Bali, Indonesia
Day 1
March 14, 2009
When I got invited to spend a weekend in Bali with friends, I couldn't pass up the chance. Bali in my mind meant volc anoes, the sea, tropical gardens, wood and stone carvings, exotic food and culture.
We were billeted at the Laguna Nusa Dua Resort which is part of a big complex of international-chain resorts (Four Seasons, Hilton, Westin). There is a long approach by a common road at the entrance with neatly landscaped gardens all around. Nusa Dua Resort is Westin-hotel managed so the interiors were impeccable and the service, excellent. The resort complex was very large with all hotel rooms having wooden balconies overlooking meandering, turquoise colored, manmade lagoons that swerved and turned amongst palm and frangipani trees. Small cabanas, draped with gauze-like white muslin which swayed with the breeze, stood invitingly under the trees. In the early morning, it was such bliss to sit in the balcony, sip your Java coffee, take in the view and enjoy the cacophony of bird calls, reptile hoots and the crisp swishing of palm brooms by the early hotel cleaners.
On our first night, we had dinner at Bali Nikmat, a Chinese seafood Restaurant which was located a good 30 minutes drive away from our hotel. The scenery along the way was a bit uninteresting because Bali looked just like any regular rural village in the Philippines: small makeshift/native houses, vendors pushing "kariton" or food carts containing spicy fried chicken and brightly colored hard boiled eggs.
The Chinese restaurant looked ordinary with very cheaply made Asian decors, table covers and aluminum chairs.
The food, however, was tasty and excellently cooked. Indonesian cuisine is full of flavor and spices. I sensed a lot of salt and well-calculated amounts of MSG went into the dishes. A platter of very fresh pink shrimps, quickly blanched with hardly any seasoning except natural brine – was succulent and refreshing! Their fried noodles was something new because it was perfectly seasoned with a dark sweet sauce, which I presume is Kecap Manis, and had with lots of vegetables in it. Another flavorful dish was the string beans fried in garlic and some spice (again that sweetish-salty-spicy combination typical of Indonesian cuisine) which had the nice balance of of crunchiness on the outside, and tenderness when you chew it. The Fish (Lapu-lapu) in Soy Sauce was perfectly steamed, fresh, tender, succulent and again, very tasty. The most unforgettable dish during dinner that night however was the oyster fritters. It was deep fried, melt in your mouth and light as a feather, and so very scrumptious. I was trying to figure out what seasoning went into it and I concluded they must have put a lot if MSG or fried it in pork lard because it reminded me very much of eating our very own chicharon, only it was smaller, lighter,tastier and it was oysters!
We went to the city center after dinner. Is was quite humid even if it was beside the sea. Tourists were everywhere. Music blared from the bars and restaurants. Souvenir shops were brightly lit up to the late hours. This was where the Bali bombing happened. The shops were open until 10 pm so it gave us enough time to pick up gifts for family and friends . We dropped by a small mall with a Batk Keris shop - a sort of one-stop-shop, where all kinds of Balinese souvenirs can be found. Good things to get are the quality wood decors and carvings, Balinese dolls, Javanese coffee or tea bags which are already packaged for gift giving, Batik clothing and linen, very nicely packaged massage oils which come in various exotic scents like frangipani, lavender, ylang-ylang, champaca, lemon grass and jasmin. Leather slippers,bags and shoes are made well locally too.I did not forget to buy myself loads of Kropok of various flavors, and lots of Kecap Manis ( that thick dark caramelized soy sauce that is their secret to Indonesian cooking.
Even though I had a very filling and satisfying dinner before shopping, I started salivating when I smelled roasted coffee and the buttery aroma of Roti Boy ( coffee buns) in the mall. The large brown buns, sticky outside and soft and within were so irresistible and cost only 6,500 Rupiah each ( about $0.50). I took some to our tour bus and shared it with my friends, Perry and Anna. The bun was fluffy and still warm and when you break it, and this lovely, warm,mellow butter drips from within. Ah. what a way to end the day. I am an unrepentant foodie, I must confess.
Bali is beautiful. However, the grey and black,coarsely sanded beaches jar your senses as you drink in the ethereal views of seas and skies. Their beaches are not at all impressive comparing it to the kind of beaches we have in the Philippines. Westin, however, does a really good job of buying location and views (think Bali Hai –like views from the beachfront) and keeping their landscapes immaculate. Overall, I love Bali because it feels like home. Bali's cuisine is right for my taste buds. The shopping is great. It is like a bigger and luxurious version of Boracay. And since I am a garden and food person, I was happy as a duck there.
