Rise and shine to breakfast being served by Budi. Breakfast was included in the cost of the stay. This morning’s menu was nasi goreng and mie goreng (vs. mee in Malaysia; they spell it differently here). This was served with a choice of tea or coffee, watermelon juice and some more watermelon and papaya slices. Our driver who we hired on recommendation by one of Aaron’s aunties who lives in Bali was very punctual and was ready for us even before we finished breakfast.
We needed to exchange some cash before we head off on our journey and because the Indonesia Rupiah is so weak, we instantly became millionaires. The conversion I got was 9600 Rupiahs for $1 CAD. It made the trip a lot more interesting as we had to deal with a lot more zero’s in their prices.
We depart to our first stop – Luwak Coffee tasting. Previously I wasn’t too big on drinking coffee harvested from the droppings if a cat but once I got there, I just thought – YOLO! I’m no coffee expert so I can’t tell if it’s “good coffee” but Aaron, the coffee expert thinks it is “pretty good”. I was more interested in the other flavoured coffees and teas. I was feeling motion sickness from the car ride, so I immediately jumped on the ginger coffee and tea. It had a very strong taste of ginger, which I’m not a fan of, but if it will help my nausea, I will drink it. In terms of taste, I would say my favourite is the coconut coffee. It is like drinking coffee sweetened with creamy coconut milk. Other good picks were the vanilla coffee, mochiatto, and durian coffee. They then led us to their merchandise store where we spent a lot of money on their delicious coffee. Now I know why they didn’t charge us for the tea and coffee tasting (except for the luwak). The prices were comparable or even more expensive than Canadian prices at around $15-20 CAD per bag. Here I would like to add that I’ve been generally very impressed by the washroom cleanliness of Bali vs KK.
Next stop Bali Bird Park. This huge park is filled with birds from several places including Malaysia, Indonesia and Africa. Here you will see birds such as parrots, hornbills, flamencos, pelicans and eagles. There was also a reptile park included on the prices of the ticket including snakes and alligators. We ended our time there with their 4D show which was probably meant for school-aged children consisting of dancing fishes, flashing lights and bubbles.
We were starving so we made our way to Bebek Bengil, the Dirty Duck Diner. There we tried the famous Bebek Bengil – fried duck and also variations like the sweet chilli duck and another spicy version. This was definitely a worthy stop as the duck was very tasty and meaty. I actually liked the sweet chilli duck more than the original. The Bebek Bengil came with a side of beans sprouts and green beans which paired very well with the sweet chilli sauce. As well, we had a side of Rojak, which was ok. I’m not a huge fan of Rojak I realized. Things got messy as there was no other way of eating this except with your hands but don’t worry, there are hand washing stations throughout the restaurant. It was packed when we got there so we didn’t get to sit on the platforms above the pond. Next time!
We then headed home for a quick dip in the pool before heading to Potato Head Beach Club to catch the sunset. This bar was also packed with people but I get it because the ambience was amazing with nice seating, an infinity pool and a beautiful beach. We saw the sunset on the beach and wanted to get a table but they were fully booked. We grabbed a few cocktails at the bar instead. Again the prices were comparable to Canada (~$12) per cocktail. I guess tourism has exploded and Bali is not “super cheap” anymore. I did choose a more exotic and unique cocktail containing passionfruit, banana, banana chips, cinnamon, nutmeg, served in a wooden cinnamon bowl. It was interesting but not as good as the safe choices that my other travel buddies ordered – like the mojito and pina colada. Oh well. This is the risk of trying something new. They did load up on the alcohol though, so I guess the price was reasonable.
It was dinner time so we headed to the Hog Wild restaurant (previously known as Naughty Nuri). Their house favourite was the ribs so we had to get some. I’m not a huge fan of BBQ ribs and I was feeling under the weather anyway so I elected for the pork rib soup and I’m so glad I did. It was super flavourful. It was served with a side of prawn chips and rice and it provided me with the comfort food I needed. I saw a cute boutique but when I saw the prices of the dresses was $70+, I was again disappointed that Bali was not as “cheap” as I thought it would be.
It was time to head back for a late night swim before calling it a night.
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