Trip No.6. Hubby, me, my Mum and the kids aged 5 and 6. Air Asia Flight from Perth at 4.50am - why did I ever think that would work well with two young kids? I got about half an hour sleep before we got up to go to the airport 'cause I was worried I would miss the alarm! Slow check in line because a travel agent had shagged up and booked half of a large party for the morning flight and half for the afternoon and the desk was busy trying to resolve it. Flight was okay although felt really long at that time of the morning. Food we had preordered not eaten 'cause we had eaten at the airport to waste time. The landing there was absolutely beautiful - I couldn't believe it. Had only been Garuda before and every time we had landed it was a full on whack - the difference this time was huge! No photos or fingerprints and although we were last out it only took about 30 mins to get out of the airport. Our friend Putu met us for the trip to Ubud. By that time of course we were all hungry and had hit Sanur so called into McDonalds for a quick bite. Yep we land in Bali and have Mickey D's as our first meal! But it must be noted their Mickeys is so much nicer than ours. Kept on going to the Cendana resort. Absolutely beautiful! Had a family pool/rice paddy view room and it was so quiet and peaceful. We had a dip and had the pool to ourselves. In fact every time we swam we were alone. It was just so relaxing. We walked Monkeyforest Road afterwards and had a fantastic dinner at Bali Pesto. Day two we dawdled to the Bintang supermarket and then got a driver to pick us up to show us a bit more of Ubud. Saw the beautiful view of the rice paddies and got hassled by the sellers there heaps. Headed on to the Dirty Duck for lunch - more yummy food and beautiful scenery. We then took the kids to the Bali Zoo. Wow this place has changed heaps in three years! We had a good wander around but didn't check out the new treetop adventure - by then the kids were knackered. They were chuffed to feed the animals and hold the birds. We had dinner at the Cinta grill that night. Every place we ate in Ubud was fantastic. That night I had a Gorgonzola burger, Hubby had Mahi Mahi and my Mum had the best chicken Sate she said she had ever tasted! Mum took the kids to her room to have a sleep over that night so hubby and I took the opportunity to have a quiet coffee and dessert at the restaurant at the entrance of the resort. He had a devine mocca tart and I had a mind blowing coconut cake with a chilli sorbet. Yum.
Headed to the Kuta Townhouses in the afternoon of day three. Was really impressed by them. We got a two bedroom apartment and it was more than we expected. It was clean and spacious and the staff were absolutely fantastic. Having said that though I am not sure I would stay there again. Each to their own - but it was like going to Bali and shopping in Kmart and Woolies! It was full of Australians and it was very Australian in nature. It just wasn't Bali for me. I like sharing brekkie with all different cultures. I enjoy having a little giggle at the "Gordon Blue" in the menus, and trying to decifer what the heck they have tried to write in broken english! I understood everything. It was commendable how well done the menu and hotel information was done in fact. The food also was beautiful. I loved it - but KTH just didn't do it for me.
We did have the dreaded difficulty with taxi drivers not wanting to go there but it did not phase us at all. We got into a bit of a routine of doing the single file five minute plod to Legian, etc. Just a bit of advice to take a torch for the times you go in that little Gang shortcut to Kuta Square at night. We had a bit of a shock when a beggar had taken up residence there one night when we were on our way home.
Day four we went to see Ketut in Garlic Lane. She was at a ceremony so we bought a few things then headed to Sheppies for the meal hubby had been waiting for! He had the Nasi Goreng special and I had the Bacon and prawn skewers and they were just as fantastic as last time. Very recommended.
Day five, six and seven...finally caught up with Ketut. Surrounded by heaps of customers and very happy about it. Good on her - such a lovely lady. Checked out Carrefour and Galleria, ordered my daughters glasses, got hold of Jaka to order some clothes made and generally wandered around Poppies 1 and 2. Kuta was just so quiet.
Day seven was the obligatory visit to the Safari Park. We aimed to get there early. We got in there and did the bits we wanted before the lines got too long. We had photos with the tiger cub and then other asian tourists posed to have photos with my Mother! Then another group of them lined up to have photos with my daughters! It was surreal watching them each take turns to pose with my children like they were another tiger cub or something. It has happened before on a previous trip so it was not a total shock, although posing with my 60+ Mother took me a bit by surprise. I was a bit annoyed I didn't think to charge though! Rained in the arvo when we had reached the Fun Zone but we had such a great day it didn't matter. The kids were going to get wet eventually anyway so they stripped off to their bathers and played in the rain. Then we headed to the water park for a while and then came home. Had a relaxed room service dinner.
To come (if interested) Kintamani, dodgey money changer and a visit to an orphanage...