Bali Day 2 : Ubud, Ibu Oka Babi Guling, Dirty Duck Diner, Tanah Lot and Poppies

On the second day of our trip, we hired the same driver for a full day trip for RPH400,000 ( or approximately RM140). Not exactly the cheapest but we were quite satisfied with their attitude ( responsible, honest and not pushy) on the first day, so we do not mind paying extra. The guide even accompanied us to buy mineral water from K-Circle ( Bali’s 24 hour convenience store) on the first day! Talk about personalised service.

We were supposed to travel north to Ubud (the major arts and cultural center of Bali), head over to Pura Tirta Empul ( the holy water temple) and lastly enjoy the sunset at Tanah Lot ( a temple that sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continously over the years by the ocean tide). If you looked into those travel brochures, there are so many more things that you can squeeze into the itinerary ( e.g. barong and keris dance, gold and silver shopping, Kintamani, etc). Instead, we prefer a leisurely tour instead of  a packed one and hence, just a few places on the list.

The driver picked us up at 9 am ( they are always punctual) and we braved the Sunday morning ( it was 1st May, Labour’s Day) ‘s traffic and slowly inched our way out of town. When we stopped at traffic lights, we saw vendors selling newspaper – local and foreign ones to the people in the car. I guess business is not that great – no one seems to wind down the window to buy. Hmmm. Roads seems to get narrower as we left the city. Two lanes merged into one. Along the way, the roads are lined with crafts shop ( wood, silver and gold) and of course, temples.

The driver asked if we are interested to watch the barong and keris dance at Batu Bulan Village – to which- we unanimously said no.Then, after a short while, ( out of courtesy as a guide since he would have guessed that it was unlikely that we would be interested), he asked us again if we are interested to visit Celuk Village for its gold and silver smith and of course, we unanimously ( again) said no. Hmm, he must be thinking that this group of people here really have no appreciation for art. He did not even bother to ask if we wanted to visit Mas Village for its famous Balinese wood carving.

We were so engrossed in chatting ( or gossiping??) and we were in Ubud in no time. Actually, we reached Ubud at approximately 10.30 am and of course, the first thing that we did was EAT. Our modus operandi was to EAT, shop and later eat again!

The driver stopped right in front the Ibu Oka Babi Guling – one of the most famous restaurant in Ubud. People travelled half of the globe to have roasted pork at this place. Even Anthony Bourdain covered this place.

We were early. There ain’t many people in the warung yet. As a matter of fact, they would have a roasted pig placed right in front of its warung – but, we were early, no such sighting this time.

We were seated on wooden floors. We were early and hence, still a lot of seats. By the time, we left, the warung was almost full.

I had a bad experience with babi guling ( roasted pork) at Ibu Oka the first time I was in Bali and hence, during my subsequent visit, did not try out any babi guling at all. I just could not take the pungent flavor of the dish last time.

Hence, to minimise wastage and since we are going to have lunch later, we ordered 2 plates of babi guling special ( to be shared amongst the 3 of us) and 1 plate of fried pork skin. BIG, BIG mistake. I had my skepticism initially, but my pork-loving friends encouraged me to try it. They said that it was quite nice. You gotta trust your friends, right…..This time, I thoroughly enjoyed the humble-looking bowl of rice served with paper in a basket! Damn, I can’t have enough of it this time.

Babi Guling Special comes with rice, a piece of crispy pork skin, some fried innards, meat and of course, some chili-vegetable gravy. The pig used is not infantile i.e. not our Chinese usual suckling pig and hence, the skin is a slightly thicker. Very crackly but slightly greasy. The meat is very well-marinated, soft and tender.

A close-up of the oh-so-tender meat. Haha, I am already drooling as I am typing this.  And you can eat with the accompanying sambal, which I refrained as I did not want smoke to billow out from my ears ( yeah, I tried to be funny).

The measly looking pork skin. Crispy but a bit greasy though.

They also sell durians. For RPH30,000 ( or RM10.50), we ordered ourselves a small one. I did not try the durians. I am a durian eater but the thought of the lingering pungent smell kind of put me off. But this durian did not smell as pungent as ours and according to my friends, the taste was also quite bland. Oh wells….

Gotta dress in all-white to fight the unbearable heat.

After the early meal, we took a stroll along Jalan Raya Ubud, which is the main shopping strip in Ubud. The boutiques are scattered over a few streets but I find Jalan Raya Ubud being the main ones as there are more boutiques and more things to shop there.

It was painfully hot that we did even bother taking pictures along the road. We find solace in air-conditioned boutiques but too bad, most of the shops are quite stuffy and warm too. We spent quite some time at some boutiques ( nice and edgy in-house / local designers’ items) and we bought quite a handful. However, almost, if not all, are fixed price item. But I guess, if a girl has set her sight of something that she loves, price is of second concern already.

I love the silver bangles ( I did not buy any though as it was way TOO loose for me), the rings ( way too large too) and the long flowy silk dress. Too bad is that some shops actually charge extra for payment via credit card!

The shop assistants also thought that we were Japanese – they were actually talking about us in Bahasa Indonesia. We surprised them with a few words of Bahasa Indonesia!

We walked and we walked towards Bebek Bengil ( Dirty Duck Diner), another popular restaurant in Ubud. Bebek means duck in Indonesia and Bengil means dirty in Balinese)

Gosh, it was so far away that we should have asked our driver to bring us there instead ( it is actually a walk- able distance IF the weather is cooling). Oh well, since we are already half way there, guess we had to keep on walking. We did pass by some interesting shops but the heat was so unbearable that the only thought was to reach the restaurant quick and have a cooling drink!

Finally we reached the restaurant and thank God that we managed to find a table, albeit sharing a gazebo with a group of Mat Sallehs. Dirty Duck Diner is actually a garden type of restaurants with gazebos/ huts dotted here and there and of course, with a breathtaking neighbouring rice field.

We quickly ordered some fruit juices with really funny names. Drank so much fruit juice at Bali that I can’t recall what I drank here. Guess that under such hot weather, ANY sweet and cooling drinks is considered god-sent. I ordered my favourite food – its signature dirty duck, spare ribs and for dessert, its intoxicating vodka chocolate cake.

Its signature, ‘ Bebek Bengil Crispy Duck’, which is crispy outside but really tender, juicy and soft inside. The duck is marinated in Indonesian herbs and spices for 36 long hours before being fried in hot oil for crispy finish. The crispy duck comes with a steamed rice.

Another popular dish at Dirty Duck Diner is its BBQ pork ribs which is extremely soft and juicy. You can even chew its bones. And the best part is, it is so unbelievably cheap – slightly less than RM20 per serving ( pork ribs together with steamed rice). Highly recommended.

As for dessert, we indulge in its signature Black Russian Vodka Cake – cake with mixture of vodka and Kahlua, topped with chocolate with crust on the side. They are really generous with the usage of alcohol and it is as if we are drinking the alcohol itself! The crust is very crispy too. A must try too.

The restaurant has a pond in the middle gazebos / huts surrounding it.

Lotus in the midst of the pond.

The paddy field next to the restaurant.Isn’t it beautiful?

The original crispy duck – since 1990

After our lunch, we walked back toward Ibu Oka. Everyone were tired – so not much talk, just concentrating on our walk. Luckily, it was not as hot as in the morning. It was quite cloudy and breezy after lunch. We were supposed to meet our driver at 2.30 pm but we were 45 minutes late! We were supposed to go to Pura Tirta Empul but our guide advised that in the interest of time, we should go to Tanah Lot to catch the sunset instead. He assured us that we did not miss much although we skipped the temple.

From Ubud, we made our way to Tanah Lot. We were so tired that we dozed off. I think the guide must be thinking that these women finally shut their mouth! Not sure how long was the drive but we passed through some villages, I was quite a long drive though.

When we reached Tanah Lot, there were already a lot of tourists – a blend of locals and international. A lot of students from nearby islands too. Entrance fee was quite nominal ( just a few ringgit). You would walk pass a maze of souvenir shops adjacent to the beach. Once you find your ways through the souvenir shops, you will be greeted by the magnificent sea and temple perched on a rock.

Me fighting my way against the holiday crowds.

You will be greeted  with the following. Blue sea and of course, loads of tourists taking photographs. The white shirt guy on the left is our guide.

It was already my 3rd trip to Tanah Lot, so I did not take many photographs.

Pura Batu Balong – one of the temples found in Tanah Lot.

Moreover, I was so tired and felt really uncomfortable with sweaty and sticky body.  I waited for my friends while they visited the temple. And of course, my friends are not that nature-loving – they just snapped a few pictures that indicates their presence and they were done!

After Tanah Lot, we were almost half dead. We went back to our hotel to shower and changed to fresh clothing for dinner.

We went to Poppies at Kuta – a restaurant established since 1973 and so well-known that the lane where the restaurant is located is named after the restaurant! The restaurant offers a combination of international, Asian and Indonesian cuisine.

Taxi from Seminyak to Poppies, Kuta costs approximately RPH30,000 ( slightly above RM10). It was slightly more expensive ( normal fare is approximate RPH25,000 or approximately RM8) due to traffic congestion at Kuta.

Poppies Lane 1 flanked by roadside stalls are narrow and hence, only accessible by foot, bicycles, scooters and motorcycles. There were 2 entries to Poppies Lane 1 – taxi driver initially wanted to drop us at the darker side and of course, we refused to come down from the taxi. With our limited Bahasa Indonesia and his limited English, I am still amazed that he understood that we wanted to be dropped off at a better / well-lit area instead. He dropped us to the other entrance ( somewhere near to McD, Kuta Beach) and we made our way to Poppies. The lane was quite long and at a point, I began to wonder if we are at the right place. Asked for directions from the local and was instructed to walk forward. Apparently, the taxi driver actually dropped us at the right entrance i.e. the darker side. Hmmm. Anyway, we reached Poppies at approximately 9.30 pm. It was so dark that we did not have a good look of how the restaurant looks like. It is a garden restaurant and the ambience at night is quite romantic. We asked for special table and was given a solitary table facing a mini pond. So solitary that service ( to take order and call for payment) was so slow. Apparently, overwhelming patrons due to the Labour’s Day holiday. Poppies have special dishes every day and for Sunday, they serve Babi Guling but to my disappointment, it was already sold out!

The ambience was dark. It was as if we were having candlelight dinner.

For dinner, we ordered Rijsttafel ( a Dutch word that means ‘rice table’) – a feat of small tasty portions of Indonesian delights from all around East Indies. It was the colonial Dutch way to sample the best food of Indonesia (RPH219,000 for 2 persons or approximately RM78.00 for 2 persons) ( as extracted from the menu).

According to Wikipedia, Rijsttafel consists of many side dishes ( up to 40 dishes) served in small portions, accompanied by rice prepared in several ways. Popular dishes include egg rolls, sambals, satay, fish, vegetable, pickle and nuts. It was created to provide a festive and official type of banquet that would represent the multi-ethnic nature of the Indonesian archipelago. Dishes are assembled from many of the far flung regions of Indonesia, where many different cuisines exist, often determined by the religion of the particular island or island group.Brought back to the Netherlands by former colonials and exiled Indonesians and Eurasians after Indonesia gained its independence in 1949, the rijsttafel was predominantly popular with Dutch families with colonial roots. In the past two decades, however, Indonesian food has become part of a mainstream interest in South East Asian cuisine, and there has been a proliferation of Indonesian restaurants in the Netherlands.

The Rijsttafel at Poppies comprised 12 side dishes comprising beef, fish, lamb, chicken, seafood, vegetables, tofu, satays, plain rice, fried rice and dessert. There were some hits and misses but generally, the food was quite good especially the beef, greens and tofu. The satays were not up to the mark, though. Well, the black rice pudding was an acquired taste.

Apart from the above, we also lempe ( vegetarian spring rolls). The skin is very thick and the filings ( mixture of vegetables) tasted weird. Anyway, I am not a fan of greens and hence, maybe it is my biased opinion.

The dessert which I think is an acquired taste.

Although there were a few misses, I think I will still visit Poppies again the future. I just love the elaborate presentation of its Rijsttafel and of course its delectable taste!

We called it a night after the dinner and we used the darker lane ( it was just a very short distance) to exit Poppies Lane 1 to get taxi. It was quite safe. But, we did encounter children sleeping at the five foot way ( and begged for money when they saw us).

The address of the restaurant that we went to:-

Ibu Oka Babi Guling

Jl Suweta/ Tegal Sari No.2

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Dirty Duck Diner ( Bebek Bengil)

Jl. Hanoman,Padang Tegal

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Poppies

Jalan Poppies 1 (Poppies Lane 1)

Kuta, Indonesia