Bali on the Rocks.

So we slept in Friday morning before indulging in the Villa’s breakfast. FYI we stayed at Villa Shivareva where they provided one complimentary breakfast for us during our time there.

It consisted of a lovely spread of fresh, tropical fruit, all so sweet and juicy I swear! There was also pancakes, toast and each of us was served two sunny-side ups. There’s really nothing quite like waking up to a delicious spread without having to lift a finger.

After breakfast, we adjourned to the pool. Even the glasses of champagne the girls were sipping on had their own little floats to bob around the pool in.

We also had these lovely Choux Puffs from Poule de Luxe that the girls bought from opposite Hog Wild the night before.

I tried the Salted Caramel one and it was so well-filled with Salted Caramel Cream. A little more salt would have been nice but the cream itself was luscious and so indulgently smooth without being cloyingly sweet. I also tried the Green Tea Choux Puff of which there was only one of so we had to share. That had the deep, strong, bitterness of green tea with an incredibly faint level of sweetness. The initial dislike I had for its savoury quality actually morphed quickly into a desire to have more. Nothing like an addiction that creeps up slowly and pounces on you!

The sun was out and we actually managed to spread 3 hours lazing around the shallow end talking about everything and anything. Before we knew it, it was already 2pm and the plan was to depart the villa at 3pm to go to Rock Bar at Ayana Resort in Jimbaran. So we reluctantly pulled ourselves out of the water and got ourselves dolled up for our late afternoon/evening out.

Us being girls, we finally gathered together in our maxi dresses and painted faces at 3.20pm. Not bad considering we had to shower, change, do our make-up and blow-dry our hair with the world’s most powerless hair dryer. I gave up within 2 minutes of turning it on. My niece blowing at my hair would probably have been a lot more effective than their dryer so I ended up having to towel dry it as much as possible before leaving the rest of the work to nature. I mean, the villa was amazing and altogether really awesome in every aspect but their dryer was seriously a big, sad, nothing. 😦 I shall stop bulldozing the dryer now…

It didn’t take too long really, to reach Jimbaran. We arrived at 4.30pm and were blown away at how pretty Ayana Resort was – the calming melody of traditional music playing in the background, the burn of aromatic incense wafting gently through the air, the endless blue seas that lay ahead of it and the sound of crashing waves against the rocks at the base of the resort all just made for an ideal paradise for rest and relaxation. We walked through the Ayana grounds before we were led to a set of trolley lifts.

Down, down, down we went whereupon we were welcomed by the staff at Rock Bar, and led to our table. Guests of Ayana have the privilege of going to the towers where the view is even better. We, however, we placed a level below where the view was slightly obstructed. But because we were early, we were able to pick and choose our table so no complaints about that!

Happily settled into our seats, the servers quickly placed a complimentary bowl of Sambal-flavoured Tapioca Chips on our table and the girls suddenly realised that we had missed lunch. So an order of Popcorn Chicken and Calamari Rings was placed, as well as another bowl of Tapioca Chips.. or 6!

Around 6pm, the sky became overcast and it started to drizzle. We were a little unsure as to whether we should stay for our 7pm dinner reservation or search for an alternative dinner venue at one of Ayana’s other restaurants. In the end, we decided to brave the drizzle and lo and behold, the rain gods looked in us with favour and held the skies up.

We didn’t quite manage to catch the sunset in all its glory. We mentioned to the staff that we had a blocked view and they insisted that the sun had already set. Right. The sun has only set when the skies turn properly dark dark. So I was pretty sure the sun was still out by the horizon somewhere, just not in our line of sight. Still, the skies looked pretty, the air was cool, and company was awesome!

When dinner service took over, the staff at Rock Bar quickly put two tables together to set for us. It took all of 2 minutes before we were given their menu and served complimentary, warm, chargrilled, fluffy bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar – perfection in its simplicity.

3 of us ordered the Grilled Octopus with Celeric Puree, Caramelised Onions with Lemon Dressing and none of us had any regrets. The octopus was served tender to the bite with a subtle char. I happily lapped up the onions since F wasn’t around for me to kiss anyway, and the lemon dressing was more like a lemon aoili – creamy, smooth, sweet and tangy. I wasn’t too hot on the celeriac puree though because it was slighty gritty in texture. Still, a well-rounded dish that I would order again for sure! Only I’m now back in Singapore and it’ll be a while more before I visit Rock Bar again. Boo!

Les had the King Prawns dish and Fel went for the Sea Bass. Plates were cleaned so I assume they were pretty well-executed as well.

The girls were in good spirits after the delicious food and alcohol. For me, it was just the delicious food. Haha. And to put the cherry on top, Kel generously said that dinner was on him so what can I say? High spirits got even higher! We decided to pass on dessert since we still had some Choux Puffs and Brownies back at the villa, so after a couple more drinks and cheerful banter, we headed back to rest. By rest I mean that Fel, Abby, Angie and Les had more G&Ts back home with Abby and Les braving a dip in the now cool, or cold depending on who you ask, swimming pool. I hung around for a bit to listen to the gossip before heading back to the comfort of my room, having a short call with F and then diving into the cushy bed for sleeps!