I always go to Bali, planning to have a massage evry day. Of course it rarely eventuates because I get sidetracked doing other things. Opposite the Kumala Pantai, a few doors down in the direction of the Jayakarta, is a spa called Briella. I had read good reports on this forum, so decided to give it a try. First foray in self indulgence, was a massage and was more than pleased with the one hour massage, for 85,000 Rp. Yes a little more expensive than some, but the mood in this spa is lovely. The decor includes dim lighting, the walls painted a rainforest green style colour and the peaceful music often played in spas in Australia. The massage area was not separate rooms but cutrained cibicles, but the staff all speak quietly and when they are not working they tend to sit outside so that there chatter does not disturb customers.
As mentioned, I was encouraged into manicure and pedicure and S and S on my first night. After about three days it was wearing off, so the next thoing needed to be a proper manicure and pedicure. My nails are still looking great and all the gungy skin aroung my nails is gone!
Next came the creme bath for my hair. I had never had one of these before but had come to Bali intending to have my hair cut and coloured as this costs me plenty in Australia. I thought it may be good to do this at the end of my stay, so that I did not bleach all the colour out opf my hair in the pool! So a reme bath was to keep me going. Summary opinion "Ok but probably not sure if I would appreciate this."
Finally, after days of lots of walking on rough footpaths with my dodgy feet and ankles, my feet were very sore. I thought a great thing to do would be to have reflexology treatment, which I did the evening I was going home. One of the men did this and it hurt a bit,but was what I describe as "good pain" One hour of this treatment cost 65,000rp and afterwards my feet felt magnificent and still do. One area that caused quite a bit of discomfort was the top of one of my second toes. He told me this relates to the left side of my brain! Not too sure about the significance of this! I had been under some stress before departure, was this related?? Anyway, it was well worth it. After every treatment before you leave you are presented with a small drink of Aqua.
The day before, armed with the information from the forum, I ventured to Centro to visit the Johnny Andrean hair salon. I explained what I wanted: hair colour for all my hair, highlights (foils) and a trim all over. They quoted me 338,000Rp which seemed to be more than I thought others had paid, but still about a third of the price I pay at home, so I went ahead. The whole procedure took over two hours, and the outcome was good. It was done differently to at home. First they coloured my whole head, then did the foils. In Australia, they would put the colour on the foils, then do the other colour around it. Either way, I think the extra cost was because I was charged for two full colours. However, I was happy and it is still looking OK after a couple of washes back in Australia.
So all that pampering was very pleasant and probably cost less thqn just a hairdo would cost in Australia. But I still only had one massage!