4th trip to Bali for myself and 1st time for my boyfriend. I had a feeling this trip was going to be a bit different than my one this time last year with my girlfriend - which began with a big shop at duty free. This time was a bit different. No hangovers for the entire trip, good girl.
DAY 1
Departing on the 9.20am Virgin flight on Friday the 10th. Short stop at duty free, 3 small bottles (300ml) of gin, Bacardi and tequila (in case we felt like having a big night). The plane was brand new and tiny, with no monitors on the seats. A bit squishy but for a 5 ½ hour flight and the price we paid, who can complain. Arrived in Bali and were at our hotel, Kuta Seaview Boutique Resort & Spa by 2pm. On arrival they told us that our room had two single beds, and that by the following day they would be changed into a king, and also that we were upgraded to a deluxe garden room on the ground floor. The rooms were lovely, beautiful bathroom, big tv, dvd player, all your travel essentials and beautiful surroundings.
We went off to find lunch at a place in poppies 2, cannot remember the name. Spring rolls, nasi goreng, water, lemon squash 49,000. We then went to matahari to get some essentials, lots of water, limes, rexona, chips, saint pel mineral water 100k. The food and drink around the pool at the hotel was lovely, fairly pricey for Bali, but still cheaper than anything similar in Aus. 2 beautiful cocktails around the pool 210,000 (you pay 20% tax on all food and drink at the hotel).
Dinner that night I picked a favourite of mine, Boardwalk restaurant at Bali Garden Hotel. Did not disappoint! Thai beef salad, spring rolls, ham/cheese/tomato jaffles, tiger prawns, 3 x fruit punch drinks, banana split, amazing mango crumble = 366,000. Perfect dinner to start the trip. B swears by the tiger prawn dish, even though there were only three he said they were absolutely amazing.
DAY 2
Relaxing day of settling in, showing B around and shopping. Stopped at Janoko tailor in poppies 2 to get a business dress copied for my sister, $23AU. Said it would be ready by Wednesday. Sadly they don't do leather so I ventured elsewhere to try and get a leather jacket made for myself. A few doors up saw a beautiful leather jacket on a mannequin outside a tailor called ***. Paid $90AU for the pre-made jacket which happened to fit perfectly. More shopping, sunglasses the usual price 20,000-25,000. Watches in poppies 2 were 50,000 and more expensive for some, so B bought 7 for himself.
Dinner @ my favourite Mozzarella in Legian. Had been boasting about this place to B so he was also keen to try it out. Entree - portabella mushrooms 35,000 (AMAZING) and honey soy chicken wings 35,000, Main - duck breast 89,000 and seafood platter 85,000, Dessert - banana fritter 30,000, cream brulle 35,000 Drinks - 2 cocktails and a soda water (with some sneaky gin added). Total bill 517,000. Beautiful dinner and superb staff.
DAY 3
Waterbomb park, a favourite also. Never disappoints. I chickened out this time and didn't go on the climax even though I did it last time, a very shameful walk back down that tower! The day was great, we were hoping that it would be raining on this day so there would be less people but the weather was clear skies again, can't complain my albino skin needs some UV. Dinner at Sendok in Kuta. The meal was okay, the entrees were great, prawns and spring rolls, B's surf and turf was average and my vegetarian dish wasn't as nice as I remember but the prices there are great, all tax included. And all in all not a bad meal, service and drinks were lovely.
DAY 4
The weather again was still perfect. Great pool days, the hotel has super comfy pool beds and a really nice atmosphere around the pool. Doesn't feel like you are in the heart of Kuta. We got massages at the first massage place on the right in poppies 2. 'Dony beauty salon and spa'. 50,000 for one hour. The girls in here were lovely and we got to know them quite well and our massages with them continued for the rest of the trip. Ear candling was 100,000, mancure and pedicure 45,000ea. Will definitely return there to get massages.
Dinner again at Mozzarella. Portabella mushrooms for entree again, I had the Tasmanian salmon for main which was beautiful about 99,000 and melted in my mouth. Lovely meal again there, all tax is included. The cocktails are great and had 2 for 1. All the staff were amazing, they remember everyone and always use your names.
DAY 5 ‘Valentines'
Highlight of the trip... SCUBA DIVING at Tulamben ‘Wreck Dive'. We booked this through the MBA guys next to our hotel on the left. $90EA for everything included, transport, lunch all scuba equiptment. We were picked up from our hotel and began the 3hr drive up to tulamben. A great way to show B some other parts of Bali besides the usual Kuta. This was our first time scuba diving and we were told tulamben is suitable for all types of divers. Beautiful day, diving 10-20metres deep through the US Liberty shipwreck from the 1940s. My guide knew I was an amateur and he held my hand the entire time the first dive to make sure I was safe and got the breathing and buoyancy technique right. A great trip, will definitely be scuba diving more when we return to Bali again.
Dinner we had booked at the hotel restaurant ‘Rosso Vivo'. A 3 course set valentines menu was 350,000++ per person. There were two choices for each course, we had, Entree - Alaskan king crab salad, HUGE salad was beautiful and the crab was delish. Main - Filetto alla Rossini (grilled beef tenderloin with spinach, truffle, red wine sauce), this was nice also, except the smell of the black truffle nearly made me vomit, we didn't eat that. Dessert - the butterfly, chocolate mousse with raspberries, gold leaves and lychee icecream, nice dessert however I was so full I couldn't eat it all. Chocolate lovers would have loved it. We also got a blue mango juice (not very nice) and a frapuccino (delicious) they came to 131,000 including tax. The total bill was 978,000 including tax. It was a nice meal but I am sure other places would have had nicer set menus at a more reasonable price. Still, cheaper than home!
DAY 6
Did some shopping at Matahari. The usual Revlon make-up and Olay. Cannot remember prices but abou $10-15 cheap than home. The rate the first couple of days in Kuta was about 9475. We found that in Legian on the same day it was 9660.
Dinner at Seaside in Legian. The family have been to this before and I remember them enjoying it so we went up there. 2 x rasperberry granitas 56,000, bruchetta 25,000, salt & pepper calamari entree 30,000, lasagne 70,000, huge bacon and cheese burger of some sort 95,000, 1 grasshopper 65,000 and 1 aqua = 386,000. Beautiful meal the entrees were to die for, the best calamari, so light and moreish. Mains were also delicious my lasagne was lovely but after trying B's burger I was in heaven! Great restaurant. We got a scooter ride home, we managed to get it for 20,000EA, so our guy went and got another guy to take B, as all 3 of us couldn't fit on the bike. He wouldn't do it for 20,000 so we agreed to 30,000. Fun trip home and these guys were great drivers. B gave them 50,000 each at the end and they were absolutely stoked. Most of our trip was like this, we often tipped very generously and I was much less stubborn bartering simply because in reality, they need an extra dollar or two more than I do. If at the end of my trip I have spent an extra $30 because of paying too much, I don't mind!
DAY 7
We hired a scooter today from the man at the start of poppies 1, his card says Nyoman motor bikes. He was great and we were more than happy to pay 200,000 for two days (yes I know, huge price). Petrol to fill it up was 20,000.
So with our scooter we went back up to Legian for dinner this time to Zanzibar. I had a few cocktails at happy hour by the pool before we left. Then felt like wine at dinner so I ordered a carafe of Hatten Rose, a Balinese wine which was actually really nice. The meals here were amazing. I ordered a creamy mushroom and bacon pasta and B had a surf and turf. (as well as our entrees). The price was about the same as Seaside, so very reasonable for a beautiful meal. After the carafe of wine I was more than happy to head home and may have fallen asleep on the ride back. What crazy 20 year olds we are. Like I side, completely different trip to last year!
DAY 8
More massages and buzzing around on the scooter. Last minute shopping. Bought $60AU worth of bracelets, necklaces etc. for the parents to sell in our shop. This obviously worked out to lots and lots of stuff for $60AU.
Dinner at Seaside again and the best meal for the trip. Our usual entrees of bruchetta and amazing calamari. I ordered the pepper steak fillet for main and B got Mie Goreng. My steak was absolutely beautiful, cooked to perfection and with garlic mushrooms on top. My ultimate meal!! 115,000 for the steak and 42,000 for the mie goreng. Definitely a restaurant worth eating at, the staff service was fantastic and all the drinks were delish
DAY 9 ‘Last Day' :(
Sadly, our last day. It rained heavy all morning, this was our first bit of rain for the whole trip, the rest of the days the skies were clear and the sun was scorching, as Bali should be! :)
No plans today, just last minute scooter trips and making the most of the pool. We said goodbye to Lina and Di our massage girls and gave them 100,000 each and the unopened bottle of tequila we didn't drink.
We ate dinner at Bali Agung in poppies 1, a quick meal before we headed to the airport for our 10.30pm Virgin flight. Sad to leave our hotel as it was beautiful. Would definitely stay there again, the location, the rooms and the pool were excellent. Off to the airport.. Unfortunately a full plane on the way back, impossible to sleep on the new planes they are tiny. Never mind sleep can wait until I get home. Thanks for reading, I warned you it was long!