Bagi yang penasaran dengan Waffle ala Hong Kong, di seberang Lapangan Niti Mandala Renon sekarang Eggie Waffle buka food truck setiap malam, dan kalau hari Minggu plus pagi-pagi. Waffle ala Hong Kong ini berbeda dibanding waffle tebal empuk bersiram sirup yang biasa ditemui, karena Hong Kong Waffle ini memiliki terstur garing dan renyah di luar, dan tidak disiram sirup tapi memiliki isi yang beraneka macam sesuai pilihan.

Pilihan variasinya beragam, mulai dari pilihan rasa wafflenya, hingga ke pilihan isinya. Selain dari Hong Kong Waffle, Eggie juga menjual minuman coklat, baik yang dingin maupun panas. Adapun kisaran harganya sendiri cukup terjangkau antara Rp. 10.000 dan Rp. 20.000.

Kalau datang ke sini Minggu pagi, jangan lupa pakai pakaian santai dan lebih asik lagi kalau sekaligus berolah-raga, atau sekedar menonton aksi para muda-mudi Denpasar yang tumpah ruah di saat car-free hours ini. (byms)

Karma Kandara! We were thrilled when finally got the time to visit this beautiful resort in full team, after some schedule misalignments. Located about an hour away from the Airport, Karma Kandara is reached by heading south past the Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) complex, then keep heading south off the main street following the sign board posted at the intersections. Keep in mind that you're heading to the Southernmost beach of Bali, so don't get distracted by the main traffic that most likely are heading towards Uluwatu or elsewhere in Southwest Bali.

Known as one of the most beautiful resorts in Bali, Karma Kandara Resort houses 70 private villas, which half of them are privately owned, and half are for rent. Our destination on this trip is Di Mare restaurant, one of three eateries existed within the Karma Kandara complex.

Reaching Di Mare Restaurant in Karma Kandara

There's a parking space within a short distance to Di Mare restaurant, so make sure to follow the sign board that says "Di Mare" instead of "Karma Kandara Resort" at the final intersection. From this parking space, Di Mare is reached through a corridor with limestone walls, that emits the rustic feeling.

Literally mean "The Ocean" in Italian, Di Mare is set on top of a steep cliff overlooking the infinity pool lies below, and the vast blue ocean that marked the southernmost part of Bali island. With its breath taking view, Di Mare restaurant is such an extraordinary venue to spend your afternoon at.

Di Mare's High Cliff Tea 

Di Mare some while ago launched a High Cliff Tea promotion, available from 3 pm to 5 pm where guests are treated to selections of sweet and savory snacks, along with a choice of tea or coffee.

The snacks are presented in three tiered tray, offering savoury treats of three different sandwiches, each filled with either cured salmon, tuna, or chicken. There are also some Sushi rolls, and Thai springrolls to pleases your palate.

On the sweet treats selection, there's muffin, cookies, delicious cheesecake with coconut crumbles, and what turned out to be the very succulent, creamy, dark chocolate brownies, best we've had in a long while.

While the food in general was good and fulfilling, we can't help but feeling they're quite minor compared with the amazing view that lies before us.

Since people says that a picture speaks a thousand words, then I'll let these beautiful pictures speak for themselves.

Temple Bar and Lounge

Sits right above Di Mare restaurant, is another Karma Kandara premise that provides the even better spots to witness the majestic sunset here in Karma Kandara.

Karma Beach Club

Steps away from Di Mare to the south, lies the entrance to the electric tram that take guests down through the almost vertical cliff of Karma Kandara, to where the Karma Beach Club are (previously called Nammos).

Our tram operator informed that there's a 200K IDR voucher purchase necessary for each person using the tram to Karma Beach Club down below, however the ride itself is free as the vouchers are used to pay for the meals and drinks guests ordered in Karma Beach Club.

Alternatively if you just want to enjoy the beach, there's a stairwell leading down from another part of Karma Kandara, however she warned that it has about 300 steps so make sure you have the necessary stamina.

It was already dark when we went down, so we didn't get to experience the crystal clear waters that Karma Beach Club visitors talk about, but it is for sure that we already had a blast of amusement during our short visit to Karma Kandara that afternoon.

Many thanks for Karma Kandara and Middleton Manning for introducing Karma's High Cliff Tea, the amazing Di Mare, Temple Lounge and Bar, and Karma Beach Club to Epicurina readers. (byms)

Note: All photos are taken using Samsung Galaxy Grand and underwent necessary editing. 

Karma Kandara Resort

Jalan Villa Kandara, Banjar Wijaya Kusuma, Ungasan, Bali, 80362 Indonesia
Phone : +62 (0) 361 848 2200 | Fax : +62 (0) 361 848 2244
Email : res@karmaresorts.com / info@karmaresorts.com
Web : www.karmakandara.com

What's next?

Haute Tea Couture is the theme of a fashion show from Bali's designer Oka Diputra, shown at The Mulia Bali during its Afternoon Tea program.

The Mulia Afternoon Tea

Starting in early 2014, The Mulia offers two different kind of treats for its Afternoon tea: Classic or Indonesian. As you might have already guessed, the classic set offers international selection of snacks and desserts, ranging from the savoury bites like canapés, and the sweets like pies, pudding, and macaron.

The Indonesian selection on the other hand presents the refined version of Indonesian desserts and snacks, like lumpia, lemper, and the delicious Lapis Legit neatly decorated as a blue gift box.

With each set, there are no limitation to what drinks can you order, as The Mulia offers a range of tea and coffee to accompany your afternoon tea.

Thinking of having something energetic, initially I choose Ice Latte to go with my Afternoon Tea. However as the afternoon progress, and the heat of the Balinese sun was becoming more intense, I quickly switched my option to their Iced Tea, and happily sips through glasses of them as the waiter keep offering to refill my empty glass.

Beside of the delicious snack and desserts coming with your set, there are also selections of individual treats circulated around by the server.

Entry to The Cafe Dessert Station

As if those option are not plenty enough, along with any set of Afternoon Tea you order The Mulia offers as compliment, free entry to The Cafe's all you can eat dessert section! If you love desserts, then you better make sure there's plenty of room still available on your tummy, as this dessert station is quite a sweet-tooth heaven.

Standing as the main attraction of the dessert section is their Gelato corner which offers delicious selections of both gelato and sorbet, along with its colourful toppings ranging from jellies, chocolate rice, fruits, nuts, and berries. What's also good beside of the tons of matching possibilities, all of the gelato and sorbet are made in-house at The Cafe, thus its freshness and quality are well maintained.

There's also a dedicated cake and jellies display next door, not to mention various international and traditional snacks available for you to choose.

Haute Tea Couture Fashion Show

The fashion show itself started around 5 pm, where Oka Diputra showcasing his beautiful Haute Couture collection, mostly in black.

As with the fashion show itself, The Mulia's Assistant Communications Manager Kris Mikail Silitonga explained that it will become their regular part of their Afternoon Tea, as naturally the majority of guests for their Afternoon tea are women.

If you're planning to try out The Mulia's Afternoon Tea, I'd strongly suggest to dress down, as the seating area are facing directly to the West, hence you'll experience the afternoon Balinese sun in its full intensity.

Thank you The Mulia for introducing Epicurina readers to your sumptuous Afternoon Tea. (byms)

The Bar at The Mulia Bali

The Mulia, Mulia Resort & Villas - Nusa Dua, Bali

Jl. Raya Nusa Dua Selatan, Kawasan Sawangan,
Nusa Dua 80363, Bali, Indonesia
T: (62-361) 3017777

Other Photos:

Ever since Jl. Tukad Pakerisan was made one-way street for cars, the traffic jam is severely reduced.

However, around 5pm-7pm on working days, the heavy traffic resumes, hence I often prefers to take a detour into Jl. Tukad Batanghari for lighter traffic instead.

On one incidental occasion though, a thing happened which made me happily choose the traffic heavy Jl. Tukad Pakerisan.

Onde-Onde!

Sold in a decent aluminium showcase in a house's front yard, tens of this medium sized brown balls covered in sesame seeds tempting my eyes.

As I think "why not?" and pulled over, I then purchased some of this goodies at only 1K a piece. Went back inside my car, I begun to take a piece and bite right through it.

The result?

Never have I found onde-onde this good! Crisp on the outside, chewy dough underneath it, with crumbly creamy mashed green bean filling, and the nutty scent of roasted sesame seed lingering in between. And since I often get it hot, right out of the seller's frying wok, its delicious level doubled. While it's not the best ingredients I've ever tasted in an onde-onde, its freshness plays a great role.

Because my significant other the picky eater loves it too, therefore a visit once a week is a necessity.

What's too bad though, is that I often can't get off from the office early enough to catch the last balls of these goodies, or even if I could, sometimes the Javanese uncle who sells it feels like not opening his stall, or worse: the onde-onde are all there but...

"It's all for a special order, not for sale, sorry mas." said the man.

And seeing all those hot onde-onde resting on the frying mesh is a torture...

On some lucky days though, not only I'm able to bring home plenty of this delicious treats, but the uncle selling it often slip in an extra if you buy a lot, or when there's only one or two left on the display, and he's out of stock for the night. I know money-wise it costs only a parking ticket in Denpasar, but experience-wise those extras are worth way beyond its price: a happy customer.

While it's something that costs him perhaps only 500 rupiah for production cost, the extra has bought him a loyal, perhaps lifetime customer. And it's mind boggling how some businesses still focuses too much on one-time profit making, instead of nurturing a relationship which in turns creating brand loyalists. (byms)

Just discovered on the show "Star Choice" on AFC channel at Yes TV, that there are some varieties of Indonesian cake sold there in our neighbouring country Singapore, just that the name had been modified a bit:

"Ongo-Ongo", is what we called "Ongol-Ongol", it is among one of my favourite "jajan pasar" or common traditional delicacies which are glutinous cake made from tapioca flour with palm sugar.

"Kue Dada", is what we called "Dadar Gulung"; a traditional pancake filled with shredded coconut in palm sugar syrup, everyone's favourite I guess.

This has got me thinking anyway, about a fellow epicurean's quest to catalogue the jajan pasar available in Jakarta traditional markets years ago... I wonder how that went off.

I'm thinking myself to put similar efforts for jajan pasar available in Bali, well not on a big scale just perhaps ones that available from the seller in front of the pasar near where I live at the moment. (byms)