JBR OCTOBER 1 - 9 2005
Saturday October 1 AP Flight to Denpasar 10am departure. We are Bali lovers my fiancée has been to Bali 8 times prior to this trip, myself 5 times, my son who I will call Mr 15 is well travelled but he is a Bali Virgin, also with us is a good friend from hubby to be's work he is a real Bali Virgin. We depart home at 7.30am to a flat tyre on the vehicle that was a good start. Everyone has a good laugh and it's the fastest tyre change on a vehicle that I have ever seen. We arrive at the airport with heaps of time to spare. I am not a good flyer and usually require the assistance of my good friends Jack (Daniels) or Jim (Beam) to get to my much loved Bali holidays. This trip BV has some calming pills that I can take and he swears by them so I brave it and take one. Yeah the best feeling is getting on a plane with out panicking and with out having to start drinking at 8am in the morning.
The flight is fantastic really smooth trip up with great take off and landing. The food and service is superb you cant ask for better. The plane was only half full considering we had tried so hard to get on this flight for the past 3 months to be told no we couldn't get on. Then they let us know on the Monday prior that if we still want the seats they are now available. So we jumped at the chance to get the extra days in Bali.
We arrive at Denpasar airport at approx 1 pm have to take the bus into the terminal, this is the first time I have ever had to do this. Talking to other passengers they too are surprised at how empty the plane was. We get straight through customs and VOA considering another plane had landed just before us. Paid VOA in Australian dollars they gave us rupiah change which was enough for the taxi.
Usually we get the bluebird taxi to the hotel but this time as there were 4 of us and we had a bit of luggage they wanted us to take 2 taxi's. Not likely my fiancée strolls out into the carpark leaving me and the 2 boys watching the cases to keep them away from the porters. My fiancée returns with a big smile on his face and a driver with a Kijang for 50000 to Sanur. He is already back in the swing of it.
Mr 15 and BV are funny to watch. Mr 15 wants to know what the funny smell is as he pulls his tshirt up over his nose. BV is terrified at the way the motorbikes are weaving in and out. F and I are killing ourselves laughing at the expressions on their faces. We arrive at the Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel at 2pm. The boys are in 121 we are upstairs in 441. As fast as we get our bags into the room we are changed into bathers etc. The boys are in the pool. After a quick swim we take a stroll across the road to change some money. We have snack at Corridor which is straight across the road. Jack (the manager) makes us very welcome. 4 of us eat satay and have a drink each for about $15 total. We decided to take a walk along the beach to tootsie's but with all the changes along the beach since last July we walk straight past and have to turn back exhausted. We eventually find our way back to Sindhu Markets and Tootsie's. We buy volcom and bintang shorts for 30,000ea cushion covers for 16,000 some nike slipon's for 12,000. Having checked out prices of other things we decide to walk back to the pool and get another drink.
Later in the evening we decide to eat back at Corridor for dinner I have a large seafood platter for only 55,500 the boys go for the ribs at 38,000. Drinks are at Happy hour prices which is only 6,500 for a bintang. After sitting a little while we decide to cross the road to Retro Bar to watch the soccer on the big screen. As we get across the road we realise it isn't on. The Bar manager that night Wayan is really upset and gets us to sit and watch what is going on. The news of the bomb hits home slowly. At first we tell them this is not a funny joke to play. Wayan is really upset that so many people will stop coming and the staff are just so sorry what the terrorists have done. I decided to cross back to the internet shop to try to ring home to no avail. The line is continually busy. We try ringing all nite with no luck until 7 the next morning.
Day 2 October 2nd
After the bomb last night we decide to stay close to the hotel until we know what is going on. On the way to breakfast we see many Aussie Army, Airforce and Federal Police. We go back to Corridor for the best breakfast in Bali. Its only 20,000 for 2 eggs, toast, fruit, pancake, juice and coffee. After breakfast as we are leaving we meet another Aussie girl that lives not far from our home. She is travelling alone so we sit for awhile and chat. We spend the day around the pool reading and sunbaking. The boys play water volley ball with Made, Widi and Pande. These guys turn out to be the best thing for Mr 15. They play all sorts of games with him. Pool, Ping Pong, basketball great entertainment. In the evening we went to Made Two which is a couple of doors down from the hotel for dinner. Not overly impressed with the meal. The sate is really dry, the Gado gado is soggy, The drinks order gets stuffed up. But the total bill was only approx $25 for the 4 of us. We stop for a drink at Retro again which becomes our nightly ritual no matter where we have eaten that night.
Day 3
We have decided that we will stay in Bali for our holiday but will stay away from Kuta and Seminyak as we have had warnings that is the next target. After breakfast we head to Denpasar for some serious shopping. Matahari's we get shoes for 89,000 and 2 shirts for next years wedding 30,000 ea, also matching ties for 16,000 ea. We cross the road to Robinsons and get some serious bargains for shoes in there. Mr 15 buys some sneakers for 59,000 that he is rapped with. The guys get some t shirts for 18,000. A lot of the specials are due to Galungan which is to be held on Wednesday. We stop at Makro on the way back and pick up supply's of Panadol, Entrostop, bandaids, etc... None of this is needed this trip in the end but it was there just in case and now we have stock at home. The boys buy heaps of chocolates and lollies and crisps. Dinner this night we go to Arena sports café. What a great night out this is. The guys have ribs which are fabulous, I have the chicken legs which are also great with many rounds of drinks and some simply devine tiramisu the bill comes to only $54 for everything.