Just Back Report - March 2007
By way of background - we are a couple in our mid 40's and this was our 8th trip to Bali in the past couple of years. We decided to stay in one spot this trip and also invited a group of friends for the second half of our stay, so that we combined some quiet time with a party at the end!
Here is an account of our travels, dining, shopping etc etc.
Thanks to everyone on the forum, as we have been reading it for many months before departure and picked up some great information that really improved our holiday!
Saturday 17 March
Qantas flight from Perth to Denpasar now departs at lunchtime instead of in the evening and is a much more civilised arrival time around 4.30pm.
We got through VOA and customs within 15 minutes - no other flights arrived at the same time, so fantastic and out the door quickly.
Our driver from Sienna hadn't arrived - we called the villa and would have to wait 20 minutes for them to get to the airport, so a walk to the taxi booth and fixed price of 55,000 Rp to Seminyak and on our way. We arrived at Sienna Villas within an hour of arrival into Bali, so dumped bags, checked in and straight to Bintang Supermarket next door for essential supplies:
Fruit, beer, water, butter, crusty bread and pineapple juice......it is actually a bit difficult finding pineapple juice without some other mixer, such as mango or orange, but we found Berri bottles of just the plain juice - an essential cocktail ingredient.
The staff at the villas had blown up our pool lounges by the time we arrived back, so all set for lazing in the pool, without having to get too wet!
First night headed straight to Jalan Laksmana (Eat St) and to Metro Sports Bar for a few pre-dinner drinks and a chat to Steve, then down the road to one of our favourite Italian restaurants - Ultimo. When we first started going here 2 years ago, we were the only ones in the place and this time, really noticed more customers and tourists out and about, so managed to score a table without a booking and enjoyed a quick meal of lasagne and steak. Cost about $20 each, including drinks. Lovely atmosphere and if you sit inside you can see the kitchen from your table and check all is cooking ok!
Sunday 18 March
We were up bright and early, ready to make the most of our first full day in paradise.
Breakfast was freshly made in the villa - juice, toast, bacon, mushrooms, tomato and eggs whatever way you like. Found that the omelettes were the way to go - with cheese, mushroom, onion and we asked them to add some garlic too. We probably had the worst breath, but nobody else complained. Here comes 11 days of no make-up or high heels and just thongs and shorts.
Our dvd's were home-delivered by 'H'. He has closed his shop behind Bubba Gumps, he now just does internet orders and delivers to your hotel, which is a great service. We have used him many times and all new releases have been excellent quality this trip. So we were now armed with our dvd collection to watch on Nyepi day, with the tv volume down low tomorrow.
The shops closed early today, so we just managed to race down the road to New Planet, a beauty therapy / hairdresser, where we had a manicure and flower pedicure done for about 70,000 Rp each. An hour of pampering and back into the lunchtime heat. Only a short walk back to the villa, but really feeling the humidity - time for some cold bintangs for lunch!
The massage girls arrived from Suku and we had massages on our pool sunbeds for 100,000 Rp each for an hour. Relaxing way to finish the afternoon. (Cost 70,000Rp if you go to their salon in Kerobokan and that is a lovely place for a massage).
Ogah-Ogah parades were due to start around 7.00pm, so we decided to walk down Jl Raya Seminyak and have dinner close to the villa, because we had heard it might be difficult to get a taxi and the road blocks would make for a long trip back.
We didn't have far to walk to the Panterai Greek Restaurant. (I read a review on-line on Hello Bali and we weren't disappointed). They set us up with a road-side table and we started a trend, as others saw us with a poll position to view the passing parade and joined us by the road instead of indoors. Wow - the food is sensational. We had many entrees, including baked feta, pita bread, octopus salad, little fried triangles with filo pastry and assorted fillings, frozen margaritas and beers. Cost about $50 for 2 of us, but we did sit there and keep up the fluids for a few hours! The Ogah Ogah's passed us by, including a very small one carried by tiny tots - it was such fun. Very colourful and some of the monsters were fantastic.
Returned to villa and settle in for the duration of a quiet day tomorrow.
Monday 19 March
Nyepi
The girls still came in to make our breakfast and we were given a menu yesterday to select from for lunch and dinner, but we had a fridge-full of food, so just made our own meals apart from breakfast.
We watched 4 movies in our room, with the volume down low and the curtains pulled tight, so nobody would have known we had the tv going. Very pleasant enforced stay within the villa compound. I found that due to the high walls, it is normally very quite anyway, so not a problem to be stuck with our own pool, stocked-up fridge and tv. We just didn't make any cocktails, keeping the blender off for 24 hours!
Early night, asleep in front of another new release movie. One thing I did notice was no aircraft noise, as we usually hear the planes passing over Bali. The stars were very bright that night, as no lights on and would definitely go again during Nyepi, no problems at all - we respect the beliefs of the Balinese and had a lovely, relaxing day.
Tuesday 20 March
We turned on the lights again this morning and headed out the door at 7.00am for a walk to the beach. We headed to Legian, where it was quite busy this morning with locals. Noticed some mounds of ashes where the ogah-ogah had been burnt. The beach wasn't particularly clean, I much prefer the pool at the villa for swimming! Rained lightly, but so nice to wander around very early, before anything is open. A friendly local dog accompanied us on our walk, we just couldn't shake him, so we adopted him for an hour and he had a good time rolling in the sand along the beach.
Quality time on the pool lounges.........Suku girls arrived for a massage, they were open straight after Nyepi, but many stores weren't due to open until Wednesday. (I had emailed my favourite stores to check their opening times). Bintang supermarket was open as normal, for a few more liquid refreshment restocks.
Unfortunately one of our ATM cards was chewed up in the BCA ATM outside of Bintang, but the manager of the supermarket helped us to contact the bank, who assured us the card was in the machine and would be retrieved in the morning. Nothing we could do about it, but wait until tomorrow, didn't plan on sleeping in the ATM machine to guard the card, so headed off for a meal.
Dinner at Med (formally known as Aurora ) Restaurant on Jalan Laksmana. Garfield from the US is still the head chef there, and the place has been refurbished and set with a different menu. We still managed to have a lovely meal of pizza and prawns. Started off with the mushroom cappuccino soup, an old favourite of ours. Prices are cheaper than they used to be and there is a private dining room for the full fine dining experience, so can have the best of both worlds now. Upstairs is no longer tapas, but more of a burger bar. We didn't venture up there, too tired from doing nothing all day!
Wednesday 21 March
We slept well, considering that our bank accounts may have been wiped out overnight. We contacted the bank and ended up visiting the BCA branch in Kuta, where had to wait for +1 hour for customer service. They normally check the ATM's every few days and ended up that they had last checked it yesterday morning, but our card was chewed up at 6.00pm, so we requested another urgent check and see if we could retrieve the card tomorrow. I had rung Australia and there had been no fraudulent transactions, so we were confident that the card was still stuck in the machine. So what to do, but go shopping!
Started at Ramayana shopping centre in Denpasar for baby clothes, much more reasonably priced than other department stores. Not much Revlon stock. Handbags were up to 80% off, so found one that I liked for only 40,000 Rp, not leather, but for that price, I was very pleased. Quick stops at both Makro and Centro.
Then to Miss Debby shop in Legian for our surf gear. R2Wear for some fixed price sandals and across the road was a cushion shop. They made the cotton fabric embroidered with a nyamuk (mossie) coil pattern for me. 40 x 40 cm covers, with zippers for 32,000 each. I had them made in red and chocolate brown - sensational and ready to pick up on Saturday. Shop is called Total Cushion and they were fabulous. Highly recommended.
Ventured to St Isidor to buy my sister a wedding gift of a sari quilt cover and was VERY disappointed, when they said it would take 2 weeks to make! Business must have picked up a lot, so I won't bother going back there again, I shall go to option 2 and buy a set of napery from Haveli instead.
By the time we returned to the villa was 6.00pm and had a message from the BCA bank - our card had been located in the ATM and was ready for pick-up tomorrow! Hooray! So to celebrate, back to Metro Bar for some drinks. I took a fancy to cranberry/grapefruit vodka premixed in a bottle. Not too sweet and cost 25,000Rp at the bar, so had a few dozen of those over the holiday! No....I don't have a drinking problem, I blame the humidity!
Walked up the road to Made's Warung in Seminyak, on Jl Raya Seminyak and it was very full. Had started to rain very hard, but with only one umbrella between the two of us, one of us got very wet, and it wasn't me!
Dinner was a very spicy tom yum soup and then delicious noodles and mixed satay/rice. Great value, but stick to drinking bintangs here, the cosmopolitan cocktail was only fair. The restaurant is surrounded by a few shops, so get the best of both worlds, the boys sit down with a cold drink and the girls can continue to find more goodies that won't fit into the packing!
Thursday 22 March
We were up early and on a mission to the BCA bank, determined not to wait in line, our driver got us to the bank right before it opened at 8.00am and I was no. satu in line! Took a few minutes to find our ATM card and just had to show passport id. I did notice that there were a number of envelopes containing ‘lost' cards, so this must happen all of the time! Thankfully we didn't have to cancel anything and had the time to pick up our card from the bank. What a relief. On the way back we dropped off a pile of laundry at Jasmine Laundry on Jl Raya Seminyak - it looked new and clean and they would deliver the laundry back to the villa tomorrow afternoon. Total cost of 33,000 Rp for a BIG load.
Late breakfast and then onto the second mission for the day - to find me an evening dress. I am a size 10, but I feel fat in Bali, all of the sizes for shoes and clothes are so tiny! We walked for ages along Jl Raya Seminyak and ended up in Legian. Found a shop called Image, with hand-beaded dresses. I tried on 3 dresses and settled on a black halter-neck dress with a low back. Cost 1 million Rp and is absolutely stunning! They altered the neckline for me and ready for pick-up tomorrow morning. Had all colours of the rainbow with long evening dresses and I am so pleased with this one, is well-made and fits perfectly.
Another favourite shop is Four N Sixty, which has lovely cotton clothing. Unisex gear and we bought ¾ trousers, draw string pants, linen and cotton shirts. Nicer than the normal market gear and washes up well, without running colours. Costs ranged around 50,000 Rp for pants and 150,000 Rp for men's long sleeve casual shirts. (I have since washed all of the clothing and nothing ran in the wash, even though bright green, mustard and orange materials).
Dinner was booked on Sunday for tonight at Warung Sorbat in Kerobokan. We took our driver and his family for a meal and we really loved it. We arrived early around 7.00 and noticed that every table was reserved - very popular place for Indonesian food. It was a recommendation from this forum and thanks to those who told us about it! Just ask the taxi to take you to the Bali Sani Suites and this place is on the right hand side of the road. Fantastic value - cost about 100,000 Rp to feed 6 of us. We had nasi goreng, satays, prawns and complimentary fruit for desert. Very fresh and tasty. We will definitely go back there again. But do remember to book, they do have a website with contact details. Only had a few bintangs, but they do have a wine list too. Met an Italian family who live in Bali and they come here each week for the pasta - so will have to try that next trip.
Friday 23 March
Our peace is being shattered today, with the arrival of 6 mates from Perth, so we packed up our goodies and moved across the alley from the 3-bedroom villa to the Puri Sienna Villa. Part of the same complex, but this one covers 2,000 square metres, with 2 pools and 4 bungalows to accommodate 8 people. Plenty of lovely garden space and privacy. The smaller villas at Sienna have been refurbished and although we had much more space at the Puri, it is a little tired and needs a bit of a refurb to make is nicer. Plumbing was a bit dodgy, but everything clean and huge pool and plenty of space. But I prefer the 3-bedroom villas, they would be perfect for a family or 2 couples, all bedrooms are upstairs with their own en-suite bathrooms. Complimentary water for brushing teeth and all the mod-cons in the kitchen.
The rain had started during the night and continued ALL day, so our friends' arrival was rather wet and miserable, but couldn't dampen the spirits on their first day in Bali. We had the cocktails ready and the blender worked overtime for the next 5 days.
The winning recipe is:
Frozen chopped watermelon, frozen pineapple juice in ice cube trays, a dash of soda water, one banana and white spirit like Bacardi or vodka. Whiz up in blender and serve in an ice-cold glass with a straw - guaranteed to get non-drinkers to enjoy this fruit concoction!
We purchased champagne from Bintang, the liquor store next to the laneway heading to Sienna, Makro and also Bali Liquor Store on Jl Kunti. Average price was about 150,000 Rp to 170,000 Rp per bottle. So no problem finding reasonable priced champagne. We had one brand that didn't taste the best, but when mixed with some OJ was very palatable!
Big splurge dinner at Med. Cost about $70 per person, with 6 courses, cocktails and red wine.
This was our most expensive meal of the trip and the chocolate soufflé cake desert was a major winner! We thought we'd start out with a bang and everyone enjoyed the fine dining experience.
Saturday 24 March
Everyone was up early for one full day of shopping.
Our driver bought along 2 cars and 6 of us hit the shops. I showed our friends our usual haunts:
Haveli
Jl Kunti - ‘seconds' shop, closed on Sundays and cash only. Napery, runners, cushion covers, napkin rings etc etc. Less selection of colours than the main shops on Jl Raya Seminyak, but the ‘Shahinaz' collection is stunning and great value at this shop. Bought my sister a set of napery for her wedding in a rich, shiny dark blue and purple colour, complete with napkins, placemats, runners and napkin rings.
Aman Mirror - we had mirrors made last trip, copied from photos of the ones at Bodyworks and they were stunning. Our friends ordered one with mosaic tiled surrounds, 1.7 by 0.8 metres for 980,000 Rp. Will be a work of art and ready in 2 weeks time. Ask for the manager, Andy to make orders. The shop is at 38 Jl Raya Seminyak.
Duo - we bought 2 outdoor tables and a few more chairs to add to the ones we already have. All goods are flat-packed and economical to send back home in a container. Aluminium and teak rectangular tables - 1.8 x 0.9 metres for just under 2 million Rp each. Will take up to 8 weeks to manufacture. We oil the wood when they arrive home and have had the chairs for nearly 5 months and no problems to date, excellent quality.
Centro - Breadtalk fuelled us up for the afternoon. My friends had two trays piled high and had the chef out, explaining what was in each and every cake/bread etc. Funny to watch. I was sitting back with my pizza in hand, watching them buy enough to feed an army - they must be very hungry!
I even managed to find a pair of evening shoes to match my new dress. Largest size is 40 in women's shoe department. I thought I had larger feet and was shocked when they fitted. (I am a size 9 at home). Sale in shoe department and walked out with a pair for 150,000 Rp. Also grabbed a plain black wrap for 60,000 Rp. My friends (all with smaller feet) bought sandals, boots etc etc.
Balistones - assorted white statues, plaques etc. Have a website and run by Felicia and Leo. Take care of our shipping back to Perth through Trish.
After a hard day slogging it out in the shops, we had all had more than enough, so 7 of us headed to Suku on Jl Raya Kerobokan (just a bit further north of Geneva - same side of the road) and had a blissful 1 hour full body massage for 70,000 Rp each. That's the only way to end a day of shopping!!
Only half of the party were alert enough to head out for dinner.
We headed to La Sal on Jl Drupadi, a lovely Spanish restaurant. Cocktails and tapas cost about $15 per head. Chicken croquettes, olives, garlic prawns, crumbed deep fried mushrooms, lamb and meatballs. Very tasty and highly recommended. Had a glass of sangria too. No room for desert, needed an early night and much needed rest after +6 hours in the shops - that is at least 4 hours over and above my usual shopping limit!
Sunday 25 March
Day to sleep in and rest. Breakfast not ordered until 10.00am, so a fairly late start.
Lovely sunny day, time for some bonding with the pool and a good book.
We used the money changer just inside the entrance to the Bintang Supermarket (on the right hand side), was recommended to us as honest. No problem - he gave us 100,000 Rp notes and no trouble to exchange $A100 notes, so will do this next trip, instead of going through the ATM card-chewing stress again! His rate was lower than others along the street, but I wanted to avoid being ripped off and as soon as I saw large notes, I knew we wouldn't have a problem.
Dinner tonight was at a place called ‘Echo Beach', in Canggu, about a half hour drive north of Seminyak.
Located right on the beach front, with bbq's set up. You choose your own meat or seafood and they cook it for you. Salad bar to select from and a large drinks bar, with a band on Sunday nights. The place was packed, with plenty of expat families. Meals cost around 40,000 Rp for snapper fillet, or fish kebabs. Excellent value. My snapper was nicely cooked, but the kebabs were undercooked, as they had quite thick chunks of fish and ended up raw in the middle! Great frozen cocktails. Get there early, as we had a hard time finding a seat, very busy on Sunday nights. Good spot to watch the sunset, but we had arrived too late.
Monday 26 March
It rained overnight, but soon fined up to a steamy, warm day.
It was our friend's birthday, so we wandered up to a florist and bought a lovely arrangement of flowers, including roses in a terracotta bowl for the princely sum of 35,000 Rp. Put it onto the table in time for a French champagne breakfast.
Then the morning was spent relaxing around the pool, playing board games and reading.
After lunch we headed up to Geneva, as I wanted some gifts.
Suku massage again and then back to the pearl shop opposite Bintang supermarket. I had previously ordered some necklaces to be made, the ones that are on fishing wire in between the pearls. I had selected three colours - pink, purple and a light orange and had 6 necklaces made. They charge extra for the clasp, etc etc and they ended up costing between $5-$7 each. Great gifts. I was very pleased with the end product. You have to buy a strand of the pearls and they made 2 necklaces per strand. The pearls themselves cost 35,000 Rp per strand. They also gave me all of the leftover pearls, so I shall get my friend at home to make some matching ear-rings, as I ran out of time to have them made here.
Dinner was at Ultimo, on Jl Laksmana. We had booked this morning for an outdoor table out the back. We all drank red wine, which was on special for 125,000 Rp per bottle. Everyone had mains and some entrees, plus beer and cocktails and ended up 150,000 Rp per head. Excellent value. They even bought out a cake with candles and sang happy birthday. A lovely place to dine! I had veal and mushroom scallopini and it was lovely, served with chips.
Back home for after-dinner cocktails and some more birthday champagne.
Tuesday 27 March
We had a big thunderstorm early in the morning and first time we had plenty of lightning and thunder. What a show.
This was our last day, with late flight at 1.00am tonight.
Didn't need to think about packing until after dinner!
Instead of a massage, we headed to ‘New Planet' for our final pedicure and manicures. Ariel is a young man at the salon, who is an excellent masseur - our friends went to see him and he fixed some shoulder problems. They said it was the best massage they have ever had! My girlfriend had her hair highlights done and pleased with the results.
More pool time, then packed and managed to squeeze everything into the cases......nothing to declare (for a change) and 100,000 Rp put into passport for departure tax, so I wouldn't spend it before we left!
Dinner at Made's Warung in Seminyak - and we bought a Balinese / English dictionary for 450,000 Rp at the book shop just near the restaurant - inside the entrance.
It only goes from Balinese words into English, not the other way around, but we are trying to learn more Balinese words, instead of Bahasa Indonesia and will have a good read of this book before we next return. I haven't seen many books that are specifically in Balinese and you get a good laugh out of everyone when you do try and use the language spoken in their homes!
Thai, Japanese, Chinese and Indo food at Made's. However, 3 of our party of 8 ended up getting Bali Belly by the time they got home and we suspect it was something they may have eaten here, but all have since recovered and back to normal again now.
On that subject - I used Travellan tablets for the first time this trip and I didn't have any problems in the toilet department! The most difficult thing was to remember to take them before we ate out! So I will definitely invest in them again next trip.
Flight home was on time and uneventful, I just put in the ear plugs and popped on the shades and asleep for nearly the entire flight. Arrived home to Perth at ungodly hour of 4.30am in the morning, but at least had the full day ahead to get sorted and restock the fridge. Seven degrees on arrival certainly hit us and we wished we were on another flight back to Bali.
One couple who stayed a few extra days stayed at a one-bedroom villa, down the gang right behind Moka Café. The name starts with an 'A' and I have to get it from them. Cost about $A50 per night and they would stay there again. Very clean, shared pool and modern décor. No breakfast included, but they discovered La Lucciola and dined there for breakfast each day. They finally found somewhere that served good coffee! (I'm a tea drinker, so can't comment on Bali coffee at all)........
General comment: our Qantas flights to/from Bali were absolutely FULL. That is the first time in 3 years this has happened. So confidence is returning to Aussies to return back to Bali. So that is great news for their businesses and tourism. I did notice more people out and about on the streets and at restaurants. I didn't notice quite so many Europeans this trip, but it might just have been where we were. The people were so friendly and the staff at Sienna are fabulous.