Contacted Ketut Sudiarta, a driver recommended on this forum, to drive us from Candi Dasa to Sanur - he has a great sense of huumour and we will definitely use him again when we go to Candi Dasa. It was just as well that I had printed out the directions to Ron's place and that I had rung to confirm we were coming as the name on the road is Mangrove Sanctuary.
The Sanur Beach Villas are down a quiet little road at the southern end of Sanur, very close to the beach. We were welcomed by Ron, and before we had unpacked we were sitting on the deck with our cold bintangs, and meeting other long term guests and friends who dropped by to see Ron, and to share a beer. A great introduction to a very enjoyable stay. It was Pete's sons first birthday and we were invited to join them at the party on the beach - great fun. We spent time with fellow guests, two lovely young women from Korea who invited us to share their bottle of wine, which we had with dinner together on the beach. The following night one of the other guests at the Villas had a birthday party and we were invitged to join them, but we had made arrangements to go out. There are a number of long term guests, and all were very friendly. We spent a great deal of time lying by the pool and swimming. Most of our meals were at restaurants on the beach as we particularly enjoyed the cooling breeze. When met Nyonya from this forum who came to stay at the Villas and together we checked out the market and enjoyed shopping at Tootsies - fixed price - which we found much more to our liking. We did a little exploring of Sanur and spent time at a spa. On our first visit to Bali we had stayed at Alits Bungalows, and we have watched the area grow steadily - the boulevard along the beach is a great improvement and it is a very pleasant area to stay in, especially with the off shore breeze.
Our next stop was Ubud - we go there each year and have tried a number of different hotels and villas. This time we booked five nights at Tegal Sari, and stayed in room 23 on the ground floor of the new super delux units. There is a magic about Tegal Sari - not quite certain what it is, but there is a sense of serenity and peace; and the staff are brilliant. We particularly enjoy looking out over the rice fields, seeing the birds, ducks, people working, moving so gracefully - you feel surrounded by nature. We always visit our favourite painter and always buy several paintings from him; we love his use of colour, and how his paintings have evolved over the years. We now have a large collection and they are a daily reminder of Ubud and Bali.
There are some wonderful restaurants in Ubud, and we discovered another one this visit, it is situated in Jl Raya Sanggingan, up the hill past the Art Museum - last year it was a bakery but now there restaurant at the back, facing the rice fields. The food is very exciting and different. At lunch you can have the set menu for 75,000 which is a bargain - the food is world class. At night the set menu is 150,000 or 180,000, or you can have a la carte. We arranged a booking the following night, and the owner picked us up from Tegal Sari - he was born in East Timor, grew up in Australia, and has lived around the world - he trained as a baker, and is opening bakeries in Ubud village and Legian within the next few weeks. He is passionate about food, and also designs and sells his own design in table ware. Last year we dined at Mosaaic, which was an experience, but we thought that the food at Tropical Bale was actually better. If you go, do take a look at the toilet - great sense of humour. Another favourite of ours in Ubud is Lamak, and of course we had several meals at Warung Enak next door to Tegal Sari, and run by the same people. We always enjoy Ubud, and the variety of walks you can make is very exciting. I would especially like to be there during Galungun - which starts shortly - I mis calculated the dates, we were a few weeks too early.