In Reply to: Thanks Ali You rock posted by smirf on Sunday, 5. June 2005 at 17:11 Bali Time:
Hi again,
The hangover is better, thanks! Just about to go out and start all over again though so I could be worse for wear tomorrow :)
You're staying at the Bali Hai? Have you stayed there before? I would love to hear how your trip goes! We stayed at The Patra - right next door to the Bali Hai - on the left hand side of the hotel to be exact. We ventured in there a few times to have a look around and sit in the pool and have happy hour there as our hotel lacked a bit of atmosphere - mind you, in saying that, the Patra was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful (there's a lot of adjectives!). You should go and have a squiz at all of the hotels along that strip in Tuban if you get the chance. Also,if you are going for a walk into Kuta, then you're best walking along the beach - it's much, much quicker and it makes for a good scenic route.
We liked the Bali Hai though - out of all the hotels along there we thought that maybe the next time we go, we would stay at the Bali Hai or the Kartika Plaza. Not too sure yet - planning the next trip shortly so would love to hear what you think about the Bali Hai.
We are childless and don't mind children running about (actually, I'm usually the person that offers to look after them whilst the parents go out shopping as I missed my godchildren whilst we were away) - we still like having the boozy afternoons/nights by the pool though and feeling as if you're not at a daycare centre so I will be interested in hearing what you have to say about the Bali Hai in that regard. We thought it was a perfect place for families and for what we were after. It seemed to cater for everything and wasn't as invaded with children as the Dynasty was(We only like happy hour by the pool for the boozy occasions of course and the pool seemed like it had a good atmosphere at around that time).
My younger cousin was well pleased when I brought him back all of the video games! He thought he'd died and gone to heaven ... he also thought that I was a God and must have spent a fortune on him to buy all the games I did for him!! It was a nice feeling until somebody informed him how cheap they were! My God status, needless to say, quickly deteriorated! He already had a chip like thing which ensures the XBox's and the PS2's can read the Balinese version of the games so you may want to look into getting that little device when you're over there (sorry, I'm not very good at the technical terminology!)
The prices I gave you for shopping were (I think) pretty accurate! We did pretty well with bartering though and had a few Balinese friends that helped translate for us and showed us places to go to get a good price.
Tell your wife that if she is after costmetics or anything of that nature then to venture into Denpasar - it is sooooooo cheap!! You can get Clinique and the likes there for a quater of the price you would pay here! Also, Discovery Centro (the shopping centre below it) is a good place for household needs - water, BEER, other drinks, all food and costmetics which are quite cheap too. It's worth a look. It's nice and clean and you could spend about an hour in there just browsing through the place as it's exactly like the supermarkets back home. Just a hell of a lot cheaper.
You are welcome to email me whenever you like if you have any other questions or you want any contact names and numbers for people we met. The email address is my work address though so I won't be able to get back to you until Tuesday!
I hope this helps you!
Ali