"Just Back from Bali"

by

Mango

April 2001

This merriness quickly dissipated on arrival as the immigration queue was the full length of the building. It took us an hour and three quarters to get through immigration. I guess that is what you get for being on one of the last planes in before Nyepi day.

This was the night of the parade of the Ogoh Ogohs and I had planned to be here to see it and we were glad that we did as the whole atmosphere of the parade was fantastic, there were many beautifully made Ogoh Ogohs with one even having its own generator. The parade we followed was from the Legian banjar and even though this one was good we heard the Kuta one was much better. Unfortunately we missed the burning of the ogohs on the beach as we had followed it for ages and it looked like going a lot further so we gave up(Maybe next year).
I have a few pictures of this parade and will scan them and put them on the net soon.
Nyepi day. On this day you are not allowed to leave your hotel which may seem bad but in fact was quite ok as the hotel organised many activities for the guests including a fishing competion in the lily pond. I broke my fishing rod by catching the biggest koi, this of course amused every one. The rest of the day we swam in the pool drank Bintangs and generally talked bullshit. So it was a nice relaxing day.

I had left my camera in the taxi when coming from the airport and had thought thats the end of that but had kept the taxi receipt and rang the taxi company. The afternoon of day after Nyepi day not only did the driver return it but apologised that he had not brought it back sooner as he had been away in his village. I don't think there would be too many other places where this would happen. Of course I gave him a reward for bringing it back.

This year the shop sellers seemed to hassle us much less than last year and with a no thank you or tidak mau they left us alone. Tidak mau even worked on the time share sellers except for the pommy backpackers who were a little more persistant.
The coldest beer we found in Bali is a tie between Hueys and the Bali Aussie both were very understanding of how Australians like their beer. At Paddys however the beer was room temperature with many other places thinking that anything less than room temp was cold.

Shopping

Matahari We didn't feel that it seemed to be as cheap here as in the past even though they seem to have a permanent 50% off sale. Ramayanas appeared to be much cheaper.

Tootsies Many people have recommended Tootsies and I can see why, the girls are lovely and the prices are very good, maybe not the cheapest but I think you would have to bargain very hard to get lower.
t shirts 20,000
singlets 15,000
sarongs 15,000

Macros It costs 5,000 rupiah to enter Macros and it is a huge warehouse full of food with electrical items and a few clothes, worth a look just to see how cheap some things are. You could buy a whole carton of toothpaste there cheaper than one cost in Australia.

Alphas was similar most food items very cheap. I beleive the small shops buy all there stuff at macros or alpha and then sell it to the tourists.

Sitas Pottery and Leather was again very good, they have very good pottery at great prices and will pack and deliver to your hotel for 5,000 rupiah.

Merino's Leather did an excellent job of making a leather jacket for my sister in law.

Gold Street in Denpasar many shops selling jewelry. In one shop one girl writes the receipt who hands it to anther gorl to fold and then hand it to you.

Versace and Armani. Lots of these shops around selling copy jeans etc for 170,000

Restaurants

There are hundred of good eating places in Bali, catering for every different taste.
These are but a few

Moka cafe In Seminyak A hangout for the European expat community, very nice breakfasts with French Pastries. Lots of Kissing on the cheek and mobile phones here. Worth being there just to watch the expats in action.

Warung Brasil near Poppies 1, very cheap and ok meals here but the serves are small e.g. pepper steak 10,000, beef satay 7,000 and avocado cocktails 4,500 (less than US$0.50)

TJ's The best mexican I have ever eaten was here 5 people with drinks cost us 380,000 that included margaritas.

La Lucciola Very nice setting on the beach. The meals are fine but nothing to rave about.

Papas Very nice Italian restaurant on the Kuta Beach road Had a meal there called a duo which was steak and chicken, very good.

Sing Ken Ken in Legian My wife had the best spare ribs she has ever had here which only cost 20,000 and I had the best steak for 22,000

The Living Room

[Unfortunately Mango never finished this report. Ed.]