29 May 2024
We had nothing really planned for our first day in Lombok except to makan (“makan” means “eat” in Indonesian language), get a massage perhaps and watch the famous Senggigi sunset.
Sunset at Senggigi, Lombok
Our day started with a short morning flight from Singapore to Lombok. Just when I started to feel the ache on my neck due to the poor seat design of the budget airline’s A320, the captain announced the start of our descent into Lombok.
Our Scoot flight arrived slightly ahead of time at 10.15 AM but the immigration at the Praya International Airport took ages to process a small planeload of visitors. This was an early indication that time move s-l-o-w-l-y on this laidback tropical Indonesian island. We finally managed to exit the airport at about 11.30 AM.
I had pre-booked a van with driver and guide for our group of 8 persons. Omar, our guide for the next few days, was waiting patiently for us. He told us he is used to such delays.
“Just relax and take things slowly”, he advised with a smile.
Shortly after leaving the airport, we travelled along clean and well paved roads through the countryside. Padi fields and small villages with wooden huts are a common sight. Lombok is like the Bali that was twenty to thirty years ago. Lesser development, much less touristy, with little or no traffic jams along the roads.
We passed a roundabout with a building in the center. Omar told us this building has unique architecture combining features of a Christian cathedral, Muslim mosque and Chinese temple.
Bundaran Gerang. Can you spot the minarets of a mosque, the arches of a cathedral and the red square doors of a Chinese temple?
Compared to Bali where the majority of the population is Hindu, Lombok’s population is about 80% Muslim, 10% Christian and the rest a mix of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Our hotel for our entire stay in Lombok is the Jeeva Klui Resort, located at a secluded area in the Senggigi Beach area. Senggigi is about an hour by car from the airport. Located on the north-western part of the island, it is the best place to stay for those visiting the 3 Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno), waterfalls in the northern part of Lombok (near the village of Senaru) and those who intend to trek to the peak of the Mount Rinjani.No, we are not doing trekking to Mount Rinjani. We are too physically unfit for that now.
On the way to Senggigi, we stopped for lunch at Lesehan Taliwang Nada, a restaurant in Mataram that specialises in a local dish called the Ayam Taliwang. Ayam Taliwang is a spicy Indonesian ayam bakar (grilled chicken) dish from Lombok. The spices are made from red chilies, onion, garlic, tomatoes, fried shrimp paste, brown sugar, salt and other seasonings. It is usually served with steamed rice.
The chicken served in this restaurant is unusually small. The restaurant uses young spring chickens that are about the size of adult quails for this dish.
My wife and I ordered an Ayam Bakar Taliwang, an Ayam Bakar Madu which is grilled chicken coated with honey and a Bebalung soup to share.
Although the spices in the Ayam Taliwang are tasty, I found the chicken meat a little chewy. That is because the chicken in Lombok are free-ranging “kampong chicken”, not chickens reared in cages. Hence, the meat of the “kampong chicken” is slightly tougher but it has more flavour. It is probably why the dish uses young chickens. The meat of the adult chickens would be tougher.
The Bebalung Sapi is a local version of the ox ribs soup, cooked with spices consisting of chili, garlic, shallot, galangal, ginger and saffron.
Omar told us the locals drink this soup to energize them and boost their vitality. The beef in the soup was well cooked, almost falling off the bone. The broth was quite tasty, full of beef flavour and collagen. Yum.
Enjoying our lunch at the Lesehan Taliwang Nada.
In addition, our group ordered 2 fried gurame (a local freshwater fish) and mixed vegetables to share. Indonesia is well known for their “Flying Fish” or Gurame Goreng, a deep fried fresh water fish marinated with a special sauce. The fish is usually prepared with their flesh sliced off the bone so that both sides of its meat are curled up during frying to look as if it has flying fins.
The restaurant staff warned us that we would have to wait 30 minutes for them to catch the live fish from the pond, clean and cook them. It was worth the wait as the fried fish was delicious although it did not have the looks of the “flying fish”.
It tasted excellent, especially when eaten with the sambal chilli that was provided. Every part of the fish was super crispy. My friends ended up munching each bit of it, including most of the head, fins and tail. They claimed it was better than the Ayam Taliwang.
All the ingredients are given a good toss and mixed before eating.
After our first taste of Lombok cuisine, we continued our drive on a coastal road towards Senggigi. We could see nice views of the ocean as our van weaved its way up and down, through small hamlets and coconut plantations.
Jeeva Klui Resort is located a little out from Senggigi town center. We had to drive through the town to get to it. We made a quick stop at the Orchid Day Spa to get a brochure.
We checked into our Ocean facing suite at the resort, had a shower and took some time to check out the surroundings.
Although the rooms in the resort looked aged, the grounds of the resort were immaculate. There was greenery all round, giving the vibes of a luxury tropical resort.
Loved the sight of many tall coconut trees just outside my room.
I could hear the roar of the surf from my room, beckoning me to have a closer look and snap some photos.
Plenty of daybeds by the pool and facing the ocean.
Although the hotel offers spa service, we decided to head to the Orchid Day Spa we saw earlier in the town center. The Orchid Day Spa offered various kinds of massage at good prices.
It was just before sunset when we finished our massage. We arrived at the nearby Tanjung Bias Beach, just in time to watch the sunset.
Sunset at Tanjung Bias Beach.
While my friends were focused on the sunset, I was snapping photos of the local kids enjoying the surf and the sand. There were also two small white ponies available for rides.
The locals seem impervious to the dangers of the quite dangerous surf The orange globe of the sun quickly went behind the cloud and Mount Agung in the horizon and it was time for dinner!
Yessy Kitchen serves good seafood. We ordered the set dinner menu for 6 persons and added more dishes. This came with an assorted of seafood and local dishes that included ikan bakar (grilled fish), Crab in spicy sauce, fried battered prawns, cap cay (mixed vegetables), pelecing kangkung, tauhu and tempe (tempe is a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans), omelette, drinks (coconut water), and cut fruits.
Our favourite dish was the grilled Ikan Barona, a fairly large sized rabbit fish, served with a spicy dipping sauce. The deep fried fish provides a crispy skin with a delicate and slightly sweet flesh inside.
Overall, the dinner at Yessy Kitchen was good value for money. The friendly boss even came and served us complimentary Lombok coffee after our meal.
Lombok coffee is made from robusta beans grown on the rich volcanic soil found on the slopes of Mount Rinjani. According to my local guide, the coffee beans are roasted with some rice to give it a unique smoky taste. The very dark, almost pitch black, coffee was served unfiltered. So the trick is to not stir the coffee and let the residuals settle at the bottom of the cup before drinking.
There are local vendors selling souvenirs like pearls and T-shirts along the beach. Somehow, they respected the boundaries laid down by the restaurant and did not approached us at our dining table. Instead, they would hawk their wares outside an imaginary boundary. A few of my travelling companions went to support the locals and bought some bargain-priced T-shirts (30,000 IDR each), under the watchful eyes of the restaurant owner.
My first impression of Lombok in Day 1 has been positive – friendly people who are respectful, clean streets, relaxed countryside and seaside vibes and tasty food.
Looking forward to Day 2 where we had booked a boat trip to the Gili Islands!
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