Water and Wine: KAMANDALU RESORT: Our Home in Bali for 4 Days

For our Bali trip, we decided to stay in Ubud -- the heart of Balinese culture. We checked out other hotels and resorts in the areas of Nusa Dua, Kuta and Seminyak (all too touristy), and realized that Ubud is the place to be if you want REAL Bali.

We chose Kamandalu, a 5-star all-villas boutique resort located in the midst of Ubud's terraced rice paddies.

This is the entrance to the main lobby.

They ring this welcome bell every time guests enter the resort.

They also welcome you with the sound of a gong. Later on during our stay, they let us play with it. Haha.

Welcome drinks were served as soon as we stepped into the lobby.

And then we got lei'd!!!! This is the moment we've been waiting for! We actually chose this resort because the package inclusions indicated that we'll be greeted by the staff with flowered leis. (We knowwwww, right?)

Checking-in was trouble-free!

We booked for a garden villa, but decided it would be nice if we can upgrade to a Pool Villa so we can just spend our lazy asses on our own swimming pool.

photo from kamandaluresort.com

Sadly, all Pool Villas were fully-booked and we can only upgrade to the even higher villa category, which is a Deluxe Pool Villa. We'd have to pay an additional $255 per night on top of the price we already paid for the Garden Villa. No thanks, we can't afford it anymore. Haha! Stick to the plan, Garden Villa it is.

photo from kamandaluresort.com

The resort resembles a traditional Balinese village, so our villa had its own Balinese gate. We looove it!

The receptionist then led us inside our villa.

Don't you love the bed's sosh kulambo?

A fruit basket was waiting for us inside the room.

The bathroom's toiletry bottles reminded us of the works of the famous Filipino potter, Ugu Bigyan.

Our villa has its own private bale bengong, or the traditional outdoor daybed.

From there, you can have a wonderful view of Ubud's lush greens.

After checking-in, we agreed to get out of our nest and spend the afternoon swimming in the resort pool.

The resort claims that it has one of the largest swimming pools in Ubud.

On one end of the pool is the Swim-up Bar.

We took advantage of the swim-up bar's happy hour and spent the whole afternoon for some cocktails!

After swimming, we headed to our villa's daybed to relax. We made silly poses for the camera, while wearing the Batik bathrobes provided by Kamandalu. Please take note that this set of photos is supposed to be funny. We don't, in any way, seriously think that we are mowdel material. Hahahaha.

The resort also has this area where they can set up romantic dinners for couples.

This is how they set-up the romantic dinner. We're guessing it's either J is gonna propose marriage to H, or J&H just got married and are spending their honeymoon at the resort.