Diving in Tulamben - USAT Liberty Wreck

It's winter here down under and it's damn cold! So today I'm reminiscing on the warm clear waters we experienced while diving in Bali. Gaffa and I decided to do another day of diving by ourselves on the Tulamben wreck. We both love wreck diving - travelling around the world to dive on top wrecks like the SS President Cooliage in Vanuatu, Zenobia in Cyprus, Thislegorm in Egypt...

This time we were diving on the USAT Liberty which is a US Army transport ship that got torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942 near Lombok. It was the towed to Talamben beach for salvage operations. In 1963 when Mt. Agung erupted, it pushed the ship about 25m from the shore to a depth of about 30m, where it now lies encrusted with beautiful coral and swimming with an abundance of marine life.

Eating in Bali Part 3

Okies, I swear this will be the last post about eating in Bali! Only two more restaurants to rave about, ones that are a definite must-eat when visiting this paradise island. 

After the wedding all our relatives and family friends went home, so it was just Gaffa and I, my parents and the newlyweds. We decided to meet up with them in Seminyak for dinner which is about half hour taxi from Nusa Dua. We arrived abit late for the $3 cocktails across the road,  but we were happy with the lychee martinis at Ultimo. 

Ultimo is an Italian restaurant on the main street of Seminyak, where you'll find lots of shopping boutiques, restaurants and cafes as well. I was surprised to see such a popular Italian restaurant in Indonesia, but I guess you do have a lot of  Westerners who probably get sick of eating nasi goreng everyday they're in Bali.

We were seated out the back, outside. There was minimal lighting, so little that they supplied us with torches so we could read the menu. We ordered an antipasto plate to share for a starter, and each ordered a pasta dish for mains. 

 

 

Eating in Bali Part 2

When it comes to food you can gurantee that there'll be a part 2, maybe even a part 3! Stay tuned...

The day after the wedding was spent relaxing since we had a late night out at ZJ's , a night club in the grandest hotel I've ever seen, Mulia. Anyway, that night we had dinner at Jimbaran. Jimbaran is known for its seafood and dinning on the beach. We watched the sun set at Rock Bar but I've heard the sun set at Jimbaran is good too. I assume all the restaurants at Jimbaran are much the same,  getting their seafood from the same place. We ate at Menega Cafe, and we had a set menu since there was about 30 of us. The tables are on the sand, on a slight angle so keep hold of your drinks! Food was decent, but my parents, aunties and uncles who also ate there said the food was not that good.

After the wedding we spend a couple of days in Ubud. Ubud is known for its beautiful rice fields, and is the arty and cultural hub of Bali. There are alot of warungs on mountain tops with gorgeous views of rice fields below. Definitely worth a visit just for the great views.

For lunch in Ubud we were taken by our tour guide to a local warung where we enjoyed some smoked duck and crispy duck. I don't know what the restaurant was called, sorry! But if you do a Google search for places to eat in Ubud, a few duck places will pop up. The smoked duck was really good, with lots of sauce to be soaked up by the rice. The spices used were delicious and the meat fell straight off the bone.

Eating in Bali Part 1

One thing that I was most looking forward to whilst in Bali was not only the hot weather and cheap shopping, but the food. Gaffa and I planned most of our travels around what's best to eat, so it was no surprise that we would be gaining weight on this trip! Lol.

In Sydney we'd only eaten at a few Indonesian restaurants, mainly Ayam Goreng 99 in Kingsford. Enjoying the grilled chicken and satay sticks with copious amounts of ketchup manis and chilli sauce was just the beginning of our love affair with Indo food.

The first night we ate out at a warung - which is a name for a small family shop , cafe or restaurant. You'll see a lot of warungs around Bali, where you can gurantee there'll be good cheap local food. Made's Warung in Seminyak is not your typical hole in the wall joint, but has grown so much that it's expanded to a larger restaurant with a live band. The a la carte menu has a variety of Asian and European food, with the traditional Indonesian and Balinese dishes.

Gaffa and I shared a Nasi Campur Special and some juicy chargrilled sate skewers. The nasi capur provided a good mix of food and Gaffa was so hungry he ordered a Nasi Goreng for himself! First night in Bali also called for a Bintang beer tower to share between the table. Surprisingly the beer is not too bad. Easy to drink with a light taste.

Potato Head Beach Club, Seminyak, Bali

 

If you ever visit Bali I highly recommend spending a day or night or both, here! Potato Head Beach Club is a funky hang out for all the cool kids. There's a beach, infinity pool complete with its own bar, sun lounges, dinning tables and grassy area; all for you and your friends to soak up the sun during the day and cool off at night to the chilled out tunes while trying all their delicious cocktails.

 

Diving in Nusa Penida, Bali

My bro, Rave and his fiance, Ms. Tjak were getting married in Bali so Gaffa and I took this opportunity to do some diving. We did some research and found that Bali was famous for its manta rays and the mola mola but it was not mola mola season. So we decided to do our first day of diving at Nuda Penida, in search for some manta rays.

Earlier in the year we'd taught The Banker and her boyfriend to dive, and we also found out that a few of Rave's friends were divers too. I organised with a PADI CDC (the highest rating for a dive centre) - Crystal Divers to spend the day out on their boat with a group of 9 of us - 7 divers and 2 snorklers. They were very efficient in answering our questions via email beforehand and their level of service and professionalism was top notch. I would highly recommend them for anyone diving in Bali. They're service provides everything: pickup and drop off from your hotel, gear hire and lunch, snacks and drinks during the day. The prices are reasonable also, giving discounts to PADI professionals.

Vivid Sydney

Every year when the weather starts to get cold, Sydney decides to put on a show of lights, music and ideas called Vivid. This year it runs from 24 May until 10 June. The city near the harbour lights up from 6pm onwards into a spectacular array of colours,  providing a great night out; just remember to wrap up because it's chilly outside!

Gaffa and I went to Vivid many years ago when we first got together, and again this year. The highlight for me at Vivid is seeing the Opera House projected with beautiful lights on its sails. The classic Sydney icon is transferred from its basic white facade into beautiful,  bright designs, worthy of numerous photo snaps.

Here are a few of my photos from the night. 

Opera Bar, Sydney

Last night we bid farewell to two fellow Poms, one of which Gaffa became good friends with while working full time as a diving instructor. They are over here on working holiday visas and had worked 3 months in Sydney already. The next part of their trip was going to take them north, to find some work in Cairns and then travel around Australia and back to Sydney in December.

After work I met Gaffa and the Poms at Sea Rock Bar, where they had been happily drinking wine during happy hour. After one more drink there we were starving and heading to Opera Bar for dinner.

The Poms had been here for dinner before and raved about the fish and chips,  so they wanted to come back here for one of their last meals in Sydney. 

Max Brenner, Manly

Love chocolate? Well you'll definitely love this place. Chocolate by the bald man is a cafe that sells hot and cold drinks, and an array of chocolate desserts. Some large enough to fill you up if you skip lunch/dinner or for those with a second stomach for desserts.

Gaffa and I met up with our good friends Maverick and Quiche in Manly for dinner at Manly Fish Cafe, then dessert at Max Brenner. The last time we were at MB with them was before we left for our overseas travels in June 2011. So this outing was long overdue!

Belgrave Cartel, Manly

I’ve been holding back on posting another blog for a while now, trying to find something interesting to write about and also the time to site down and actually write it. Having dinner at Belgrave Cartel to celebrate Valentine’s Day with Gaffa was a really nice experience and what better way to reignite the Eat Travel Dive blog once again.

Belgrave Cartel is situated in Manly on Belgrave Street and started off as a small coffee shop, supplying the locals with their morning caffeine hit. They soon became a hit themselves with constant preorders in the morning and a recent renovation to include more seating space out the back, and now they have expanded into ever changing lunch and dinner menus with amazing food, great wines and still amazing coffee (according to Gaffa, since I don’t drink coffee). They’re also trying to get approval for an extended liquor license so watch out for their great Cartel nights.