10 days at Bali Garden hotel, holidaying with 17yr old son.
Bali Garden
first shown a double room, we cracked up laughing and were given a twin room. I asked about upgrade to a deluxe room was quoted 75000 per night for upgrade. I decided I would do just that the next day.
I woke the next morning sat on my balcony watching the sexton cleaning & digging in the cemetary, could view and hear the ocean (well, glimpses as the real estate agents say) Then a squirrel ran and jumped through the bamboo, a whole flock of beautiful birds settled in the trees and I decided to stay put.
Breakfast is good, very good.
Staff are lovely, manager on holiday.
Renovations to reception which didnt cause any probs.
Huge bags of stones were positioned in the reception with SEMEN in huge letters on them. We took a pic and have entitiled it
'getting your rocks off at the Bali Garden'
Heaps already on this hotel, is good value but I prefer bungalows and was very impressed with the Bali Rani which is just over the road.
I would stay at BG again as a family group, great for families.
Eating
I thought expensive compared to May but was just the location, Tuban is simply more expensive.
Ate at a great place called the Impala next to Kartika Plaza hotel,over road from Bali Rani, fresh fish Asian food but fish not on display, I ate chicken lol.
Beautiful food and service ( thanks Karen & Nancy for the tip and the company)
The first night we took a cab to the Indo National for my grilled seafood fix, was yummy.
As I sat there ringing in my ears was the admins or Balivillas
"what is it about this place?"
Well I worked it out, was easy when I actually gave it thought.
The owners simply worked out what Australians like and did it to perfection, so it may not suit Europeans, Asians etc but it sure suits us!
The restaurant was packed on the three nights we took a cab over.
We ate at a few places, fat yogis for lunch in poppies1, great food, cheap prices, great value. Bali Summer hotel restaurant where I ordered a T bone, was melt in your mouth perfection.
Had a rotten meal at a place which I am sure was bad just cos owners away, didnt get sick or anything just felt peeved cos ruddy awful.
Ate at Stadium cafe, was good but expensive I thought, their milk shakes are excellent though.The Asian cafe along from Stadium was very popular with the Chinese Indonesians but my meal was fairly ordinary and I thought too sweet and not spicy enough.
The meal snacks at the bar pool of the Bali Garden were great value too, nice for lunch.
Mobile phone
got a sempati sim card (thanks Kelly) used for local calls & text messages, still has credit and I will try to keep it going. Most I saw were 90000, should be 75000 but the ppl who sell install the card and set up, friends did this for me. Would be worth the extra for that. You can then top up the card if needed, great for our pre paid phones.
shopping
son did most of this with his huge collection of CD, DVD, PS2, XBOX while I tried mixed juices in any cafe close enough to wait for him.
We went to the dollar shop ( best description) opposite Supa Nova and bought sleeves and files to put the discs in then son cut the paper covers to fit the sleeve and returned the plastic cases to the shops.
Bought from as many different market stalls as I could as while the streets throbbed with Indonesians on holiday, the markets were very, very quiet.
I always buy from Willy at the top end of Garlic lane close to Melasti, she has the best and latest copies of clothing.I have been buying from her since our first visit. I also bought from Keni in Sanur where I have also been shopping for a few years now.
If you enter Kuta square keeping makkas on your left, at the top on the right is a fixed price shop, has shoes, sox,fragrance copies etc, good place.
Went to Geneva, didnt buy but friends did, some bought up big. I absolutely loved the furniture on the ground floor and should love to fill my home with it.
Didnt do any tours, 17 yr olds arent much interested in culture unless it involves chics, surf and beer, funny that.
Did talk to many locals about many things and had some interesting feedback. When I was told by various sellers 'business bad since bomb,buy from me' I explained that we can't all buy from everyone, they then said 'big sorry, thank you for coming to Bali' I then said
'dont thank me, I thank you for making me welcome' This type of conversation invariably led to long talks which I appreciated, I learned a lot. I found some very angry young men, very sad women who will take years to come to terms with the present situation.
One young man said 'I lost my brother, my friend, my business, Bali bankrupt'
His friend was Australian, they surfed together. I just wanted to hug him and tell him it would all be ok, we laughed together eventually then after that each day he greeted me with a huge smile and more talking. I doubt I helped him wish I could do more,wasnt money he needed, counselling? is there any? I need to find out.
Time share? no probs didnt bother asking me after the first day, they are just trying to make a living like everyone else.
A lovely holiday, truly relaxing.Hope you havent gone to sleep, well if you have sweet dreams!
Angela
ps the dogs are fine, (I made many new canine friends) talked to Rocky across the road from his old location, hope you are reading Chezz!