Hi there
Just back friday from a week in bali and im missing it already. This was our 6th trip and we took a noob with us as well. Left the kids with nanny and grandad who are worth their weight in gold for taking on the 4yo and twin 20month olds!
It was heavenly over there, and I must say, really high standards no matter where I went everyone is taking pride in turing out high quality food ( i mean even those tiny places where only the locals and my husband eat) And we got a great exchange rate of over 8000 most days.
we splashed out and stayed at Sienna Villas which has now set the bar for us (having previously stayed at villa poppy and the villas sunset) OMG worth every cent. Its a short walk down the alley next to cafe seminyak and bintang supermarket so we were convenient to everything we needed and had a great drop off point for taxi's too. The staff were delightful and professional and the villa just superb. I would be hard pressed finding anything better in this price range.
We flew pacific blue which did have some leg room. Vinyl seats a bit ergh. can buy food and drink on the flight. I'm a bit old school on this one and prefer my time split up with the formal meal. we used the concierge service in too. so off the plane to sit down have some cake beer cold towels etc then off and out of the airport. tooo easy. well worth it if you are impatient boozy lazy sods. like us.
In at 10.30 quick rest before heading to dyana pura for a very late dinner. we found warung baku dapa open and my friend miss J declared the mie goreng the best of the trip. We went to bed very late.
day 1 and we were a bit late up. I had caught a nasty cold and spent the rest of the trip on local cold and flu tabs that made me want to walk for miles and smile a lot. Went to Ryoshi japansese for lunch OMG fantastic!!! so fresh so excellent. They had moved into a two story place which suits them well. Great value this was my favorite meal of the entire trip. we went for a bit of a wander and later had dinner at gateway to india which was my nice and i think hubbys favorite. Yes, as recommended here the chicken karthi? rolls are to die for!!!
day 2 we went for our big walk down to kuta looking at everything on the way! Hub insisted we find Ketuts fixed price off garlic lane. After much persistence (and a bintang break for the girls) he found it off gang 4 and I thank him for it. Ketut and her helpers are lovely and of course its quite a surprise to be quoted reasonable prices. I was looking at tops for the girls and was quoted 20,000 then corrected to 15,000. the lady next to me nearly choked and told me thats good she paid heaps more elsewhere. Basically we did the years clothing purchase there. Her fairness makes the shop well patronised. On to lunch at Kopi Pot - good satay and back to glory restaurant for our annual ribs and long island ice tea. Us girls had a few bintang breaks on the way home while hubby tells me he drank a lot of under the tables at rio restaurant seminyak.
day 3 miss J and I went to waterbom and the shops opposite and had a great old day. I even managed to force her down the boomerang which she loved and had us down another 3 times. and the superbowl which feels a little like being flushed down a gigantic toilet. just so you know. I love waterbom. I love being able to get up the stairs easier than most of the teenagers too. That night we went back to rio where the other half was now practically famous for his drinking ability. we ordered the all you can eat bbq. warning - pace your self if you do this. Well worth it - every thing was delicious including the salads but you need to take one of everything. fortunaltely the meats we didnt get to were happily bundled up for us to take home.
day4 we had the driver take us up to ubud for the day for a look around. I liked the drive a lot. We checked out the art markets for doing something we have been trying to do for years - lunch of babi guling at IBU OKA. Yep. Know why thats raved about. its about 30000 for a plate of what ever you are given. rice and the most heavenly tasting bits of pork ever and some mystery bits :) we bought our driver lunch as well and some sausage to take back as it was specially requested by Made the manager and they were really pleased. We think due to Nyepi celebrations the little shop had been moved to the owners family house about 100m up the road, and it was really special! We got back in the afternoon and accidentally walked to kuta again..haha. did some shopping had some bintangs. took my friend down poppies lane and bought some tee shirts just so she could see the other side to buying stuff. mmm... give me ketuts shop any day! back to warung baku dapa again for more mie goreng..yumm this time miss J was reciting spontaneous poetry about the benefits of mie.
wed - nyepi eve. Now we had planned to have lunch in sanur, but by the time we did our food shopping at bintang the place was developing a chatotic buzz and I was not confident we would either get there or back with proposed road closures. Plus a lot of places started shutting at 2.00. The locals were all really excited. they had their oogah oogah out on display. so we wandered down to kuta for some shopping. I bought a couple more of my favorite mosaic mirrors that look great up at home. the main drag seemed much bigger with few people around. the traffic control had us in hysterics as one way streets were suddenly turned into other way streets! bumped into a couple who said the best satay and coldest bintangs were at The Pub run by another lady called ketut and we killed a few hours there as the satay was nice and the bintang indeed cold.
later the celebrations started at about 7.30 with the oogah oogah parades which we enjoyed immensely. being up in seminyak, by 10 we were a bit too tired to go all the way to the beach so headed home for a few wee drinkies.
day 5 nyepi. I had a quiet day. and a hangover. read my book. dinner was served in the villa and was yummy. This was my second Nyepi and if i did it again, (yes please) I would opt for a 9 day hol with nyepi in the middle. As although you think you have done all you want to, nyepi gives you the chance to realise you want more!
day6 we had a quick whip around in the moring - the shops mostly open by 10.00 a few not opening till sat. last minute shopping for some stylish larger sizes from my favorite shop soul sister just up from glory restaurant, before sadly leaving my happy villa and hopping the plane home.
This was definitely my best experience in bali, maybe cos this time i wasnt either on a tight budget, pregnant or have kids with me, maybe cos it was nyepi and everyone was extra happy. But im already read to go back and to also convince the grandies that bali has a lot more to offer them for their next holiday than the memories they carry from the 80's
cheers
icky
ooo ps, the pastries from la boulangerie behind cafe seminyak are the best best best, all french gooey goodness!