This is a follow up to JBR Part 1 Posted by joh on Wednesday, 17. December 2008 at 16:18 Bali Time.
I had a health issue a week before we left and wasn't sure if we would actually get to go on our holiday. The problem has now escalated; hence the delay in getting onto the forum to finish the JBR.
I'm a 'list person' and always have one on the go, of things I would like to see/do. I like the idea of not ticking everything off as it gives me more things to look forward to experiencing. I couldn't do as much as I had planned but will fix that next time. Anyway, my recollection of things are starting to dull a little but I'll pass on what comes back to me.
SPAS:
Our first visit was to the Melasti Spa in Legian where I had been last visit. The two females traveling in our small group booked in for a hair cream bath and the men went for a massage. Although everyone was happy with their treatment we soon discovered the Briella Spa was a lot closer to our accommodation (Kumala Pantai). The others in our group made many visits here for a range of treatments - foot massage, leg massage, body scrub, and I had a manicure later in the week. Very easy to deal with. Thanks to the forum for this gem! I have a brochure here with me and for those interested, some of the prices are:
Manicure - Rp 60,000
Flower manicure - Rp 70,000
Foot treatment 1 hour Rp - 65,000
Traditional body massage 1 hour - Rp 65,000
Body scrub 1 hour - Rp 85,000
The packages range from 2 hours @ Rp 275,000 to 4 hours @ Rp 450,000
SPECTACLES:
I had ready about Mr Honeyman on the forum and tried to search him out when at the Bintang Supermarket as we were staying in the area. He proved to be very elusive as most people I asked said they didn't know him and I wasn't sure if he had a booth set up or what. The following day I asked again at the Sim card booth and the person behind the counter suggested he had gone to Java for a ceremony. Plan B kicked in and we visited Optic Jaya Mandiri as recommendation by dennisc. I would concur with this recommendation. It was a professional set up with eyes tested in air-conditioned premises. My partner ordered two sets of glasses (one pair more robust for work) and a smarter pair. The address on the business card is Jl Legian, Gg Melani No. 3 and the name of the optician is Nur Aman. He was a lovely man and asked where we were headed after our visit. No sooner had we told him we told him we were heading to Kuta than he had his car outside and dropped us off at the memorial. He dropped the specs at the hotel to save us coming back to the store.
DONATIONS:
We dropped items that we had managed to keep in our luggage allowance at Ricky' Bar as I didn't have the capacity to get what we could fit in to Smudge at S&S (thanks to both serenity and dennisc for posting details of this place). As I said in my first JBR it was a real headache this time as we were not successful in getting any extra allowance with Garuda for the flight over. I had to pull out some really good children's shoes as they did weigh the most. (I wonder if Jetstar is any easier as we are flying with them in June?)
MONEY CHANGERS:
For our regular needs we found a guy close to the Kumala Pantai that did the right thing and mainly used him. On other occasions we used a money changer on the way to the Bintang Supermarket on the other side of the road. From memory the rates were a bit lower here but it was a straight up business. I looked for the changer mentioned on the forum, Ayu near the Puri Raja but couldn't really understand where her shop was.
In my experience I find money changers either straight up to deal with, or crooks; there is no in-between. Depending on my mood I find it either a bit frustrating or a bit of a challenge. The greatest challenges are when you are all out and about and someone in the group wants to change money at a yet to be tested changer. We had some fun one day in Jl Legian down near Poppies 2 trying to change money at more than one of the numerous places (all with rates over and above mind you). When they realized we knew what they were up to with dishing out the small notes, and then when sprung shortchanging, claiming a commission when none was on the sign, they just refused to change and suggested we go somewhere else. In the last place my friend just stood his ground said I'll take 7,200 and you keep the extra 55 (or whatever it was on the board) for your commission just to get some cash.
I think the two questions that need to be asked before starting are, and I think I have the right order,
1. Do you charge commission?
2. Do you have large notes?
That way when the money is short they can't claim the shortfall is due to commission.
I've run out of steam and will finish later with a bit of shopping, restaurants.