Top Three Bali without Adam

There are so many reasons why having Maria, our nanny, come with us on vacation is a plus but here are the top three.

1) Being able to read my book by the pool. This is high on my list. While I love playing with Adam in the pool and the beach, it is definitely a treat to be able to sit out in the sun and finish my book. I read Someone Knows my Name by Lawrence Hill in Bali. It’s the story of Aminata, who was taken out of Africa as a young girl and forced into slavery in the US in the early 1800s and follows her life through most of the century. I have to say this book was great. It was written well and still uplifting despite the awful situations the main character is faced with. When I took this bag out of my suitcase I got worried it might perhaps be a little heavy for beach reading but it ended up being the perfect book to read.

2) Being able to sneak away with Randy for some lunch dates. We headed into town and grabbed some Greek food. Not a bad looking lunch date 🙂

We could have been in Greece…except that the only tasty thing was the tzatziki.

We went to a coffee shop across the street after and sat and had coffee and tea and some cookies and talked. The food and drinks were delicious and made up for our lunch. Moments like these are so wonderful. They’re more rare now that we have Adam, to grab a couple hours where it’s just us, but so important and good for us.

3) Getting to go out every night to an adult dinner with Daf and MJ at a dinner time that is not 5 pm. The food in Bali was great (Greek restaurant aside). It was so nice to have long yummy meals and get to eat my food hot. We missed Adam of course but he was sleeping away in his travel crib being looked after by his wonderful nanny.

My favourite meal of the trip was Ku De Ta in Seminyak. This place could have been in Miami. It was a beautiful restaurant, modern and with a beautiful deck that led right out to the beach. In fact I felt like I could have been in Miami a lot when I was in Bali. Bali is like a cooler, more relaxed, beachier, more beautiful, Buddhist Miami.

There is nothing more I love on vacation than showering after a full day in the sun and getting dressed up for dinner. My only regret of the trip was only taking Iphone pics at night. If Adam comes with us to dinner it’s the one time he takes his bath before dinner, to wash all that sand off and to get into a cute outfit. But before you get your hopes up for some cute pics of Adam dressed up for dinner, here is how Adam ate most of his meals in Bali.

The rest of us however showered and prettied up.

This place had the most delicious drinks.

and delicious food.

After dinner we headed out to the deck which was full of candles. It was a beautiful restaurant. I would have gone back but I’ve learned never to try that on vacation after Mexico.

Mozaic Beach Club was where we went for our last dinner in Bali and it was definitely a great way to end the trip. The food was delicious and Aunt Daf was happy they had affordable bubbly.

And I was happy that Aunt Daf was happy.

I had the best vegetable dish of my life here. Ok, it’s actually tied with a vegetable dish I had in Sydney but it’s tied for first. Every vegetable on this plate was delicious and the tastiest vegetable I’ve ever had (except for that one other time). I shouldn’t even post this Iphone picture because it takes away from what you’ve imagined this tastiness to be but here it is anyway.

This meal takes second place due to some rogue bats that were flying pretty close to Aunt Daf’s head. Had it been for food alone this place may have taken first.

In third place was the dinner we had at The Warung restaurant at Alila Villas.

The food was pretty good and had some stars like this delicious satay that came out on little coal boxes and a delicious soup.

This tray of starting dips looked great but wasn’t actually that exciting.

But this place take third place for pure beauty. It was worth going to this hotel just to see the beautiful architecture. When Randy goes back to corporate law and makes partner we can stay at this 600 dollar a night hotel but for now we’ll just walk around after dinner and take some pictures.

I wish we had gone to this place earlier to take some pictures in the daylight. There is a deck that goes right out over the ocean which is 300 stairs below you. The entire hotel was out of movie and the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever seen.

And just so you don’t think we really left Adam at home, some proof that he was in Bali with us.