Bali, Indonesia

It's been over a week since I got back from Dubai. I'm still on a Dubai high. I have been so enamored (wow heavy word haha) with Dubai that I am seriously considering to relocate there if I find a job. Anyway, been busy as usual so before I post about my Dubai trip, let me wrap up my Bali trip. I'm also due for an update on my Cohen diet. If you have been following my weight ticker, I updated it as of last week (yey on the continuous weight loss!).

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Cebu - The Tropical Paradise

My first trip for 2014 was to my dad's hometown, Cebu!!! My renter was moving out so I had to accompany my Mom to do inventory. Thus, we took it as a chance to go on a short holiday as well.

I'm sure for most of us foodies, the first thing you think of when you hear Cebu is LECHON (look up and drool). I cannot agree more with Anthony Bourdain that the best roast pork is indeed in Cebu. I've tasted Babi Guling in Ubud, Bali Indonesia and it doesn't compare (haha). My mom knew of a place where they sold whole roasted pork so we checked it out. I'm so sorry I forgot the name of the place but it's near Banilad in Cebu along the main road.
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Babi Guling Ibu Oka Restaurant, Ubud, Bali Indonesia

I found the BABI GULING!!!!!!!!

We were lucky our tour guide/driver knew where to find the Babi Guling. We went to Ubud, around 1.5 hours away from the main Kuta beach and luckily there was a restaurant there that specializes in Babi Guling, in fact they serve ONLY Babi Guling. I'm not sure though if this is the best but it looks real authentic and there were a lot of tourists.

Click on the picture above to look at the full list of their menu (1 SGD = IDR 7,500). Of course, I had to order no less than the Babi Guling Special.

I loved the idea of eating on the floor and just being able to comfortably enjoy your food.

Now, I'm not sure if my expectations were too high because I actually think it tasted just like any other ordinary roast pork. I also felt the chili sauce on top masked the real taste of the meat.

Nothing spectacular. The skin wasn't crispy in fact quite soggy. And if you've read my entry before we left for Bali, Anthony Bourdain rated this dish as the 2nd best roast pork he has ever tasted in the whole world - next to #1 Cebu's Lechon in the Philippines.

In my opinion, Cebu's Lechon is (so much) better by a far mile.

There were throngs of Japanese tourists in Ubud and like me, they also made sure they visited this place for the roast pork.

We both enjoyed the coffee. Very rustic but aromatic with an intense flavour. It was actually roughly ground which meant there was still a lot of coffee sediments at the bottom of the cup. Zach loved it.

No rating for now as I wasn't really being too critical about anything as I wanted to enjoy our trip :-)

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Bali, Indonesia

Can I just say that Blogger definitely has to find a way to make uploading pictures much easier. 5 pics at a time will take me forever to upload all our pictures.

Anyway, I absolutely to-the-highest-supercalifragilistic-effing-degree enjoyed Bali!

I set my expectations really low because I've heard numerous so-so stories about Bali. But I really loved the culture and the mystical aura of Bali (Seriously, there's something different about the habitat and environment). The Indonesians have got to be one of the most, if not the most, courteous and hospitable people I have ever met in my whole 28 years of existence. The food is another wonderful story altogether. I can honestly say Bali has been of the most memorable and enjoyable trips I have ever had in a long time. I enjoyed it way more than the other beach places I've been to so far - Boracay in the Philippines, Phuket and Phi Phi in Thailand or Tioman in Malaysia.

With regard to the pics, I figured it would be way easier to view them through Kodak Gallery Shutterfly, so kindly click on the link below. I've added captions to the pictures for storytelling purposes.

https://april242007.shutterfly.com/pictures/141

Enjoy!

P.S. I am definitely planning another trip to Bali.. SOON! Read more on "Bali, Indonesia"!

Sweet Escape

In a few hours, less than 7 hours to be exact, i'll be boarding an Air Asia flight to Denpasar in Indonesia for a much-needed 4-day holiday in Bali.

Can you believe Air Asia had a S$50net promo for a roundtrip ticket to Bali?! I couldn't believe it as well so when I saw this sale a few months ago I didn't think twice about booking it. C'mon, its 50 freaken dollars hehe. Actually, ours came up to S$75 each because we booked exit seats and return luggage. But still, its way too cheap.

Call it destiny because that same week-period that Air Asia went on sale, Accor Hotels also went on a 3-day ridiculous sale. We were able to book a room in Novotel Nusa Dua for S$65 a night. Now are we lucky or what? :)

Plus, I'm really looking forward to Balinese Babi Guling (Roast Pork). Anthony Bourdain said in his blog that it's the second best roast pork he has ever tasted in the whole world (next to #1's Cebu Lechon in the Philippines), no kidding! Sorry Zach hehe I just want to taste.

See you in 4 days :-)

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