Finally have my computer and phone lines back up and running so here goes my JBR - I will try and keep it as brief as possible.
Background Info: Me (Kylie) 30 my 12th time to Bali, Mason (husband) 38 his 12th time to Bali, Brandon (son) 2.5 his 3rd time to Bali
We had major dramas with my horse leading up to departure and huge vet bills that cut deep into our spending money so we were a little worried about this trip. The to top it all off my computer had a bad turn and deleted all saved files including all my contacts and notes for Bali. At the last minute I was left with nothing and not contacts. I have to say a HUGE big thankyou to Colleen who came to the rescue with all her contact details which turned out to be twice as good at the details that I had anyway.
3rd March
We flew with Garuda from Perth. Extra luggage granted no problems and headed up with 3 suitecases of clothes (1 for us, 1 for Bapak Ken/Southern Cross Bali, 1 for Carolia Charity who we sponsor our children through) and another 4 carry on cases. Plane was on time and Brandon slept the whole way. Arrived in Bali and we were through all the formalities and in a cab and at the hotel within 45 minutes. For the first 4 days we stayed at the Bali Dynasty. I have stayed here for all or part of every trip to Bali and love the hotel and the location. Warsi was there to great us and show us to our deluxe room. Hotel only at 30% occupance which was a bit sad but still doing alot better than some of the hotels. We got to the room and Ken and Chris came to collect the clothes that we had transported for Southern Cross Bali. It was then straight off to discovery to get a sim card. For some reason this year the sim card wouldn't work in my phone. It did last year but never mind with the luck that I have had lately it wasn't surprising. I brought another phone for $80 and Brandon spotted Amazone (the Timezone style place). We got him 50,000rp of tokens and let him go. He had a ball. We walked around after him and collected the tokens that he had somehow won. It was then time for an icecream and a stroll back to the Dynasty and straight into Gracie Kelly's for a long awaited Bintang and a snack. Brandon had a ball playing with the staff while we relaxed and I sat on the phone calling the charity co-ordinator to arrange a day to see our children and a driver (who turned out to be way to expensive) and Adopt-a-Co op and a few others. We then met a loverly couple also from Perth - Gary & Allison. We sat at the bar chatting to them while Brandon played. We all tried the new beer brewed in Bali (Yellow Storm, Red Storm and Black Storm). Very nice perhaps even a bit better than Bintang but I'll stick with the bintang. Once Brandon was worn out we headed back to the room for room service and fell asleep.
4th March
Masons birthday today. Brandons first words this morning were "Good Morning Dadda can we go for a swim" So off they went. I waited for them to return then it was off to the tropical cafe for breakfast with Gary and Allison. We usually have the buffet but I generally don't eat breakfast so we thought we would be better off just getting what we want by the pool. Food was wonderful. We then grabbed the pram and headed for a walk up towards Kuta. I couldn't believe how quiet it is. It really is spot the tourist - and the majority of them are european. We stopped for a drink in Kuta and then went to Febris for lunch. I had booked Mason in for a hot stone massage at 2pm. We had a beautiful lunch and Brandon fell asleep in the pram so I sat in the restaurant and had a few drinks and read a book while I waited for Mason to finish. We got back to the hotel and Warsi tells us that as the hotel is quiet it is her turn to bring her husband and 2 children to the hotel to spend the night in a kids suite. She said that were so excited. Brandon went for a swim and then came back to play with Warsi's kids for a bit while we got ready to head out for dinner. Mason's choice was C-Line Cafe. We eat here alot while we stay at the Dynasty. The food is always lovely and fresh and the owners and staff are so nice. It was great to walk in and see their dog Rex still on guard barking. He would have to be one of the best looked after dogs in Bali. He is getting on a bit now and it is sad to see that he has lost the sight in his right eye but he is still so happy and content. By the time we had finished our meal Brandon was really tired so we headed straight back to the room. We walk in and sitting on the bed is a birthday cake and candles and a card for Mason from the staff at the hotel. Brandon had us light and blow out the candles a few hundred times and then when our backs were turned he grabbed a few handfulls of cake.
5th March
Today we were to meet with Adrian from Bali Hotels Holidays to pay for our other accommodation in Bali. Well the meeting time was 10am and we waited around until 11am and he was no show. I left a message with reception and we were not waiting for him any longer and if he does turn up to get him to call me on my mobile. I wasn't too worried because we hadn't paid anything. While walking down the driveway of the hotel we were talking about drivers. Well we knew that the price of petrol had gone up and had read on the forum that 400,000 for a day was about average but as we had spent alot of our money on my horse before we left it meant that we wouldn't be able to use a driver for some of the things that we had planned to do. As we were leaving the hotel one of the driver from the front of the Dynasty came over to chat to us. We asked him for a price to take us one way to Ubud when we leave here on the 7th. Straight away he said 200,000. Half what the other driver quoted. We asked him if he was sure and he said that they need the business and he was better off making a little bit of money by charging 200,000 than making no money by quoting 400,000. We booked him and also asked that he run us around for today. The drivers name is Raceng and he has worked out the front of the Dynasty for 15 years. We jump in the car and heap off to Denpasar to Adopta Co-op. Raceng finds it easily and while I run through our order with Ni-Luh Brandon runs wild and plays with the girls out the back. We leave there before Brandon wrecks the place and ask Raceng about buying a bike for one of our sponsor children. He tells us to wait until the day that we see him and on the way he will take us to a place that the locals shop at and it will be cheaper. So we decide to have a quick look at Bali Galleria. Brandon wants to go to the toilet and even though there are toilets there he refuses to go because he thinks that they stink. We race out of there and over to Plante Hollywood. WOW - this place is beautiful. Not really Bali but still really nice. Brandon uses the toilet and we sit down to a wonderful lunch. There is a little play area there for children. One of the staff came to collect Brandon and take him to play while we had a few drinks. They stayed with him the whole time and played games. He loved it. Only problem was he loved it that much we couldn't get him out of there. By this stage it was pooring with rain and it didn't look like letting up so Raceng took us back to the hotel for Brandons sleep. We wanted to go out for dinner tonight but there was no sign of a break in the weather so after his sleep Brandon went for a sleep and then we had dinner at Cafe Piazza and back to the room for icecreams from the minimart.
6th March
Woken up by a phone call from a very appologetic Adrian from Bali Hotels Holidays. He had to rush off to Jakarta on business and had left a message at the hotel before we checked in. We arrange to meet him at the hotel at 10am. I checked with reception and sure enough one of the girls remembers him calling but as we hadn't checked in they hadn't delivered the message. Never mind. We paid Adrian in US$ and he gave us the vouchers for our other hotels. Turned out to be a very nice guy and although not Balinese he has lived there all his life and is doing everything he can to get the hotels to lower their pricing to get the tourists back to Bali. He gives us his mobile number to contact him if there are any problems or queries with any of the hotels. By this time I needed to recharge the credit on my phone and it was spitting with rain. Mason said it wasn't heavy and not to be a sook and walk up so we head off. Half way there where there are no shelters it pours down with rain and we are all soaked through. We drip dry at the entrance and then Brandon takes off to Amazone again. I recharge my phone and then once Brandon has spent his tokens we grab some goodies from the wonderful breadtalk. Before leaving home I had been emailing a lovely lady called Amy who was recommended on the forum. She was getting prices for stubby holders for my brothers wedding and parents business. We caught a cab down to her shop (Jeny Shop 29) which is on Gang Samudra. We met with Amy and she is every bit as nice as she sounded in her emails. She has a 3 year old daughter so she was ver understanding when Brandon started tearing around her shop with Mason chasing after him. We give her the pictures and the order for the stubby holders and also get her to make some different shirts for my parents business. Amy's shop is fixed price and she gives a written receipt with all purchases. After chatting to her it turns out that quite a few people on the forum use Amy (Serenity, Trish and others). We then head back to the hotel for Brandons sleep. Once he wakes up we head up to Maraharis for some toiletries and night time nappies and then wander to Jesens Cafe to meet a friend of Colleens called Lisa. Well for those that know Colleen you can see why her and Lisa get on so well. Lisa is lovely and she talks that same as Colleen. She was so excited because she has been trying to contact Colleen. Lisa is getting married in Bali to a guy from Perth and she really wanted Colleen to be there. Lisa will then be coming to live in Perth and she is so excited. Lisa has a cute aussie accent and is just so nice. The power is out and we sit and chat with her for ages while Brandon entertains the other staff and customers with a song and dance and then orders himself some chicken satay and sits at another table to eat his meal. Our main reason for visiting Lisa was to get in contact with another friend of Colleens called Kerry who sells DVD's. Lisa gives us Kerry's number and we call and arrange to catch up when we return from Ubud. It is still raining so we decide to eat at the hotel again and watch the kids fashion parade and then into Gracies for a drink with Gary and Allison. Brandon and Mason were going to go back to the room for a shower. While Mason was saying goodbuy Brandon opens the door on his big toe and tears off the nail. There is alot of blood but only a few tears. We get some betadine and bandaids from the minimart and he is fine. We decide that his thongs are probably not the best thing to be wearing.
Next......... 4 days in Ubud