Photo Diary: Entering the Bamboo Forest at Padma Resort Ubud, Bali

On our most recent trip to Bali, we took the Romantic Package option from the Indonesian Resident Promo of Padma Resort Ubud, as recommended by our friend. It exceeded our expectations. The extensive estate covers its own luxurious infinity pool, mini farm, botanical garden, plus a forest designed for trekkers. It's the perfect escape for retreaters - they have so many facilities to cater to people who love the mountains.

As a mountain person (versus le husband who's a beach person), I love how the weather's perpetually cloudy in this part of Bali. Even if it's listed as an Ubud hotel, it's still a 45-minute drive from Ubud Central, so Desa Puhu is a really secluded area, away from the crowd and noise.

On this post I'm sharing some forest photos from the 2-night stay. For more details you can check out the official page for the promo.

Premier Club Room overlooking west

The west wing from below

Pathway from the east wing

East wing from below

The Spa (their menu)

Was so excited about the hotel the moment we arrived, I decided to take a walk around by myself immediately. I didn't trek as far down as I'd like as we planned to have a spa sesh right after. It was raining the next day when I took another walk further down the forest with hubs to reach Padma's very own bridge and river. I've always dreamed of walking in nature with my love for the longest time - kind of did it here :)

Behind the semi-private pool area

Semi-private pool area

Loving every second of our mini-retreat <3

Restaurant Locavore: Our Second Visit

Went to visit Locavore again since last December. This time I'm 14-weeks pregnant, and that means my taste buds have drastically changed. Fortunately they were more than welcome about my special dietary needs, and, professional as they are, managed to figure it all out for us.

As I said last time, their service is top-notch, and that is an understatement. Even when the things I used to like doesn't pique my taste buds anymore, they still managed to impress us with their latest degustation menu as well as the boatload of complimentary dishes.

Like on our first visit (and because we already knew they're incredibly generous with their dishes), we opted for the five-course menu out of the seven, sans the beverage pairings.

I'm not going to elaborate on the dishes or provide details on the unique Locavore unique and culture. And as a refresher, I have given up the title of a blogger by now, and I'm very glad I did it for many reasons, one being I don't always have the complete information about everything (and that my photos don't always look the best anyway). You can visit Locavore's official website to find out more. 

SQUID IN BLACK: Baby Squid a la Plancha, squid ink, onions, lacto-fermented leek, daun hujan

INTO THE SAWAH:  Heritage Galuh rice (from Tegalalang, Central Bali), snails & garlic - 64 degrees duck egg - from abon fern tips - wild flowers

Because pregnant ladies can't eat half-cooked egg yolks, they replaced my INTO THE SAWAH dish to the vegetarian menu's very own cucumber curry.

CUCUMBER CURRY: Anis sago, cucumber, pineapple, kemangi, ginger, dill

IKAN BUMBU KUNING:  Fish cooked in "yellow" broth, labu siam, pineapple, belimbing wuluh

BANGKAL HITAM:  Heritage Balinese pork, jackfruit kalio, sauce lado mudo, cassava leaves 

Mixed cuts of pork meat assembled on a fancyyy bamboo platter.

This dish comes with its very own rice rolled over pork liver.

And sauces: This one is a spiced jackfruit sauce, inspired by the traditional Indonesian version

Plus this lado mudo sauce, which is basically green chilli

AGAR AGAR SANTAN: Young coconut, roasted coconut, kaffir lime, agar-agar, palm sugar

This is edible hibiscus at its best! Inside the pot is fresh rosella juice that we poured for ourselves into the serving glasses they brought along with it.

Obviously, I'm going to keep coming back here again :)