Bali with "A"

Bali again? Yes, because “A” wanted a relaxing destination, and exploring the hundreds of Angkor Wat temples, or biking around paddy fields in Laos just wouldn’t do it. But unlike the first trip I took to Bali with IQballs and Mads, where it was about ex-schoolmate bonding and partying, this trip was more of a tranquil and romantic getaway. First stop, Manggis.

Manggis
Manggis is a small region in East Bali about an hour drive from Denpasar Airport. Unlike the touristy South, this region is so rural that most locals are still wearing the Balinese traditional costumes. Women young and old wear kebaya, which to me, is one of the more elegant yet sexy costumes still being worn today. It doesn’t matter how skinny or chubby one is (ok, to be fair, I hardly saw any fat women in Bali) because the kebaya accentuates a woman’s curves without it being too restrictive and difficult to work in the paddy fields or ride sideways on the passenger seat of a motorcycle.


A walking tour in a small Balinese village in East Bali.


Beautiful paddy fields in Tulamben, East Bali.


Village chief preparing coconut water for us.

Alila Manggis
We stayed at lovely Alila Manggis beach resort. It wasn’t much of a beach and the water here is murky and sand black but the resort itself is very peaceful. We (or I) tried to maximize our stay here by signing-up for free activities like an evening yoga session facing the sea, afternoon herbal tea by the pool, cycling to a traditional village and badminton.


Sunset at the resort.


It was a bit overcast but that didn't stopped us from relaxing by the beach.


Having breakfast at the resort.

Diving in Tulamben
There are a tonne of dive sites in Bali but we only had time for two. The first one was a shore dive by Manggis and is nothing to brag about. The second dive was at the Tulamben U.S.A.T Liberty wreck, which according to our dive instructor (and I totally believe) was one of the more popular dive sites and during peak seasons, you won’t be able to dive into the wreck because of how crowded it gets. I think in my limited diving experience, next to Tokong Laut at Perhentian Island, this is the most exciting and most beautiful dive. The instructor took us into the wreck and I instantly thought of the last scene in the movie Titanic. It was unnerving knowing this wreck is 40 years old and at any given time, the eroded poles might collapse. If you decide not to go into the wreck, you could swim up and down the wreck (about 20 meters in height) and admire the stunning reef formations. I don’t own an underwater camera, so I’m borrowing this picture I found on the internet just to give you an idea what it was like down in the wreck.

Ubud Hanging Garden

“A” decided that since we’ve been through much “stress” lately, we should splurge a little and stay a couple of nights at Ubud Hanging Gardens. This is one of those places I normally won’t even dream about staying at because of the ridiculous price, but according to “A” it’s “really not that bad”. Ubud Hanging Gardens is a two hours drive from Manggis and 30 minutes drive from main street Ubud. This resort is built on top of the hill in the midst of the forest and tucked away from the increasingly noisy and busy Ubud town. I would suggest having some of your meals at the resort itself because we both thought the food at both the restaurant and cafe were delicious.

Pork bun served at the cafe.


Our villa


Private infinity pool, attached to the villa.


Private deck


Pool at Ubud Hanging Gardens

Stopover at Seminyak

Instead of spending another US$500 at the Hanging Gardens and waste half of the day away (because we were leaving super early the next morning to go to the airport), we decided to stop over at Seminyak on our last night. I didn't do much research for the hotel and was a little nervous before we arrive here (because "A" can be quite picky...) but Uma Sapna turned out to be super cool. The interiors were modern, simplistic and grey, in fact, the whole place practically spells "A"!


Our villa at Uma Sapna


Pool at Uma Sapna

Click here for more photos taken on this trip.

Click here for more activities at Bali.

Dear Bali,

I just can’t get enough of you. Please stay serene and beautiful and try not too change too fast and I promise to convince “A” to come back to visit as much as we can.

Love always,
Po

Goa Hush-Hush

I was contemplating for a moment if I should write this post since the places mentioned here are only known to locals and the only reason why we even found out about them was because on their first day, A’s dad bumped into a restaurant owner from Bangalore who frequently visited Goa.

Near Morjim Beach
First off, let me tell you about the place we chose to stay. Siolim House is a charming restored 300-year-old Portuguese villa that is tucked away in the leafy lanes near Morjim beach. The original owner was a governor to Macau and according to Lonely Planet, this place contains more antiques than the British Museum.


Entrance to Siolim House


Siolim House courtyard


Inside Siolim House


Our room

A Goan Greek
This place is a gem! This restaurant is located on a cliff and overlooks the sandy beach and coconut treetops. We didn’t get here in time but A’s parents sat at this table and watched sunset while sipping on freshly squeezed orange juice. We met the bubbly owner who is a Greek lady who has been in living in Goa for 25 years and started off by selling lamb wraps at the Anjuna flea market. After much persuasion from her customers, she opened this restaurant.




Customers dancing to Greek songs


Grilled fish. The food here is a bit more pungent and complex compared to what you would get in Athens or Santorini mainly because the owner came from a Greek island that is located on the west, near Sicily.

Under the Nerul bridge
… you will see a little brick building painted in sea-blue. The people who reside in this building also run a little restaurant called Amigos.


Amigos services on a mural, under the Nerul bridge.


Giant mud crab is one of Amigos' signature dish. We ordered two, this one cooked in garlic butter sauce.


Goan prawn curry with poi (Goan bread)


After lunch, with Auntie Bina’s superb negotiating skills, we went on a boat ride on the river towards the sea.


Fisherman picking sea shells.


On our boat, we saw this private mansion on Aguada hill.

More photos on Goa
Previous stories on Goa

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner

Yes, yet another overdue post, but little delayed but better late than never.

Every lunar New Year eve, my parents wake up at 7 a.m. and start preparing dinner. You read it right, not breakfast, not lunch but dinner. This special occasion is commonly known in Cantonese as “chuin yuin fan”, which means reunion dinner and is the biggest event that happens in my parent’s home. Every year, there would be too much food for the 4 of them (or 5 of us, if I make it home) but according to mom, leftovers from the reunion dinner is very auspicious because we are bringing in the new year with plenty of good food and also means that we won't starve for the rest of the year. I don't know how true that is but cooking and eating mounts of food has always been great fun to me!

Here is the menu for this year’s reunion dinner.

1. Chow Tung Fun (dad’s specialty)
2. Dung Ku Pau Yu (braised mushroom and abalone)
3. Kai Lan Fa & Scallops (steamed broccoli and scallops)
4. Steam Pomfret
5. Hou See, Pai Kuat, Fatt Choy (braised pork ribs with oysters)
6. Gai Keok (braised chicken feet)
8. She-Chap Tiger Prawns
9. Sweet & Sour Dolly Fish
10. Pak Cham Gai (steam whole chicken)
11. Lap Cheong, Lap Ngap, Nga Ku (Chinese sausage and arrowroots)
12. Lotus Root Soup
13.Curry Chicken
14. Laichi and Longan (for dessert)


The many sauces used.


Lou hei dish


Lou hei!


She-Chap Tiger Prawns


Steamed chicken


Dad's infamous dish: Chow Tung Fun


Lap Cheong, Lap Ngap, Nga Ku (Chinese sausage and arrowroots)


Dad, mom and bro with his employees.

I’d like to share all of these recipes with you but unfortunately, I only had time to pick on dad’s brains for one recipe. This is a simple but delicious dish.

Dung Gu Pau Yu (braised mushroom and abalone) feed 4

1 can of abalone
8 med-size dried shitake mushrooms
A bunch of baby bak choy, slice in two
1 tbls oyster sauce
1 tsp chicken stock
1 tsp corn flour
2 tsp water (to mix into corn flour)

Method
* Soak mushroom in water until soft, about 30 minutes.
* In a small pot, fill pot with water until half-full and bring to a boil.
* Drain water and squeeze the mushrooms to release excess water.
* Cut and discard mushroom stems.
* Add mushrooms into boiling water.
* In the same pot, add chicken stock, oyster sauce and let simmer until about quarter of the liquid is left.
* Add liquid (only liquid!) from canned abalone.
* Let simmer for a couple more minutes to allow mushrooms to soak up all the yummy juice.
* Remove mushroom from pot, and set pot aside because we need the liquid for the sauce.

* On a separate pot, boil water and add some salt and a bit of oil.
* Blanch bak choy until slightly cooked (should be lesser than 30 seconds, do not overcook!)
* Remove abalone from can and slice into thin slices.
* Arrange bak choy, mushroom and sliced abalone on a plate.

Sauce
* Bring liquid from the first pot to a boil.
* Add salt or sugar to taste.
* In high heat, add corn flour and water mixture to thicken sauce.
* Pour sauce over cooked ingredients on plate.
* Serve immediately.


Abalone & Mushrooms