Travel for travelling - Bali - Seminyak Lagoon Hotel & Ananda Restaurant

Saminyak 21.3.2014

Ubud Market - Beautiful ceramic colored glass coasters and bowls - a huge selection!

Besides the salon, there was something else I was very interested in - the Ubud Markets. The ceramic plates which are decorated with a colorful  tiles collage. Each one has its own unique features or pattern. Some are mixed colours, or one very nice beautiful shade. They can be used as a fruit tray, soap holder, or jewelry tray, and so are very useful! But I had no idea which kind to choose when I decided to buy one, because there were so many choices!

The boss offered me a set of three plates for US$85, although I could chose my own combination of any styles and any sizes, but it was still a ridiculous price! We couldn't reach a price that satisfied both sides though, even after much bartering. So I thought I would just take the smallest one and the price should be US$5. However this boss was really tough, so I had to compromise to US$7 in the end ... Then D bought four of coasters for US$1 each. 

Right when we paid the money, the boss then said 'only US$12 for the large and medium one' if we took the rest of a whole set... I was quite angry, and he was really good at acting. D thought we should take them as well after his mathematical consideration, so we got one set of three sizes for US$19, down from the crazy US$85. Our local friend said the cheapest price should be US$12! So next time we will look for the markets he mentioned where they sell them that cheap - Sukawati market.

Our selection of the ceramic colored glass coasters and bowls

After breakfast we packed up and got ready to go to the next part of Bali - Seminyak. Our driver's English was not very good, so he didn't talk to us during the travel. But it was relaxing, and we just chatted to each other and enjoyed the transformation of countryside scenery into city views. From Ubud to Seminyak it took about an hour, and the the price we paid the driver was US$25. D gave this man another US$1 note tip, and it made him smile!

Bali - Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel - Lobby, Kitchen/Restaurant and more

The following four days we were staying in the Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel. It was quite a new hotel, and had only been running for one year, so the room facilities were very new and their design was interesting and beautiful! We were very satisfied with this accommodation.

We found Seminyak Lagoon from the expedia.com website. Their price was less than US$50 per night including breakfast, and it had plenty of good reviews, so we just booked and paid on line. It was one of the very best, especially for its price, on traveladvisor.com

Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel website - http://www.seminyaklagoonhotel.com

Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel - Free Lobby Internet Access on Apple iMac

They provided two Apple iMacs in the lobby, free for guests to use. There were many WiFi spots around the whole hotel, and the signal was good. The speed was poor on the first day, but improved after that and was quite ok.

Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel - Swimming pool views - Beautiful!

This long rectangle pool was their specialty. I like the way they used fringed green plants as the decoration, which was beautiful and romantic! If your room is on the first floor, just open the balcony door and the pool is right in front you ~ very convenient!

Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel - Free breakfast buffet! Delicious fruit!

They served a buffet for breakfast each morning (7:30am to 10:30am), which was basically fried rice, fried noodles, sausages, vegetables, toast, croissants, fruit compote, cereals and a variety of fresh juices, and hot drinks. 

We could also order egg dishes from the kitchen, like boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, omelets or sun side up eggs, but each person can only choose one style per day.

Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel - Small free gym for exercise training

In addition, they also had a gym which was free to use too. Although the gym was a little bit small and not very professional, there was an exercise bike, a cross trainer and a multi function weight training machine. For just a couple of days it should be good enough. No one else used it either!

We took a break after first arriving at the hotel, then went to the Seminyak city central for dinner. It took us about 10 minutes walk from the hotel to the center, which was not that close but not bad!

Seminyak, Bali - including Mamasan Restaurant, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Seminyak Lagoon All Suites Hotel

There were many kinds of restaurants along the streets. Most of the western-style restaurants seemed very popular, but tasting local meals in Bali was one of our purposes of coming here. So we found a restaurant which looked very "Bali".

Seminyak, Bali - Ananda Restaurant

Ananda was a very quiet restaurant, and their food was not stunning but inexpensive. We ordered the avocado juice, curry chicken, Mie Goreng with their traditional dish GADO-GADO.

GADO-GADO was a kind of salad, with boiled vegetables dressed in peanut sauce, and was quite a special dish! They liked adding chocolate sauce into avocado juice, and it was a very wonderful combination and made quite a large cup (the avocado here in Bali is really cheap and delicious!). Mie Goreng was similar to the fried noodles in Taiwan, and the flavor was very tasty. The curry chicken was not very special though.

Ananda Restaurant - Mie Goreng, Curry Chicken, Avocado Juice, Gado-Gado

After dinner, we walked slowly back to the hotel. It was relaxing and very comfortable with the breeze blowing gently! We went to bed early this day, because we were looking forward to the breakfast and didn't want to miss it ~ ha!