Introduction
Hi everyone...
I hope you don't find my JBR too boring. I was in Bali with my boyfriend from 22 April to 3 May. My JBR may be a bit vague at times due to the lateness of me positing it. I hope it's not too scattered either!
I only discovered this site after I got back from Bali and was suffering from Bali blues. I wish I had found it sooner - it's so helpful! It has helped cure the Bali blues though or at least keep them at bay.
Okay, so now onto the JBR... this shall be the posting for our first day. (Trust me, it won't usually be this long - just got a bit carried away!).
Background Info
My trip to Bali was a present from my boyfriend. It was my birthday on the 8th April and he told me then that we were going to Bali in two weeks! I wasn't too impressed by this at the time because I hardly had any spending money and I didn't have time to get back into the gym to look half decent when sunbathing around the pool. Needless to say though, I couldn't believe my luck - or should I say how sweet my boyfriend was to get me a trip to Bali for my birthday! The excitement didn't kick in until the night before and after a lot of discussions about Bali the night before.
This trip to Bali was going to be my first trip in 6 years and to be honest, I was a little nervous about it. I was a bit apprehensive about going. I'm not sure why though. I suppose it had a bit to do with everything that had gone on with SC and the fact that I wasn't sure how Bali was going to be after the Bali bombings. It was also my first time my boyfriend and I would be going away overseas together. I was in for a relaxing holiday in Bali whereas I was used to going to Bali with the girls and living it up - we all know what that means...Bintangs, illusions, Jungle Juice, Paddy's nightclub, The Bounty, lots of partying, arguing, Melrose Place type scenes and a lot of times saying "I can't believe I did that!" (Now if I had have posted JBR's back then it would have been a lot more interesting!) Needless to say, this was going to be a VERY different experience for me!
Day 1
We got the 8.30 a.m. Garuda flight from Perth and arrived in Bali at about 11.45.a.m. We had no problems with immigration and paid VOA in US dollars. No problems there. It was actually very quick. I got nervous whilst waiting for the bags though and you could tell a lot of other people were too. The porters annoyed me a bit as they just took our bags off us and walked over to the money changers without even asking if they could. I started to freak out a bit too as the one piece of advice we received was don't leave your bags at any time. As you all know, they only took the bags about 10 meters to the money changers and then expected a tip. I gave them my Australian change - I think $2 or there abouts but I wasn't happy about doing so. They hardly did anything but walk our bags 10 meters and lets be honest, they probably make more than the HARDWORKING Balinese. Anyway, that being said, it's only $2 so I got over it quite quickly.
I loved walking out of the airport and smelling THAT smell. I was starting to remember how much I loved Bali and regretted not coming back before now. As you can all relate, it was like coming home in a lot of ways.
We were staying at the Patra Bali. Our driver picked us up from the airport and took us about 2 minutes down the road to the Patra (which is literally next door to the airport). I didn't realise how close it was! We got to the Patra and were checked in quickly with impeccable service. We were offered complimentary drinks and then given towels to dry off with. They thought I was mad because I was sitting there in jeans and a tweed jacket! (I love the heat though!) We were shown to our room which was quite big, clean but a bit out of the way from the pool area and lobby. We were pleased with it though. The staff kept on asking if it was okay because I think they knew we didn't like the positioning of the room but we said it was fine for the time being and then said we would most likely upgrade in a day or so. (I have already posted a bit of info on the Patra so I won't talk about it here. If anybody is interested in finding out about what the Patra is like then you can check out that posting).
We went straight to the pool and of course, the bf had to order a club sandwich and a Bintang. After spending a few hours around the pool and a few drinks later, we decided to head into Kuta to get money changed, have a look around and get anything we needed. We walked into Kuta from the Patra (which is a fair walk but seeing as I hadn't had my workout at the gym, I thought it would be worthwhile). At this point though, I started to become more nervous. Again, I'm not sure why. I became completely disoriented and didn't remember a lot of things so I started to freak out a bit. My bf then took me to all the places he could remember and then we went to the hotels I had stayed at before and I started to find my bearings and loosened up a hell of a lot. I just couldn't get over how much Bali had changed. It was so much more commercial and nothing was as how I could remember. I had been told there were no Balinese running down the street with watches anymore saying "You buy, you buy!" but I didn't expect this much of a change. Now I was more comfortable and getting back into the swing of things, we decided to go in search of the cheapest bar for Bintang. We ended up at Bagus Pub down Poppies Lane 2 which had Bintang for 7,000 rupiah. The bf was very happy about this and we ended up staying there for awhile. We got chatting to the staff there and it felt like home again. I fell in love all over again and it was just an awesome feeling at that point (that could have been the Jungle Juice though).
After venturing into all of the pubs down Poppies we decided to trek further down JL Legian. We didn't quite make it too far because of Julie - the notorious Balinese women who corners you down Poppies Lane 2, offers you a friendship bracelet if you don't agree to having your hair braided or nails painted and tells you that this if for "friendship". I was a bit apprehensive at first but the bf said to just accept it, so I did. Wrong decision. I got dragged off down an alley way into a little shop while the bf was busy bartering with somebody about the price of hats. I started to panic thinking my bf didn't see me get dragged away. I had the children in this shop I'd been dragged to hounding me for money and the girls in the shop started trying to plait my hair and paint my nails. I was very firm with them and told them I wasn't interested. That's when I saw that my bf was there and telling them to let me go. It got quite nasty but in the end, it was all sorted out. They wanted money and I told them I didn't have any on me which was the truth as my bf was carrying everything. The only way I got out of it was by telling them that if my friends (who would be coming to join us later in the week) wanted their nails or hair done then I would bring them to Julie and her friends. At this point they became very friendly towards me. I knew the reasoning behind that though. I gave the children some chocolate I had in my bag and they were well pleased with that. I can't resist the children over there. They're just gorgeous! Julie then said that if I come back, she will do my nails for free but I insisted that I didn't want my nails painted whilst I was there so she just said thank you for the chocolates for the kids and we moved on.
After many drinks, we decided to have dinner at Maccaroni (it was very highly recommended from friends). We weren't disappointed either. It was absolutely divine. I got the caprese fresh mozzarella tomato for starters and the lasagne for mains and bf got the prawn cocktail and a pizza. I think we both had about 6 Coronas each whilst there and the bill came to 320,000. Now some people would think that's a bit pricey for Bali but I am used to eating in very expensive restaurants back home and this was one of the best meals I had ever had and for a fifth of the price I would usually pay back home!! I was in heaven! Maccaroni then became one of our "must come again" places. And that we did ... again, and again and again! We couldn't fault the place at all. It was a good place just to sit and watch the world go by too.
After a pretty full on day, we decided to stop in one more bar for a few drinks, get a few supplies from Circle K (which for some reason became known to us all as "Special K") and then head back to the hotel. We headed into the Bounty Ship for a few drinks, then went to Paddy's and then caught a Blue Bird taxi back to the hotel. We were disappointed to find out that the hotel pool closed at 9.00 so we couldn't have a quick swim before we went to bed. The bf wasn't phased by this though as the football (soccer to us Australians) coverage in Bali was unbelievable. He was a very happy boy. He was set with his remote, his beloved football and his Bintang. What more could a male ask for? It was then that he too, fell in love all over again.
(I will post more about the holiday later - I won't make it as long next time!)