Indonesia Travel Guide

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What's Cookin' Good Lookin': Garuda Indonesia's Secret Recipes

Where: Indonesia
May 11, 2012 at 11:42 AM | by | Comments (0)

...And we're not talking in-flight food, but off-flight food.

Did you know that in-flight entertainment systems can be more than just an avenue for catching up on episodes of 30 Rock or Gossip Girl? Well, on Garuda Indonesia, there's heaps of information in a very well stocked seatback TV.

When we perused the offerings to watch some television on a recent Garuda flight, we found more than just Bahasa-language sitcoms. Since we don't speak enough of the language to even get one wise-crack, we opted to go deeper into the pages and pages designed to keep passengers happy until final approach.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Cheese Tim Tams of Indonesia

Where: Bali, Indonesia
May 4, 2012 at 1:50 PM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

You may remember when we told you about Tim Tams, the favorite Australian cookie. Sweet layers of chocolate cookie, with a creamy chocolate center all covered in what else but chocolate. Along with most Australians and visitors, Tim Tams are something of an addiction for us. That's why we were not only excited to find a new flavor, but super intrigued by the unique taste. Cheese!?

We always had the idea that Tim Tams were for an after-dinner treat or something a bit more sinful when we are feeling naughty. While shopping at a grocery store in Seminyak, Bali, this unique flavor offering threw us off and we just had to get them for a little nibble.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Sinking to a Cliffside Sunset

April 27, 2012 at 9:51 PM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali comes to a close with the sunset. It's not just any sunset, you see; it's a Bali sunset and Bali sunsets are legendary. Therefore, to see a Bali sunset you should have somewhere completely fabulous to sit. We found that place in The Rock Bar at The Ayana Hotel, just south of Jimbaran Bay.

It actually came as a recommendation to us from @Asia_Surf, who's making a nomadic, surf-and-party living on Bali just fine. In other words, he's a reliable source for these things.

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Flying Garuda Indonesia's Executive Class Actually Has...Class

April 27, 2012 at 3:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

Since an important part of traveling includes how you get there, it's always nice to sit up front in an airplane. While it makes more sense to experience first or business class on long-haul flights, doing so requires a lot more digging into pockets than most people can manage. The most economical way to fly in the premium cabin is to use miles for an upgrade.

We recently flew an airline that isn't part of our favorite airline alliance (yet). This means no opportunity to use those frequent flyer miles to stretch our legs. While planning a Bali trip, we needed to fly to Denpasar/Bali from Jakarta, and found one of our options to be Garuda Indonesia. Knowing little about them beyond that they're the national airline, we were curious.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Kopi Luwak of Indonesia

Where: Bali, Indonesia
April 27, 2012 at 11:05 AM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

Kopi Luwak. It's often named the rarest, most expensive, most for-connoisieurs-only coffee and it owes all these superlatives to how it's produced: an Indonesian civet (like a possum) eats a certain type of coffee berry. Its digestive system digests the meat of the berry, adds enzymes to the bean inside, and then poops out the bean. These beans are then collected, cleaned and sterilized, roasted and ground into coffee powder.

At coffee shops around the world, occasional bags of the rare stuff find their way into stock, going for $40-$60 per cup. In Bali, Indonesia however, the "cat poo coffee" is far easier to come by since this is where it's produced.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Bowing to the Surf Gods on Bingin Beach

April 26, 2012 at 2:51 PM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with some surf-spotting on Bingin Beach, recommended by our own contributor Max Graham.

If you've been following along on our recommendations for an awesome day in Bali, we've reached afternoon, post indulgent fresh seafood lunch. Resist the food coma siren song to chillax right there on Jimbaran Beach, and instead pile back into your private car* for a short drive further south, in the direction of Uluwatu.

It's here, along the coastline between Jimbaran and Uluwatu, that you'll find a strip of prime surfing beaches at the base of cliffs. Dreamland is the first major one for which you'll see signs, but just below is Bingin Beach and believe us that it's worth the extra few minutes driving.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Eating Your Way Through Jimbaran Bay

April 25, 2012 at 5:08 PM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with a super fresh seafood lunch and some plane spotting on Jimbaran Bay.

You're in Bali. You want some seafood, right? Right. Let's go get some then.

If you've followed our awesome day thus far, you've already had some breakfast, some sightseeing and some pre-lunch boozing. From the jungle around Ubud, it's time to head back down to the beaches—Jimbaran Bay Beach, to be specific.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Drinking the Local Brews

Where: Bali, Indonesia
April 25, 2012 at 4:08 PM | by | Comments (0)


BINTANG!

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with drinking...(almost) everywhere and (almost) everything.

All tastes can be satisfied by both non-alcoholic and adult beverages, a fact important to remember in Indonesia where much of the population is Muslim. Still, Bali offers a range of options, considering it's something of a melting pot for locals and tourists.

Our recent travel to the island means we truly got a feel for the local delicacies with some great food, but the drinks were quite notable as well. Though there are Starbucks scattered around, it's best to avoid them as you would the tap water.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Stumbling upon the Starbucks Temple

April 24, 2012 at 12:02 PM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with a wander around Jalan Raya Ubud (Ubud's main street) and a visit to the Pura Taman Saraswati temple behind Starbucks (yes, Starbucks)..

Alright, so now that you've breakfasted at Biku, it's time to hop in that private car* and hightail it almost two hours north into the cultural heart of Bali, in the town of Ubud. We recommend going there in the morning, because the afternoon brings the tour buses and floods the sidewalks (already barely wide enough for one) and many, many temples with vacationers who stop, stare, photograph, bargain for tchotchkes and sweat down the backs of their T-shirts.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Breakfast at Biku

April 23, 2012 at 11:53 AM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali begins with breakfast at Biku, in North Seminyak/Kerobokan.

Step outside of one of the mega resorts in Seminyak and Kuta and you'll very quickly learn two things: the local breakfast is a billion times better than whatever the resort is giving you "complimentary," and it's kind of difficult to find the beautiful Balinese-style buildings of your dreams in a city where so much is recently built of concrete.

The answer to both is Biku a tea house/restaurant/bookshop that serves a killer brunch and "Asian high tea" in a colonial-style building with exposed beams and ceiling fans instead of AC.

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Wish You Were Here: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

April 20, 2012 at 10:37 AM | by | Comments (0)

Selamat pagi! For those in the know, you know that's "good morning" in Bahasa Indonesian. Naturally this can mean only one thing. We're in Indonesia! To be specific, we're in Bali; even more specifically, the town of Ubud.

After a few flights and even more fun in a few airports, we arrived on the tropical island and it was all worth it. First, we began in the beach town of Seminyak, which was everything you dream of when Bali comes to mind. Infinity pools, luxury hotels, black sand beaches, cocktails, and sun have all played a major role in this trip. We even sampled kopi luwak, a rare coffee of origin in Indonesia basically made from mongoose poop. More on that later.

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AirAsia's Incredibly Long List of Onboard Meals

Where: Indonesia
April 9, 2012 at 12:36 PM | by | Comments (0)

This morning we booked a flight on Malaysia-based low-cost airline AirAsia. It's an hour-long flight and there were five flight times available that day. Simple, right? Sure...until we reached the extras which included a list of 19 different onboard meals.

"Chicken or beef" we've heard, and of course there's usually options for kosher, vegetarian and halal, but 19 options blows away all that.

With this much variety, you better be ready to pony up the extra cash. Meals are either 23,900 IDR ($2.61) or 29,900 IDR ($3.27), unless you go big with the "monthly promotion" meal at 41,900 IDR ($4.58). It's not bad at all considering that snack boxes on US airlines average $8, but, on the other hand, this AirAsia route between Bali and Jakarta, Indonesia regularly offers the whole one-way flight beginning at $45.

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