JBR May 21-May 30
Hi everyone, this is my first JBR so I hope that I don't bore you too much. Firstly would like to say thanks to all the info from this great forum & a big thank you to LuvTheNt for Putu's number & the car seat.
Three of us went over, hubby (G) toddler 3.5 year old (Z) and me. We have another son who couldn't come this time around due to work commitments. This was our first trip without our older boy, so a bit different for us this time around.
We flew Jet*, we were lucky to get seats on sale last year for about $567 per person ex Syd or something very close to that amount. We boarded the aircraft only to hear that our flight had been delayed due to baggage handlers striking. So we took off 1 hour late but with no fault of Jet*. Overall pretty happy with Jet* given the price we paid, thought they were pretty good. We always take our portable DVD player for Z to watch his kiddies DVD's & you wouldn't believe it but the bloody thing wouldn't work.
Hubby charged the batteries before we left home but it wasn't the batteries it was something wrong with the unit. So I thought there goes Z sitting still for too long but all worked out well. He was pretty much buggered after running around the airport & after about an hour off to sleep he went. I am missing our older boy so thought I would have a couple of wines whilst Z is peacefully sleeping scrunched up next to me. By the time we landed i felt quite p***ssed Thats probably why the flight seemed to go so quick, went thru VOA no problems
Our transport for this trip was pre-arranged with Putu. (Special thanks to LuvTheNt mwa mwa for suggesting Putu & the baby car seat) Putu is a great guy, very easy going, always smiling & always polite, even when our 3 year old had his hissy fits. Would definitely recommend without hesitation. Putu came to the airport to pick us up, felt bad that we had arrived an hour late & he had been waiting.
We stayed at the Ramanyana in Kuta. Loved its great location and thought the staff were great. The hotel was pretty busy, lots of guests. The Breakfasts were great, couldn't get enough of the vegetable lasagna. The only downer was people smoking near my child at breakfast (I gave up the ciggies 4 years ago & couldn't care less if people smoke, just not near my kid at breakfast). We stayed in a deluxe room above the Stadium bar room was nice & clean.
Weather was a bit mixed, overcast, rainy, and windy but was still over 30 degrees.
Things we did; -
Safari Park
Loved the Safari park, the two baby orangutans tried taking my sons sandals off his feel, which was pretty funny. Definite highlight for us was my boy feeding the baby elephant, he loved it. We fed her three bunches of carrots & then my son had a fit when I explained that we needed to leave some for other people to feed her as well. Loved seeing the other animals too. Only downer was the weather poured with rain just before we got down to the water park but we had a great day & would definitely go again.
Turtle Island
I didn't like this place at all. The best thing about this day was the boat ride over. Didn't like seeing the bat & chickens kept in cane cages that looked no bigger than a household buckets, thought it was pretty cruel & seeing a tourist laying on the lizard for a photo. (I was praying for the lizard to bite him) & the staff didnt seem to give a stuff. I guess after the Safari Park I had expectations of this place & it just didn't do it for me but like i said the boat trip was nice.
Tannah lot
I have been here but my hubby hadn't and really wanted to go, so we asked Putu to pick us up at 5 & off we went. We had plans to go to Tannah Lot & then to Jimbaran for dinner but our toddler's mood quickly changed that for us. We got to see Tannah lot & then asked Putu to take us back to Kuta & off to Asian Spice we went for dinner.
Food
My son loved the Indonesian fried noodles from Asian spice & we liked the noodles too yummo, so we ate here 3 times LOL. Also ate at Kedins in Poppies Lane, great staff & sooo cheap. TJ's, Impala's (service very slow at Impala's but the food was good). Café Batan Waru? I think that's what its called, was feeling a bit sick after eating the Beef rendang, felt a bit of nausea, so out came the cajuput oil, rubbed it on my stomach & felt better. Also ate at the Stadium bar & Bamboo corner both were good & Bamboo was soooo cheap.
Had heaps of cocktails, Stadium bar was a bit expensive for grog but still cheap compared to home, so didn't really care. Had Banana daiquiris at Kedins café, which were pretty good, so we went back here a couple of times.
Baby sitter
The wonderful Komung. Komung is a very warm person, honest, trustworthy & good English and a great girl. My son loved her! & she was fantastic with him. So we asked Komung if she would look after Z whilst we went for dinner etc & worked out well Komungs details if anyone wants;-
khomank_mike@hotmail.com
i have a phone number too if anyone wants
Shopping
Shopped mostly at Jenny & Diannes fixed priced shops in Tuban, both really nice ladies & prices really good. Did do a bit of shopping down at the art markets but most was at the fixed price shops.
Found the Mataharis in Kuta good for kid's clothes. They had Popeye outfits on sale, matching shorts & tops for 50% off the tagged price, so I think they were about 40000 each, absolute bargain so i brought my boy one set in each colour LOL. I also brought Little M kids long sleeve tops, I do love the quality of the Little M brand.
Took a trip into carefour, I had never been, I brought more long sleeve kids tops although the quality not as good as Matahari & some presents for people back home. Had lunch upstairs at the food court, noodles again yum. Checked out the Bata shoe shop as it had a sale on & picked up a couple of pairs of shoes which were really cheap
Centro
Hubby is a Masseur thong man, loves the things. In Syd they sell for about $35 Aus $, we seen them at a Chemist in Centro for about $14 aus a pair, hence he came home with 3 pairs LOL, be enough to see his feet thru for the next couple of years.
Our son loved the playground at the top of Centro, so did my hubby. They were both in kiddie's paradise. So off they went to play & both had a ball. I was more interested in coffee & buying cakes at Bread talk mmmm, so many wonderful things to choose from. On our last day we brought apple strudels & muffins & chocolate fingers to have on the Jetstar flight, we just put them into a resealable bag & they were ok.
Flight Home
We were overweight by 6 kilo's. The guy at check in was nice to let us only pay for 5 kilo. So $100 aus it was. In the scheme of things didn't mind as our hand luggage was pretty heavy as well & wasn't weighed. Flight home left on time & was a good flight, well as good as can be with a toddler.
All in all had a great trip but was glad to get home & see our other son, as missed him dearly. Have started saving for our next trip. Thanks for reading.