Wayan Café in Ubud, Bali

Plug: Did not know how famous this joint actually is till I Googled it. It has plenty of online reviews so here's a pretty ok link.

Alright, you must be thinking that this is just another restaurant. How special can a restaurant be right? Wrong! This is one of the most awesome café that I've ever came across. Located at a very easy-to-spot area in Ubud (walk and walk, you'll be bound to notice it), I had a really good time there.

This place has a very nice outdoor theme going on where they have nice huts placed all over their land, which is long rather than wide. Its tight in the sense that you feel very cozy, which gives you (or me at least) a very relaxing feel.

You have everything going on, from the friendly staff to the peaceful waterfall to the fans in the hut that keeps the temperature cool enough to the landscaping which is full of green. At the counter you'll have quite a selection of cakes which costs cheaper than Secret Recipe (Rm5+).




See? Not very wide but cozy. LOTS of trees which provides good shade and keeps away the heat.





One of the huts.





Arrived first with Ovira and Ken Jon, while the rest were still browsing through the shops.

Part of the crew that I was travelling with, awesome bunch of people. (Not to forget Gillian, Ken Jon and Grace who are not in the pic)





This is MY chocolate cake =D Its Wayan Café's signature cake aptly named, Death by Chocolate. Its thick chocolate cake, with swashbuckling (credits to Roald Dahl) chocolate icing, with thick chocolate sauce which has a very nice hint of alcohol. Oh, yeah the cake has chocolate chip on it too. And chocolate flakes.





Another type of chocolate cake. We ordered all the types of chocolate cakes that they had. This one reminds me of Secret Recipe's "Chocolate Indulgence".

Andrew's 'Long Island Tea'. Its a cocktail (I think). Tasted really good. It has a very lemony...cinnamonny.....alchololicky.....flavour to it.

Ken Jon's drink, the house specialty (forgot the name) and has quite a kick to it.


By the way, I had my first cocktail that very day! Had the Mojito that Ah Kit reccomended, and I have to say that I liked it. Like the fact that the alchohol is not too overpowering. Basically in Malaysian term, I would say that it tasted like Limau Ice with a kick of alcohol.





Rear view of my chocolate cake. Isn't she beautiful?





This chocolate cake came with bananas topped with cream. Enjoyed this cake too. Well, I'm into chocolate so I'm biased in that sense. They do have a range of non-chocolate cakes too....





Another shot of the cake almost finished up. We spent quite a lot of time in that cafe. Initially, the tour guide set a time for us, 45 minute but we ended up staying there for a good 2 hours. (not sure how accurate I am but we definitely overshot our time limit)

Another thing that I loved about this restaurant is that its a great place for photography. The huts are practically wide open so there is plenty of available light (I have yet to master low-light-photography. Lol, my indoor pictures are pretty miserable. Working on it!).


Now, get on that next flight to Bali (erm...at least right after we've got that whole H1N1 thing over with). Stop by Wayan Café alright =D Its a really good place to just laze around after you get tired from all that window shopping.

Ubud, Bali

Update(June 30): I would be away helping out at a children's camp till Friday. So I won't be blog hopping in the next few days. So don't be anxious if I don't reciprocate your visit =D


Next morning we headed to Ubud, took a slightly long journey. It wasn't super long but I don't remember it being short either. But still I was pumped up for the second day of Bali-awesomeness!



There were people selling newspaper outside the van on the streets. Guess what? They even have Star Newspaper! Thought of buying but the tour guide told me that is costs Rm15. (?!!) Rip off....

Arrived at Ubud Town, and started walking. There is this whole stretch of shops where you can just spend your whole day walking through. We had an hour.....




Scene on the streets...




Isn't this awesome? Why didn't Malaysians ever thought about this? Donuts on motorcycles! Bought a doughnut for 2000 rupiahs I think which sums up to less than 1 ringgit. Not Big Apple quality but you can expect something around Dunkin Donuts.

A little narcissism is good for the soul =)




Ken Jon and Ovira posing. Imagine this whole stretch of beautiful shops.

One of the souvenirs sold at one of the shops. Pretty colours caught my eye =D

These are some kind of traditional Bali instrument which I don't know the name of. Can't believe that I did not even thought about asking. Bought one for less than Rm 10 ! It has a very hollow and enchanting tune. Sounds something like THE Bali tunes.

Ubud is a nice place to just get lost around. I don't think its a great place to shop but I think the ladies will definitely have fun browsing through.

But there's this one amazing treasure at Ubud town which you absolutely MUST visit if you ever go to Ubud. Won't tell you what it is but it is going to be....(wait for it...wait for it.....) LEGENDARY!!!(Those who watch 'How I Met Your Mother' would get my drift). I think that it might be one of the awesome-est post yet on this site.

BRATs in Kuala Kangsar

Alright, lets take a SHORT break from Bali posting. Don't want you all to go jelak and overload on Bali. So lets come back to somewhere more local, iPoh!

Ole BRATs came out today. For those who do not know BRATs stands for Bright Roving Annoying Teens, a young journalist program by the Star. We have a pullout in the middle of Star Education every last Sunday of the month. You get to meet awesome people like Ian, Ivy, Niki and Sharmila (names in alphabetical order for diplomatical reasons).

Joined the workshop last year and came back to help out as a senior. So the stories you read in today's pullout are the blood and tears of the Ipoh 2009 workshop held few weeks ago. Can read some of the articles online here.



Some BRATs interviewing a lady at a handicraft store.

Shot of the handicraft store..........the whole place, Kuala Kangsar in general is pretty quiet.

I actually chatted up some senior citizens. The riverbanks is like their 'hangout' spot where they will just sit and chillax for the whole day, and chat with their fellow senior citizen friends.




Met this uncle who owns this old shop selling vintage sewing machines. Has a very nice smile. And it was in the morning so the beautiful sun provided some flare.




Old fan....




This is one of the not-so-vintage sewing machines.




BRATs had to do their food review! Lol, most of them ended up in the same food court =_= Imagine it was a whole food court selling the exact same thing! -which is laksa and chendol. Had some really good mee rebus. (Did a short post on Kuala Kangsar too a while back)




Chendol was nice but I thought the shopkeepers were a little too stingy with the fillings so what you get is mostly ice. Hmm....perhaps next time request for more fillings.....with extra charges of course. But I appreciate the fact that their ice is nicely shaved.




Lastly, we made a stop at the royal palace. This is them BRATs best attemp at a High School Musical poster jump. lol

Sunset Dinner ar Jimbaran Beach

Right after visiting Uluwatu Temple, we rushed to Jimbaran Beach for the sunset dinner. Tables and chairs were lined up all along the beach for people to have dinner while enjoying the sunset.


There's lots of people there already. The beach is crowded most of the time, so there goes your dreams of a romantice dinner for two, with the whole beach to yourself.

But the beach is full of life! You can see the half-naked 'ang moh' (white guy) with his DSLR, a local helping a couple catch their moment, and people armed with their cameras capturing the sunset.



Friends running on the beach. Bali sure does make you feel very carefree and relaxed. Lol, everything is made to resemble a resort, even the airport!



Couldn't resist some sillouette pictures.



Next, we have the food!


Vege....



The sauce is MAGICAL! Perhaps its because I've never tasted anything like it before. I think we had it refilled twice.




Everyone had a plate. Seriously, this is the best BBQ seafood that I've ever had. They have a very different kind of marinate from what we have here in Malaysia. Main ingredient is santan (coconut) so it was delightful to discover this new taste.



Pic of the table setting.

Sue Jan obviously enjoying her food....

There was this guy selling roasted corn by the beach. Its another thing that I noticed about the locals in Bali. They LOVE corn. You walk and walk and...hei!....a shop selling corn....then walk again, and there you have another shop selling corn. Not a corn fan so I did not buy.



This band really added to the beach mood that evening. They went table to table singing songs. So you have the setting sun, sounds of waves crashing on the beach, gentle sea breeze, great food and sounds of a band playing in a distance. Sounds perfect huh?


Last shot of the sunset =D

.
.
.
.
.
.
.