I will try and keep this years JBR short and sweet, but you know me I can get carried away in the detail, so I hope I don't lose you along the way. We had a great holiday and this year we were able to share it with family and friends and incorporate a wonderful wedding for myself and Gary.
I hope you enjoy my JBR and that it brings a positive light to Bali amidst all the current negativity.
DAY ONE 13TH September 2005
Up bright and early for our flight with Garuda. We got great seats 10H & J and no small children in our vicinity, so a good start. Flight was uneventful and enjoyable, the only negative being Adelaide airport stopover. Arrived in Bali at 2.30pm Bali time and we were out of the airport 45 minutes later. Paid VOA with credit card, a very easy way to go. We had a pleasant drive to our first lot of accommodation at Honeymoon Guesthouse Ubud. Got our usual Dewi room # 6 and settled in nicely with a Bali kopi on our balcony. Dinner tonight was at Tutmak in Jl Dewi Sita Ubud, a lovely meal of juices (YUM always love the Bali juices), entrée tuna spring rolls, mains of nasi campur, beef rending, and coffes for RP154000. Great day one in Bali and now time for a sleep.
DAY 2, 14TH Sept.
Crikey what a dreadful sleep, woke at 2.30am (4.30am Melbourne time) to roosters and dogs (sounded like 100 of each of them right outside our room!!!) Got up at 5.30 and watched a glorious sunrise on my walk. Brekky on the balcony was great and by now the dogs and chooks had calmed down dramatically, so we had peace & quiet. Brekky at Honeymoon is a highlight with a choice of fresh juices, fruit salad, home made muesli (personal fave..) home made yoghurt, then the next selection consisted of coconut banana crepes (yes those yummy green ones), pisang goreng with palm sugar syrup, French toast/palm sug syrup, croissants, eggs any style, toast, bubur ayam, or nasi campur and on Sunday they have sticky black rice as a treat.... It is the best breakfast we have in Bali and it is one of the things that we long for when we are home.
It is very hot today and I am having trouble acclimatising, so needless to say I am hot and grumpy and not much fun to be with. (if I was Gary I would have called off the wedding today)
He tried to placate me with a stop at Casa Luna for Lime Pie and iced Cappuccino, nearly worked.
Dinner tonight was at Lotus Lane Restaurant in Monkey Forest Rd Ubud, we had 2 small bintangs, soft drink, complimentary bruschetta, garlic bread, spring rolls, Bebe Ketchup, and mixed sate, all up RP174000. Meal was fair and we would not bother going back again.
DAY 3, 15th Sept.
Finally had a good sleep and things appear much rosier when we are well rested. Today we are off to Australian Consulate to obtain our CNI for the wedding. It took forever and several phone calls by the driver to find the place, but eventually we are there and manage to get through some very tight security to get our documents.
Now off to Bali Mystique Hotel in Seminyak to discuss our reception with Norman (owner and friend). WOW what can I say...Norman has shown us the 3rd floor apartment where he said we could have the reception. He has great ideas of a buffet dinner with a band for dancing in this wonderful space. The apartment is over 300 sq metres and has a huge balcony with magnificent sea views and is just amazing. Norman suggested we may like to get there before sunset so we will be to watch the sunset with our guests. Looks great and Gary and I are completely sold. Norman is such a nice man, last year when our friend was hit by the motor bike he offered for her to come and stay for nothing as she was having some difficulty getting around at her hotel. I really can't say enough superlatives about Norman and Bali Mystique Hotel.
We met Angie, Ellie and Nyoman from Bali Paradise Weddings here for drinks and to discuss final arrangements for the wedding ceremony. All is now set for the big day, Bali Paradise Weddings have done a great job and the ceremony and the flowers are organised, and Norman and chef Ary have everything under control for the reception. Things have worked out very well for us considering we came to Bali with no idea what we would do for a reception. Gary had ideas of a beachside warung, but my ideas were on a grander scale entirely.
Spent the afternoon visiting some friends who have just moved to a new house somewhere in west Denpasar. Took a blo o dy long time trying to find it but eventually got there, the street names are kind of weird in Bali and the taxi driver had no idea whatsoever, thank goodness for mobile phones and periplus street directory......
After this off to Celuk to call on one of Gary's jewellers, he has had good fortune and recently been cleaned out of stock, so there was not much to look at today. There was one nice ring made of black shell that Gary bought me as a gift for RP50000. Paid our driver RP300000 for a full day out.
Dinner tonight was with friends at Dirty Duck 1 Padang Tegal Rd Ubud, what a lovely setting..this place is nice enough just for the setting alone. However dinner was not so good as the setting. We had drinks, crispy skin duck and deserts for RP220000. So far not much luck with food in Ubud and I have to say we would not bother going back here again either.
DAY 4, 16 Sept.
Gary is off to Studio Perak in Jl Gotama Ubud for his silver making class to make our wedding rings today !!! My friend Andie, her mum Carol and I are off to Verona Spa as a special treat before I get married (a sort of Hen's day out in Bali) (thanks again Andie) We had a wonderful day for RP180000 we had a massage, mandi lulur, facial and hair crème bath. It was a great day spa and extremely well proced. We went there at 9.30am and did not get back to hotel until 2.00pm. It was so funny, Andie had booked a double room for her and I, so off we go into the double room and disrobe and hop up on massage tables. Then after treatment girls say you have bath now....so Andie say together???? And they say yes..... Andie and I are not small girls so it was funny seeing us both in the bath and even funnier when we realised the men in the rice paddy were watching us through the open window. What a sight we must have been....LOL
Back to Andie and Carols hotel Tegal Sari for lunch, Mango juice and cap cay for RP30000. Had a look at their rooms, Peter & Andie had room 15 and it was pretty basic and not so nice, Carol had the wooden room, which had a nice view of rice filds, but once again pretty basic. After all the great reports I had read about Tegal Sari, I must say I was disappointed and so were Peter & Andie.
My transport was stuffed up so I walked back to Honeymoon, whew what a walk.. I was hot and tired when I got back. (the one thing I don't like about Ubud is no taxis, cos' I am noty good at bargaining for transport)
Gary was already at the hotel as no one turned up for his class at Studio Perak, he called them and was told someone would be there shortly, he waited from 8.30 until 10.00am....so no wedding rings yet...... Gary then decided to spend some time in Denpasar, got some silver and a wedding shirt (yes he did not have an outfit, this was left till he got to Bali too!!!!) Driver cost RP150000 for 4 hours.
Met David, Liza (funtime) and their son Jarvis from Sydney (BFN) at Honeymoon Guesthouse, they are lovely people and it was great to put faces to names.
Went to Murni's Warung for dinner, very nice dinner for RP 168000 drinks, lumpia, sate lilit, and pasta carbonara.
Another interesting day in paradise.