Bali, Day 8: All holidays must come to an end

Today’s weather: hot in the morning, with a bit of a breeze
Today’s exchange rate: About 9,800- 9,900 RP per AUS $

We tried to have as much of an easy morning as we could today. I was, as usual, awake and up early and went out on our verandah to sit and talk with mum. Soon Sam got up as well and we discussed breakfast. We went out onto the street and walked across the road to Mona Lisa. Sam and I had eggs benedict, Dad had an American breakfast which came with a little fruit platter that Mum ate for her breakfast.

After breakfast, which cost us about $15, we walked along the main street and cut through the back of Sand Restaurant to go to the beach path. I had promised Mum to take her down the laneway next to Benno’s restaurant to look in a couple of stalls. Unfortunately, the one she really wanted to look in- a fixed priced stall that I had spotted some green Bali china pieces that mum loves- wasn’t open (when Mum went back to look later, it was still closed), so her and Sam looked around in a couple of other stalls while Dad and I made our way back to the hotel; by this point I was pretty much past the market shopping. We walked along, chatting and admiring the view. We got into our bathers and went out to enjoy our little pool that, once again, we were lucky enough to have to ourselves. The temperature at this time was beautiful.

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Enjoying the 3rd pool

Mum and Sam soon arrived back from their last minute shopping and came to join us in the pool. Sam and I took up on the pool lounges and Dad got on his bike to get his last Bali massage of the trip. His favourite place to go for a full body massage is to the ladies on the beach in front of Segara Village Hotel. Mum soon got on her bike as well and went to meet him. When the massage was done, they went to return their bikes. They got them from Sarah’s Bike Shop which is down the laneway on which Café Smorgas is on the corner and where the German Consulate resides. They had paid 200,000 RP for 2 bikes for the week.

When Mum and Dad returned, it was time for Sam and I to check out of our room. We packed all of our things and moved them into Mum and Dad’s room next door, which we had booked for a late check out. After check out, we made our way to Matande Spa across the road from Hardy’s. I wanted to have my eyelashes redone, Sam wanted a manicure and pedicure and Mum was after a hair treatment. We went here again rather than Alam Spa because, although they did a great job, they don’t have many treatments on offer. In saying that, we did absolutely love our treatments there and can’t wait to go back. I’m usually very happy with the treatments at Matande, but I was disappointed during this trip, both with my manicure at the start, and with my eyelashes, which had come out by the next day. I’ll be finding somewhere else to have them done for my next trip. Mum was very happy with her hair treatment, which cost about 70,000-90,000 RP. It included a hand, arm, shoulder and neck massage and a hair blow dry, which was done very well and Mum was really happy with it.

 

Mum enjoying her hair bath

My treatment was finished first and it looked like Mum and Sam would still be a while, so I made my way to meet up with Dad, who was having a beer at the Duckz Nutz. While I was walking along the road by myself, I noticed that I was bothered a lot more by the drivers and the male market people. Whenever I’d been walking along with Mum or Dad, it hasn’t been as much as a problem I ordered a smoothie (I’m not a big drinker) and Dad and I shared some spring rolls, which were actually really yummy! We used the WiFi and chatted with each other until it I nudged dad to leave because Mum and Sam would be finished at the spa soon. We walked back to the hotel and got back in the pool. By this time, the pool had warmed up quite a bit, but as my dad kept reminding us, it’s all relative.
When Mum and Sam returned, we were ready for lunch. We decided on returning to Warung Pregina. We were, once again, the only patrons. We ordered lemon ice teas to start with, which were beautifully refreshing. I ordered mie goreng and asked for a fried egg on top, which they happily gave, Dad ordered nasi goreng, Mum ordered fried rice noodles, which we hadn’t noticed on the menu before, and Sam ordered French fries because she was annoyed they didn’t have burgers. We all, with the exception of Sam, enjoyed our meals, especially Mum who loved her rice noodles.

 

Mum's fried rice noodles

 

My mi goreng

When we returned, we finished the last of our packing and had a bit of down time before we got picked up at 4:30. We had organised with our original drivers, Gusman and Made, to pick us up. They’re very reasonably priced and Gusman has got great English and is very knowledgeable. We’ll definitely use their services again.

Our check-in at the airport was quick, as was going through Immigration. We went into the Garuda Lounge at the airport, which is towards gate 6. It costs 130,000 RP and is much more comfortable than sitting on the floor. It is separated into 2 sections; the Executive Lounge (which I assume just costs more) and the normal lounge, which is where we were. Both have got a drinks fridge, a small buffet, WiFi and plenty of seating. We got comfortable, enjoyed the air con, the food and the drinks. There was unfortunately very little choice for Mum because of her gluten intolerance.

The flight boarded about 20 minutes late, and took off late. I’m sad to say that I was somewhat disappointed in Garuda’s service this time round. I was unluckily assigned a seat that wouldn’t recline. As it was a night time flight, all I wanted to do was lay back (as much as you can in a plane), put on a movie and have a bit of a sleep, but I was left uncomfortable and as a result, tired and grumpy for the flight home. When I brought my seat to a flight attendants attention, there was not much she could do, but she didn’t start well. When I first told her, her response was simply “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but your seat must be broken”. Well, der. I asked her what I was supposed to do for the flight, at which point she left and soon returned offering me another seat, which was as the back of the plane. As I was sitting with my family, I refused (I was secretly hoping I would be moved into 1^st class) and the flight attendant instead suggested that when the flight landed, they would get the technician to look at the seat. I responded with an ashamedly rude “How is that going to help me now?” Did I tell you I was tired and grumpy? I found the service lacking compared to how it was on our flight over. Yes, it was a night time flight, but I was still very thirsty and tired and grumpy (did I mention that?). Drinks were not being offered nearly as frequently as they were on our flight over. I’m sure it really wasn’t that bad, but was relative to my mood at the time.

We landed just before midnight, and were through immigration and customs just about as quickly as we had been at Bali. What a beautiful week it was, and it’s back to reality for all of us to earn some money for our next trip. The countdown to July has started.

THINGS I DIDN’T MENTION

MOSQUITOES: Sam and I got bitten quite a lot more than we usually do, even though we were fairly vigilant with our mosquito sprays etc. We sprayed our room every night and wore both RID and OFF (Bali bought). We found that RID worked the best. Despite our bites, we both returned home healthy.

GRIYA SANTRIAN RENOVATIONS: Yes, the Griya is currently undergoing renovations towards the back of the hotel in the Garden Wing. Until our last 2 days, we hadn’t even noticed the renovations. To the best of my knowledge, they are rebuilding some rooms as 3-storey Premiere Deluxe Rooms. I don’t know how different they are going to be from standard Deluxe Rooms, nor do I know the cost. When asked, the staff were unable to tell us when the renovations would be finished. UPDATE: The Griya Santrian has announced that their reno's are due to be finished in/by October 2013

WIFI: Having stayed Segara Village Hotel last year, where WiFi was accessible all over the hotel, I was somewhat disappointed with the Griya’s WiFi. Although it is accessible in quite a few spots, they have got a number of different networks, all with the same password, available in different areas of the hotel. I would make the suggestions that they upgrade their WiFi to one single network that is available all over the hotel. Each night when I wanted to upload my blog, I would have to go sit in the lobby because WiFi was not available from our rooms.
I found that a lot of restaurants had WiFi available but didn’t advertise. When I asked, they were happy to provide their password.

STAYING WELL: My stomach and Bali food have never agreed with one another. During my first 3 trips to Bali, by the 3^rd day I was suffering from uncomfortable and constant stomach aches that would disturb me during the trips. Just before my 4^th trip, Mum suggested that I try having probiotics and Yakult before and during the trip. A lot of people of Trip Advisor have said that this doesn’t help, but it has definitely made a difference for me and I will continue to do it for my next trips to Bali.

OUR ROOMS: We had rooms 157 and 158, which were interconnecting. The room Sam and I had was a twin and about 3 quarters of the size of Mum and Dad’s. Both rooms had updated bathrooms (no bathtub) with plenty of counter space and a good shower, although the hot water took a long time to heat up, and verandah’s with a table and chairs. We were very happy with our rooms, but if I am to complain about anything, it would be the pillows on the bed. I woke up a few mornings with a very sore neck that even a massage couldn’t fix.

Mum and Dad’s room was huge. It had a king size bed and lots of floor space for another bed and even a cot. Their bathroom was much bigger than ours, but also lacked a bathtub.

 

My and Sam's verandah

 

Mum and Dad's room

 

Mum and Dad's room. Interconnecting door in front and bathroom on the right

 

My and Sam's bathroom

 

My and Sam's bathroom

 

My and Sam's room: interconnecting door behind and bathroom on the right

Before I finish, I would like to do a shoutout to my family, who were very tolerant of me taking photos of absolutely everything and not allowing them to eat their meals until I had taken a photo of it. They were also very good about my insistance to try new places for the purpose of my blog so I could provide my readers with as much information as I could.

And I would of course like to thank you, the people who read my blog and gave me feedback, encouragement and appreciation. It is, because of that, that I chose to write another blog during this trip, and again why I will write another about my July trip.

I would love to hear people's feedback, especially things you would like me to include (more of) in my next blog so I can improve it even more. If there is anything else you would like to know, please feel free to PM me:)

Bali, Day 7: A lazy morning and amazing dinner

Today’s weather: Overcast in the morning which cleared by 10:00, light breeze coming through in the early afternoon
Today’s exchange rate: 9,700-9,800 RP per AUS $. Higher at back-of-the-shop exchangers

What a beautiful day today. I was awake not long after 7:00, but stayed in bed until 7:45. Mum and Dad, expecting Sam and I would sleep in from our full-on day yesterday, went ahead for breakfast at Benno’s. Once I got out of bed, I went to get towels for Sam and I and threw them onto a couple of lounges next to the main pool. There were still plenty of them free, so I didn’t feel guilty about doing this. When I came back to the room, Sam was getting out of bed, so we both got into our bathers and made our way too the pool. I hadn’t noticed before, but there was quite a lot of overcast. So much so, that I got a bit worried that today would be the day it rained. But before long, the clouds cleared up and the sun was once again beaming down as it had done every day of our holiday so far.

The overcast in the morning

It wasn’t long before we were both ready for our first swim, so into the pool we went. At this time of morning, the temperature was perfect. We swam around for a while before getting out and taking our places on our lounges again. We hadn’t had breakfast yet, and I was starting to feel some pretty serious hunger pains. We were reluctant to leave the poolside so we opted to have breakfast at the hotel. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, if you don’t get breakfast included in the hotel costs, you can just pay for it as you go, if you choose to have it there. They have 2 options: the $6 sunrise breakfast or $10 buffet breakfast. Today, we decided to give the buffet a go. There was a good amount of options and was good value for money. After breakfast, we were back in the pool and relaxing on our lounges. I decided to have another swim in the ocean, and although the temperature was not as refreshing as it was at Lembongan, it was still beautiful. On the way back to our lounges, we had a feel of the main pool and found that it was already way too warm, and this was only at about 11:00.

After lounging in the sun for a little bit longer, we decided to head back to our 3^rd pool in hope that the water would be a bit cooler. I first made a stop at the 2^nd pool for a quick dip and soon made my way to the 3^rd pool where it was a bit quieter- the Griya Santrian is currently undergoing renovations towards the back of the hotel. It’s very unobtrusively blocked off and today was the first day during our stay that we have noticed the noise, but it didn’t last long. The 3^rd pool was quiet, and even better, we had it all to ourselves. The temperature was nice and cool, as it doesn’t seem to warm up until the afternoon. We enjoyed the water, and the quietness until mum and dad arrived. They had been on a quick shopping trip to Discovery Centre. It was nearly lunch time by this point and Sam and I had already decided on going to the Duckz Nutz; Sam was feeling like a burger. Mum and Dad decided to just stay at the hotel.

At the Duckz Nutz, we easily found a table and ordered banana smoothies and water to begin with. After having a good look through the menu, we both decided on club sandwiches. There’s a good range of food on the menu, including lots of burgers, seafood, Indonesian and even a kid’s menu. If you’re after a cold beer and a burger, I’d say that this is the place to come, but not having tried their Indonesian food, I can’t comment. The service was good and the wait staff were all very friendly. Our club sandwiches were in good sized portions and neither me or Sam could finish the whole thing. We left happy and with full bellies.

Our good-sized club sandwiches

We went back to the hotel briefly to see mum and dad and then all together made our way to Alam Bali Spa on the main drag. It’s a about a 5 minute walk, if that, South of the Griya Santrian and on the opposite side of the road. After Whinnie’s raving review of it on Trip Advisor, I grabbed a pamphlet and we all decided to give it a go. Mum and Dad had made us all bookings for 3:00 and lucky they did, because when we arrived, it was pretty busy. Everyone must have read Whinnie’s review of the place! They don’t have a huge range of services here, but it’s all very reasonably priced. When we were lead inside, we saw that the massage sections are each separated by curtains. Mum, Sam and I were all going in for facials and they had left the curtains separating us open. We laid back on the massage table and our facials all started at more or less the same time. It’s amazing how relaxed you can be with a stranger rubbing your face, but it was fantastic. It was very quiet; the staff barely said a word to each other and most of the other customers were also very quiet, with the exception of a few that were either starting or finishing their treatments and had forgotten that other people were still having theirs (Mum also did this after our treatments and I had to give her a good-old "shush!"). All of us managed to doze off and at the end, we were politely brought back to reality by our respective girls. We were all feeling uber relaxed, so much so that it took me a while to regain my balance once I got off the massage table. The facials, and Dad's reflexology massage, cost 60,000 RP each and we all felt that it was very good value for money. The facial went for about an hour and included a neck and shoulder, foot and arm massage. I was so happy that I gave my girl a 20,000 RP tip. Mum, Sam and I all left feeling relaxed and soft skinned. We will definitely be returning to this spa.

When we returned to the hotel, Sam and I decided to just have some wind-down time in our room. We put on a DVD (all of which seem to be very good quality so far) and just continued our relaxing. At about 5:45, we both got up and started getting ready for dinner. Mum had decided that we hadn’t had a “nice” dinner out during this trip and had made a booking at Hitana Restaurant at the Niksoma Hotel in Legian. Our driver picked us up at 6:15 and we were on our way. Our driver, Made, is one that Mum and Dad had used before during a previous trip and were very happy with his services. He has good English and is very knowledgeable.

When we arrived at the Niksoma, the sunset was just finishing. It was absolutely beautiful. We had arrived at a perfect time. While Dad and I went to take photos (I took so many, it was hard to decide which to put up!), Mum and Samwere lead to their seats at our chosen table, which Mum had picked when she made the booking. When Dad and I came to join, we ordered drinks which promptly arrived, as did a complimentary appetizer of a singular chicken wonton each, which was very tasty. I had ordered a cocktail which I found much too strong for me and the waiter happily took it back to the bar to be topped up with Sprite. We soon decided on our food for the night; Dad ordered an entrée of seafood chowder (don’t know how he has soup in this weather) and I ordered a starter of sautéed portabello mushrooms. For mains, Mum chose bacon wrapped tuna, Sam ordered a lamb rack, Dad chose surf and turf and I ordered stuffed chicken. The service at the restaurant was absolutely exemplerary. All the staff were very friendly and had very good English. The food was still very reasonably priced, especially considering that this could be considered as fine-dining in Bali and the bill came to about $86. All meals and drinks on the menu included tax. For a meal, and service, like that in Australia, we would have paid at least 3 time that amount.

The amazing sunset

Complimentary wonton starter

My stuffed chicken

Mum's tuna

Dad's surf 'n' turf

Sam's lamb rack

Just as our desserts were arriving; chocolate cake for Sam and I, tiramisu for Dad and Crème Brulee for Mum, the night’s entertainment was beginning. In the centre of the restaurant was a grassed area and that was used as a stage for tonight’s Balinese Dancing. On each table there was paper which had the name of each dance and what it meant, as well as an announcement being made before and after each dance. It was beautiful the watch. Both the dancing, the make-up and the costumes were so elaborate. During the last dance, Joged Dance, the dancers come around the restaurant and invite the audience to come join them. Not only were we in the middle of our desserts, but none of us were brave enough nor had we had enough drinks to get up, but the same cannot be said for another couple of Aussie’s. They bravely took to the stage and did their best to dance with the girls. In doing so, they provided the rest of us with some great entertainment. Good on them. After the dancing had finished, the dancers stayed on the grass for photo's. They patiently stood, posed and smiled for photo after photo. They did a great job.

Chocolate cake

Tiramisu

Creme Brulee

The beautiful dancers; taken by my dad

It was then time to pay the bill and once again return to Sanur. We gave lots of thanks to the staff, who made our meal that much more enjoyable, and we were back in the car. I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

What a beautiful last day in Bali. It’s now time to start packing to go home tomorrow night. But don't be too sad, we don't get picked up until 4:30 in the afternoon so I will have another post about our morning, including room photos and little bits and pieces that I haven't included in my posts.

 

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Bali, Day 6: A day with Bali Hai

Today’s weather: Hot. Cloudy when we first arrived at Lembongan with a tiny bit of rain, very hot from then on
Today’s exchange rate: About 9,800 RP per Aussie $

We had our alarms set early today because Sam and I were off to Lembongan doing a Bali Hai Reef Cruise. We had organised this via our driver, Gusman, a few days prior and he had managed to get us quite a generous discount. We paid only $87 each for the day. This included pick-up from our hotel, boat transfers to the Bali Hai pontoon at Lembongan, use of the pontoon including unlimited snorkelling and banana boat rides, a village tour on the island, lunch and transfers back to Benoa Harbour and to our hotel. A couple of people around the same age as us that we had met doing our cooking class had also decided to come along, and we put them in contact with Gusman so he could also organise it for them. All the organisation went smoothly and we had no problems at all.
We were picked up from our hotel at 8:00 and with a quick stop over at the Hyatt to pick up a European couple, we were on our way. Benoa Harbour is about a 15 minute drive away. When we arrived, we went to line up in the reception area to pay for our booking. There was a 2% surcharge when paying via credit card, but their exchange was dollar for dollar. After paying, everyone was given a wrist band that was colour co-ordinated with what package they were booked in for, whether it was Reef Cruise, like us, Beach Club or accommodation at Bali Hai huts on the island. We then waited about half an hour or so before boarding the boat, but not before everyone gets a souvenir photo taken with two girls in traditional dress. Throughout the whole day, there was people taking souvenir photos for everyone while snorkelling and banana boating. Whether or not you buy them is completely up to you. They cost 100,000 RP each.

Our souvenior photo: snorkelling

Our souvenior photo: banana boating

Our souvenior photo: falling off the banana boat

There was plenty of seating available over the 3 levels on the boat. We sat on the main deck, where they had plenty of tables, which each had a small plate of pastries. Waiters came around with tea and coffee if you wanted it and more pastries were available. We spent a little time upstairs on the top deck to admire the view (you were able to see Sanur from here), but soon headed back downstairs. The ride took just over an hour, and was a pretty easy ride. The sea wasn’t rough at all, but there was quite a swell and I would recommend taking something for seasickness whether you’re prone to it or not, and I would definitely recommend giving something to young ones if you take them on.

Sanur from the boat

When we arrived and pulled up to the pontoon, an announcement was made instructing everyone with each coloured wrist band where they needed to go. We made our way onto the pontoon where lockers and towel rentals were available. The towel rental was 100,000RP for 2 towels, with 60,000 RP being refunded upon the return of the towels. We sorted all our stuff out and got right into the action. We decided go on the waterslide first, which was a 35m long slide with about a 2 metre drop into the ocean. We were the first ones on and it sure made our adjustment to the water temperature very quick. It was a beautiful temperature, so refreshing. While other people were making their way into the water complaining it was too cold, we were in and ready for more.

Our next stop was onto the banana boat. We were excited about having it to ourselves, but then a father brought his young son on and we knew it was going to be a slow ride. It didn’t matter too much because throughout the day we had access to as many banana boat rides as we wanted. After our first ride, we decided to give snorkelling a go. We were all experienced snorkelers but for those that weren’t they did have a demonstration on the boat before we arrived. Bali Hai has a designated snorkelling area at one corner of the pontoon, with is clearly roped off. This is also the same area that is used for scuba diving, although this isn’t included in the package and costs $45 extra. The water we were swimming in was about 8 metres deep and was quite clear. There was quite a lot of coral and interesting fish to look at. The snorkelling is also available throughout the day and snorkelling equipment is provided.

Getting ready to snorkel

Under the water

After a bit more snorkelling here, a few more banana boat rides there and going down the waterslide some more, lunch was being served on the boat. Unfortunately, I found it to be very underwhelming. Although there was a decent amount of choice, it wasn’t very tasty. I found the prawn crackers stale and the satay was cold. I didn’t eat much at all.

Banana boating

Once we had finished our lunch, we decided to jump onto a boat that takes us to the island for a tour of the village. It was very hot on the island, but we enjoyed the tour nonetheless. We were lead around a small part of the village for about 45 minutes. Our guide explained things to us such as the people’s source of income by farming seaweed, but that unfortunately the buying price had gone down. We were told about the religious ceremonies that have dancing and cock fights, and were then lead to a compound where some local families lived. While we were there, a local lady was busy making a sarong using a traditional technique. Our guide explained that the lady had been making them for about 30 years and that one sarong took about 70 hours to make.

The beautiful clear water

The locally grown seaweed

Roosters in their pens

A sarong being made

We made a quick stop at the local hospital and the cemetery, where the people are buried until their families can afford to cremate them, which costs about $1,100 US and can sometimes take years before the families can afford it. From there, we were lead to a small meadow type area where am 11 year old local boy showed us his coconut tree climbing skills. He only went up half way because of it age, but he sure made it look easy.

A local boy climbing the coconut tree

By this time we were very hot and were luckily lead to a small market stall that had fans and nice cold bottles of water. We hadn’t thought to bring our money with us, but were told we could buy something and give the money to staff on the pontoon. What a relief that was, because we were all so hot and thirsty. Before leaving the island to go back to the pontoon, We taken to the entrance of another compound where some local ladies had a few things for sale, and we were also given fresh coconuts to drink. I’m not quite sure how to describe the taste, but it was somewhat refreshing and rehydrating. I can’t decide whether or not I enjoyed it.

From there, it was back on the boat to return to the pontoon. By this point, we were all desperate to get back into the beautiful water by the pontoon. As soon as we were back, we were back on the waterslide, the banana boats and into the water for snorkelling. On the pontoon, there is a semi-submersible that takes you on a little coral viewing tour. From the outside, it looks just like a mini submarine, but doesn’t submerge. Instead there is just an underwater viewing area. We made the decision to go along before it stopped running for the day. It was a great way to see the coral and fish.
When we returned, it was almost time to leave. We returned our towels and locker key and made our way back to the boat. It sure was a fun-filled day and we were all exhausted. The ride back was again an easy one and we all ended up dozing off. I would definitely recommend doing this as a day trip. It was exhausting but it was definitely worth it. There was another company not far from our pontoon called Bounty Cruise’s that looked to be bigger and in better condition than Bali Hai. If I were to consider doing this again, I’d probably look into doing it with them.

We were back at the hotel but 5:00 and Sam and I were both exhausted. We enjoyed our now quiet 3^rd pool while catching mum and dad up on our busy day. By 5:30, I was absolutely starving; I had eaten very little all day to avoid getting sea sick but I was ready for some food. It was my turn to choose dinner. The whole time we’ve been here, I have been absolutely desperate for some corn cobs on the beach, so that was my choice. After a quick shower and getting dressed, we walked along the beach path to Sindhu Beach where the corn cobs are cooked. Sam and I both ordered one for 5,000 RP each. They were cooked right in front of us and then coated in our requested sauces; salty butter, sweet and spicy. Sam and I both request all 3 sauces, but didn’t request only a little bit of spicy sauce and the spiciness was too much, even for me, and I love spicy food. It was still delicious. While having our corn cobs, we enjoyed the liveliness of Sanur. There were lots of locals out, enjoying the food and the beach, and just creating such an atmosphere. It was a beautiful time of day. You just don’t get this kind of atmosphere in Kuta.

Our corn being cooked

The 3 yummy sauces

Yummy!

The lively Sindhu Beach

We then headed to Benno’s for a proper dinner, as Mum and Dad didn’t have any corn. It was another dinner in a beautiful setting on the beach, listening to the waves crash on the shore. I ordered mix satay, Dad had steak, Sam had chicken parmigiana and Mum ordered grilled chicken with a lemon honey sauce. The food is nothing fantastic, I’ve had better satay at La Playa, but we were still happy with it. The service was good and the staff were all very friendly.

Dad and I then started making our way back to the hotel while Sam and Mum look in some market stalls by the restaurant that stay open a bit later. We enjoyed a quick swim before getting ready for bed. Sam and I hired a DVD player from the hotel to test out some of our new DVD’s at a cost of 50,000 RP per night. We’re all looking forward to a day of relaxing in the sun, maybe a bit of pampering tomorrow before getting ready to leave on Monday night. Holidays just never seem to last long enough.

Bali, Day 5: Let the shopping begin...

Today’s weather: hot and humid. Not much of a breeze towards North Sanur
Today’s exchange rate:9,750-9,850 at most authorised exchangers, higher at back-of-the-shop exchangers, 10,000 per AUS $ at ATM’s

I was awake at my usual time of 7:30 today and soon got dressed to go meet Mum and Dad for breakfast. We had decided to just have breakfast at the hotel today, which is not included in the standard price at the Griya Santrian. It can be added on, or you just can do what we have done and either pay for it as you go, or just go to the many restaurants and cafes along both the street and the beach. The hotel does offer you a special when you arrive of a $12 buffet breakfast or $6 “sunrise breakfast” which includes juice or fruit, crossiants or toast and eggs anyway you like them which are served with potatoes and tomatoes. It’s pretty good value for money. So today, we had the $6 sunrise breakfast which was definitely sufficient. Our waiter was also very good when mum had to send back her eggs because they had been served on toast; she had forgotten to inform him of her gluten intolerance. He quickly returned with new eggs without toast and mum gave him a tip.

After breakfast, we returned to our rooms to get everything we needed for our shopping day. We returned to the lobby, minus dad, who had smartly opted to not come with us. At 9:45 our driver, Adi, arrived. We had only organised to use his services yesterday via our new shady friend we had made at the cooking class. Thanks, Fatman!! Although Adi’s English was not the best, it was definitely good enough. He was a very safe driver, and a very happy chap. We were very pleased with his services. The driver I had used last year, Made, was unfortunately unavailable for this otherwise we would have used him. We have recently found him to be a bit unreliable as of late- my parents had a confusing incident during their last trip when they had organised to use him via my recommendation, and he sent a friend in his place without informing them. They, who had never met Made before, didn’t know it wasn’t him until half way through their trip, and although it didn’t affect their trip, they would have appreciated being informed of this change. Unfortunately, because of this and a few other things, we may not consider using him again despite his good service when I did use him.

Our first stop was the Discovery Centre. We usually always make a stop here for their cheap shoes. Mum found 2 pairs that she liked, while I bought some clothes for a friends daughter and Sam did the same for a friend’s son, but not before shopping downstairs in Bamboo Blonde. All 3 of us found at least one thing that we liked here. After a quick break for an ice-milo- an all time Bali favourite- we continued onto Matahari at Kuta Square. We first discussed how long we were going to be then headed up stairs to start the shopping. I went straight to my favourite perfume counter to restock on my favourite perfume. When Sam came to join me, they then offered us their “special price” for 2 perfumes. We go two; mine in a gift pack with moisturiser and Sam’s just by itself, for 500,000 RP. Not bad at all. We were headed to the make-up counter when the perfume girls told us to go pay for our perfumes first so we could get vouchers. I don’t know if this was just a seasonal thing or whether they have it going all the time, but you just spend a certain amount of money and then you receive however many 50,000 RP vouchers to use for your next purchase. Sam and I got 3 of them form our perfume purchase, so we then headed to the jewellery section. Al though I didn’t find anything I liked, Sam got a few things and I spotted a fluro going-out bag for home. I’m not one for fluro, but this one just spoke to me. What a female thing to say.

 

Top from Bamboo Blonde: 299,000 RP

Dress from Bamboo Blonde: 395,000 RP

Top from Bamboo Blonde: 215,000 RP

Dress from Bamboo Blonde: 420,000 RP

My new fluro bag: 199,000 RP before discount

After buying these few things, it was to the make-up counter. I generally just stick to make-up like mascara and lip balms because I find that their foundations and powders just don’t suit my skin tone, but I had a look, with the assistance of a make-up girl, and found a few things that worked for me, as did Sam. Once again, it was back to the cashier to pay and get more vouchers. The girl confused me a lot when she was trying to explain to us to go buy these things first, get the vouchers, then pay for these things. I didn’t understand what she was trying to tell us to do at all. Luckily, Sam did. They do have a good cashier system at these shopping centres, but it sure does take a long time.

When we were done with Matahari, there were a few shops down the road we wanted to look at, such as Sook and Bagus Watches. I went into Bagus while Sam and mum continued to Sook. It was so packed in there that I could barely have a proper look at any watches and when a couple of big, sweaty (read: smelly) guys came in, I’d had enough. I went off to meet up with Mum and Sam in Sook, bought a couple of things for a friend, and soon we were making our way back to Adi.
We were previously planning on going to the new Beachwalk shopping centre, but decided to skip it this time. As we drove past, I saw that there were still places that weren’t open, so Mum and I agreed that we’d try to go when we are here again in July.

We were on our way to the Bintang Supermarket. I always use this as a base for shopping because along the road, it is just boutique after boutique after boutique. The shops along here are more expensive than others, but they’ve got some gorgeous things. This was only a one shop stop so I could go to one of my favourite stores; Somewhere. If you have teenage girls or girls around my age, they will love this shop. It’s got some brands such as Insight available in there, and the stock is expensive by Bali standards but it’s pretty reasonably priced by Australia standards. I didn’t see anything that jumped out at me and ended up purchasing only a top for a friend, but Sam found a few nice dresses and bought one for herself.

After our quick shop, we went back to the Bintang Supermarket to meet up with Adi. By this time it was about 2:30 and we hadn’t had lunch. Our next stop was Seminyak Square. Although I have driven past it so many times, I’ve never actually made the time to stop here, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the bundle of markets out the front and a lot of nice stores along the road. But first thing was lunch. Mum had suggested we go to the Junction, which nor I or Sam had ever been to before. What a funky little place. Very simply decorated, but with cool décor such as jars and jars of all different things lining the walls. Even the toilets had an interesting toilet paper wall feature. We sat down and look at the menu, which was quite large and had a mix of salads, sandwiches, focaccias and heavier things like pasta. Mum, not wanting to bother with explaining her gluten intolerance, ordered a rice paper roll, Sam ordered a grilled chicken wrap and I went with ravioli. The service was pretty quick and we were finished in about half an hour. The food was nothing special, but we were satisfied. I headed off to look at the markets out the front, Sam went into a little fixed price shops called Lio next door and Mum wandered up the road.

The Junction from outside

The jars lining the walls

Toilet paper art

 

Mum's rice paper rolls

Sam's grilled chicken wrap

My ravioli

I quite liked these markets. They weren’t full of the usual market stuff that you get in Sanur, where every stall has practically the same thing. I happily wandered through without being bothered too much by the stall holders, tried and failed to barter for some funky jewellery, found and successfully bartered for a nice dress and then met up with Sam. Together we headed over the road to have a look in a DVD shop. Although I haven’t yet had a chance to test these dvd’s out, I’m expecting them to be pretty reasonable quality. The shop was well organised, air-conned and when you were buying your DVD’s, they actually scanned them and gave you a receipt of all the DVD's you bought. Unlike other DVD shops that do have a return policy, but don’t give you a receipt, you are given one here so if there are problems with a DVD, take it back and you have your proof of purchase. I was quite impressed. The DVD’s were the same price as most places, 10,000 RP per disc, plus the usual buy 10, get 5 free deal. I ended up buying 60 and received 35 free. The DVD shop is called Galaxy and as it turns out, they have got quite a few centres scattered around the place. The particular one we went is on Oberoi street, diagonally opposite from Seminyak Square.

One of the jewellery stands

My market dress: 100,000 RP

It was 4:30 by the time we got back in the car. The streets of Seminyak are just so busy, it was such a relief when we made it back into Sanur. We were ready for a swim when we got back, but once again found our little 3^rd pool completely taken over by the people staying opposite us. There were 12 of them lounging around and in the pool, making lots of noise and splashing around. We weren’t very happy as it was not the first time they had done it. So we grabbed our things and headed to the front pool so we could also order a nice cold, refreshing drink. When we got into the pool, it was so warm, it was the furthest thing from refreshing. Not happy. So we got out, where it was actually cooler, had our drinks and then headed to the 2^nd pool, which was a much better temperature. Mum had nicknamed this pool “The Goddess Pool” so, because we had it to ourselves, we had a bit of a play around and some silly family fun.

Not happy about the warm pool

The Goddess Pool

Feeling much more refreshed, we headed back to our rooms to get dressed for dinner. It was Mum’s turn to choose and she chose Cemara Beach Café, which is further South and about a 2 minute walk from the Puri Santrian where our taxi driver dropped us off. We had found the North Sanur streets to be quite quiet, but it was quite lively down the Southern end. It was another beautiful setting for dinner under the canopy of trees with lights hanging down, but better yet, we found the breeze! And how beautiful it was, sitting at a table on the sand, with the beautiful breeze cooling us down. We were very happy. We ordered our drinks; Pina Colada for Mum, Tequila Sunrise for Sam, Banana Daiquiri for me and a Bintang for Dad. Drinks came quickly and we got onto ordering our mains. Mum ordered Nasi Goreng, Dad ordered Pork Ribs, Sam had Fettuccine A’la Murreno, which was pretty much carbonara and I ordered Bakmi Goreng. Our meals were nothing special at all, but as I said, it was just so nice sitting there in the beautiful breeze. Our meal cost less than $40 AUS.

Cemara Beach Cafe

 

Dad's pork ribs

 

Mum's Nasi Goreng

Sam's pasta

My bakmi goreng

We then cut back through the Puri Santrian and wandered up the street a little way. We passed a painting shop that had beautiful, colourful paintings. We had a look and Sam bought a couple of small paintings for her room. She paid 300,000 RP for 2 and that was without bartering, so she easily could have gotten a better price, but said she didn’t mind because it was for a local artist. This particular art shop is called Agus Art Shop and the address is Jaya Kesuma Art Martket, No. 100 Semawang, Sanur. There was another art shop across the road that sold the same kind of paintings. We walked a little way further before getting a taxi to take us back to our hotel. He, like our first taxi driver, was reluctant to use the meter, which isn’t something we’ve come across in Sanur, only in Seminyak. But it was hot and we were tired, so we agreed to 20,000 RP for the ride back.

The painting shop in Sanur

Some of the beautiful paintings

Sam's paintings

Soon enough, we were back in our air-conditioned rooms and ready for bed. Another long day behind us and ahead of us, with Sam and I booked in to go on a day trip to Lembongan with Bali Hai tomorrow. Looking forward to it.