A Trip to Bali (Part 5)

My last day at Bali was the day Aunt Tami's newborn baby get his blessings. The people in the house woke up early in the morning to get ready, including me. We had belayad for breakfast, which is one of the so many cuisines that you can find in Bali. A bowl, made out of styrofoam, which were filled with a couple of shaped rice, some shredded chicken, a stick of chicken meat, a slice of egg, some vegetables, and a chunk of meat entered my stomach and I felt happy. 

This particular dish is called belayad. It looks a bit funky, but it taste great!

By eight in the morning, all of us were prepared, along with the food. Aunt Tami's helpers started to decorate tables with lots of food and drinks. One of them was this particular traditional snack named Biji Salak. Salak, you see, is a fruit which has a thumb-sized seed on the inside. Biji Salak is not literary made out of Salak seeds, but it is made out of a mixed of dough and sweet potato. I love this food, because it tasted sweet. The brown color originated from a traditional sugar cube that you can find in Indonesia named Gula Jawa, Javanese Sugar literary translated. If you happen to stumbled upon this traditional cuisine, don't miss the opportunity to have a bite.

Wait until you try my Mom's and my Grandma's Biji Salak. 
Both of them tasted great!

This pink drink is a punch. It contains syrup, coconut water, coconut fruit, and some grass jelly, which is very refreshing to be indulged during summer. I took a cup and poured myself a couple spoonful of this drink. It tasted delightful, especially after you eat some spicy food. 

I always scooped the grass jelly the most

Bwonies Kukus Amanda, or Amanda's Steamed Brownies literary translated, was my favorite dish of the day. Amanda is famous for its chocolate and cheese brownies, which tasted superb. These brownies are like the spinach to my Popeye. It tasted beyond delicious, not to mention it has different texture for the cheese parts and the chocolate parts. I love the cheese parts the most, despite the fact that the chocolate parts were soft and puffy, sweet, and a bit nutty. 

I lost count on how many brownies I devoured that day. Half a dozen slices, perhaps?

This traditional snack looks pretty funky, don't you think? Green in color, that bowl is filled with food which goes by the name of ketan. Do take notes that it is green in color because it was cooked with pandan leafs, no artificial coloring used. You see, ketan is fermented rice. It tasted sweet, more or less like how a rum should tasted like. Despite the fact that I'm not that fond of this dish, I still gave it a try. Didn't like it like always, but the other guests were delighted by it for some reason.

The white cube-shaped food is called uli, which goes well with some ketan

Another luxurious lunch I couldn't pass. There were so many vegetables and chicken meat. I made sure I tried all of the food that was provided on the tables to end my curiosity. There were rice, two kinds of vegetables, shredded chicken, chicken meat on a stick, and this particular dish which was very peculiar to me. I forgot the name of the dish and, I think, I didn't get myself some of that dish. 

I took some spoonfuls of rice and a spoonful of each dishes,
except the one on the right which name I forgot

Chicken meat on a stick was amusing.
It gave you this caveman-like feeling when you eat it.

A bowl of marinated and well cooked starfruit leafs

A bowl of spicy and bitter vegetables who goes by the name pare

Roasted pig! They have roasted pig in the house and I was excited when I spotted one. It was my second time seeing such glorious food, my first was at my teacher's wedding, and also my first time of actually ate a slice. The skin was golden brown in color, the rear end of the pork was stuffed with rice-stuffed leaf. The pig was rather small, at its teenager year, perhaps? Other than my excitement, I couldn't help but to think that particular scene in the Hunger Games when Katniss shoot an arrow at an apple on a roasted pig's mouth when she was trying to impress the people from the capitol. Priceless. 

I bet the ears are crunchy and a bit chewy

It was about time someone started to skinned the pig, or else we wouldn't have lunch

A plate of rice and some crispy pork skin for lunch were good for me

Angry birds gone wild

A quick trip to Bali felt like an adventure! I got to taste various kinds of food I have never tasted before, I got to visit Pasar Badung which felt like entering Narnia, and I even got to have waffles for dinner. True, Indiana Jones' would probably have a more blood-pumping and thrilling adventure, but, hey, it's up to us wether we want to live our life to the fullest or not. Life's an adventure, right?

A Trip to Bali (Part 4)

The night before the blessings for the newborn baby, we went out for dinner. We ate at a restaurant named Centre Point, which belongs to Aunt Tami herself. The restaurant was lacking of swarms of people that night, which gave us the advantage of being served faster. I had some difficulties in choosing what I should have for dinner. I mean, just look that menu! Grilled chicken, with some vegetables on the sides; how can you not drool and distracted? 

Mom, diligently studying the menu

Yes, people, you can get yourself a delightful cup of lychee flavored tea here 

These photos belong to my parents. They took the liberty to print them out and
sent it to Aunt Tami, so that she can use it to decorate this particular restaurant.
Looks pretty awesome, huh?

What I love the most about Aunt Tami's restaurant is the waffles. They are not like your regular waffle, circle and square in shape, because they are shaped like Mickey Mouse! Yes, I repeat, Mickey Mouse. It feels like I'm in disneyland, minus all of those people dressed up as Disney characters.

"A couple of Mickey Mouse shaped waffles, enveloped with nice and warm honey, and topped with ice cream," I sure like the sound of that. The ice cream comes in three different flavors, which are strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. I chose the strawberry flavored ice cream because, in my opinion, the waffles tasted best with one. See that burnt side of the waffles? Those are the best parts! But I didn't save them for later though, because I love eating them from the ears, followed by the whole face. Make sure you eat your waffles with a spoonful of ice cream to create sparks of flavor in your mouth. Trust me on this, this particular dessert is beyond delicious.

I felt like I'm in Disneyland!

Waffles for dinner? Yes, please!

For the main course, I ordered myself a plate of rice and some deep-fried shrimps, topped with mayonnaise and sesame seeds. It had been a while since the last time I have shrimps for dinner, it didn't take me long to devour the whole plate. The shrimps were so good, I managed to finish all of them including the tails. Yes, the tails. You know how sharp deep fried shrimp tails can be, and I gulped them all because they were THAT good. The crunchiness of the shrimps was perfect, no to mention they blended well with the mayonnaise. My main course was savory, yet sweet at the same time. 

Look at how nice the shrimps are coated with mayonnaise

You're lying if you're not tempted to have one spoonful of this sinful dish

After I finished my plate of shrimps and rice, I ordered myself a plate of Centre Point's famous burger. I pigged out. It felt like as if I got hit by one of Cupid's arrow, only this time it was Ronald McDonald's arrow. But I regret nothing. It turned out that the burger tasted splendid! 

"Burger Centre Point," was the name of the dish. A plate of burger, filled with cheese and Centre Point's homemade beef, accompanied by some french fries on the side of the plate. Yum! The beef was my favorite part of the dish, because it was cooked with some onion, which made it more savory and rich in flavor. So, I took the liberty of eating the cheese first, which tasted fine, so that I could happily savour the beef later. The french fries didn't taste like those french fries that you can get at McDonald. They reek of a genuine potato and tasted like one too. I assume that the chef made this french fries out of fresh potatoes, that they bought early in the morning. 

The buns were soft and crunchy, and a bit burnt on the sides, just like how I want it to be. After I finish the cheese, I ate the buns. Then, I moved on to the french fries, and finally I managed to eat the beef. I took my time in finishing the meat, because it tasted really good, especially with some chilly sauce. All in all, Centre Point's burger is the bomb!

Potatoes gonna potate!

Save the beef for the last!

Centre Point, despite it being a restaurant and serves mostly lunch or dinner meals, is also a nice place to hang out with some friends. Ordered yourself a glass of iced lemon tea and some mini fried dumplings, then voila! another well-spent weekend you're going to have. If you have a bad day, stop by at Centre Point and spoil yourself with their delicious waffles and refreshing drinks. I guarantee, you'll come home with a big smile on your face. Make sure you have time to visit this particular restaurant on Wednesday, because they have live music during dinner. Cool, isn't it?

Centre Point

Jl. Puputan Niti Mandala Raya

Renon, Denpasar

Bali 80235

A Trip to Bali (Part 3)

It is a custom in Bali to give offerings to the spirits. With Hindu as its major religion, well-decorated offerings are ubiquitous. There are some which are placed accordingly on the streets, in traditional markets, in restaurants, at home, and other places you can imagine. The offerings are mostly made placed in a bowl which made out of leafs. Flowers, shaped rice, and fruits are what you usually find inside these leaf-based bowls. It is said that the offerings are like food to the spirits. They indulge on the aroma of the food so that they will have energy to survive through the day. A bit funky, huh? 

At Aunt Tami's house, to celebrate the blessing of the newborn baby, she build a large table just to place the offerings. Lots of fancy colors decorated the table. I was aware by the fact that crackers, shaped rice, fruits, leafs, flowers, and even ropes were used as offerings. The female workers, who happen to be Aunt Tami's acquaintances, prepared the table along with its offering for around one and a half hour. The three of them worked together as a team to make a luxurious table of gifts for the spirits.

The eldest female worker, who was in charge of decorating the table with the offerings

The Dynamic Duo, hand-in-hand carefully selecting the leaf-based bowls
to be placed on the rather large table of offering

One of the female worker was cutting a coconut to decorate the offerings

A combination of rice, flowers, and ropes as parts of the offerings

Those were the equipment and tools that were used to prepare the whole thing 

Some bananas, oranges, crackers, and shaped rice for the spirits

The thought of spirits need food to "live" never crossed my mind before

A container of mini ketupat and slices of eggs, and some shaped rice

There were lots of fruits and leafs on the table, I got flustered

I spotted some salted eggs in some of the leaf bowls

A luxurious offering table was luxurious indeed

An image of one of the offerings that were beautifully decorated 

A few done,  a few dozens to go

The sun was setting, but the female workers were still diligently decorating the table

This particular colorful offering caught my attention. I wonder what
that is and why it is rich in colors..

Offerings for the baby's placenta, which was buried on the
ground, adjacent to the baby's older brother's placenta

Who would have thought that spirits need food to "live"?

A Trip to Bali (Part 2)

The following morning, my Mom and I woke up at around seven to get ourselves ready to stop by at Pasar Badung. Pasar Badung is a large traditional market in Denpasar, located not far from where Aunt Tami lives. We went to this particular market to buy various foodstuff for the baby shower. But first, before we put ourselves into our scavenger-hunt mode, what we need is a nice breakfast.

Spring rolls and fruits for breakfast, boy did they blend well with each other. I was amused by Aunt Tami's particular choice of breakfast. The spring roll was well fried, as in crunchy on the outside and a bit chewy on the inside. It came with a bowl of sauce, which name escaped me, that tasted sweet, sour, and a bit spicy. I'm accustomed by the idea of having bread and milk for breakfast, but this was very enjoyable.

Breakfast is served!

A plate of deep-fried spring rolls for breakfast, and it came
with a handful of assorted chili pepper

After we had our breakfast, we hopped into the vehicle and drove to Pasar Badung. Aunt Tami's older sister, Aunt Wati, tagged along with us to help with the groceries. Aunt Nunung, Aunt Tami's friend, also joined us in our quest of finding meat and vegetables. 

To me, traditional market is like a portal that connects us with another peculiar place. Heck, another dimension if I may say. Despite its lack of hygiene, a traditional market is an amusing place to be. Butchers, green grocers, egg farmers, and traditional snack sellers are ubiquitous. Endless shoutings of "Come visit our booth", "We got the best meat in town", "Our vegetables are very fresh" are inevitable. It's like visiting Narnia, minus Mr. Tumnus and Aslan.

Meat section! 

The butcher lady, diligently choosing a nice meat to be chopped

They have such friendly and talkative sales lady in this traditional market

Fish for lunch, perhaps?

Handy with knives. Not afraid of sharing the same odor with fish.
This lady was my favorite character during my visit to Pasar Badung!

One of the fishmonger lady, scooping a handful of finger-sized fish

Why did the chicken cross the road? 

You can find lots of female workers in Pasar Badung, who offer you a service of carrying your groceries. This kind of service is quiet efficient for those who shops a lot and are not physically-capable, or probably just too lazy, to carry their own groceries. For a price of Rp 10.000,00, these female workers will trail around with you the moment you hire them, until you finish your shopping spree. 

During my visit to Pasar Badung, Aunt Tami hired one of the female workers to help her with the groceries. This particular worker is still young, probably at around my age or a couple of years older. I see her as a shy and physically-strong teenager. She followed us for around an hour with an occupied basket on her head. She carried various foodstuff which, I believe, weighed more than a kilo. We gave her Rp 17.000,00 and a glass of mineral water in the end, as a token of gratitude for willing to do such burdensome job.

Why bother going to the gym when you can just develop your
muscles by lifting this particular Mjölnir of Thor?

Those were the foodstuff that we bought. Can you imagine how heavy this basket was?

A boost to lift the basket to the carrier's head was desperately needed

Our adventure at Pasar Badung came to an end. All of us hopped in to the car and drove back home. Mom told me that she bought a package of Bali's traditional snack that I had never seen before. Kue Potong is the name of the snack. It was, more or less, a red-bean-paste-filled bread, cut into several pieces. I find this snack delightful, a bit similar to a Japanese Taiyaki though.

Mom, proudly presenting a package of Kue Potong Bali

Filled with red bean paste, this particular traditional snack is
a bit similar to a Japanese traditional snack named Taiyaki

Lunch at Aunt Tami's home was luxurious, as she ordered lots of Nasi Bungkus Bali for all of us. It was awesome and I was pleased. Who wouldn't be happy if they are served a plate of rice, with two kinds of cooked chicken, fried lungs, a stick of chicken satay, a handful of vegetables, and some chilly pepper? I ate like a pig and had a nap afterwards. It was a well-spent day indeed.

Nasi Campur Bali for lunch!

A luxurious lunch is luxurious

Pasar Badung

Jl. Gajah Mada, Denpasar

Bali - Indonesia