Bali Tour Guide

Traveling to Bali does not just mean going tour, having massage, and spending time in the beach. It also means to learn about Balinese culture. One way to do it is to try the local food. One snack I would like to introduce here is called klepon. Funny name, but read on. It’s not easy to find the real Balinese snack, especially if you stay in the touristy  area. Going to villages, or towns in Bali, you may be able to find klepon . And If you want to to have Balinese authentic culinary adventure, try it. Klepon is glutinous sticky rice ball with palm sugar inside it. It is usually served with grated coconut. When do we have klepon? Any time, but usually  during the relax time, for example, when having coffee. The colour of klepon is green. Traditionally, Balinese women use a kind of leaf (called don kayu sugih ) to give color to the klepon.  So, green colour of klepon is from the colour of the leaf, not some artificial coloring. Sometimes, klepon can be black, because it i...

I don't know that a food without garlic nor onion can be edible (haha). At least in Bali, since here you usually have the basa genep (the complete spices) in almost all kinds of food prepared in Bali kitchen. Usually a cooking would have everything. Tumeric, onion, garlic, salt, chilli, pepper, galengal, and ginger are present in the cooking. When Ser Chim ( a client from Singapore) arrived in Bali, he pinpointed some of the restaurants which he searched from the Internet that served no onion and no garlic. I know the idea that onion and garlic are not good if you are studying meditation, but don't really meet a lot of people who avoid garlic and onion. Ser Chim was one of them. To start, we went to a small restaurant at Jalan Raya Kuta called Happy Budha. The restaurant looks like a shop more than a restaurant. When we stopped there, there were not so many people eating there. Well, there were about five tables around. As I looked at the menu, I just quite amazed because the...

Ulun Danu temple by lake Bratan is a great place to spend time during the day. You will see the blue lake, and the hills and forest at the end of the lake. Try take a long breath, you can feel the fresh air going into your lungs. Somehow, you will feel warm and peaceful here. (disclaimer: different person may feel different thing, and may not work when it is raining). Back to our discussion, that is, where to go to lunch. First, there is a restaurant in Candi Kuning market. It is called Top Deck restaurant. I have once bring one group of clients from Pacific Mutual Fund for a buffet lunch, and tried the food my self. The food is okay. It belongs to Mr. David (hi Mr. Dave..!!), an Australian who promote his restaurant by having the cleanest toilet in the island. If you'd like to use the restaurant, and admire how clean it is, you need to pay Rp 2000. But if you order your food there, the toilet use if free of charge. You need to be patient though, service is rather slow. Maybe you c...

It was late nineties, a restaurant was being built somewhere in Ubud . It stood in a very strategic location over looking the view of rice field. That's a great asset, tourist like rice field view. But there was still one problem, they still did not have a name for the restaurant. Days passed. They could not get any inspiration for the restaurant name. Then one afternoon, from the wet rice fields, came a group of ducks. Those ducks, with their dirty feet, stepped into the restaurant and leave marks of their feet print almost every where on the restaurant floor. And this was the "Aha" moment for the restaurant owner. And so, they named the restaurant, Dirty Duck Dinner. The restaurant, which is located in eastern Ubud and close to monkey forest, specializes on crispy duck. For one package of crispy duck, it comes with a sambal ("delicious mix of spices"), long bean with grated coconut (please don't ask me what the ingredients), rice, and the crispy duck. They...

Beside lawar , the most popular food among the Balinese is roasted pig or suckling pig. During the special occasion like wedding, local birthdays, three months old ceremony for new born and other various celebrations the suckling pig always present. It is a special treat, favorite for most Balinese. You too can try the spicy suckling pig in Bali, the only question is where is the best place to eat suckling pig. One of the best and popular place is a local food stall in Ubud centre. Ubud centre is a very busy cross road where the local art market (known as Ubud Market)and the Puri Saren (Ubud Palace) is situated.The suckling pig food stall is just in a little corner next the the Ubud village hall opposite of Puri Saren. Every local, passer by, police, and almost every body knows where the food stall is.You can't miss it. The name of the food stall, as you see on the photo, (forgive my bad quality of camera phone, it's a Sony Ericsson k700i) is called Bu Oka. Well, it is belong ...

Spending evening with your loved ones in Jimbaran Bay is worth a try. Jimbaran Bay, or Kedonganan Beach (15 minutes drive south of air port) is a very popular site of sea food restaurants or cafes. Located just by the beach, these restaurants have unique setting. Many visitors enjoys the taste of sea food prepared with both local and international recipes. One of the restaurant that I recommend is the Sea Side Cafe which is owned and managed by the local Balinese. The perfect time to come to this restaurant is in the evening, during the wonderful sunset. You can have table on the white sand waiting as the sky turn orange and the gentle breeze wipe your face. There are many selections of fish you can try. They will give you the menu offerings what is available there. Usually you will be asked to go to the front of the restaurant where they grill the fish. This is where you can choose what kind of fish you'd like to have. A few of the selection available are: fresh lobster, prawns, r...