bit of a walk and we reached the infamous KuDeTa which everyone who’s been to Bali is sure to tell you ‘you must at least visit Ku De Ta at least once’.
The security was very strict there, I’m guessing because it’s a hotspot for Westerners and a sure terrorist target.
The big bamboo seats looked really comfy and I could imagine sinking into these seats and not getting up forever.
Basically Ku De Ta is like a fancy luxurious club/restaurant area where you lie in these big comfy lounges, sip cocktails and look out at the beach right in front of you. It wasn’t really my cup of tea but I can see how one could get really relaxed and comfortable here.
A quick hotel stop, fresh shower and I was ready for my seafood dinner in Jimbaran. Eating seafood at Jimbaran bay is another ‘must do’ on every Bali tourist’s list, you should try to make it there in time for the sunset (around 6pm) but we were late by half and hour and it was already dark when we arrived. I’m not sure what the experience was for other tourists but we felt ‘conned’ the minute our taxi driver drove us right into the entrance of some restaurant.
I guess I was imagining going to each restaurant and actually checking out the menus and prices before choosing the best restaurant. Once we stepped out of our taxi, we were hustled into the restaurant, flowers were stuck in our hair and we were given ‘welcome drinks’.
Not quite sure what to do and seeing that it was so dark out, we decided to make the best of it and ordered some seafood. The prices were on the high side (I’m comparing this to Malaysia) and the food was average with some good stuff like the local veg, crispy prawns etc. Soon a local band came along and serenaded each table with a special song going by the table’s customers nationality, we got ‘Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin’. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is part of the restaurant’s entertainment though (they do have dancing shows on stages) you have to tip the band members when they’re done so be sure to have some change ready.
Second day of Bali ended with Bintang on the beach 🙂
daitaoha 