Bali 15-18Dec11

Stayed at a highly-rated resort called 'The Ulin Villas and Spa' in the Seminyak area. It is nicely located near the shopping streets of Seminyak and the service here is excellent. All 14 villas (1, 2 or 3 bedrooms) feature a private swimming pool (size varies according to no. of bedrooms) and a separate kitchen/dining area. Pretty impressive. Much effort taken to decorate the villas (see flowers strewn on the floor?), create mood lighting (read on), and offer services that exceed expectation. Things like complimentary welcome drinks, welcome bottle of rosé in each room, welcome fruits and free minibar made us feel pampered the moment we arrived. The 4D3N package that we took also included complimentary return airport shuttle (approx. 30mins normal traffic), one 4-course dinner, one 90-minute spa massage per person, and in-villa breakfast everyday among other free services. Thumbs up for that.

Day view of the pool and kitchen/dining area, S' parents painting outside their bedroom, aromatic flower bath. Love the spacious outdoor toilet/bath area.

Lunch some 40mins away recommended by our driver for the day. Location unknown. Babi Guling = Suckling Pig. Local delicacy that you should try. The famous stall is supposed to be 'Ibu Oka' located in Ubud but it was too far away from our villa (approx. an hr). If you're not so adventurous when it comes to food, I'd highly advise you to order just the skin & meat. I liked it but the others weren't too enthu about it. So, gd luck!

Golf at Nirwana Bali Golf Country Club located just 30mins from Seminyak. Touted as the best golf course in Asia, the ocean views and landscaped rice terraces undoubtedly wowed me. It is also at this signature hole that you can see the Tanah Lot temple in the distance. Nice.

In-villa breakfast spread everyday. Followed by the best Italian restaurant in Seminyak - Ultimo. Very reasonably-priced. Love the grilled baby lobster, grilled tiger prawns, calamari and spaghetti aglio olio. Oysters, salmon carpaccio and wagyu beef weren't so good. Will definitely be back.

Name: Ultimo

Location: Jalan Oberoi (Laskmana). Seminyak, Bali 80361

Expenditure: ~S$35pp (excl. corkage fee of S$7 per bottle)

The night we were going to have the complimentary dinner, they set up many candles all over the place and got us really excited. When night fell, the romantic ambience created by the lighted candles was simply amazing. This is what I meant about the mood lighting. 10/10!

Took the free shuttle to the Ku Dé Ta beach (~5mins drive). That's the Ku Dé Ta restaurant btw. We soaked in the sun for a little while then headed back to our villa on foot, dropping by a flea market (an eerily quiet one) on the way and stopping by a cafe called 'Junction'.

What I absolutely love about the Ulin Villa is that they allowed us to check out as late as 5pm! Which was perfect since our flight was at 8pm. Highly recommended :)

Name: The Ulin Villas and Spa

Location: Jl. Merta Sari  Seminyak 80361, Indonesia

Expenditure: 514usd nett per night (2 bedrooms)

Bali 20-23Dec10

Stayed at the Westin Resort at Nusa Dua - a nice and quiet beachfront hotel albeit a tad out of the way from the city center. These 3 days were the most relaxing ones in December.. Murking around doing nothing never felt more enjoyable!

Dinner just a few mins' drive from our hotel (free pickup service if you stay nearby so call to enquire). Great traditional Balinese cuisine. Definitely recommend you to order their Rijsttafel dinner menu as it offers a huge variety. Take note that one order is enough for 2 people. We couldn't even finish it. Reasonable corkage fee as well.

Name: Bumbu Bali

Location: Benoa, Kuta, Indonesia

Expenditure: US$60 including corkage

Another awesome dinner place recommended by friends. Located near the famous Ku De Ta but more exclusive in our opinion. Less crowded, more romantic and closer to the sea. Superb dining experience especially with the sound of crashing waves right next to you.. Love it. Food wise: below-average oysters, excellent prawns spaghetti and not-bad beef steak. Expensive corkage but still worth it given the horrible alcohol prices in Bali. Overall it was more the ambience than the food that blew us away.

Name: Breeze

Location: Jl. Laksmana, Seminyak Beach 80361, Indonesia
Expenditure: US$150 including corkage

On the last day we joined a cooking class (organized by a husband and wife team) that's highly rated on Tripadvisor. There were 12 of us in the group, mostly Australians. It began with a tour around the Ubud market with Puspa, our lady host, giving explanations along the way.

All the cooking ingredients were bought by the hosts beforehand hence there wasn't much for us to do except to take pictures and taste some Balinese goodies. Next, Wayan (the hubby) took us to their family-owned padi fields and gave us some insights to Balinese traditions and culture.

After which we were driven to their house to start cooking! 8 dishes on the menu. Hence the only way possible to accomplish the mission was to share the load instead of having our own work station. Smart thinking on the hosts' part as we ended up just doing some chopping, grinding, mixing, frying etc. Easy peasy! In the photos below there's me mixing ingredients using the traditional mortar & S molding satays. Overall a really unique travel activity and also a fun way to experience Balinese life.

Name: Paon Bali Cooking Class

Expenditure: US$30 pp