Selamat Pagi
After being on the road for 6 weeks, we decided to make the next stop more relaxing. Wendy also wanted somewhere to defrost so we decided on Bali.
Bali is quite a small island anyway, but there are lots of things to do. Many people go for water sports and it’s a good place to learn to surf. There’s also snorkelling/diving/boat trips available. However, we just wanted to relax and chill out. Most of our time was spent by the hotel pool and small walks round to the local shops/restaurants/malls.
Merry Christmas
As we were here for Christmas we decided to go to the Hard Rock as they had a special Christmas dinner. It was £30 for the meal including soft drinks, but you could add £15 for an open bar for 3.5 hours. It was worth going to and we even managed to get Turkey! They also had entertainers singing Christmas songs and Santa came to visit the kids. It was the first time for all of us to celebrate Christmas in hot weather, it was super weird!
Happy New Year
The hotel we were staying in had a New Year’s Eve Party where we had free tickets to attend. It included a buffet dinner of various cuisines and some entertainment. As nice as it was, it was a little awkward. We were sat in the ballroom so we were seated with randomers. These 2 anti-social beings don’t really like to talk to people, so we soon skedaddled. The fireworks could be seen from the beach so we mooched over to get a good view.
Along the beachfront, there are many makeshift bars. There are guys with coolers who stock up on beer/ alcopops/ soft drinks and have plastic chairs/tables. We sat down to have some drinks, but unfortunately, there were too many trees blocking our view. We decided to go to one of the beach bars. It was about £6 entry fee and that included 1 beer. We stayed there for the rest of the night and had a good view to watch the fireworks. The bar also had a pool, so many drunk people decided to jump in that too!
Sky Garden Bar
A great place we went to was the Sky Garden Bar. They do an ‘all you can eat/drink’ buffet between 5-9pm every day. The food is mediocre and drink choices include beer/alcopops/cocktails. It’s a good place to go as it was only £6 for the 4 hours. Sky Bar is a huge club and has many different floors of hip/hop, R’n’B, indie and so on. We just stayed for the early session, but after 9 pm you can buy another voucher for more all you can drink! This street is also famous for its nightlife/bars so it’s a good place to start your bar hopping! I also tried shisha for the first time!
Kuta Paradiso
We stayed in the Kuta Paradiso which is down the road from the waterpark/airport. It’s a 5* hotel and it probably was when it was first built. However, now the decor is very dated and it it’s not a 5* by today’s standards. However, it was still a perfectly nice stay. The staff are super-friendly and they do make your stay more enjoyable. Our room was big and clean and the pool area was nice to chill out. They also have pool games in the afternoon, so this was quite a family-orientated hotel. The gym here is also really good (but watch out for those pesky mosquitoes).
Tusita Hotel
Our flight wasn’t until the next day at 1 am, so we decided to check into a smaller/cheaper hotel so we could use the pool and freshen up before the flight. The pool was on the rooftop of the hotel, small but nice. That was the only good thing about this hotel. Our room had a horrendous smell. It was damp and the ceiling was covered in mould. The smell was so bad that they installed one of those air fresheners that go off every minute. The same ones in public toilets. ? Avoid this place at all cost!
Food!
We are off to Hong Kong now, so chow for now!