We just come back from 8 days in our beloved Bali ....Dad, Mum, 10yo and 8yo...Rupee was around the 8600 and the weather was the hottest we experienced in all our years to Bali.
Flight with Garuda out of Perth was on time and came with all the usual problems associated with Garuda I.E. scheduled movie did not work so Japanese movie was played ,service was at best slow ,on the way back at one stage I went at the back of the plane (for the 3rd Time , our first request over 30 minutes earlier) to ask if my daughter screen could be reset because in the middle of a movie it had frozen I found 3 hostess sitting down talking to each other and was told in no uncertain terms that there were very busy in Business class ? (I was in economy) and that it will be done as soon as they can...I walked down to BC only to find 4 people sitting there ?...however lots of smiles and who cares when you are going to land in just over 3 hours.
Hotel ...we stayed at Casa Padma Suite in Jl Padma ...we had a ground floor Deluxe family suite with two king size bed. The rooms are big with a 3 seater couch, LCD screen(no DVD player, we brought our own small car type with a lead for the TV) , table and chairs , large walk in wardrobe , large bathroom with bath and separate shower, small bar fridge , kettle , two independent aircond . The room had by- fold windows that opened on to the pool area great for our kids and for us keeping an eye on them from our room ....the hotel is only small (28 rooms) so the service is personal and very Bali like ... ...the hotel is across the road from a sometime very rowdy Aussie Pub complete with late night karaoke renditions of any of Cold Chisel Greatest Hit .. but from where are room was situated it was hardly noticeable ....Jl Padma is a small mostly one way traffic road with the usual mix of DVD stores, market type stalls, restaurants, 24 hr minimarts, money changes and the perennial footpath/roadwork...you are only 200mt from the beach walking between the Mandira hotel on your left (south) and the Padma on your right (north) ...another 500mt heading north on the beach and you hit a few good restaurant like Zanzibar and Lanai....
Bali Safari Park ...following the advice from the Forum we walked to Jimmy DVD store on JL Padma and negotiated transport (return) to the park (Rp250K) ...it was probably the highlight of the trip given the absolutely great service from our Driver and tour guide Jack (I am not getting paid for this , we were genuinely very impressed) Jack not only drove us there and back (830pickup to 4:30return) but also made sure that we got to all the events (or as many as we wanted) throughout the park ...from holding the 3yo Orangutan before the crowd arrived , to the impressive stage shows with live animals sitting in the shade with a bottle of cold water , when we could not be bothered going on some of the rides(there is also a small but well planned out amusement park on site) he would join our kids and they had great fun with him ...by the end of the day Jack was their best friend and we saw the young Jack a few times during our stay....our recommendation if you are going to the Safari park do it this way it will be well worth it or you will miss out and or spend a lot of your time in queue ...Personal Island Tour ..Jack mob +62 81338230088...............or just go to Jimmy DVD store and ask for Jack.
Waterbom Park ...was fun and the kids had a ball on all the rides ...once you are in the only way to buy food drinks or to pay for any extra 'rides' (like the climbing wall or the trampoline bungee jump) is to use your Rupees preloaded wristband...the system is somewhat awkward especially when the barcode on your bad can't be read ...once you are in you can pay for a locker to place your valuable and a gazebo to plonk your towels and to have lunch with your band .... as a guide after admission we loaded our wristband with 1M Rup and that was enough with some little to spare to pay for gazebo and locker hire (you get credit back at the end) , trying all the extra 'rides', have lunch and several ice creams and snacks for 4 . ..You can always top up your wrist band if you run out and check your balance at specific stations throughout the park.
We also spent one day at TUKA Orphanage (see separate entry)
Restaurants: had dinner at Zanzibar, good value, great terrace setting, good service and great food. Lunch at Bluefin in Kuta if you like fresh Japanese (fusion) it's a great place not cheap (for Bali standard) but for quality of food it's the best. Drops (part of the Hotel) was great with a big choice of meals and very reasonably priced ...Mozzarella good Italian in Jl Padma, nice setting, great value ...Tsavo Lion Restaurant (at the Safari Park) big open area under huge thatched roof, Air conditioned a welcome relief. The idea of having a lioness drinking from a stream less than 5 meters in front of you (glass in between)while you are having a meal is quite a thrill ....Take 2 Japanese in Jl Padma was fresh and much cheaper than Bluefin (but the food not as fancy) great value ...all of these restaurant cater for kids.
Shopping the usual Discovery Mall for men and ladies shoes and apparel , Matahari Department store for Kids shoes and clothes , Carrefour in Kuta for fresh provisions and for the food donation we presented to the Orphanage (knowing something about wine I noticed that Carrefour has a good selection of quality imported wines and bubbly at very reasonable prices) and your normal Markets stalls ...we had preordered our DVD from Megah disc before leaving and collected them from one of their stores during the week.
Overall we had a great time with the kids although it was far too short ...A Note of warning ...we made the fatal mistake to fill in a 'Feedback Form' at Tsavo Restaurant asking about our experience at the Park and the service at the restaurant ...unfortunately it also asked under 'general questions' where were we staying while in Bali ...from that day we received in excess of 10 phone calls (eventually told reception to take messages only) from different Promotions/You have won a major price/we are not selling anything but....moral of the story don't tell them where you are staying or better still don't fill the form....if you need any further info on anything on the report just drop a line... we are going back in March and will be staying in Canguu in a new private villa with all the services 200mt from the beach... that would be interesting.