Day 3 - Ubud, Panestanan

The ducks of Panestanan

The lily pond at Lala & Lily Cafe

Breakfast as usual, then we decided to walk to Panestanan where T&J were staying. Although we wanted to resist buying souvenirs, we each bought some practical clothing along the way. 

A Lily at the Lala & Lili Cafe

 Our aim was to explore Panestanan but we ran into T&J at a the Lala & Lili Cafe  along one of the paths. After refreshments (cool, fresh, fruit drinks), we walked on to the Vespa cafe and then went back to their villa (in name only) - it was very small with poor facilities, which they plan to vacate very soon.

After some more exploring, we agreed to meet for lunch at the Yellow Flower Cafe - an old favourite of theirs. The lunch; Balinese Tapas (vegetable fritters, tofu fritters, tempe, strips of raw veges, accompanied by a mild tomato dipping sauce and what they called kimchi (which was like pickled ginger rather than cabbage), a Cabbage Salad (red & white cabbage dressed with tahini) & poached eggs on toast with a tomato sauce). It was OK but not stunning as the breakfast I'd eaten there nearly a year ago.
Memorable though, was the almost Italian-style tasty ragout with the eggs (tomatoes, zucchini, onion & garlic) and the slightly disorganised preparation and service.

The dishes were served in a haphazard way, and they forgot to serve the main dish which sat in the kitchen for some time before we inquired when it would arrive! It was also the first opportunity to taste Luwak Coffee. This coffee is made from the seeds of coffee berries once they have been eaten and egested by the Asian palm civet. It used to be incredibly expensive but the cost has come down as more producers have entered the market, although there are some concerns for the conditions for the civets. The taste was interesting, much milder than normal Balinese coffee and much less bitter than in usual coffee.

In the afternoon it was back to Puri Saraswati for another swim and a rest before dinner.
Meanwhile T&J managed to find some other accommodation and were moving that afternoon. We had decided to go to a traditional Barong and Legong concert and to skip a joint dinner. As an alternative to a big dinner  because we were not too hungry, I bought a single Nasi Goreng meal from the Paon Restaurant a few doors down the street - for around $5.

We sat down to eat with a Gin &Tonic each, and when I opened the package, the meal turned out to be huge. Not only was the fried rice excellent, but the package included little plastic bags of accompaniments including a kropeks (a cross between a prawn cracker & a papadam), a type of green bean salad, a spicy anchovy flavoured sauce and a quite hot sambal olek (chilli sauce).