Left Melbourne Thursday morning on the 9am Garuda flight. Check in was easy - straight to the front of the queue, boarding pass issued and bag weighs 23kg. What the heck? How the hell can my bag weigh this much? This is not a good start as it gives me only 7kg for purchases, clearly there is going to have to be some purging of old clothes & the crappy runners at the end of my trip.
Ridiculous queue as usual in Melbourne Customs. Every time I travel out of Melbourne it is the same story. How hard can it be to fill the staffing booths? It's not like the flight times are random - we all know who flies when & how many people can fit on a plane! Usual grumpy customs man that has the personality of a block of wood. Perhaps this is why they are understaffed? It can't be easy to find people as miserable of this! No smile, no bon voyage wishes, just a grunt. Having worked in customer service for most of my life, I could not miss the opportunity to thank him and wish him a happy day ahead. He looked at me like I should be institutionalised.
Wandered through Duty Free - declined a free shot of vodka and whiskey. Love a drink, especially a free drink, but not as a Colgate chaser! Grabbed a litre of Absolut Vodka. Looked around the make-up contemplating why I went & bought a $24 dollar lipstick yesterday when I could have purchased a better quality one duty free today. Another of life's mysteries....
Went to the ridiculously overpriced Vue Cafe and ordered a coffee and egg & lettuce sandwich. Not sure if they are using the name Vue to indicate some affiliation with Shannon Bennet (of Vue de Monde fame) or that there may be a 'view'. For those yet to try this establishment, Shannon Bennett would turn pale with any perceived association and the "view" is the engine of a Boeing!
Once I had eaten it was time to board so I made my way to the gate and located my chosen seat, 34C. On the wing, aisle seat and hopefully not next to somebody like the tree loving hippy with verbal diarrhoea that I had on my last flight to Bali. The guy next to me is friendly enough - tells me he used to work on the mines in FIFO, he hates Melbourne and now lives in Bali and is building a villa in Ulawatu. Very quite nerdy kind of guy so can only imagine he was working in the offices at the mines as he is about half my size!
Flight goes smoothly enough but there is a ridiculous amount of children literally running riot. God knows where there parents are - perhaps passed out on the free booze! Watch Blue Jasmine & the latest Hobbit movie - both ok. Actually, Blue Jasmine was great, Cate Blanchett is an amazing actress.
My vegetarian meal arrives 90 minutes into the flight but it is another 45 minutes before the trolley with the bread rolls and the drinks comes past My meal was pretty average but this is my own fault. I always choose Asian Vegetarian meals on Asian carriers as they are 99% of the time a local dish that is full of flavour. This time, another fail on my part, I ordered the standard vegetarian which consisted of overcooked green beans, a ratatouille, a bland kumara mash and what may or may not have been two small discs of polenta. Hard to say.......
Arrived on time at 1.15pm and exited via stairs onto the tarmac and then a bus to the terminal. All fast and painless. VOA obtained quickly but whilst waiting it astounds me the number of people who just look at the staff blankly when asked to pay for the visa. Or question the amount (which is clearly displayed) and then start stuffing around emptying their purses & wallets onto the counter. Surely it's not that difficult to do five minutes of research to get yourself ready for this! Another ten minute wait to get through customs, slightly more animated service than Melbourne but not much. Before I know it, the bag is out & I am hurling it through the scanner.
I must say, this is my second time through the new airport in six months and the experience gets better each time.
Outside, I look for a sign with my name on it. I see one saying "Kylie" and as luck would have it, this is my mine. It did make me laugh - having only a christian name like Kylie on a flight from Australia would be like simply putting Made or Wayan on a sign from Bali. There are a few of us....
Comby, the driver, grabs his van and we are off on our way to Garlic Lane where I have asked to stop on the way to Ubud so I can run into Miss Deby and grab a few dresses to wear around the pool. Mission accomplished in less than 30 minutes and we are on our way up Jl. Legian where the traffic is as bad as I recall it. Great people watching exercise though - I enjoy a game of 'guess the tourists nationality'.
It takes about an hour to get to Ubud but it was pretty smooth sailing once we got past Canggu. I am staying in a small 1BR villa that I found on vrbo.com. It is located slightly out of Ubud in the village of Penestanen and the area is like a maze. No idea how I am going to find my way around here but I am sure all will be fine. We are met at the villa by Comby's aunt, Wayan, who shows me to and around the villa. It is just delightful. There is an incredible patio out the back that overlooks a lush garden with a pool, bale, tanning area and rice fields beyond it. The patio itself has a number of different types of tables and chairs to suit your requirements. Inside is a kitchen with all you need - kettle, cooker, toaster, brand new fridge, cutlery & crockery. The lounge area has a couple of chairs, a desk and a tv/dvd which is unlikely to be used.
I am in heaven and my love affair with Bali continues and grows stronger with each visit. I am the butt of many jokes at home each time I mention I am coming to Bali. My background is a retail travel consultant and for a good 20 years, I refused to visit based on the type of people I used to have to book here. Usually the feral local footy teams or similar. The vision I had in mind was that the whole country was like Kuta. It took me until I turned 40 to realise how wrong I was and I am now coming at least once a year.
Met my next door neighbours who are a family from the USA who have been living here for a year & whose children attend the local Green School. Very friendly and offered for me to call out if I need anything. Also gave me some tips on good places to eat and do yoga.
By now it was about 6pm and I was exhausted having been up since 4.30am so I wandered down the road and miraculously found Cafe Vespa. I had read positive reviews of this place but unfortunately, the first three meals I requested were gone. I ended up ordering their Ayurevedic Plate which was a banana leaf topped with a bland & soupy dhal, a coconut and bean dish, dry chapati and rice. Having being so looking forward to my first Bali meal, I was disappointed but have plenty of more meals ahead to make up for it.I am sure tomorrow's experiences will be more positive.
Back at the hotel, a couple of vodkas with guava juice and tonic and I was out like a light.