Saturday, March 22, 2025

Today was our first full day at Katamaran Beach Resort in Senggigi, Lombok. The four of us slept in until 9:00am this morning, thankful not to be awoken by the early morning Muslim calls of prayer. Not that the prayers aren’t still going on somewhere in Senggigi; we just couldn’t hear them from our hotel room. I was awake a lot of the night coughing, so a slower morning to sleep in was welcomed.

Andi, Tory, Aden, and I ate breakfast at The Sail Restaurant on the property. We requested to sit in the section of our favorite server from last night’s dinner. Dwi warmly greeted us good morning and took our orders. “A side of bacon for you Mr. Aden, extra crispy?” she asked. “That’s the way I like it, too,” she smiled with a wink.

Sometimes the resort has a breakfast buffet, but this morning ordering was a la carte since there weren’t many guests at the hotel. Peak tourism for Indonesia is in the months of July and August. The air temperature is about the same all year long, but it rains more frequently during the months of December - April.

Tory ordered a chocolate crepe for her breakfast, as well as a Belgian waffle. I had fresh fruit, homemade yogurt, and granola (which was a similar consistency and taste to Shredded Wheat cereal). Andi ordered a croque monsieur sandwich and a chocolate croissant.

After breakfast, the four of us headed to the pool where we lounged in the sunshine until early afternoon. The kids ordered lunch poolside — nachos for Tory, and nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) for Aden. It felt pretty nice to relax, swim, and listen to the ocean waves this afternoon.

Around 3:00pm, the sky clouded over as it often does in the late afternoons. We took this as a sign to pack up and head inside. Tory and Aden played games on their iPhones while Andi and I went to the hotel’s fitness center to workout.

Afterwards, Andi and I left the resort to get some steps in around the neighborhood. There wasn’t much to see within walking distance, except for a few other holiday resort properties. Senggigi is the oldest tourist area in Lombok, and has several established hotels here. There’s less of a “backpackers” vibe here compared to Kuta.

We decided to have dinner at the second restaurant on the hotel property. The front desk shuttled us by golf cart to The Kliff Restaurant located up the hillside. The open-air restaurant typically overlooks the ocean, but tonight the sky was dark and raining. It felt romantic listening to the rain fall underneath the glow of dimly-lit lighting.

Andi and I decided to order several plates of tapas for the four of us to share. We dined on everything from sushi rolls to vegetable tempura, chicken satay, peruvian steak with chimichurri, pizza and mixed green salad. It was a lot of food, but small portions. Everything tasted delicious, especially the peruvian steak which brought our tastebuds right back to travels in South America.

For dessert, Andi and the kids ordered oreo cheesecake and chocolate mousse. Our server invited us to sit in more comfortable seating to relax after our meal. We sipped lemongrass tea and visited with one another while we listened to the ocean waves crashing on the rocks below.