A MEAL WITH A VIEW
Hotel Class: villaHotel Location: Jalan Gunung Sari Peliatan Ubud, Bali
General Information:
Your morning perfection is an intact pleasure where the morning alarm here is naturally made by a rooster call. Sliding out from the immaculate soft blanket has never been a trouble like this one. The cozy ambience reconciled with natural tranquility distinguishes Maya Ubud Resort and Spa as a spectacular choice for those who prioritize comfort in an exceptional hideaway. This magnificent resort beats off all-night-long partying addiction with a different sense of gratification, an addiction to serenity and natural bounty. Maya Ubud Resort lies on the eastern part of Ubud, around 5 minutes drive from the central part and art markets. It is a perfect holiday resort for totally relax and indulge around the serenity of Balinese rice paddies.
Two wings of Maya Ubud Resort hold a total of 48 air-conditioned rooms in its 3 stories. The east wing surpasses other Ubud hotel views due to its fresh idyllic picture of the unspoiled Petanu River. Little stream flowing easily along the curvy river simply takes your breath away. And this enchanting scene is captivated best at any room selection on the lowest story of the east wing building. You may choose Superior and Deluxe Room that suit vigorous travelers who are apt to trekking around rice terraces of Peliatan. In addition, these lush rice paddies are observable from any rooms in the other wing, the west wing. Superbly refined daybed in Superior Garden Villa selection will dash you away to an unrivalled sightseeing pleasure over splendid greeneries surrounding the blissful resort. One canopied bed enhances good dreams along with passionate loves for the newly weds. Staying in this villa shall never cease to magnify your ultimate pleasure.
To savor delightful meals during any hours of the holiday, a ride on a buggy safely drops you by at the sumptuous haven of Maya Sari Mas’s international and classic cuisine. Devour fantastic breakfast buffet menu in an enriching site overlooking the river valley and the aesthetic swimming pool. A new sensation of repletion is tangible soon after you scoop a bite of special a la carte dishes for lunch or dinner. Whenever you experience a change of heart, intrigued to gratify your gastronomy curiosity, please do find a seat at the extraordinary Maya Sari Asiatique. Japanese, Indiana, Thai, and Balinese delicacies here are totally commendable. Each dish is a signature concoction that seeps its wonderful taste down to your very bone.
It would not be a total perfection of indulgence if you have not experienced the pampering touch of Spa treatment in Maya Ubud Resort. Aromatic herbs combined with flower filled baths transcend your mind to a whole new level of assuagement. You still may notch up piquant repletion while enjoying the entrancing massage by placing an order from River Café. Tantalizing “Spa Cuisine” is dedicated for high-end life contentment. Italian rich taste pasta and pizza are also available upon request.
At the end of the day, you could laze around at the misty poolside. Grab a drink from bar Bedulu and lie down comfortably on a sunbathing chair. The infinite pool looks ostentatious with its stony-colored sides and four spr ings sprinkling cool water. The elite décor, moreover, heightens exclusive and cool ambience. Interestingly, affluence travelers may prefer dipping in their own exquisite pool in a keen selection such Deluxe and Duplex Pool Villa. The latter carries Jacuzzi as well, making life easier to endure. The duplex meets the demands of private parties since the second floor conveys spacious living room with an envious view of Petanu River and valley. If ever money is no subject for luxurious excursion, Presidential Villa shall bear all of your highest expectation of heaven on earth. A truly purifying stay in
Maya Ubud Resort is what you bring back home at the end of each reveling visit. Book your Bali holiday!
Probably for lack of other alternatives, the mall is still the favorite place to hang out, watch a movie, and have a meal.
Penang Bistro has a long corridor at the entrance leading to the main dining area, which is safely secluded inside and not visible from the outside. And the corridor is not just an ordinary corridor. On the left side is a garden, albeit a garden surrounded by glass walls but a garden nevertheless. It’s a nice little garden, with artificial trees and flowers and a park bench. It might be artificial but everything looks real and nice, and beautiful gardens are something that Jakarta is definitely lacking.
Living in Jakarta, one simply can't escape the malls. Probably for lack of other alternatives, a mall is still the favorite place to hang out, watch a movie, and have a meal. It's ironic that in the city where one can find virtually everything, open spaces are very hard to find. In recent years the local government did build one or two parks in a couple of areas but Jakarta's extremely hot and humid weather prove to be a challenge if you want to enjoy the outdoors. Add to that the unbelievably high level of pollution from the heavily congested traffic, it's no surprise that almost every activity in the city is conducted indoors and most entertainment happens in a mall.
Love it or hate it, malls do sprout like mushrooms in Jakarta. Among the latest is the Central Park Mall in West Jakarta. The mall itself is like any other mall in Jakarta, enormous and filled with vast selections of shops and restaurants and cafes to suit every taste and budget.
Walking around the Central Park Mall looking for someplace to eat one evening I stumbled upon a familiar name, Penang Bistro. Not in the mood to try new things that particular day, my companion and I decided to have a meal there. The Penang Bistro has been around for several years and has branches in several parts of Jakarta. The restaurant serves Peranakan food, a combination of Chinese and Malay cuisine, with signature dishes like nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk), chili crab and traditional Peranakan dessert like Ice Kachang (red bean with sweetened condensed milk). It has been a long-time favorite of mine, and it's always a safe bet.
So I walked in and the minute I stepped inside, it caught me by surprise. I have been to the other branches of Penang Bistro many times and they look more or less the same, a bistro with cozy setting. The truth is I never paid too much attention at the décor for it is not something out of the ordinary. This particular branch however, offers something entirely different, which caught my eyes as soon as I stepped inside.
Unlike the other restaurants in the mall, the Penang Bistro has a long corridor at the entrance leading to the main dining area, which is safely secluded inside and not visible from the outside. And the corridor is not just an ordinary corridor. On the left side is a garden, albeit a garden surrounded by glass walls but a garden nevertheless. It's a nice little garden, with artificial trees and flowers and a park bench. It might be artificial but everything looks real and nice, and beautiful gardens are something that Jakarta is definitely lacking.
I asked one of the waiters about the garden inside the glass walls and he told me that it's called "park gallery". He explained that this particular Penang Bistro branch is garden-themed. Even the dining room is decorated in such a way that you will feel like you're eating in a garden, under a big tree, listening to the sounds of birds as opposed to eating in an ordinary restaurant inside a mall in the middle of hot, humid and overly populated West Jakarta.
I must say that the park gallery, which is said to be inspired by the Old English parks, is an interesting idea. It makes people stop. I love the little personal touches like putting a pair of gardening boots inside the gallery, which adds to the uniqueness of the concept.
At the end of the corridor is the large dining room. At the center of the dining room stands a big tree with branches so low that the leaves nearly touch your hair. Sitting underneath it feels like a picnic in the park, if you ignore the fact that you are actually sitting on chair.
There is a glass panel on one of the walls that allows you to see the view of Jakarta, but I avoided sitting in that area. I'm not a big fan of Jakarta traffic and I wanted to trick myself into believing I was eating in an actual garden.
It was time for us to order and ordering at the Penang Bistro has always presented me with a dilemma because I want to order everything. Too bad it was only two of us so we couldn't order too much.
For starters we settled on Roti Canai (Indian style crispy pancake with chicken curry dip), which has always been my favorite appetizer. For our main course we asked the waiter for a recommendation because we wanted to try something new. He suggested that we order from the live seafood selection. Both my dinner companion and I loved fish so we ordered the Steamed Fish Malacca Kampoeng Style with two choices of fish: the tiger grouper or the Soon Hock fish. We opted for the tiger grouper. No visit to Penang Bistro is complete without my all-time favorite, the Jumbo Prawn Baked Cheese, so we ordered that as well.
We devoured the dishes in no time. The Roti Canai as always was crispy and moist at the same time. The curry dip was rich and full of flavor. The fish was also a delight. It was steamed so the taste was light and the meat was very succulent. There was a hint of lemongrass that was quite refreshing and somewhat neutralizes the richness of our other selection: the Jumbo Prawn Baked Cheese.
The name said it all. It's prawn. It's fresh. It's juicy. It's jumbo in size. It's baked with melted cheese on top. Need I say more? It was the ultimate, ultimate seafood delicacy.
I was definitely sated after polishing off this scrumptious meal but I always have room for dessert.
My favorite Penang Bistro dessert is the Ice Kachang, which is red beans and other bits of fruits sitting beneath ice shavings topped with colorful red syrup and sweetened condensed milk. When you put a spoonful in your mouth the ice will melt together with the syrup and the sweet milk. It's a definite must-try that will satisfy everybody's sweet tooth, especially on sizzling hot days.
Savoring the perfect dessert underneath the artificial tree, with a stomach full of delicious food, for a moment I truly believed I was cooling off in a lush garden somewhere far away from noisy Jakarta and it felt really good. «»
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