TO/FROM
Flight out with Air Paradise cancelled, rebooked on Garuda instead. Nice service, I like Garuda. Flight home awful due to the time (depart DPR 2300, arrive MEL 0630 local time) - I never manage to sleep on the return leg and always end up with a headache. AP were good on the flight home, stewards very friendly, etc. My only two gripes would be (a) the in-cabin temperature was too warm and (b) I miss that "you are here" thing where they show your current position on the movie screen. One other gripe, and this may extend to all airlines as I am not sure, is that our family of four were given a crappy middle row (which we hate as we always prefer 2 + 2 window seats) - this is apparently pre-determined well ahead of time regardless of what time you roll up at the airport to check in and get seat allocation. We managed to grovel our way to some 2 + 2 seats but the annoying thing was that we missed out on the seats at the front even though we were the third family to check in at the airport. The food was just okay on AP but they did keep coming out with tidbits (chips, ice creams, lollies, biscuits, drinks, etc) more than any other airline I have ever flown. I think it is a toss up between Garuda and AP as to who is better and just depends on the luck of the day. The AP crew's friendliness seemed a little more "genuine" if you can quantify that.
Arrival and VOA (Visa On Arrival) were painless but a lesson to be learnt is you should actually use $US in order to save some money. This is because they convert $A to $US then to IDR and use crappy rates all the way along. The VOA that costs $US25 per person ($US100 for our family) ended up costing us $A140. Getting the $US notes beforehand would have cost us around $A122. No big deal I know, but I would rather not donate money to any government. DO NOT use an airport transfer service as there is a taxi office just outside the terminal doors (easy to find, on the right hand wall as you go out) where you can pre-pay a taxi at a reasonable price. Three bucks or so (25,000) to Kuta.
Departure from DPR to MEL was also easy but involved a lot of waiting around. Buying things from the airport shops after you have checked in is also expensive, with prices of ice creams and drinks very inflated. The departure tax is 100,000 per passport (kids too) so don't forget to keep some aside. We ate dinner at a little food stall at the airport which was outside the terminal next to Macca's. Quite nice Indonesian fare, with a decent nasi campur, nice spicy coconut/chilli soup, nasi goreng, cold Bintang, etc. Having kids, we tended to OD on fast food sometimes while in Bali and it all got too much.
Returning to MEL we declared wooden products (lamp shades made of rattan) and food (packets of lollies I bought from Matahari) but had no problems going through AQIS (Quarantine). Customs did not worry about the 200+ DVDs/PS2 discs at all.
SHOPPING
Be careful of price tags, even in Matahari. My wife grabbed a plastic hair clip that would have cost $A2 at home only to find afterwards that it cost 80,000 - around $A11. We took it back and got a refund without a problem. The item had no price shown on the tag so ALWAYS LOOK and ask if not sure, don't just assume.
Geneva handicrafts (thanks Di) in Kerebokan was pretty good although the variety wasn't fantastic. Lots of wooden carvings.
Those bloody surveys and timeshare cards outside Matahari are STILL going. Don't these things ever die out? Are there really people gullible/brave enough to follow through and therefore ensure a continual supply of locals trying to flog the stuff? Just say "no thank you" ("tidak, terima kasih") politely and keep walking.
My wife bought two leather jackets from Rizky leather just off Poppies 2 (thanks Yevisha) and are very happy with the quality of workmanship. One bikie style in brown, crumpled-look leather [cow, more expensive] cost 800,000. Zippers and stitching excellent. The other jacket, a 3/4 length black in goat leather (ve-e-ery soft) cost 900,000. We may have got these cheaper by looking around but didn't want to cross the fine line between cheap price and poor workmanship/materials. It's all about balance I reckon.
Learn to bargain, it's not that scary. Just try to know roughly what things are going for by getting a price list (see Don's Bali Virgin Guide and Di's Do's and Don'ts in this forum). Hell, even go up to a stranger on the street and say "excuse me how much did you pay for that so-and-so?" 99% of people will only be too glad to help you out. Sometimes the first price will be outrageous but mostly a good rule is never pay more than half the first price and try for one third. Remember though, that it's only a couple of bucks so don't get too upset. Keep things in perspective. Sometimes I would drive a hard bargain and then leave extra money anyway. And remember, if you are not happy about the price, simply walk away. You will find better just up the road. When I was after a Nike sports bag I tried one shop opposite KFC in Kuta who wanted 80,000+ best price. I went up the road and bargained and got it for much less then told the lady she was a hard and tough bargainer but also said "I like you. You are funny". She replied "you are funny too". Some things are priceless, I swear.
We went to Mataharis in Denpasar and my wife went mad on bras. She bought 15 or 20 pairs for prices of $A2 to $A10 each, some with sets of knickers too. My wife is a Filipina so the Asian size bra is very comfortable for her <smirk>. Matahari in Denpasar DOES NOT have an in-store money changer so you need to go to the next large intersection and a huge bank (named BTN or something) is on the opposite corner (but poorly signposted as we walked right past it in our frustrated search).
My wife, being Filipina, was almost always mistaken as Balinese/Indonesian. The beauty of it was that she could walk down the street and not be offered those surveys and she could shop in peace as they thought she was a local. I wish I could have faded into the background sometimes!
Every woman in Bali seems to have a Louis Vuitton bag of some sort and my wife is no exception. Actually, she bought 3 for herself and 2 more for family. The original price was 150,000 but you can get for 55,000 or so. Buying things in multiples increases your bargaining power.
DVDs are everywhere. If you can't find them you must be walking around with your eyes shut. Having said that, we used Helgi and found him to be excellent. Helgi delivered to our hotel and even threw in a couple of those folders that hold the plastic sleeves. A nice man to do business with and the DVDs (so far) are all good. We bought a few extra DVDs from a shop in Poppies 2. Honestly, most of the things you want can be had from Poppies 1 and Poppies 2. We bought 90% of our stuff from those two lanes.
PC software is more scarce than it was, with Sakura stall (on right, south of Kuta square heading towards airport) and the stall just outside Matahari Kuta Square being the places with at least some variety. Softcomp has various stores on Poppies 2, Jalan Legian, opposite Sakura, etc but has limited titles.
HOTEL
Hard Rock. Clean sheets daily, cold aircon, staff friendly, pool the best I have ever seen, not cheap. We chose HR for the pool and we were not disappointed. The kids loved the sandy area (2 feet deep, beach-like and ideal for smaller tackers and/or paranoid parent like us) and the two water slides. They have pool attendants (life guards) everywhere, too. The atmosphere of the hotel is "party mode" which is not suited to families sometimes, especially when you can hear the live music at midnight, but the pool was the trade-off and we were happy. In hindsight, I could have asked to be moved away from the live music section, but our kids slept soundly so the muffled music wasn't a really big deal. The bloody rooster next door was more of a big deal but we got used to it. I told my wife that if I caught the thing I would eat it! It happened to be my birthday during our stay and HR management delivered a card and a cake to our room which was a thoughful touch.
HR required a swipe of the credit card for a bond for the mini bar and when I asked how much a cash equivalent bond would be was told $A500. Wo! Swiped the card and haven't had any dodgy items show up on the card [yet]. The HR has cable TV so there was Discovery channel (our favourite) as well as Cartoon Network and Disney for the kids so they were happy.
FOOD
We could break things down into a couple of categories - cheap food and prices-from-home food. We took pot luck and discovered a few gems and a few duds but that is life. We ate somewhere different most times and never ate at the hotel.
Kori's in Poppies 2 - magnificent food and ambience (thanks anmajojo). Expensive but worth the splash out. The only criticism would be that the lighting was too dark in parts - it was hard to see our food. Smooth jazz playing discretely in the background. Family of 4 cost: 462,000. Steak medium rare, Singapore chilli crab, bacon hamburger, spag bol, 1 cocktail, 1 smoothie, 1 Coke, 1 Bintang, 1 French fries. Food as good as home or better. Service quite good. Eat here at least once. 4.5/5
Taman Sari in Poppies 2 - good food at good prices. Free garlic bread using French sticks. Yum. Their pizza is not bad by Bali standards and the grilled skewers and rice delicious. Mains cost around the 25,000 mark. Great value, tasty food, service okay. Sit and watch life in Poppies 2 roll on by. 3.5/5
Nusa Indah in Poppies 1 - very cheap food but absolutely tasteless. Service extremely slow. The fact that it is also a bar doesn't help as the cringe factor was high (don't you love being in a restaurant with couples and families and drunken Aussies are sitting at the bar dropping the "f word" all over the place?). I'm no prude but there is a time and a place, etc. Lesson learnt: be wary of eating in places where people also just sit and drink. 0/5
La Lucciola in Kerebokan, Pettitenget beach - You simply MUST eat here once or twice (thanks Di). This was the best place at which we ate in Bali. Ever. We went for brekky after reading Di raving about it and it was an experience to remember. The place was almost empty so we sat at the front of the patio area with nothing but manicured lawn and palm trees between us and the beach. We watched the man trimming the dead leaves from the palm trees using a saw tied onto the end of a bamboo pole, ducking the leaves as they fell. Some memories are just meant to be taken home with you. Soft jazz playing in the background, waiting staff standing back so as not to be intrusive but carefully watching in case you want something, all dressed in traditional clothing. 2 Foccacia, 1 omelette, 1 hash browns, 3 [real!] juices, 1 English breakfast tea, 1 coconut toast, 1 cappuccino. Cost was 125,000. Expensive but would go again for sure. We should have done a dinner there but I hear you really need to book in advance. Sitting upstairs at the front watching a sunset must be sublime. 5/5
Gateway of India in Jalan Kuta Pantai (main road leading away from the beach) just up from the roundabout at Bemo corner - we like Indian food so we are biased. Expensive-ish and mostly faithful to the taste. Nan bread, chicken tikka, chicken tandoori, mutton vindaloo, pulao rice, mixed veg, 4 samosas, 4 cokes. Cost 217,000. All dishes tasted very similar to those at home except the vindaloo, which was not as acidic as it should have been. We enjoyed and would go back. 3.5/5
Legian Gardens in Melasti St Legian - one of our old favourites with very cheap breakfasts and also a buffet breakfast. The taste is a bit hit and miss though - when it is good, it is good, but when it's not it's pretty ordinary. Staff extremely friendly and the American breakfast at 15,000 is good value - Bacon, 2 eggs any style, toast, jam, tea/coffee, juice, fruit. Banana juice is nicest as the orange is a cordial type thingy. 3/5
Rainbow in Poppies 2 - Noisy, cheap, good tasting food. Waiters think they are way cool but the atmosphere is relaxed and easy going. 1 veg fried rice (yummy), 1 satay, 1 bacon burger, 1 French fries, 3 Cokes, 1 cocktail (dearest item at 28,000). Total cost 109,000. 3.5/5
Made's Warang in Jalan Pantai Kuta was a disappointment for us. Brekky cheap (53,000) but pretty average taste - the toast (brown bread only) was so hard it could have taken someone's eye out if thrown carelessly. 2.5/5
Yan's on Jalan Kartika Plaza opposite the Melasti was a gem find for us. Pot luck as we were walking back from Euro bungy and we ordered mostly Indonesian style things for breakfast - Mi goreng (noodles), spicy Indonesian soup (best I tasted), plain rice, ham/cheese omelette where you could actually taste the ham and cheese (!), juices, French fries, tea/coffee, etc. Juice was a cordial thingy but the spicy dishes were delicious. Total cost around 70,000. 3.5/5
MISC
Be nice for no reason if you want to feel good about yourself. We went into a timezone (upstairs at Discovery Mall) and purchased a 50,000 swipe card to use in the machines. We hadn't used all the credits (maybe 12,000 left) and wanted to leave so I found the least-likely-to-have-money person (young teenage couple just looking around as though they didn't really have any money to spend) and gave them the card. The look of happiness on the girl's astonished face was almost enough to bring me to tears.
Use Blue taxis or Bluebird taxis. Avoid white taxis and Komotra taxis. One white taxi drove us back to the hotel, all was fine with the meter but somehow it had stopped working along the way without me noticing. When I asked the driver he just gave me a dumb grin and said "broken". Yeah, right. It was left up to me to decide how much to pay because he knew I would over-estimate. I should have paid him much less but I was a bit annoyed and wanted to just get away. I never had one spot of trouble with Blue taxis or Bluebird taxis.
One Komotra taxi drove us from Denpasar to Hard Rock and the fare came to 22,000 or so. I had a 50,000 note and asked "do you have 10,000 for me?" meaning he gets almost 20,000 tip. He asked me if I had anything smaller and it wasn't until afterwards I realised he expected me to give him the whole 50,000 as he had heaps of change. What I should have done was pay him only the exact amount in small notes (which I did have) but you always realise what you should have done well afterwards.
On the taxi-complaining note, there are times when the look on a driver's face or the sound of his voice when you give a 10,000 or 20,000 tip is priceless and very moving. You can just tell when this happens. You can't really describe it, but you know. That is when you realise you have done something good and your karma credits have just increased.
Internet cafe connections cost 200 - 300 per minute (12,000 - 18,000 per hour) but the speed is hit and miss. Don't use hotel internet as the ones outside are MUCH cheaper. Use one of the many in Poppies 1 or Poppies 2.
Hotel phone calls are also killers. We made two calls (both roughly 3 minutes long) to Melbourne and the bill was over $A20. I was too lazy to go out and use a Wartel public phone at the time but I accept this.
We left a lot of things behind at the hotel as they wouldn't fit. Bottles of Coke, pool noodles, paddle boards, snacks, kids games, etc. I found the room cleaning girl and after I gave her 50,000 and said thank you for cleaning our room I told her that we have left some things and she should not think they were forgotten and left behind. In other words, "grab them if you want". She was basically stunned to get a tip and a thank you as I suppose it is mostly those who are face-to-face with the tourists who reap the most rewards. It is easy to forget about some of those behind-the-scenes people. Needless to say she was extremely happy, then after that, so was I.
Never, never, never use the phrase "maybe later". That taxi driver who asked you about transport will have built in radar/sonar/ESP/GPS for the next several weeks and will be able to pick you out from the middle of a thousand people in Kuta square and say "but you said later". Don't do it. Just don't do it. Say no. Really, I mean it. Even if you want to do it later, still say no. Trust me on this one.
We encountered some beggars in Denpasar outside Matahari. One little boy was motioning hand-to-mouth meaning money for food. The only trouble with this was that he was eating a yummy looking chocolate ice cream cone at the time. He needs to polish his skills and timing I think.
Always let locals know this is your third trip to Bali (even when it's not) as this has several potential effects: (1) taxi drivers might not try to rope you in to some transport deal ("want driver for monkey forest?") if they think you have seen places already (2) traders might not try to hit you with a ludicrous best price. Please note I used the word "might" in both instances. ;-)
Good luck, have fun, learn from your mistakes. We did.
If anyone wants to see some pics of La Lucciola or ask me something specific, please feel free to drop me a line: theobviousrussells@myrealbox.com. Drop "the obvious" to email me.