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Travel: Trip to Bali (Part 1 - Hotel & Places)

>> Friday, June 27, 2014

It was my 1st time to Bali, Indonesia & what a long-awaited vacation it was! Mum, sis & I had a great 5 days 4 nights at the much-visited Bali :) In these few posts, I will be sharing with you the places that we've visited & the food that we've tasted.

We left for Bali on Saturday evening. I was surely excited to leave the heat in PJ for some vacation.


The new Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali is impressive! It's a mixture of modern & traditional architecture, showcasing the rich culture of Bali.

 

We stayed at the Sun Royal Hotel, Jalan Sunset, Legian. It's slightly further from the beach, but I love the location of this hotel as it's not too far from the airport & it's pretty central from all major places of interests. We paid around RM80.00/night for a room with a king size bed. The price was a steal! It even comes with a welcome drink.


Bathroom
Simple, clean & the water heater works perfectly well.

Superior room
King-size bed, complimentary bottles of water, air-conditioned, seating area, kettle jug, complimentary tea/coffee, satellite TV, & high-speed wifi. Thumbs up!

Swimming pool (night view)
The pool was right outside our room on the ground floor! *yay* If you're staying upstairs, fret not for the hotel has an elevator.


Lobby area - simple, clean & has no yucky/musky smell

Hotel from the outside (night view)

The in-house restaurant where they serve breakfast, lunch & dinner

Morning view of the swimming pool area

We headed out on Day 2 of our trip to Ubud & Mount Batur, the active volcano! Traffic was quite crazy as it was Indonesia's school holiday period :(


It took us approximately 2 hours to arrive at Ubud. Our first stop was the Sari Amerta batik producing factory, where the production starts from weaving the cloth to batik painting, sewing of products & selling of the finished batik products.

Songket weaving

Batik drawing

Batik painting

Batik isn't something new to us from Malaysia, so I didn't pay 100% focus on this place. But it was interesting to just have a look at the way things are done here at Bali & compare it to how it's done back in Malaysia.

After a short visit to the batik factory, we made a stop at the Yan Yan Silver-Products Factory.

Making 92.5 silver rings

It amazes me how the locals are so patient in crafting the jewellery that we wear pretty much on a daily basis. I really love some of their artwork, but it was too expensive for me, so I didn't buy anything from this place.

Hand-made silver earrings

Pretty hand-made brooches

Beautiful hand-crafted silver ship

Lunch was at Teras Padi Cafe, Tegal Lalang (I'll share that in the food-specific post). Right after lunch at the scenic paddy teres, we headed off to Mount Batur, Kintamani; an active volcano area with a serene lake beside it. The view reminded me of being at the Mount Kota Kinabalu's observatory deck, where we overlooked the majestic mountain from afar :)


Mount Batur + Danau/Lake Batur
As the 'observatory deck' was also on some highlands, the air was slightly cooler & refreshing. It was a great treat from the heat back in PJ.

After the scenic treat at Mount Batur, we headed back to the Ubud Market for some shopping. Stalls at the market closes at 6pm, so we had a couple of hours for some window shopping & souvenir shopping.



Lovely colors!
Crafts of all sorts :D





We basically ended Day 2 with a good meal at the Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck) Cafe at Ubud before heading back to the hotel to rest, relax & swim! It was great that the swimming pool is opened 24 hours & most importantly, it was clean *thumbs up*

*****
We bade farewell to Sun Royal Hotel on Day 3 of our trip as we've booked the next 2 nights at Diwangkara Holiday Villa in Sanur.

Last photo at Sun Royal Hotel
We will miss this place & I highly recommend this hotel for its value-for-money room, facilities & strategic location.

Day 3 calls for a trip to yet another far-away place i.e. Bratan, Tambanan. The entire journey of 2 hours was serene, scenic & filled with villages. Loved it! It felt like a 'balik kampung' trip :)


Pura Ulun Danu Bratan is one of the many well-known temples/pagodas on the Bratan Lake (Danau Bratan). The weather on Day 3 was just lovely for photos!


I just LOVE the vivid colors of nature!

The lake was so still that kids actually sat there under the hot sun to fish & watch other kids fishing! Hahaha...


After spending an hour or so in the blazing sun at Bratan, we left for the local market nearby for lunch & some shopping. Bratan is quite similar to Cameron Highlands as its one of the many areas where fresh produces like strawberries & vegetables are grown & harvested for sale. The cool air on the highlands of Bratan makes such activities possible for the local villagers.



We didn't plan to have lunch here at the market area, but we always love having lunch at the local warungs (not so touristy). Thus, lunch was at a small warung at the market area. I'll elaborate more on the food that we had in the other food post :)

Our last stop for the day was to the famous Tanah Lot, a must-see place when you're in Bali. The tide at the time we arrived was low & the view was just fantastic!!

Check out the crashing waves right behind! :D

Picturesque
Different angles gave different colors & it just amazes me how a simple area like Tanah Lot can look so amazing.

Tanah Lot temple behind us
Superbly sunny day, but really windy as well. Enjoyed the sun-burning stroll...the beautiful view just makes you forget how hot the day actually is!

Pura Batu Bolong (background)
This area has 5 temples & Batu Bolong Temple is one of the more uniquely situated temples, I feel.

Panoramic view of the area

We ended Day 3 with dinner at Warung Naughty Nuri's on the way back to Sanur. I'll be sharing on the rest of the places that we visited plus the food that we've enjoyed in the upcoming posts.

Stay tuned with PerutBesi!


Reminiscing on the Bali trip,


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Review: In Colonial Restaurant, Intermark Kuala Lumpur

>> Saturday, June 21, 2014

Overall comment: Top-grade quality food at reasonable prices. It's a great bargain that you shouldn't miss during the month of Ramadan!
Halal: Pork-free; uses halal ingredients (alcohol is served at their bar area)

Just imagine having a 'fine-dining style' Ramadan buffet for the price of your usual Ramadan buffet during the month of Ramadan. How does that sound to you? Your eyes just started to sparkle? :D

Here at In Colonial, you can expect quality dishes at a reasonable price. Located at the strategic & somewhat "luxurious-feeling" Intermark in Kuala Lumpur, this lovely restaurant is tucked at a corner on the ground floor of the building. The restaurant serves Chinese dishes with a Western touch & a classy modern finish.




From 30th June - 27th July, you'll get to enjoy a good variety of dishes for RM88.00++ per adult/RM48.00++ per child. For those who are keen to get a discount, you can also purchase the buffet voucher in advance for just RM70.00 nett!


The kitchen team will be changing the cooking style on their menu each day throughout the buffet period. Some of the styles of dishes that you can expect are as below:



During each buffet spread, you can be sure to have their 8 signature main dishes, their signature fried rice, signature fried noodles, desserts & even beverages.


Here are the variety of dishes that I've tasted :)
 
Satay Lamb Skewers, Satay Chicken Skewers & Satay Beef Skewers
 I must say that although their satay aren't as charred as the usual satay that you get elsewhere, their satay are interestingly delicious! The meat is tender WITHOUT any pieces of fat in between the meat & the meat were all marinated well that each piece is actually flavorful on its own.

The peanut sauce is decent; not too spicy, not too sweet nor savory. I've no complaints about it. I just enjoyed the tender meat :)

Mango Salad Prawn, Lemongrass Chicken Meatballs & Fried Wantan
These were good appetizers. My favorite was the mango salad prawn, all because there were bits of fresh prawns in the creamy, mango-filled fritter. Sweet, savory, crispy - yums! Their lemongrass chicken meatballs were also very tasty. I didn't find their fried wantan anything special though, but no complaints from me.

Lemongrass Chicken Meatball

Mango Salad Prawn

Crispy Lamb Rack
This was definitely my favorite for the night!
1. It's lamb (and it didn't have the pungent gamey taste nor smell)
2. It's crispy, tender, & juicy *drools*
3. It's well marinated with I think "nam yue" (fermented beancurd) & garlic, so it was REALLY fragrant!

This is something that you MUST NOT MISS!

Scallion Chicken Chop
Tender pieces of chicken thigh marinated with the fragrant scallion sauce. This chicken dish reminded me of my mum's cooking! I think that it's best eaten with fragrant white rice :P I'm SO Asian.

Black Pepper Ribeye
Don't be fooled by the common name nor the color/look. THIS WAS GOOD! Really tender, bursting in flavor & once again, best accompanied by fragrant white rice!

I must say that they prepare their meats pretty well! *applause*
(tasting portion)

Lemon Fish Fillet
This was my least favorite for the night as I felt the sauce was slightly heavy on the savory & sour side. It was too sour & too salty for my liking. I would much prefer the simple white fish to have a light & aromatic lemon sauce that has a tinge of sweetness to it.

(tasting portion)
  

Hot & Sour Prawn
 When I saw this, I thought aloud, "This needs deep-fried mantao to soak up all the yummy gravy!"
It's good. The fried prawns had the delicious roe & the gravy is just alike those sweet & sour crabs sauce. I loved it. I need to have my mantao to finish up the delish gravy!

'Golden Fragrance' Hokkien Mee
This took me by surprise! It's "kam heong lala" with hokkien mee!! Oh my goodness...it's actually pretty good :D The fragrant curry leaves, curry powder, dried shrimp, lala, noodles & dark soya sauce sure made perfect music to the mouth :P

We were actually STUFFED by the end of the meal. I probably don't do very well at buffets anymore. Blame it on age & metabolism :P

To our pleasant surprise, the chef came out with yet another dish for us to try. This Alio Scallops aren't part of the buffet spread, but it's a new item on their menu, which will begin its debut next month. It'll come in a serving of 5 large scallops for the price of RM68.00/serving.

 The bits of fried garlic & the slightly sweet + savory, crispy batter coating the juicy (perfectly cooked!) scallops were irresistible!


The best part: Check out the roe!! *drools*

Don't miss your chance to dine at In Colonial during the Ramadan month. It may not have your 80+ dishes to choose from, but you'll surely get top-grade quality dishes & lip-smacking tasting selections at their buffet spread. Do call to make your reservation to avoid disappointment :)


In Colonial Restaurant
Lot G13, The Intermark
348 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Ampang
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.
Tel: (+603) 2856 9033
FB: https://www.facebook.com/incolonial


Ratings:
Presentation: * * * *
Price: * * *
Environment: * * * 1/2
Taste: * * *
Service: * * *


Overall:






Eat like a king/queen at In Colonial,


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