Day 1 : Seminyak
- A good breakfast is the perfect way to start a day. This is also my favourite time during my stay at Anantara. The restaurant is semi-open and is overlooking at Seminyak Beach. We ordered a cooked breakfast from the menu which offers both Asian & Western choices. On the buffet table, there were a variety of fresh juice, cereal, tropical fruit, salad and pastries. After breakfast, we went for a walk on the beach. There are lots of surfers in the sea but it’s too choppy to swim. If you want to have a swim, it’s best to go to Jimbaran Bay which is an hour by car from Seminyak.
[ Our room ] - Shopping – there are little boutiques lining the main street Jalan Raya Seminyak and Jalan Laksmana and Oberoi, but they aren’t that great. The only impressive shop I found was Sea Gypsy which sells locally designed silver jewelries.
[ Jewellery shop - Sea Gypsy ] - Tea at Biku (Jl. Raya Petitenget no.888) – Biku is a restaurant, tea house, book store and antiques in one roof. Set in a traditional Balinese house, it’s located in the main street of Petitenget so it’s very easy to find. The place is cozy but food was so so. To be honest we ordered an ‘Asian tea set’ but weren’t impressed. The masala tea was very nice though. Setting of this café is really quite cute but I think it’s best to stick with the western menu.
[ Masala Tea ] 
[ Biku ] - After tea, we went back to the hotel and just chilled out on the beach while sipping cocktails. It’s just so relaxing and traders on the beach trying to sell cheap jewelries and offer massage didn’t bother us much. I did pay for a 45-minute massage but to be honest, it wasn’t that great but I thought that will help the local a little bit.
[ Sunset on the beach ] - Dinner – Waroeng Bonita (Petitenget 2000). This local restaurant offers both Indonesian and Western food. The traditional Balinese garden setting is quite romantic but the food we had was disappointing. Sorry to say that apart from the salad in our hotel. I wasn’t impressed with Balinese food. However, do try their western menu as there are good reviews on-line and prices here are reasonable.
- Our original plan was to visit Kedonganan Beach in Jimbaran, since it was raining on that day so we stayed in Seminyak instead.
- Honestly there isn’t much to do in Seminyak. We were told that there were more boutiques around Ku De Ta, the popular upscale restaurant in Jalan Laksmana but it’s pretty dull there so we ended up going back to the hotel. By then I was quite pleased that we stayed in a nice hotel.
Funny story - our balcony overlooks at a group of beautiful swimming pools always with lots of people lying around. So we thought we would go there but we couldn’t find the entrance. So we walked on the beach and trying to get there and we were told that they are properties of Royal Beach, the traditional Balinese style hotel just next to us. Originally I was going to book this as it’s much cheaper but as we had already booked a traditional villa for Ubud so we wanted something more modern and upscale. I think Royal Beach is a good choice after seeing the pool.
[ Our room overlooking at the nice pool .... shame it's next door! ] - We had a stroll on the beach and found ourselves ended up in Ku De Ta, so we had a late lunch on their lounging chair overlooking at the sea. The food was really delicious but very very expensive in Bali’s standards. I had grilled octopus salad with chorizo – it was done very well.
[ Ku De Ta] 
[ Yummy grilled octopus and chorizo salad ]
- Was planned to see the sunset at Pura Uluwatu but it’s quite a track there and the weather wasn’t great so we gave it up. It’s supposed to be Bali’s most spectacular shrine perching on a high promontory overlooking the surf at Uluwatu. Every evening at sunset there are dancers present a thrilling performance of kecak, Bali’s traditional dance. Both men and women will need to rent sarongs and sashes at the entrance if you are not already traditionally dressed.
- Dinner at Chandi (Jalan Laksmana 72) – Chandi is ranked high on Tripadvisor and that’s the main reason we went there. The food was excellent. It’s western menu but with a clever mix of Asian herbs and ingredients. The seafood was especially cooked really well. I really enjoyed the meal there. The decoration of the restaurant is modern but also cozy.
[ Deep-fried calamari and salad with grilled scallops ] 
Day 3 – Ubud
- We had hired a very comfortable MPV to take us around Ubud for 6 hours. The car picked us up at Anantara.
- On our way towards Ubud, we visited a couple of local handicraft villages, Tohpati Village for the hand-made Balinese batik and Celuk Village the Silver craft centre but weren’t impressed. I think we could have given them a miss.
[ Batik Village ] - The next stop was a coffee plantation but it was a small family-run one. We saw the famous animal ‘produced’ the expensive Luwak coffee. We had a cup but it wasn’t that amazing but then we couldn’t tell whether it was the real Luwak coffee.
[ Coffee Plantation ] 
[ The animal that 'poos' the famous Luwak coffee ] - Then we drove up to the Kintamani Volcano. There were lots of tourists around and we stopped for a buffet lunch. Food was sub-standard but the view overlooking at the volcano was really nice. I must say so far I wasn’t impressed with the sight-seeing spots in Bali. There are tour companies organise hiking trip to the volcano.
[ Kitamani volcano ] 
[ We had lunch in this restaurant ] - After lunch, we were driven to Tegallalang Rice Terrace. It is also known for having the longest row of art shops in the whole of Bali. We were stopped constantly by the street hawkers but the view of the rice paddies was amazing.
- Our last stop was at the Ubud Palace in the centre of Ubud before checking-into our hotel – Nefatari.
- Dinner in Naughty Narui (Jalan Sanggingan, Opp. Neka Museum) – This little charming BBQ joint became famous because of Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations. Not only their BBQ ribs were scrumptious and tender, as recommended by the Chef/TV host, their Martini was also amazingly authentic and just right. That’s something you won’t expect in such a shabby but quite cute old place. Food is of course excellent too. We had a big slab of ribs, green salad and some rice. The sauce for the ribs was really tasty, I would have loved to have more ribs but they only come in one portion!
[ Scrumptious ribs! ] 
[ Naughty Nuris ]
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