In Reply to: ATTENTION MR KEN posted by KARISMA on Tuesday, 2. May 2006 at 16:21 Bali Time:
Hey Karisma, Talk about last minute decision! We decided to go and 4 days later we were in Bali! We stayed at Legian Beach Hotel which was OK but I prefer Jayakarta or Padma. Service here was pretty non existent. We had a 2 bedroom, there was never any hot water so it was a bit of a stress trying to shower the kids in cold water. Didn't bother to change rooms as I had already unpacked and couldn't be bothered doing it all again.
Baliis still very quiet, very sad. Didn't do too much shoe shopping this time....I am sure Cliff would be pleased. Limited myself to 1 pair for me (Bata shoes) and 3 pairs from Osh Kosh for Bonnie.
Spent more time on the beach this time. The kids had a ball. Somehow I got the nickname maxine, so by day 2 I was known as "maxi". Sudra our drink sellar was great. He would see me coming with the kids and would help carry them down to the beach. The kids couldn't handle walking on the hot sand! The weather was perfect every day.
This would be the first time I hav ebeen to Bali and a) not bought a watch and b) not bought a pair of sunglasses. How strange!! As I said, I didn't go overboard on the shopping like I normally do. The trip wasn't planned so therefore didn't have my secret stash of savings to spend. Bought myself 2 really nice lamps and managed to get them home without poking anyones eye out.
I managed to get this really nice pottery vase (huge) for 95,000 which I fit into one suitcase ( it did way 30kg though). Lucky I didn't have to pay excess baggage. Really happy that I broke my back with that buy. I bought it an dthey put it in this huge box which I managed to carry 15 minutes back to the hotel. I looked a sight let me tell you. Many offers of a bike ride but unfortunately going in the wrong direction!
Ate at the usual places, the restaurants near Jayakarta. Seaside which is a favourite of mine (love the grasshoppers), Zanzibar (for dinner this time (instead of the usual breaky) went into Kuta for Tanayas (the best tepanyaki in bali and so cheap for what you get), spent many a "happy hour" at Mandira (staff so friendly.
A rather newish place is Niksoma (this looks as though it would be nice to stay here). We had dinner there (not cheap by bali standards) but really great service. They were fabulous with the kids actually more than fabulous!
Went to the waterbom park twice as the kids can't get enough of it. Pretty quiet, no queues so bonus. Went shopping at Discovery but no special buys there - so "unbali" for me, don't think I would bother again (other than the Osh Kosh shop)!
Didn't do any tours this time round. Stayed pretty much close to the hotel - only so much you can do in 6 days....not long enough!
Flew with Australian Airlines - direct. Flight home was 4hrs .45 minutes, kids slept whole way. Can't ask for much better than that. Airport security has been beefed up compared to 6 months ago. Bags get x-rayed upon entering, bags need to be unzipped before ticket counter and have the bomb detector stick thing shoved in, need to go through x-ray again at the boarding gate area, then you go to another area, have your bags practically emptied and checked, men to one side, women to the other...for a body frisk. A bit unexpected but I'm sure Kenno would have enjoyed it if he didn't have the male guard do it!
Back home and back to reality, thinking about when can I possibly go again... for social standing how soon is to soon? I tried not to tell anyone we were going. I even told some friends we were going to Fiji - can't be bothered with their negativity.
Anyway, had a ball. I just love our Bali, its people, the weather, the culture.......just the vibe of the thing!
Glad to hear you're going back in September Karisma...you'll love it.
Fran (alias (Mr ken, alias Maxine)