Wedding – Page 8 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

International December 26, 2013

Cultural Bali in Ubud

On one of the last days of the trip, we took a day tour with Panji from Bali Safest Driver (I highly recommend him!) to a city in the central part of Bali called Ubud. Our newlywed friends, Julianne and Cody, joined us, which we really enjoyed. Ubud is rich in culture and very hippie – we met lots of intense yoga lovers while strolling through the streets. We went to the Monkey Forest and were greeted by hundreds of monkeys, which Julianne, Cody and Sasha all held on their hand, while one decided to lay flat on my head. Afterwards, we went to the Para Saraswati Temple, then to the Don Antonio Blanco Museum. Blanco was a very talented painter, but his art is very, very sexual. We got a good laugh at some of the intense descriptions at the museum. We ate the most amazing lunch at Melting Wok Warung – our second favorite meal of the trip. We went walking through the nearby markets afterward, then headed to a more upscale shopping street afterward. Exhausted after a long, hot day, we got back in the car and went to Seminyak for dinner. We ate appetizers at Chandi (our favorite restaurant where we’d eaten the night before), then ate our meal at The Bistrot. This restaurant is gorgeous – we all commented on how it would thrive in NYC or Houston (where we were both from!). I highly recommend it. Afterwards, we went back to the Conrad and subsequently all fell asleep immediately. One of my favorite days from the honeymoon!

The Bistrot in Seminyak

International December 19, 2013

Elephant Safari

One of our favorite activities from our honeymoon in Bali was the day trip to visit the elephants in a village north of Ubud. We booked our trip with Bali Adventure Tours, and we highly recommend any tourist book via this operator, as they treat the elephants very well. I’ve never played with elephants before, as they’re very dangerous when you encounter them in African safaris. These massive animals were far from threatening – they just wanted to be your friend (and I was willing to concede). We fed the elephants, then took a 40 minute ride through a park. Afterwards, we ate at the delicious buffet before seeing the show. The show leader emphasized that the elephants weren’t being paraded like in a circus, rather they were showing off their intelligence. And I believe it – they are so smart. We befriended another American couple, Julianne and Cody, on the trip. They were staying at the same hotel as us, and of course, we had multiple friends in common. This world is so small!

International December 16, 2013

Balinese Cuisine

For the best seafood on the island, any Balinese native will point you toward Jimbaran Bay. We hopped in a cab one night and headed to this gorgeous sandy beach which is lined with seafood restaurants where you literally hand pick your dinner (this is far beyond my vegetarian mind can grasp). Sasha loved it and definitely over indulged (see photographic evidence below) at Kampoeng Restaurant.

The following day, we were picked up at 6am from the hotel and went to a local market, where we met up with our cooking class and instructor from Bumbu Bali. Heinz von Holzen is the Swiss man who runs the show – and we (especially Sasha) loved him. We were gone for 9 hours and loved every single second. We shopped in the local markets for fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, all the while learning about the local Balinese culinary customs. We headed to Heinz’s bed and breakfast, where we spent the latter half of the class learning how to prepare 20 traditional Balinese meals. We were both in awe of Heinz’s passion towards food and left inspired to recreate the dishes we made in class (and devoured after). It was one of our five favorite things we did on the trip. I recommend anyone traveling to Bali to take this class!

Sunset at Jimbaran Bay

Loving the soft white sand on my toes

Sasha working it

Sasha at Kampoeng Seafood where we ate dinner

Deciding which poor lobster to eat

Weighing his dinner for the night

Please see Sasha’s snapper, shrimp and lobster (eyes bigger than the belly)

The most gorgeous sunset

Heinz showing us the local spices

Gorgeous colors in the market

A local Balinese woman preparing rice religious offerings

Bali bananas are all this tiny

Traditional Balinese flower offerings that you will see everywhere on the island

We used plenty of these gorgeous peppers in our cooking class

Another local Balinese woman prepares another type of Hindu offering

Getting ready to get his hands dirty

Preparing the vegetarian peanut sauce salad

The vegetarian end result (heaven on earth)

Certified Balinese chefs (i.e. we have a certificate!)

Sasha demonstrating the hardships of the sulphur porters of Indonesia (read more here)

International December 12, 2013

Initial Bali Snapshots

I’m in love with Bali. It’s truly one of the most magical places I’ve ever visited, and the people here could not be any nicer. I’m a little behind on posting, so I’ve compiled our first few days in one post and will share additional pictures from our cooking class, trip to Padang Padang beach (where they filmed Eat, Pray, Love), dinner at Jimbaran Bay, and elephant ride soon.

Food

Eight Degrees South – great Mediterranean food

Suku – tasty Asian cuisine with nightly Balinese dance performances

Azure – our poolside go-to for lunch

East – a casual dining spot at the Conrad

Sakala – a phenomenal food experience – a trust “must” in Bali

Lakeview Cafe – delicious Asian buffet with breathtaking views

2Day Cafe – as close to a warung (local restaurant) as we’ve tried – great veggies

______________________________

Experiences

Relaxing at the gorgeous Conrad Bali lagoon pool and beach

Eating miso soup and drinking freshly squeezed mango juice for breakfast