Lombok foods - Day 2

In terms of laziness, the both of us sure didn't disappoint. We ordered in our breakfast that 1st morning.

Thankfully, breakfast was provided daily as part of our package. We just need to tip the staff, that's all.

There are 4 types of breakfast. The American set with eggs (scrambled/sunny-side up/omellete), toasts and meats (beef bacon, ham or chicken sausages).

The other set is the one with danish rolls and croissants.

Another is the one with fruit (banana/pineapple/mix) pancakes and cereal (rice crispies/cornflakes/frosted) + milk.

The last is the Archipelago set of either Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Mie Goreng (fried noodles) or Bubor Ayam (chicken porridge).

A fruit platter, a glass of juice (watermelon/pineapple/orange/mix) and coffee/tea come with each set.

Breakfast by the pool.

With both of us in the pool when the food arrived, not surprisingly, we ate while dripping wet.

Hubby's Nasi Goreng.

Him and his penchant for 'local' food.

My American Breakfast.

With scrambled eggs and beef bacon.

Fruit platter.

Fruits with lime juice squeezed on them were sooo addictive! Especially for the papaya and watermelon.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

We start to go on a city tour from 11am.

By lunchtime, I asked the driver to bring us to a good restaurant serving Lombok's specials. Especially the Pelencing Kangkung, which I was told about since I arrived.

He brought us to this famed restaurant popular with both the locals and tourists alike. Especially with the Jakarta folks.


Fresh coconut juice with honey.

On a hot day, the driver recommend the coconut juice. I tried the one with honey. There's the choice between a regular honey and the 'crystal' honey which is whitish in colour and has thicker consistency.

The famed 'Pelencing Kangkung'.

Cooked kangkung (water convolvulus), mixed with fried whole peanuts, beansprouts, spiced coconut and a sauce made with chili, terasi (prawn paste), tomato salt and lime.

The famed 'Ayam Taliwang'

Grilled/fried free-range young chicken with chili sauce is originally from Taliwang, Sumbawa (a forested region in Lombok), but it has become a main Lombok specialty.

They use only three-month-old free-range chickens, because the meat becomes tough if the chicken is older and “breaks” if it is younger.

After the fowl is cleaned and grilled until it is half-done, the meat is tenderized using a pestle and dipped into hot cooking oil for several seconds. It is immersed into the spicy sauce before it is grilled or fried until well done.

It's already spicy on its own. YUM!

The accompanying sauce for the chicken.

It's peanut-based. Like a satay sauce, albeit more diluted yet spicy.

Gulai kikil.

Goat's tendon soup.

This dish is like heaven-on-earth for me. I've only tried it once before in Singapore, at Warong Wisvry, a Minang eating house.

However, the tendons and bits of flesh were limited. But here, the amount of tendons and inner skin can drive me crazy. Despite the presence of the hubby and the driver, I end up having this whole bowl for myself.

Wahhh.... syiok!

'Beberuk'

A side dish that our driver ordered for us to try out. Not surprisingly, only I dared to taste it.

It's raw, young brinjal that's diced and mixed with the same chili sauce used for the Pelecing. It's meant to be a salad of sorts. Nice!

We also ordered another dish, the Grilled Seabass with Honey. Which tasted really great, naturally. The fish was fresh, with them being 'fished' out of the miniature pond in the restaurant's grounds upon order.

Just too bad it arrived when my hands were already soiled since I ate with my hands. So no pics...

It's no surprise why this restaurant is so popular. It is truly commendable. The time when we were there, we were surrounded by many Jakarta folks.

Lesehan Taliwang Irama
Jl. Ade Irma Suryani in Karang Taliwang,
Cakranegara, Mataram

Lombok foods - Quali restaurant

I'm totally excited about doing this. Been a long long time since I did a food entry!

We landed at Lombok pretty late, past 1800hrs. The travel between the airport and the resort + checking-in + gettting acquanted with the room + swimming made us into a really hungry pair of honeymooners.

Seeing that we just got here and the roads weren't really lit, we admonished thoughts of venturing out for dinner. We called the resort's Quali restaurant and asked for a menu.

Yes, we called for room service for dinner. Already on the road to pampering ourselves, eh?

Dinner by room-service

Oh, the prices on the menu were such an 'eye-opener'! Well, what do I expect from a resort of villas?

The food better be good.... -_-

There were selections ranging from strictly local, strictly Asian to fusion and of course, the Western variations (which were pretty tempting, if not for the exorbitant pricing).

Gado-gado

Simple local dish which actually set me back Rp49, 000 (approx S$6).

But it was really delicious. In fact, I safely declare this to be one of the most delicious gado-gado ever! Hey, this comes from a lady of pure Javanese descent, ok? Heh.

I admit that the sauce used was different from what we use here. I have an inkling that the sauce was what we call, 'Sambal Pecel' (a type of spicy peanut sauce).

Seafood and Chicken in Laksa Gravy (w/ rice)

This set us back Rp71, 000 (approx. SGD9).

Hubby was pretty hungry and wanted a dish that come with rice. I was wondering initially, how a laksa dish can be served with rice but I guess it did work, after all.

The laksa was rich and nicely spiced. The contents included prawns, squids and shredded chicken. Plus quartered hard-boiled eggs, lots of basil and vermicelli.

Hubby was pretty contented with that dish, thankfully. I can't imagine if he's still hungry after that and I have to order more from there, god forbid. The money is better off spent elsewhere...

Unique vegetable parcels

A typical local food from a posh nosh hotel restaurant?

Nah.

Unlike the typical gado-gado where everything is cut and put together in a plate, the gravy poured over the contents and crackers heaped on top, here the gravy was sereved separately in a banana-leaf bowl. The tomatoes (this one's new!), tahu & tempe were skewered like satays and the vegetables like cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, kangkong and long beans were served like parcels.

Only the potatoes, belinjo crackers and hard-boiled egg were served loosely.
----------------------------------------------
I'm glad that the foods, with its hefty price tag was nice after all. And helped to end our 1st night there on a sweet note.

I read on tripadvisor that a guest had compared the food here with elsewhere and the ones here still come out tops. Hmm....

lombok honeymoon day 5

I'm pretty tired of uploading my honeymoon pics here, flickr, multiply & facebook. Doesn't help that the pics have pretty high resolution to start with.. Pfft!

Ok, here goes... Last 2 days!

We didn't really do much, actually. Cos' the idea that the trip was coming to an end kinda' got to us so all we wanna do was stay in the room or swim, swim and swim.

We eventually ventured out for lunch because we're hungry and food in the resort is pretty expensive.

Did some shopping at the lone shopping mall and rushed back for our spa appointment (also part of package).

Hubby jumped back into the pool, post spa till we forgot about our plan to head to Malimbu, the sunset point of that area. By the time I realised, it was already 1800hrs and sunset will be in 20mins. I enquired with the reception and was told that the place will be another 1/2hr drive.

Geez, I was told that the place is 'nearby' our hotel. I should have learnt not to believe the locals with their judgment in terms of distance.. Pfft!

So I dragged hubby out of the pool to catch the sunset at Senggigi Beach right at the resort's doorstep. I told him, "This will be our last evening here. You must not miss the sunset!"

Turns out he did not regret it at all. In fact, he love it. See??! Men...! Hmmph!

On the last day, we also went out only for lunch. Lazy couple we are.

Sad, la. I know that we're sooo gonna miss the pool. And the big, comfy bed. Sigh....

And the great surroundings. And also the people. The service in this resort was sooo good, la. Since our flight was pretty late, they allow us to either stay in our room till 4pm or we'll move to another room if ours will be occupied.

I love this place so much that I wrote a review on tripadvisor. Haha.

So there. Enjoy!

The flower bath

We were told to take a dip in this warm bath after our Balinese massage at the spa.

Wahhh... syiok, man!

Sunset at Senggigi

Managed to drag hubby to the beach in time for sunset.

Sunset at Senggigi

Gosh, something tells me that the sunset this time will be better than the previous one.

Sunset at Senggigi

It sure seem like it....

Sunset at Senggigi

There's no denying it. This one here is gorgeous!

Replacement room

The was someone taking over our room after all, so we moved to a replacement room till it's time for us to set off for the airport later that evening.

I'm impressed. Not many resort/hotels offer such hospitable service. Maybe because it's low season and there are many rooms available.

The room here is sligtly smaller than ours but it's fine. We were told to just utilise it. Cool!

Replacement room

That room is the lower unit here.

Bumbu Restaurant

We got famished during lunchtime so we took a cab ride to Senggigi town to check out more souvenirs and grab some food.

So many restaurants in the almost deserted stretch (it's the hottest time of day and it's low tourist season) and we finally settled on Bumbu Restaurant over the many others.

Reason being it's unpretentious name, unlike other restaurants with name that obviously try to attract the Caucasian crowd. Another reason being that hubby want something local to eat and the name 'bumbu' kinda' assure us that they have something local in the menu. 'Bumbu' means, 'spice mix' in the Bahasa Indonesia.

Last pic...

...Of the great view at this resort. Man, I'm soo gonna miss this place.

Cake Surprise from SilkAir

We were wondering how is it that the ground crew at Selaparang Airport knows about us being on honeymoon.

We only figured out the day after, that my sis-in-law had done the online check-in and indicated that, thus the congratulatory cake.

The stewardress asked if we would like to have the cake in-flight. Goodness, are we to share with the other passengers..?

So there's my honeymoon peeks. Hope you like them.

And coming up will be everyone's pet topic... Food! From Lombok! Oh, the food there had been good! Watch this space.

lombok honeymoon day 3

We hired the same tour driver that the hotel hired for us the day before.

I had wanted to venture to a waterfall and explore other scenic beaches. Hubby meanwhile, agreed to the traditional village visit. Guess he's the culture-vulture amongst us...

Before setting off, we arranged with the resort to have our romantic candlelight dinner that evening. Yes, the one that's part of our honeymoon package...

So there. Enjoy!

breakfast at resort's restaurant

Hubby finally relented to having our breakfast at the restaurant instead. He always insist on room service bec. he can't seem to get out of the pool after jumping in prior to waking up.

That day, we arranged to start our tour at 9am so there ain't a chance for him to splash in. Heh.

And boy am I glad we came here. The view was superb from where we sat.

Paddy fields with Mt. Sembalun & Rinjani in the background

The 3726 m (12 224 ft) Mt. Rinjani is famous with hikers. There's a lake caled 'Segara Anak' (Child of the Sea) midway (2000m) that is famous for its abundance in fish.

Benang Stokel waterfall.

Located at Aik Berik, Central Lombok, Southwest of Mt Rinjani, it’s 30m high waterfall, 552m above sea level.

The left side is higher than the right and have bigger flow. It may come from one outlet and divided into two waterfall. The waterfall has quite clean water (drinkable!) and the man-made forest + rainforest in the area is well-managed and protected.

This is the 1st of the 2 waterfalls that we plan to head to.

Benang Kelambu waterfall.

It’s about 30 minutes walking (more like hiking!) distance from Benang Stokel. It will take an extra energy because its rather like trekking trail, very rugged and definitely more adventurous.

The problem is, the both of us weren't prepared for this. Hubby especially.

Despite my audible panting, I find myself easily moving along the trail to a point that I left hubby behind. Never mind that we're wet from the previous dip in the lower waterfall. I had a towel around my shoulder while hubby carried our bag.

It was no mean feat. Brings me back to my hikes at Bukit Timah and MacRitchie. And upon reaching the waterfall, I was glad to see that they've constructed a set of stairs. But each step was more than a foot high and it was tedious to encounter it. Especially the climbing part.

Of course we had local guides to assist us along.

But the gorgeous sight of the waterfall makes all that ardous process worth it. In the end, hubby had sore thighs while I'm still as fresh as a daisy. Many thanks to all that swimming I've done, I guess my muscles are well-stretched and toned by then. Love the pool!

That's the new international airport under construction.

The current Selaparang Airport at Mataram is merely 1/2hr drive from Sengigi - where most of the action is.

This new international airport will be bigger, so as to accommodate bigger flights and will be more than 1hr drive from Sengigi but only 1/2hr from Kuta.

THAT'S why, there are plans to develop Kuta.

My serene, idyllic Kuta. It might just transform to be another Bali! Oh, the horror! :O

Welcome to Tanjung Aan

This has got to be one of the most gorgeous views that's I've seen for myself!

Tanjung Aan

It's low tide but the scenery's splendid, nonetheless.

Tanjung Aan

Sooo picturesque!

And you know what, not only is the sand here white (unlike in Sengigi), they are also little round morsels that's similar to white pepper!

Kuta

Like Bali, Lombok also has an area called Kuta.

But the beach here is wayyy nicer.

Kuta Beach

Flanked by little green hills that somehow reminds me of Scotland...

Kuta Beach

And know what? There's only 1 high-class resort in this area currently and that's Novotel.

But not for long. Most lands in this area have been bought over by some Dubai developer. This area won't be the same in a few years.

Our romantic candlelight dinner by the beach

We had requested to have dinner close to the beach. By that, we had assumed that we'll be placed at the dining area where we'll be seated on the floor, facing the beach.

Little did we expect them to do up our dining area to look like that!

Those were strips of 'janur' (young coconut leaves). This kind of decor are usually done during weddings or any celebration of sorts in the Indonesian culture.

Naturally, this kinda' setting will definitely attract some attention and we had a couple of Caucasian guests coming over to congratulate us during our meal.

So paiseh.... -_-

Swimming by candlelight

Despite being totally stuffed post-dinner, it still doesn't stop hubby from jumping into the pool anyway... Pfft!

More peeks H.E.R.E