I have been benefiting from this wonderful forum now for just over 1 year. It's now my turn to post a JBR. We have been back a week now and I am only just finding time to dance across the keyboard.
We, that is a group of 6 adults and two girls of 16 and 13, stayed for 2 weeks at the Grand Istana Rama in Kuta. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. Beautiful grounds, wonderful pool area, great breakfast, great rooms, and every single member of staff, to whom there are many, absolutely wonderful. The renovations going on did not bother us at all. Work was always finished at 5.00 each day and isolated only to segregated areas.
It's also a great location. If you are thinking of staying there, let me reassure you, you will not regret it.
For the two weeks there, we mostly shopped and ate and explored around the Kuta/Legian/Tuban areas, venturing out to Sanur for a morning of shopping along the beach fronts, Ubud to the monkey forest and shopping at the UBUD markets, (very interesting and a little different to the Kuta area), and quad bike riding through the countryside, (outstanding).
Special things to note on the subject of shopping:
Bought spiderman roller shoes for a toddler at Centro in Discovery Mall. On sale at 50% off, cost $10 AUD.
Had fabulous prescription glasses made at Discovery Mall for $113AUD. Designer frames.
Levi jeans 501's for $10-AUD.
Pierre Cardin Bras for daughter for $4.AUD (Strapless, etc)
Great prices on Revlon makeup at Mataharis and Centro.
Went to Makros and bought heaps of stuff like facial scrubs, acne cleansers, hair gels, concealer powder, from around a dollar each.
Bought a pack of Pantene Pro V (3x100ml bottles of shampoo and 3 x 100ml of condtioner) for a total of $5.50AUD.
Great strappy billabong tops for girls this year, for 30,000 ($4.00AUD). You have to ask for these of course.
Really nice watches around-30,000 R
Had a leather jacket made for my 19 yo son who was not with us on this trip. He chose the design from the latest Tom Cruise movie and I just took his measurements.
Anyway it turned out fabulous. Cost: $115.00 AUD and can't be faultered.
I had a suit made at Janoko's Tailor that I had heard of from this forum. But unfortunately I was very disappointed, so I returned to the tailor I used last year and had quite a lot of clothes made up. I take my own materials. Very happy this time. Tailor: Susi (pronounced Sushi) Tailor of Chlung Wanara in Kuta. Alongside Mataharis in Kuta
Square.
Now, let's get to the eating side of things:
We mostly tried a different a restaurant every lunch and dinner, and yes, I am so tired of eating. Lucky thing I walked so much in between, you know, with all that shopping to be done.
I will list a brief rundown and result of the places we tried, but the unanimous decision of our overall favourite was a very plain and unassuming little restaurant at the beach end of Benasari Lane called Warung Jumbo.
We went here twice and not one person was disappointed any time. Things that were tried were: Lobster - fabulous and cheap, Fishermans Basket- very generous, Macaroni Cheese-to die for, my favourite by far and huge serve.
The bill was around $6.00 per person, which included 2 courses, 3 to 4 bintangs and a couple of waters. Great staff and service too. Worth a visit.
Our other favourite from last year and again this year is Gosha's on Melasti street. Great food, Great cocktails and the staff make everything so memorable.
Others we tried:
Kubuku: was ok
Mama's in Legian: great hamburger
Impala's in Tuban: Huge serves, reasonable prices and delicious.
Dulangs in Kuta square: Hamburger not cooked in the middle, yuk.
Un's Hotel- Balcony restaurant: very nice- you must try the giant kebab. It comes out on an enormous wrought iron skewer on a stand. Very tasty.
Swells-Poppies 1: great service, very nice and great prices. This was a great place to eat.
Rainbow Café: Yuk, and pretty grubby.
Warung 96: not as good as last year.
La Porchetta on Legian st: Great service, quite nice. Average price.
Seven Seas at Sindhu Beach markets in Sanur: Quite nice.
Nagasari-Bungkasari Lane: Average, bit grubby.
Green Garden Café-Opposite the Bali Hai in Tuban: Beautiful location. 3 storey building on the beach. Nice food, well priced, a Shim singer, lots of fun.
The Dirty Duck for lunch in Ubud: Beautiful settings amongst a rice field. Small servings, fairly pricey but still very nice.
Trattoria in Oberoi: Absolutley full with a queue waiting. It was ok but nothing fantastic. (Completely Italian)
Warung Brasil in Benasari: Small serves but extremely cheap and quite tasty.
Ketaput-Legian St: Quite nice but a bit pricey.
We also went to have a look at the Lohka Hotel in Padma St in Legian as we will be staying there in 4 months.....Yeah! aren't we the lucky ones.
It looked fabulous and the people there said they loved it. They even let us look in the rooms and book the number room that we wanted. Very impressed.
In summary, we all had a brilliant time and thought the shopping was better than ever.
The highlights would have been: quad bike riding, shopping of course, and we really loved our trip to Ubud. Next time we will give this some more time.
We are looking forward to our next trip. As we are going with a close group of friends (18 in all) and all but 2 of them are Bali Virgins. I think it's a great treat to share their first time experiences and reactions. I know you all know what I am talking about.
I would like to also say a huge thank you to everyone on this forum, old and new. It truly has made a huge difference in making our holiday so much more full and rewarding. This was my second trip to Bali since going there 24 years ago. From this forum alone I was so well prepared, both times, that I knew all the right places to go. I know what to look out for, and I even got buy with using a lot of their language. Especially when I tried the Balinese dialect instead of the standard Indonesian. I would say 'Sook Samar' (spelling is phonetic only), whish is Balinese for thank you. Instead of saying 'Terimah Kasih', which is Indonesian for thank you.
It was amazing the difference this makes. To see their reaction that you had actually taken the time to learn some Balinese and not just Indonesian was wonderful. Their faces just lit up in surprise and wonder. They would automatically become your friend. I felt quite special after that.
So thank you, or Sook Samar, for sharing everything that you have. It has truly made a huge difference to my wonderful Bali experiences. And now I can't wait to go back again in January.
If I can answer any questions, please feel free to ask.
I have been benefiting from this wonderful forum now for just over 1 year. It's now my turn to post a JBR. We have been back a week now and I am only just finding time to dance across the keyboard.
We, that is a group of 6 adults and two girls of 16 and 13, stayed for 2 weeks at the Grand Istana Rama in Kuta. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. Beautiful grounds, wonderful pool area, great breakfast, great rooms, and every single member of staff, to whom there are many, absolutely wonderful. The renovations going on did not bother us at all. Work was always finished at 5.00 each day and isolated only to segregated areas.
It's also a great location. If you are thinking of staying there, let me reassure you, you will not regret it.
For the two weeks there, we mostly shopped and ate and explored around the Kuta/Legian/Tuban areas, venturing out to Sanur for a morning of shopping along the beach fronts, Ubud to the monkey forest and shopping at the UBUD markets, (very interesting and a little different to the Kuta area), and quad bike riding through the countryside, (outstanding).
Special things to note on the subject of shopping:
Bought spiderman roller shoes for a toddler at Centro in Discovery Mall. On sale at 50% off, cost $10 AUD.
Had fabulous prescription glasses made at Discovery Mall for $113AUD. Designer frames.
Levi jeans 501's for $10-AUD.
Pierre Cardin Bras for daughter for $4.AUD (Strapless, etc)
Great prices on Revlon makeup at Mataharis and Centro.
Went to Makros and bought heaps of stuff like facial scrubs, acne cleansers, hair gels, concealer powder, from around a dollar each.
Bought a pack of Pantene Pro V (3x100ml bottles of shampoo and 3 x 100ml of condtioner) for a total of $5.50AUD.
Great strappy billabong tops for girls this year, for 30,000 ($4.00AUD). You have to ask for these of course.
Really nice watches around-30,000 R
Had a leather jacket made for my 19 yo son who was not with us on this trip. He chose the design from the latest Tom Cruise movie and I just took his measurements.
Anyway it turned out fabulous. Cost: $115.00 AUD and can't be faultered.
I had a suit made at Janoko's Tailor that I had heard of from this forum. But unfortunately I was very disappointed, so I returned to the tailor I used last year and had quite a lot of clothes made up. I take my own materials. Very happy this time. Tailor: Susi (pronounced Sushi) Tailor of Chlung Wanara in Kuta. Alongside Mataharis in Kuta
Square.
Now, let's get to the eating side of things:
We mostly tried a different a restaurant every lunch and dinner, and yes, I am so tired of eating. Lucky thing I walked so much in between, you know, with all that shopping to be done.
I will list a brief rundown and result of the places we tried, but the unanimous decision of our overall favourite was a very plain and unassuming little restaurant at the beach end of Benasari Lane called Warung Jumbo.
We went here twice and not one person was disappointed any time. Things that were tried were: Lobster - fabulous and cheap, Fishermans Basket- very generous, Macaroni Cheese-to die for, my favourite by far and huge serve.
The bill was around $6.00 per person, which included 2 courses, 3 to 4 bintangs and a couple of waters. Great staff and service too. Worth a visit.
Our other favourite from last year and again this year is Gosha's on Melasti street. Great food, Great cocktails and the staff make everything so memorable.
Others we tried:
Kubuku: was ok
Mama's in Legian: great hamburger
Impala's in Tuban: Huge serves, reasonable prices and delicious.
Dulangs in Kuta square: Hamburger not cooked in the middle, yuk.
Un's Hotel- Balcony restaurant: very nice- you must try the giant kebab. It comes out on an enormous wrought iron skewer on a stand. Very tasty.
Swells-Poppies 1: great service, very nice and great prices. This was a great place to eat.
Rainbow Café: Yuk, and pretty grubby.
Warung 96: not as good as last year.
La Porchetta on Legian st: Great service, quite nice. Average price.
Seven Seas at Sindhu Beach markets in Sanur: Quite nice.
Nagasari-Bungkasari Lane: Average, bit grubby.
Green Garden Café-Opposite the Bali Hai in Tuban: Beautiful location. 3 storey building on the beach. Nice food, well priced, a Shim singer, lots of fun.
The Dirty Duck for lunch in Ubud: Beautiful settings amongst a rice field. Small servings, fairly pricey but still very nice.
Trattoria in Oberoi: Absolutley full with a queue waiting. It was ok but nothing fantastic. (Completely Italian)
Warung Brasil in Benasari: Small serves but extremely cheap and quite tasty.
Ketaput-Legian St: Quite nice but a bit pricey.
We also went to have a look at the Lohka Hotel in Padma St in Legian as we will be staying there in 4 months.....Yeah! aren't we the lucky ones.
It looked fabulous and the people there said they loved it. They even let us look in the rooms and book the number room that we wanted. Very impressed.
In summary, we all had a brilliant time and thought the shopping was better than ever.
The highlights would have been: quad bike riding, shopping of course, and we really loved our trip to Ubud. Next time we will give this some more time.
We are looking forward to our next trip. As we are going with a close group of friends (18 in all) and all but 2 of them are Bali Virgins. I think it's a great treat to share their first time experiences and reactions. I know you all know what I am talking about.
I would like to also say a huge thank you to everyone on this forum, old and new. It truly has made a huge difference in making our holiday so much more full and rewarding. This was my second trip to Bali since going there 24 years ago. From this forum alone I was so well prepared, both times, that I knew all the right places to go. I know what to look out for, and I even got buy with using a lot of their language. Especially when I tried the Balinese dialect instead of the standard Indonesian. I would say 'Sook Samar' (spelling is phonetic only), whish is Balinese for thank you. Instead of saying 'Terimah Kasih', which is Indonesian for thank you.
It was amazing the difference this makes. To see their reaction that you had actually taken the time to learn some Balinese and not just Indonesian was wonderful. Their faces just lit up in surprise and wonder. They would automatically become your friend. I felt quite special after that.
So thank you, or Sook Samar, for sharing everything that you have. It has truly made a huge difference to my wonderful Bali experiences. And now I can't wait to go back again in January.
If I can answer any questions, please feel free to ask.
I have been benefiting from this wonderful forum now for just over 1 year. It's now my turn to post a JBR. We have been back a week now and I am only just finding time to dance across the keyboard.
We, that is a group of 6 adults and two girls of 16 and 13, stayed for 2 weeks at the Grand Istana Rama in Kuta. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. Beautiful grounds, wonderful pool area, great breakfast, great rooms, and every single member of staff, to whom there are many, absolutely wonderful. The renovations going on did not bother us at all. Work was always finished at 5.00 each day and isolated only to segregated areas.
It's also a great location. If you are thinking of staying there, let me reassure you, you will not regret it.
For the two weeks there, we mostly shopped and ate and explored around the Kuta/Legian/Tuban areas, venturing out to Sanur for a morning of shopping along the beach fronts, Ubud to the monkey forest and shopping at the UBUD markets, (very interesting and a little different to the Kuta area), and quad bike riding through the countryside, (outstanding).
Special things to note on the subject of shopping:
Bought spiderman roller shoes for a toddler at Centro in Discovery Mall. On sale at 50% off, cost $10 AUD.
Had fabulous prescription glasses made at Discovery Mall for $113AUD. Designer frames.
Levi jeans 501's for $10-AUD.
Pierre Cardin Bras for daughter for $4.AUD (Strapless, etc)
Great prices on Revlon makeup at Mataharis and Centro.
Went to Makros and bought heaps of stuff like facial scrubs, acne cleansers, hair gels, concealer powder, from around a dollar each.
Bought a pack of Pantene Pro V (3x100ml bottles of shampoo and 3 x 100ml of condtioner) for a total of $5.50AUD.
Great strappy billabong tops for girls this year, for 30,000 ($4.00AUD). You have to ask for these of course.
Really nice watches around-30,000 R
Had a leather jacket made for my 19 yo son who was not with us on this trip. He chose the design from the latest Tom Cruise movie and I just took his measurements.
Anyway it turned out fabulous. Cost: $115.00 AUD and can't be faultered.
I had a suit made at Janoko's Tailor that I had heard of from this forum. But unfortunately I was very disappointed, so I returned to the tailor I used last year and had quite a lot of clothes made up. I take my own materials. Very happy this time. Tailor: Susi (pronounced Sushi) Tailor of Chlung Wanara in Kuta. Alongside Mataharis in Kuta
Square.
Now, let's get to the eating side of things:
We mostly tried a different a restaurant every lunch and dinner, and yes, I am so tired of eating. Lucky thing I walked so much in between, you know, with all that shopping to be done.
I will list a brief rundown and result of the places we tried, but the unanimous decision of our overall favourite was a very plain and unassuming little restaurant at the beach end of Benasari Lane called Warung Jumbo.
We went here twice and not one person was disappointed any time. Things that were tried were: Lobster - fabulous and cheap, Fishermans Basket- very generous, Macaroni Cheese-to die for, my favourite by far and huge serve.
The bill was around $6.00 per person, which included 2 courses, 3 to 4 bintangs and a couple of waters. Great staff and service too. Worth a visit.
Our other favourite from last year and again this year is Gosha's on Melasti street. Great food, Great cocktails and the staff make everything so memorable.
Others we tried:
Kubuku: was ok
Mama's in Legian: great hamburger
Impala's in Tuban: Huge serves, reasonable prices and delicious.
Dulangs in Kuta square: Hamburger not cooked in the middle, yuk.
Un's Hotel- Balcony restaurant: very nice- you must try the giant kebab. It comes out on an enormous wrought iron skewer on a stand. Very tasty.
Swells-Poppies 1: great service, very nice and great prices. This was a great place to eat.
Rainbow Café: Yuk, and pretty grubby.
Warung 96: not as good as last year.
La Porchetta on Legian st: Great service, quite nice. Average price.
Seven Seas at Sindhu Beach markets in Sanur: Quite nice.
Nagasari-Bungkasari Lane: Average, bit grubby.
Green Garden Café-Opposite the Bali Hai in Tuban: Beautiful location. 3 storey building on the beach. Nice food, well priced, a Shim singer, lots of fun.
The Dirty Duck for lunch in Ubud: Beautiful settings amongst a rice field. Small servings, fairly pricey but still very nice.
Trattoria in Oberoi: Absolutley full with a queue waiting. It was ok but nothing fantastic. (Completely Italian)
Warung Brasil in Benasari: Small serves but extremely cheap and quite tasty.
Ketaput-Legian St: Quite nice but a bit pricey.
We also went to have a look at the Lohka Hotel in Padma St in Legian as we will be staying there in 4 months.....Yeah! aren't we the lucky ones.
It looked fabulous and the people there said they loved it. They even let us look in the rooms and book the number room that we wanted. Very impressed.
In summary, we all had a brilliant time and thought the shopping was better than ever.
The highlights would have been: quad bike riding, shopping of course, and we really loved our trip to Ubud. Next time we will give this some more time.
We are looking forward to our next trip. As we are going with a close group of friends (18 in all) and all but 2 of them are Bali Virgins. I think it's a great treat to share their first time experiences and reactions. I know you all know what I am talking about.
I would like to also say a huge thank you to everyone on this forum, old and new. It truly has made a huge difference in making our holiday so much more full and rewarding. This was my second trip to Bali since going there 24 years ago. From this forum alone I was so well prepared, both times, that I knew all the right places to go. I know what to look out for, and I even got buy with using a lot of their language. Especially when I tried the Balinese dialect instead of the standard Indonesian. I would say 'Sook Samar' (spelling is phonetic only), whish is Balinese for thank you. Instead of saying 'Terimah Kasih', which is Indonesian for thank you.
It was amazing the difference this makes. To see their reaction that you had actually taken the time to learn some Balinese and not just Indonesian was wonderful. Their faces just lit up in surprise and wonder. They would automatically become your friend. I felt quite special after that.
So thank you, or Sook Samar, for sharing everything that you have. It has truly made a huge difference to my wonderful Bali experiences. And now I can't wait to go back again in January.
If I can answer any questions, please feel free to ask.
Cathy