Notes on Sanur, for Elaine

Dear Elaine,

I guess you may be wondering why I haven’t written to you yet. Well Elaine, I did try write several drafts. My blog contains a very strange looking posting these past three days. I was drafting a letter for you in my blog (and meant to save it as a draft) when I hit the “post” button. So, the draft was there for the world to see.

And it was not a pretty sight. Last weekend – a long one ie. – our big family gathered in Bogor. I asked my bright – blog writer daughter’s opinion on the draft. She said it was boring, dragging at times and dwelling too much on the trivia. So, I scrapped it, and tried to start anew. This is my last attempt..

As I told you, I went to Bali early this month. Elaine, you asked me to write about Sanur as you have not been there. Well, it was my first time too in a fifteen years. So you will read an impression of a novice Sanur visitor.

What I learned from my stay in Sanur was that liking it is an acquired taste. I did not like Sanur the first time I arrived. The hotel I stayed was drab – a character-less three stars generic looking hotel. It was built in early eighties and seemed to be stuck in that decade. The hotel seemed to be screaming “I don’t care, it is only business” from every single seam of it. The employees – although clad in Balinese traditional attire – seemed bored. The service was un-enthusiastic. Even the tourist looked amateur – the ones whose definition of vacationing is to shop. But as I was “adjusting my focus” I spotted a local lady in kebaya who was so absorbed in the preparation of the Sesajen (offerings) that she was oblivious to her surrounding. A pink plastic bag containing the offerings was placed carelessly on a counter. We would not see this kind of sight in bigger hotels where things are orchestrated. I find this seemingly mundane activity – preparation of offerings – quite endearing. Somehow it made the hotel became more personal and less generic.

The same thing applies with the beach too, I observed. The beach itself was dull, brownish beach with brownish blue water, lined up with small stalls selling everything under USD 10, from tea to (fake) tattoo. I was determined to experience Sanur despite the uninteresting first impression. Through enough, within minutes the chemistry of the long long love affair I have with Bali, returned. The people, Elaine, the people !!! What is so outstanding about Sanur is that it is not frivolous, not flirtatious. Kuta, Legian, Ubud, Seminyak, Krobokan, all those places put on their best clothes to welcome visitors, ready to entertain and to prove that this place is worth the money you spent. Not Sanur. Here, even on the beach, people carried on their daily chores as if they were in their own backyard. The ladies were busy weaving young coconut leaves to make offering containers. Under a tree there was a middle aged couple sitting on a bale (pronounced : bah-lair), a large wooden bench that can accommodate four or five adults, cross-legged of course. I was surprised when the wife casually tossed out her blouse over her head, leaving her only with her pants and a camisole –like top (see the picture). On other spheres of this world, women might do that to appear sexy, but here, it was an act as plain as mundane as breastfeeding. And if you could see how the fat were hanging out on various parts of her torso, you’d understand what I mean.


So, to me, lesson number one about Sanur : it is an acquired taste to enjoy it. And second lesson, Sanur does not put itself on display. It is not cheeky, quite natural. The third thing I learned about Sanur is that the food is surprisingly good.

Walking from my hotel to the beach that was only a ten minutes walk, I was rather discouraged by the feeling of loneliness that every single restaurant and café along the street seemed to be showing. So I chose one café by the beach rather carelessly, not expecting anything. The avocado salad I ordered turned up on my table looking very appetizing and REALLY tasted as good as it looked. The ingredients were fresh and the dressing innovative, using ground shallots that gave it a unique taste. I felt that I just needed to check the consistency of the quality. So I ordered Greek salad. And Voila…….. not bad at all !! Hmm…. Impressive. That was good enough a clue for me to order the safest bet, Nasi Goreng Bali. And you know Elaine? Exactly the nasi goreng Bali that I remember from my earlier visits here, that seemed to be disappearing in place of a fancier version of it. This was the wholesome fried rice, ornamented by shredded cabbages and slivers of shredded chicken. A sunny side up sat on top and shrimp crackers on the side. Yummy.

Elaine, I am still trying to figure out, how come those cafes that did not look flourishing and well-frequented (is there such term?) were able to produce fine dishes like these. In the evening, I needed somewhere quite to work while having dinner. So I crossed the street from my hotel and chose a simple eating place. While there were a couple of guests there, I still did not expect the food to be good. But again, the Bebek Betutu I ordered turned out moist, well seasoned, well presented and very very tasty.

My theory is that almost anywhere in Bali, if you are in this food business, you are exposed to a vast range of “tastebuds”, resulting in a more demanding market. If you want to survive, you have to pass a certain level of requirements. At least the ingredients must be fresh. At least the taste should be good. At least the range of menu should be interesting. At least the service should be friendly and excellent. And if you are innovative, you could go even higher up in the competition. You see Elaine, in Jakarta, the cafes capitalize more on the ambiance and the décor that often food is put at the lower end of the priority list.

Lastly, the lesson I learned about Sanur is that some of the crafts they sell here are not sold anywhere else. When I walked along those little shops on the beach I noticed various rings that were made by the owners themselves. There was an old man with a makeshift stall (a little wooden box with roof, painted white. It looked portable and was not attached to other stalls) who sell various shells with holes that were drilled in the middle of each shell. They make interesting rings, one is different than the other, not one is the same.

I also found lovely rings made from used inner bike rubber tire. They are dyed in various colours, shocking pinks, blue, gold, silver and took shape in the form of dahlias (about 10 cm in diameter). The price was unbelievably low, Rp. 15.000 apiece. I regret I only bought two. I could not find them anywhere else. To think that they are made from recycled materials !!!

Another theory. Sanur craftsmen are not as loaded as their counterparts in other parts of Bali. Therefore, in order to survive they need to use cheap and readily available materials in their surrounding and also, they need to be extra creative…..

When I left Sanur the next day after lunch to Ubud, it had started to grow on me !!

So Elaine, my suggestion is that if you visit Sanur, give it a couple of days to prove to you that it deserves your attention and affection.


Btw, I deleted the "accidental" earlier posting about Sanur..........