My getaway from Singapore - Bali 2013 Prelude

Finally settled down from my 2 getaway trips from Singapore - First to Bali in late Oct and a relatively trip to Taiwan in Nov. Here's the prelude to the Bali trip while trying to sort out the photos I have took. And before that, I am now thinking and looking into a third and final trip for 2013, that is to Perth. May my wish come true!

Bali (24 -27 Oct)

Cheap tickets and the desire to travel out of Singapore as soon as my hectic work schedule slows down was the pushing factor for this trip. Tigerairway was having their promotion during April and the deal went as low as around SGD150 for a trip to Bali, but without any check in luggage. Going to a Beach and relaxing trip does not require check in luggage was the thought for me then. I notified a couple of friends on this deal and 3 of them agreed on the trip. Out of the 3, 2 know each other and I thought why not. Travelling is all about meeting new people and therefore the 4 of us confirmed. But I guess, 6 months was too far stretch for one of us and she pulled out in the end. Nonetheless, the 3 of us went ahead for an adventurous instead of a chillax trip. We booked day trip out of Seminyak for the 3 days. For night life lovers, I guessed Seminyak would be good. For shopping and chillax lovers, Kuta would be great as recommended by the guide. For people like us who like nature, Ubud would be good as less travelling time to the destination. As for us, we booked our hotel - Sense Bali Hotel - without doing much research and confirming our itinerary. Thus, our travelling time was quite long. But nonetheless, we took the time to rest and relax. 

Day 1: 

We reached Bali at around noon and we took the time to relax after checking in - Walked to the Seminyak Square for meal and to the Bintang Supermarket to stock up. 

Day 2:

Booked the Bali Eco Cycling trip which brought us to Penelokan (Kintamani) for breakfast with stunning view overlooking the active volcano, Mt. Batur and its crater lake. Then off to start off our cycling trip where we will pass by Balinese plantation, travelling through lush forested areas, plantations, small villages and lush rice paddy panoramas, including a visit to a Balinese home/compound. Pretty nice relaxing day trip where tourists get to see the other side of Bali. No worries if you do not know how to cycle. Go for a tandem bike or just hop on to their van. 

Day 3:

Booked a private car which brought us to Water Rafting at Ayung river, Ubud Monkey Forest and Tanah Lot for Sunset. Supposedly there was a guide to bring us round and the duty of a guide was supposedly to inform us of the place. But he was not doing much but to bring us to the destination, dropped us off and picked us up again. I guess, we could just pay less for a driver. Nonetheless, we did enjoy ourselves that day.

Day 4:

The highlight of the trip was here. We woke up at 1am to prepare for our Mt Batur volcano sunrise trek. Amazing trip which only 3 of us went with a private guide. The couple who was supposed to join us backed out int he end. A 3 hours trek up but the fabulous sunrise blew our tiredness off. Totally worth the lack of sleep, the treks for it.

Day 4 was the last day in Bali. And I guess the next time I am back in Bali, it would definitely for some other volcano sunrise trek.

Till I blog on a more detailed Bali trip with more photos, here is the summary of the beautiful Bali, captured by your truly.  

Bali Beauty

Poulet - Raffles City

Meeting up with Random Friends to celebrate the youngest's birthday. Should be done in December but two of us will be away in Vancouver. Thus, we brought forward the celebration, especially when we last met up in September. 

Decided to patronize Poulet, a casual French restaurant, by the Thai Express group, at Raffles City. Been wanting to visit it since I heard quite good comments about the place. We had to queue for half an hour or so in order to get a seat and while eating, the queue never stopped till after nine plus. Good food but though not really that fantastic that I will be queuing half hour for it. 

Poulet

As a potato lover, french fries is the best starter for me. I would also try to order a share of french fries whenever possible. Huge chunky fries was great at Poulet. Complementary it was the chili sauce. Normal chili sauce which we can buy it off shelf . We could not understand why the service crew gave us such a small portion which we eventually asked for the 5th serving. Come on, looking at the serving of the fries, would really recommend them to fill it up to the brim instead of 1/5 of the saucer. This does not make sense! 

French Fries

Next up the table is the restaurant’s star dish - Poulet Rôti (roast chicken). The both of us shared the whole chicken. The portion was just nice and my friend was looking for the wing. She couldn't find it and I did not take note of the wings when eating. Seems weird, where are the wings? Anyway, the Mushroom Sauce complimented the tender meat. But towards the end, I got a bit sick of the sauce and dipped the chili sauce instead. Not sure if we did not enjoy the sauce or they really served the chicken with a lot of sauce - when we finished the chicken, there was still a lot of sauce leftover. But for around 30 dollars, personally I do not find this dish worth. Still, go ahead and order as this is, after all, my personal preference. 

Poulet Rôti (roast chicken)

Off to Mr Punch rooftop pub at Seah Street. Nice place to chillax as there was not many people there. Recommend to go!

Hairy Crab meal at Mouth Restaurant（地茂馆）

Sister's treat to Mouth Restaurant (地茂馆) for the Hairy Crab set meal. Initially she had a date with her friend but her friend was busy with work. Thus, I got a free meal from Sister as she had craving for Hairy Crab since long. 

If I remembered correctly, this is a November promotion and for $30++, you get to eat - 

1) Double Herbal Boiled Conch meat with Black Chicken Soup

2) Steamed Hairy Crab Meat Dumpling

3) Steamed Hairy Crab

4) Crispy Noodle with Chicken & Egg 

5) Ginger Tea with glutinous rice ball 

Not a bad combination but to a dim sum restaurant, it is quite a must to order Liu Sha Bun (流沙包). It is actually salted egg custard filling. Nice way to start the dinner as it took quite a while to serve the dishes though we had made reservations. Nonetheless, the bun was great. The first bite and the salted egg filling was oozing out. Yummy is the word to describe it despite the fact that I had 2 ulcers sitting at the top and bottom of the left side of the mouth.

Liu Sha Bun (流沙包）

The dishes did not arrive in order. We had the Steamed Hairy Crab Meat Dumpling served first. It tasted like normal xiao long bao (小笼包) and I did not taste any crab meat. Could it be the mixture of the meat that stole away the crab meat taste? I was not sure about it and seriously, before I looked carefully at the menu, I really thought I was eating the normal dumpling. What a waste that was!

Steamed Hairy Crab Meat Dumpling

Next up was the Double Herbal Boiled Conch meat with Black Chicken Soup - served pipping hot. I liked this soup. The chicken meat was tender and the soup was tasty. Get a chance and try the herbal soup in the restaurant, I think it is worth the price!

Double Herbal Boiled Counch meat with Black Chicken Soup

Next up is the highlight of the meal - Steamed Hairy Crab. The service crew helped to de-shell the crab first and removed the innards. Initially we thought that she will help to de-shell and gave us the meat. But fat hope. We needed to put in effort in order to enjoy the crab.

I took nearly half hour to forty-five minutes to finish the whole crab. As small as it was, it really needed time and patience to eat crab. I guess the smaller it was, the harder to do it. As the crab was steamed, we could taste the freshness of the crab - Nice. Best food is one that we can taste the original taste - No sauce, no nothing, just the meat.

Steamed Hairy Crab

Sis was complaining that the crab was small and she was not full. She was still suggesting to head to Chinatown for second round. But next dish up was the crispy noodle. The order of food was like that of a wedding banquet where the staple food was served well before the desserts. They did not take note that I was still enjoying my crab and served the noodle. Thus, by the time I get to the noodle, it was no longer crispy and had become soggy. Nonetheless, the noodle finally gave sis and me the full feeling.

Crispy Noodle with Chicken & Egg

Last dish of the meal was the Ginger Tea with glutinous rice ball. Oh crap, personally I do not like Ginger Tea. The glutinous rice ball was sesame and it tasted quite good for dessert. I really could not complete the tea, not that I was really full, but the taste was too strong for me. Ginger tea is good for health or whatever purpose, thanks but no thanks. Maybe the restaurant could give some options to desserts. That would be fantastic!

Ginger Tea with glutinous rice ball

A nice meal with a nice ambiance. The meal I took more than one hour to complete. Not fine dining but savouring on crabs really needs time and patience. The restaurant was not crowded and their service crew were very attentive to us - making it a point to refill our teacup, clearing the plates the soonest we finished the dish. A bit stressful for me as it seemed that someone was staring at you while you ate. Quite a nice place to have dinner. They have a branch at China Square and another at Plaza Singapura. Go for the outlet at China Square as it is less crowded. 

22 Cross St,
Singapore 048421