Flew Pacific Blue on Thursday 2nd July. 5 of us travelling together , me, hubby, son and two of my friends from work. One of the girls had 9 kilo in her hand luggage so she had to put some of it into ours. No problems. I had 3 boxes of books to donate and was worried about weight but with 5 of us it was ok. Flight was fine and we got through the Denpasar airport fairly quickly really. Probably within one hour. has a sore throat so we were happy to get through the thermal imaging and not be held up. Made our driver called out to us as soon as we came out the doors. It's great to be back. Made now has a second van - 16 seater and he is dressing much smarter - we were very impressed. This is the second trip that we have had Made driving us and it is so lovely to see him again. Arrived at Seminyak Suites about 1.30am. The security guard showed us to our rooms. We sat by the pool for a while chatting then off to bed about 2.00am.
Day 2 - I woke up early as I always seem to do in Bali. I went down to the restaurant to say hello to Ketut. We have stayed here before so know all the staff. She wanted to know where my daughter was. They had been best friends last October and she thought she was with us this time. She won't be back till this October with her dad. I had a banana pancake and a juice then waited for everyone to slowly wake up. Once everyone had surfaced the girls and I walked down to eat st. Had brunch at Café Bali - this was a great spot which we came back to a couple of times. We strolled back to Seminyak Suites to meet the boys. They had hired a motorbike and had already had a beach massage and temporary tattoo (there were no problems with that thank goodness). Stepson is loving Bali already. We had an appointment at the Miracle Clinic for a diamond microbrasion procedure so got a taxi to Kuta Gallaria. I didn't actually enjoy this very much as found the sensation a bit uncomfortable. My face was quite red afterwards and had marks on it for a couple of days. I am sure it helped my skin though. Three of us had it done and two of us didn't like it the other lady said it was great and she didn't feel a thing. Found the clinic quite good, clean and the Doctor explained everything very clearly to us. I did consider botox but didn't have the courage. Lian Kali (maybe nextime) Back to hotel and into the pool. Dinner tonight at a small warung we saw this morning in eat st - Warung Murah (was very cheap and food ok but won't bother to go there again) Dessert at Zappa Bar and a bit of live music. Strolled home - an enjoyable first day in Bali.
Day 3 - We decided to walk down to Ku De Ta for breakfast today and show the others the beach. The view here impresses me every time I go there. We got a table right next to the beachfront. Of course the hawkers soon came over to see us. I remembered Lulu from a couple of years ago. I bought a sarong and dress of her - the sarong had silver bling all over it and I never saw another like it in our two weeks. I wanted to get another one it was so nice. I had ricotta pancakes with strawberries and honeycomb butter for breakfast 70,000 and delicious. Everyone was impressed. The boys left then as hubby had dentist appointment. We got a taxi to Bali Deli and walked a bit and ended up at 'Soothe' for a massage and body scrub. Mine included a sauna also. It was a bit hard for a first massage and I was sore for a couple of days after that. The girls enjoyed theirs. We then got a taxi to Poppies 2 to meet the boys for lunch at Taman Sari Cottages restaurant - was nice to stop and relax. Was busy in here. We then shopped a bit and then walked to Kuta Townhouses to have a look as my daughters are staying here in October. Looked busy and maybe noisy but they will like it. We couldn't see a room as they were all full. Pools looked nice. A ground floor room would be the best as they open onto the pool areas. We then got a taxi back to Seminyak to Tropical tans for our suntan. Its nice to be brown for a few days without lying in the sun. We sat around on our verandah for a couple of hours having a drink and letting the suntan set. Three of us then went to Seminyak Square for dinner and jazz music. Very nice - walked home to get in some exercise.
Next - last days in Seminyak and onto Ubud - one of the girls wants us all to hire scooters but we have never ridden a bike before.