JBR

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Posted by ger on Wednesday, 16. January 2008 at 21:46 Bali Time:

Hi All,

This is our JBR, we hope you all get some thing from it.

Flights: Qantas on New Years day from PER fantastic as always the flying kangaroo delivered.

Hotel: Mostly very good, we stayed at this hotel a year ago and it was interesting to see the changes. On our last visit I was less than impressed with the front office staff, well there clearly has been some training and I can only commend them for the way our check in & check out was handled very smoothly. The pool staff whilst excellent seem to have lost a little of their previous magic.
Renovations, currently the lobby is undergoing renovation, they are not intrusive so if you are thinking staying here do not be put off, you hardly notice them. BOGANS, yes they can be found outside of Australia, how do they get out!!. What a bloody disgrace some of our so called country men/women are. If you cannot control your teenage kids (mostly boys) or your selves, stay at home and don't embarrass your country. How many times do you need to hear 'Aussie Aussie Oi Oi' before you want to throttle some one. There is nor need to show up at breakfast carrying a can of beer, bare feet or insulting the hotel employees. As you may have gathered these bogans with their constant yelling and obnoxious behavior left us with the feeling that maybe some people need lessons on how to behave in a foreign country and maybe in their home as well. By far the worst case of Aussie cringe factor was witnessing a size 24+ woman wearing a tiny string bikini to the pool on a daily basis. After several days of this, therapy has been booked for at least ½ of our fellow citizens. Over all the hotel is pretty good, but it maybe a stretch to call it a 4 * hotel.

Weather: We were there for nearly two weeks and had some pretty terrible weather and some really great days of sunshine. Over all pretty good.

Restaurants: One of prime reasons for going to Bali is the food, and like Qantas, Bali delivered again. Prices have increased - some quite dramatically in the last 12 months, but overall still very reasonable. One thing we noticed/wondered was whether the Balinese felt that every new restaurant they built had to be modeled on trendy modern design and increase the prices to match? A lot of the time they could have stepped the design down a notch - more in keeping with the lifestyle and kept the prices reasonable - ie - Il Cielo. La Lucciola was as always, stunning can you get any better and Ma Jolie was impressive (two visits) but still has a way to go to get to the La Luc standard but the service was very personal and the food very good. Pantai was the worst one we went to. The feral cats were everywhere around and under the tables and the crappiest meal we had in Bali (sorry Filo, this quite possibly the worst restaurant in all of Bali & I might have to send my mother in law there). When we went to pay, they did not want to take our credit card despite handing us the bill in a Mastercard folder. They could have warned us before we sat down. There are not a great deal of options for getting cash at that locale. They could do so much better - great location etc. Mykonos was a bit of a hike but well worth it - the warm feta and prawn salad was divine (I have written the ingredients down for future reference) and the food overall was excellent value for money. Real feel of Greece about it (I've lived there) right down to the statue of the pelican (symbol of the island). Pity about the murals of Santorini on the wall.

More to follow.


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