I've been to Bali too

I'd asked John to take us to Kuta, Legian & Seminyak today.  I felt that as this was our 6th trip to Bali I really should see where most of my Australian friends stay and shop when they come over for their holidays. 

Although we've been to Kuta a few times for dinner and shopping I'd never seen the beachfront before.  I got a good look today and it looks very beautiful, but very crowded and the traffic was a nightmare.  The main shopping area in Kuta looked to be very brash and tacky as I'd remembered it - the still empty plot where the Sari Club was an aberration amongst the glitz and bling of this tourist area. Seminyak was a mile long shopping strip, but very trendy and looking much more westernised than other parts of Bali.

We all breathed a sigh of relief to return to Sanur, our favourite beach front village where John introduced us to a new little locally run seafood restaurant Cafe Kesuma Sanur, at the far western end of Sanur Beach.  You can just see it tucked in behind the sun loungers in the picture above.

Our bar-b-qued whole snapper with rice, and side dish of kangkung (sort of like spinach) and chillies and 3 snappy sambals cost 49,000 rupiah (about $6AUS).  The freshness of the flavours and the view from the little sandy floored restaurant out to the beach and blue ocean beyond was just priceless.

This little restaurant is only about 15 metres away from the Mercure Hotel, Sanur. I made a mental note to check out its website.  It looks to be a beautiful hotel with Balinese inspired architecture, and I love the look of its lounge area on the beach.

John also showed us unexpected gems like the huge Carrefours shopping mall in the back blocks of Kuta.  Because of its French origins it carries the only traditional style French breads and pastries in Bali.  Rob bought one of his favourite baguettes to enjoy this evening with his Bintang, but by the time we arrived back in Ubud the bread was completely riddled with tiny little brown ants.  We thought there were a few messages in this about the challenges of establishing French style cooking in the tropics.  

We also stopped at John's favourite supermarket in Sanur and we picked up wine to take to Gregg and Leigh in Lombok next week.