A quick 40h in Bali between postings! I booked this on a whim while stressed out planning for another work trip and decided I really needed some alone time. Unfortunately, could only afford 2 nights, landing late on the first day and leaving early on the last day, which means I was in Bali for less than 40h. Nevertheless, tried to make the most of it!
Day 1
Took Scoot and was lucky enough to get a front zone aisle seat so managed to speedily get out of the aircraft. Customs was a little messy - I did the customs declaration and health declaration ahead of time, but got stuck at the digital passport check because I didn't know there was yet another form to fill for visa-exempted countries. Everyone was getting
stuck so I thought it was just their scanner being crappy. The place to check the customs declarations was also a messy marketplace, but finally managed to clear immigration 30min after we landed. And then I tried to get a
Grab/Gojek out of the airport and only realised after booking the Gojek that they have counters where they manually take down your name and wait
for a driver to be available to match, which is so inefficient. Waited close to 20min at the Gojek counter before finally "matching" with a driver and could finally get out of the airport. I was heading to Seminyak which isn't far from the airport, but traffic was horribad and the journey took nearly an hour.
Stressful arrival aside, things were great once I reached my hotel, Kanvaz Village Resort. Was welcomed with a drink and macarons, as well as vouchers for free drinks. Check in was quick and smooth, and the staff brought me up to my room on the third floor while explaining all the facilities and complimentary accesses. Gorgeous room!
It was past 8pm by now so I quickly headed out and took a Grab to Kilo Kitchen where I booked dinner. Was immediately impressed by the decor! I chose this place as the menu looked interesting. Decided to go with 2 starters - black and white prawn ravioli and chicken bulgogi for protein. The prawn in the ravioli was more a minced paste than actual prawns, though the sauce was good. And the chicken came in a humongous portion! Also ordered an iced berries tea since they don't serve tap water here - the waitress asked me still or sparkling then I hesitated, asked if they serve tap water and immediately felt stupid hahah.
Had to make use of my limited time so I decided to head to Revolver cafe nearby for coffee and dessert. On the way there, got enticed by a Made in Bali clothes store. Most of the clothes were too big for me, but I did end up buying a shirt.
Reached Revolver just before 10.30pm and they were preparing to close so were only doing takeaways, but kindly allowed me to dine in for a coffee and carrot cake. My family loves carrot cake and I wanted to try this highly rated one. The presentation was interesting for sure - circular shape, with cream cheese layered between instead of being spread on
top. Unfortunately, it was way too much cream cheese for me. Got a piccolo too and this was
excellent! Though its probably not a good idea to drink coffee at
1030pm haha.
Day
2
Woke up early to maximise my one full day! Headed for my hotel breakfast around 7.30am and wowww, what a spread. I usually prefer to explore the destination over hotel breakfasts but it seemed like Bali hotel breakfasts are of good quality and this was amazing. Got an omelette and a pancake from the live station, some cooked food, lots of salad, a slice of sourdough, the most aesthetic mini pain au choc and
creme brulee danish from the linked patisserie and fruits. There was also a whole array of nyonya kuehs, breads, baked potatoes with toppings, granola and flakes, juices, make your own porridge etc etc. And it overlooks the hotel pool so the vibes were truly immaculate.
After
eating so much, it was time to run! The rooftop has a gym, spa/massage
facilities, yoga room, movie room and a rooftop tanning area.
After washing up, I was still full so I decided to shop first. Walked to Bali Boat Shed because it seems like a popular store unfortunately everything was too large. Also realised that stuff in Bali especially clothes are not particularly cheap, probably since I was in the touristy area.
The next "trendy shop" on my visit list was Kim Soo and I did manage to
buy a cute heart shaped wooden bowl haha.
More productive clothes shopping, before I decided I had some space for lunch. Headed to Sisterfields which is a super popular cafe along the main shopping stretch of Seminyak. Luckily I went slightly before noon and the wait was quite short, because there was quite a line up when I left. I was greedy, and single handedly ordered 2 mains and a flat white haha. Salmon
bagel which thankfully only came with one side of the bagel, and choc brioche french toast that came with 3 halves. So gorgeous, and absolutely delicious.
Followed this with more shopping at Seminyak Village, Seminyak Square and the numerous shops along the way.
And
then it was time to head to the next food stop - Bread Yard for croissants! The display looked super enticing, and decor was immaculate as usual. I went with the almond croissant which was decent, a tad on the oily side though.
Now it was time
to head to the beach, so I walked to Ku De Ta beach club and ate AGAIN.
Shrimp nigiri and strawberry smoothie. Enjoyed the service, views and vibe. Food was pretty decent too.
Stayed for about 45min, then went down to the
beach to walk. It was unfortunately a pretty cloudy day, but still
enjoyed being on the beach with the breeze and sand for some much needed healing and me time.
Walked
almost the entire stretch of Petitenget Beach to reach Potato Head, and nearer and nearer the dark clouds. I finally decided to head into the beach club around 6pm, and had to pay the sunset charge of 250k IDR which can be used to offset food
and drinks at either the beachfront restaurant or the other restaurants. I ended up at the Ijen seafood restaurant because I wanted the cold prawn starters, but they didn't have it and it was replaced by the specials which was fried prawns :( I ordered it anyway, though I really dislike deep fried food. Also had the mixed greens for veg. Just after I ordered, it started pouring and everyone relaxing outside scrambled in. Chaotic! I was at the bar which is sheltered but I could still feel the rain coming in.
Managed to quickly finish my food (definitely not worth coming here for the food), and decided to head back to my hotel to redeem my free drinks which are available from 5-8pm. This turned out to be a whole saga - I took an
hour to return to my hotel even though it's a very short walk away, because Potato Head doesn't allow Grab or Gojek cars to enter the pickup area inside, so you need to ride their buggy out to the main road. Bluebird taxis are allowed in though, so I tried to book one, but due to a series of unfortunate events, I couldn't get a
driver for the longest time. In the end, I decided to just walk back, which was so much faster. Made it just in time to redeem my free drinks! I tried one of each and surprisingly liked the strawberry ginger drink more than the
cucumber soda.
I was also intending to go for a massage but it was fully booked that night (everyone else might have had the same wet weather plans), so I had it scheduled
for the next morning.
Day 3
A gorgeous morning!
Another morning of gluttony at the hotel buffet breakfast. Decided to try the scrambled eggs
and french toast from the live station this time, and was shocked at
how good the french toast was because the pancake wasn't fantastic. Some of the spread changed so I ended up eating more than I intended to. Also got a piccolo to try and it was surprisingly good too.
The hotel offers free yoga classes twice a day so I went for the 8am class. Was slightly late oops, but they have everything prepared so I just quickly joined in. I haven't actually done a proper yoga class before but I have been doing lots of stretching exercises as part of prehab/rehab for running. So I struggled a bit with the poses that require
balance but my flexibility isn't too bad!
The class lasted around 45min, then I headed next door to the wellness lounge for my massage. I went with the 60min Balinese massage for 500k IDR - definitely way more expensive than shops
outside, but I was paying for convenience and assurance. Had a welcome drink, chose my oil, followed by a foot wash before the massage.
After the relaxing massage, went out to take some pics of the pretty rooftop lounging area.
Then finally headed out for my final cafe stop - Kynd community which js a popular pink-themed vegan cafe just 5min away from my hotel. Main goal was to
try their famous aesthetic acai bowls, and decided to order the piccolo too since it comes with coconut milk which is something different. The acai
on the watery side but tasty, and they were super generous with granola and fruits.
I was initially overly ambitious and wanted to go to Livingstone and Pison as well, but I had no time nor stomach space so just headed back to my hotel to check out to travel to the airport.
Short but relaxing trip. Would definitely want to come back and try more cafes!