Myself (Mum) and 5yr old daughter decided to have a quick holiday in Bali. hubby decided to stay in Perth this time and go camping out bush with his Dad. So it was a girls week and we were lucky enough to get the $62 each way flights with Air Asia. Took the 4.50am flight, left on time and arrived on time. Got lucky on the way over getting 3 seats between two of us so my 5yr old was able to stretch out and go back to sleep.
Arriving in Bali, I quickly paid for our visas in Australian dollars and it worked out to be about $62 Aus. I then turned to the immigration lines and was met by a wall of people. After an hour I still had about 20 people in front of us but got lucky when I spotted a new desk starting up so managed to grab my daughter and bolt to the front of that line. After a few more minutes we were threw and finding our luggage then out to the taxi. Can see why people use VIP VOA. If that new line had not have opened up I would have been there a lot longer.
HOTEL: Febris. First time at this hotel and would stay there again. Had a superior room on the thrid floor looking over the pool. room was spotless and modern. Beds were a little hard, but I had no trouble sleeping. Large fridge was awesome and the LCD flatscreen tv mounted on the wall was a nice touch. Staff were friendly and helpful. Breaky consisted of the usual stuff, eggs, toast, pancakes, fruit, rice, cereal etc. We were only interested in having toast and fruit so I can't comment on the quality of the other stuff, but it all looked nice. We ate dinner there twice. It was ok, but there are better places to eat close by at better prices.
FOOD: Beach Cafe at Bali Garden Hotel. My daughter loves the kids menu here, so this is where we ate most nights. Pizzas were great and my gaughters favourite was the kids hotdog. I also tried thier Gnochi (spelling?) and the satay chicken. It was all delicious! I think their prices are fantastic value!
Il Cielos. Next door to Febris. Good prices, nice service and yummy food. Sadly I tried this one a bit late in the holiday. If I had tried it sooner I would have eaten here more often.
Gloria Jeans. This was our daily lunch time stop for a refreshing Ice Chocolate and Ice Coffee and use of the free internet in the very welcoming lounge upstairs. A great place to just chill out enjoy a drink and look over your mornings shopping achievements! Staff are really nice here also.
Shopping: Mataharis. This is where we did the bulk of our shopping. Got the usual stuff, heaps of clothes for my daughter, T'shirts for the hubby back home, and shoes for myself. Not as many sales on this time, but still enough to satisfy us.
Geneva. Visited here for a few gifts and some stuff for home. Got table runners, cushion covers and some metal geckos and dragon flies for my patio.
Discovery Mall. didn't shop very much here apart from a few original music cds and a couple of toys for my daughter. Visited the Star Bucks a couple of times and my daughter enjoyed the ice cream at teh Cold Rock shop in front of Star Bucks.
Lisas Spa: just up from Febris on the right hand side heading towards Kuta. I had a Balinese Massage here for 35,000. My daughter had her nails (finger & toes) done with nail art for 50,000 and her hair braided for 100,000. I'm not sure what is a good price to pay for the hair, but I was happy with the cost and they did a wonderful job.
DVDs. Got bulk of these from the little dvd shop across the road from Discovery Mall. Girls here are lovely and very helpful. Only one dvd did not work but was able to find another that did.
Sightseeing: Bali Safari Park. As we were only in Bali for a short time, this was the only sightseeing we did. As usual we had a fantastic day. There is heaps of road work as you get closer to the park which made our journey there about 30minutes longer than normal. Our shuttle bus driver was very apologetic but we told him it wasn't his fault and could not be helped. We did the usual stuff, photo with a tiger and then the cheeky orangutan. Paid the 80,000 to have the tiger photo printed and framed. My little girl was very proud of this photo, so money well spent there I reckon. It was even lucky enough to be taken to "show and tell" at school upon our return. Was going to do the elephant ride, but didn't have enough with me to cover $50 Aus for a 10min ride. Next time I will take more cash with me. Safari ride was wonderful as usual as was the elephant show. Couldn't find if the Marine part was open. I thought it was, but perhaps I missed the signs. Maybe next time. Finsihed off in the water park there, a quick bit of shopping in the gift shop then off home.
Flight home was delayed leaving Bali. Straight through customs in Perth with no problems and we were the first ones out straight into the welcoming arms of my Mum. My 5yr old ran through the airport towards her yelling "NANNA" on the top her voice and leapt into her arms. Was a lovely touch for my Mum. Great holiday, will try to go for longer next time as it felt a bit rushed just doing the 6nights. Not that I'm complaining, 6 nights is better than no nights!
Cheers..........