As a birthday treat for yours truly we headed to Sesari Bali Villas in Seminyak for the last four nights of our stay.
We had ventured into Kuta a week previously to arrange for jewellery to be made along with orders for prescription glasses so we had quite a bit to pick up later in the week.
I had bought some parti sapphires and white sapphires a few months ago with a view to having a ring made in Bali. I found a design on the internet and printed it out and away we go! I had used Audrey at Bali Jewellery Gold & Diamond at Kuta Paradiso previously with mixed results, but I decided to give her a go again. Mum also had some gemstones she wanted made into a ring, so we had a decent amount of business to hand over.
After explaining what I wanted and showing the picture I felt confident of a good result - a 14ct white gold ring claw set with 3 parti sapphires and 2 white sapphires. I specifically asked for the ring to be stamped so that I didn't have issues with insurance. Mum had a large sapphire bezel set with smaller sapphires bezel set next to it in 14ct yellow gold. She had some mixed 9, 12, and 18ct charms that she had melted down towards the cost of the ring, so I think she paid around $80 for the manufacture of the ring only. I didn't have any gold, so I paid around 3.1M Rp which, as anyone would know, is extremely reasonable.
The final results again, were mixed. I'm pleased to say that my ring looked wonderful, it was exactly what I wanted but was a little too snug on first try - and the 14k 'stamp' was hand-engraved - no good for insurance as I explained, I could have done that myself! I was assured all would be made good, and to be fair, it all was, and in the end I was very happy with the result. Mum on the other hand, was very disappointed. The bezel set stones were very roughly done, not evenly spaced, not even in line with each other, and the ring was nothing short of unattractive. It was still value for what she paid for it, but I can't help thinking that despite us giving plenty of time, the ring may been rushed to fit in another customer. The work was nothing short of shoddy, and Mum was chocking back the sting of disappointment in the shop so as not to embarrass the lady. We were leaving in a few days, so no re-modelling could be done, but suffice to say that Mum won't be a return customer.
I have come to the conclusion that BJG&D are skilled at some things and not others. The ring that I was disappointed with a few years ago (which incidentally is my wedding ring, so while I see it's imperfections every day, I still love it for what it is), is also bezel set and uneven/unskilfully made. So - trust them for bangles, charms, claw set rings and possibly everything else, but be warned, bezel set gems are not their forte.
A word now on Sesari Bali Villas...here goes. Sesari used to be owned and managed by Alu Bali, and I have stayed at Alu many times, I love the place. This was my first stay at Sesari to try them out, and it will be my last. The villas are now managed by the Aston group and it's clear that they have some work to do. The villas were a little run down, attention to detail wasn't great, and the facilities were a little tired. There WAS quite a bit of renovation going on, so I suspect that the new management have already recognised this, but in my opinion the courteous thing for a hotel to do in this case is to inform you that there will be renovations taking place, and usually some consideration would be made with the rate. As it stood, we paid quite a bit to stay in a partial building site, and I wasn't overly impressed. We will be going back to Alu Bali in future.
I acknowledge that the villas were probably already a little tired before the new management took them on, but as I said, how about relaxing the rate a little until you get them into the shape they need to be in before you charge $300 US a night. Having said all of the that, the staff were fine, but just didn't have the polish of the Alu Bali staff.
In Seminyak we ate at;
Ultimo - great food, great atmosphere, love the place.
Breeze at the Samaya - brilliant staff, food was reasonable, wine list very good, and the manager shouted me a gorgeous chocolate birthday cake which made the night memorable :).
Mykonos (sp?) - don't bother. Food was very average
Warung Ketut - nice food, great atmosphere, don't ask me where it is, I had a few drinks before we left. Their dog is lovely (not on the menu, the pet).
Shopping
Optik Seis - I had a pair of glasses repaired with some new transitions lenses (800k), Hubby bought some Ray Ban sunglasses for 1.3M, and I bought a new pair of Prada reading glasses for 3M. Worth every penny and about a third of the Aus price.
We always stock up on razors in Bali and Hubby bought a years supply of Gillette Mach 3 razors for half of the Aus price - worth it for you blokes!
Marks & Spencer - Lots of good sizes here - I am between a 14 and 16 and found great jeans for $35 - super comfy, nice tops, shirts, shorts etc...okay so they're not as cheap as the market clothes you can buy, but then again, I have no desire to look like a colourful sack of oranges, so I'd rather pay a little more for something I can actually wear in public.
Geneva Handicrafts - alas, good old Geneva is a little tired. Didn't buy much at all.
Star Disc in Jl Sawadehwa - bought the requisite 50 or so, most of them are fine.
Dolphin Leather - Mum had two leather jackets made - good workmanship and a decent price, she's happy.
Fuji Shop next to Double 6 Bar - had six close ups of flowers from our garden blown up onto canvas. I can highly recommend this IF you have the right resolution photos to begin with. A couple picked up some canvas prints while we were in the shop and they were disappointed - not the shop's fault, just too low resolution on the original photos, so they looked very grainy blown up. Ours came out perfectly though, and everyone who has seen them comments. It makes it all that much more special that they are actually our plants!
We brought back a large supply of vanilla beans without a problem at all - declared them at the airport in Melbourne on the way back and no issues. I paid about $10 for 15 packaged plump beans (from a spice shop in Sanur). I'm sure you can buy these cheaper elsewhere, but I was there and they were cheap enough. In Coles last week I saw 1 bean on special for $7.50. I call that good value. Buy some for your friends and bring them back.
Spas
Only visited one spa for the whole trip, but did get many massages from my Balinese mother, Ni Luh Adin at Swastika :). We did go to Bodyworks in Seminyak and I had a 1 hour massage followed by a manicure and pedicure for the princely sum of 400k, a complete rip off. The massage girl was disinterested and huffy and tried to upsell me to a 1 ½ or two hour massage several times, severely hindering my ability to relax. If Ibu Adin was charging those prices she's be living in the Kuta Townhouses by now.
All in all, it was another great holiday - hopefully these JBRs have been interesting to at least someone, and please, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
Cheers, Dutchnat