Nusa Lembongan Island Getaway

Our friends from Sydney, Ces & Reanne, have left us this morning. It's been great having them around. Bit unfortunate that they're both a bit sick on and off. And few days before they left, even Michael got sick too. :(

However last weekend, right after they got back from Gili, we did get to go away and spend some time together. We went to Lembongan Island, about 20-30 mins boat ride from Sanur beach.

I'm not a big fan of boat rides, especially more so now that I'm pregnant. I wasn't sure how bad my sea + morning sickness would be even if it's just a short 20 min ride. But I was assured that the tide's low and the boat ride's fast and smooth etc. Plus the fact that Michael has already booked a 2 bedroom villa in one of the nicest resorts in Lembongan, so I sucked it up and went along.

The moment we arrived at the boat office, we felt like we're on holidays already. Complimentary drinks and being chauffeured for 2 mins from the office to the boat! The office (called Rocky, how's that for a boat company?) was really close to the beach so I thought we'd just be walking, but nope, they drove us to the nearest stop to the boat and carried our bags.

waiting for departure - that's our boat on the left

The boat ride was not too bad. It turned out to be quite choppy that day but I was so glad it only took 20 mins. Any longer and I'd be projectile vomiting and feeling awful the rest of the day.

Lembongan is very BEAUTIFUL. The water's clean and crystal clear, great for snorkeling. The beach was full of boats tho so there were no sun beds or umbrellas or people hanging and swimming at the beach. But of course, Squeaky and Michael had to have a dip in the water & play with the sand.

Lembongan beach

quick dip

Lembongan is a very small island, known for seaweed farming. It's actually very famous for its surfing breaks as well as diving and snorkeling. For people like me, it's just a fantastic place to chill. And that's exactly what I did for the next 2 days - reading, sleeping, eating and a lot of relaxing and doing nothing. I didn't even go check out the island with the others because it's so hot for me and I didn't want to slow them down (using the pregnancy excuse again! :p).

We stayed at Lembongan Island Beach Villas and booked the 2-bedroom villa. It is very comfortable, complete with kitchen and separate bathrooms. It also comes with a balcony and a lovely plunge pool. There's a LOT of stairs at this resort, the higher you go, the better the view lah. But I was so very glad that Michael requested the lowest one for me (not a big fan of stairs either!) . Even from there, we still got a pretty amazing view of the beach as well as the magnificent Mt Agung, the highest mountain in Bali, on a non-cloudy day. It's also a mere 5 steps to the big pool, breakfast area, lobby and into the other shops and restaurants. I think even Michael was grateful he didn't book anywhere up further. Or if we did, we'd stay put and order room service all the way through :p

balcony of our villa

view from the plunge pool in the villa

Mt Agung behind the clouds

our room with the yellow towel, close to pool & breakfast area

the main pool with an amazing view as well

Ces & Re very comfy on the day bed next to pool

those stairs go on forever!

 ready for a date with daddy whilst mummy napping!

Overall, Lembongan is a very quiet, slow paced, laid back, peaceful small island and very suitable if you just want to get away from it all. There's really not much to do there but just snorkel, swim, eat, relax and repeat. It's very easy to get to and with the short boat ride, I really wouldn't mind going back there again for a mini getaway if we feel like needing a holiday.

waiting for the boat back to Sanur

Upon returning from Lembongan, I made vegetarian lasagna for dinner (recipe from here). Well, Michael's boss was supposed to come for dinner but he cancelled at the last minute. Which is fine because I haven't been cooking proper dinner for my guests since they got here. Haven't made lasagna for ages, and oh my GOD..it's soooo delish! heheheheheh

Michael missed Australia cheese so much so Ces & Reanne brought a kilo block of cheddar cheese with them. I topped the lasagna with that cheese and it looked so good, I think it's the best looking lasagna I've ever made! :p