Ok this is my first JBR so please be nice :)
We were off to Bali for my BIL's 40th birthday. A fantastic excuse to head to Bali again! This was our second trip for the year (after getting married in Bali in April)so it was only for 8 nights this time. Flew AA Perth to Bali ($675 for 5 of us, gotta love it!) which was great. I was glad we'd packed the DVD Player as this flight was on a smaller plane so no entertainment was available to purchase. Not that I'm complaining! Arrived in Bali, walked down onto the tarmac (sp?) straight onto buses to be transferred to the terminal. Immigration/customs was absolutely packed. We'd arrived the same time as a few other planes so it was the busiest we've ever seen it. No problems though, eventually through customs and straight into a taxi to KTH.
On arriving at KTH, with much cursing by the taxi driver as he tried to squeeze the cab past some scaffolding in the middle of the street (more like an alleyway) next to KTH, we arrived to be met with a lovely cold drink and fairly quick check in. We were slightly disappointed to hear we'd have to move rooms after the first night (this was the reason we didn't book the Jayakarta apartments) but we took it in our stride. We stayed in a deluxe apartment, a fantastic size for three young children to run around in.
The next morning we went down for breakfast, really slow service (sorry but wow this was ridiculously slow our entire trip), and after finally eating some really lovely banana pancakes and fruit we were off to get supplies from Carreforre. Carreforre was great as usual we had lunch at Japanese Bento in the food hall which was really nice. I'm told the chicken ball soup is a winner.
Back to KTH to move rooms. The room we were moved to was nowhere near as nice as the first room but we weren't complaining as it is relatively cheap compared to our usual haunt the KP. The bathroom in the main bedroom was really grubby and the sink was broken but it worked....well for the moment anyway. This was the first day of many that we would have either no water, searing hot water or trickling cold water. This is something KTH really needs to fix. We never had the problem in the first room so maybe it was just the room but geez it was annoying. Housekeeping just couldn't understand what we were talking about even when we tried to show them. Kids had a play at the pool and dinner from room service which was ok then off to bed.
Woke up and headed off to Kumala Pantai to see our family who were all staying there and the kids had a swim with their cousins. Headed off down the road to the little place beside Briella Spa (can't remember the name) for a nice lunch. Had a wander through the markets then back to KTH to get the kids ready for the sitter. With that sorted we headed out for dinner at Pantai (I think that was the name of it, near Ma Joly??). Lovely night and a lovely dinner. We finished and went for a stroll along the beach up to Centro. What a great area this is now. Popped in and had a look at the BGH which looks so nice. I was so impressed I tried to get a booking there for April to no avail. Into Centro for some DVD's and a bit of shopping then back to KTH.
The next morning we headed off to look around the Kuta area and stopped to have lunch at Bubba Gumps with the kids. They love this place. Up to centro to pick up some things for the kids and back to KTH to prepare for 40th. We headed to Lanai for happy hour and dinner and it was a great night. The food was fantastic, the drinks heavenly, they even brought out a cake and sang happy birthday to the birthday boy compliments of the house. Really fantastic place that we'll continue to return to.
Woke up in the morning to one of the pool's being closed. Looked like someone had thrown up in it (I might be wrong but that's what it looked like). Quick breakfast and off again. Can't quite remember this day...all a bit of a blur really :)
Breakfast slow as usual but we eventually get out and over to KP to meet with family. Lunch at KP (fantastic as usual), some shopping browsing and bintang stops for the guys then out to Rumors for dinner. Everyone enjoyed their dinner, mine seemed lovely, off back to the hotel. Now I've had traveller's belly before but this time I'm assuming it was food poisoning, no idea where from but man was I sick so I was out for the next day hugging the toilet bowl (sorry too much info I know!!)
So after spending the next day in bed and a pharmacy run we decide to go to Waterbom (still a little off I choose to relax in a hut for the day). The kids, and big kids, had a ball. I'm told the new slides are fantastic. This was our last night so we headed out with my MIL to Briella's for a pedicure (me) and massages (Hubby and my MIL). Fantastic place and so relaxing. Off to dinner at Yutz then across the road for drinks. Then back to the hotel to pack for the next morning.
Woke up dragging our feet not ready to leave Bali so soon. Headed down to breakfast and while we were waiting to be served I let the guy at reception know we'd be checking out after breakfast so they could get it all organised. My son decided he wanted a banana and not the usual breakfast they offered so the girl told me we'd have to pay for the banana. Not really a problem, as I have no problems paying for what we use, but I've never been to a hotel that charges for a banana for a 3 year old. Breakfast done we head up to reception to check out, nothing had been organised. After waiting and waiting and numerous phone calls to housekeeping we get our bill. No probs, we pay and take a KTH transfer to the airport.
Arrive 3 hrs before and check in straight away. Plane is on schedule so we head through and decide we'll go into one of the lounges. Now which one was supposed to be the good one Dewi or Prada....hmmm, I can't remember so I choose Prada. 100,000rp each for adults, kids free so 200,000 for the 5 of us...bargain! Having never been into a lounge before on any of our Bali trips we were pleasantly suprised and will definately do this in future. Sitting in the lounge one of the kids asks for the Nintendo. After a mad search through bags we realise it's been left charging in the hotel beside the bed. The girl at the desk lets me use the phone and I call the hotel. The guy at the front desk tells me he'll check with housekeeping and hangs up on me. The girl at the Prada desk calls back and lets off a flurry of Indonesian and hands me the phone. The guy says they have found the nintendo,oh and by the way we have another bill for you for 56,000. Ok I say, no problem (this is why we told them early at breakfast when we were checking out so all this could be sorted) I say, we'll have a family member pick up the nintendo for us and send us an email with the details and we'll have to organise to pay the 56,000 from home as we are about to leave the country. All sorted we think and boarding is called. *On returning home we're told that when my MIL went to pick up the Nintendo they asked her for payment for our "unpaid bill". Really not impressed with this not to mention it's pretty embarassing. That's why we gave them prior warning so things like this are avoided*
Head to the gate, through security and wait in the holding area....and wait.....and wait. Eventually we are told that there is a delay due to technical difficulties and it'll be another hour. I head back through the gate to find a book (if you ever want a book check out the ones at the bookshop/mag shop near gate one...so cheap! For the ones I wanted anyway) Grabbed a book and boarding is called (15 mins after the hour delay was announced but who's complaining!!). Hurry back through security as our seat number is getting called (benefit of choosing hot seats). Pretty uneventful flight back, lovely host/hostesses on AA and into Perth. Border Security is filming and the cues are really long.
Finally get through, head out to the long term carpark only to realise that I can't find my parking ticket. Very embarassing! Feeling like such an idiot I push the Help button speak to the guy and head over to the booth to get them to re-issue me a ticket. Thankfully the man was nice about it all and tells me not to worry about it that I'm not the first and won't be the last :)
So now we're counting down to April and our next Bali trip...what's that you say?? Cheap AA tickets on sale!?! Hmmm maybe we can squeeze another trip in before then!!lol
Thanks for reading :-)