Wow, I know I say this a lot but Bali left such a great impression on me. I am definitely adding this to “places I need to have my future honeymoon at”. Bali recaptured my love for South East Asia, and was such a positive place to set up for 2019.

Itinerary

Highlights

  • Eating really delicious Indonesian food. I never had Indonesian food before until I went to Bali, and now I can’t stop eating it. After coming from eating a lot of greasy and fried food in Taiwan, I really appreciated the clean and fresh veggies that were part of Indonesian cuisine. Some “must eat” restaurants…

    • Bambu in Seminyak: This restaurant was a higher end stylish restaurant. Open pond area with koi fish, beautiful dining, and hip music. The food was FANTASTIC! Came here with a group of 9 friends, and we got 9 appetizers #LOL, 9 main meals, and a few side orders and drinks and the bill came out to be $315. Easily worth the price. We left STUFFED. All the food was fresh. Got the ginger chicken, white bean salad, and crab noodles.

    • Warung Nia in Seminyak: The best ribs you will ever have. So soft it falls off the bone. Also pretty delicious satay as well!

    • Dirty Duck in Ubud: Famous in Ubud for delicious duck.

  • Eating at really fun and unique restaurants that while may not be Indonesian, had a special charm to it that I haven’t found anywhere else.

    • Sayan House in Ubud: A Japanese Latin fusion restaurant that was by far one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. Foie gras nigiri, truffle mushrooms, sashimi tacos… I couldn’t get enough and literally ordered extra food to eat even though I wasn’t hungry. Everything came out to be less than $30 a person! View is amazing, overlooks rice patties and has a view of Four Seasons Ubud (ranked #1 hotel in the world). The drinks and dessert were phenomenal. Also, ask for their bug spray; it’s all natural and smells wonderful!

    • Motel Mexicola in Seminyak: Cool tacos (definitely get the pork belly) and I take my Mexican food seriously. Yummy food with fun pitchers for a group of friends. Inside is a popping bar so after you finish eating you can go inside and dance!

  • Going to insta-grammable cafes. So many wonderful cafes to eat at, with delicious lattes and acai bowls.

    • Coffee Cartel in Seminyak: Known for their famous personalized latte art. Get the latte in a smaller cup to it brings out the color of the drink. LOL

    • Kynd Community in Seminyak: They have both Kynd Dessert and Kynd Restaurant. Delicious acai bowls (where you can also personalize up to 8 letters) along with really delicious healthy vegan food.

  •  Eating hella fresh fruit. So many delicious fruits that are sweet, and also unique to Bali. A few favorites that are especially tasty in Bali…

    • Bananas: For some reason they taste EXTRA sweet here. Normally, I think banas are just okay but for some reason I could not stop eating them here. They also have tiny sized bananas which were delicious!

    • Mangos: This was one of my favorite fruits to eat here. Anytime this came out on a plate, I would legit eat at least half.

    • Mangosteens: This was my first time having it and they were delicious! Eat them as fast as possible though because if exposed in air for too long, they turn black.

    • Papaya: Always love eating papaya in South East Asia.

    • Pitaya: Yumm, love that this fruit isn’t too sweet either.

  • Bin Tang Bin Tang Bin Tang!

  • Sneaking into the W Seminyak and enjoying chill vibes while swimming in their pool. Said we stayed in room 110, and spent the next three hours swimming, tanning, drinking bin tang and eating truffle fries and wagyu nachos. (5 bin tangs + fries + nachos were $45!) View’s amazing and pools not overcrowded.

  • Hanging out at Potato Beach Club for the sunset. Another cool infinity pool with great music. Can be a bit overcrowded at sunset time, but around 7pm people clear out. Lots of area to sit down out. Entry is $10 a ticket, but you also get $10 of credit to use in the pool which serves lots of cool drinks. Check out the bar inside the infinity pool!

  • Doing a day trip to Ubud. This was by far worth the 1.5 hour drive to Ubud. Love the beautiful scenery and it was nice getting out of the “city” in Semniyak and getting to travel to a more nature focused area. A few favorites…

    • Catching waterfalls at Tegenungan Waterfall: Beautiful area and a fun hike!

    • Playing with monkeys at Jalan Monkey Forest: Be aware, these monkeys are VERY playful but soft. One actually bit me.

    • Hiking through Tegalalang Rice Fields: Amazing seeing such a vast landscape.

  • Taking a day trip to Nusa Penida. The ferry there and back were brutal, (we had to climb into the ferry barefoot) but really glad we got to go and that I didn’t get seasick.

    • Klingkling Beach: for the famous “dinosaur” shaped island. I thought this was a must.

    • Broken Beach + Angel Billabong: for beautiful water architecture. If short on time, this can be skipped.

    • Crystal Beach: for crystal clear and warm water. Our group broke off at this point and spent a few hours with Jennifer, Will, Vishnu and Jenny playing drinking games, swimming in the water and eating fresh cut up fruit and fries for #3!

  • Getting pampered at spas. Who can say no to a $13 massage? I opted a lot for body scrubs + facials (which all came out to be sub $20)! Listed below are the spas I went to, ranked in order from my favorite (though honestly I would recommend all of them).

    • Spring Spa: Cleanest by far, with wide amenities that don’t just include massages. I got the coco-wrap and that was wonderful.

    • Sundari Spa: Pampered through and through, and they have Live Chat to make reservations.

    • Care Spa: Got a great head massage and felt so zen after. Took away my headache.

    • Alluvia Spa: Recommended by our driver. I got a $6 flower bath here and it was bomb. There are a few places that do more expensive baths (mainly for the view), wouldn’t recommend spending more than $10 on a flower bath. It’s SUPER fun the first 10 minutes, and then it loses it novelty.

    • Maria Curau Bali: A bit further out from Seminyak but does really cool unique nail art that’s vegan style! Note, it’s not gel but the quality does last a while.

  • Staying in a villa and feeling like a Kardashian. Homemade breakfast, laundry service, pool in our backyard… all for $245 a night (split amongst 9 people!). INSANE.

Lowlights

  • Getting food poisoning. 8 out of 9 in our group got sick. Few tips, avoid tap water, wash your hands, and bring Tums in case your tummy hurts.

  • Crazy wildlife found in my villa. Okay, not to sound dramatic but I found both a lizard and the hugest spider I have ever seen in our villa. Either book rooms in a more enclosed space, or be careful when you crawl into bed.

  • Getting bitten alive by bug bites. I am a 100% believer in using 99% deet and I still ended up getting bitten alive. Spray on bug spray religiously, and try not to itch to hard when you do get a bug bite.

  • Really slow restaurant service. Don’t know if it’s because we ate with a group of 9, but all the restaurants we ended up sitting down at took at least 3 hours to eat.

FOR NEXT TIME

  • Go scuba diving. Ran out of time in Bali but definitely need to come back to go to Komodo National Park (also home of the komodo dragons!). This will be a 2-3 day trip. If I ever stay in North Bali, want to check out USS Liberty Dive. (From where I was staying, it wasn’t worth the 6 hour RT drive.)

  • Catch sunset at Omnia Day Club & Rock Bar. Both located in Southern Bali, I was too sick I missed this portion of the trip but heard it was super fun. Omnia Day Club came out to be around $90 / person.