Part 1 Airline, Hotel and Shopping
I'll try not to rabbit on too much. This was my fourth trip and my most enjoyable. We are planning to go in September because we just can't wait another year. I felt safe the whole time except when I was crossing Legian in peak hour. We flew Garuda and had good trips both ways. Stopover in Melbourne on the way back wasn't too horrible. Food and service were good. I'd fly with them again. Both flights were on time too which is a huge bonus not to mention unusual.
We ate at local warungs which is the most amazing experience for me. I didn't get sick and the food is wonderful. I got such a kick from sitting in a little warung in a side street with chickens (bird flu be damned) all around the place. I drank fruit tea which is yum. Just sitting and watching the world go past can be the most time consuming and enjoyable past time.
Hotel: We stayed at the Aneka Kuta Beach in a small villa. Hot water and air con were fab. Never had such abundant hot water in Bali before. I'd definitely stay at this hotel again as it's close to everything. ie. Kuta Square and Poppies 1 & 2 (my favourite places to hang out). It's over the road from the beach and the circle K is right next door. There's some nice restaurants on Jln Pantai Kuta too. Even Pizza Hut if you feel so inclined. The family villas look amazing. Private pool and two bedrooms. We were invited to have a look by the cleaning staff but had just returned from the beach with mucky feet so declined as they'd just finished cleaning. They look so nice. The pool and restaurant are very good. Would prefer a buffet breakfast but it was adequate and tasty. Reception staff sometimes a little reserved. The security is very good but I complained about them once because as they'd checked Bobby the first time he came to pick us up and took his ID card I assumed that when he came again he'd be fine. They treated him rather rudely every time he came and came up the path to our room to ‘check' on him several times and told him ‘not to be long'. I thought this unnecessary as he'd been there before and we had invited him. We'd ordered coffee and were sitting on our veranda. No hanky panky going on. :0 I understand they have a job to do and I was very grateful for their services and presence. Especially when sitting on the veranda on Nyepi eve when one of the staff came up the path and just stood there. He'd made a few remarks earlier in the day about having a swim in the dark that night and I was just polite and said yes whatever. My sister joked that he fancied me and I just laughed. Anyway he said ‘Ozzie'? We didn't answer and he acted confused and held up the towel over his arm and after at least 30 seconds said ‘I go for shower'. He left and then another man came up the path about 15 minutes later. We couldn't make out who it was as it was pitch black. My sister said ‘what are you doing?' and he said ‘I can't sleep'. I don't know what he expected us to do about it. My sister said ‘go away' and he said ‘see you in the morning'. It was a very weird experience. Next thing the first guy was going up the main path with a torch looking at all the room numbers. All the off duty male staff were in one of the family villas next door so we were a bit concerned. We called security and the security manager was great and put extra patrols on. He was very reassuring. Maybe some people go a bit ‘funny' at Nyepi. I didn't think I'd flirted with him just been my usual friendly self. I was more careful after that though.
Unashamed plugging follows.....Shopping: my lovely Bali son #2, Bobby, took care of most of this for me. He not only drove me everywhere on the back of his motorbike, including Nusa Dua, Denpasar, Ullawatu (what a magnificent place) and Tanah Lot as well as all over Kuta, but took care of all my shopping needs too. If I wanted a mosaic mirror for example, he brought three to his shop and I chose the one I wanted. As for money he is very fair and always said ‘whatever you want?' when asked how much. He would never take advantage of me and I think of him and his sister as family. I've known him for four years and he's never once asked me for anything. He made sure my bag was done up properly when we were shopping and I that handed over the correct money and got the correct change. Things like that. He even stopped the traffic on Legian for me to cross. His shop/stall is directly opposite Margie salon just past the Bounty in Poppies 2. He will drive you anywhere you want and is an excellent and careful driver who knows his way around. If I can drive all over the place on a motorbike in that traffic and love it he must be good. Unfortunately his phone is broken so you can only contact him from the shop but everyone around knows him. His sister, Abu, has a bead shop (plus bags etc) past the Green Garden on Kartika. Also nice stock and good prices. I didn't get to Dianne and Jenny's fixed price shops this year because Bobby got me everything I wanted but this is a must if you dont feel like haggling. I did a bit of shopping myself of course, that's half the fun. I was surprised by the lack of tourists. I knew about the situation from the forum but seeing it with my own eyes was a bit of a shock. I went to the Bounty Hotel for dinner one night to say hello to the staff that we know and just cried. I couldn't help it I was so upset. Usually the pool is full of young people. Only one other couple were eating and one person in the pool. They were playing a TV show on the big screen where usually the music would be loud Cold Chisel or something similar. Oh sh*t, I'm crying just thinking about it.