Cows, tea, and a tease.

So day 2.  It was a longer day.  Decided to do some beach exploring and see what else was around Seminyak.  After finding the quicker way to the beach the day freed up pretty quick, which in turn gave us more time to get lost.

So we heard about this club called 'Potato Head' that was just down the beach, so we decided to go take a look.  This was also the day for exploration and Christina's Bali tea room she heard so much about.

To the beach... well first the short cut to the beach, with a single cow.

City girls, no idea what a cow really looks like..

Made it in record time.

Self portrait on the beach.

A nice beach picture.  the restaurant we ate at the the bean bags is so far in the distance you can;t even see it.  Gives you an idea for how much beach there really is here.  Most of the buildings you see here are for the hotels that are right on the beach.

A view south. 

So after walking down the beach, a lot, and finally finding a way off the beach - which is a lot harder than one would think - we stopped at the Naughty Nuri's in Seminyak.  So getting of the beach was a mess.  There are only certain ways on and off he beach unless you want to be assertive and start walking through hotels.  They are definitely a lot picker here as the hotels like the W, villas, and places with 'Grand' in the name are taking up all the beach front.

Naughty Nuri's x 2.

Bottle cap door way.

Went for something a little different than ribs here.  Friendly staff and good food.  You could definitely tell this place was frequented more often than the Nuri's in Ubud.  You could buy a bunch of t-shirts, mugs and aprons all promoting the restaurant.  There was a cool 'take a book - leave a book' case too.

Cheese Dog for the lady.

Spent after the long walk.

Just a big all beef dog for me.  'Insert joke here'

So after having no ribs at the rib shack we where off again.  In search of the elusive tea house, with an out of scale hotel map.  We managed to find Potato Head on the way.  Its hard to see but the picture below shows the wall of the club, that is made up of a bunch of old window shutters that washed up on shore after a big storm a few years ago.  Guards with rifles and lots of security told u something was going on here.  Talking to the staff we found that Foster the People was playing a summers end (yup summers end in October) bash.  No tickets left and only VIP tables at $1000+ we decided to enjoy the downloaded version of the band.  In case you are wondering this is the 'tease' portion of the post title.

Potato Head

Not long after Potato Head we came to Christina's holy grail, the Biku Tea House.  Cool little place with great staff and good eats, with more than just tea.  There is a book store here as well if you are interested in doing some shopping.  I know Christina just wanted to go for the tea but it was a tourist spot for sure.  No locals eating, only serving, large tables of women in for high tea, etc.  It was a great time but this was the place that all the upper class/nose 'regular' tourists would flock to for their afternoon getaway from shopping and laying by the beach.  No native dishes and the feeling of a restaurant back home on a nice summer day.
Again it was a nice place and a good experience, but I would not make it a point to go back.

Pre tea food, and beer.

Book store and reserved table.

So on Christina's advice I ordered the fanciest tea there, oolong or something. You had to put the tea in the special strainer with the special tongs, then into the teapot, then you pour hot water over the teapot (hence the special wooden strainer thing), and only when you let it 'steep' for the exact amount of time could you drink it.  A lot fo work for a drink that doesn't get you drunk, but hey I'm on vacation.

Super fancy tea.

Christina's 'plain ol'tea'.  Such an amateur.

After tea it was a long walk back towards the hotel.  We walked a lot today and did it mostly right beside busy traffic, still no real sidewalks.  We made it back to the hotel but where pretty bagged.  Christina needed a nap to recover and I decided to head to a WIFI spot to post a previous days adventure.  I picked a place about 2 blocks from the hotel that was right in the centre of Seminyak 'Seminyak Square'.  Lots of shops here and people trying to sell me Viagra and take tourist surveys - only if you came with them to their office first though.  I had a few beers and lazed away the afternoon.  When all of a sudden..

Dance Mob!

 They danced for a while to the current hits (Party Rock and the like) for a good 15-20 minutes.  Then some lady got on the mic and said thanks to everyone for showing up for some company sponsored dance off.  The dancing was fun to watch but I wasn't too interested after the lady got involved.  Plus I had finished the post and it was getting close to dinner.  So back to the hotel to wake up lazy pants and figure out what we wanted to eat.  I think we went for a swim too at pool #1 of the hotel, it was really nice having the pool all to ourselves.  Anyway onto dinner...

Inside at 'The Junction'

Ironically right across from where I was blogging away the afternoon we decided on this place 'The Junction'.  Cool atmosphere and good food.  They made me some weird drink that was mostly booze that was pretty good, but charged Christina for soda with her gin.  Touristy area, with only tourists eating here.  It is what it is in Seminyak.  Definitely not Ubud but its not supposed to be, or else Ubud would not be so cool.    Killing the night at The Junction, making plans for the next few days before we had to get on a plane again.  I think this was the first time we started planning around that - the day we leave.  Sinking in a bit more that this was only temporary.  We did plan the snorkeling in the morning so we kew our last day in Bali was goign to be fun, but what to do with the time in between...

Seafood soup. Tasted pretty good.

Cheese Ravioli.  Gone before we got the camera out.

Christina claims the seafood dish didn't agree with her the next day.  But with our time in the sun and walking around the whole day it may have been something else - maybe that ghetto tea place :) Still a decent place to eat and would probably go back if we where in the area.

So to cap off the night we had coffee at some cool little joint in Seminyak Square - Black Canyon Coffee.  This was our second time at this place and we really liked it.  We ate here another day and would not recommend that, stick to the coffee.  Fast free WIFI which is great, hey whats that page open on the tablet? Christina tells everyone Ima  different person after I drink coffee as my body really likes caffeine.  Monster and Red Bull also give me a bit of a high too I guess.

Bedtime Coffee

So we walked it, ate food on it, and took pictures of it, but have not lounged on it - it was time for beach day.

Seminyak

So after arriving in Seminyak and getting settled into hotel room #2 we decided to do some exploring.  First thing first, beach.  Going by the information provided online about the hotels' location to the beach we were expecting a walk, but not near the time that it actually took.  So there was no direct route to the beach from the hotel, we were left going down alley ways and roads that wound through other hotel complexes on the way to the beach.  We managed to find the best walk to the beach on about day 3.  Paying slightly more for closer proximity to the beach for next time is definitely a consideration.

But we made it:

Walking into the light..

Happy to finally be sitting on the beach!

Bean Bag Chairs on the beach, hours could be lost here.

Large Bintang after large walk.

This was great.  We had dinner in these exact same chairs as well.  Finally a country that embraces 'partying' on the beach rather then just trying to stop it.  I got dark fairly quick, and the bars stayed open - blasting music and light shows into the night.

Looking straight down the beach.

I forgot my 'Photography for Dummies' book, and probably something better than a point and shoot camera would help too.  But you get the idea, no reason to leave the beach for hours.

Reminds me of Jurassic Park.

We walked down the beach in the direction we thought would get us closer to the hotel, but it really didn't.  We ended up tired and and lost, which put us in a bad position to haggle with a taxi but it had to be done.  Of course we overpaid for the remaining distance in the cab, and of course the cab driver did not have any change.  We got back to the hotel and enjoyed seeing a few geckos walking up the stairs as well.

In her element :)

Fire/Grinder Show - the cougars loved it.

The drinks were cheaper in Bali.

Our love is like a giant heart on fire in the middle of a restaurant. 

Not ready for bed we headed out for some drinks at a close place called Nirvana, I think.  Met the Australian owner too, nice guy with a nice atmosphere and friendly staff.  Since its so close to Australia it makes almost too much sense to find a way to open a business and help yourself to some of the tourist business.  There was a show with a fire twirling lady and a guy using a grinder on his belt.  They put on a  good show.  The lady actually emptied a full bottle of champagne on her head while twirling the hula-hoop, and singling 'Champange Showers' by LMFAO.  Funny, creepy, then funny again - so no harm done.  The show was also right on the sidewalk, no restrictions/buffer to pedestrians or cars.  We called it a night after our fire kiss and spent the first night in Seminyak.

Leaving Ubud

The days are a bit of a blur now as I'm trying to recall all the awesome experiences we had so I find myself flipping through the pictures and wanting to post them all.  But I will have to settle for a few.

Cuban in Bali - Wicked Paella

Second last night in Ubud - Yes there is a great Cuban restaurant here called Cafe Havana   They have dancing every night at 7pm and would be a great place to get really drunk.

Surprisingly great pasta with Meat Sauce.

 Mama Mia Pasta.  Conveniently right beside Taco Casa (from an earlier night).  Great food and a small wood fired pizza oven is definitely what you are after.

Hanging out in the bar.

After the pasta we decided to live it up in the tourist bars in Ubud and it wasn't a bad time at all.  There was a cover band doing English songs.  Christina had some weird vodka drink I think while I relaxed with a different liquor - 'arak'.  The arak was really nice and even cheaper than the local beer.  Some travel sites recommend sticking to the local liquor.  Beer is not always a 'native' beverage and you will usually find that a locally sourced liquor is cheaper and offer more of that 'not just drinking on my back porch' experience.  Arak isn't exactly native to Bali either, but it was good to mix things up.

Our European bar friends

We ran into these two guys at the bar.  Apparently their story is that they go on vacation every year only to places where there is great diving.  Bali was so small that even though there are no beaches near Ubud that it was easy to stay a night or two without being too far from the beach.  These guys actually gave us the plan for our last day in Bali, more on that later.  Talking to other travelers is great.  Its part of the whole travel experience.  No matter how much you think spending a week, month, or even more in a country that just amazes you whenever you open your eyes - until you get a job, speak the language, and pay taxes in that country, you are always a tourist.  As much as you would like to blend in as part of the back drop in a photo it won't happen, but that's great news as there are hundreds (or more) people in the exact same position.  Everyone is looking forward to what they are going to do next, what other experiences are waiting to be discovered.  In this case we talked about snorkeling, diving, and what is best to mix with arak.  So don't be afraid to talk to other tourists if the mood strikes.  In a foreign country you will have much more in common with them than you think.

So that's it, we finally left Ubud.  If I remember correctly I had to push Christina into the van and pack most of her stuff for her.  She really didn't want to leave.  Bit of a SNAFU with Wayan the driver though.  Apparently yesterday's guests lost their passports, so he had to drive them around again which left us with his cousin. We spent a lot of time in the car today with no country driving as it was all busy busy city driving.  For a small island it can take a really long time to get to some of the places.

First stop was Sanur.  East coast of Bali with lots of hotels and lots of beach front.  Though as you can see form the pictures below the beach was mostly unoccupied.  The sand was harsh and the seaweed gathered up at the waters edge.  Definitely a beach, but compared to Seminyak it was easy to see why it was less busy.

Looking down the beach in Sanur

Lots of boat traffic in Sanur too so it was hard to find a good spot to lounge out and really relax.

Sanur Boardwalk

Nice place to go for a run or bike ride.  Some shops along the path, near the street entrance exits, but mostly crossing in front of hotel bars and huts.  Places in Sanur are a cheaper alternative to the West coast and Seminyak, but there is no feeling of rush here, just calm and relaxed.

DELIVERY McDonalds.

 Picture worthy for us North Americans.  I think it's the only one on the island outside of Denpasar, but strategically located near Kuta.

Biggest KFC I have seen.

Again note worthy.  Rumor has it that KFC has live bands on Friday and Saturday nights.  We saw another one that was two floors, and offered delivery.

So the driver was a lot less talkative and fun than Wayan and made the car rides extra long.  We said the word "snorkel" once and we ended up on some tourist trap beach that just packed tourists into boats and sent them off to Turtle Island.  Not our cup of tea so we passed on snorkeling this time and made our way to Jimbaran for lunch.  Jimbaran is known for, and packed during, awesome sunsets.  We went at lunch time because we where there and didn't feel like dealing with crowds.  It was a little cloudy for lunch but not too bad.

Our seat, right in the middle.

The one thing the driver did right was bring us here.  The service and food were great, though they were really slow with the french fries.  (It seems french fries are served with everything here.)

Looking SW - the bottom of Bali.

Yuo can see the difference in the beach already.   Jimbaran is on the west coast along with Kuta, Seminyak and Legion.  Though the beach towns are slightly north, the sand here felt way nicer on the feet than Sanur, and getting in the water was not as steep of a drop.  Also only a fleet of small fishing boats were visible, nothing motorized hauling around hoards of people.

Looking North.  Boats and the airport runway.

Surprisingly the airport was close enough to watch planes take-off and land, but the engines were barely noticeable.  A reminder that we are only here for a short time, but also that we had several days left to make the most of it.

Awesome red snapper

 So once you decide what you want to eat the employees ask that you walk up to the front and pick your seafood.  Most of the fish is already dead and on ice though some of the lobsters, crabs and other random fish were swimming in tanks.  I picked a fish and they weighed it right there so you know how much it will be.  They then ask you how you want it prepared.  (Extra hot was my call for the snapper).

First taste of the water

So after we devoured the snapper and had a few more drinks, it was time to go.  Though we figured a walk up and down the beach was in order.  No one here to get in our way with the weather and time of day it was  all but deserted.  We had not touched the water in Sanur as the sand (read: small sharp rocks) didn't fill us with the urge to run at the ocean, so this was the first taste of the Bali waters for us.  Looking forward to more beach adventures, we were off to Seminyak.

We were originally going to head out to see some more temples, specifically Tanah Lot the water temple, but it had been a long day and we were templed out after leaving Ubud, so it was straight to the hotel in Seminyak.

How could you have a face like this in Bali?

Same as Ubud, the hotel entrance was off the street and displayed with a big sign and long driveway.  Much larger than the Inata, the traditional feel of Bali was definitely starting to fade.  Seminyak was a much busier place with brand name stores all over the place, but the sidewalks remained an interesting challenge to navigate.

The main pool at Amadea

 The view from the bar at the Inata hotel.  We had to be driven back to the lobby via golf cart from the road entrance as walking with luggage was way to far.  Passing the villas along the way the place looked very nice.  Getting to the bar we received a welcome drink voucher at check in and decided to put it to good use while they got our room ready.  I joked with an Australian couple about the voucher being almost useless for all but a glass of OJ.  But little did I know he was being serious.  If I wanted a beer I would have to pay extra, SO pineapple juice was all we got.  It's the little situations like this that make you appreciate Ubud a lot more.  This area was clearly tourist driven and they didn't mind taking us for as much as possible.  Oh and drink prices were back up to what you would expect to pay back home,  $6 - $7 mixed drinks and $4 beers.

Can you tell Christina booked the hotel before the wedding?

Once we got to the room this wonderful cake greeted us.  Christina had a good couple hours of fun with this as they called me Mr. Wolthers.  The room was nice with a large bathroom and big shower but no tub. Maybe slightly bigger than the one in Ubud, with a few modern touches.

Looking straight off the balcony.

With the golf cart taxi driveway just below our window, we had a great view of some trees and the property next to the hotel Definitely not quite the rice paddies of Ubud but we were in the city now.

Much more to come from Seminyak but we finally made it and although it had a different feel it was not all bad.  The streets where clean and I could get Viagra on every corner :)  The Beach is next..