Eating, drinking, shopping around South Bali
After another amazing breakfast at the Lanai Cafe of Nasi Goreng, fresh mixed fruit juice, potato Rosti, grilled tomatoes, eggs, banana pancakes, deep strong Bali Coffee and god knows what else we had to walk to escape a food coma. And this cost $18.00 (180,000IDR). Outrageous.
Anyway……Now for the serious stuff……Karen saw some leather boots in LA last month that she liked and took a picture of them. So off we toddle just up the road from our apartment to visit Mr Putu – the Leather King. We’ve visited him before and have been really happy with what he does. Karen showed him the photo on her phone, and he measured her feet and he’s making them for her – for $75. These boots were $US 110 and that was 50% off. Happy Days, or Happy Feet!
We got him to make some other stuff, but at this stage that is a guarded secret – if we told you, we’d have to kill you. BUT – check back soon and we will update.
That was our work done for the day, so back to the pool for beers and cocktails…and beers on the beach….trend and habit forming…we had full intentions of heading out for a nice dinner……nice idea but not tonight.
There’s a money changer directly across the road from us, owned by a lovely lady called Ketut (of course). They also sell clothes etc. anyway, Ketuts mother Linda opens the stall up in the morning while Ketut takes her kids to school etc. We’ve used these guys for years now and they give good service and their exchange rate is always competitive. Linda now thinks I’m her boyfriend. Linda is approximately 200 years old.
We can’t walk out of our apartment or walk past their stall without Linda yelling out to me “Steben Steben – you come talk to me, you get some caaaaaassh, you buy your wipe some ting niiiice”. Come past five minutes later and it’s the same thing and she and Ketut sit their waving at us like crazy people. Very funny.
So we were headed toward Kuta to get some clothes made, but first in a cab to a material warehouse in South Kuta called Alta Moda that everyone in Bali knows. Everyone except the cab driver we were lucky to grab. It’s normally a 10-15minute trip and costs around $5. After doing laps of one block for twenty minutes, I looked on my phone app and saw we were nowhere near where we were supposed to be. Even after showing him the address when we first got in the cab. So he asked me to direct him! Traffic is insane at the best of times, so after being in the cab with no aircon – also the only cab in Bali with no aircon – for over an hour we got there. Material heaven. I wonder how much of my parting words old mate cabbie understood?
Anyway…..Seven floors of material. Seven. Floors. We had taken over some pants and shorts that we wanted to get copied by the tailor. So, we had a great time picking out materials with the assistance of a tailor who knew how much and what was good and what wasn’t. I ended up getting some linen that I wasn’t planning on getting, to have some shirts made.
So into another cab and FIVE minutes and $2 later we were at the tailor we normally visit in Kuta called Janoko. These guys are the loveliest people – seriously, nothing is a problem for them and their prices to make up quality garments is embarrassing.
They looked at the samples we took over, measured me up for the shirts and we were done. In the end including the material and the manufacturing, we got three pair of pants for Karen, four pair of shorts and two linen shirts for me at a total cost of $270 or roughly $30 per piece. Gotta be happy with that.
Back to the pool, beers, cocktails…..Much more fun than getting clothes made.
We had never been to the “Original” Bali beach bar called Ku De Ta which is up the road in Seminyak so we gave it a run…such a beautiful location and the bar/restaurant/beach club is sensational. Sunset just brilliant. Cocktails expensive by Bali standards @ $13 each but worth every cent.
I’d heard a lot about a new restaurant up the road from KDT called Motel Mexicola so we walked up there and had an absolute ball. Big, bright, noisy, crowded. They seat you at communal tables, wherever there is space and you join in on the action. Apart from the fact that we were probably the only people over 30 in the place we had a great time.
The food is Mexican with a difference – not your basic tacos, nachos, burritos, but eclectic mixes including blue swimmer crab or pulled pork on tostada shells, or Karen had Tuna ceviche….it was absolutely magnificent. A couple of interesting dips, one was ground chorizo with black beans and feta cheese…ormagawd! Beers, margaritas, a great vibe and a fab night out all for $50. Outrageous right? Go there. Once. And you’ll go back.
We had a day wandering around Seminyak, shopping, browsing, eating, drinking. Got a macrame hammock as a gift, similar to one we saw in Bellingen at Christmas time. The one in bellingen was $200+. The one we got was almost the same – $30 from Donny’s Manchester Seriously, how?
Friends of ours Mick and Carolee are Bali expert shoppers and Carolee told Karen about a linen place for bedding called Popo
So off to Popo we go. We got a linen bedspread/Doona cover with a hundred pillows made up for $150. Apparently that’s pretty cheap compared to home…less than half price so, good job.
On our walk to Kuta the other day we saw so many new developments, hotels, bars, shops, restaurants it’s amazing. The place has been cleaned up so much it’s fantastic..and it’s long overdue. We saw a very funky looking restaurant called Azul , which is made completely of bamboo and is in the shape of a treehouse. So we came here for dinner. Amaze balls.
The building itself is just insane, built over three levels and bamboo, inside and out, all harvested from northern Bali rain forests. Oh, did I mention it was also a Hawaiian Tiki Bar? Heaven. The food was divine. We had a mezze grazing platter to share with everything you can imagine with bamboo bread! It’s black, like pita bread with a smoky flavour.
Karen had a squid dish which was sensational and I had wagyu beef cubes, in a Cajun/Asian fusion dressing. Food porn. Expensive by Bali standards but for four cocktails, a couple of beers and all that food it cost $90 including tip. That’s what it would cost at home just for the drinks.
We decided we wanted to try some if these more up market restaurants this trip, well just because. We are still getting our fix of Indo foods during the day so these dinners have been simply superb.
Got a surprise message from friends of ours that they had gotten here the night before last – Brian and Jodi – so we arranged to meet them at a pub to watch the Sharks game..great afternoon. Lots of beers and laughs. We will catch up with them again on Monday night.
So, off to dinner at another new place in Seminyak called Batik. Gorgeous location, wonderful Indonesian/Vietnamese menu. Standard cocktails, beer and surprisingly good wine, shared entree and one of the best beef rendangs I have ever had. Karen had yellow chicken curry and it too was brilliant. $60. Stop the fight.
It’s more than we’d normally spend on food here, but it is just such amazing value for top class and top quality meals it’s impossible to resist.
Echo Beach – hello old friend…….
Ralph and Karen's Tours 