Have just returned from another fabulous two week family holiday in Bali. Will attempt to remember all that we did & saw. Won't do a day by day account but will just let you know all the restaurants, shops, outings etc that I recommend.
The journey began on September 20th when the family, including husband, 5 1/2 year old daughter & 2 sons, 4 and 18months, flew Singapore Airlines, via Singapore, from Brisbane. Eldest 2 were fantastic, as usual, 18month old was hard work. Arrived about 7pm just after a jumbo from Europe so queue's were long for Immigration. Attempted to contain my toddler but after 10hours flying he wasn't having any of it. He was hot, tired and cranky so I let him go, and sure enough, he ran the lenghth of the line right up to the immigration booth. I nabbed him at this point, but not before we were noticed by immigration officials & montioned to come down & come through a newly opened booth. Thank goodness for the crazy toddler!
Were collected by driver & promptly driven to villa 10 at Villa Bali Asri. Wonderful villa, really stunning. Can highly recommend. We had a 3 bedroom with beautiful big pool. Excellent location on Jl.Sari Dewi, just down from The Oberoi in Seminyak. Easy walk to beach, shops & restaurants. Have stayed at many resorts & a few villa's in Bali and would definitely stay here again.
The next morning we had a beautiful breakfast, made in villa by staff, before our pre-arranged nanny arrived. Nyoman had been used by a few friends of mine & came highly recommended. Deciding to utilise a nanny was the best decision we made regarding the holiday. She was fabulous, kids adored her & it enabled us to have a proper break. She entertained our 18month old constantly & he had a ball. Elder 2 kids wanted to know when we were going out for dinner so that Nyoman could look after all of them without us there, that's how much they loved her. We had her full time for the 2 weeks. We were joined this evening by my sister-in-law, her husband & toddler from Melbourne.
Restaurants visited over the course of the 2 weeks included :
Ultimo - always a good meal here, very happy.
Trattoria - very disappointing. Not a pleasant evening.
Sarong - wonderful new restaurant up past Hu'u in Seminyak. Thankyou to those from the forum that recommended this new one. One of my favourites by far. Lovely setting, need to book.
La Lucciola - didn't love as much as usual this time. Felt prices had gone up a lot & not justifiably. Caprioska's still as wonderful as ever though.
Hu'u - probably the best meal we had. All four of us agreed the food was amazing. Don't mind paying the prices when the food is this good.
Ku De Ta - we only ever do breakfast here. Despite having breakfast included with our villa we cannot ever do a visit to Bali without having breakfast here - just amazing. My favourite is the Ricotta Hotcakes - stunning. Had them twice while here. We walked here along beach from villa, nice walk.
Chandi - new restaurant on Jl.Oberoi. We dined here on our last night & thoroughly enjoyed it. Cuisine is modern Indonesian, very impressed. Would return here for sure.
We also ordered a bit of take-away into the villa & Pizza Club was always a hit. Great pizza's, pasta's and the best Greek Salad I found.
Outings this holiday included :
Safari Park - children loved the day we spent here. We arrived about 10.30am & spent the best part of the remainder of the day here. I think kids loved the water park as much as they did the animals though. A tip - make sure you take bathers and towels for kids & adults - I forgot mine & wished I had them with me. The baby orangutan is a big hit, daughter adored it. We waited to see it until later in the day & had a very short wait.
Waterbom Park - husband took daughter, 5 1/2 years, here for the day as she absolutely loves the slides. Will go down anything, very fearless. My four year old son not so eager. Apparently her highlight was the slingshot thing that they do backflips/frontflips on. Loved it!
I also finally managed to get a Balinese Cooking Class in on this trip which was a real highlight. Thankyou to those who recommended Nyoman at Sate Bali as it was excellent. It was a 4 hour class, and very handy for us as we just walked there & back. Very hands on & very versatile. Cannot wait to try out my culinary skills after this class.
We had regular massages at the spa/salon attached to Villa Bali Asri as they were just too convenient & too damn good. Also had a couple of pedicures here. My husband & I also visted Chill Spa at The Villa's a couple of times as we absolutely love the massages here. Can highly recommend this, we go there at least a couple of times on every trip. Not everyone's cup of tea but we love them. Very relaxing.
Shopping tips coming.......