OK where has the time gone I wonder as I'm only now sitting down to write my JBR.
Flew AirAsia from Perth 4.50am (WHYYYYY I asked myself over and over again) Made a note to self never to book this flight again, and if I ever did, make sure I had more than 2hrs sleep. There were 8 lovely ladies in all (hi girls)and we all tried for a bit of shut eye, some more successful than others. Uneventful trip but felt like something the cat dragged in on arrival into Bali airport. Sad to say but I was already thinking of having a nanna nap in the afternoon but of course that never happens in Bali. To much to see and do I guess and so little time to do it.
Got through the airport in pretty good time, was met by our driver Jimmy and then it was THE WALK. Now I don't mind a good walk so it wasn't that bad, however, anybody with dodgy knees and hips etc probably would find this a bit of a hike. Ok, I didn't really like it that much, I guess I was just used to the old system LOL. And I nearly forgot to mention, where I used to have ankles, well they now resembled cankles and pretty much stayed that way the whole holiday sob sob.
Anyway, off to our accommodation for the next 6 days. Three of us ladies stayed at the Club Bali apartments at the front of the Jayakarta Hotel (on the right hand side as you drive through the gates). We had a lovely 2 bedroom 2 bathroom self contained unit, heaps of room and in a really good spot with a large balcony overlooking the main driveway so there was always something or somebody to look at. Did I forget to mention it was on the 5th floor.
The other ladies in the group had rooms at the Jayakarta so we were still close enough to each other but with a little bit of distance so we didn't end up tripping over each other. Anyway, because of our early arrival, we couldn't actually get into the room yet so we left our suitcases chained up in reception and decided on somewhere for breakfast. That somewhere ended up being the coffee shop that used to be at the front of Melati Apartments but has now moved. We had breakfast there a few times during our stay. After brekky we cabbed it to Bintang Supermarket for necessary supplies (including large glass for drinking duty free back at the room) the usual air freshner (hate sharing toilet smells)dettol hand wash, shampoos, sanitary products, body wash and snackies for the room. Back to Club Bali and up to our room finally. After unpacking and lots of oohs and aaghs, time to settle in for drinkies on our 5th floor balcony. So after a few relaxing drinks, off to catch up with the other ladies and then to one of the beach bars just outside Jayakarta. We must have looked like the new kids on the block as we were swamped by hawkers. I don't mind too much and I did buy 5 pair of sunglasses.
From here on I will keep it fairly simple as I can't remember the exact day to day order of things but I will mention where we went, where we ate and things we did.
Restaurants we ate at: TJ's Mexican (the best by far frozen strawberry margharitas, put a big dent in the spending money I can tell you, 3 x jugs at approx $35 AUD each but well worth it!!)La Monde II, Mozzarella By The Sea (fantastic buy one get one free cocktails)Mozzarella on Padma St, and Seaside (the yummiest strawberry granitas ordered with a shot of vodka on the side mmmmm).
All our meals were fabulous and all staff very attentive. Amazingly, nobody in our group had so much as a rumbly tummy the whole time we were in Bali, not an easy feat.
We all went to Biku for high tea, some of us had done this before but for the ladies who hadn't, they really enjoyed this. I keep saying to myself that we must go there for a proper meal one day as the meals all looked lovely as they passed by on the way to some fortunate customers table.
Four of us ladies did the 'Taste of Bali' cooking class, 2 of us having done this same class last year. We therefore got to cook from new recipe books. Once again, very hands on. On the way to the class, you stop off at a local market and purchase ingredients you will need. Before the cooking begins you get to sit in a bale and learn how to make and decorate
the offering baskets that you see everywhere on the streets in Bali. Also we made woven rice baskets made from the leaf of a plant, forgotten the name of it sorry. We all went home feeling really full, I think we cooked about 12 dishes all up.
One day we hired a bus and went to Ubud for a look around. I wasn't really keen to go to the markets as it is 2 floors of the exact same thing but I was pleasantly suprised to see a lot of new things, especially on the ground floor in the middle. And it wasn't that busy, you could actually walk around without getting squashed and that is always a bonus. Purchased a few long table runners which I was planning to give to my daughter who is about to move into her new house but decided they look better in mine. Oh well, am going back to Bali in June for a wedding so may buy her some then. She is actually in the bridal party and has just got engaged herself and I tried to talk her into getting married in Bali but her fiance is not as keen on Bali as her. (It's a pity as my purse would have liked that!). After walking around the markets we went off to a restaurant that specialises in babi guling but I can't remember the name of it. As I don't eat pork I was happy with rice and vegetable and everybody enjoyed their meals. After lunch we visited the Mother Temple. I'm usualy better with names and places but I don't recall the name of district. All I can say is that my calf muscles have only just recovered ha ha. I should have known, we were approached by men on scooters who offered to give us a lift to the top for 10,000 rph but we didn't think we'd need them. OMG, as we walked around the bend in the road and saw how far and how high we had to climb I just about had a heart attack on the spot. As you probably gathered, I made it back alive. Saying all that, it really was a beautiful temple and well worth it, I took some unbelievable photos that day. I would recommend it highly and I'd recommend jumping on a scooter also!!
Three of us ladies went to Alta Moda looking for fabric (well 2 of us just went for a sticky beak) Now, I don't sew, apart from replacing buttons, but the fabric in that place made we want to go out and purchase a sewing machine right there on the spot. We only stayed on the ground floor but I believe there are 2 more storeys?? If you do sew, well worth a visit. Fabric heaven.
I finally got to meet Kadek who will be minding my 12yr old son when we go over for the wedding in June, thank you LUVTHENORTHERN TERRITORY. She is a lovely young lady and I'm sure we will have a lovely friendship for years to come.
We never had any problems with taxis, just asked them before we got in if they had meters and they all did.
We had some beautiful massages, facials etc. My first foot massage was at Luna Spa, ask for Ary, she was wonderful. Also, you can't go past Santai Spa. Such a beautiful place, I had a 1 hour foot reflexology and 1 hour facial with L'oreal products for 185,000rph.
Such bliss. Will be booking lots of these when I return in June.
A great holiday, only downfall was that it wasn't long enough.
Hope you enjoy?