Just replied to a posting from David UK. We met him on the second Tuesday we were in Sanur at the Cat and Fiddle. I remember him because he had flown with Royal Brunei and was telling us about the prayer session on take off. Just what you need to give you confidence. Actually it is probably no different to 90% of passengers on any other airline (me included) it's just that we are doing it silently in our head.
After being disappointed with Ketuts fixed price shop we thought we would try Tootsies, which if you are not aware is situated at the Sanur beach market no. 88. To get there we got a bemmo (what a great/cheap way of getting around Sanur) to the Puri Grya, walked through their grounds to the beach, turned left and a pleasant 10 minute walk along the board walk until you come to Benno's bar/restaurant. Turn left there (it is actually signposted to Toosies) and it is the end shop on the right hand side. Beware the scouts. They will pick you up from either direction at the outer perimeter about 100 metres from the market and follow you, to try to get you to go to their shop. Do not tell them you are going for something to eat/drink because they will pass you on to the inner scouts who will wait outside the bar until you have finished. To be fair to them if you simply tell them, nicely but firmly, that you are not shopping/spending today they will leave you alone.
Well as much as we were disappointed with out first visit to a fixed price shop we were absolutely made up with Tootsies. Toots was friendly, extremely helpful and of course cheap. Nothing was to much trouble. If she did not have it in your size (she does cater for larger size ladies) she nipped out to one of the other shops and if you could not find what you were looking for, no problem she would get it by the next day. We went there 3 or 4 times and it was like we had known her for years. Strange we would come out of there with a load of carry bags and the other 'need to bargain' shops were doing nothing. You would think they would learn. We would have a bintang at Benno's and the girl in there could always guess roughly how much we had spent just looking at the carry bags.
Got some transport from one of the guys who sit outside the Puri to Denpassar (cannot remember the price as we never bargained to hard, these guys are suffering and normally by the time we added on a tip we were back to their first price.) to the Dewa Tiara department store to pick up our specs from Tiara Optical. No problems they were fine and we were well pleased with the price we paid. The thing with this place is that they cater predominantly for the locals, so the prices are local prices.
Having tested it for over a week there was no way were we getting out of there without Cath visiting the Martha Tilaar counter and she did herself proud. Birthday and Christmas presents for my daughter and daughter in laws and of course a 'shed full' for herself. The prices were the same as in Kuta and needless to say we made the counter girls day. The best was to come because when we went to pay there was a 10% discount on all Martha Tilaar products (which believe me was substantial) which we had not noticed and she gave Cath a free gift.
We bought a few bits and pieces from the shops around the Puri, but they do not do themselves any favours. Some of the starting prices were crazy. For a Paul Frank school bag, the first asking price was 350,000 rupiahs. In the end we paid 100,000 for the bag and a hat, and we probably could have got it lower.
Eating and Drinking
As already said we adopted the Cat and Fiddle as our local for drinkies. But we did notice that on a Friday night across the road at the Trophy there was a great rock group performing which attracted a good crowd. For lunch we normally hit the beach places either down the other side by Sanur beach market or just along the beach at Donalds. For dinner we tried all the local restaurants around the Puri (with the exception of the Mezzanine). We were never disappointed they all served excellent food and cheap. I am sure the Mezzanine is great food but it does come at a price (Bali wise) and we never felt that we needed to go there.
For ambience, without doubt eating on the beach in the evening is very romantic and something we can never do at home, so Donalds on the beach was the favourite. They always gave a discount of the tax/service and we used to give it them back as a tip, but we did notice that sadly not everyone gave a tip.
For food, difficult choice because we had so many nice meals, but we went twice to Jepun's (turn right out of Puri and about quarter of a mile down the road on the left just after the intersection) and the food was very very good.
Breakfast at the Puri was very good although if I had to pay I would probably have gone somewhere else. The only thing that concerned us was that for a good quality hotel the fruit and cold meats on the buffet were left uncovered and were an obvious attraction for flies. Needless to say we had neither
Ron finds hell on earth
Just a little note of warning before I go, but those with a delicate disposition can skip this bit.
On the second morning in Sanur just after finishing breakfast I got that feeling inside that I needed to be somewhere else. You know the feeling, your walk gets quicker and quicker then a jog and you are almost sprinting by the time you get within the proximity of your room. Well two doses of immodium later we decided we would have a trip to Hardys supermarket.
On arrival at Hardys I asked where the toilet was and she took us out of the shop and pointed to a metal shed at the end of the car park. By the time I got there I remembered that Cath had got the wipes in her bag, this was the only day of the holiday she had not taken the wipes and all she had was to little mozzie wipes. Needs desperate and a sprint back across the car park.
Welcome to hell. The place must have been well over 100%, mozzies and flies were competing for my blood, there was no lock on the door and the floor was wet. I also discovered it is better to have practised using the shower to douse yourself before using in earnest, especially if you need to keep one foot on the door to keep intruders out. I will not try to describe the state I was in when I got out of there. Enough the say I could solve all of the Americans problems with questioning the inmate at Guantanamo, lock them in the loo at Hardys for half an hour and they will tell you anything.
Excellent laundry just outside the Puri turn left then left again by the first shops (signposted). Ready same day, less than half the price of the hotel.
Watch the Kodak shop across the road from the Puri. Caught me for 10,000 rupiahs one day, no big deal, but they tried everyday after that for different amounts and it was never in their favour. To be honest I don't think they were doing it deliberate;y.
To finish 'final thoughts' and for those who are interested a comparison between what we think about Thailand and Bali.