the restaurants.

We visited a few highly rated restaurants in bali and they are all worth documenting :)

the first was a place our driver, kadek, took us.  This view in this picture is from the balcony. and that is zeb and ike down there in the pool!! this place had pizza, milkshakes, and the most amazing swimming pool and views ever.  

the kids still talk about the pool.  and I LOVED the milkshakes.  Most asian countries have strange ideas of what a milkshake is.  Often it's flavored warm milk.  Or super icy.  But- this place got it right.  The chocolate shakes were SO GOOD.  It was really hard dragging our kids away from this place.

the grounds were full of banana trees!!  I love tropical plants.

There's a restaurant called 'Sari Organik' that I had heard of before we even went to Bali. It's all local and all plant based vegan fare.  Honestly- the food itself was good- but a tad weird. But the ambiance was stellar.  very laid back and natural.  

Everything had good flavor but was missing the creamy aspect.  or something to counteract the acidity.  

 I don't think I could EVER be a vegan!!  It was for sure worth trying out and moreover- the place is famous not just for their food- but for the walk to get there!  It's out in the rice fields of Ubud and the only way there is a dirt trail only wide enough for a couple of people.

we went for an early dinner so we could miss the crowds and finish off our  meal with a sunset.  It was perfect.

I've never seen such amazingly unique scenery as we saw in Ubud.  Rice fields are art.  

because Ubud has a pretty even climate all year round- different fields of rice are in different stages everywhere.  It was neat to see how they all differed.

Mack was over dinner so he and I went for a walk over to some of the farms that belong to restaurant.  we found chickens and cats and lots of dirt.

like with a lot of other sights in bali, I could take rice field pictures forever!!!

This last restaurant will go down in the my life history filed under 'stories that make me angry' and 'biggest life regrets'.  Kent told me several times that night that we'd laugh about later.  I'm not sure I'm ready to laugh.

I think vacations- as wonderful as they can be- are also stressful.  doing this much travelling- we tend to learn some travel lessons that hard way! and I should point out now that this evening was far from terrible.  In fact- it was lovely.  I'm just still perturbed!!

Having my mom and dad with us was wonderful.  They helped distract our kids while stuck in traffic- we weren't outnumbered by kids like most of our vacations- and Kent and I could go and enjoy a few things without our kids!!  on this night- we decided to head to a restaurant I had heard all about from tripadvisor and other Ubud blogs!  our reservation was pretty late- so first we wandered the street shops of Ubud and watched a night bali dance show from the veranda of a starbucks (the show usually costs money- but I'd read you could watch from starbucks for free!).

the show was great- and afterwards we searched for a taxi to take us out to the jungle to a secluded fancy resort with an outdoor restaurant on the river!  this is where the angst began.  Our taxi driver was a jerk and didn't want to drive us for the price we offered.  When we walked away- he relented and took us.  But then (our fault) we didn't have exact change and he wouldn't break our bill for us!  it wasn't worth the fight- so we just gave it to him.  But i was bugged.  it was only 3-4 dollars more- but it was the principle!!!  and I'm the cheapest person you've ever met so not saving money makes me stressed and grumpy.

anyhow.  the hotel was amazing.  

They put us on the back of a golf cart and drove us down these jungle paths until we reached the riverside restaurant. there are candles lighting up tables and the river rocks (I  stole this pic from the internet). I think it's supposed to be terribly romantic- but I'm not the most romantic person so I thought it was neat- but I wasn't overly impressed!

hearts really aren't my favorite thing, either.  kind of tacky.

Our food was actually REALLY good.  expensive for Bali- but not so crazy that I couldn't eat!
I got bali pumpkin ravioli with capers and it was superb.  However- why is it that fancy food always comes in such small portions!? 6 ravioli?! I could have easily eaten 12!!  but- we had purchased some desserts at starbucks for later- so it was okay.

I can't remember what kent got- but he loved it.  Even though it looks so unappetizing.  It tasted a little too much like herbs and spices to me- but it was very traditional balinese.

so the food was great- but here is where my night took a turn for the worst.  we just ordered water to drink (because I'm cheap).  I knew we'd have to pay for bottled water.  we'd been paying for water our whole trip.  But then I noticed they brought us a big bottle of water. and it was Evian.  I should have never checked- but I grabbed the menu to see how much water cost (our water had already been poured) and my night was ruined.  In hindsight- I was being overly dramatic.  But guess how much the bottle of water cost??!!  it was TEN DOLLARS!!!   almost as much as my meal!!!!!!!  I was SO GRUMPY.  and to top it all off- do you see our starbucks dessert box in the pic? I took this pic to remember the water.  We forgot the dessert at our table when we left!!!!!  we got home and I was so devastated.  Angry about the water and so disappointed over dessert.

although- we did get an amuse bouche with our dinner and I've never been anywhere fancy enough to have that- so that was fun :)  Kent and I had seen them on top chef- but this was our first to eat. It was a baby one bite tuna sandwich.

I guess with my parents watching our kids- we saved on a babysitter so that money went towards our WATER!!!! ugh. I'm still bitter!  I totally left a review on tripadvisor warning people about the Evian!!!!!