[Review] Juwuk Manis Relaxing, Ubud

Undoubtedly one of the big attraction of Bali is how affordable it is to pamper your body and soul. I have never done a review on massage services before, because I haven’t tried that many also nothing has been that spectacular. However, this time I just have to share with you all about this hidden gem, namely Juwuk Manis Relaxing. By the way, this is my honest opinion and we don’t get any benefit whatsoever out of this. In fact, my selfish self would have loved to keep this just to ourselves!

I stumbled upon one of thread in TripAdvisor forum about massage in Ubud and the author wrote very highly of this place. So when we went to Bali last year, I contacted Miss Sony (the lovely owner of Juwuk Manis). She responded very promptly and fit us in her schedule; she would come to our hotel on the agreed date – how convenient! Unfortunately, Miss Sony couldn’t come on the day but she sent another therapist, who did really well too! So, of course on our last trip to Bali, we contacted Miss Sony again and hoping that she would be available this time and she was! So, we truly thankful for that forum author who recommended Miss Sony, and I felt compelled to do the same and share this goodness, too.

Miss Sony started her career as massage therapist at one of Ubud’s hotel, namely Wapa di Ume. She left her job there for another role in Movenpick Hotel and Spa in Dead Sea, Jordan. And three years later, she finally returned back to Bali with better training and more experiences. She mentioned how she loves the rice paddy fields surrounding in Ubud and that inspires her to start her own massage business. Juwuk Manis is located in the very heart of Ubud, surrounded by rice paddy field and it’s serenity. We had our massage at our hotel room both times, so I can not review on the place. Nevertheless there are so many praises on TripAdvisor about Juwuk Manis location and how peaceful it is. Here are some pictures of Juwuk Manis that were provided by Miss Sony herself and judge for yourself 🙂

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juwuk manis

Juwuk Manis offers varieties of massages, but I would definitely go for her signature massage. It is a mixture of Balinese, Thai, shiatsu, acupressure and lomi lomi massage. From what I gather, she uses coconut oil that was pressed by her mother and infused with lemongrass and other spices. The massage itself is not just relaxing, it goes beyond that. Miss Sony is very skilled and really knows what she is doing. She would find the knots in your muscles without you telling her. You’ll feel so relaxed and light after your massage session, and if time permits, please do the body wrap as well. It is really interesting sensation when she rub those spices and wrap you up with sarong, plastic sheet, and another later of towel. And meanwhile the spice works the magic to your body, she will massage your head – blissful!

Miss Sony (left) and her theraphist
Miss Sony (left) and her therapist

So, if you happen to be in Ubud and have some spare time, please do your body a favor and contact Miss Sony. You’ll be surprised how good it feels afterwards! What’s better is her charge is so inexpensive for the service you’ll get.

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Juwuk Manis Relaxing

Ni Wayan Soni

Phone: +62 822 236 093 242

Email: sonybentuyung@yahoo.com

 

Grand Mega Resort and Spa Bali

And here we come to the last accommodation review post of our June 2016 Bali trip. For the last night and day in Bali, we chose Grand Mega Resort and Spa. The consideration was due to its location being closer to airport, yet not too far from supermarket and eateries either. It is on the opposite side of Harris Kuta Galleria where we stayed at last year. Do note that they have a newer hotel next door: Grand Mega Boutique, which is just 1.5 years old; whereas the hotel we stayed at is approximately 2 years older.

The front building design and entrance to this hotel is grand: a lot of glasses, mirrors, high ceiling with chandeliers and beautiful lighting at night-time. The pool is lovely with a pool bar that plays loud music til 10 pm every night. They have gym facility and hubby it was great with many equipment, not just the treadmill and cycle. To summarize, this is the more modern/funky and for youngsters type of accommodation. We had a smooth check in, the staffs are friendly and helpful and they also served cold welcome drinks while they processed our registration. They have motor bike rental in-house which is big relief after what we had experienced in Sanur previously.

We both dropped our jaws (in a good way) when taken to our room 🙂 It is literally filled with many mirrors! The room is compact but works just fine for us. The bathroom is very nice indeed, I think the size itself is as big as the bedroom. There is huge bath tub with a TV, separate shower and toilet each within its own glass cubicle. And then two huge sliding doors to separate the bathroom and bedroom areas. Bed is huge and comfortable as well, we didn’t have any major issues while staying here. We had room number 401 and is overlooking the pool, which is lovely view but at the same also a little noisy from the music by the pool.

Unfortunately the room shows aging signs and seems like haven’t been maintained very well. It certainly looks like it is older than just 3.5 years. And since the color theme is purple as in throughout the hotel, we find the room’s lighting slightly too dim. But hey those little details are not any major issues during our stay. We had our good night sleep, no problems with water or internet and it’s all that matters 🙂

Lobby and look at those chandeliers
Lobby and look at those chandeliers ❤

 

Restaurant area - next to lobby and open up to pool area
Restaurant area – next to lobby and open up to pool area

 

Pool - behind the pool are the suites and in-house spa
Pool – behind the pool are the suites and in-house spa
~ The Food ~

We ordered their fried rice for the dinner as it was pouring outside and must admit they are very tasty. They came with chicken satay, grilled prawns (which are delicious!), prawn crackers, pickled mangoes and small pot of sambal. Service was also very prompt, our orders were delivered within about 30 minutes!

Room service: fried rice
Room service: fried rice

Their breakfast was not bad either, they were good variety of food. Oh and the dessert table was very eye-catching 🙂 For us, the highlight was Semur Daging which packs with flavor and those super crispy Chicken Bacon. Yummy!! The fresh fruit juice however was too diluted, but then again you get what you paid for 🙂 We cannot comment on how often they change their breakfast menu since we only had breakfast one day.

Breakfast
Breakfast

 

For less than AUD 50 per night, this hotel is definitely value for money with all the comfort and good choice of food. There certainly are things to pick on if you are going to be fussy, but then again everything works fine. So, I would still recommend this hotel to my fellow readers, especially to the youngsters and have your own transport ready. The location works for us because we rented a motorbike, otherwise this is not walkable distance to beach or even Kuta main strip.

Grand Mega Resort and Spa

Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai No. 234

Simpang Siur Kuta-Bali 80361 Indonesia

Phone : +62 361 767672

Email : info@grandmegaresortbali.com

 

 

The Oasis Lagoon, Sanur

After two peaceful nights in Ubud, we moved to Sanur for our next stay at The Oasis Lagoon. This hotel has good rating on TripAdvisor and we love the travelers’ pictures of this hotel. And as always, this post is our honest opinion of the hotel and not sponsored by any parties at all.

Prior to this trip, we have never stayed in Sanur area; we had only come here for food. This time we thought it would be a good chance to try Sanur area and see if we will like it. Honestly, we don’t really enjoy the area much and to find out why, please keep reading on this post 🙂

The entrance and the lovely little pond with refreshing greens ❤
The entrance and the lovely little pond with refreshing greens ❤

The Oasis Lagoon is in Sanur’s prime location at Jalan Danau Tamblingan and about 10 minutes walk to Sanur beach. There are many great restaurants and shops nearby the hotel: Hardy’s Supermarket is just next door and Cafe Batu Jimbar is adjacent to this property. Their website states that there is complimentary shuttle to the beach club, but we were not told of this option.

Upon arrival at the hotel, we were greeted at the reception and welcome drinks are served along with refreshing cool towels. Check in process is smooth, but the room was not ready since we came too early again. We asked the reception staff about motor bike renting, which unfortunately they don’t have in-house. When asked if they could help to find a rental, they didn’t offer much help and referred us to the security guards at the front. At this point, I seriously didn’t feel much welcome  🙁

After leaving the luggage at their storage, we headed to the front security guard. He then pointed us to talk to another guard at far back of the hotel. His fellow walked us through the back alley to a nearby motor-bike rental, who told us none available. Left with no other choices, we walked along Jalan Tamblingan and asked every single motor-bike rental stand along the street. Everyone gave us the same answer, no motor bike available – as soon as they realize we are domestic travelers and stayed in a hotel.

Consequently, this is very upsetting that we would walk back to the hotel, get our luggage and moved to other area. All this time we traveled to Bali, we have never ever encountered such problem! Just before we walked back, hubby tried this last stand and thankfully we got our motor bike, at last! This vendor told us many domestic tourists ran away with rented motor bikes and therefore they are hesitant to do business with local tourists 🙁 So, if you are Indonesian, want to stay at Sanur and rent a motor bike, please communicate with the hotel first.

Apart from all those issues above, the hotel itself is a lovely property. The lobby is grand with semi open layout and airy, pool is nice size and lovely, their restaurant area is inviting. Our Deluxe Room was clean, beautiful, good size, and that little terrace is just too cute! The bed is huge and very comfortable, WiFi worked well with no issues,and no problems in the bathroom department either.

Lobby and glimpse of the pool area
Lobby and glimpse of the pool area

~The Food~

Our room booking came with breakfast and their breakfast was nice. There are good variety of food and they changed some menus during the two mornings we were there. We love their fresh fruit juices, the croissant is buttery, sausage and beef bacon are delicious. Thumbs up for the egg station, serving delicious scrambled eggs and omelette. On the first morning, there is tempura station that made yummy looking tempura. This stand changed into a french toast station the next morning and we both loved their french toast!

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Sausage and Bacon station, Egg station, and French Toast station

Furthermore, they hold many events for dinner at their restaurant, for example Salsa Night with food on every Wednesday; BBQ Satay Nights on Monday, Friday, and Sunday, and so on. Hubby took some photos during the Salsa Night and I wished we had joined it! People seems like having fun and there are lots of yummy looking food!

Fun Salsa Night!
Fun Salsa Night!

On our last morning before checking out, they brought this lovely happy honeymoon cake to us after breakfast. Such a sweet surprise!

Nice gesture
❤ Nice gesture ❤

And that conclude this very long post review on our stay at The Oasis Lagoon Sanur 🙂

The Oasis Lagoon Sanur

Jl. Danau Tamblingan No.136A, Sanur, Bali

Phone: +62 361 282264

http://www.oasislagoonsanur.com/

Bakung Ubud Resort and Villa, Bali

We just came back from a last-minute one-week trip to Bali again and more reviews to come. And this post is about our honest review on staying at a Deluxe Room at Bakung Ubud Resort and Villa. As you know, we usually stayed at Tegal Sari during our Ubud trip, but not this time. We decided to venture a little further out of Ubud center and we take this chance also to review new places to share with you all.

We arrived at the hotel around 10 am, which was way before their standard 2 pm check in time. The reception staffs then processed our booking and payment. After that we were led to their restaurant area for the refreshing welcome drinks. We had booked the room via Booking.com at less than AU$50/night excluding breakfast. Luckily we can leave our luggage at their storage, rent one of their motor bike meanwhile waiting for the check in time.

Bakung Ubud Resort and Villa is a mid-size accommodation, located about 8 minutes drive my motor bike from Jalan Raya Ubud, where the surrounding is still fairly quiet with lots of rice paddy fields. There are total of 24 rooms and 9 villas within this lush property. Prior to our trip, I emailed the hotel to inquire about their airport transfer service also to confirm our booking and they responded very promptly and politely. This is usually an indicator on how good the staffs are, and it has worked for us many times at least.

Beautiful and lush property...
Beautiful and lush property…

 

The villas
The villas

The room we stayed at was beautiful and very spacious, I believe the rooms downstairs that have easy access to the main pool would be in similar layout and size as well (from the glimpse when walked past them). They provide tea, coffee, sugar, two cups, electric kettle, bar fridge, and two bottles of mineral water per day. Bathroom is also huge and clean with a separate shower area and a big bath tub with another shower attached. However, I cannot find a hair dryer in the room and didn’t ask the reception either. Maybe if you are planning to stay there and need to have a hair dryer, please contact them before booking.

 

We got back to the hotel around 1.30 pm and the lady at reception told us the room is ready that we can head there right away. One of the staff then led us to our room where they have brought our luggage in earlier and turned on the air conditioner. Little gestures that we love!

The only negative I’d comment on is the mattress. We think that it might be too old, where you can feel all the springs when you lie on it. Thankfully, it doesn’t give us back pain – but that’s really a turn down for me personally. The other factor you might need to consider before booking here is that you will need your transport. The hotel provides free drop off and pick up shuttle to Ubud area few times a day, and you can certainly pay a little extra for shuttle outside that time-table. But, if you like to explore Ubud, you may need your own transport because metered taxis are rare in Ubud. Also there is no lift facility on this property, so if you taking little kids might be better to request the pool access rooms downstairs.

Unfortunately that our booking did not include breakfast and we always ate out, we cannot review on this matter. But we generally had a good stay at this place. We find it very peaceful and relaxing during our two nights stay in their Deluxe room.

 

Bakung Ubud Resort and Villas

Jalan Sri Wedari,Desa Tegallantang, Ubud

Phone:  +62 361 4792660

Fax:       +62 361 4792757

Email:    info@bakungubud.com

http://bakungubud.com/about-us/

 

 

 

 

 

Restaurant Review – Ale Ale, Pontianak, Indonesia

This is another super late post from our trip back home September last year. During our very short trip to my hometown, Pontianak, we visited this restaurant which my family had been going in the past but kind of forgotten in the recent times somehow. The restaurant name Ale Ale refers to a type of shellfish that are found in a small fishing town in West Borneo, called Ketapang; hence their famous dish is spicy ale ale stew. Upon researching on the internet, apparently ale ale can also be found in other part of Indonesia and called with different names. I think they look quite similar to pippies, don’t you think? They are fairly small in size compared to mussels, the shells are whitish and so are their meats are kind of whitish and almost transparent. Here is a picture of ale ale shellfish, courtesy of Google Search.

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Now. the restaurant is mainly semi outdoor, with part seating consists of the usual tables-chairs in the middle and on the side are seating on floor with low tables (aka lesehan). On that occasion we chose the lesehan style for a more casual dining. Ale Ale (the restaurant) offers not only the shellfish, also various Indonesian and Chinese food options. Here are what we ordered:

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From top left: Spicy Ale Ale Stew, Crispy Prawn with Spicy Mayonnaise, Anchovy Sambal, and Grilled Chicken
Ale Ale2
From left: Crispy Calamari, Spicy Fern (Pakis), and Fried Rice for my nieces

We definitely had a delicious and memorable dinner at Restaurant Ale Ale Podomoro, and all that only costs about AU$30, bear in mind that is for total of 6 adults and 2 kids! So, yes we are certainly going back to this place when we are in town again 🙂

** Some other recommended menus are: Sour and spicy fish stew and Black pepper beef ribs.

Pondok Ale Ale Podomoro

Jl. Putri Candramidi (Podomoro), Pontianak, West Borneo, Indonesia

Phone:  +62 561 763048

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pondok-Ale-Ale-Podomoro/143935298989119