My Egg Noodles

We opted to have the Balinese roasted pork from the Ibu Oka restaurant for breakfast, as I’ve heard so many good reports about this place. Although it was good, it didn’t even come close to a traditional hog roast with stuffing and Apple sauce :)

The pig is roasted with a blend of Balinese spices in the cavity.

The best bit was easily the sauce, although the pork and veggies were great too. Unfortunately, the crackling was a huge let down… and I found myself wishing they had scored the skin and rubbed salt all over the beast before roasting him – would have defo tasted better. Anyway, for under $3, it wasn’t a bad breakfast.

We then picked a road at random and just kept on driving up it through villages and rice fields. An hour later, we found out we had arrived in Payangan.

Then it rained :( It’s rained almost every day since we arrived in Bali which sort of takes the enjoyment out of the trip, especially driving around on a motorbike. So take my advice folks, don’t plan your trip to Bali in May.

Waiting and waiting…. for a good 3 hours for the rain to stop.

By this time we were starving! More pork was in order, although this time American style; BBQ’d spare ribs at Nuri’s.

Nuri’s is another semi-famous restaurant in Ubud so I was also looking forward to testing out their ribs. I wasn’t let down, they were excellent.

I was getting a little bored of Saminyak, so thought I’d head north to Ubud for a few days. Ubud is the cultural hub of Bali where many local and international authors/artists come here to find whatever they need to find to get some work done.

The whole town is set between rivers and rice paddies set amid beautiful Balinese architecture – This creates a nice balanced relaxed vibe about the place. I’ve only spent a few hours here so far, but I really like what I see.

I’m looking forward to spending the next couple of days exploring the hundreds of Art Galleries, museums, the palace and spending some relaxed afternoons in beautiful cafes.

Here are a few pics from my day driving up to Ubud from Saminyak (3 hours) and spending the afternoon exploring Ubud.

First stop for the road trip meant some serious breakie was in order. I opted for the Eggs Benedict from the excellent Grocer & Grind restaurant in Saminyak.

A Balinese lady performing a spiritual ritual on the street.

We got invited into someone’s home, where they also perform religious ceremonials for weddings, births and deaths. This is the main area where everyone comes together.

A temple set in beautiful surroundings.

Lush green rice fields.

The heaven doors opened up on us and this is where we rested for a while.

Time for lunch! Here we have corn and spring onion fritters.

I’ve been in Bali for a few days now chilling out in nice digs while munching on some of the best foods I’ve eaten in a long time. The foodie scene here is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been too; from delicious local cuisine to amazing bakeries to excellent western restaurants to restaurants and Deli’s that have an emphasis on healthy eating. Phew! what a list :)

Unfortunately the weather isn’t that good at the moment, and to make matters worse, I’m finding it difficult to get any work done due to slow internet connectivity. Not sure if I will stay for the month as I had planned too, but we’ll see how it goes.

Where is everyone? Believe it or not, this is one of the most popular beaches in Bali. Very different to the last time I visited in August last year.

An easy day for the lifeguards me thinks.

Fine local cuisine… Beef Rengdang and a bunch of other goodies. Yum!

I’ve received a few info requests on life in Bali via Twitter, email, comments and mum so today I quickly knocked up a little video touring the hotel I’m staying at along with a quick trip to the beach.

I come across this small hotel while searching around for accommodation options a few weeks ago and I have nothing but good words to say about it. It’s a newly built place, in a very small side street which is located about 5km away from the beach. The staff, all 3 of them including the security guard, are extremely friendly and try to be helpful, even with their limited English language skills.

The hotel is so new that the place doesn’t have a name yet – although if anyone wants to know the hotel’s details, post a comment here and I’ll knock up a little map for you.