Thursday, July 3, 2014

Bali on a Budget -- sights, sounds and soul food...part 3

Bali has numerous restaurants one can choose from.  However, what you will notice in the Ubud area is that there are so many vegetarian places you can go to.  I tried a few and am most impressed with the cuisine served at KAFE restaurant at Jl. Hanoman, The Garden Kafe at Yoga Barn's compound, Warung Sopa at Jl. Nyu Kuning and Down to Earth at Jl. Guatama Selatan.   These four restos have an excellent selection of vegetarian meals.  The dishes I sampled taste amazing, food presentation appealing  and overall restaurant ambience cozy.  For these restaurants, you would spend an average of IDR50,000-70,000 (SGD 5-7, or PHP 180-250) for a good-sized meal.  Add another IDR 10,000-30,000 if you would like to have a coffee/tea or dessert.  For local organic coffee and desserts, you may want to go to Coffee & Copper, a hip cafe very close to the Monkey Forest Jungle entrance.
Restaurants in Bali
Down to Earth Bali
Coffee & Copper

Before Yoga Energize drink from the Garden Kafe at Yoga Barn
Perfect drink to start your day!  It has fresh lemongrass, ginger, pandan leaf and honey.

Down to Earth meal - looks and tastes good!

Coffee & Copper local organic coffee and local rice dessert - yum!

A few days before I was scheduled to go home,  I decided to spend a day looking at the sights and sounds of Ubud.  I asked Nyoman, owner of Gusti Kaler, if he was free to drive for me on that day and fortunately he was (IDR400,000 for a half-day trip in an airconditioned car).

First stop was at the Ceking Rice Terraces where you can marvel at the gently landscaped rice paddies similar to the Philippines' Banaue Rice Terraces.   After which we went to the Goa Gajah Elephant Cave.  The cave had a large entrance that had been chiseled to resemble a demon with its mouth wide open.  Inside the cave, it was damp and eerie but here you can find statues of Hindu gods.

From Goa Gajah we made our way to the town of Mas to look at finely crafted furnitures, accessories, statues, lamps and more.  I looked at the prices of some furniture pieces and noted that one could purchase Balinese furniture at half the price of what you would pay for if you had bought the piece in Singapore or the Philippines.  Of course, you would have to take into consideration the costs involved in shipping and handling if you do decide to purchase in Bali.  

Ceking Rice Terraces

Goa Gajah Elephant Cave entrance

 Goa Gajah Gardens

After Mas,  I then asked Nyoman to drop me off at the Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA).  I spent a couple of hours admiring the work of Balinese artists and spent some time walking around the magnificent gardens surrounding the museum.  As I was about to leave Agung Rai,  I heard music around the corner and saw several Balinese children practicing their local dances at the foyer.

I watched the children as they moved gracefully with the music!  Such talent!  The children were so adorable!


ARMA collection 



ARMA collection

Balinese children practicing their dance at the ARMA foyer.

Oh, did I mention that I found Ketut Liyer's, popular medicine man, residence.  Ketut was made even more popular by Elizabeth Gilbert in her bestselling novel Eat, Pray and Love.

I did not get a chance to have my palm read, so I do have a reason to go back to Bali!

I only got to see a preview of what Bali has to offer.   There is definitely more!

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