We departed home on Monday 14 May all excited and looking forward to returning to Bali but this time around hubby and I were taking along 4 other adult family members so that we could show them why we love Bali as we do. We had been waiting for this day to arrive for what seemed to be an eternity. With our flight due to depart at 10:15am, we thought that arriving at 7:50am would allow us plenty of time to have brekky and to arrange for our duty-free for collection on the way home.... WRONG. We finally made it through Virgin check-in at 10am, leaving us 15 minutes to get through immigration/customs and we arrived at the gate as the boarding call was being announced.... No time for brekky or go grab anything on the way through.
As we were seated in rows 11 and 12 ABC we quickly took our seats and departure was uneventful. We were just happy to be on our way back to Bali. When service commenced shortly after, we were all fanging as we had not eaten since 7pm the previous night. It was quite concerning that by the time the trolley had made it to us, some items were out of stock and no hot food was available for purchase. Hot food was not going to be served till 1pm. So, we ordered what we could and awaited the $10 meat pie that would arrive at 1pm.
Not being a regular flyer, I am told it is normal for 6-8 people in business class to have 2 toilets to themselves while the other 130+ get to line up for 10 minutes to share the two in the back of the plane. Really not impressed with his, but at least we got to meet some nice people in the line.
At 1pm, the 3 Virgin cabin crew served us our $10 Luke Mangan meat pies. We were all so hungry by this time that we almost inhaled them. From my next trip to the loo, I learned that the passengers at the back of the plane were yet to get theirs, 1 hour before the flight landed. Some people were not able to have any of the hot pies as they cabin crew ran out of time.
Oh, I forgot to add in earlier that even though we raced through customs/immigration, the plane did not leave until 45 mins after schedule which meant that we could not land in Bali as planned and had to circle the airport for another 40 minutes. We felt like we were on a roller coaster.
Finally landed and through immigration and baggage collection in 25 minutes (yay, something was going right). Got into our transport and headed to Melasti Beach Resort (MBR). Many of the roads were flodded as there had been a heavy thunderstorm (which our driver Dick told us was unusual for this time of the year).
Finally at MBR we were allocated to our deluxe suits. My brother and his grandson were on the ground floor (as requested due to brothers dicky knees), and the other 2 rooms on 3rd floor. I must admit that I was concerned with the previous posts on BTF and Trip Advisor about the state of MBR.
Yes, MBR is getting a little old, yes the towels may not be as fluffy as other properties but we were (as was our fellow travellers) happy with our rooms. We were never in the rooms anyway..
Staff were very helpful from day 1 until when we departed. Gotta add though that it was quite embarrassing the way some Aussies speak to the staff. If they had done it in Australia, they would have been asked to vacate the premesis.
Brekky was quite sufficient for us. Toast, cereal, juice, fresh fruit, egg station, spreads, tea, coffee and pastrys daily. On alternate days, bacon, fried ham, chicken sausages, rissoles, grilled tomato, pancakes, banana fritters, fried rice, fried noodles and beef sausages. Staff were very helpful and only to happy to assist with special requirements. Yes, vegemite was readily available.
Dinner: Due to my brothers dicky knees, we chose to eat close to MBR and mainly ate at restaurants along Beach Road.
Seaside - Always a favourite but prices are starting to get a bit exxy. Friendly staff, great view and clean amenities.
Hitana - This restaurant is our best find. It is part of the Niksoma resort but very accessible to passers-by. Excellent food, staff were very knowledgeable and attentive (but without being intrusive) For a group of 6 adults who shared 3 entree's + all had mains and desert + drinks, spirits and a 'to die for'hot chocolate, our total bill was 1.2mil rp. Amenities were very clean and maintained.
Surfside @ Jimbaran Bay: Another excellent night. Watching the sun set, eating great seafood (and chicken for those in our party that did not eat seafood) and the roving minstrels all lead to an excelled evening. No charge for transport to and from Surfside as there were so many of us. Amenities could be better maintained.
Melasti: Meals were nothing to write home about and they mixed up the orders. Would not recommend you visit here.
Other things of interest:
Only renovation at MBR is the tennis court. Melasti Bungalows and experiencing a lot of reno's so would recommend you consider this if you are wanting to stay.
The usual like Monkey Forest, Kintemani, UC Silver, Batik Factory, Ubud. Shopping, shopping, shopping, discovery mall. Brother tried to purchase new hearing aids at Discovery and after he had paid a deposit of 1mil rp, and was departing the shopping centre, he was called back in to advise that they had calculated the price incorrectly and had to charge a further 8mil rp. Order was withdrawn with much annoyance.
Watched the State of Origin at 'Olips' opposite entry to MBR. Dont think they realised what it was all about at the notice board announced 'State of Origin, Naroons vs Bijes'. They certainly now know that it is all about cause they ran out of small bintang before the end of the game.
Other games were watched Champs which had all codes playing at once - NRL, AFL, Union and Soccer. Good atmosphere but gave up ordering to many varieties of meals and decided just to use the KISS method. There are many places in Legian and Kuta advertising footy games...
Traffic: Same, Same but worser (a bit more than worse). It has been 2 years since our last trip and traffic has defiantly increased but there are also a lot of road works going on. Expect that trips will take twice as long.
Anika Cooking Class: School is out on this one. While I enjoyed it, I thought it would have been a little more hands on. Tour of the markets was an eye-opened and had to go outside when were came to the fresh meat section. The smell was a knock-out.
Dollar: We were getting 9200 on arrival and 9000 on departure. Stay away from anyone that advertises over 9300 as you may also have to throw in a kidney or 2.
Bali Belly: Zilch this time around. Hubby became quite ill on last trip and ended up in bed for the final few days of our holiday. Not this time around... We both religiously took Travalan. Would definitely recommend this to anyone. Of course in conjunction with hand wash and antiseptic wash.
Viagra Corner: There was some guy that continually tried to sell the males in our party Viagra outside Posers bar (just opposite the entry to Garlic Lane), so we nicknamed this Viagra Corner. Same guy also offered condoms at $2 a pack.
Bintang: Hubby was paying anywhere between 15k rp on the street to 30k on the Bounty Sunset Cruise.
Bounty Sunset Cruise: Have also done the Bali Hai cruise and definitely preferred Bali Hai. At 30krp for a Bintang, hubby was not pleased with Bounty. Food was OK but nothing spectacular.
Arrived back in Brisbane this morning at around 7:30am and I am happy to say that our travel companions certainly now understand why we love Bali so much. They are also talking about the next trip back.