Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

What an amazing sight – Of pink petals, green leaves and running waters ….. a lotus pond with flowering joy on Jalan Raya Pengosekan, Ubud, Bali

After the slightly underwhelming Babi Guling meal at Ibu Oka, we ventured back to Jati 3, our accommodation to refresh ourselves. Before setting foot on the next item on our itinerary ….. the most rejuvenating SPA session. Coming to Bali without paying a single visit to any spa would be a SIN, really. For a 2 hours session (1 hour and 45 minutes in actual) only cost about IDR 150,000 / RM 55 / USD16 per person. And best of all, there are LOADS of spas in Ubud for you to choose from.

Venezia Day Spa on Monkey Forest Road, Ubud, Bali …. where we found some form of pampering, but NOT as relaxing as we had initially expected ……

I could go on and on, about our driver, Komang Triawan. On how he nearly conned us into believing that the spas we chose were all fully booked, and nearly succumbed to his recommendation of a spa none of us have heard of. He was relentless, dramatic, but all the while rather convincing. But in no mood to elaborate further on this, we regained our sanity and chose to call up the spas ourselves. Voila. As expected, given the low travelling season in Bali, the spa we picked from a list accommodated our needs with no qualms nor laments. None of those ‘FULLY-BOOKED’ nonsense good old Komang had us believing. Geez …. do we REALLY look stupid?!!! (Okay, so I may look like an idiot, but I’m sure the gals knew better?!)

To cut a long story short, we saved about IDR25,000 per person on the two hours treatment, and saved our hinds from potentially cheated into believing every word the driver said. Though my spa session was NOT without its equally funny stories, eg. to imagine the masseur stopped in the midst of the massage, and chatted with a friend at the door, while my butt was fully exposed. Ahem. Not the most pleasant sight, mind you.

For more information on the spa we visited, and the location map, do hop over to their site HERE. I picked the MILK treatment, inclusive of body massage, body scrub, and a milk bath with fresh flowers. And at the end of the session, I was served with a cup of delightfully warming ginger tea with honey, and some cuts of fruits. Life …. was good.

After the 2 hours of pampering, we were flushing from the heat (notice that the rooms are NOT equipped with air-conditioners) of the day, and had to regain our composure ever so slightly before proceeding with our journey.

Wait, WHAT journey? It was a Free & Easy Day, and not wanting to waste time and energy (not to mention tormenting our already worn and torn century-old limbs!), we wondered about in Ubud town while waiting for the other half of the group for dinner. We were separated into two groups of five, as Venezia Spa could not accommodate all ten of us at the same time.

Kakiang Bakery @ Jalan Raya Pengosekan, Ubud, Bali

Passing by a fully air-conditioned cafe-cum-bakery was a most welcoming sight. Delighted to the core, we hopped in for some cakes at Kakiang Bakery, a perfect place for those who have had enough of Nasi Goreng and the likes, and craving for some Western breads or pastries.

The MIX Mini Cakes (3 for IDR 20,000 / RM7.30/USD2)

Not the best cakes out there, though we were not really hoping for much. The Mini Cakes combination of three slices for IDR 20,000 was a smart way to sell off the cakes AND enticing in the sense that you can try more flavours at one go. The single, bigger slice of Tiramisu, Cheese Cakes, etc were priced at IDR 18,000 / RM6.60 / USD1.90 each.

PIZZA BAGUS – Rather full of themselves eh? Read on to find out the review of the place …….

Creamy avocado juice (IDR 11,000 / RM4 / USD1.15), guitar’s saying hello to feather duster on the wall, the display of deli cuts next door, and a foosball table for those impatient ones.

Pizza Bagus in Ubud is almost a household name. If you’re wondering what was I thinking, having pizzas in Bali (?!!!), then you’d better hop over to their site HERE for the 13 years of legacy story, and the menu. An Italian restaurant that serves authentic, thin-crust style of pizzas unlike the commonly-acquainted Pizza Hut’s version with more dough than toppings.

Pizza Sole – Tomato, Mozzarella, Zucchini, Shrimp, Garlic (IDR 24,500 / RM8.95 / USD2.55 – Small)

But bear in mind that the wait for your food can get relentless. Yes, especially if the place is packed, an hour or more of waiting time may be expected. In total we spent a good two hours just to have some pizzas and pasta. If you’re not in a rush, then fine. But still, after the sweaty spa experience (it was humid in there!), we wished we were in beds after a cold shower. Not twiddling our thumbs, making small talks, and sipping on avocado juice (which paled in comparison to Dirty  Duck‘s), all the while waiting for the pizzas to be served.

The other selections we picked, all in all the 5 of us had 3 pizzas, 1 pasta, and 5 glasses of avocado juice.

But the pizzas were rather good, the thin dough with crispy crust reminded me of good quality, traditional pizzas that scream true-blue Italian! They ARE snacks, after all. Though we never see any roadside stalls or peddlers selling them on the go in Malaysia.

The homemade squid ink pasta (Tagliolini di nero al pomodoro) came without any ingredients except tomato sauce and parmesan cheese, so one can fully savour the tangy, sweetness quality of the sauce, with a faint hint of fishy squid taste. The pepperoni pizza fared the best amongst the others, though personally I kind of liked the Pizza Tirolese which came with Forest Ham and Gorgonzola cheese. A little strong and briny, but paired off perfectly with mozzarella and tomatoes.

The meal came to IDR 160,000 / RM58.40 / USD16.70 for the 5 of us. VERY reasonably, albeit the longer than usual wait. Pizza Bagus also serves their homemade gelato, at about a fraction of the price of the gelato here in Malaysia.

Location & Contact Number :

Pizza Bagus Delivery & Cafe

Tel No : 978520

Jalan Raya Pengosekan,

80571 Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Opens from 9am until 11pm everyday.

And then we adjourned back to our slumbers …….. Two more days to go, if you’re tearing your hair off wondering when will Motormouth stops babbling about his Bali getaway.

But if you’re liking what you’re seeing, no worries. Another few more chapters to come, and I’ll end the saga with a complete itinerary, budget, do’s and don’t's, etc. I’m so FULL OF IT, eh?

Consider subscribing to my RSS feeds for FREE, so that you won’t miss any of my nonsense. Or better yet, subscribe by e-mail (the box on the sidebar) so that every post would be sent to your inbox for your reading pleasure.