Friday 4 July 2014

Moving day...

Monday 23 September 2013

Waking early I go for a walk & see a line of ducks crossing the rice paddy just in front of our room at Kebun Indah.  They look so cute following each other one by one...

http://youtu.be/IVNTY0XERTA





We enjoy our breakfast delivered to our room this morning - fresh fruit salad, juice & banana pancakes with fresh grated coconut & palm sugar syrup.  They taste amazing, especially with a squeeze of lime.... Yummmmm!





After our breakfast, it's pool time...




Today we are moving to Alam Jiwa, so it's back to the room to pack...it didn't take long, as we'd only spent one night at Kebun Indah & hadn't unpacked much of our gear. 

We decide to do a bit of shopping before our move so we head off on a walk towards Coco Supermarket with intentions of buying some deodorant & batteries... 1.5 million later we have bought sandals, Ipanema thongs, silk scarves, pashminas, soaps & incense for gifts & a suitcase (at 50% discount) to put it all in! Forgot the batteries :(







View from window of Coco Supermarket 



Shopping done, we walk with suitcase in tow to The Pond Restaurant for an early lunch. Cold Bintang for me while I check the menu.  Jaycob orders a hot dog & chips, Sienna had the duck spring rolls (yum) & I had a fabulous mie goreng - it came with marinated chicken & a little dish of shredded veges in vinegar, OMG it was sooo good! It's a shame hubby is not here as he could of finished off all our left overs (hence we call him the 'garbage disposal unit' hehe...) 


View from restaurant to Tegal Sari







Duck Spring Rolls

Hot dog & fries

Mie Goreng with chicken

Finishing lunch, we made our way back to Kebun Indah & organised our transfer to another Alam property - Alam Jiwa. 




Welcome drink

Arriving to smiles from the staff, we are amazed at how beautiful this small hotel is.

After our cold welcome drinks we are lead to the Angsa room which is over a small bridge. Our room faces rice fields & beyond them are palm trees.






There's an ornately carved day bed complete with mosquito netting on the porch, from it we can see a lilly pond & the rice fields.









A deep ravine runs beside the guesthouse & the sound of the water running down is so relaxing.



The room has a king size 4 poster bed & a daybed in one corner which can be made up as single bed.


Angsa room





I'm in love with the bathroom - one big room with the toilet in an alcove, bath with windows overlooking gardens & a big shower room overlooking the rice fields.


View from shower overlooking rice fields







The kids are enjoying exploring the guesthouse grounds. There's so much to look at - frogs in the ponds, squirrels in the trees, statues & flowers. They have fun taking many photos with the iPad.












The staff can't do enough for you here - I rang to ask for some ice & they asked would I also like some lime...yes please I said. A big bowl of ice was delivered to my room & enough lime to make 10 G&T's... 


All dressed ready for dinner, in some new clothes from Seminyak


We used the free shuttle service again & went to Cafe Wayan for dinner. We arrived at about 7.30 without a reservation & the only table left was near the bar at the front of the restaurant. We were given the option to wait 15 or so mins for another table. We didn't wait that long for a low table right down the back where you sit on floor cushions in a pavilion. 

We had to share the pavilion with a couple, they had a table on one side & ours was opposite. I said hello (as you do) & said jokingly 'sorry to spoil your romantic dinner'... was just given 'stink eye' by them. They kept staring over at my kids & I'd smile back, but no smiles from them...
For dinner I order the nasi campur - it's really good with so much variety, chicken curry, toasted coconut, rice, breaded chicken, satay stick, egg. Sienna has the ribs & Jaycob orders garlic prawns. Their dishes aren't as good as mine.

Ribs

Nasi Campur

Garlic Prawns

After we finish dinner, some live music can be heard - it's coming from the Buddha Bar across the road. We ask to move to a table closer to the front so we can enjoy the music. After one more drink, we are ready to head 'home'. Cafe Wayan is owned by the Alam Group so they drive us back to Alam Jiwa.

Breakfast this morning was brought to our porch. Fresh fruit salad, juices, coffee. Sienna had the same banana & coconut pancakes that I had yesterday morning at Kebun Indah & Jaycob had scrambled eggs. I chose the nasi goreng.
Today we plan to sit by the pool for a while then head into town for a look around followed by lunch.














With directions from the staff on a little map... we start walking towards town.  It is a lovely leisurely walk which takes us past 2 other Alam properties - Alam Indah & Alam Shanti, then along a motorbike path that borders the monkey forest.  It takes us about 20 mins.


Walking down the road from Alam Jiwa



Pool at Alam Indah






We walked & walked stopping in any shops that took our fancy until we were hot & thirsty.  A quick stop for a cold drink, then more walking.  No shopping for me, but Sienna found this scarf with little poms poms & persuaded me to buy it for her... I thought it was a bit expensive at 100,000rp, but she loved it so much (& I thought I could borrow it too!)








I had read about another healthy restaurant called Kafe & was keen to try it out... poor kids, I dragged them along Jl Hanoman until I finally found it...


Kafe

For lunch I ordered the mini version of 'Meg's Big Salad Bowl'... it has every veggie under the sun with tofu tempe crunch & toasted seeds, served with a lemon tahini dressing & some sourdough..... YUMMMM





Kids didn't feel like eating lunch after having some big milkshakes on our drink stop earlier, so were getting a little bored waiting for me to finish lunch.  We'd certainly had enough walking, so rang for the shuttle to pick us up. 


The pool is a welcome treat when we return & that's where we end up spending most of the afternoon.



I'm keen to check out some of the other rooms at Alam Jiwa, & the staff are only too happy to show me through some that are vacant.



The Caswary room sits on the 1st level & has a lovely big day bed with canopy plus large ornately carved seat overlooking the rice paddies.










Same beautiful view from Garuda room on the 1st floor..






We take a walk along the pebbled pathway, past all the rooms at Alam Jiwa & look out onto a rice paddy field... it's so lush & green.








It's late afternoon & I start thinking about where to have our last dinner in Ubud... so many restaurants are on my list & I can't choose.... 

Unfortunately poor Sienna has been feeling ill & ends up being sick... won't got into detail... but after ringing reception they send a staff member with a broom?  I shake my head & try to explain that a broom won't work cleaning up this type of mess!  

So no dining out for us tonight... ordered Nasi campur from room service provided by Laka Leke & it was pretty good too!





The next morning Sienna is feeling a little better, still not ready to eat, but she's happy to sit quietly on a sun lounge by the pool.

Today is our last morning in Ubud & it will be sad to leave Alam Jiwa... but we are also excited to see our next destination.... Balian.

Our driver is not picking us up until 12.00, so we use the free shuttle & head to Coco supermarket to buy some snacks & supplies - we have heard there are no shops in Balian, so we stock up big time!  Although Sienna is feeling a lot better, I still think a plastic bucket will be needed for the trip 'just in case'... I had also heard that it was pretty much a hair raising roller coaster ride to Balian.

Goodbye Alam Jiwa..... we have enjoyed every minute of our stay