My JBR - 25/12/04 to 08/01/05, family of 5 - myself, husband and 3 sons aged 17, 15 and 4.
I was intending to write heaps of stuff of what we did and where we went, but thought I would just do a condensed version of prices instead.
25/12/04
Arrival - we were almost last off the plane, I don't like to rush, but rather to savour the experience. Even so, it still only took us about 30 minutes to get from disembarking to waiting in line for the taxi. Actually, most of that time was spent waiting for our pram to come off the carousel, we stood for ages waiting for it not realising some 'kind' person had already taken it off for us and put it over the other side of the carousel.
Airport ATM's - just to the right of the luggage carousel, about 5 of them, very convenient.
Accommodation - we stayed at Masa Inn that I had booked over the internet. Had the family room, which is actually 2 very big rooms with a door between. Main bedroom has a huge king size bed, a wardrobe which has a lockable draw, a good size fridge, a bedside table, and a super cold air conditioner which blows directly onto the bed. Large windows open out onto a large balcony that overlooks the first and smaller pool at Masa, and across to the construction of a new 3-storey section of the hotel. Here there are two chairs, a small bamboo table and clothes dryer, the fresh air drying type.
The second room has 2 really large single beds, another fridge same big size as the one in the main room, a bedside table and a small cupboard. Another super cold air conditioner blows directly towards the two beds. The door to this room opens out to the other section of the balcony, where there is another set of two chairs and a table. This section of the balcony overlooks Poppies 1 and we spent many mornings and evenings watching the comings and goings, very interesting.
The balcony is in an 'L' shape and runs right around the rooms. There is also a lockable door that can be used to access the balcony from the passage.
Breakfast - was provided for 4 of us, we had to pay for the fifth, which was usually 3 000rp for a plate of fruit. It was very basic, but enough. You could choose from either toasted sandwich or jaffle with egg, bacon, tomato, or cheese; omelet with cheese, tomato and onion, which actually came with 2 pieces of buttered toast; banana or plain pancake or a plate of fruit. You also had a choice of banana, papaya, pineapple juice or tea or coffee. The kitchen staff were very nice, and while we were there several trainees were working who were really friendly.
Accommodation cost 300 000rp/night, payable in rp only, and they told me I didn't have to pay until the day before I was due to leave.
Exchange Rate- mostly 7 000rp/$1, occasionally it went up to just over 7 100, but hovered pretty much around this rate our whole 2 weeks.
26/12/04
Timezone - a special favourite for our family, but boring for me now that Matahari has closed. I used to love shopping while all my boys (my husband is the biggest kid of them all) were playing. Rechargeable cards can be bought to use in the games. We first purchased cards for 20 000rp, but found these could not be recharged, so decided to just buy the other ones. Most games were either
1 400rp or 2 700rp. Most machines give tickets that can be cashed in for a variety of prizes.
Mobile Phones - we took 2 old mobiles and bought Mentari sim cards for them. The cards cost 50 000rp with
30 000rp credit. SMS between mobiles was 300rp, SMS to mobile in Australia 600rp, 1 000rp to call another number in Bali, and 6 000rp/minute to call Australia. We bought our sims from the counter at the back of Matahari. Walk in the back entrance and turn to your right, the girl that works there is extremely helpful. The cards we got were valid until 30/03/05, and still had some credit on them, so I decided to pass them on to others going to Bali so they didn't have to purchase new ones.
The SMS messages were received immediately they were sent, even to Australia.
Some Shopping Prices
NB. Please don't take my prices as set in stone, I do not like to bargain down to the lowest price I can, I am not one of those people that sits in the pool and gloats about the cheap prices I paid for items. If I said a price, and then bought that item, I was happy with the price. Also, the prices we paid at the start of our holiday were more than what we were paying towards the end.
DVD's 10 000rp each, except some of the new releases which were 'originals' and cost 20 000rp. Most places offered free DVD's, buy 5 get 1 free, 10 get 3 free, 20 get 7 free, 50 get 17 free, 100 get 40 free.
Bali Board shorts - Volcom, Billabong, Ripcurl, 40 000rp
Arnetts sunglasses 20 000rp
Bali Mites - Today I got the worst Bali mite rash I have ever got. I will post photos later. It was so itchy, and I came up in huge red welts all over the back of my calf muscles. I get it every time to Bali but it usually takes a few days before I get the rash, but this trip it came up within a few hours. Went to the Apotik and bought some cream which cost me 100 000rp, quite expensive, but magnificent, called Benoson.
Go Karts - Just past Water Bom Park, cost was 40 000rp for 5 minutes, 45 000rp for 5 minutes in a double,
60 000rp for 10 minutes, 65 000rp for 10 minmutes in a double. No height or age restriction, our 4 year old went in the double with his dad, no problems.
You can also buy super cold drinks here, aqua only 1 500rp. Go karts is open from 10am to 10pm.
to be continued......