Top 6 Fun Things To Do by Locals in Jimbaran

It has been a long overdue, since my last blog post… And it’s shameful actually… to call myself a Bali Travel & Food Blogger with this long hiatus. The year of 2015 is the year of the new opportunity, our business has been shifted to one field that everybody would want to hear about us : How do you hold on to youth, How to feel, live, and look young. I have to apologize to our readers, from any part of the globe, if you visit our blog and kept coming back and found nothing new on the post. I had been wanted to write about this subject that was initially requested by one of our Twitter Followers @VillaBaliCom. As Jimbaran is our home, our neighborhood, we think it would be lovely to recommend what we, as the locals are used to do as the fun activities with friends and family. There’s definitely a long list to do in Jimbaran when you came to the island as a visitor or tourist or traveler, we just want to share what our family and communities around this area love to do on the weekend or in our everyday activities..

Here are our 6 Top fun things to do you by locals, you should not miss while in Jimbaran, Bali:

1). Have a Bali Breakfast in the evening, eat the best Indonesian Nasi Campur

This is our list of where and what to eat in Jimbaran:

– CUCA on Jl. Yoga Perkanti has been one of Bali’s hidden culinary gems., with many awards, and recognitions received from highly reputable national and international medias. The restaurant is also included on this collection of unique, personally handpicked independent restaurants with core values that embrace sustainability on Secret Retreat list as a Cuca on Secret Table.

Crispy Fried Chicken by CUCA – legend!

Bali Breakfast – sweet runny mango, frozen passion fruit, whipped coconut

This is the right place to taste the real flavor of local best freshest ingredients in form of : Brilliant Tapas, Killer Dessert, Coolest Cocktail. You haven’t been to Jimbaran if you haven’t tried : Bali Breakfast, in the evening – there I said it. Please say hi to Virginia and Chef Kevin Cherkas from me, when you visit CUCA, will you?

– WARUNG WARUNG is our most favorite Indonesian restaurant, with the original home cooking recipes from owners Jeff, Inyo, and Nyoman’s grandmas, put it all together at this cozy restaurant and our favorite spot is sitting in the air con dining room, at the corner with a big mirror on the wall, beautiful paintings, always feel so right at home. Must try : Yellow Rice aka Nasi Kuning with corn fritters (Perkedel Jagung); Slow cooked Beef curry (Rendang); Chicken Ginger with Sesame; Stir fry fresh vegetable with garlic; Clear chicken soup with turmeric (Soto Ayam); and…the famous Apple Crumble with  vanilla ice cream on top! Don’t forget to ask for their delicious assorted hot chili sauces – sambals. Their Hot Mango Sambal is a legend!

Best Indonesian Nasi Campur in Jimbaran, ever!

– GAYA GELATO : located just across Puri Gading residential area, park your motorbike at the Circle K parking lot. This is our late night indulgence for a sugar free, glutten free, milk free heavenly taste gelatos. My favorite mixed flavors picked by the lovely lady at the cashier: dark orange chocolate with lime, oh yummm…!

– NASI JINGGO PAK ALIT : Notice Dewata Pet Shop just 50m from Gorgonzola Italian Restaurant, just park in front of the shop. Experience the local late night meal : hot and spicy Balinese mixed rice wrapped in banana leaves. Now if you meet Pak Alit in person, please do tell him, he needs to stop waiving the payment when we order this scrumptious Balinese dish. No freebies, please…We just love to share about our local delicacies, to you…

– NASI CAMPUR BU WIDYA : It’s always interesting to notice many gorgeous Brazilian surfers opt this small warung as their most favorite Indonesian lunch spot. Everytime I crave for red rice with sundanese style urap vegetable, fried tofu and a little smile from Ibu Widya, the owner, I go here. Located next to Circle K 24hours mart, where Gaya Gelato is located as well.

2). Wet your shoes with mud, take selfie at the edge of the hill

Every Sunday morning at 6am, Benny with his #jimbaRUN community gather at the Puri Gading round about. They will take you to discover the beautiful off-the-beaten jogging track that lead you to the breathtaking sceneries, above sea level for sure. But their weekly run adventure does not end up at the beautiful secret beaches only, occasionally they choose green path on the neighborhood, Jimbaran stone hills, or at Garuda Wisnu Kencana- a well-men-built jogging path at this amazing cultural park. Join him and friends by buzz him on the Instagram : bartcatapult. The running usually closed by lots of photographic poses and group selfie. Get fit, and get snapped – the nature of #jimbaRUN troupe, I guess.

See more stunning pics of #JimbaRUN here : http://www.jimbarun.com

3). Burn those cals, while these wildlife animals staring at you..

Have you been to Garuda Wisnu Kencana? With the vision of becoming the landmark of Bali, GWK Cultural Park boasts one of the largest artistic masterpiece and most astonishing works of arts ever created in Indonesia’s art history (source: http://www.gwkbali.com). They recently built a beautiful jogging path starting from the beginning of the gate up to the Plaza Amata – apparently an abandoned shopping complex and a spacious venue within the cultural park, notice the water fountain near right side of parking ticketing box of GWK Cultural Park. I usually go jogging on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon at 5pm, earphones on, listen to my favorite songs, walk, smile at the tourist group selfies in front of these beasts – the wild animal big statues scattered around the park, with a very striking pose. Komodo, bull, deer, panther, rhino. At 6pm, while walking on the stone path, you will hear this beautiful Balinese prayer chant marking the end of the day. Where else you can do jogging with a mesmerizing traditional music background accompanies you..This is one of my favorite moments living in Jimbaran.

4). Learn how these Jimbaran kids roll on super cool wheels…

Hoverboard, airwheels, smart balance wheels, in line skates. Epic Fall. New bruises. Who wants this for their Sunday sunset time in Jimbaran. Head down to GWK Plaza Amata every Sunday from 4.30 – 6.30, this cool smiley man named Aris was the person you will meet with bunch of in-line skates, hoverboards, airwheels for rent and would love to teach Jimbaran kids how to roll on cool wheels. He and his Bali in line skate community initially started this activity at Car Free Day in Renon, Denpasar every Sunday morning, with a mission to make this kind of sports be more familiar among Denpasar residents, Aris took these cool wheels up to Jimbaran where he was allowed to use the water fountain area at Plaza Amata by the GWK management so that more people would come this place and do this fun family activity on Sunday afternoon, not only for children but the young-at-heart adults didn’t seem mind with the epic falls and bruises…

Rent fee:
– In-line skates : Rp 20,000/hour
– Smart balance wheels; Airwheels : Rp 30,000/hour

See how social media reacts to Hoverboards fall down during this holiday season : Epic Fall of Hoverboards, hillarious!

Find this smiley and nice guy, Aris!

5). Classic sunset on Kelan Beach, waive to the planes leaving the island

No doubt, Jimbaran is one the best places to watch Bali pretty perfect orange sunset. And Kelan Beach is one special spot to be, simply because: It has nothing on it – no cafes, no restaurants, no shops surrounding this area. Watch the planes coming and leaving Bali from the very end of the beach.

How to get to Kelan Beach : Take Jl Uluwatu I, pass the Bali Intercontinental Hotel, Kasih Ibu Hospital, turn left at the end of the road, notice : Bawang Merah Restaurant, Avatar, and some seafood resto signs, it’s off the main road and go until you see the airport runway, children playing beach soccer, fishermen reorganise their fish nets.

6). Secret beach finding

One of the privilege living in Jimbaran, for the last 10 years, is the short distance and easy access to many beautiful beaches – some remain undiscovered. If you ask the locals which is the best beach you must go, they will recommend differently from each other and point to different directions, Some will tell you to go check out : Labuan Sait area where you’ll find Padang padang, Bingin, Impossible beach, other will say : Tegal Wangi near Ayana Resort or Muaya Beach near Four Seasons Resort with its famous seafood restaurants stretch along the beach line. For us the locals, if you notice pack of Bali cows munching grassses on an off-beaten path, this could lead you to a stunning beach  view, above sea level, and all the walk worth while when you are standing in front of big blue ocean and bright sky watching sun downs right before your eyes…

Bali Travel & Food Blog & Bali Food Blog wish you a Happy New Year of 2016, may the days ahead hold many blessings for you and yours…