Belated JBR 7 April 2009 - 14 April 2009
There were 8 of us: myself and my partner, my mum and her partner, my aunt, my uncle and my 2 cousins aged 14 and 16. We flew Air Asia Gold Coast-KL-Bali both ways with a couple of short stays in KL. Air Asia were fine. Some of us paid for the video entertainment in the back of the seats but I slept the whole flight every flight. We pre-paid for meals and they were also fine (smokey bbq chicken). None of us liked KL and we don't intend returning. At least we have a come-back for all those people that always ask ‘why do you always go to Bali? Why don't you try somewhere else?'. Well we did and we hated it. My aunt's family and my partner were Bali virgins but they are now Bali addicts and after seeing KL Bali looks even more like paradise.
KTH
We stayed at the KTH for the full 14 nights. I really don't have anything negative to say about KTH and I am definitely not part of the purple circle. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. The staff were so friendly and attentive. We stayed in 2 x 2 bedroom superior apartments. We all started off in stage 1. My aunt's family were supposed to be in stage 2 from day 1 but there was a person in their room that extended their stay and then refused to move so they had to move into stage 2 after the first day. My family also had to change rooms after the first day because we were on the top floor with no lift and my mother developed a nasty case of cellulitis and couldn't walk up the stairs. We asked Andrew if we could move to a room on the ground floor or with lift access. He went out of his way to move us even though I had had already had issues with him regarding the booking process. I was afraid that we would be given the cold shoulder when we arrived but Andrew was very good to us the whole time. He even put up with my mothers extremely annoying partner who would go and sit with/annoy him quite frequently. We are the ones that are responsible for leaving 3 pool noodles behind after out stay. We left them to a nice family with small children and never intended for them to be used to bang on the pool water 15 hours a day...and no, I'm not an idiot, DennisC.
The temperature of the pools was perfect. The food at the restaurant was great and not expensive at all. We had room service on a number of occasions as well. It did get quite noisy downstairs at night. I sleep like a log but my aunt's family live on a farm in the middle of nowhere and they struggled with the partying at the restaurant/bar (especially on footy nights) and the rooster, the dog, the bell, etc, etc in the family compound over the fence, even though were on the third level.
BIMC
I can not praise the BIMC enough but please be aware that you need to pay upfront. I took my mother there when her leg swelled up because we were concerned that she might have a DVT. Luckily, it turned out to be cellulitis. There was no wait. We were seen by Dr Jelly and her nurse straight away. I could understand what she was telling us better than any doctor I have ever had in Australia. They explained every step of the treatment in plain English. If they needed to leave the room they said that they would be back in a certain period of time and they always were. My mum had to go back for IV antibiotics on a daily basis for about 5 days and all up it was about AU$500 which she claimed back on the travel insurance. My mum is an agency nurse and has worked at a lot of hospitals and even she said this was the best.
Prana Spa
This was by far the best thing I have ever done in Bali. I had the Divine Renewal package 3.5 hours US$117. Book through ‘Bali Friendly' for a huge discount. You start off with a 10 minute dip in the hot and cold plunge pools to get your circulation going. I would probably give the cold pool a miss next time because the water was so cold that it was painful. I was then taken into the vichy shower room for an armomatic body scrub which was then washed off with a vichy shower which was probably the best part of the treatment. I then had a clay mask applied to my entire body and was sent to the steam room. After the next shower I was given a facial, a massage and a hair cream bath. They also provided herbal teas and a fruit platter (and I was starving by the end of it). The Divine Renewal was worth every cent and this place is gorgeous (looks like an Indian palace).
Baik Bike Tour
We got off to a bad start when they forgot to pick us up due to elections. I rang Wayan and he apologised so we rescheduled for the next day. Wayan made it up to use by being our personal guide for the day. We all enjoyed this day the most of everything that we did in Bali. My mum, aunt and uncle rode in the van but the rest of us were on bikes. I hadn't ridden since I was a kid but it was fine. The breakfast at the volcano was beautiful and scenic. The stop at the plantation was great. I bought some cocoa which was delicious and tried the luwak coffee which was the best I had had but was too stingy to pay US$50 for a small packet the size of the cocoa. The ride was so enjoyable and I loved riding through all the villages and waving at the children. The stops were great because we got a real insight into Balinese culture. We were absolutely stuffed by the end of the ride as well as starving. Wayan's wife made the most beautiful buffet lunch and I thoroughly stuffed myself. The prawn cracker thingies that she kept bringing out were absolutely delicious. I had second helpings of everything except the hot stuff.
Driver
We hired Scooby Doo who I had heard of through this forum. He was great. He took us everywhere we wanted to go and gave us hints and tips as well. He has his own website that you can contact him through.
Taxis
We were very unimpressed with everyone's favourite BlueBird. We had very bad luck with them and I started using the silvery purple Ngurah Rai ones and they were fine. The bluebirds were very reluctant to take us all the way to KTH. One tried to negotiate a price and not use the meter because it was peak hour and we were only going from Kuta Square to KTH. One locked my uncle in the car and tried to force him to negotiate a price but he stood his ground and the driver relented. We jumped in 2 bluebirds at the beach near Poppies 1 and asked them to take us to Yutz. They said that they knew where it was but ours had no idea and we only found it by accident. He was going to make us get out but my mum's partner started getting angry and we found it just in time before it got out of hand.
On our way back from dinner on the same night I sat in the front of a bluebird on the way home. I got him to drop us off on Legian St at Poppies 2. I went to get out and there was a plastic bag next to my hand bag. I asked him if that was his bag and he said yes. I later realised that I had bought a handbag after dinner and that is what was in the bag. Stupid me had forgotten that we stopped at a surf shop after dinner. His wife probably ended up with my nice lilac Rusty handbag. Not impressed.
Restaurants
We had breakfast at La Lucciola after all the recommendations of the forum. I was disappointed as the hash browns were very ordinary. Nice setting though.
I was also disappointed in Ma-Joly. We went there to check it out as a wedding venue but for the price it should have been the best meal we had in Bali and it wasn't (that honour goes to Ultimo).We watched the sunset and it was very beautiful.
My partner and I had the most romantic dinner of our lives at Kori. We had one of the private bales and we felt like royalty. The food was beautiful and they had a wonderful band with a female singer and we could have just stayed there forever.
The best food that we had was at Ultimo. Their menu is so extensive. I really only went for the white chocolate crème brulee that everyone was raving about but the eggplant parmigiana and fillet mignon I had were also fantastic.
We went to Ketumbar specifically for their crème brulee. I was very disappointed. It was like scrambled eggs, not custard. Their eggplant parmigiana was lovely though.
We ate at the Gong Corner a lot as it is practically next to KTH and so cheap. I tried their palm sugar pancakes and they are delicious.
Prada Lounge
We paid 100,000rp each. We probably should have bargained them down because of the big group and because we didn't want alcohol. I really did eat ‘all you can eat' here though. There's no better way to wait for you flight. We'll probably try the Dewa Lounge next time for a change.
My partner, who flew home before the rest of us, actually met the executive chef for Ku De Ta in the smoking room of the Prada Lounge and he gave him his business card. I have been meaning to get there for ages to try their crème brulee but I keep running out of time.
Waterbom
We got a 2 day pass for the Waterbom Park. The new ride, The Superbowl, aka the Toilet Bowl (you'll see why), is heaps of fun. All the slides were open and there were next to no queues, except for the 2 newest sides.
Safari Park
This was my second visit so I wasn't very excited. Gibi the Lioness cub is so big now. I had heaps of time with her last time but they were just giving everyone 1 pat and 1 photo and moving the queue along which wasn't very nice. Same thing with the tiger cub. We had a good cuddle with the orang-utan though and got some great photos of him stealing my partners sunnies and wearing them. We only stumbled upon the leopard by accident. We were looking for a ride to use our tickets on but walked passed the leopard right at the back of the water park. It was very feisty and definitely didn't appear drugged.
Tupperware Outlet
I got the address off this forum. I purchased a great starter set of 7 pieces for about AU$36. It came in its own promotional carry box and for the rest of the day I kept getting stopped by other tourists asking where I got it from. My mum and aunt ended up going back to get the same thing after the realised how cheap it was. I have the catalogue at home if anybody wants to ask questions I will get back to you.
WWR
We booked through George at Bagus Pub. It was a great day but too many stairs. We couldn't find anywhere that would do BIR cheap enough. If anybody has a source please let me know for next time.
Customs
I declared cocoa, vanilla beans and satay blocks and the officer said they were all fine to take back into Australia.
My partner and I are back to Bali in December because we got the Jetstar 5th Birthday fares for $400 each return ex Sydney. I couldn't pass it up so I just booked them as our chrissy present to each other and told him later. He wasn't very upset though. Bring on December. I think it's the only way to beat the Bali blue- book another trip.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to ask any questions.
P.S. Please do not flame me. I am not in any purple circle. I have never been to S & S. I don't own an apartment at KTH (I wish I did though). Despite staying there for 2 weeks I didn't meet anybody off the forum (glad I didn't after the nasty comment about the pool noodles). I'm just your average forum ghoster/lurker.