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It is no wonder I am an avid fan of Japanese Food … well … maybe not just Japanese food… I also love the spicy Korean noodles and Kimchi, the cheesy pizza, pasta, the flavorful chinese Ba kut Teh and fish soup, Gelato ice cream (any flavor)and the list can go on and on.
But what is so special about Japanese food is that it is a juxtapost of all the food I like mixed into one. They have fish in the form of sashimi or Sushi. They have QQ noodles in the form of Ramen, Udon and soba and I can never get enough of their curry rice and their Chawanmushi.
It just happens that last friday after work, me and my wife was contemplating where and what to eat for dinner when we wandered in to Central Mall. That place is a haven for food enthusiast. Gathered there are a variety of resturants and you can have a decent chinese, Western or Japanese meal and all that limits you is the size of your wallet.
And so while walking, we were attracted by the aroma of chicken soup and the smell led us right to the door step of this stall called Marutama Ramen. This is the only branch in Singapore (I think) and their main branch are in Japan. This is their webpage. Unfortunately it is all in Japanese. And this is their name card.
Anyway, at about 630 in the evening, there is already a queue of 5 to 10 persons waiting to be seated and the resturant is alreayd packed. As we wanted to find out if the soup taste as good as it smelled, we joined the queue. The shop is small with about 8 tables with a sitting capacity of 6 persons each and about 8 to 10 counter seats. If you are willing to take the counter seats, chances are, you would be seated and served faster. But even then, I waited for a cool 15 minutes or so.
Unfortunately I did not bring my camera that day and could not snap a layout of the shop or a pic of the delicious pipping hot ramen that eventually arrived in front of me. But well I guess you wil just have to imagine as I describe.
The shop sells 2 distinct ramen soup base. One is the chichken soup (with or without green chilli), which is the aroma that attracted us and the other is their special soup base made from several nuts. The basic ramen comes with some spring onions sprinkled on top, some sea weed and a picec of Char siew. (Cost S$12) If you want to add toppings, you would have to pay extra S$1 to S$4 more. Toppings that can be added include additional spring onions, see weed or even more pieces of char siew. Oh yea before I forget .. the cost does not included GST or service charge.
Well with the price setled, lets tuck in. The soup as described earlier smells very rich but its texture is surprising light and the taste goes very well with the noodles and the rest of the ingredients. The ramen itself is very Q. Not soogy and not too hard. You actually can feel the individual strands of noodles before they give way to your chomping teeth. The Char Siew is the best. It had been heavily seasoned and boiled until it is super soft. You will think that you are eating cotton and not pork. The meat justs melts on your tongue and the aroma of the seasoning will fill your mouth. Unfortunately you are only given a small piece (unless you decide to add 3 pieces of Char siew at S$4) so savour every bit of it.
Not to mention we had a hearty meal and I will definitely be back to try to other dishes…. provided i get a resevation first.
Ubud is a small quiet town in the middle of Bali island. It is a bout 1 hour by car from the air port and about 45 minutes by bus from Sanur (Which was what me and my wife took). The trip by bus cost only about 40,000 rp (about S$7) where as a private taxi can cost as much as USD$20 to $30 dollars (178,000 rp).
Minor observation here … although Sanur and Ubud are only a few kilometers apart, the two area are totally different. Ubud is further away from the crowded town area, not as commercialized, more catered for the family and the people there are friendlier and more willing to help (tourist friendly) without expecting any return. And the people would not bother you additional questions once you reject their offer for “transport?/ taxi?”
There is not much shopping unless you are into silver ware/jewelery or utensils made of wood / bamboo. The main reason why I visit Ubud on this trip is because of the spa packages that was offered. This was my second visit to Ubud. The first visit was blogged by my wife. Those interested can visit her blog here.
This time round we stayed at a hotel called Alam Indah. it is more like a villa style hotel or in Singaporean terms a very large chalet. The hotel has a very open style lobby surrounded by dense vegetation and surprisingly few mosquitoes.
Well as you might have guessed. I am very much impressed with the hotel itself… but just that it is a bit ulu and you have to walk a real dark and steep slope before you reach the main hotel lobby proper.
These are a few shots of the swimming pool and the hotel room that over see the pool and the long long long winding and steep rod before you reach the hotel. Note that there are no street lamps? It is pitch dark if you return by 7 or later.. luckily the hotel is considerate enough to provide a torch in the room.
The streets of Ubud are narrow and crowded with both modern and traditional shops selling almost everything under the sun. Strangely there are no local food produce. And as you can probably see … I am playing around with my camera as well.
Padi fields like these with farmers working in the fields are a common sight along the streets of Bali as well. It is like among all the shop houses, out pops a plod of land where people used it to plant rice… wonder if all the people living in Ubud owns a land to plant rice and use part of their land to open tourist shops … if they are so self sufficient, it is no wonder that are not persistent in their sales … well at least not as persistent as the people in Sanur any way. 🙂
Another common sight along the street of Ubud is people (mainly women) praying in front of their stall by the road side. Without being rude, I managed to snap a few shots of them in action !!
Ok… now for the best part .. the spa massage. This is the place where I have the most wonderful massage ever. It is called Zen Bali Spa. I tell you … the people there are superb. Their fingers are strong and they really reach into your sore and tired muscles and thoroughly rub them down. It is worth every penny you have. The spa is at the end of Monkey Forest Road and hidden between two shop houses, as you can see from my pic below. The spa is highly recommended in lonely planet as well. Oh yea .. did I mention? that book and as few other guide books are the holy bible for me during those few days ..
Not to mention, Me and my wife thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the spa during our two days in Ubud. It is like sight seeing Ubud in the morning and ending the afternoon and the rest of the day at the SPA .. hee hee .
Well I guess that rounds it up. 🙂 Anyone who wants more information on Ubud or Zen can PM me.. It is a nice place to consider for a short get away to laze and while away your time and escape the hustle and bustle of city life.
Finally!! The moment I have been waiting for is here … It is time to take a good rest, after a lot of time an energy on projects I been “volunteered” to undertake. The past few weeks had been rather bad with deadlines hounding me at my heels. Well it is not that the deadlines went dead but just that I put them out of my mind for these coming few days. It is time to head to Bali… again for a week of relaxation. But first of all, credit has to go to my wife for arranging the flight, the hotels and the agenda. Actually, there is no fixed agenda for the trip …. basically the main idea is to go Bali to enjoy and chill out.
For those not in the know … this is the 2nd time I am going Bali. Not that there are a lot of things or sight seeing to do there, But the massage is simply fantastic, excellent, superb, gorgeous, bagus and it is a must try for all those sucker for spa. I am one …. and I did not know that until I visited Bali. In anyway, Bali is a nearby good getaway for the hustle and bustle of the city life in Singapore and the service standards of the people there can put most of the hotels back home to shame.
Enough idle chatter and let me show you the sights and fill you in with the sounds of Bali … firstly Sanur beach. Actually I wanted to blog real time but I do not have a lap top and I do not fancy paying for the wireless connection so well … delayed telecast would have to do…
Took Value Air there … it is by far the best budget airline I have taken … the fares are definitely budget but not the attitude and service of its crew and staff. I strongly recommend choosing Value Air or Jet star if the opportunity permits.
Reached Denpasar Airport around evening and got a transfer to the villa in Sanur area. For more information on Sanur, you can check out here. The hotel is called Villa Puri Ayu…. Not sure what it means … but the hotel is posh and luxurious albeit stuck in the middle of nowhere and we had to walk about 50m through a dark (during the night) alley to reach it.
Finally at the doorstep of the hotel
My room on the 2nd floor with a private pool… can you beat that ?
The interior of the room …
The main pool and other villas of the hotel with a more contemporary look
Alright … before this sounds more and more like a sales talk, I must say .. I have not benefited or accepted bribes from the staff of the hotel in any way. I just feel that this hotel is value for money and the services they provide are superb. They even offer bicycles FOC to all their tenants, on a first come first serve basis as a mode of transport to and fro town.
Although it is suppose to be the peak season … me and my wife did not spot alot of other visitors … Temp in Bali is around 25 to 30 degrees Celsius with hot scorching sun but cooling winds. This means you get burnt very easily without yourself knowing it. The winds there are ever present and it is the only place I have been there you can fly a kite, tie it to a tree overnight and the next morning when you wake up, the kite is still flying up high.
The water is clean … but na I did not feel very much for swimming and me and my wife did the most “ang mo” thing. We lie on the beach chairs and while away the time.
Of course what is a relaxing trip without good food? My wife and myself tong the streets of Sanur for good food and we even chanced upon this vintage Jaguar. Check it out guys !
Well that is what pretty sums up our stay at Sanur … The next blog I would be talking about Ubud where the wonderful spa is … stay tuned..
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