I am nearing the end of a 9 day trip to Bali with my boyfriend (BF) primarily for a friend's wedding in Uluwatu. We spent 6 nights in Seminyak and 3 nights in Ubud.
In Seminyak, we stayed at Amadea for a third time. We find this to be a great value hotel for Seminyak, and the main plus is the fantastic location in the middle of the main road. It is new and modern, with good staff and two lovely pools.
We hired a scooter and spent our days cruising around, including a trip to Echo Beach. I did a lot of shopping as usual - lots of dresses, shoes and clutches. I love all the homeware stores in Seminyak (Hobo, Cargo, Bali Zen, etc). I bought a bamboo basket at Cargo, much to the BF's disapproval 'and how do you think you are going to get that home?!' Oh well, I'll figure it out :)
Sunset drinks this time were at one of the beanbag bars, SOS bar @ Anantara, Woo Bar and we also tried the rooftop bar at U-Paasha hotel (good happy hour frozen mojitos!). Dinners were at all our fave places including La Sal, Chandi and Motel Mexicola.
The wedding was at an amazing villa in Uluwatu and it really was stunning, especially the view. Got to love a destination wedding! A tip for the ladies - I got my hair for the wedding done at Amo Spa in Seminyak. Very professional up style for about 180,000rp.
Next up, we escaped to my zen - Ubud. So so happy to be here :) We stayed at my regular haunt, Nyoman Karsa. This is a great little hotel at the bottom of Jln Monkey Forest. New but simple rooms, and a beautiful pool.
We ate at Naughty Nuri (yuk, but the BF wanted his ribs!!), Cinta which has a good menu and happy hour mojitos and Batan Waru. I also went to Tutmak for brekky one day - the homemade cinnamon scrolls are amazing!!!
Unfortunately, for the first time in 30 trips to Bali I got a mild bout of Bali Belly on the first night :( Not sure what the cause was, but it put a major dent in my appetite. This meant I had to cancel my long awaited booking for The Melting Wok (grrrrrr!!).
Once again, we hired a scooter and had heaps of fun exploring. My one 'must do' for those who go to Ubud is the little rice paddy walk to Pomegranate and Sari Organic. This really is so picturesque and beautiful, especially at sunset. The 15 min walk through the paddies is the best part, so peaceful.
The BF did the cycling tour down the mountain, which he enjoyed and said was one of the best tours he had ever done. I enjoyed wandering around all the little shops, and made purchases at Kou for some lovely soap and Kado for homemade cards (both on Jln Dewi Sita). We had massages everyday next to the hotel at Venezia spa.
Anyway, another great trip was had but time has flown by very fast as always. We fly out shortly but look forward to booking the next trip soon!!