Another day in Paradise...

Have you ever visited Bali? Not yet? You should definitely make it your bucket list destination.
 Bali is for sure place to visit, there are lots of cool things to do, nice beaches, spiritual vibe, good food to eat, and beautiful tropical surroundings.
We just returned from this beautiful place and I'm here to share my experience.
We only stayed there 5 days and I wish we could stay longer. 5 days are definitely not enough.We stayed in Seminyak, the more active area of Bali. As I said we did't have enough time, so we couldn't visit Ubud, the more quiet and spiritual place but for sure next time we won't miss it.
                       

We flew from Delhi to Bali with Singapore airlines with 1hr layover in Singapore,very comfortable flight and airlines. As soon as we landed in Ngurah Rai International Airport, our sweet driver Mr. Ngurah (yes his name is the same as the airport), who was already waiting for us ,took us to our Vila. It took us about 30mins to reach. There are many many option to stay, villas, hotels, hostels,.. 
We booked our Villa called Villas Margarita No.4 trough Airbnb and it was just as beautiful as in the picture (probably even better :)). Our Villa is located two to five minutes by walk from Seminyak Square,Sisterfield, Revolver Cafe, and many other restaurants, bars, boutiques and shops. While the villa is so centrally located, it is peaceful oasis with beautiful trees, gorgeous pool and tasteful decor. Big plus they provide daily housekeeping,stuff are very polite and warm and available 24/7. Will definitely stay here again when we'll come back to Bali. 

We rented a scooter the next day.Probably the best way to travel. 
If you can, avoid the taxi and any other car transport,it is probably the worst way to travel.The traffic is really bad, and I'm sure none of you is going for holiday to spend half day in the traffic.
 You can rent a scooter from any rental place which you can find on every corner and it is also very cheap (under 5eur per day) and lots of fun.

Our favourite place for breakfast was Sisterfield. The place represents the iconic cafe culture of Australia with great food and good coffee. You can find  multiple yummy food on the menu, from fresh juices, to smoothies, smoothie bowls  (which are so lovely decorated that you cannot resist), eggs of your choice,charcoal burger and many many yummy bites. We started every day of our stay there surrounded with great food and very lovely waitresses. My favourite - smashed avocado with semi-dried cherry tomatoes, popped capers, lime sea salt, feta, on rye bread, you can also add poached egg. 

               

You can find multiple yummy options for great food. Here goes some of our favourites. 

La Lucciola -  nice place with Italian cuisine overlooking the sea. Get the table at the front of the balcony, for earlier dinner you can watch the sunset go down. Just perfect not too big not too small portions, and very delicious.

(sorry no pictures,just wanted to enjoy the moment of good food, sound of sea,and my wonderful company, but you can see the link bellow:)

The KYND Community - in this plant-based cafe not only you can get nice instagram picture (boys please bare with your girls there :) but you will get really delicious acai berry bowls, smoothie bowls, healthy salads, all day breakfast, toast atc. 

La Favela - this restaurant and bar is very unique, all laid out beyond a mini bridge, trees with semi-indoor garden and  artificial waterfalls. All rooms are decorated with pieces from owners Gonzalo and Sandras home and their many friends. Food like tapas, steak and lots of more are just yum. 

This place is really great for a good fun, the music that everyone loves and can dance to, old school but never cheap. Highly recommended for a night out.

      

                                 

ULTIMO -we spend our last evening here and it was just perfect end to the perfect holidays. 

This Italian restaurant is full of life, we had really good meal accompanied with life music and good Italian wine. 

                                         

                                                                                                    

The last but not the least and our the most most most favourite was Hotel W Woobar.

Not only it was our top place to spend sun-downer with great drinks, hookah and happy hours,rocking vibe and polite stuff but it is also great place for Sunday brunch in Starfish Bloo Bali restaurant.

 You can choose to have alcohol or alcohol free brunch,a glass of champagne is given to you as complimentary. 

The choice of food is pretty large here. From the appetizers to the deserts, fresh sushi or sashimi, fresh seafood like king prawns, oysters and crabs, besides all this you can have traditional Balinese suckling pig and noodle soup, the BBQ station where you can get ribs, meat skewers, corn, or section of salads, Indian food, Mexican food, Chinese dim-sum,duck, cake, fruits, waffles, pancakes, delicious deserts and more.. After the great lunch you can get a sunbed and spend the rest of the day in the pool or the beach with good drinks and music! 

Brunch are super FUN!!

Spend a day in a beach club! 

We decided to visit beach club the very next day we arrived. We headed to Potato Head. Although we thought it is going to be very crowded and too touristy we had a great time and really great food. We were lucky enough to get see view cabana with full service. Great cocktails, excellent sea food and good deep house music is great way to enjoy sun downer.

Must visit!

One of the reason why we decided of going to Bali was my bucket list thing to do. Scuba-diving. 

I must say it was really great experience. We scuba dive with Adventure Scuba Diving company and they were very good and  professional. We made the booking online and then drove to their office for more details, payments atc. For deeper water you need to do training one day prior. We choose the other option, not too deep water, as we didn't want to waste two days with it. 

The very next morning,the day of our adventure,instructor with the driver came to picked up us from our villa (and of course dropped us back after). We drove 2hrs to Padang Bai where we sat in one local restaurant and our instructor told us all useful info how to use equipment, how to breath and most important what to do to avoid ear pain. After the briefing the boat took us to our location. We scuba-dive in two different locations.The whole experience was incredible and I tell you all, you should definitely try. The underwater life is so peaceful, quiet, different, although we didn't see as much fishes as I wished the over all experience was really nice and I'm happy we did it. 

After the dive the boat took us back to the restaurant where they provided us lunch, and from there we drove back to Semyniak. Day well spend. 

                  

                 

Get pampered in the beautiful and relaxing atmosphere of Balinese spa!

There are multiple options for spa saloons, I choose Bodyworks. 

You can choose from any kind of massage to facial, manicure, pedicure or body scrubs. You might spend hours there.

I got my facial, manicure and pedicure done there and it was great way to spend the morning just for myself.

This place is also great for shopping. The streets are lined with lots of local boutiques where you can find unique pieces of bikini, silk dress, bags, handcrafts atc. 

You can shop in a shopping mall called Semyniak square as well. 

One must have thing is rattan bag, you will find it in almost every shop.

                 

Bali is known for art. You will come across amazing collection of paintings, crafts and hand made thingies on every corner. Don't think twice if you want to get some souvenirs.

                                  

Everywhere in Bali you will see little colourful baskets of flowers, also decorated with incense and food. These are Bali's daily offerings called "cannang sari". They are on the streets, in front of the houses, temples, shops, sometimes right bellow your feet. Be careful and do not pick them up or step on it. These daily offerings are made to thank the supreme God of Indonesian Hinduism for peace on the world. Although Bali sees a great deal of tourists, these traditional daily rituals have remained the same for more than 1000 years. 

                                            

As I said you would need more days to explore more places like Ubud, Bali swings, Temples,rice files and lot more. 

We didn't have enough days,we decided to take it easy and just relax, eat and repeat.

I recommend everyone to visit Bali at least once in your life :)

XX

Klaudia :)

Some useful links:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2984331

http://sisterfieldsbali.com

http://www.bali-indonesia.com/magazine/la-lucciola-restaurant-bali.htm

https://www.kyndcommunity.com

http://lafavelabali.com

https://ultimo-bali.business.site

https://www.woobarbali.com

https://www.starfishbloorestaurant.com/en/sunday_brunch_menu

https://www.ptthead.com/

https://www.adventure-scuba-diving.com/

https://bodyworksbali.com/