Perth & Day 1 30/4/08
Our trip to Bali this year started with 4 days in Perth. We had never been to Perth before and we had enough altitude points to get 2 one way flights for $95.00 (bargain).Flight to Perth was good left on time and we were in Perth by 3pm.
We had been exchanging emails with another couple in Perth from the BTF (Whiterose. I will call them D&R) and they had offered to pick us up on Sunday and show us around Perth.
Sunday started with an early morning. We had the mobile phone alarm set for 7.30am (no digital alarm clock in apartment we were staying in) so we would be ready for our day out with D&R (9am pick up). Mark woke up before the alarm and thought he would go have a shower. He looked at my phone to check the time it said 6.40am so not too early he thought. As he was heading to the shower I had a really horrible thought I had not changed the time on my phone from Melbourne time to Perth time. It didn't even cross my mind to change it when I set the alarm must have been having a blonde moment lol.
Our day out with D&R was great what a fantastic couple they took us around and showed us what a nice city Perth is. They showed us all the sights from Fremantle to the Swan Valley, including where to sample some great chocolate. The next couple of days we spent taking advantage of the free cat buses and had a look around Perth City. Messaged D&R and thanked them for a fantastic day out and we really enjoyed there company, had a message back from them saying they had organised to pick us up and take us to the airport on Wednesday morning. We will never be able to thank them enough. Such an awesomely nice thing for them to do for us. So 3.20am was pick up time we were on the 7.15am flight early morning but we were in Bali by 11.00am.
The flight to Bali left on time and arrived at 10.50am. Through VOA had to declare that we had 100 cigs to many between us. Customs was only too happy to take a $10.00AUD donation from us, but we didn't mind as 4pkts of cigs at home would have cost over $40.00. It was funny that they didn't have any trouble finding us change in Aussie dollars.
Out of the airport we go and into a taxi and off to the all seasons in Legian really nice hotel and room was great we had a ground floor deluxe room right by the pool. We have a look around the hotel caught up with D&R before they head for Lovina then we hit the street it was just like we were only here last week, not a year ago. It was great to be back.
1st stop was to get a Bali sim card. 95,000 Rp with 10,000 credit wasn't too bad without searching all over, but then they tried to charge 130,000 Rp for 100,000 credit. We took the sim only and would get the extra credit later. With that done it was time for some lunch. Thought we would try Le Monde nice food good prices and our 1st bintang of the trip. After lunch went to get supplies from Bintang Supermarket. Got the usual, bintangs, chips, nuts and mixers to go with the duty free spirits. Mobile phone shop outside sold us 100,000 credit for 100,000 Rp. Then back to hotel for a snooze. We were feeling a bit weary after our early start. Feeling nice and refreshed, and with the sun down we went for another walk and decided we would go to Our's for dinner. Nice food good service and good prices, then back to hotel for an early night.
Day 2 1/5/08
First breakfast at All Seasons was great. We had all the choices of hot and cold that we could want, plus a few that are not normal to us. Fish fingers for breakfast are really not so bad. The brewed coffee was great as well. We decided we would get some of the things out of the way that can't be left until the last minute, such as getting jewellery re-modelled, and getting prescription glasses made. Decided to head down to Centro to check out some of the recommended optical stores.
We walked down to the Kodak shop to change some money, and then jumped into a Bluebird Taxi. We have never had any problems at all with bluebirds, and use them anytime that we can. Legian to Centro is usually a fairly simple straight forward trip, so we were a bit confused about the blank look that the driver gave us when we told him where we wanted to go. We thought it may just be the way he looks, as he started driving and headed down Jl. Legian. We thought no more about it until we got to Bemo Corner, where the driver paused, looked both ways, looked back at us with a puzzled look on his face, then decided to turn left, which we knew was the right way, due to the one way street system. He took a right turn where he should to get to Centro, so we thought, it's ok he is back on track. He suddenly stopped outside a local market place, turned to us expecting us to pay and get out. We sat looking at him until he pointed to the market and said Centro? We said, ummm no, we want to go to Centro, Discovery Mall, near Waterbom Park. He tried to sound out what we were saying, then turned and continued driving. We drove on for a while, making a few turns. Then we realised we were driving through Tuban, heading towards the airport. I told him that Centro is back the other way, so he pulled into a driveway, and rang somebody. He continually tried to sound out Centro to the person at the other end, who wasn't getting it. We told him to try to tell the other person we wanted discovery mall. He tried to sound this out several times, but to us it sounded like he was asking about something to do with fairies. This went on for about 2 minutes until we heard the voice yelling down the phone, Centro... Centro..... Centro. We said yes that's where we want to go. The driver got some instructions and suddenly looked a lot clearer. Thank goodness we thought as he turned around and started driving back towards Kuta. A few more turns, and once again we knew we were well off course. We looked at each other and knew it was going to be too hard to try once again to tell him he was going the wrong way. We considered asking him to let us out there so that we could get into a different taxi who knew what he was doing. Mark said let's just see where we get to as we had a feeling we were heading to the Kuta Galleria and we sort of started feeling sorry for him and didn't want to hurt his feelings. We saw the back of Aces Hardware store, and asked him to stop there, pretending that was where we wanted to go, we thanked him, paid him and even gave him a tip. We got out of the taxi and headed into aces chuckling to ourselves. We thought we may as well have a look around since we paid to get there.
Saw heaps of stuff in Aces that we would love to take home, but would have needed a few containers, played it safe and left empty handed.
Found a taxi to take us to Centro. No drama's this time. Thank goodness.
We wandered around centro checked out the optical stores got some prices on lenses and frames didn't order any yet as we wanted to try and find Mr hunnyman at the bintang supermarket to see what he could do for me.
We got a phone call from friends also in Bali said they were going to head to Carrefour to have a look they asked if we wanted to join them so we did.OMG what a fantastic place I could have spent all day there, bought some Martha Tilaar products to give them a try when I got home, stocked up on some Olay creams for mum could not believe how cheap they were. Could have bought so much more but would have needed another a few more bags to take home so I held back lol.
Back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We went to Tanayas in Jl Legian for tepanyaki, we always go there at least once while we are in Bali. The meal is fantastic, it is a little expensive for a meal in Bali but if we were to have the same 7 course meal with lobster, prawns, chicken, beef, salmon, soup, flambé banana, salad, rice and many vegetables as well as a few drinks each in Melbourne we would be paying at least $200 per head not $35.00 each. Back to hotel and bed.
Day 3 2/5/08
Up early for breakfast and it was very busy today. After breaky headed to Kuta square to have a look at another optical shop, got prices. Still trying to find Mr Hunnyman at the bintang supermarket, we have seen his boxes there but no one knew where he was. We popped into the Asian travel Club which we joined last year, to catch up on what new tours they had to offer. We were looking to see if they had the safari park yet (they offer discounted tours for their members) but they are still working on a deal with them.
I had bought some old gold and diamond rings with me to have remodelled so it was off to the Kuta Paradiso to see Audrey , I had enough gold and diamonds to have a thumb ring and a heart shaped pendant made all for about $140.00 AUD . We headed to Matahari for a look but didn't buy anything this time. I'm sure we would revisit there again. I was in need of my first massage and body scrub so it was off to Salon Hana in Jl Benesari I have been going here sense we started coming to Bali 5 years ago. For a 1 hour massage and body scrub 49,000RP, Mark spent the hour wandering around poppies 2. We headed back to the hotel for a much needed swim and some lunch by the pool. Thought we would head up to the bintang supermarket again to see if Mr Hunnyman was there but again his boxes were there but he was nowhere to be found. We have learnt after today's trip up there not to go between 3 & 5pm as it is peak hour and it's very hard to get a taxi back to the hotel.
Every night the choice gets harder to decide where to go to dinner with so many great places to eat we would love more time here to go to all of them, tonight we decided to try the Bali beach shack in garlic lane as we had read on here it was good and what we had read was right the food was great, prices good and the staff fantastic. We were chatting to the manager Sudi he asked us where we were from we told him Melbourne Phillip Island he said Cowes yep that's where we live. He asked if we knew some local people from there and yes I knew them my oldest son went to kinder with their daughter and when they were 5 years old they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Sudi called them his step mum and dad. What a small world we live in. I think we have made a new friend for life Sudi is a fantastic person. Back to the hotel after dinner a much needed hair wash was to be had to wash out the massage oil then off to bed.
Day 4 3/5/08
Today we didn't do much did the usual walk after breakfast chatted to the usual people along the way asking you want t-shirt, handbag etc you all know how it goes. I bought my first handbags today 2 Guess and 1 Prada 100,000.00Rp each. Not a bad price I thought. We caught up with an old friend of ours that we have known for 5 years now he used to work in a leather shop in garlic lane. The shop has now closed down but he is now doing some tour bookings and does some export stuff for someone in Australia, he told me I had paid a good price for the handbags so I was happy about that. The rest of the day was spent sitting by the pool. We thought we would go to the Metro Sports Bar in Seminyak for dinner as we know the guys that own the place I used to work with one of them on Phillip Island but they were both away for the night. We were a little bit disappointed with the food this time not quite as good as last year, but got to watch some AFL footy. Back to hotel after dinner watched a movie then off to sleep.
Day 5 4/5/08
Today is my birthday was not sure how we were going to spend the day but it turned out to be a really nice day.
We headed to breakfast about 8.00am we sat down then one of the waitresses came and asked if it was my birthday and wished me a happy birthday she asked if I was 17 I laughed and then told her how old I had turned, she also told me I was a very strong woman because I have 3 children all boys.
After breakfast it was off to the melasti spa for a facial and pedicure, I had not been there before and it was great, a little bit dearer than salon Hana but it was my birthday so a treat was in order.
When we got back to the room we had a couple of messages slipped under the door. One Happy Birthday to Heather, and a message from our new Perth friends (D & R), telling us that they were back from Lovina and staying in Jimbaran Hills resort. Gave them a call and with no other plans, we got a driver to take us there. The place is very hard to find. Our driver had to stop and ask for directions 3 times, and after 1 U-Turn to drive back 10 km, we finally saw the sign half behind a tree.
Jimbaran Hills Resort is huge with a few different styles of accommodation, and 2 pools that we found. 1 had a waterslide. We had a chat for a while, and then went to the resorts sports bar to watch the MotoGP on the big screen, we hadn't eaten so grabbed a couple of burgers for lunch, which were really nice. Big surprise was that they came with crinkle cut chips, not fries which we were a pleasant change. The bar was great, it looked like an old style pub inside, with a pool table, Fuse Ball, and darts. We were also told that they do Karaoke there often. MotoGP was great to watch, although it would have been better if Casey Stoner had won.
The 4 of us organised a driver to take us to Jimbaran Bay for dinner on the beach. We chose one of the restaurants which was called JBS, and then chose the creatures we wanted to eat. We shared a lobster and some prawns, while D & R shared a snapper, and some squid. The meal was great although it got a little dark to see what we were eating, and made it hard to devour every edible part of the lobster. Heather Chose the JBR signature cocktail which was served in a coconut, but neither of us liked it. There was a bit too much cloud to get a great sunset, but we thought it was hugely amusing to watch a female dog that was on heat trying to fend off all the other male dogs. She was a bit of a tease though, lol.
D & R headed back to their resort and we got a lift back to our hotel stopping on the way back to pick up our laundry from Sunrise laundry service, which is just off Jl. Padma Utara. This was the first time that we have used a laundry in Bali, and we were delighted with the result. We had a huge bagful and it only cost 40,000 Rp. The clothes were washed ironed and folded perfectly, and they smelt nice too.
Back at the hotel Mark took a quick dip in the pool to cool off, and Heather had a shower to wash and dry hair. While we were relaxing there was a knock on the door. We opened the door to 2 of the staff singing happy birthday to Heather with a cute little birthday cake. This was devoured a bit later with coffee.
Day 6 5/5/08
Up a bit earlier than normal today, Mark actually got up first and made coffee. Out a bit earlier to breakfast as we were being picked up to go to an Accor hotel viewing at Novotel, Nusa Dua. No intentions of buying into the time share, but they begged and offered us 1 million Rp. off our hotel bill, and we had no other plans so why not. We just had to sit through a presentation, and then get shown around the resort, which was really nice. The bloke who was doing the presentation to us knew that we were not at all interested, so didn't do the real hard sell, just went through the motions, and then away from the office environment on the tour, we had a great chat and he was a really nice guy.
After the presentation, we met our friends D & R at Centro, for lunch at the Cafe to the left of Black Canyon Cafe. We had non alcoholic cocktails which were pretty good. Mark had a EuroBurger, and reckons it was the best burger he has ever had. It had the normal burger fillings as well as salami. I had one of the best Nasi Goreng so far this trip. We wandered around Centro for awhile then I thought I better get my reading glasses organised. We went into Optic Seis and I picked out some nice Just Cavalli frames. All up with lenses and frames it cost $144.00AUD. At home for my glasses I paid $305.00 with just very plain frames, so I was really happy with the price here.
We wandered up the road from centro and popped in to see Mr Dolphin tattoos. D&R were thinking of getting tattoos. We had both got tattoos at Mr Dolphin last year and are very happy with them.
We strolled through the Kuta markets and onto the beach, this was the first time in our 4 trips to Bali that I had ever set foot on the beach in Kuta. As we walked along the beach we were offered all the usual things, massage, sarongs, watches, sunglasses, earrings etc. We watched the locals playing soccer and volley ball, and they were having a great time. Some of the games looked like a professional beach soccer league, with the players wearing coloured strips, and referees with whistles. Others were just playing shirts on against shirts off, and seemed to have 30 players per side. Even the dogs wouldn't venture into the chaos of this game. We walked far enough along the beach to find ourselves just outside the Bali Mandira where we found Sammy's & Susie's beach bar (S & S). We were made to feel very welcome, and chairs came from everywhere for us to sit on. We each had an ice cold bintang which we really needed after the long walk. We met DennisC and a few others from BTF (sorry guys can't remember all the names) and had a bit of a chat. We will be back there again for sure.
Finished our beer, and headed back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before going to Bali Beach Shack for dinner. I think this place is coming close to being one of our favourite restaurants in Bali.
Once again the manager and other staff are absolutely delightful, and the food is excellent. Mark had the chicken curry, which tasted as good as it smelt while being cooked. Heather had BBQ mango chicken, which was a chicken breast, smothered in a really tangy mango sauce, and topped with fresh mango. She loved it.
That ended our day, and we just went back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep.
Day 7 6/5/08
We headed to breakfast at about 8.45 there were the usual choices. After breaky we thought we would walk to the top of Jl. Padma as we had not walked up that way yet. We always seem to find ourselves walking up Garlic Lane, there is a new bar in Jl. Padma called The Legian Pub, they have a big screen T.V but they don't get the AFL as it is too expensive, but they do get the MotoGP and World Super Bikes so it might be a good place to watch the bikes. We walked along Jl Legian towards Jl. Melasti. Along the way we bought 4 pairs of sunglasses @ 25,000RP each. Then we decided to take a trip back to Carrefour. The Taxi driver was absolutely hilarious, and had us laughing all the way. He saw a Japanese girl walking along the street, and said hey there's my wife. Then added she's the wife he doesn't have yet. He then told us he was born in Australia in Cairns and that he lived in Bali because his mother only cared about fish and chips, and kicked him out of home. Her name was Pauline Hanson, Please explain. I told him he was really funny, and quick as a flash he said he is also gorgeous while looking in the mirror and fixing his hair, then went about how he looked so much like Tom Cruise. It was the best taxi ride we had ever had.
Heather wanted to get a smaller digital which she could carry around easily. The one we have is quite a large one and not so easy to have handy for that surprise photo opportunity. Bought one from the camera shop on the third floor of the Carrefour building. It came with SD memory card and a case. Bought some pastries from the Carrefour deli, and went back to the hotel to swim and relax.
We went for a walk after spending some time by the pool, we had to some business cards that we were having made for a friend 80,000RP for 200 cards not to bad we thought as she had paid a lot more for 100 cards at home. We found ourselves walking towards the beach and ended up at (S & S) for a nice cold bintang chatted to Dennis and a few others that were there. We received a message from D&R asking if they could pop in on us at the hotel so finished our beer and back to the hotel. We all ended going out for dinner to Bianco on Jl Padma very nice place and the food was great price was ok but we were just a bit disappointed that they added 15% tax to their bill. Back to hotel and D&R headed back to Jimbaran Hills, showers then off to bed.
Day 8 7/5/08
We had no plans for today so we headed to the Bali galleria we had heard that J.CO donuts were better than Krispy Kremes and they were. We had coffee and you get 1 free glazed donut when you buy coffee and it was great coffee and the donut was much nicer than Krispy Kremes so we ended up buying 2 dozen to take back to the hotel with us 89,000RP for 2 doz about $10.50AUD.
The exchange rate in the Kodak shop on Jl Padma has been 8500 to 8625RP for the past week that's the best rate we have had in the past 5 years.
We headed back to the hotel there is not a lot at Bali galleria to see. The hotel had given us a free 15 min massage voucher so we thought we would use them today it was nice but it was just a tease massage and at 250,000RP for a 1 hour massage we did not extend to an hour . So it was off to salon hana for a massage 1 hour 39,000Rp.
Didn't do a lot in the afternoon just chilled out for awhile and ate donuts (not all 2 doz of them lol).
We went to Queens Tandoor in Seminyak for dinner. We had what I thought was one of the best chicken tikka masala we have ever had, It wasn't on the menu but they were happy to make it for us. We will try to go back there again before we go home.
We had bought some small pastries at Carrefour yesterday and with all the donuts we had I thought I would take them to one of the street sellers that was trying to find me some Oakley sunglasses the same as I had bought last year, but he was not there so on the way back from dinner there were some kids that try to get us to buy wrist bands every night so we gave the pastries to them, their eyes lit up and they thanked us very much for them. We also stopped and bought some DVDs at 4 tune 8 music & movie store on Jl Padma buy 10 get 4 free they worked out to be 84 cents each.
Watched TV for awhile then off to sleep.
Day 9 8/5/08
We were awake early today so had coffee in the room and watched a bit of TV before we headed for breakfast. Mark had seen a watch at centro that he liked and he could not find it on the street anywhere so we decided to take a trip there so he could get it. We arrived at centro just on 10.00am the doors were just opening and half the shops were still not open so we wandered around for awhile then had coffee at the black canyon cafe. The watch shop was open by the time we had finished coffee so it was off to try and do a deal for the watch, the asking price was 700,000RP with 50% off we offered 300,000RP immediately. The first answer was no, it was already discounted to 350,000 RP. Told them we would think about it, and he said 330,000Rp. was the best he could do, so we started to walk and then they called us back and offered 320,000Rp, then as we got out the door, they offered 310,000Rp, told him we still wanted to think about it and took 1 step away, then they took our offer, it is a Tag Heuer, Tiger Woods Automatic watch so Mark was happy with his purchase. We wandered to Kuta square and had another look at matahari still came out with nothing, but we did stop at the silver shop outside and priced a Pandora bracelet with some charms 400,000RP. Didn't buy today but might get 1 before we go home, I wouldn't mind 1 and I want buy a charm for a friend I work with.
Got a taxi back to the hotel, and cooled down a bit before we went to get some lunch at the Legian Pub. Heather had enchiladas, and Mark had a pizza. Food was good, and the bintang was nearly frozen in the bottle. I think that was the coldest that we have had so far, it hit the spot perfectly. The pub has some very friendly staff, and they are only too happy to let you write on the walls, although we didn't, as he said he would rub off somebody else's entry to give us room, lol.
Changed some money and went to Danny Boy who is in the shop on the corner of Legian and Melasti. He is a fun character with a great smile and loves to sing the Scottish song Danny Boy. His version goes, 'Oh Danny boys, Sepise Sepise are coraling.' lol. It's funny when his friends named Honest Johnny and Tony Lockett join in, and also sing it as he does. Heather promised to get some sunglasses from him, so he left us in charge of his shop while he went to hunt down the ones she wanted. We didn't manage to make any sales, It was a quiet day on his corner though, lol. Danny Boy returned with 4 pairs of Oakley's for heather, and she bought another 4 pairs off his rack for friends back home. We gave him a hat that we bought over from Australia, which he was really happy with. Popped into Tony Locket's T-shirt shop, quickly and bought 4 shirts, then another handbag from Garlic Lane on the way back to the hotel. Heather insisted on only paying 80,000 for the bag this time under instruction from Dennis C, the handbag king, lol. We had a quick swim and the only down point with the all seasons is the pool, it's just a bit to cool I have to sit on the edge and work my way in slowly Mark seems to be a bit tougher than me and can just jump in. I had an hour's nanna nap then we thought we would go to Yutz Place for dinner we had never been there before. Well what can we say about Yutz, the place was packed so we thought the rumours must be true (that they have the best steak) we were seated and were given the menu and our welcome drink which was great, we decided to both have the fillet steak with mushroom sauce and fried potatoes and onion, ordered another frozen margarita, the meals arrived and OMG the steak was fantastic it just melted in our mouth. We will be going back there before we leave for another steak. Yes Yutz gets our vote for the best steak in Bali. We headed back to the hotel and watched a Harrison Ford movie till about 1.15am then off to sleep.
Day 10 9/5/08
Woke up late and watched an early morning movie, so nearly missed breakfast. Walked down to Kuta Square stopping to have a cool drink with Danny Boy and his friends. Heather wanted a Pandora Bracelet, so went to shop outside Kalahari's and bought 1 with 8 charms for 550,000 Rp. had to talk them down a bit, and they are very hard to barter with. They started at 650,000 Rp.
Went to Centro for lunch at Bali Colada Cafe & caught up with D&R. Heather picked up prescription glasses from Optic Seis, and we had a look around Centro again. Slowly made our way back towards the hotel, looking at everything along the way, we stopped at an ice cream shop along Jl Legian for a cool down and a really nice ice cream, we got sick of walking and got a Taxi the rest of the way. We decided we would try Ketumbar Restaurant and Lounge for dinner it was a nice setting we sat upstairs so we had a view of the street. We both ordered pizza and they were quiet big, food was ok but don't think we would go back as there are so many other nicer restaurants than this one. Walked slowly back to the hotel bought another handbag and picked up our laundry on the way back and chatted to people along the way.
Day 11 10/5/08
Didn't do much for the morning, just made our way down to Kuta Paradiso to the jewellery shop to pick up Heathers re-modelled gold. The Ring with diamonds was exactly what we wanted. The heart pendant was a bit bigger than we had thought it was going to be, but still nice. Maybe a special occasions sorta thing.
Walked from there down to Centro to have lunch at Bali Colada, then walked back to Matahari to see if we could get a longer Pandora bracelet because the bracelet gets a lot tighter with charms. They had some longer ones at home, and would bring them for us tomorrow. Apparently they also have another shop with Pandora bracelets in Legian, opposite Bali Aussie.
D&R moved down from Jimbaran Hills, and were supposed to go to Niksoma, but their agent made a mistake and forgot to book their extra night, so they were put into All Seasons for the night, and would move to Niksoma tomorrow.
Mark had a swim and chat with other guests, and Heather had a sleep for a few hours, before we both had coffee, and got ready for dinner.
Went with D&R to Yutz again, and had another awesome fillet steak. We wanted to make sure they didn't fluke it the first time. We all agreed that the steak at Yutz is fantastic, no matter how it is cooked. Had a few drinks and lots of laughs, I think we were entertaining the owner and staff as well because they offered us a free drink. Walked back to the hotel and watched some TV before we fell asleep.
Day 12 11/5/08
Woke up and had breakfast with D&R before they went to pack to go to Niksoma. We rang our respective mothers for mother's day using our XL sim card. We checked our sim balance and there is no way that we would make calls any other way. We have rung Australia 4 times. Rung around Bali a about 10 times to organise things with friends and businesses, and sent heaps of text messages around Bali and to Australia, and out of 100,000 Rp. credit that we started with, we still had 68,000 Rp. left.
D&R left their luggage in our room and we all got a driver to take us out and about. We went to Denpasar, Matahari, Ramayana, Robinsons, and looked around. Bought nothing but McDonalds for lunch, and then headed to Macro. We bought some lolly pops, to give to the kids at the village we are planning to visit tomorrow after we go to the Safari and Marine Park. Went to Bali Galleria for coffee and doughnuts at JCo. Bought another dozen. They are very addictive.
Back to the hotel so that D&R could get their luggage to go to Niksoma. We went to Salon Hana, Mark wanted another massage, so got an hour massage. Heather got a facial, and pedicure, so they worked on both ends of her at the same time for 45 minutes, lol. All up for both of us it only cost 81,000 Rp. So good and so cheap.
Met D&R at Porchettas, for dinner. We had a pizza each. Pizza was great as it always has been, and Heather couldn't go past the PinaColada served in a fresh coconut. It looks great and she says it tastes great too. Mark likes the welcome drink which is something with Arak, so he got a large one.
Walked back to the hotel slowly, chatting to our friends in the shops along the way. Then got all our cameras and batteries ready and charged for tomorrow at the Safari and Marine Park. We are really looking forward to it.
Day 13 12/5/08
Our alarm was set for 6.30am this morning as Sudi was picking up at 8am to get an early start to our day at the safari park. Sudi arrived at about 8.20am then we picked D&R up from the Niksoma, we all forgot to change some money last night so our first stop was a money changer on Jl Legian, a little bit of a wait there as the money had not arrived yet. We arrived at the park at about 9.30am it was great no queue to get in. Entry fee at the gate was 232,000 Rp. each, with which we got 1 photo with a baby animal, and 1 ride on the safari bus. What a fantastic place this is, from the moment we walked in until we walked out in the afternoon it was just fantastic. First stop was a photo with a baby lion, which was the free photo that we got included with our entry fee. She was so cute we could have stayed there all day. They don't rush you, and let you take as many photos as you like. Maybe because we were quite early and the rush from the free shuttle busses hadn't come in yet, so there were hardly any people there at that time. It was time to move on and let some other people have a turn. Next was the 2 baby tigers, we could buy extra photo opportunities for 20,000 Rp. each, and were very happy to do so, as this sort of opportunity is nearly impossible in Australia. We could have taken them home with us they were so friendly and adorable, but I don't think our 2 cats would have liked it too much. I don't believe these animals are drugged at all people must remember that they are night animals and these are babies that are hand raised and fed with a bottle before they are bought out for people to have photos taken with them, most human babies are sleepy after they given a bottle. D&R had a camel ride so we took some photos of them, then we all went off to watch the bird show, which then turned into a poodle show, lol. Sudi had caught up with us by then and it was great to have his company for most of the day. After the bird show we headed to the baby orangutan, there was a little bit of a queue but it was great just standing there watching what she was going to do next. Playing with her must have been one of the best things we have ever done in Bali she was so cute she climbed and rolled all over us it was a great experience. We missed most of the elephant show, but we had seen these sorts of shows before so weren't too upset. A lot of the crowd went on to get an elephant ride, so we went down to the safari ride. It was interesting to get a bit of information about each animal and where they come from, and they try hard to make it like a theme park and create some drama, but then all the fierce animals are just sunbaking and don't care much about the truck driving through their homes lol. Off the safari ride, and into lunch in the lower restaurant. We decided not to go to the more crowded lion viewing restaurant, as the lions were quite dull and very sleepy at that time of day. It is better to see them a lot later in the afternoon around their feeding time. The food was good and well priced in the restaurant, and we had heaps of choice. We could see the next stages of the park evolving, such as the huge theatre, and the theme park rides, which will all be incredible when finished. We don't know where the marine part of the park will go, but we are looking forward to seeing it when it is finished. Mark has a hunch that the park is waiting until it is fully completed, and then the prices will be much higher, as it is really cheap for what you get at the moment, especially compared to other parks like Tarro etc. If he is right, now is probably a great time to go if you get a chance.
We ended our day at the park there and headed out via the gift shop. We couldn't believe the prices of the gifts, and stuffed toys. They were incredibly cheap, even for the huge animals. We probably just expect to see the extortionate prices of gifts that they charge in Australian theme parks.
Forgot to change the Pandora bracelet for the longer one yesterday, so went to matahari to see the jewellery sellers there, who had a longer one put aside waiting for us. It weighed a bit more but only cost an extra 10,000 Rp.
Got in a taxi and went up to S&S for a bintang and a chat with Dennis and friends. It is always so welcoming there, and each day we go there seems to be more and more people having a great time. Sammy just pulls another chair out from god knows where and sits you down.
Sun went down and mozzies started biting, so it was time to make a move towards dinner. We were not that hungry so we walked towards garlic lane and decided to go to the Bali beach shack again this place has great food and has been one of our favourites this trip, we ordered a couple of entrées and shared them. We met a really nice young couple from Perth it was their first trip to Bali and they were heading home the next day we had a drink with them and chatted to them for awhile then headed back to the hotel and off to bed.
Day 14 13/5/08
Today we had nothing planed and it was raining so after breakfast we went back to our room for awhile till the rain stopped. Then it was off to ketuts to do some shopping for the kids, the usual t-shirts , shorts and socks , my older boys love the socks from here they tell me they last longer than the socks they buy from home. Headed back to hotel with shopping then it started raining again so we waited for it to ease then we thought we would head to chasers for lunch, along the way we stopped and chatted to Danny boy for awhile and bought 2 watches from him for gifts for my older sons girlfriends 40,000RP each they were the new guess ones. We both ordered pizza for lunch @21,000RP for all pizzas and pastas here, it was ok but don't think we would go there again.
Caught a blue bird back to the hotel and didn't do much for the rest of the afternoon. D&R messaged us and asked if we would like to join them for a drink at the Niksoma so we headed around there at about 5.00pm, it's a nice hotel the grounds and pool area are great but for the price I think there are a lot of other hotels that are much the same as the Niksoma and are a lot cheaper. We all headed to Yutz for dinner again as this is the last meal we would share with D&R as they were on the midnight flight home tomorrow night. Once again the restaurant was packed and the fillet steak was superb. We had a couple of drinks each and then headed for the Bali Beach Shack. Watched the band which was a great reggae style group, and had a lot more drinks chatted to the awesome staff and some other patrons from Perth, who import and sell Bali stuff wholesale direct to public. They had some great stories and information. Eventually we all stumbled out of the shack at midnight and the shutters closed behind us. We all walked to our hotels and went to sleep.
Day 15 14/5/08
Woke up late and a little bit under the weather.... a result of the night before. Fresh fruit for breakfast, then out to do a bit of last minute shopping, before we go home tomorrow night. Got a few things and then thought a massage was in order. Salon Hana took us in straight away and Mark had a 1 hour massage, while Heather had the works, massage, scrub, hair treatment, head and shoulder massage, manicure and pedicure. It was funny watching 3 girls working on her at once.
Caught a taxi back to the hotel, had a quick swim. The pool is just that bit too cold to really relax and enjoy it. Then walked down to the Legian Pub for nachos. They weren't too bad, although the serve wasn't huge. Back to the hotel. Put on the TV quietly and had a nap. Woke up feeling much better, with the decision of where to go for dinner.
We love Indian food, so decided to catch a taxi out to Queens Tandoor. The food was great as it was the first visit. Caught a Taxi back to Jl. Padma to finalise our DVD purchases. DVD shop was shut as many were over the past couple of days. The police had been checking a few, so they all went into lockdown. Will go back tomorrow.
Day 16 15/5/08
Our last day in Bali for this year was spent finishing up the last minute shopping and catching up with old and new friends.
We started off heading to ketuts for a few last minute things we had to get. Ketut is such a lovely person and we look forward to seeing her every year. It is so easy to shop there without the hassles of bartering.
We always take some t-shirts and hats from home to give to friends we make on the streets of Bali today we were trying to find a guy in garlic lane called bang bang. We have known him for a few years and he had helped us with some shopping this year so we wanted to give him a t-shirt so if you see a guy in garlic land with a Cowes classic shirt on that's him.
We had also made friends with a guy called Erik he has a shoe shop in Padma Utara called Kosela Shop he was a really nice man and he took us to meet his family and his beautiful 6 month old daughter. He started with nothing in Bali and has worked very hard and now has 3 shops, he was very good to us and did not want anything in return for his generosity.
Our last meal in Bali was spent with new friends at the Bali beach shack we wanted to see Sudi before we left and Dee one of the waitresses. Sudi is such a nice man and we have a new friend we will keep for life, Dee is so funny and kept us laughing every time we were at the Bali beach shack. Then it was back to the hotel to pack, this is the bit we hate because it means our holiday has come to an end and we will have to wait another year till we can revisit our favourite place in the world.
Checked out at 7.00pm caught a taxi to the airport checked in early and still had the seats we had booked on the 10th at Kuta Paradiso, 28 a & b in the emergency exit, plenty of leg room the only down side is we didn't get much sleep as the toilets are right there so the light kept us awake.
We went to the premiere lounge to chill out for awhile before the flight at 11.55pm. The flight left on time and arrived early at 6.50am, stopped at duty free for awhile through immigration quickly then we had to wait for agers for the bags to come off the plane, we had nothing to declare so after the long wait for the bags we were out into a clod windy Melbourne. Due to the long wait we had for the bags we had missed a shuttle bus to Werribee.
To wrap up we had a fantastic 16 days in Bali and can't wait till next year to go back. We made some new friends in Perth and spent some great times with them in Bali. It was great to meet some people of the forum and will be back at Sammy's and Susie's next year, thanks to DennisC for his advice on handbag prices and some great chats at S & S.
Happy Holidays
Heather & Mark