Started our holiday at Rambutan Hotel in Lovina (a lovely Balinese style hotel with magnificent gardens). The owners are very welcoming and wander around each day to say hello to guests. Took the opportunity to relax by the pool and slow down. We had the best meal we've had so far in Bali at Warung Jegeg on the main road. Authentic local food: spicey, tasty and 'cheap as'.
We moved on to Candi Dassa and stated at Pondok Bambu. A friendly hotel right on the waterfront (there is no beach). The highlight here was a snorkelling trip to Tulumben to see the Liberty (a sunken WWII vessel). Visibility was poor but we could make out the boat and see the divers below. The fish were very colourful and big and came quite close to us. Vincent's was the best restaurant we ate at here. More pricey than your average warung but exquisite food and attentive service.
In Ubud we visited Bumi Sehat. Robin Lim and her team provide a great birthing and community health service to the local community. They are building a new centre and construction is progressing. Went to the Jazz Cafe in Ubud last night night (following a delicious dinner at Melting Wok) to hear Jim Larkin from San Francisco. After one song the power went out. Jim was a legend. I heard him tell the band 'we are entertainers not just musicians' so they improvised with percussion and vocals for the next two hours. We weren't concerned because we've learnt over the years that power outages are not unusual in Bali, however, after three hours we were told that the whole of Bali was without power because the cable from Java was severed. Then our driver on the way home says that this is not correct because his wife told him that their village Sukawati, had power. Still no power 12 hours later but Tegal Sari has a generator :-). Who knows???