Flew out of Sydney on 17 April with Garuda. 6 'ladies' travelling - 2 in business class (snobs!). Flight was ok - food and service good. Arrived - not busy - quickly through VOA payment and then 5 min wait on Immigration. Had to wait for bags. Went outside and found our driver. Had arranged for Joe Bali to pick us up with cold bintangs. Well wasn't I disappointed? I had sent emails asking if he had a big enough van for all 6 of us plus all our luggage. YES YES YES. Well he pulls up in this little van and starts to try and put all out suitcases in. 2 of the girls ended up sitting in one seat with their faces pressed up against the bags. I was not impressed. Then to make matters worse - he hands out warm bintangs. This was not how I imagined our arrival.
Arrived at Kumala Pantai where we had booked an Ambassador Suite. All good there. Went to the beach for drinks and then to Seaside for dinner. A good start to the week!!
Had booked Mozarella by the Sea for the next night for the Beatles band. Great meal and drinks - had a good night.
Some of the places we ate at were: Naughty Nuri's (now Hog Wild in Bali) - was great food and atmosphere. Had a good night at Rooftop 66. Recommend that you book one of the sunken booths. Great for sunset and drinks. Order the wedges!! Aslo had a good night at the Red Carpet Champagne bar. Great staff and loved the nibbles they bring around. All had their photos taken in the side car and two even got a lift to Ultimo!!!. Dinner at Ultimo was great - beautiful food. Went to Sea Circus and I loved the pulled pork tacos. Also checked out The Straw Hut. Food again was great - restaurant was very quiet.
Had a day a Finns Beach Club - WOW. What a great spot. Only recommendation is check the tides. We arrived and the tide was going high so they didn't want us to sit on the beach. We managed to scoop the 2 sun pods that were there. Food was great and as the tide went out the beach became more swimmable. Great Day.
3 of the girls went quad biking (sounded dangerous) while the other 3 went shopping!!
4 of the girls only stayed the one week and then myself and another stayed on. We had arranged to go to Gili T. We booked the boat that goes from Padang Bai - so an hour and a half drive then onto the boat. As we approached Gili T it started to rain. By the time we got off - it was pouring!!!!! Got a horse and cart to our accommodation. Tri Na Nog the Irish Bar and accommodation. It was great. We had standard rooms - so no TV and no fridge. Room was very clean and good - however the water pressure is a bit lacking. The food was good there. Rained all that day and night. Next day we get up to some sunshine so we hired push bikes and started riding. No brakes and a nearly flat tyre made the trip interesting. Loved the other side of the island - was a relatively easy ride around and very nice. Overall loved Gili T - I will be back to do the snorkeling and island hopping that we didn't get done due to the weather. Had a couple of massages there but the going rate was RP180,000. Eventually found some for RP125,000. A lot more expensive than Bali - but hey, you are on a small island so they can charge what they like.
Went back to Bali and stayed at Baleka in Legian. I have stayed here before and think that is great value for money. This time was very different though as there was a group of somewhat noisy Aussies who liked to congregate around the pool when they got home after a night out. Our room was right by the pool - so heard everything - especially the hyena laughing.
We had a list of places that we had seen on social media that we wanted to check out. Some of them we had already (Sea Circus, Straw Hut) so we started making our way through our list.
Biku for High Tea. We had both wanted to do this for a few years and had not gotten around to it. Wow - I Loved every minute of it. Just beautiful. Also had my Tarot Cards read. Pretty accurate!!
My friend had her palm read by an Indian man in Jalan 66. So funny. We kept asking - how much and how long. The answer - up to you!!. He started out with a few generic readings that somehow seemed accurate. Further on he asked her to write some information on a piece of paper. There was tossing of the paper and more questions and more writing. At one stage I am sure that he unraveled the paper and started copying onto his paper (in Indian squiggles) and then screwed it up and somehow it appeared back on the ground. He then proceeded to tell my friend the name of her mother, last boyfriend etc (all that was on the paper)!! He asked what her favourite colour was - purple she said. No not that colour and told her to keep guessing. By this time he had well and truly lost me!! When he had finished he started pulling out pieces of paper from his wallet with - Michael RP700,000, Sally RP600,000. Etc and then asked her what she was going to pay. I said RP100,000 (as I was paying!!) he looked at me to question me and I told him - Well you just told her she has money problems!! All in all it was worth the $10 for the entertainment value - Would never have given him more money though.
Another place on our list was Slippery Stone - Fantastic and highly recommend. Met one of the owners Sammy and he suggested what we order. Told us not to order too much. He was right on the money and no wastage at all. Beautiful food and atmosphere. They are still renovating and can't wait to go back and see the finished product.
Seminyak Italian was also on the list - in the new 66 hotel. Food was to die for - but wish someone had told us not to order too much food there. We had a lot leftover!!!
Had great massages at Luna Spa - can't beat RP55,000 for 1 hour. Also had a great massage at Inner Glow - was RP100,000 but was worth every cent.
We tried to find out about the lounges at the airport. Went to the TG lounge, they wanted USD25 to get in - that included 1 alcoholic drink and then the drinks were USD6 each. No thanks. We were told there is another lounge being built.
All in all - we had a great time away. Even better - we missed all the shocking Sydney weather. Home now to deal with it ☹