Just came back after one month in Bali. This time we where ready to come home things where very quiet there even compared to November.
Stayed at Satriya cottages Poppies II totally reccommend this Hotel , beautiful grounds and swimming pool, rooms large and everything exceptionally clean. Mr Dippa the manager is fantastic anything you need just ask him and he can sort it.
Ate lunch around the pool on numerous days which was relaxing. The pool is 2.5 metres deep at one end so you really feel like you have cooled off, as some of the other Hotel pools are only shallow and the water heats up.
Ate at the following restaurants (generally Poppies II)
Warung Jegeg (next to the circle K) best garlic cheeese bread 11,000
Ninety Degrees (part of Satriya cottages) satay chicken has a lovely bite to it
Taman Sari clean with excellent food and service free shot of arak and orange, complimentary garlic bread and an ice cold towel all free when dining.
Rainbow Cafe (opposite bounty) best chicken and cheese burgers. If you have visited this cafe before you may know of one of the waiters called "weed" he left while we where there for switzerland for 3 months.
Kuta Puri Poppies II - cheap beer at 6,000 per small bottle however ordered the calamari which was off, it really smelt bad, didnt matter just ordered another meal.
Shopping
Mini Shop Poppies II Can beat her quality and pricing great range of Roxy and Billabong just ask. She also arranged fantastic embriodery for us for our business, there was no price comparison to getting it done at home. Ask for Made and tell her Maree and $5.00 (her nick name for my husband) sent you and she wont muck around with prices.
This shop is found by walking up from the beach end of poppies II and follow the road around the bend then you go along a straight her shop would be 3/4 the way along the straight before you hit the next bend.
Bags The shop next to Mini shop has alot of different bags, real exceptional quality as well, also pillows and bed covers.
Geneva - usual stuff easy shopping great photo album but beware some of the fibre ones are taken at customs (we take home a conatiner so fumigation isnt a problem) We also so a guy get his woven placemates taken off him at Auckland (he could Pay $30.00) to get them fumigated but didnt bother)
Sarongs - definaltey worth a trip to Double 6 as they have such a different variety than those in Kuta.
The weather was unusual had alot of overcast days, but when the sun did come out it was hot. Got caught in a flood in Legian St one morning had to spend an hour at Kopi Pot while water subsided. All fun watching the motorbikes and cars speed through the water.
Watched the state of origin at Bagus in Poppies II with some fellow kiwis and our aussie mate, great nite. Moved onto the Bounty after that . Had a great nite apart from one idiot who was trollied and fell off the stage a few times the last time into my friend and me, husband and friends grabbed him around the neck but the security where onto him and picked him up and threw him out. Security checked we where all ok and apologised for what had happened. By that time it was 3pm and decided to go. We then discovered one of our friends had his shoes stolen from under our table (there where about 15 of us around the table). We all thought it was funny but he wasnt impressed and made it his mission to check everyones feet in the street for the rest of our holiday. It became a joke with all of us.
Never had any problem with the Taxi drivers, we even used them sometimes for small trips just to give them a bit of money.
All in all good trip apart from how quiet the streets where, I suppose if we had never seen Bali as it was a few years ago it would probably wouldnt have made much difference to us. We always felt safe and never really experienced any major problems.
We are off again in September for another buying trip so lets hope it picks up.