Every trip we think of staying somewhere other than Sanur for a few days and then we get comfortable and don't. This trip the plan was for two full days in Ubud and just the one overnight there. It worked very well. We used many of the recommendations from this forum regarding accommodation and dining and they were great. Only one we didn't try was the cafe next door to our hotel which unfortunately was having a massive car park for the monkey forest built next door to it. (Might have been called The Rainforest). Hopefully when building finishes they will pick up trade again.
We got our driver to pick us up at 7 in the morning to be in Ubud for breakfast (eating is one of our popular activities). We had a great meal at Three Monkeys and would have returned if we were staying longer.
Checked into Anumana Hotel and it was perfect for us (wanted walking distance to some things) and as the recommending poster said as it was fairly new there were good deals to be made. It's location was close to the monkey forest and it backed onto fields. Large, lovely rooms, enormous baths, great pool and very friendly and obliging staff. (if you go out walking and get lost they will retrieve you). I was a little nervous while using the enormous bath - if full was 1000s of litres and knowing my friend was filling hers one floor up in the same location I started to worry about the building's strength! Watching The Block makes one aware of the need for good load bearing floors.
We did lots of touring around while we had our driver - Tegallalang, some temples, waterfall and a koi pond.
Lunch was at one of the first places I ate at in Bali in the early 80s (Murnis Warung) but it is so different to then and the lower level with the view was closed that it wasn't a huge success. Some memories can't be recreated. However our dinner that night at Bridges was excellent. Beautiful foods and wines and a great ambiance.
Our room included breakfast the next day which was good and our driver returned after we had wandered the streets doing a little shopping. I found some fabulous sandals with coloured leather flowers, leaves etc and was a little surprised when on returning to Sanur the same shop had opened near Hardys the day we were out of town. Didn't find shopping as cheap as Sanur but like any where when you are a regular you get to know places better.
We spent the day at Art Galleries, shops and so on and returned in the evening to Sanur. We had kept our rooms for convenience and will probably do a similar trip next time to a different area, just adding one night's accommodation but getting two full days was a good way to see something different even though it was brief.
Next morning off for early hair appointments so we were glammed up for our continuing research into Bali brunches. This time it was the Mulia at Nusa Dua. Very elegant, excellent food, not as family friendly as the Sofitel and lacked a little - no live music or entertainment. They do have a good range of food choices and the Chilean champagne was great.
We have thought of doing a tour of all the Hardys stores on the island as we often find great clothing items at the Sanur store (you have to search a bit) so when we spied the Nusa Dua branch we were in! Much more of a store for locals and it was busy being a Sunday but a couple of maxi dresses and a shirt were found.
Next day my brother and sister in law were back from a diving trip and the three of us girls went to Bamboo Shoots cooking school for some fun and new recipes. Two of us had already been but were happy to return. I mentioned in my booking email to Irma that I was a vegetarian and there were alternatives of the meat dishes provided for me. Highly recommend the class. Had a beer and a chat with Ron which is also recommended!
Dinner was back to Dead Fish which became the favorite of some of the group. They have a couple of Dutch dishes on the menu and my Dutch sister in law also got to chat with some Dutch expats.
One more report to go of the last 10 ten days.
Nice to relive the holiday - especially as my son and daughter in law are back in Bali and Gili T this week - and I'm not!
Cheers Jan