Ok folks I will try and keep this brief and informative for you.Myself and 13yr old daughter and friends with a 17yr old and 2 16yr olds in tow.Flew Air Paradise out of Perth on time.Service was excellent with half and half Dutch and Indonesian crew.Landed in Bali also on time at about 1.30 pm.A pleasant surprise as its not too too hot.VOA ,I paid in Aussie dollars and got change in Rupiah...No dramas whatsoever.Friends paid in US dollars.Took AGES for our bags to come through ( I think cause we got checked in at Perth early ).Our driver RICO was there to pick us all up with his cousin Wally in the other "fun wagon".All luggage in one all people in the other. Got to the Kumala Pantai and checked into our rooms.The two teenage boys are in Y block, daughter and I are in B and friends and daughter in NS so we are all over the hotel which is a bit of a bummer(lots of phone calls between rooms which luckily arent charged for ).Our room was B04 and we loved it.The closest to reception and had a glimpse of the pool and a lovely front porch with privacy as well.Rooms are very nice, all marble tiled floors and whole of bathroom which has seperate shower with glass door and then bath with shower over.The BEST shower ever with a huge shower rose and good water pressure and hot as well !! Unfortunately there was no welcome drink...or even welcome for that matter!.Reception staff were not the most friendly or approachable whilst the remaining staff werent that friendly either, but polite.One of the waitresses around the pool was lovely, unfortunately I didnt get her name.Room service and poolside dining were very nice and good value for money too.Pool is really lovely, very clean and large with many shady areas if you want them.Apparently the hotel was very full but the pool area was never crowded.There are a few families here and couples.Not a party hotel which we liked(no being kept awake by drunks etc). First night we ate at Legends in Garlic Lane, nice food and some entertainment by Michael Jackson and a drag queen !!
Sunday......oooh the beds are SO HARD I wake up sore all over.(later resorted to folding my bedspread in half and laying it under my sheet and this helped some).
First up we hit the internet cafe across the road as I'd left home without my info sheets (so carefully put together over weeks and weeks!!) After much too-ing and fro-ing hubby faxed it to me at the hotel.WHEW.
Back to hotel for breakkie served at the beach front restaurant "The Sand".Had to sit upstairs as its been raining lightly and the open air tables cant be used.Staff not overly helpful here again and you just had to work out for yourself where to eat and sit etc.Breakfast was very nice with chicken chipolatas,crispy bacon,sauteed mushrooms,banana fritters, croissants,toast,noodles,friut,coffee,tea,juices etc.(no I didnt eat all that !!)
Off to Matahari in Kuta Square where daughter stocked up on lovely bra and knicker sets and some cheap knickers .All up we got 3 sets , 3pr knickers and 2 more bras all for $60.40 aussie. Got my son 3 game boy games outside Matahari for $102 aussie.These were like 130 games in one etc. Next stop Surf Factory Outlet where we got 9 items for $95 aus. Back to hotel for a much needed swim and rest then later went to tea at Billy's also in Garlic lane. Also nice food and Alex the waiter was lovely ,chatting away and teaching us some more Indonesian. While there I ordered two "Face to face" keyrings for the folks with a photo of the two grandies on either side.Cost$40.00 Aus
Monday after a yummy breakkie daughter and I headed up Rum Jungle Rd to Leo Lestari jewellers where I got 2 pr of modern square pearl earings $ 15.00 each. Got a taxi to AWA Natural where I met Lestari ( an indonesian lady who speaks excellent english ...so helpful) I ordered a narrow blind for my laundry door out of sandalwood fabric and a long blind for my sons room.I also got 12 white cushion covers.Total cost $54.00 aus.Also had alook at Balistones after this and there were some really lovely water features and statues but I couldnt decide on anything.Came home via the Bintang Supermarket where we stocked up on lots of goodies.After a swim and some room service we later headed off up Legian St to the surf shops.(Danger) Got a top from Body n Soul $9 aus.At The Curl daughter got Volcom sweatshirt,top and wallet for $70 aus.I got a pr of Roxy thongs for $12.15. Went to Nero's for tea which was sensational ! I had a crisp skinned salmon fillet with vegetables YUMMM On the way home a quick look at the Body n Soul factory outlet cost me $42.15 for a pr of shorts , a dress and a t-shirt. Home to bed !!
Tuesday....after breakkie we walked up Rum Jungle Rd to Legian St then taxi'd to Geneva.Not a lot had changed since I was there last June but managed to buy 8 cushion covers, 2 large carved jewellery boxes 3 lots of 8 placemats and some junky stuff.All up $90.35.
Taxi'd to Ku De Ta to show my daughter and we had brunch.Her ice-cream and me bruschetta and champagne MMMM Cost $ 29.40 all up but we had front row seats overlooking the beach and the day was beautiful!! Daughter impressed. Back to the pool.Later on went to Aristo's tailor in Jln Padma Utara but he wasnt able to get the black stretch fabric I wanted to make work pants.( next time I'll take my own fabric).This is taking much longer than I thought and you will all be bored to tears so I'll end this now and do more later.Thanks for reading.