Leaving Seminyak and Heading to Ubud!

Another gorgeous morning.  The weather trend seems to be super sunny between 7 - 10 am, and then slightly grey and rainy in the afternoon, which offers a nice reprieve from the heat.  I've also noticed that there aren't that many tourists - I guess this is the low season, which is sort of nice.

More pool time, and then brunch at La Lucciola, an italian restaurant built like a 2-tier beach shack on the beach.  Very lovely location!  Service, however, was quite spotty.  They don't take brunch reservations, but we had called ahead to say we needed a table for 16.  When we arrived they wanted to split us up in two tables.  We wanted to combine tables so we could sit together and that was quite a battle.  We were offered strange excuses that having one table versus two tables would throw the kitchen staff off - which was strange since they would still have to serve 16 of us even if split up.   The compromise is that we could be an inch apart and have 2 separate checks.  Despite this huge negotiation, service was still terribly slow and uneven, and our orders kept coming out wrong.  At least my salad, lychee juice and duck risotto were pretty good - but I think this place may be better for a nice drink on the beach (at least until they figure out their service issues).

After brunch, I went into town to buy medicine for my swollen foot.  I apparently am allergic to hydrocortizone because it was just making my leg and foot worse and worse.  I opted for a chinese "magic oil" which cost like $1USD.  I remember my mom using it on me so I figured it wouldn't poison me.  The label said it was good for headaches, nausea, giddiness, bug bites, skin irritations and so on.   It really was the cure for everything!  :)  But why would anyone want to cure giddiness?  After that - more shopping - I really need to get out of this town before I become broke! 

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Random note (weather):  We've been extraordinarily lucky with weather.  It does rain but we always manage to miss it somehow (very cool).  And the rain comes in short spurts and it's so humid, you dry relatively quickly.

Random tip (money changers):  When changing money, make sure you go to an authorized money changer.  There are lots of illegitimate ones out there who do give better rates, but they are trying to scam you.  Make sure when you put down your cash, you count it out and state the total amount.   (sometimes they try to shortchange you and claim you gave them less)  Then when they give you the new currency, have them count it out for you, and then you doublecheck the count in front of them.  Ideally you should have someone with you to verify the counts.  (Don't get distracted and look away or anything - scammers are very quick!)

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It finally came time for the group to split up.  Some of us were headed down to Ubud (the site of the novel "Eat Pray Love") and others were returning home.  We said our goodbyes and then V, A, J, C, C and I hopped into a car for Ubud.  The drive was very pastoral and lovely.  (Driving here is quite dangerous - I wouldn't advise it so hire a driver since there are no street signs or lights, and the roads are quite narrow; not sure what the traffic rules are but them seem rather arbitrary. ..)  We had some trouble finding our hotel - Alam Indah - which we found on tripadvisor.com based on superb reviews - it was located in the jungle next to the monkey forest (scary monkeys!).  When we finally arrived, we were struck speechless by how beautiful and serene our hotel was.  It was like our own little paradise, and the service was wonderful and attentive.  The owners own various properties here and each is lovely.  I believe our room was only $65 USD per night (for double occupancy) - and that includes a wonderful breakfast, car service into town and afternoon tea/coffee.  Really great deal!

We spent a little time exploring our little haven and the lovely serene pool, and then we were headed to Mozaic - the restaurant I've been dying to try (since I can't get reservations at French Laundry where the chef here trained).   The restaurant was again gorgeous and quite modern and the service impeccable.  It's all prix fixe so J and I ordered two different tasting menus with the wine pairings so we could try it all!  (The total for dinner and wine tasting is about $100 USD per person - a deal when compared with comparable meals in the U.S. or Europe where it would probably be over $350 per person).  Our meal consisted of:

- delicious savory cheese puffs with truffle oil (to die for!)
- mandarin foam with carrot and ginger puree (very interesting and flavorful)
- blue fin tuna tartare (good, but not unique)
- seafood medley with fried softshell crab, fish, scallops, etc. (very tasty)
- beet salad with gelee (I liked this but J hates beets)
- oysters with cucumber salsa (fresh and briny and sweet)
- foie gras tortellini (rich and decadent)
- seared foie gras (delish!)
- lamb chops (so tender and yummy)
- braised pork asian style (good but I wasn't blown away by this)
- buttery mashed potatoes (i think it was like a stick of butter per serving . ..but so good)
- fruit sorbet
- cheese course
- chocolate cake (so so)
- passion fruit tart with coconut ice cream (very nice blend of flavors)
- petit fours

All in all a wonderful meal.  The wine pairings were also delectable and a mix of old world and new - i.e., european and chilean, australian...  J is sort of a wine snob so he criticized the wine pairing, but I enjoyed it immensely (as did everyone else).  Now I just want to curl up and sleep.  :)