Kalaku Coffee and Company

Coming to the venue at early Saturday morning, seemed like everyone else's still having their beautiful sleep at home. Yep, no one's there yet besides the barista who was even there by himself. He mentioned that the chef's going to the hospital so please expect no food freshly made from the kitchen. 

From the outside, the venue looked quite spacious, making me expecting it had an open-space backyard which was actually not there LOL, too much imagination. As the spot was sizable, it's actually a quite cozy place for casual meeting over coffee. At one corner, I could see some musical instruments, leading me to guesstimate that they might have live music served there at particular timing, so should be a very enjoyable place to spend your spare time as well. 

Mainly themed with wood and decorated with green plants, the coffee shop carried the natural ambiance, which might be kind of rarely found nowadays in any other coffee shops that were mostly monochromatic. My favorite spot was the wall full of coffee-bean bags with various brands, such a unique idea! 

For smokers, sorry but seemed like there's limited space for you guys, the tables located in front of the house-alike coffee shop. 

Satisfying ourselves with the available meals, we only had the choice to pick up the selections of pastries from the showcase to accompany our weekend's premiere shots. Brownies, Hokkaido cheese tart, and banana bread; yeah not that much so my friend and I ended up picking the first two. I spotted the gelato in the chiller, but decided not to go for them as I'd had too much ice cream lately. 

Starting with the Hokkaido cheese tart (IDR 18k), I had to honestly say that it's not a gorgeously presented one :(. However, the combination of texture was pretty decent, pairing moist cheese cream and crispy pastry base. The cheese taste wasn't that bold like common cheese tart, yet the fragrant vanilla aroma was appetizing. 

Hokkaido cheese tart (IDR 18k)

When ebony's nothing without ivory, cheese was also incomplete without chocolate, hence the Choco Brownie (IDR 25k) came after the cheese tart. It's simply just right, neither too spongy nor too fudgy, nice one to be paired with your coffee being not overly sweet. 

Choco Brownie (IDR 25k)

As for the caffeine part, I tried both their Cappuccino (IDR 30k) and Piccolo (IDR 28k), made with different beans. The first one was with strong-bodied beans, while the latter was with medium. My friend, who actually ordered the Cappuccino, even requested it to be with double ristretto, delivering quite acidic cup for my palate. I myself preferred the Piccolo as the coffee taste was also bold, yet the acidity was low, faultlessly suited my coffee liking. 

Cappuccino (IDR 30k)

Piccolo (IDR 28k)

For those whose 'radars' are around West Jakarta area, Kalaku could now be listed as your options for coffee shop to go. I perhaps would go for their savory dishes on my next visit :)

Taste: 7.5/10

Place: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Price: 8/10

Thanks for reading! :)

KALAKU COFFEE

Address: Jl. Pesanggrahan Raya No. 26, Puri Indah, Jakarta

Phone: (+62 21) 5835 7297 / (+62 21) 5835 7298

Operating Hours: Mon - Sun 8am - 10pm

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Le Petit Prince Canggu Bali

Checking through Le Petit Prince Instagram account, I found out that it's not really a 'new new' cafe in Canggu area. Nonetheless, I had no idea why I thought I hadn't seen it being posted by anyone occupying my busy timeline. Having eye-catchy design, honestly speaking it raised my curiosity on the reason behind. 

In my initial place-to-go list I made before the trip started, I didn't have this cafe on it. My silly mistakes, I had two coffee shops located in Ubud mentioned on my Canggu list, and I just figured it out when I was about to find the way there through Google Map. Having 2 cafes been out of the list, I then tried to promptly seek for the substitutes. 

Using hashtag of Canggu Cafe, I finally bumped into Le Petit Prince. The picture to which I was firstly sold was its 'phenomenal' white-and-blue-themed wall gorgeously crafted by Ines Katamso, French Indonesian visual artist to whom I was firstly introduced from the wall-painting at Sea Grain by Double Tree Hotel Jakarta. Or perhaps, you would be more familiar with this muralist if I called out Artotel, Revolver, Neo Soho, and the newest comer from Union Group - Superloco. OK, I saw some head-nods now, showing you recalled the stunning wall-paintings I just called out. Besides, I knew you're now targeting to visit this coffee shop to get that Instagenic snaps right in front of the wall *wink wink*. 

Located just by the main road of Batu Bolong, the venue could be easily found as it's highly visible. Inspired by one of the best French novel in the 20th century, The Little Prince written by a famous French aristocrat Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the spot's design including the wall paintings basically told you about the story of a young prince fallen to earth. The cafe was beautifully decorated to give the ambiance of an old castle with big windows with colorful tiles and ornaments. 

  

The selections of dishes were mostly Western, including egg-based breakfast menu and smoothie bowl like typical Canggu cafe serving healthy foods. I went for their Yogurt Granola Fruit Salad (IDR 45k) as I thought I could find many scrumptious versions of other dishes in Jakarta easily, but more limited choices of this type of dish. It was yummy for the tummy and healthy for the belly kind of breakie, serving fresh tropical fruits including banana, mango, watermelon, pineapple, papaya, and granola with yogurt and honey dressings.  I loved how the fruits being naturally sweet, balancing the slightly sour plain yogurt. My only problem's just the mango which was quite too sour for my palate. Other than that, well-executed healthy bowl!

Yogurt Granola Fruit Salad (IDR 45k)

Yogurt Granola Fruit Salad (IDR 45k)

As for my breakfast pair, I opted for Hot Cappuccino (IDR 30k). OK, some of you might consider it as cheating because of the caffeine, but again I did believe in happy tummy happy body *peace*. Having quite much acidic coffee on my first day of the trip, I was delighted to finally find the cup with strong kick of coffee taste with low level of acidity. It was an indulging one that perfectly closed my simple set of breakfast. Yes, saving the space for much more following courses :)

Hot Cappuccino (IDR 30k)

For you who're now curious about the cafe or simply craving for that Instagenic space in front of the blue-and-white-themed wall painted by Ines Katamso, I did encourage you to give it a try. Decent foods, nice place.

Taste: 7.5/10
Place: 8/10
Service: 8.5/10

Price: 8/10

Thanks for Reading! :)

LE PETIT PRINCE CANGGU

Address: Jl Pantai Batu Bolong 65, Canggu, Bali

Phone: (+62 361) 8960 765 / +62 585 672 8087

Operating Hours: Mon - Sun 7.30am - 10pm

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Short Weekend Escape at Padma Resort Legian, Bali

It's been 3 months since the last time I've been to Bali with my friends but it feels like already forever. Nope, it's not really like I miss Bali too much, but I simply crave for a short sweet escape. The long hectic days just make my body and my brain can think of nothing but they deserve to rest. So here I am today, stepping off the plane, at Ngurah Rai International Airport. Hello again Bali, please gimme an awesomely relaxing weekend! :)


Despite Bali's traffic is much better than our beloved capital city, Jakarta, it's always nice to stay at the heart of the city, making any other places get more accessible. What else than the infamous Legian of Bali, well who's been to Bali and doesn't know Legian; one of the most crowded spot of Bali yet still the all-time wanted by most of the tourists. For my Bali visit this time, my home for the weekend getaway was Padma Legian! Yuhuuu <3


Having stayed at Padma's newest hotel, Resinda at Karawang, I have been totally spoiled by the hospitality and the facilities offered, making me not getting bored at all regardless I stayed in the hotel only for the whole 2 days. This pampering experience made me get more curious to try the group's other hotels, not to exclude the one in Legian. 

 


Similar to most 5-star hotels in Bali, the design was 'so Bali'. If you got what I meant, yes it featured that traditional Balinese ornaments for the decoration, the statues representing the well-known respected characters, and definitely the gigantic gardens in between the rooms. Huge swimming pools and beach for water sports or sunbathing would surely be there as well. Not only main swimming pool, Padma Legian even now provided infinity pool to let its guests having extra spot for chilling and enjoying the panoramic sunset or sunrise. For the ones preferred more privacy, Lagoon Pool was doubtlessly an answer, allowing easier access from the room as well. 

Those coming with children would be well-served here since they provided playing area and dedicated pool which's connected to the main one. Great option for family vacation, wasn't it?

 



As for the dining options, they had several restaurants/cafe serving different types of dishes. Some of the 6 choices were open at only particular timing.
- The Deli: Bakery and patisserie serving cakes, ice cream, and light bites for high tea or coffee break)

- Donbiu: Open for breakfast and dinner buffet serving Indonesian and Continental cuisines

- Barong Pool Bar: Indonesian and Western cuisines to be enjoyed from morning till afternoon by the lagoon pool

- Seruni Sunken Pool Bar: Fresh juices, cocktails, and beer to accompany the swimming time

 

- Tenkai Japanese Restaurant: Japanese dinner served by Executive Chef Masahiko Morikawa

- SKAI Beach Club: Breakfast for club and suite guests, also open for lunch and dinner by the beach




Donbiu was the one for which I got the chance to try at breakfast time. One of the toughest breakie for me *giggling* as I had to choose which one to go first and which one to go later, perhaps also which one to be delayed to the following day as my tummy started to get bloated. Simply said, the selections were very rich, providing many stations ranging from Indonesian, Asian, till Western cuisines. Various types of dishes were there, from light ones like pastries and cereals, till the heavy ones like rice with poultry and veggies as well as noodles. The needs of the health-concerned groups were also satisfied in this breakie since they could have several options for their preferred types of foods, even drinks. Fresh fruit cuts, salads, and numerous variants of fruit juices. I was like telling myself every post-breakie, 'geez Gaby, didn't we have long list to go for today? Where else in this belly you would put them?'. Oops sorry, I guess let's think about it later as long as I enjoy it for now *wink*. 

After spending the whole day strolling around Bali for culinary trip and simply relaxing, it's then time to enjoy the room and having long indulging sleep. My bedroom for the nights were Padma's New Deluxe Chalet room, a 45sqm space with a private balcony facing the garden. It was one of the many kinds of rooms available here, ranging from Deluxe, Premier, Garden Club, Family Room, and Suites. Some of them did provide special access to the lagoon pool, letting you jump into the water at anytime as it's just right next to you. 

Having a bath-tub besides the shower room, bubble-bathing after the all-day trip couldn't be a better idea. Having been refreshed, I could enjoy watching TV on the sofa next to my bed. Such a pampering time to spend, carrying myself to the seconds before I fell asleep. 

As usual, the clock's always ticking uber fast when you enjoyed the day. Same case happened to my weekend escape and seemed like it's just a blink then end-of-Sunday already rang the doorbell, followed by Monday who kept knocking my front door. Well, I indeed didn't want the weekend to finish, yet I had no choice but to face it with a smile. Thanks to Padma Legian who has crafted me a remarkable weekend getaway! <3

PADMA RESORT LEGIAN

Address: Jl. Padma No. 1, Legian, Bali

Phone: (+62 361) 752 111

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