Back to reality Sunday 10th but have wonderful memories and would like to share. Hope some info is of use to "Lucky, soon to be in Bali-ites" !!!
FLIGHT SYD-DPS Garuda 28/5 Hubby's birthday. gr8 flight only 30 mins late due to loads & loads & loads of surfboards. Some surf pro comp. Long wait for baggage Denpasar. Surfboards came off first. Passports 1st counter, one by one each of us checked then directed to next counter for stamping. Hubby last one, was deemed the "BOSS with the money" and was told very quietly, to hand over 100,000rp to the immigration officer, to which he declined. Boy, the corruption had started already. Declared my carton of cigs containing 250 cigs (50 over allowance) Went straight through customs, no questions. All those we saw with nothing to declare had bags opened and inspected.
MELASTI BEACH RESORT Never stayed there before, gr8 hotel. Had 2 garden cottage suites, #101 twin 'big' beds for 2 teenagers, #102 king 'massive' comfy bed. Suites 'huge', old but clean. Unbelievably friendly efficient staff, room boy Puja the best ever, pool nice & clean, plenty of sunbeds & towels, gardens a picture. Take own hairdryer or buy cheap at Bintang supermarket, the breeze outside did a better job! Some days had hair washed & styled at Jakes salon & spa directly opposite MBR entrance, cost about $6. gr8 job.
BREKKY Had been told brekky here was terrible, some on this forum said not so. We tried it for oursleves and found it to be terrific. Every choice available. Toast nice crispy tasty. Eggs cooked as requested. Variety of hot dishes, panckakes, baked beans, spaghetti, banana bread, bacon etc. Tried Bali Bagus one morning for a change. Nothing came out remotely like we had ordered. Tried to be patient & forgiving but ended up back at Melasti.
NIGHTS OUT Spent most time at Garden View and Legends (we were Yellow Band groupies) Click and the boys entertained us to the max. 29/5 son turned 17 - said it was the best birthday ever. It was a never-ending birthday. Every night for the next week the Bali version of Happy Birthday would be sung followed by a free cocktail of 'god knows what', son played guitar and sang '500 miles' (many times) Did his rendition of french song "Alouette Gentille Alouette" aussie style..'Do you like my pointy hat, two crossed eyes etc.' For those soon visiting you'll hear it being played over & over, the locals loved it and the band wanted the words to practise. We met up with a family from Adelaide 3 kids plus mum & dad, gr8 people, 2 boys same age as ours 17 & 23, and sweet little girl 13, boys hit the "late" nightlife when us oldies couldnt go on anymore, earliest for us was about 1 or 2am, earliest for them 5 or 6am, $5 fish bowls kept them out late, apparently. Cant say I was overjoyed but for some reason I felt more at ease here then I ever would in Sydney. They met up with a local (Tom Cruise haha) early on and he looked after them. Brought them back to hotel, two at a time, on his motor bike most nights. (OMG - We didnt know this til our flight home) We grew to love this kid and we cant wait to get back to see him.
DINING gr8 meals at La Monde, La Casa (Rum Jungle Rd) Wayan & Friends, Gosha, Indo, Ketumba, Papas just to name a few. But the best experience was at Melasti Seafood Rest (no relation to the resort) Tanah Lot. Only opened 3 mths ago. Expensive for Bali but an experience like no other. Set on cliff top edge, jutting out in the form of a ships bow. Had front table, sunset hidden by clouds but didnt matter, food fantastic, staff full of fun, We took our Balinese friend Agung Edi and insisted he dine with us. We ordered set menu platters of lobster, prawns, squid, snapper etc. I asked Agung if he had ever eaten lobster. He replied 'no maam' and then said 'I never seen bill this big either'. We treated a beautiful local to an experience never had before and he was soooooo grateful.
DVDs Posted reply to "DVDs - 'womensbusiness' Tues 12/6 My subject heading "We wish they were all closed day & night". Our experience,if anyones interested. Very disappointed!
SPA's Melasti spa excellent & cheap. Hubby & I had warm stone massage. Embarrassing - hubby snored the entire time. Very relaxing. Facials gr8. Beautiful staff. Cheap MT products, never used before, love it all, bought heaps as gifts too. Supa Nova near Kuta night markets sell MT cheaper, but didnt know until leaving. Jakes opp MBR gr8 massages, cheaper than MBR, surroundings not as luxurious but do a gr8 job. Waterbom Park had a special 50% discount full body massage - wonderful.
BARGAINING/SHOPPING Did plenty - lucky our suitcases were near empty on arrival, still had to buy an extra case. Our 17 yr old son thought bargaining meant 'get a price, then take off 5000rp'. He paid 60,000rp for 3 stickers, 100,000rp for 3 Bintang singlets etc etc and was broke very early on. His excuse was always, 'they need it more than we do'. We couldnt convince him that his money was going to the shop owner, not the poor kid selling the stuff. Or maybe it was!! Sneaky Sneaky!! Went to Carreforre, our opinion, total waste of time. Centro, amazing, huge, but not so cheap. Example, Clarins moisturiser same price as here. Bintang supermarket, gr8 for incidentals, wont pack normal toiletries next time, can get it all here cheap. No Jim Beam for hubby, major catastrophe! Found at Mini mart $40 "OMG" !! Didnt look anywhere else - hubby was getting desperate. Sim cards bought at Bintang XL type. Quite confusing at first +this, -that, very helpful, set it all up, no ID needed. Wrote down exactly what to key in.
CREDIT CARD Only used on final day at MBR for hotel bill. Phoned bank on arrival to keep a check on transactions. Used debit card at ATMs otherwise. Plus placed daily guesstimate
aust cash in separate envelopes in hotel safety box. And boy, 'guesstimates' they were.
MONEY CHANGER Used Pt Central Kuta 'phone booth type' Garlic Lane between Ours & Dolphin a few times. Mainly used Pt Central Kuta next door to Garden View in Jl Padma Utara, computerised type. Both changers always exact, always honest. Only one dudd in Jl Melasti, sons used while we were ordering lunch at Uncle Norms (the best, coldest milk shakes in Bali) Kodak shop was closed so they used a money changer inside a shop a few doors up. All in 20,000 notes. Ripped them off. I marched back up there, threatened them with the Police and retrieved the 220,000rp probably dropped behind the counter. Not before they swore & threatened us, within seconds there were 3 or 4 of them throwing their weight around. They messed with the wrong kids (well their mother anyway)
STUBBY HOLDERS We took a printed card of what we wanted. Ordered at Redline in Jl Padma Utara, Legian. 100 pieces wetsuit material with bottom, to suit aussie bottles/cans.
Paid 7000rp per piece. Finished the day of departure. Print was great but the holder was wrong. Flat with velcro fastener, not like the one they had shown us. Should have said it was wrong and maybe got them altered but we were leaving that day. Oh well, you live and learn - it is Bali. Asked many people about Amy in Kuta (fixed price shop) as posted on this forum - but could not locate. Also, Sammy from S&S on beach - all names of beach bars have been removed, apparently from hotel complaints. So didnt know where to look.
Too many in both directions.
HANDBAGS Aaaahhhh, there's something wonderfully satisfying about stopping at EVERY handbag stall with hubby & two sons in tow, waiting outside sweating in the blazing sun while I peruse & bargain & buy. The best shop I found was in Poppies II more towards the beach end. Wish I could find the card, it was a big handbag shop in comparison, with only handbags & luggage. The pretty young salesgirl was not pushy and just so delightful.
A huge variety, much more than any other stalls I had seen. The usual Guess, Gucci styles but a much bigger variety. Bought Prada leather copies really cheap. Wished I'd found this stall first.
COFFEE The real stuff too - place called The Coffee Shop (surprise, surprise) in Jl Padma Utara, Legian (few doors up from Niksoma) Real espresso coffee, indonesia's best. Lattes, cappucinos, all served with a cinnamon stick for stirring. YUMM!!!
FLIGHT HOME DPS-SYD 9/6 11.55pm. Went to Garuda at Paradiso hotel in the morning, got to choose seat allocation, was told we had to be at airport 1.5 hours prior and would not have to wait in normal check-in line YIPPEE. Checked upgrade cost to Syd $450 p/p - decided against. Made enquiry at Garuda counter at airport, was told we still have to queue in normal check-in line. BUGGAR!! Over an hour in line. Only just made flight. GR8 trip home, food gr8, took sleeping pill & slept all the way, arrived Syd 7.25am, off the plane, through duty free, into baggage collection, record time, our bags out first YIPPEE!!
Not many in customs queue. YEP..too good to be true. Still waiting for 4th bag. Next flight using same baggage carousel began coming out. Made enquiry baggage services, checked all other carousels and trolleys...no luck. Filed lost baggage report. Was suggested that as we were last on in Bali, 4th bag may have been put on Jetstar flight due in at 10am. Still trying to figure that one out. Stood in customs queue about 20 seconds, must have stood out like sore thumb, only aussies amongst long line of Asians, airport official checked arrival cards & passports, asked if anything to declare, WHAT...NO BEEBEE GUNS??
NOPE...they got taken, well, surrendered at Denpasar, much to kids disgust with me. There are signs everywhere, thought I'd play it safe. OK, straight through gate D exit, still minus 1 bag, but no customs queuing - YEEHAA. Kids thought it was hilarious that the missing bag had ALL my handbags in it. They weren't laughing when I told them so was every shirt, hat, belt, shoes etc that they had bought. Outside freezing. Where's our transport? Time now is 10.30am and driver has been sent home. (Home is 1.5 hours away) Had to wait for return transport. Bali belly now starting - GR8!! Arrived at doorstep 2.30pm. Received phone call from airport 5pm - BAG FOUND!!! Sent by a returning limo service about 10pm. All good. Makes you wonder though about the chances of someone just picking up your bag from the carousel and never returning it. Baggage services said it is possible but they have to get through customs and know whats in it, open a padlock, and have inspection. Well, we were ushered through the exit without so much as a glance at our baggage. Travelled OS many times and never even gave it a thought. All worked out in the end.
FINALLY....The negatives were few, the positives aplenty. We had the best time, met heaps of wonderful people, ate well, drank & danced the nights away, and enjoyed every minute. This trip, being our 4th, was our best visit yet, I believe, due to the gathering of some helpful info, travel tips, experiences and humour from this forum. Thankyou one and all. Cheers, Diane & family.