1. Travel Agent :
I went to Bali with my sister for 13 days. I left sydney on Sunday 13 March and returned to Sydney on Sunday 27 March 2005.
Due to my sister's work committment and other things, we were not able to get definite dates for our departure and arrival. So finally on Wednesday 9 March, we were ready to give departure and arrival dates to travel agents all over Sydney- ' I can leave from 11, 12 13 and 14 March and come back by 27 March. ". Of course it was too difficult for all the travel agents. The usual package deals were not available ( no seats) and the flights alone costed about $900 plus taxes( one or two seats left for the dates I wanted).
I tried all the right travel agents, flightcentre, harvey , jetset, travel.com.au, student flight centre, great escape, zuji, www.bali.net.au, Air paradise's Sydney office. Their response was negative. It did not help that Friday was the new year day in Bali so there was no flight on Saturday.
Then on Friday 11 March after 12 o'clock, I found this website www.holidaysonsale.com.au while I was looking for hotels. I was going to just purchase airline tickets and go.
So I called the number listed just in case. Karen from www. holidayonsale.com.au said she would get back to me. I chose Bakungs Beach Cottage. I did it because it was on their website. I did not think she would come through. By this stage I had two days of rejection from every travel agent in Sydney.
She called me 1 hour later with a quote of $1060 including taxes, transfer and breakfast for 2 for 13 days. She said that having a package of 4 days was about $400 dearer pp- same hotel. I took it. I had to pay $20 late fee pp- happy to pay.
I received e tickets through my email around 5 pm Saturday. Karen had to come into the office on Saturday. She waited for the email from the wholesaler as much as I did.
I paid with a credit card. I worried about using a credit card with a travel agent found on the web for a brief moment. I had never heard of this travel agency. I did not even read the contents of their website. I only read" Bali" bits.
The travel arrangements Karen did for me went without a hitch. I should not have worried about the credit card at all. I really had good service from Karen. I did not get such service in Bali.
I would like to recommend www.holidaysonsale.com.au. I think they are a web based travel agency but they have a phone number you can call. So you do not have to check your email every 5 minute for a reply. I do not know whether they specialise in Bali.
From now on, I would call them first for my travel arrangements. Hopefully, next time I can give Karen more than 24 hour notice.
2. Bakung's Beach Cottage
Do not go to Bali if you can only afford to stay in Bakung's Beach Cottage. I initially thought that I would only stay at this hotel for 3-4 days then was going to travel to Ubud then Sanur. But I ended up staying there for 7 days. After 7 days, I could not stand it anymore so I moved to Casa Padma Suites. Hotel Niksoma and Hotel Padma did not have a room for the last 5 days of our stay in Bali.
Bakung's Beach Cottage was not a hotel. It was a hostel. Their pool was nice. But the rooms were dirty. Their blanket was dirty. The mattresses were so worn out that my sister slept on the very edge of the bed. My mattress was not as bad as hers. We asked the mattress to be changed to a better one. The better mattress was longer than the bed frame. We got a lot of hot water but a little cold water in the shower. Airconditioner was noisy. Bathroom was very small. If you are size 16 + , I do not think you could use the toilet. This was a" better room" in this hotel.
Initailly we were given a single room with two single beds. There was no room for our luggages- One cabin size, one medium size, and one backpack.
Although this was a cheap hotel and you get what you pay for, the size of the room was too much for us. On the morning of our 2nd day, I asked Marni from the hotel for a room change. She said the hotel was full and I had to ask her everyday for an availability. On the 3rd day, I asked someone else from the hotel again, then somehow they had a room available. Initially, the second room was almost acceptable. It was bigger. it has a balcony.
We only used the hotel for a shower and sleep.
Their breakfasts were not vey nice. On the 2nd day in Bali I had a fruit salad with 6 pieces of fruits ( all bite size) - 2 watemelons, 2 melons, 2 papayas.I think I had about 3-4 breakfasts at the hotel. Nothing was good- Indonesian, American. Only coffee was ok.
The attitude of the staff at the hotel was " did not care". When I said that I was moving to Casa Padma, they did not ask why I was moving. They were only interested in whether I would be coming back to the hotel.
3. Casa Padma Suites
We stayed in a mini suite, room 306. It was clean and modern. Airconitioning was quieter than Bakung's Beach's. We liked this room because the air from the aircondtioner did not hit us directly due to the design of the room. The staff were very nice.
Swimming pool was not really useable. The room( one Queen size bed) was not big ( compared to hotels in Bangkok). Water temperature control was good. Breakfast was ok and coffee from machine was ok as well. I had coffee, croissants, egg and bacon.
4. Tailors
My sister had a suit( jacket and pants) made from Merry's Collection. It was $125. It was initially $145 but Aristo gave us a discount because my sister was very very petite, an Indonsian size. The suit was very good. We were very happy. We took our brother's pants with us and had a pair of trousers made for our brother. It was very good. Aristo put lining to the knees.
We also used Janoko. We got 3 suits- one men's suit with two trousers, 2 women's suits with skirt and pants. We paid Rp1,750,000. Men's suit was from Cashmere wool. Women's were from Wool blend. Great cut, great work.
The differences I can see betweeen the work of Merry's Collection and Janoko are
1. price
2. 3 butons on sleeves from the suit made by Merry's Collection
3. lining-the lining from Merry's Collection came with fake Hugo Boss print on it
4. Mens' pants from Merry's collection came with lining to the knees, front and back
5. Men's pants made from Janoko had only lining on the front ( to the knees)- I did not like it initally but it would not matter because of boxer shorts.
6. The suit made from Merry's Collection came with a suit carry bag.
7. Merry's Collection is airconditioned- much easier option if you have just arrived in Bali.
I think they are great tailors. Both of them are professionals. Aristo from Merry's Collection made a pair of pants for my brother after taking measurement from my brother's old pants. Janoko made a suit for my brother from a business shirt and pants which were used for measurement only. The quality of tailoring was the same. The difference is very minor. Personally, if I had to choose, I would choose Janoko because I like the price and Damien (the tailor). I did not go with him initially because it was too hot when I arrived at his shop the first time( my third day). I did not want to have any kind of discussion. His shop did not look good. Damien is not a salesman. He is the kind of person who would be just happy to make great suits in the back room. When we asked him his opinion on colors and style, he gave us just that -opinion, he did not sit on the fence by saying "everything is nice, whatever you want". So we liked it.
But Aristo from Merry''s Collection was nice and offered his opinion as well. The price would not matter much if you want a suit only. We just liked Damien a bit more.
Merry's Collection is located opposite to Hotel Niksoma.So tell taxi drivers to go to Hotel Niksoma and just get off in the front of the hotel.
Janoko is located in the poppies 2 but if you are coming from Legian by taxi you can get off at the corner of Poppies 2 and Legian St and walk for 2 minutes. It is cheaper and faster.
5. Rizky leather
I liked Ronnie a lot. His work was great, His English was very good. You can have decent discussions with him. He did not look very professional at the first glance but when you talk to him, you would know, he is a professional.
We got 3 leather jackets and 2leather vests.
For my brother's jacket, his business shirt was used for measurement.
My parents wanted vests- they called me on 25th and I was leaving Bali on 26th.
I explained to Ronnie about my mum's figure- size 14, about my height and weigh 58Kg, etc.
For my father, the only thing I said was " a bit shorter than my brother, size 32 waist".
My father's vest fits him just the way he likes it. He likes the inner pockets very much. My mum's vest is perfect fit in our opinion but she would have liked it more if it were a bit loose. It is not small for her at all. It does not show her tummy. She would get used to it.
We like our jackets very much.
If you are going to Rizky by taxi, you ask taxi drivers to go down Poppies 2( worth extra Rp4-5000). It is much closer to Poppies 2 than Legian St. It is very close from a hotel which I do not remember its name at the moment. It is not on Poppies 2, It is one of the side streets on Poppies 2, near ATM machine.
6. Restaurants
I did not like any of the restaurants recommended by the forum. I went to Kori's. It was really a bar. The food was expensive. For 2 people, we had seafood on skewer, juices and thai salad. It was Rp 269,000. The food was not great. It had no taste- good or bad- bad fusion food ??.
Tried Green Garden Restaurant, Green Garden Cafe, Daddy's, SA cafe, Wayan and Friends, Warung Made and JD cafe. Charred satay, salty, MSG( a lot of).very sweet. butter tasting nasi gorang etc.
All the restaurants seemed to do deep fried food eg spring rolls.
I also went to Kuta night market and stayed there for 1 minute.- really overpriced for the venue and the food they served.
I went to a real local food market( Kuta night market type) near Tuban. All the meal costed about Rp 5000-7000. I had coconut juice from a coconut. The place was quite cool and well lit. It was about 8 O'clock. There were many local people. Food was quite good.
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