Having settled into the Bali way of life, and becoming accustomed to the climate and the huge crowds and traffic due to Idul Fitri holidays, it was time to get out and explore. So for Day 4 we decided on Waterbom, and joined the queue. At the counter I asked what the exchange rate for $AUD was, which was 7,500 to the dollar. This was well above the street rate, so I paid in AUD, and put some more on a wrist band which covered us for the day and then became Rupiah as we exited. Understandably the place was packed due to the Ramadan holiday period, but all the ride queues moved fairly quickly and by day's end we'd had a good day, so bought a second day for the family.
My lovely wife enjoyed her massage at Waterbom whilst we rode the slides.
On the way home we ducked into Warung Warung for a quick feed for the family and at 178,000 very good value. Spring rolls were yummy and the yellow curry was great also. Quick service, good food.
After a day of running up ramps at Waterbom, everyone slept soundly that night - until my friend the Cleric again called me to prayer at 4am.
Day 5
With the assistance of a fellow guest, we hired a driver out the front of the Febris to do some shopping for a very modest rate. You get what you pay for - no seatblens and a VERY old van.
We started at the Billabong factory outlet - most of the range was 30% off - the same as all of the shop-front stores, with only a few racks at 50% off and one rack at 75% discount. Not much worth having so we didn't end up with much from there. On to Carrefour, which was great - Coles, K-Mart and Retravision all under one roof. Good prices and well worth the visit. Bought some "Orange Water" here for less than 80 cents per bottle - a lovely cool refreshing drink.
We then headed for Seminyak and ended up in a bedding shop called St Isidor on JL Laksmana / JL Oberoi. Excellent quality and very helpful - we ended up ordering four doona covers and extra pillow covers at an average price of $70 per set, which whilst not the cheapest in Bali, was still very good value considering the quality of the material and workmanship.
Day 6
The family spent the day by the pool. On the recommentation of a fellow BTF member I walked up to the Melasti Beach Bungalows to visit their day spa. The 1.5 hour Melasti Massage was excellent and very good value at 145,000 rupiah (included taxes, etc). Ask for Rose or Mimi they are both very good.
Having heard so much about Yut's, we decided to head there for dinner. It's not that easy to find in the dark, but we got there in the end. We had a great meal for four, including drinks, for 400,000 rupiah which given the quality of the food was exceptional value. The only down side was that every table surrounding us were occupied by chain smokers from Europe who regularly lit up before, during and after their meals, so the kids weren't too impressed. I thought quietly to myself how quickly Australians have become accustomed to the new smoking laws and how much better we are for it.
Our taxi home explored every back street in Legian and Kuta to avoid the holiday traffic, and despite taking the long way, was half the cost of the cab there.
Again, we all slept soundly until 4am prayer time.