Hi all great read for first timers!
The Airport
Make sure you and the kids go to the toilet before you get off the plane....the toilets at the airport are a no go! You have to line up to get your visa's first and then go through customs so try and get there as quick as you can (follow the rush) as the lines are often really long and it's stinking hot at the airport. The men can be a little bit intimidating (well for me they are) but as long as your polite and friendly say hi and thank you e.t.c. they should be fine. When you collect your bags (might take a little while to unload) there are guards as you go to walk out and they might ask you to open your bags or ask you if you have any cigarettes or alcohol. Just say yes or no and once again be really polite and they should be fine about it. Then you're out into Bali!!!! I can smell the Bali smells now.......!
Taxi's
Wherever you are you will hear a beep beep every second. Taxi's will be trying to flag you down all the time so just shake your head or ignore them haha. I prefer to go with the light blue taxi's as most of the drivers are extremely friendly and are mostly honest. Although I have had a couple of bad experiences with them not turning on their metres or taking you the long way......you have to be upfront and ask them to please turn on your metre or why haven't they had it on as they can then say at the end of the trip 'my metre not working' and make up the price. Tell them to turn on the metre if they say it's not working or they don't then tell them to stop and you will get another taxi....pay what is on the metre and then get another one! Most are really nice and I often give them a tip of a couple of thousand rupiah and they are more than appreciative.
Matahari
The Matahari is in central Kuta and is a big three level department store like our Myer. We go to the Matahari many times on our trip and although its fixed prices most of the things are still pretty cheap. We buy our water, soft drink, chips/lollies/chocolate, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, moisturiser as it's all unbelievably cheap compared to home and other food from the supermarket. My mum buys chocolate milk and I have bought some bread, cheese, tomato and onion and made myself a sandwich once which was a quick and healthy lunch. You can buy a big water bottle I think its 5 litres and we use this to fill up our drink bottles and for the water to brush our teeth with. We also buy little bottles of water to keep cool in our fridge to take out with us when we go shopping....they are like 2,000 rupiah which is like a few cents and you'll go through that whole bottle in a couple of hours. I've also bought ice creams from the Matahari as well so that's great for the kids.
On the second level they have shoes, clothes jewellery and makeup. We get some great bargains with the shoes as they are so different to Aus and good quality. I'm a size 10aus which is about a 41-42 in their sizes which I find it hard to buy in the big stores like the Matahari and Centro but they cater for us in the street markets.
We also buy our makeup from there as they have all of the name brands like Revlon e.t.c. and for a much cheaper price.
The top level is electrical, baby/kids clothes and toys....the kid's clothes are adorable and extremely cute worth checking out if you have a little one.....hint hint.
Places to eat
All you have to do is tell your taxi the name of the restaurant and they will take you there. We have our favourites which are close to our hotel and some of these are:
Stadium Cafe- they have EVERYTHING you can think of. Pasta, Indonesian, pizza, burgers, chicken snitties, salads, great kids menu, sandwiches, hot dogs e.t.c. They also have a GREAT desert menu.....my fav is their brownies....a MUST HAVE !!! It's fairly priced not as cheap as some places but its quality food and really filling....also a great atmosphere as you can watch all of the sport that's on back home such as Footy and Cricket e.t.c. Staff are extra friendly and have made alot of friends from Stadium. Some places have an extra tax add on which is like 11% or something which Stadium is one of these.
Kori Resteraunt- This is a really beautiful place to eat. They have these little bungalows on a river where you sit on cushions around a table to eat. They get busy so if you book you are guaranteed a bungalow, it doesn't cost much for a local phone call from your hotel. It's in Poppies 2, Great food and great service.
TJ'S - Mexican food.....really yum food....very cheap and filling meals and is in Poppies 1. You can't get all the way there from taxi as the laneway is too small so they normally let you off at the start of Poppies 1 and you just keep walking about 5-10mins down the lane and it's on your right about ¾ down. Good for some night shopping along the way!!! Oh and make sure to take mozzie repellent as it's near a little river and mozzies are annoying.
Asian Spice is really nice as well. It's found a few shops down from Stadium cafe which is up across from the Art Markets. They have great Asian style meals and if you ask they can make you something that's not on the menu that you like, such as sweet and sour chicken.
Places to visit
Geneva-is about a 10minute drive from Kuta and all taxis know where it is. This is a MUST MUST MUST for you!! It has three levels of EVERYTHING from home furnishings like table runners, candles/sticks/holders, incense, decorations, placemats, knives/forks/spoons, platters made out of wood/shell, pillow cases, mirrors, tissue box holders, mirrors, ornaments, wind chimes and wood statues e.t.c. Be a bit careful if you buy wooden products from here as we have found boora's in some of our wooden pieces from Geneva. It's all fixed prices but has the CHEAPEST prices in Bali. We go with 6 woman and guaranteed that we have at least one trolley between us some have 2 or 3.
Waterbom park- A bit more expensive but a great day out...good for the kids!
Art Markets- are not far from your hotel and they have clothes, bags, sunnies, shoes, ornaments, hats, paintings and more. They are really nice in the art markets and great to have a chat with.
Poppies 1 and 2 are also really good. Same kinds of things as art markets although they are a bit harder as they don't get as much business as the central places. Still have found some really great bags at Poppies 2.
Melasti St/Galric Lane- run off the one street and has good bags, wallets, jewellery e.t.c. I picked up some great bags that I hadn't seen anywhere and was EXCELLENT quality. Also if you walk on the left side you will see a sort of lane way that goes down to some houses. If you ask the little shop owners on the sides to show you where 'WAYAN' is they will take you down to Wayan's shop which is in her house in the little village. It seems a bit suss going into the lane but it's safe and she has got quality clothing such as roxy, billabong e.t.c. Womens shorts, tops, dresses and goes up to 4xl which is about a 16-18 in Aus sizes. Lots of kids clothes and Mens quality boardies, shirts and goes up to 5xl or 'King Kong size' as they call it. They have all styles short sleeve, long e.t.c. If Wayan is not there then her sister 'ILLU' will be there. They are REALLY cheap and have been going to them for the past 4 years. I buy shorts there on the first few days as it's so hot and sweaty and the shorts are so comfy to get around in. Tell them that Linda and Karen sent you....she will know who we are and give you cheap prices hopefully.
Also just up from your hotel is a place called Melasti Spa. It's towards the Mattahari on the Art Markets side. They always have women out the front offering you discount prices but they are cheap every day. We go here every year a couple of times a week and get a full body massage. They are absolutely heaven and a full body massage costs about $11 after taxes. You can get manicures, pedicures, cream baths, and acrylics all for pretty cheap compared to home. Kylie you need at least one of these every couple of days!!!
Money
We change our money at the Mattahari money changer. They are professional and give you a receipt. We also tried a Kodak shop in the Art Markets which were a bit cheaper. We only changed about $100 a day in case the rupiah went up the next day and if it was high we changed a bit more. Just beware of any shonky places offering you an extremely good price as they are commission based or don't give you the correct money back so beware and always work out how much you're changing before so that you know what you're getting. Take a little calculator with you that way you can work out straight away what the price is that they want is $ and how much you're willing to budge. Also I write down the average rate that your getting and write in a little book the conversions starting from 10 000, 20 000, 30 000 e.t.c. This helps alot when bartering.
Bartering
The fun part of Bali. Just have fun with the Balinese. They love bartering and it really is fun when you let it be. Have a little chat in the middle of it, if you get a good price you can go back and get the same price for the same sort of thing. I suggest starting small....really small. Just say you want a medium sized Guess bag. Work out the maximum that you're willing to pay say 150 000 depending on size/quality and start at about 60 000. Of course this is wayyyyyy lower but that way they know you're not stupid. Go up really slowly in about 5000 lots. They will offer you something ridiculous like 300 000 and just say 'that's a silly price' cos really they are all fake and not real at all. If you're at the end of your price I sometimes walk away and see if they come after you. If not and you REALLY want it then maybe be prepared to go a tiny bit more. At the end of the day it depends on how badly you want it to how much you're willing to pay.
I normally pay:
Wallets- 30 000- 50 000
Sunnies- 20 000- 30 000
Bags- anywhere from 80 000 to 150 000 but not normally over 150 000
Watches 35 000- 45 000
Hats- 10 000- 15 000
Beaded thongs - 15 000 - 20 000
Proper strappy shoes - 50 000 to 90 000
We take tissues, straws and baby wipes EVERYWHERE with us. Before eating we always wipe our hands with the baby wipes to prevent Bali belly. We also tried about 10ml's of pure 100% raspberry juice in the morning before breakfast which apparently counteracts the Bali belly bug or helps to prevent it. We all did this and had no problems unlike the past which we got a few upset tummy's.
Anyway I hope I covered it all.....if you can't tell I am obsessed with Bali. I hope you all have a GREAT holiday I know you will!! Stay safe, buy big and RELAX