In Reply to: It is not the posted by Poppet on Sunday, 23. May 2010 at 14:58 Bali Time:
and it's a point that has been made before.
Regretfully, things are becoming somewhat "sanitised", also in the area of shopping.
Supa Nova, Alfa and to a lesser degree Matahari are being dominated by Discovery Plaza and Carrefour to the point of being bought out.
These are not attractive "Balinese" buildings, but it's what the punters want.....They welcome McDonalds, and I'm sure would welcome K Mart and Woolies too!!
Interesting comments about not wanting to be surrounded by Aussies and Aussie stuff.....I am not sure where you will stay where there is NOT a predominance of Aussies.
The most "un aussie" (in terms of fellow guests) place that we stayed at around Kuta was the Indra Regent, which must be advertised on Japanese, Korean and Malaysian sites as these seemed to dominate.
I quite liked it.
It will be interesting if or where you find your "non Aussie" haven, and if you are not afraid of revealing the secret, great to hear where it is.
Good luck with the search, I am hope you can find your piece of Bali among the wide range of choices available.