A quick 9-day trip to Bali to surprise my mum and my Balinese friends.
The background to the trip is that I took extended leave from work in April and May and spent 2 months in Bali. Mum and our usual travel group then planned a trip for August but didn't think that I could make it due to only being in Bali 3 months prior and also starting a new job in Adelaide. Unbeknown to them I was able to negotiate (more) unpaid leave and booked flights to join them.
Mum and her friends flew to Bali a week before I did and spent the first 4 nights in Seminyak before moving to Sanur for the rest of their holiday. Just over a week into their holiday then I flew to Bali to surprise them with what would be my 10th trip to Bali.
Sat 25 August
I flew with Virgin from Adelaide on the Saturday afternoon flight. Left Adelaide at 1:45 and arrived in Bali at 5:45 local time (on-time without any issues). I got my VOA very quickly as I was one of the first in the line. The trick is to stand in the middle of the transit bus and then you can be one of the first to get off. I paid AUD$50 and received my change in Rupiah. There were no customs cards available on board and so after receiving a form from a lady standing near the VOA line most people stopped to fill in the cards. I took the opportunity to breeze through immigration and then I filled in my form while waiting for my luggage.. which took nearly half an hour! Aah.. if my bags had arrived straight away I would have been off of the plane and out in less than 10 minutes. I declared the manuka honey that I brought with me for a friend but was ushered through when I said that it was only 500ml and walked out into the 'fresh' Bali air. It had only been 3 months but geez I had missed the heat and smells of Bali!
Met my driver Kadek who was in on my surprise and went straight to the La Taverna hotel in Sanur to check in. I booked just one night at La Taverna to check it out before moving onto Astana Pengembek in Southern Sanur to try that hotel as well.
Then Kadek and I went to surprise mum at Mona Lisa restaurant. Kadek had taken mum on a day trip during the day and then took her back to Sanur as he had to 'pick up a client at the airport' but said that he would be back in Sanur and would like to meet them for dinner. Nice work! Thought that I would just call them with a blocked number and pretend I was in Australia and ask where they were going for dinner but I didn't need to in the end!
Walked into Mona Lisa and could see mum sitting at the back of the restaurant. She saw Kadek and at first mum thought that I was another one of our travel group who was staying in Kuta before transferring to Sanur and was confused, but as I got closer she yelled out 'that's my f***ing daughter' . Nice one mum, real classy! She had had a few drinks around the pool that afternoon and so was louder than usual and then proceeded to apologise to every table for her language. She then hugged me, hugged Kadek, hugged me and then hit Kadek as she then realised that he had been keeping a secret from her all day. Lots of fun and the surprise was totally worth it. I think at one stage I said 'well.. I couldn't let you have all of the fun in Bali without me' haha.
We then settled in for dinner. The waitress remembered my standard order from April/May which was nice (grilled tuna and a soda water). We had a nice meal talking about their first week in Bali and then talking about what we could do the next week. Mum likes to shop and relax and only does one or two tours per trip and told me that her plan for the week was to RELAX as she knows that I like to get out and about and see everything. Lucky for her I did lots of tours in April/May and also wanted to spend a lot of time with my friends during Galungan so she was off the hook this time. But also lucky for me they already had a tour planned for the next day elephants and shopping/dinner in Ubud.
We paid for dinner then all hopped in the car and drove to Annie's Warung for my second surprise of the night. Annie and her family own the Warung, 'Warung Beringin Panti' on the corner of Jl Sindhu and Jl Danau Toba (the northern continuation of Jl Tamblingan, the main street in Sanur). I often recommend the Warung on the forum and do so without any hesitation. Yes she is my friend, in fact we call each other Family, but the food is really really good.
We pulled up outside the Warung and could see that she was really busy. No problems will just say a quick 'hello' tonight and then will see her the next day. Walked in and the look on her face was priceless. I had only spoken to her the previous day when she was with mum and said that as I had only just been in Bali I probably couldn't return until next year. All was forgiven and she said it was ok to trick her as it was a 'good surprise'. Quick hello to her husband and sister-in-law who also work in the Warung and the off to the Inna Grand Bali Beach (GBB) where mum was staying. I saw our usual travel group and only one person said that they were not surprised to see me at some stage (meaning they know that I can't stay away from Bali) but everyone else was shocked. Success! It was sooo hard to keep it a secret when everyone was planning their holiday at home so I am glad that I managed to keep my big mouth shut!
I then had an early night at La Taverna after a day of travel with plans to meet mum and Annie at the GBB hotel the next day for a swim at 10am.
Sun 26 Aug
I stayed in the Junior Suite at La Taverna. It was a really nice room with four poster bed and mosquito netting. Both the room and the bathroom was big however was slightly disappointed with the 'bath'. It was a sunken bath in the floor which was part of the shower. It didn't look too appealing as a bath and I was expecting a separate stand-alone bath. The room also had an outside lounge/tv area by the front door which was nice touch it was nice and cozy and screened off from the hotel path by a garden area. I didn't get a chance to swim at La Taverna but the pool looked nice (due to late check in and plans to meet mum at 10am) but the included breakfast was nice overlooking the pool area and the beach. I would definitely stay there again, it is not the cheapest option at $150 per night, but I was happy that I was able to try the hotel and next time I will make sure that I have time to actually use the hotel facilities.
I checked out of the hotel but left my bags at reception as I would pick them up later that night. I walked to the GBB along the beach and arrived just as Annie and two of her nieces arrived (aged 4 and 7 who are two of the cutest kids I have ever seen). Last time I stayed with Annie off and on over the 2 month period and really bonded with the 10 kids in her extended family who either live with her or nearby and so I was thrilled to see two of the kids at the hotel. We had a quick catch up in mum's room in the garden wing area while the kids got changed into their bathers and then we walked to the main pool by the high-rise which has a kids section. Spent a good hour or so in the pool and then returned to the grassed area in the garden wing pool to share drinks and snacks with some of the other people in our travel group who also had their local friends visiting. Was lots of fun catching up with everyone, I couldn't stop smiling; I just couldn't believe that I was already back in Bali!
Our driver Kadek then picked us up at 12.30. He had just been to Kuta to pick up three of our friends who were transferring from a week of partying at the Camplung Mas to a few nights of relaxing at the Segara Village hotel. They did a quick early check in and then picked us up from GBB. The three of them wanted to ride an elephant so mum, another friend and I went to watch before we all went to Ubud. We went to the Bali Elephant Camp in Carangsari in outer-Ubud. We have all ridden elephants at the safari park and at Taro in the past but they wanted to try the Elephant Camp as we were told that you get to walk out of the park in the rice paddies.
Three of us waited while the other three did their ½ hour ride. The views out over the valley from top of the elephant park were stunning - very green with lots of palm trees. After their ride we had lunch at the restaurant within the park. Their meal was included and we just paid for our meals. Very reasonable prices and the food was more than edible, I was relieved to find that it wasn't a buffet! In the end they didn't walk outside the park or near rice paddies, I think that is included in the 1 hour package, but they really liked the park said the views within the park were good, the handlers were friendly and the elephants seemed to be well looked after.
After the elephants we drove to Ubud. Before hitting the markets we called into Bridges to make a booking for dinner. The others then shopped in the markets (there are still lots of stalls open in the back area however the markets closest to Monkey Forest Road are shut). I took the opportunity to find a spa on Monkey Forest Road to get a manicure and pedicure as I have shopped in the Ubud markets many times and didn't need to buy anything this time.
At 6 we all met Kadek again and drove from the markets to Bridges restaurant. We all got changed quickly in the bathrooms to freshen up after walking around all day. I went to Bridges in April and wanted to take my friends there. No one was disappointed with their meals. We all had entrée, main and a couple of drinks each. Including Kadek there were 7 of us at dinner and 5 people had 3 cocktails each. The bill came to approx Rp3,500,000 so we just split it 6 ways. Just under AUD$60 each for 2 courses, drinks and all the freebies in between the meals - bread, beetroot chips, lime sorbet, blue cheese puffs and then strawberries, chocolate truffles and shards of toffee as a light dessert. Yum! When the meals came out the staff looked beautiful in their white uniforms, the girls looked so beautiful in their white kebayas. When they brought the meals out from the kitchen (7 staff members for 7 meals) it looked like a mini ceremony walking through the restaurant. Very impressive and everyone was happy with my choice of restaurant.
After dinner we drove back to Sanur and dropped some people off at the GBB, some off at Segara Village and then I went to La Taverna to pick up my bags before checking in at Astana Pengembak.
I booked the Astana via booking.com and scored a cheap AUD$60 per night rate. I was very happy with my room and the hotel pool - it is exactly like the photos on booking.com and the hotels official website. The room was really modern and clean with a nice big bathroom.
I unpacked my bags and considered an early night for all of half a second before I called for a taxi and visited Annie at her Warung. It had been all of 8 hours since I had seen her and already missed her. By then it was 10.30 and although the Warung is usually open until 12 they were closing early as they had sold out of rice! It didn't take much for me to convince Annie to join me for a holiday at the hotel and off we went leaving her husband to shut the shop - what a keeper!
At the hotel we chatted like excited school girls at camp until we fell asleep, but not before setting the alarm for 6.30am to wake up and go to the morning market to buy the daily supplies for the Warung.