Half Way Report
Before I start, Sorry it's long, Sorry for Typos and Spelling mistakes, Sorry for bad construction and disjointed paragraphs, Sorry for anything and everything but I feel it's probably got more good than harm hahaha :)
To set the scene
Family of 4, Wife (TJ) and I both 25, two children (7 year old girl and 5 month old boy) both at home with their nanna, woooo! :)
April 2 - April 5... The journey so far
April 1 flight for 6pm flight got bumped to April 2 at 4pm that day, did not worry us as it meant we saved on VOA charges as only 6 night stay now, early start at 3am to get to Perth Airport at 5am (Had to drop kids off with their grand mother). Asked for exit row at Garuda checkin and said they would make note and call us if possible. Surprised to see that not only flight ran on time (10 minutes early) but we got called for exit row. Good start to holiday!! TJ (Wife) Was most upset about leaving children for first time so was good to get away on time. Breakfast on flight was worst plane food i've ever had, which says alot! Scrambled eggs were more like minced up bridgestone tyres with some yellow food dye mixed in to help it go down! Other than food and the movie not working (Slum Dog Millionaire, maybe Bali Copy? hahahha) it was a good flight over. Raced out of gate through to VOA and was second through but surprise surprise, bags some of last to come out. Thought we'd wizz through customs but did not see chalk mark on bag. Did not take alcohol over so was surpised when we were stopped, they queried my laptop for some reason... Was so happy to be back in Bali I really didn't care though, the smells and sounds so overpowering and brought back so many memories from our last trip. I did instantly notice that the streets seemed much quieter than in November 07 - Driver suggested the elections are keeping people away.
Free hotel pickup was waiting for us and off to the Hard Rock we went. Arrived at Hard Rock to be told room not ready for 45 minutes, no problems we said so we left bags and went into Kuta to change some money and have some lunch. Came back to find our room still not ready after an hour and a half, kicked up a bit of a fuss as they knew what time we were arriving and we had been up since 3am. I asked for the general manager whom I know fairly well and he was conveniently unavailable so duty manager came out and offered us a lesser room in the mean time so we could freshen up, I thought this was a nice gesture but not really helpful as we couldnt really settle in. 3pm came and our room was finally ready so we got unpacked and started our holiday officially, yay!! Went to Carrefour to stock up on supplies for the week and was surpised also at how quiet things were from here went to Green Garden for spa treatment, we went last time and found it excellent value for money, same this time except I'm sure they forgot about us after facial was put on and we had to call out for them to return hahaha, oops!
We had dinner on our first night at the Hard Rock Cafe, I had been fantasising over their BBQ Ribs for quite some time but maybe built them up too much in my head as I was a little disappointed. Still a good meal but certainly not our best. From this we then went for a walk to Matahari to get a SIM card and TJ some shorts as her Jeans were making her stand our a little too much hahahaha. Got that done, had a quick look around to see what, if anything, had changed in Kuta and nope, all looked very similar :) Got rate of 7950 which I thought was fair for Kuta.
Friday April 3rd and we had breakfast included with hotel at Hard Rock, standard buffet style with some brilliant Prawn Dumplings. Took a lovely morning stroll before the heat down the beach towards Discovery, forgot about Bali Time and things not opening until 10am so spent an hour and a half watching passers by and having some cold drinks at Starbucks as nothing else was open. Did some general looking around and TJ got kids some clothes and toys etc, overall found some good deals and not so good deals. Took Blue Bird to Dolphin Leather to order TJ some boots and then to Ketuts for some fixed price shopping, she was fantastic! Bali Rock for lunch and had some excellent BBQ Chicken and TJ some Sate Chicken, fantastic value, cold beer, what more could you ask for? I found an excellent shop with quality Ed Hardy, paid 288,000 for one shirt which was dear but even the local sellers cannot pick it for fake, it has sparkles etc. Bought some lesser quality Ed Hardy at Legian markets, I think we paid about 50,000 per shirt. Changed some money at a very nice, professional money changer with rate of 8000. Finished the days shopping off with a massage at Spa Bali which was so far the best massage place we've found. Skipped dinner due to late lunch and went back to Hard Rock for an evening swim and an early night.
Saturday April 4th, breakfast a little disappointing but was OK. Went to Nusa Dua to see Bali Collection, Whilst I know good for Japanese and not Aussies so much last time we had found some good bags and reasonably priced quality fakes. This time it was very disappointing, even Sogo had nothing worth buying. Had some terrific Sate at one of the restaurants there, had a wander around but I was getting a bit cranky and TJ thought it was time to head off as I was no doubt giving her the sh*ts hahaha. The security that was once friendly is now being clearly helped out financially by the taksi drivers who were asking stupid money to drive us back to Kuta and my phone wouldnt let me phone a blue bird for some reason. So we walked past and grabbed a driver and negotiated 80,000 back to Kuta including stopping at a few of the surf factory outlets on the way back, spent about an hour and a half in the end with him so we gave him 100,000 and got out alot heavier and alot poorer having visited the surf outlets! Found some brilliant savings here, much better than in 07. Went for afternoon swim and then for a walk down to Pappa's for dinner. Without a doubt, best quality food i've had in Bali ever, delicious food, fantastic service, an amazing singer/guitarist playing a good range of music and all in all, the perfect evening out. A little expensive but OK when you took into consideration the food, we shared the Brushetta, I had Fettucini Arabiato and TJ Steak and Mushroom sauce, Creme' Brulee was lovely and TJ had some Baked Cheesecake which did not last for long so must have been nice!. Bill came to about 950,000 incl 2 spirit drinks each and some shots at the end.
Sunday April 5th, Breakfast also a little disappointing due to range not being the best and some bloody Japanese kids with musical instruments while trying to enjoy breakfast. We walked down to the Oakley store at the Mercure in the hope they had size 11 sandles that I had been looking for everywhere. Success! Checked out facilities and depending on price might stay there next time. We took a taxi then out to Spa Bali again, TJ had Manicure and Pedicure for 2 hours, I had massage and we both walked out alot happier and ready for a sleep! We went and changed some money up at a good changer which we used back on Friday and had good rate of 8050. From here I bought another one of the fake Ed Hardy shirts (At 288,000 very good quality) and then came back to Hard Rock for a day in a cabanna by the pool, had pool side lunch and drinks and had a good relaxing few hours :) The Activity Staff were having canoe racing and water walking with the kids which made us wish we had them with us! Came up to room and got changed at about 5pm and headed out to Ultimo for dinner, had a wander around Seminyak, found some excellent smaller boutique clothing stores and got some really original items for TJ. Walked back to Ultimo for dinner, they had put aside for us an excellent table by the window looking out to the outside area and we shared Bruschetta, I had Duck Ravioli (To die for!) and TJ some Steak, Mash with Red Wine Jus. Shared Creme' Brulee and had 6 pinapple/lemonades between us, bill came to only 230,000, I was amazed at the brilliant price, service, food and everything. Favorite bang for buck restaurant in Bali without a doubt! Food was mind blowing and we will hopefully return before leaving on Wednesday. We took a cab back to Kuta Markets and TJ in her wisdom said 'you go to our money changer and change your money and i'll go to ATM', I thought it was a good idea and we went with that, unfortunately for us and luckily for somebody else, TJ forgot to take her card out of ATM after getting money out, normally I am always behind her reminding her over and over to do it. We did not realise for about 2 hours and ofcourse got back, phoned NAB and sure enough, account drained of money and fraud team had flagged account, unfortunately after all of TJ's play money was taken out of her personal account. Fraud team says she will hopefully get a refund as it was taken from her credit account but i'm not holding my breath. A big dampener to a really enjoyable day.
We did ALOT of shopping between getting here and now and i've left out alot as I didn't want to this to become too long, will post back detail and fill in the blanks when we get back :)
Still to come before we go back on Wednesday
Sukawati Markets
Swimwear
Tailor for business shirts
Ubud
Dolphin Leather pickup
Ultimo again hopefully
Spa Bali again hopefully
Any questions, please fire away!!