Bali ’17 [ Seminyak + Canggu]

If you have read my blog, you would know that about eight months ago, i was in Bali. Eight months later, and yet again, Syaira and I found ourselves in the heart of the tropical paradise. This time, however, we came with a lengthy to-do list in the back of our head and it was an equal measure of work and leisure. If you have read my blog too, you would know that Bali was a beautiful start to our clothing line, Soleil.  And this time around, we went, in hopes that we could make Soleil a splendid reality.

We arrived in Bali at 7 in the morning after a long sleepless night. Our flight was being delayed from 9.50 pm to 4 am. And on top of that, the villa won’t be ready until 2.30 pm. I don’t know about you but i can never go through a day without showering or sleeping even. Lesson learnt. Although it is cheaper to have a night flight, you might have to consider the possibilities of it being delayed especially when you are flying with a budget airline. I feel icky and simply put, unpleasant. I could not even muster the guts to look at myself in the mirror because i am very much convinced that it is not a pretty sight. So with no place to go to and certainly, no solid intention to explore, we went to Nalu Bowls for our all time favourite smoothie bowls!

Our personal favourite is the Uluwatu: dragon fruit, bananas, mangos, strawberries. I honestly do not mind having this everyday. It is sweet and it is unfortunate that i could not find this in KL.

When we could finally check into our 2-bedroom villa in Seminyak [Villa Atma], we said nothing to each other and hurriedly went to the bathroom to get our very much needed shower and the world did not seem so bad after all. The villa was pretty basic. We needed somewhere that is reasonably priced for a one night stopover. The best part is it is located in Jalan Drupadi, less than 5 minutes walk to Nalu Bowls.

The next morning, we hired a driver to take us to Jalan Sulawesi, Denpasar for fabric hunting. The fabrics are unsurprisingly cheaper than in KL. The choices of patterns on the other hand, is so much better? They have the exact patterns that we had in mind. It baffles us how sometimes, simplicity is truly a rarity. On the other note, we cannot wait to release our Seroja collection under Soleil: focusing on baju kurung.

We had the driver to take us to our next villa in Canggu, Kuta. The moment we arrived there, we were blown away by the beauty of the villa. It was everything that we imagined it to be, if not better. It gave us the desert in LA vibe, with the beautiful cacti that managed to hurt three of us. The bathroom was to die for. We spent hours in there filming our vlog that we will be releasing very soon. I reckon, you will have a better grasp of our trip from the vlog. I must say, it is a bit awkward because we are so not used to be in front of camera that way but we thought, it would be a great platform to share our journey with you.

Of course, we had to have our little photoshoot here too. I love how our Blanc linen set complements the place so much. I think linens are truly an island essential. This time around, i only had linen dresses and sets with me and it was one of the best decisions i have ever made. You can wear the linen top with a skirt, or with jeans or any sort of pants and you are good to go!

We had our dinner at a restaurant nearby. We were drawn to this beautiful stairs that gave us the Mexican or Spanish vibe and once we entered the place, they had a picture of Pablo Escobar on the walls. It was golden hour then and it brightened up the place like no other. Although, they only had pizzas and the menu is pretty limited, i must say, their pizza is good. I would totally recommend this place.

 

Next to it would be Roti Canai cafe or something like that which, i totally do not recommend. We had to wait for almost an hour just for a piece of roti canai that we could get from a mamak stall which usually takes up about 5-10 minutes. Worse, it was not worth the wait. Besides that, on the second day in Canggu, we had a wonderful dinner at The Lawn. 

We had gone there during sunset and it was magical. We had calamari and gado gado, both were actually so good that i do not mind going there again. They had a bed of grass that you could sit on and it was a busy night then, so the grass area was thronged with people. I would totally recommend going here, enjoying your tapas and drinks while the sun is setting.

We had breakfast at Shady Shack. Walking distance from our villa. I must say, being surrounded by the paddy field could be so pleasantly comforting. It was a beautiful cafe with a beautiful atmosphere. We had our smoothie bowls which is not as good as the ones we had from Nalu Bowls but it was alright. The food was not too bad. I loved the avocado toast that i had but i wished it was bigger.

Last but not least, if you ever find yourself in Bali, please go find yourself the nearest Paletas Wey you could find. It has the best ice cream popsicle i have ever had. We tried the Banana Nutella and fell in love with it immediately after and could not resist of going there again and again. I had like 5 of their popsicles. I had tried the Nescafe + Condensed milk which is SO GOOD too; the Oreo popsicle is good too. I need to get back there soon just to try everything in the menu. As far as i know, they have a kiosk in Canggu, Uluwatu, Jimbaran because we went to all three of them. The premium ones cost about 30k IDR and the cheapest ones cost about 20k IDR. It would not disappoint you. And if you are in Bali right now, please get one and enjoy it for me because there are some people who are dying to be in your place right now! (Like me)
Unlike Seminyak, Canggu is less chaotic and it is nice to take a walk. It has a lot of nice cafes and restaurants and nice bars along the way and you could rent a scooter even to take you around and i reckon, it would be safer than riding it in Seminyak. Walking in Seminyak can be infuriating especially when you constantly have to hear taxi drivers honking at potential customers. I would totally recommend staying in Canggu instead of Seminyak, you would love Canggu as much as i do hopefully.

Until then,

x