PART 2, FINALLY BACK TO BALI! (JBR):
BACKGROUND: Myself (Ruby), Husband (Mr Ruby) with 13yr old son (Mstr 1) & 12yr old son (Mstr 2). Our 5th trip.
Our first 5 nights at the gorgeous Tegal Sari in Ubud had been perfect in every way. We were truly saddenned to be leaving this gorgeous location. As if to prove it, we neglected to dress, pack & leave our room until the final moment.
OUR ARRIVAL IN LEGIAN:
We arranged a driver (150,000rph) the day before our departure from Ubud. He was to drive our family to the Jayakarta Apartments in Legian. He arrived promptly - it is a shame the same cannot be said about our arrival in Legian.
Unfortunately a trip by car that should have taken about 1hr, took nearly 2! The driver seemed not to know the correct way to get there. Once we hit Legian, it was bumper to bumper traffic with little movement. We sat stationary much of the time till the traffic started to move again. It seemed each time the driver went to take a turn, the road was blocked off. He phoned 'his friend' on several occasions to obtain new directions. We literally drove round in circles on a couple of occasions. There was torrential rainfall once we hit Legian. The windscreen wipers struggled to cope & the aircon was not sufficient whilst stationary for so long. Welcome to Legian!
LEGIAN ACCOMMODATION:
We had booked Max & Suzanne's Jayakarta Apartments in Legian via their website. A 1bdrm Apartment #6506 was booked for the first 5 nights since x2 interconnecting aptmts were not available. (The arrangement was to move to #6526 & 6528 on the same floor for the final 9 nights).
There was a definite period of adjustment required on arriving at this apartment. I found it dark & depressing. My initial reaction was to move somewhere else. It was mid afternoon & after a hot & rather frustrating 2hr car trip, the last thing we wanted to do was to go accommodation 'shopping'. Over the next couple of nights we slowly adjusted - with some frustrations...
Although superficially the apartment presents well decorated, we found there to be little light coming into the living/kitchen area (balcony is off bedroom). This adds to the depressive feel. The balcony is small & overlooks rooftops to the street on one side & treetops on the other. Problems we encountered were traffic noises from the street on the bedroom side & car alarms going off in the car-park on the living room side - both noises could be heard throughout the night.
Maintenance was another issue: the water dispenser leaked causing a puddle on the tiled floor; the toilet cistern continued to run after flushing - my husband had to open the cistern & adjust every time someone used it. We noted the floor was very gritty on our arrival - so much so that we swept it ourselves with a short handled broom found in a kitchen cupboard.... the dust & grit swept up was amazing!
Space was an issue also. Having been advised the apartment was quite spacious, we were disappointed to find that when the lounge was opened out to a bed (just foam on the floor) & a single rollaway bed added, we had to lift the small kitchen breakfast bar (not an easy task with granite bench & large water container on it!) & move it against the cupboards to allow a very narrow walkway to open the fridge (with difficulty). This made the kitchen nook unworkable as cupboards would not open & you had to lean across two benches to turn on jug etc. Also, I found having to make up a bed (the lounge) each night & then fold it up of a day so you could try to function space-wise, a pain when you're on holidays.
After only a couple of nights (dys)functioning like this, Suandi the Caretaker for Max & Suzanne's private apartments, phoned to advise the apartment next door had become available so we could have x2 interconnecting for the rest of the period we were in #6506.
It was great to have the extra room & a bedroom each - & pull the breakfast bar back in place so that the kitchenette was useable! Having said that I had to leave a note for the cleaner since the floors had not been swept in this apartment either & the fridge was still soiled from the previous tenant - including yukky eyedrops in the door. (I later felt guilty at doing this as I noted she was heavily pregnant). From then on I would wash & wipe kitchen dishes & clean kitchen benches before departing for the day to give her a headstart - this also ensured the crockery was clean since we noted several put away unwashed on our arrival.
Again, there were maintenance issues in this apartment: including no hot water to shower; another running toilet, leaky air-con.... Again, superficially the apartment presents nicely with its current furnishings but general maintenance was lacking - not the environment you want to spend your precious holiday time.
Having said that, Suandi attended to several maintenance issues (air-con, toilet) which alleviated our frustrations a little. Needless to say we were looking forward to moving to #6526/6528.
The day finally came.... Apartments #6526/6528 looked to have had a recent refurb & were better decorated (in fact I loved one of the paintings so much, I could have taken it home). These apartments had light coming in from glass bricks in the wall of the living area. The balconies had a better aspect (small glimpse of water between treetops, but facing coast so much more light) & subsequently a better 'feel' to the apartments. 2 interconnecting apartments is a comfortable space for a family.
Incredibly, maintenance was again an issue... #6528 - metal framed balcony door scraped floor heavily on opening; bedroom door squeaks LOUDLY (no trying to sneak into bed quietly!); sliding door to bathroom only slides with some force. #6526 - fridge was not working no matter how we tried to adjust it, though appeared brand new; water pressure so low in shower we all used the one shower (very frustrating when there are 2 showers available); DVD players were new but wouldn't all play the same dvd's. Suffice to say the problems were manageable, but annoying enough to cloud our time at the Jayakarta.
We have since advised NZ owners, Max & Suzanne & are confident they will remedy the current minor maintenance issues to ensure a more comfortable stay for their future tenants.
Having said that, the apartments are very competitively priced - especially over New Year, when so many other venues increase their prices significantly. This was the reasoning behind our initial attraction in the accommodation.
Of Interest: The woman at Apartment Reception was a real non-smiler no matter how hard we tried to encourage her. Mstr 1 & 2 dubbed her 'Miss Personality'.
The apartments are serviced by 2 lifts. An air freshener in the top corner of each lift seemed to spray every time the door closed. The scent was rather unpleasant & the spray washed over us no matter where we stood in the lift. On several occasions we noted damage to the interior of the lift on entering eg. the cover to electrical buttons was missing. On another occasion we got in, pressed the floor & the power went off completely. There was no light, aircon or movement. Although only moments till it started up again, it was enough to encourage me on all future occasions to persist in walking up & down 5 flights of stairs regardless of what I was carrying.
The apartment block was brimming with Javanese when we arrived & until about the 5th Jan when their school hols finished. The Javanese all seem to be accompanied by their own vehicles. This made the carpark extremely busy. Most of the Javanese seem to be smokers - in the lifts, in the foyer, on their balcony, even sitting on a chair in the passageway outside their room. There seemed no escape from the cigarette smoke.
RESTAURANTS: so many we attended... some that come to mind...
'Layang Layang Restaurant' at Adika Sari Hotel - upstairs, bright & breezy. Went for breakfast on a number of occasions (Continental 107,000rph for 4).
'Dayu Restaurant', Legian. Inconsistent service with Master 2 being served his meal after everyone else had finished. Nice meals though. 180,000rph for 4.
'Dayu 1', Jln Singosari 62, Kuta. Have always loved this restaurant after discovering it 20yrs ago. Has had a recent makeover so the pleasant décor adds to the ambience. Great food, great prices, great staff, very relaxing venue. Highly recommended.
'Zanzibar', Legian. Great position overlooking beach. Soiled tablecloths. Our worst meal! Ordered x2 pizza's... even the kids would not finish it.
'Blue Ocean', Legian. On the beachfront, always seemed busy. Went in to have a meal but just hated the atmosphere... 1 wall of 20 & 30 somethings lying on daybeds smoking & drinking. Not a family venue.
'Pantai Restaurant', Tuban. Used to be my favourite so were keen to return. Sensational location, breathtaking sunsets. Food was not so impressive, décor rather tired. Could be so improved. Bargain prices.
'Je Je Restaurant', Legian. Adjacent to Je Je Resort (noted rooms only 150,000rp per night). Nice ambience, soothing music. Pool table to keep the young natives entertained. Concrete pillars have etched phrases from well known songs in them. Elevated from road, breezy & cool, excellent service, uncluttered, delicious food. Rp186,00 for family of 4.
'Seaside Café', Legian. Fabulous location on beachfront. Clean, good food.
LEGIAN SHOPPING: Did the usual t-shirt & shorts, dvds, bags, beaded thongs, beads & earrings etc.
Purchased presciption lenses & new frames at an Optometrist in Denpasar for $Aus70.
Enjoyed the thrill of a bargain in Denpasar by purchasing new tapware & bathroom fittings for our new house. (With 4 bathrooms, this was quite a saving which covered a fair portion of our holiday expense). Excellent quality taps & mixers were as little as $Aus70 (was intending to spend $250 each on similar in Australia). Mr Ruby fell in love with an Italian made, state of the art Kitchen Mixer. Purchased for $Aus150 in Bali & retails for $1,425 in Australia.
Other purchases/shops that come to mind are...
'Bintang Supermarket', Legian. A bit of a walk from Jayakarta. Wise to return by taxi when laden with purchases. Handy to stock up on nibbles & drinks. Interesting purchases/prices - a sml calculator (18,200rph) & a 3mtr tape measure (5,300rph).
'Ace Hardware'. Purchased exterior house 'uplights' at approx. $Aus15 ea
'Chandra Leather', Kuta. Gorgeous mens leather jacket made $Aus105
'CV Toko Perhiasan Pertama First Jewellery', Bali Hai Resort, Tuban. 2 rings enlarged $Aus40, 18ct gold chain purchased with changed clasp $Aus160.
'Ketut's', Legian. This market stall is renowned for it's fixed price & is recommended on the BTF for it's ease of purchasing. Like many, we went in our first few days of arrival in Legian for bulk purchases of t-shirts/shorts etc. It is with regret now that we purchased so much at one stall. Ketut's prices were nothing exceptional in comparison to other stalls, it was purely the ease of not having to bargain that was attractive. The embarrassment however at carrying numerous heavy bags of purchases past excruciatingly quiet vendors on the way back to our hotel, saddened me. (As a footnote: Ketut stated she didn't know who placed her name on the forum, but as a result she gets lots of business - though it is quieter than it was before recent 'events').
'Kuta Art Markets' are agonisingly quiet. Everyone is selling the same items & must be desperate for business. In fact, there were no 'shoppers' at all in the laneways when I was there. I noted one quiet lady in *Shop 97 which is down the back on left hand side. With no fuss, she offered me items for fixed price. Dresses were 25,000rp, shorts 20-25,000rph, sarong 20,000rp. It was late afternoon & yet I was her first sale of the day - & the first for 3 days! I told her I would recommend her on the BTF (hoping she would be as successful as Ketut!) If you do attend her stall (recommended) please tell her that 'Ruby' from Bali Travel Forum has referred you. All of the market vendors though need your business.
'Geneva Handicrafts', Kerobokan. Always interesting & full of bargains. Difficult to escape without creating a future luggage problem!
'Ramayana Dept. Store', Denpasar - busy over new year when we shopped, with long queues to purchase. Always interesting shopping though.
Dept. Store, Kuta (?Ramayana or ?Matahari... always forget which name). Purchased extra luggage here. Didn't have the Paklite brand that we wanted, but other brand that seemed good quality & of course much reduced prices. Also purchased several baby clothing items (gifts!), bra's, cosmetics.
WHITE WATER RAFTING:
'Bali International Rafting' http://www.bali-clubaqua.com Rp320,00 for Mr Ruby & Rp280,000 each for Mstr 1 & 2. 8.30am - 2.30pm, pickup & drop-off at hotel. Includes lunch & shower after white water rafting. Telaga Waja river flows past tropical jungle along a 12km course & through a natural waterfall. My kids absolutely loved it & claim it was one of the highlights of their trip. Recommended!
LAUNDRY:
'Nyoman Laundry Service', Legian - bargain prices, convenient location to Jayakarta, unfortunately ready 24hrs later than arranged.
'Jasmine Laundry Service', Jl Raya Legian 488, Kuta & Jl Pengubengan Kauh 80B, Kerobokan. 0361-744-5355 - pickup & delivery, same day service if required, highly recommended, bargain prices. Very professional.
OVERALL:
A luxury for us to spend 19 nights away.
Time in Ubud a very special memory for the whole family. Our Legian stay clouded a little by the maintenance issues at our chosen accommodation.
Beautiful weather, beautiful people.
Looking forward to returning one day soon.