Just back on Thursday (16 days) had a great trip just a pity the $ was not better
Flights: Had excellent flights with Garuda both ways ( and the check in was painless at both ends)confirmed our return flight at the Kuta Paradiso hotel staff very friendly and got the seats we wanted.
Hotel: MBR have stayed there previuosly , it is a good family hotel ( 4 of us )we stayed in the cottage rooms , plenty of space in the room and the king bed was enormous, staff were good although some are a bit grumpy mainly the ones in the swim up bars.
The breakfast each day was ordinary, and the hotel appears to require some maintenance ( going from our last visit 2 years ago).
They have cut out happy hour at the swim up bars which was very dissapointing , and you are restricted to bring in only 2 drinks PP from outside the hotel ( although we got around it easily)all in all its still a good hotel to stay at for the price , but we might try somewhere different next time ( the Sari Beach looked good next door)
Resturants:found that the cheapest good quailty resturants were to be found down Poppies 1 or 2
One we did like down P1 was Bali Agung
Other resturants that we found to be of a great standard were:
La Monde ( there are 2 ands we tried both), Indonational( always very busy and the best Cap cay in Bali), Wayan and friends , Legian snacks, Goodys Pizza( beach front double six) ,Corner bar,
9 restauarant(great service),Hotel Karthi bar & resaurant
Others that were good: Ye Old Fuken Pub, Dolphins ( although not bad staff were in your face all the time )
Legends for a good night out with a group and atmosphere , but a little on the expensive side (drinks)
Having said all that we never had a bad meal whilst we were there and nobody got sick and of course the kids had to try KFC and MacDonalds.
Waterbomb park: was great , we went there twice , second time cheaper if you pay before you leave the first time( food is a bit expensive but good) you can not take food or drinks into the park( except water)some of our friends got a pass out and went across the road to KFC or the food hall at the top of Discovery.
Try the corn cobs at Waterbomb they are great !
Driver: we always use Jimmy Gorgeous, and we sponsor a child from his village( good driver and good cars)
Bali safari: good day excellent for the kids especially holding the animals,although one of our friends also went to the Bali zoo and said they got to hold more animals and it was cheaper.
We went with our driver Jimmy( 250,000 rp for the day) and he made the difference as he new the park inside out and the staff.
Great day at the Safari park but now we have done it , probably wont go back next time
Shopping:Clothes did most of the shopping at Ketuts and Wayans( across the road from Ketuts( got what we wanted, set prices and no hassle)
Went to Unagi, although it is cleaner and brighter than Geneva there were no prices on the items and you were forever asking "how much"
We stuck to Geneva.
Wents to the AFL shop a bit dissapointing , although we picked up a few items at good prices.
Our friends got some shoes made at Jurrasic leather and were really happy with the result.
Dentist: We went to see Dr Rudy at the Galleria , excellent dentist both my wife and i had work done and would thoroughly recomment him, would suggest that if you are going to get dental work done go within the first couple of days getting into Bali as he is now very popular and some work like crowns require 2 visits.
I had 2 fillings and some other minor work ( $130) and no needles...and done within 30 minutes ..great!
Chemist( Apotek)we found that most are really helfull , my wife unfortunatley got a bad cold over there and we went to the chemist at the discovery plaza and got some anti biotics over the counter , also found the Apotek outside the Bintang supermarket excellent.
Also purchased from there some Silver Clove ( 20,000 rp ) and some Bokashi oil ( 33,000 rp large)my wife found this excellent for her eczema and the kids mozzie bites and i found the silver clove excellent for my tired feet!!!.
Speaking of mozzies there were a few around.
The only thing we could not get from the Apotek was Aqua Ear so i would suggest if you do need it bring it with you most other things you can get either from the Apotek or supermarket.
ATM : ran a bit short on the last few days and used the CBA ATM at the Bintang supermarked , no problems.
Taxis:Found Bluebird the best , but any cab is ok just ask them to turn the meter on.
Phone : purchased an XL sim card (150,000rp with 102,000 rp credit)
phone back home and text's etc ( 3-4 min phone call 3,000rp!!!)
DVD hire:would suggest if you are going to hire a DVD player long term that you buy a cheap one over there(300,000 rp)
Jimbarin Bay: i said that i would not do this again , but went with some first timers so we went out there, good night if its your first time , but very expensive.
For great atmosphere(and very cheap) and to watch the sun go down get friendly with a vendor on any beach and stick with him and he will look after you with cold Bintangs and some seats , we found one up toward the Jayakarta and he looked after several of the group ( Gee is his name if you are intertested.
BB Prevention:We did the same as last trip and it seems to have worked( then and now) but i dont know if it was just good luck or not? , we had a probiotic every morning with a strong rasberry drink (Cascade)
Nobody in our family got sick , but other members of the group seemed to be sick at some stage of the holiday some for several days and pretty severe.
Denpasar: went there for half a day wish we had spent the whole day as there a lot of little interesting shops and markets.
We didnt get over to Sanur but wish we had have even for just a couple of drinks or a meal.
Airport Lounge : would suggest if you have a wait at the airport on the way home and you have some spare RP's that you indulge in the lounge ( 150,000rp adult and 75,000 per child) all you can eat drink nice lounges etc etc , cafes and restaurants at the airport a very expensive eg: bottle of water 15,000rp ++ even a Maccas meal is nearly 50,000rp.
Its a shame that a very low percentage of Australians who visit Bali seem to leave there manners at home( or maybe they didnt have any in the first place?), on that subject there are also peolpe for other nations( wont name them ) who are just outright rude both to the Balinese and others!
All up a excellent trip and we are now starting to plan our next one.
I hope Bali doesnt change to much i did notice a lot of new hotels and shopping centres being constructed ... wait and see?