The Best of Uluwatu

Bukit Cafe Tomato Egg Bake and Bacon

Single Fin Sundays

Single Fin

Fresh juice at the Corner Cafe

Bukit Cafe Breakfast Burrito 

Suka

After two months in our Uluwatu nook, we're sad to leave but feel accustomed to life in Southern Bali and ready to release our "Best of Uluwatu" list to link you with some of our favorites.  Many of these places you'll need; some of them, you'll want; others you'll wonder how you lived without.  We agree on most, but for a few categories you'll see our personal thoughts...overall, you'll can't go wrong in Uluwatu.  

The best motorbike rental company...

• Ulu's Family, on the right as you turn off towards Single Fin
• Safe bikes, deals for renting for longer periods of time, personable service

The best place to buy, rent, or customize a surf board...

• White Monkey Surf Shop

The best nightlife...

• Single Fin, Sunday Nights
• You have to get there early to get a table, but even if you can't get one you'll enjoy an epic sunset, bird's eye view of awesome surf, great DJs, and people from all over the world

The best driver...

• Mario, WhatsApp +62 896-9832-4488
• Kind, helpful, and so reliable

The best activity coordinator...

• Agung, WhatsApp +62 896-8393-0428
• Organized Mt. Batur, secret waterfalls, Gili transport and beyond
• We met him back in February and he's a gem

The best laundry...

• Padang Padang Laundry, across from Buddha Soul; this small place accounts for every item when you drop it off, giving you a copy of that record that you bring back for pickup
• Laundry smells great and is nicely folded, but they get busy and often need two full days

The best dive company...

• Bali International Diving Professionals
• Avandy Djunaidi is the Yoda of diving; don't learn anywhere else. (Note: He's not technically in Uluwatu, but he'll arrange transport and he knows underwater Bali better than anyone else.)

The best daytime beach...

• If it's low tide, get down to Single Fin and head left though the caves.
• You'll find a secret beach with shipwreck ruins and a lot of privacy

The best sunset...

• Balangan Beach Sunset Point
• Use maps.me to get here through the Bingin Beach entrance; the black sands are worth it

The best place to get a book...

• Yeye's is an Uluwatu staple- great food, beautiful atmosphere, awesome gift shop, and huge selection of books
• Trade two you've read for one that you want

The best breakfast...

• Bukit Cafe- anything on the menu
• Buddha Soul- the chocolate smoothie bowl, and all of their other healthy options, will keep you coming back 
  • Be sure to try Om Burger for lunch (same owner, epic black rice buns)
• Corner Cafe- There are two, and they're both great.  Cash only, but great prices.

Best juices and smoothies

• Yoga Searcher- fresh, healthy, organic (you can do yoga in the back and even book villas there)

The best Italian food...

• La Baracca is a newcomer to the Uluwatu scene, but the owners are from Rome and their food is exceptional (Jay's Pick)
  • Beautiful nighttime ambiance and personable service
• Rolling Fork is one of our favorite places to enjoy a long, slow, blogging dinner (Chantal's pick)
  • Homemade pasta is a must, and the lava cake will make you wish you started with dessert

The best milkshake...

• Suka Espresso has pretty much the best EVERYTHING
• Their Unicorn Milkshake is unbelievable 
  • This isn't about a milkshake, but the Lemme Wrap (chicken wrap) will change your life.

Take the Long Way Home

Our stay at Canggu (pronounced CHAN-goo) came to an end and we set off on our way home, but not without some classic stops.  South of Canggu is Seminyak, where we had an epic brunch at Sisterfield, rated one of the best restaurants in Bali but completely unassuming on its corner.  Swanky and hip, the wifi password was “UlookGoodInBikini”- maybe not after eating there! 

My fried eggs had dill in them and between that and the smashed avocado I was in Heaven.  As if that wasn’t enough, we stumbled into MadPops ice cream shop and couldn’t resist their coconut ice cream on a cone.  More Heaven.  Later, we ducked into speakeasy-esque coffee shop, Revolver, hidden down an alley and it was like slipping into another time and continent. 

Seminyak has a hipster vibe to it, remixed with Bali classics like the fish pedicure.  Jay couldn’t resist that one.  We had some fun in the shops, pretty much said “yes” to everything, and had a perfect, casual Thursday afternoon.  Jay handled the crazy traffic like a local, performing a new trick that I call the “foot slap”- slipping between the curb and aggressive traffic, the bike becomes unstable during the weaving and the best way to combat this is to stretch out the leg closest to the curb and slap the flip-flopped foot repeatedly against it as you pray through the madness.  “Foot slap” makes a noise that I will not soon forget, but got us to Kuta for a great ramen dinner (we’ve been craving pho and found a great spot at Kuta Beach Walk) and home safely back to Uluwatu.

First small detour worth mentioning: On our way to Kuta we realized that the 3D Museum was close to us.  (If you’ve never used maps.me, it’s an AMAZING app that downloads maps and then navigates without wifi- we use it to get everywhere, and it’s perfect about 75% of the time.  Nothing a few “foot slaps” can’t handle, and it reveals interesting places like the 3D Museum.)  I know what you may be thinking…this sounds touristy.  Aren’t you the tourists who hate tourists?  Yes. To all claims.  They took our shoes, so barefoot and ticket paid we forged on. And the first few rooms were terribly lame.  The art is incredible, don’t get me wrong, but the poses are mostly ridiculous and the employees there to frame your photos seem about as excited as the Chuck-E-Cheese workers in America (without big furry mouse heads to hide their lack of enthusiasm inside).  However, we decided to go with it and ended up laughing hysterically and loving the goofy, terrible photos.  The optical illusions are pretty spectacular on some of them, and when you watch other tourists lay on the floors to get the shot you pretty much have to up your tourist game.  Done and done.

Another small detour worth mentioning: Before leaving Seminyak, a promoter stopped us.  He was wearing a Karma Beach shirt, which I recognized from beach parties advertised around town.  Jay had just gotten his feet exfoliated by fish, so we must have looked boujee. He handed us sealed promotional cards, which we opened to reveal “prizes”.  Jay won two t-shirts, but I got the golden ticket: a 7 night stay at one of the Karma Beach Villa Properties (Bali, Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, or India), a GoPro, or 2 million rupiah ($150 ish cash).  The only catch was that we had to scratch off the official prize AT the Karma Beach Jimbaran property, after a “short” presentation.

Jay said scam, but I think he was just bitter with his two t shirts.  So he humored me the following morning.  See next blog. 

A hint for how to find Revolver

That is not me getting braids in the background

sunset at kuta beach

Kecak

The Rolling Fork, Uluwatu

Our rainy week has continued, but we're making the most of it by trying amazing new restaurants, running in the rain, and surfing as much as possible.  

One of our favorite restaurants is called The Rolling Fork.  It opened the week we arrived, and has amazing homemade pastas, lava cake, and gelato.  Yesterday, Jay took advantage of the extended breakfast menu and got afternoon pancakes.  The lemongrass ginger tea is my favorite (mostly because it comes with cookies).  It's a must stop place if you're visiting Uluwatu.    

Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the Rip Curl Cup, where they announced the full list of invitees (Tom Curren and Bruce Irons are some of the international riders).  The contest theme is "When it's on, it's on" and it means just that- the surfers stay in Uluwatu from July 10-August 10 and as soon as Padang Padang shows epic conditions the contest starts.  

They brought up a bunch of the local surfers who have won in the past, including Mega Semadhi, the champion from last year. Interestingly enough, he's in training to become an Indonesian priest.  All of the local riders are super humble and it was clear from the opening ceremony that Padang Padang is a special place, with many spiritual ties.  Monkeys swing from the trees above the stairs that cascade down the cliff, which creates an amphitheater leading into one of the best surf breaks in the world.  There's a special power and energy there.

To conclude the opening ceremony of the surf contest, dozens of dancers appeared to perform the traditional Kecak Fire Dance.  I'll never forget the sound they make, and we hope you can hear it from this short video.  

The white monkey was my favorite, though at one point he was carrying a Bintang around and I don't think the beer was part of the customary Hindu performance and story. 

Tomorrow we're heading north along the western coast of Bali to explore Seminyak, Kuta, and Canggu.  Have a beautiful week and pray for sunshine.