First of all, let me start this JBR with a huge THANKYOU, (yes I did mean to shout that out), to everyone on the forum that makes it the fabulous place that it is. I consider it my ‘Virtual Balinese World'. Well that's how I like to think of it.
I have been an advocate of the forum for about 8 trips now, but I must admit, I have taken a great deal more than what I have given back. There.....that's finally out now, I have finally admitted it....and yes I feel very guilty about that. So, this JBR is going to be as helpful and as informative as it can be. I hope that someone sharing my ‘virtual world' will get something out of it. Please feel free to ask questions.
This trip, number 9, (the first one was around 30 years ago), was to celebrate my sister in law's 50th birthday and my nieces 18th birthday. We were a party of 15, consisting of family and friends. Some were on their first trip to Bali and some were on their second. We were definitely (husband and self) the most senior of the group. Now I am not talking age here. Oh damn, we met that criteria too.
We stayed the first 6 nights at the Kuta Townhouses (our second stay there). This place is always great value for money and in a very convenient location. We had the executive suite, which I wouldn't bother with again. The only thing that it had different to the other rooms was a spa in one of the bedrooms. The suites are in the corner of the complex, which overlook the back of some buildings. In saying this, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the rooms, it's just that the two bedroom suites are every bit as good and better positioned in overlooking the pool area. If the spa is a draw card for you, then you will be more than happy.
The second week of our trip, was spent in a lovely group of villas in Seminyak. They are part of the Bugis Villas. We had two, three bedroom villas called Villa Jaclan and Villa Rama. Now these were absolutely lovely. They are certainly more economical the more people that you have to share the cost with. So for a 3 brm/ 3 bthrm villa, it didn't work out too bad. About $360 per night, although I think the price has gone up a bit since. This worked out at $120 per couple per night. It was certainly a treat. It was a great way to socialize with a large group, having your own pool and entertaining area to yourselves. With the money that we saved staying in a 2brm suite in the Kuta Twonhouses, it averaged out very nicely and was a great way to vary our holiday.
Whilst staying in the Kuta area, we once again tried the Kuta Steakhouse for dinner one night, as we did on our last trip. This was one of those golden tips that I got from a fellow forumite. This place is so unassuming, that I would never in a million years have gone in there, let alone order a fillet steak for 50/60,000rp and expect to get anything decent for that obscene amount of money. But..... the forumites know what they are talking about. This time was even better than the last time, or so it seemed. Maybe it's just fresher in my mind. The steak was absolutely amazing. Everyone's meal was. So, thanks for that great tip. For those who don't know, it is just opposite and a few doors up, from the Kuta Townhouses.
As I said earlier one of the reasons for this trip was for my Nieces 18th birthday. It was her first time to Bali, and as I was armed with all the useful information, I volunteered to organise her birthday dinner to celebrate. One of the great successes of the trip! Thanks again to all of you. I had done quite a bit of research on restaurants that might make for a memorable evening. Bubba Gumps was one option but I chose to go with another suggestion and it paid off big time. It's a place that has only been open for a year, called Blue Skyz. It is on Jalan Legian right next door to the Kuta Lagoon Resort. I called in to them during the day and spoke to them about the special event. They were fabulous from the very beginning. Wayan and his sister Alice organized everything. The evening went off perfectly. Our party of 15 arrived to a specially decorated birthday area. Our girl was crowned with a beautiful handmade ceremonial crown and treated all night to heaps of attention from all the fabulous staff. They often have a band playing here, but they weren't on this night. Instead, they played fabulous music and ended up with all the staff dancing along with our group, all the way up the stair case, doing the macarana etc.
They arranged a birthday cake, blindfolding her as she was just about to blow out the candles...........and voila....(unbeknownst to me) they switched the cake with a bowl of flour.........telling her to blow as hard as she could!
Well, it was hilarious. She took it really well. There was flour EVERYWHERE! It was a fabulous, fabulous night. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the food was great. We ended going back there for our last night. Very special people!
So comes the next birthday. From 18 to 50. My sister in law's turn. (the mother of the 18yo). I took a great deal of pleasure in organizing this one. She is quite a special person. Her second time in Bali. My present to her was a ‘Mystery day in Paradise'. She was told to be ready by 10.00, after a delicious breakfast by the pool and not to ask any questions. This one was quite a task as there were quite a few people to organize, with transport and dinner bookings and so forth and so forth. But again, it was all possible because of direct ideas and recommendations from all you fabulous people. So here goes, our itinerary for the day:
8 ladies for 2 hours of pampering starting at 10am. This was no mean feat. Getting someone to cater for 8 ladies at the same time this early in the morning is quite a challenge in Bali. Most massage places only have their minimum staff numbers on at this time of morning, as they all work quite late hours. But, we managed beautifully. It was very funny though. As we walked in the poor receptionist, started ringing everyone she could, and minutes later, in walks all our wonderful masseurs. There is nothing that is too much trouble in Bali! The menu was pretty much anything you wanted (Behave!). We had combinations of pedicure and body massages to facials, crème baths and hot stone massages. It was heaven. What a great start to the day.
Second on the agenda after grabbing transport for the 8 of us, looking years younger I might add, off to Kerokoban and the Biku Teahouse for High Tea (another great tip). This place is just gorgeous. It has a fabulous vibe to it, beautifully decorated in a very cultural way, yet so deliciously decadent with Royal Albert China and beautiful delicate afternoon tea treats. This was again enjoyed by all.
We then returned to the hotel for a quick freshen up and ready and waiting to be joined by the rest of the party.....the ‘Other Halves'! So, now there is 15 of us and we are picked up by the wonderful Made Mangku and his brother and cousin. Three very comfortable vehicles all ready and waiting for our next outing. Made is also on recommendation from the forum and one that I have been benefiting from for many years now. I highly recommend him as a driver. Fabulous, fabulous man. Very honourable and kind.
So now we are all off to Uluwatu (keep in mind, that my sister in law is totally oblivious to what is planned at all, and is just enjoying the ride). Made takes us all to the Kecak dance. This is something that all newbies should do at least once, when they go to Bali. It is truly a magnificent place. Set on a cliff, on the coast with a beautiful temple on the point. There is an amphitheatre set up, where this dance/play is performed as the sun is setting in the background. Just spectacular.
After the show (it goes for an hour), Made, then takes us to the GWK, Balinese Cultural Park, for dinner at the Jendela Restaurant. This was my second visit to this restaurant. I chose it because of the setting. The tables are set out on a beautiful terraced area that overlooks Jimbaran Bay, Benoa Harbour and the lights of Denpasar. Planes come in constantly over the ocean to the airport. It's a lovely restaurant with a truly international vista. They had set two round tables up for us with the covered chairs and ribbons. Just like a wedding. It was a lovely touch. Actually, I think Made was responsible for this, as he kindly made the booking for me.
Things became a little more ad hoc after that, which just made the night more memorable. You gotta laugh. The first of our tables got their orders taken and then they forgot all about the second table. We (on the second table) didn't realize this, until we started receiving table ones food, quite a while after arriving. Explaining that to the staff was very humorous. After getting very tempted to keep the dishes, we relinquished and gave them up to the hungry hordes on table 1. Then managing to finally get our orders taken, we ended up getting main courses along with soup and so on and so on. The food was all very nice though so no complaints in the end. Actually, the evening was all very special. Right alongside the restaurant, there was some special function going on in the park. As we were sitting on the balcony, an absolute sea of lanterns was released into the evening sky. I am told that they were rice paper lanterns that are fuelled by flame and carry a message to whoever retrieves it. Apparently they travel for miles. There would have been at least a hundred released. They were absolutely beautiful. We saw them float all the way over the harbour until we lost sight of them. Of course, I told my sister in law that I had arranged the whole thing for her benefit. LOL. It ended a perfect day.
On this trip, I had set myself a few goals that I wanted to achieve. The birthday celebrations was one of them, another was to do a bit of decent photography. Also from this forum (you guys are amazing), I found some contact details of a Balinese driver that just happens to dabble in professional photography. How fantastic is that. His name is Putu. He has his own website, that I can give anyone that is interested. I told him I would give him a big plug. He was very nice. He took my friend and I to a few interesting places that I would never have gotten to without him. It was good having him with us too as, we were pretty well intruding in their working environment. First, he took us to the seafood market at Jimbaran. This is near all the seafood restaurants that line this famous eating strip on the beach. It was all happening. There seemed to be hundreds of colourful boats, coming and going with amazing seafood, as fresh as can be. Just the whole setting, the amazing people, the colours and the vibrancy was spectacular. We took heaps of photos on the beach and then walked through the market itself. This was quite a large tin shed. Fish galore. You could even buy something and have it cooked right there on their grills if you wanted. You should have seen the size of their king prawns. Almost as big as our lobsters. It was all wasted on me I am afraid to say. I don't like any seafood at all. The visit was great though.
Then we stopped at Geger Beach and took photos of the beach/cliffs/surf etc. I could even see the ‘Rock Bar', in the distance.
Our last stop was my favourite. Not sure where we were, but we drove into a quarry area. It was awesome. Sheer rock faces of a limestone quarry. Huge walls of stone. We passed a photo shoot of a model clad in a white bikini, standing against the quarry walls. Stunning. After driving through these mammoth walls, we then came across the ocean. There was a long row of tiny shanties where the seaweed farmers lived. In the water were men and women with their nets pulling in a fresh harvest of seaweed. We saw and took photos of the seaweed as it hung and dried out and learnt how they then rethread the chains to take back to the ocean and replant for the next harvest. The seaweed regrows and it all starts over again. Each harvest takes about 6 - 8 weeks. For a very welcome donation, we got some photos here of the farmers, some were quite colorful and more than happy to pose for shots. Love those toothless grins.
Really enjoyed this experience. I just love the chance to see the real Bali. We paid Putu, for the cost the transport for the morning. We were out for about 3 hours. I highly recommend this if you like photography. He knew exactly where to go and was very helpful with both the photography and also with interpreting whenever needed. If you contact him, tell him Cathy recommends him highly.
OK, this is staring to get way too long and I still have so much more to share. I will wrap this up as Part One.
Part Two will be about restaurants (some new ones worth mentioning), a couple of basic shopping recommendations and mostly about my biggest goal for this trip, buying and shipping back a load of household goodies. Never done this before (hubby and I had a ball), so happy to share.
Back again soon.
Cathy.