Arrived back in Perth yesterday around 4 o'clock - slipped thru customs easily and was in a taxi going home within 45 minutes. Thanks to the BTF I visited a heap of new shopping places - some I liked others not my scene but all interesting anyway. Bought some MT - jury is still out on that! Dead quiet on the streets during the day but busy at night.
We went over - Garuda - on March 30 - left on time - arrived on time -straight thru no hassles. Arrived at The Lokha, Legian to meet old staff who remembered us and gave us a huge room at no extra cost - sort of annoyed other friends there who hadn't stayed there before and had paid for upgrades! Our room was bigger and cheaper - snicker snicker.
Went straight across the road for drinks and lunch with Kerry & Milton - love the new restaurant - much roomier - same great service, great food and very cold Bintang.
There were 8 friends staying at the Lokha with us, one Bali Virgin stayed at another hotel and another couple who were staying at a Villa with personal staff etc, so needless to stay dinners were always a busy event. We dined mainly at Garden Rama, Zanzibar and the Indo as they could handle larger groups efficiently.
I took the Bali Virgin off to the Monkey Forest in Ubud and then onto Kintamani for lunch - and I have to say - seeing it with someone else who is experiencing it for the first time brings back the joy of your own first experiences - I loved it - I think the others who didn't want to go missed out big time.
Other friends who were also Virgins arrived on Thursday before Easter and we took them to Ulawatu, The Bali Culture Park - which I thought was magnificent, to Bali Dreamland (or the new Kuta Beach as it also known as) which is under construction but still worth a visit - beautiful surrounds and new golf course nearly finished. Used a new Driver - Nymomen - based outside of the Lokha - fabulous, good prices and very good understanding on English and would accompany us and explain what was going on or what to see. Is having a DVD player installed in his Car today - for Kids on long trips - it's a 7 seater and very comfy - brings an esky full of ice also!
Brought back home heaps of usual bargains - was actually 12 kgs over on the luggage front but was allowed thru without extra charge (whew!). Had enough Chilli Sauce and Vanilla Pods to sink a battle ship, Polo Shirts x 15 (good value at 25,000 each considering Hubby still wearing ones we bought 4 years ago), shorts, sarongs, sandals, etc, etc, and enought toothpaste to last 6 months! My favourite purchase was some pressed metal art from Sita Fashions in Legian that were metal framed - large frog in the middle and 4 smaller ones in the corners - same with dragon fly and gecko - cost 140,000 each and everyone who saw them at the airport before we had them wrapped in bubblewrap were agog at how beautiful they were.
Also went to a new ship in Legian called the Dogs Tails and bought some very cute dog jackets that look like the white Bintang singlets - a bit pricey but worth every cent - ooed and aared the whole time I was in there...
Took the advice of some formites and had a tattoo done by Made at Mr Dolphin - fabulous - hurt like hell but worth it. Have to say though if they weren't recommended by forumites I might have walked in and walked straight back out again - my friends who are still in Bali are having tatts done on this Thursday as well.
Last but not least - the friends who are staying at the Villa in Legian had dental work done - Mick was quoted $48,000 in Australia - caps etc basically for his whole mouth. In Bali I'm not sure of the overall cost but for his bottom teeth - he has had 8 root canals and is having all caps done at a cost of $7500 - he had his tops done in January - so even if they cost the same it's still vastly cheaper. I'm yet to see the final look but his tops look like a Hollywood smile - truly terrific. Definitely worth looking into if you are considering it.
Had to go back to work today - pretty hard - kept thinking about what I'd be doing in Bali at that time of the day - dreaming of my next visit - jealous that some of my friends are still there and jealous of my sister will be over there in 5 weeks.... dreaming dreaming zzzzzzzz