W Retreat & Spa, Bali.

The new W hotel in Seminyak, Bali.

view of the open air lobby + lounge at night.

the golf carts that took us from our villas to the lobbys 10x a day. we decided to book a 1Br private villa w/ our own pool, instead of staying in the main connected hotel. after all.. bali is known for villa resorts!

sO. THIS is what i saw when we stepped in the lobby to check in. the afternoon tea CAKES. spread out on the bar + tempting. i knew this was going to be a good stay. X)

view of our huge villa pool + deck. for a 1 bR villa, the pool size was considerably larger than other bali villas that i’ve stayed at.. almost 2x bigger from what i remember, even compared to a 3Br villa @ the kayumanis.

villa interior. love the grassy decor. beanbag, sitting/tv area on the far side.. long writing desk behind the bed.  ( no mosquito net..!) btw the concierge has free dvd rentals…

villa bathroom..  their concept was ” see and be seen,” we were told upon arrival to the room. there were 2 sinks, a large open closet/luggage area to the left. HUGE bathtub. the canoe paddle on the tub demonstrates the size well.. you could fit 3 in there.

view of our private villa pool + casita lit up at night. so serene.

view of the beachfront restaurant, Starfish Bloo. the W’s finer dining establishment. i also need to mention.. that the breakfast spread @ Fire, the W’s restaurant.. was my favorite. i looked forward to breakfast every day! it was buffet/serving station style + table ordering. good selection. fresh seasonal local fruits, yogurts, baked pastries + croissants, selection of balinese + western entrees.. carving + omelet stations.. and there was carrot cake one morning! so happy.

the pool. where i spent many hours lounging in the sun, ordering snacks + drinks from the wet bar.

view of the beach + ocean from the top of WooBar.

the beach in front of the W hotel..it was about to rain. the waves there are usually too intense, so swimming in the ocean is not allowed. the loud crashing of the waves was a perfect soundtrack to my balinese resort escape.

would def rec to any friends looking for a hipper and more contemporary resort.  stay in a villa!

W Retreat & Spa Bali

xx

Bumbu Bali.

Balinese Indonesian cuisine. Nusa Dua, Bali.

This was my second visit to this cooking school/restaurant.. after both visits, i noticed that mostly tourists and visitors were enjoying the food.. i’m guessing it has to do with the prices.. moderate, but not low for bali. it was a weekend night so there were performances during dinner of balinese dance + music.

the indoor outdoor setup of the restaurant. open air, including the kitchen. the food here is unique to bali in its flavoring. sour and filled with spices, but not too spicy. my FAVE here is the satay. the little bits of skewered meat somehow are full of flavor, and soft + quality- no gummy or tendon filled pieces. sO good, with the spicy peanut based satay dipping sauce + sour marinated cucumbers.

we did the Sate Campur: beef, chicken, pork + duck satay.. (opted to skip seafood.) amazing. i could eat 2 orders of these as a meal.

our food brought to the table. Satay, Duck curry, and Ayam Betutu: whole roast baby chicken in banana leaf.. i enjoyed the curry more so than the chicken.. i’m not usually impressed with chicken at restaurants unless its.. fried chicken.

two types of basket steamed rice for the curry, yellow and white.

closeup of my entree, the Bebek Menyatnyat: creamy duck curry. the yellow curry sauce is really flavorful and slightly sweet from the coconut milk.. balinese spices accented the potato and mushrooms in the curry. i ate it all.

check out the mask swizzle stick! this was a Orange Honey Mojito. a little on the sweet side but really minty. ( yes, it was non alcoholic.. )

i was stuffed, but had to try a dessert..  lucky for me, there’s somehow always room for ice cream! i ordered a scoop of the lemongrass and mint ice cream. mostly tasted the lemongrass. it took a little getting used to, but was very refreshing.

delisH.

xxx

Room 4 Dessert

small dessert cafe @ the east village in taipei.

i had a lemon juice, not pictured, that was sour + not sweet. just the way i like..

even though it was plated nicely, the chestnut cake with frozen yogurt was a bit dry and flavorless for me, and the yogurt was just mediocre.. pass.

“caramel apple tart”- more like puff pastry with teeny slivers of apple in the middle. this was actually good if you like puff pastry… but don’t expect it to taste like apple pie. also comes with a scoop of frozen yogurt on top..  i would have preferred vanilla bean ice cream.

now this worked. raspberry millefeuile, with frozen yogurt. the raspberry was strong + tart enough to complement the sweet-ish frozen yogurt. the frozen mulberries went well with everything too. not bad!!

overall it was okay, i think the frozen yogurt on everything was a bit much.. but the cafe is clean and a good place to chat and catch up.

xx

boon keng chicken.

for those that are fans of savoy in LA/San Gabriel.. heres a great place for singaporean cuisine + hainan chicken rice in taipei.

the place is a little cubby of a restaurant, taiwan’s more local setup of no frills cuisine. stool seating.

an order of hainan chicken comes with a choice of either light or dark meat, and is served with a bowl of rice- cooked in chicken stock + fat. full of flavor and a little bit of grease. the chicken is served with green onion and preserved sour veggies, and sits in a place of a soy based broth. no ginger here.

soy sauce paste to drizzle and mix with rice. hot pepper sauce ( not very spicy, more sour) to dip the chicken in.

above, an order of the dark meat. below an order of the white meat. i like the dark.

thai iced milk tea. extra ice for me. yum.

love that its about a 10 minute stroll from my office right on zhongxiao. new place for lunch!

xx

in two weeks…

… whatever, whenever.

the new bali seminyak W Retreat & Spa.

W Villa.

a little bit…  little mermaid, under the sea.. blue paradise.

the pool @ night. wet bar.

can hardly wait.

w retreat seminyak

xx