Tanah Lot

Another places of interest in Bali will be at Tanah Lot, it is a rock formation off Indonesia Island of Bali. For those who wants to have a view of a beautiful Sunset, this is one of the place you may consider. However, my visit there was in the morning as we have other plans.

Entrance

And down the long flight of staircase, enjoy your moment with a scenic natural view on mother earth.

Nature

Listening to the inconsistent roars of the wave.

Beautiful waves

Pura Batu Mejan

And with the waves lapping into the shore.

Waves

View the nature

 The natural rock formation is a Hindu Shrine and it attracts many tourists as well as photographers.

Crowded Area

The centre attraction of the place will be its temple which is located off shore and can only be access when tide is low.

Main Attraction

One point to take note is to wear something comfortable and easy to walk in the water, preferably slippers and be careful of the slippery uneven ground.

Uneven and slippery grounds

And be warned not to stepped into holes like this.

Becareful of the holes

Be prepared to get wet if you standing near the shores as the water may just hit on them and splash onto you.

Caution! Waves at rocks are hazardous.

Do head in there to get your blessings and holy water from the monk.

Temple

For those who is not equip with the proper gear or does not want to go into the temple can just stay on the shore. There are these big grey rocks which are pictures worthy too!

Grey Rocks

Large waves near the rocks are hazardous, therefore do look out for their warning signage and stay clear of the danger zone.

Overview

Another viewing spot.

On the way back, you will get to see a small lane that brings to to their mini zoo. We were welcome by a few parrots as we entered the place.

Parrots

Further in, visitors get to see Owls. Why are these nocturnal animals awake at day time?

Owls

There were 2 owls on the tree branches during the time of our visit with one of them chained.

Owl

And the chain one turned hostile suddenly and flew up which had given us a big fright but luckily he was being withheld by its chain.

Handsome Owl

Moving to the next station, the assistance opened up one of the wooden box and reveal the venomous python. It was fat and big, hissing away. Though it looked pretty scary, one of the younger boys  were seen using his fingers stroking at its body. Awww... we were so intimidated.

Python

The snake collection didnt just stop at one, infect they have few other cages with different speices of snake.

Snake

And look! What's hanging upside down on the tree branch. It does have strong legs to hold up its body weight.

Fruit bat

Its a fruit bat and you are allow to feed them but its seem that its their bed time now.

Bat

And out from the mini zoo and into its market streets.

Market

Statue

What are these local selling?

Road Side Stall

 

Tanah Lot Temple
Location: Jalan Raya Tanah Lot, Beraban Village, Kediri, Tabanan
Operating Hours:  07:00 - 19:00

Pondok Tempo Doeloe

Pondok Tempo Doeloe name suggest a traditional  home-style Indonesian dining, with Pondok referring to Small Hut while Temopo Doeloe is a known Indonesian Phrase which suggest old times.

They are one of the successful national franchises (IBC Group) providing Indonesian Cuisine. If you worry about exploring the road side stalls that serves Indonesian Cuisine, you may want to consider taking a trip down to Pondok Tempo Doeloe.

Environment is clean and with decors are stylish with Indonesian settings with solid tables and chairs while menu was extensive.

Pondok Tempo Doeloe

A good opening dish to our meals, Tilapia's Pesmol. The Tilapia was pan fried and then cooked in Sundanese Style with mixes of herbs, tomatoes and chillies. Simply love its tangy but not too spicy taste.

Tilapia's Pesmol

Pucuk Labu, also known as the pumpkin sprouts was totally something new to my vegetables list from the restaurant. Crunchy and not too oily.

Sauteed Pucuk Labu

Another fish to the table, the deep fried carp. This freshwater fish was fried to perfection with a consistent color with meat being spread out evenly. The crispy meat goes best with the original sauce of IBC.

Deep Fried Carp

Another interesting Sundanese dish whipped out from the kitchen, a vegetable salad mixed in peanut dressing. Quite appetizing to the palettes.

Karedok

While Sauteed Water Spinach was rather straight forward, just plain water spinach cooked without any other ingredients seen. It looked abit oily though.

Sauteed Water Spinach

The "Black" soup is the East Javanese Style of beef broth mixed with numerous spices. The black colour from the soup was due to the use of Keluak (Fruit of Kepayang Tree). Beef was tender and soft and we skip the soup as it was too salty for us to take.

Black Soup

The lamb stew was prepared in coconut milk and curry sauce which comes with onions and belinjo crackers. For those who seldom take lamb, the smell from the lamb maybe a tad challenging. Likewise, meat was tender and soup was salty.

Kulai Kambing

Indonesian dishes are well known for its grilled / barbaque chicken and having them placed in front of my eyes just excites me further. It was well grilled with parts of the thigh charred, the grilled chicken comes with a special seasoning, one of the best dishes out of all.

IBC's Grilled Chicken

Meals ended well with fruits platter as our good bye dish to the restaurant. 3 types of fruits (papaya, watermelon and honeydew) was served chilled to our tables.

Fruits after meal

With its large tables and upscale Indonesian surroundings, Pondok Tempo Doeloe is one of the recommended place if you want to enjoy authentic Indonesian Food and not worrying about the seats.

 Rating: 3 / 5

Pondok Tempo Doeloe
Location: Jl. Sunset Road 8, Kuta
Operating Hours:  10:00 - 22:00
Website

Jimbaran, Bali

Another place in Bali that you may want to consider visiting is Jimbaran to see the beautiful sun sets before the sky turns dark.

Sunset

Jimbaran Bay itself is a pleasant white sand beach, clean and with wide beautiful sky above us. The sunset timing may various due to different time of the year, it is best to check with the locals to avoid any disappointments.

White Sky

It is one of a popular tourist attractions as well, getting them enjoying the wonderful natural breeze and dining by the sea.

Dining By the Beach

There is a stretch of restaurant available in Jimbaran Bay and during dining, there are local cultural arts live performances to keep the diners entertained. Tables and chairs were all arrange on the sandy beach.

Sun setting Colors

We went ahead with Grand Matahari Cafe as recommended by the driver. The cafe is equipped with free wifi for their guests.

Grand Matahari Cafe

Even many of us came for the scenary and dining outdoors, the restaurant still do provide dining indoors.

Dining Environment Interior

Dining by the sea experience was a real joy, perhaps things that we need to take note for those who are prone to mosquitoes bite may considering applying some repellant before visiting the place.

Drinks Menu

Another thing to note during dining will be where we are seated. Be extra careful as the legs of the chair may sink into the sank due to our weight.

Beautiful Nature

Set meal menu had been prepared base on the number of diners and their portions, thus diner do not have to worry about matching their seafood on the platter.

Package

However, if you do not want to take up their package meal, those seafood can be ordered separately in their ala carte menu.

Ala carte Menu

 As soon as we sat down on the seats, we ordered our thirst quencher individually. While most of us ordered fruit juices.

Honey Dew Juice

Pineapple Juice

Watermelon Juice

And I had the safest choice of all, fresh coconut drink.

Coconut Drink

Vegetables soup was served shortly after beverages. It tasted like Mee Soto Soup but in vegetables and fried onion version. Addictive but alot of MSG was added.

Vegetables Soup

The main course consist of fish, grilled prawns, calms, calamari, crabs and lobster. Food did not  appeal to us as they were rather dry and below expectations. Perhaps out of the whole plate, the only thing that stands out better than the rest was its clams coated in tangy tomato sauce.

Type C

While type D package was generally an upgrade version from Type C with more prawns, calamari, calms and heavier fish. The taste was still a far cry.

Type D

And from the ala carte menu, as usual we had ordered some vegetables to strike a good balance with the meat. Awwww... They were really dry.

Stir Fried Kang Kong

And Rice was placed in a basket and is refillable. That marked my dinner at the first day of Bali.

Refillable White Rice

Beautiful sunset had soon turned darker in about an hour time and we were seem dining in the dark even though there are some beach lights by the side. I guess its best to have our food eaten before the sky turns dark and enjoy the performance thereafter.

Night Scene

We spend about $50 SGD for 5 pax.

In Summary, I would say going there to Jimbaran is more of a scenery enjoyment than the food. Perhaps one can lower down the expectation on the food from those beach restaurants. The beautiful sunset and the constant sound of nature from the wave and sea breeze are still heavenly.

Grand Matahari Cafe
Location: Kedonganan Beach, Jimbaran Beach, Kuta, 80361, Bali, Indonesia