After our huge day yesterday the morning at home was in order today to recover. After midday schooling and lunch we caught the free shuttle bus downtown to do the Bali stuff. The bus is a complimentary run to the shopping centre, beach and home again at a set timetable. Any vehicle that enters the hotel premise has to first be checked at the security gate for bombs using a long handled mirror.
Straight to Bonsai Cafe stop (the beach) and whilst I took the kids clothes shopping Dave had a 40,000 rupiah ($5) 1 hour massage. We then swapped the bag (money) minding and I went for a massage whilst Jayden had a massage himself and Sofie got her hair braided. Whilst waiting for me to finish the kids played on the beach and rocks and came across a half dead sea snake.
We then jumped back on the bus and jumped off again at the shopping centre stop and walked the couple of hundred metres down the street to our now local bank to exchange, yet again, more money.
More food shopping before home. We've now worked out that buying non-Indonesian food is way more expensive so instead of buying a packet of Arnott's biscuits for approximately 50,000 rupiah ($6) we can get a packet of Indonesian biscuits for 3,600 rupiah (43 cents). If only I could get past oats for breakfast costing 91,000 rupiah ($11). Perspective though, a bag lasts at least a week :)
View today's photos here.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
WATERBOM PARK BALI
Blogger is annoying me! Having trouble uploading photos so have tried using Picasa. To view photos click here where you can view in slideshow format.
One of my favourite rides was the "Climax". You get into a booth, the man would count you down 3, 2, GO (where's 1 gone) and all of a sudden your ground flings back and you fall through a tube. Then you come back up to do a loop and finish. This ride you have to be 4okg but because I wasn't as I went up to do the loop I fell straight back down which isn't supposed to happen and had to be rescued through the emergency exit. Me, mum and dad went on this ride. The "Climax" was an eye-opener for me.
by Sofie
Yesterday we went to Waterbom Park (water theme park).
One of my favourite rides was the "Climax". You get into a booth, the man would count you down 3, 2, GO (where's 1 gone) and all of a sudden your ground flings back and you fall through a tube. Then you come back up to do a loop and finish. This ride you have to be 4okg but because I wasn't as I went up to do the loop I fell straight back down which isn't supposed to happen and had to be rescued through the emergency exit. Me, mum and dad went on this ride. The "Climax" was an eye-opener for me.
Other rides that I enjoyed that were right next door were the "Superbowl" and the "Boomerang". The "Superbowl" you went down a tunnel and came out into this giant bowl. You keep spinning around until you hit the middle where you go down this hole. The "Boomerang" ride you go down this slope quite fast and come up this wall and fall back down. This was another key attraction at Waterbom.
The last area was the Waterslide tower which had 6 slides. There was the the Macaroni tube where you had an orange ring. Dad went on this ride 9 times, 4 times with Jayden, 3 times with me and 2 times by himself. The raft river which you were in a yellow ring. The fast track you were laying back with your arms in the shape of a x and feet crossed, a lot of us got airborne. Other rides in this formation were the Jungle ride and the Smashdown. The Smashdown you go down a small tunnel and go straight down for 60m and finish. This was the awesomest ride ever. Last but not least was one Jayden loved, the Boogie ride where you are on a blue mat on your stomach and go down a yellow slide.
We had a fantastic day but were exhausted at the end.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
WE'VE GOT THE LOOK
Selamat Malam! Apa kabar?
The kids wanted to go into the kids club this morning so Dave and I took the opportunity to have an Indonesian language lesson. Fun whilst we were there but as soon as walked away we remembered zip.
Kids club finishes at midday for the lunch break and resumes again at 2 pm. We used this time to have lunch and do some schooling to free up tonight so we can get to bed early so we're fresh for our big day tomorrow. At 2 pm Sofie had a snokelling lesson in the pool which will come in handy for the Bali Fun Ship Island Cruise we're planning to do a little later on.
After Sofie finished her lesson again the kids went to kids club whilst Dave and I headed downtown to exchange some more money and shopping. Yep, Dave's got the look now complete with boardies, singlet, necklace and of course carton on Bintang.
Whilst I'm living in mini sun-dresses and getting excited with Indonesian chocolate (cokelat). Yes, my tan's coming along nicely. Just gotta ditch the strap marks now :(
The kids wanted to go into the kids club this morning so Dave and I took the opportunity to have an Indonesian language lesson. Fun whilst we were there but as soon as walked away we remembered zip.
Kids club finishes at midday for the lunch break and resumes again at 2 pm. We used this time to have lunch and do some schooling to free up tonight so we can get to bed early so we're fresh for our big day tomorrow. At 2 pm Sofie had a snokelling lesson in the pool which will come in handy for the Bali Fun Ship Island Cruise we're planning to do a little later on.
After Sofie finished her lesson again the kids went to kids club whilst Dave and I headed downtown to exchange some more money and shopping. Yep, Dave's got the look now complete with boardies, singlet, necklace and of course carton on Bintang.
Whilst I'm living in mini sun-dresses and getting excited with Indonesian chocolate (cokelat). Yes, my tan's coming along nicely. Just gotta ditch the strap marks now :(
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
MARKET DAY
Earlier than usual, like 7.40 am, much to the kids disapproval when woken up, we headed to the traditional markets here in Sanur. This is why I don't eat animals anymore! Even Dave, who'll try anything once, wasn't game to purchase or consume. He reckons it smelt off and reminded him of rotting fish up at Vanderlin Island.
We're yet to find a Durian, the smelly fruit of Bali.
This was more my style. Beautiful fruit and vegetables.
We made only these purchases as we still had some fruit and veg that we'd purchased at Hardy's in the previous days. We're not sure what all the fruits are but they smell and taste pretty good.
Imagine using these scales to weigh food which is how our purchases were priced, according to weight.
We're yet to find a Durian, the smelly fruit of Bali.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
MIRACLE IN BALI
Gustik, the driver transporting us from the airport to the hotel on Sunday night in which we left Dave's jacket with the mobile phones, called our room this afternoon. After small chit-chat "how are you going?", "how are the children?", "you sleeping ok in Bali?" I used my head and instead of asking if he had Dave's jacket said "Dave is offering a reward for his jacket which we left in your car. If you can return it we will pay you good money." He said he'd ask the next driver of the car (don't know what that meant) and then proceeded to try and organise transport and tickets to Waterbom Park since we discussed this the other night. I told him Dave wasn't home (he really wasn't, he was down punching out some bench presses in the gym) and could he call back which he did and said he had the jacket and would bring to our hotel tonight at 9 pm. He's just been, returned the jacket with both mobile phones and Dave's sunnies and we've rewarded him with 200,000 rupiah (approx $25) which is good money to them; to us a small price to pay! And we'll also give him our business with transport and tickets to Waterbom Park on Friday. Yay!!!
SOAKING IT UP
Well day 2 of Bali and Shelley has been showing me how to blog (it's my turn tonight).
We found the gym at the resort yesterday and Shelley got up early and trained while her lazy family slept in. We spent most of the morning reading books and relaxing while the kids swam in the pool. We went into Sanur for lunch, about a 5 minute taxi ride with Shelley doing a good job again "negotiating" the price with the the driver (17,000 rupiah - about $2).
Chicken Satay and Bintang for lunch for me (beginning to quite like the taste of Bintang) while the kids decided to be "adventurous." Sofie had fried calamari and Jayden spaghetti bolognaise. Here is Sofie pretending to steal my bintang.
Jayden looks impressed with his spaghetti. The locals have taken quite a shine to him pinching his cheeks - they think he is cute.
After lunch we decided to all go for a Bali massage. The kids loved it and now reckon they are going daily. Here is Jayden soaking it up. Yep - if you look at his feet it is still hard to keep shoes on him.
We have to be careful with Jayden when looking in the shops. We'll be busy looking and turn around to see Jayden being kitted out in clothing and anything else he likes after little innocent him answers "yes" to "you want t-shirt?"
In the afternoon the kids went to Camp Splash, they have made some friends with some kids from Victoria. We had school again in the afternoon and have just had dinner and sitting down to another bintang.
Stay tuned - a miracle may be occuring!
We found the gym at the resort yesterday and Shelley got up early and trained while her lazy family slept in. We spent most of the morning reading books and relaxing while the kids swam in the pool. We went into Sanur for lunch, about a 5 minute taxi ride with Shelley doing a good job again "negotiating" the price with the the driver (17,000 rupiah - about $2).
Chicken Satay and Bintang for lunch for me (beginning to quite like the taste of Bintang) while the kids decided to be "adventurous." Sofie had fried calamari and Jayden spaghetti bolognaise. Here is Sofie pretending to steal my bintang.
Jayden looks impressed with his spaghetti. The locals have taken quite a shine to him pinching his cheeks - they think he is cute.
After lunch we decided to all go for a Bali massage. The kids loved it and now reckon they are going daily. Here is Jayden soaking it up. Yep - if you look at his feet it is still hard to keep shoes on him.
We have to be careful with Jayden when looking in the shops. We'll be busy looking and turn around to see Jayden being kitted out in clothing and anything else he likes after little innocent him answers "yes" to "you want t-shirt?"
In the afternoon the kids went to Camp Splash, they have made some friends with some kids from Victoria. We had school again in the afternoon and have just had dinner and sitting down to another bintang.
Stay tuned - a miracle may be occuring!
Monday, July 26, 2010
SCHOOLING HAS BEGUN
We went out for breaky this morning once the rain had stopped briefly. On the way home we picked up a few food items from a small shop to tide us over until we could get to a larger supermarket later in the day. Dave was excited to find Guinness and couldn't wait to get home and crack it.
The kids swam and waterslid for a bit (in the rain) before we went to find a money exchanger and grocery shop. We found the best exchange rate on the street and asked to exchange $400 but he didn't have that much on him so told us to wait. He jumped on his scooter and a couple of minutes later was back with his mate who had the cash. We ate lunch and whilst Dave, Sofie and I ate the local Indonesian food (think Nasi Goreng) Jayden stuck with what he knew - chicken nuggets and tomato sauce and garlic bread.
Everywhere on the sidewalks and in the shops is the sweet smelling aroma from incense coming from these which are offerings to the Gods. It is a sharing that is not based upon fear, but on gratitude to the richness of life.
We bargained and bartered (hard) and bought a few items of clothing whilst downtown before heading to the major supermarket (Hardy's) in Sanur. Our total grocery bill came to 1,136,383 rupiah equating to roughly $137 Aus.
A bit of R&R this arvo, stayed in for dinner tonight and the kids tackled the first of the schooling whilst Principal Shelley attended to her own homework (blogging).
WE'RE HERE
We were up nice and early and ready to leave:
We're here, in beautiful Bali, arriving after a long day of flying. I wish I could remember the reason we flew Brisbane-Singapore, Singapore-Denpasar totalling just over 10 hours of flying time rather than a quicker Brisbane-Denpasar flight which surely would have been around 6 hours cause God damn it was a long day but I'm sure there was a reason; something to do with flights and/or costs. Anyway, we're here safe and sound.
Firstly, the kids. We're so proud of them. They travelled so well and never complained once. They watched movies and played video games, slept and it was the little things that excited them like hot, wet washers to freshen up, the individual remote controls for the tv, the mirror in the table trays, and the provided blanket and pillow.
Lastly, as they say, it always happens in three's! A few weeks ago Dave lost his wedding ring, then my mishap with my handbag which was never found and now, this morning, we've realised Dave's jacket (the one in the first pic) is missing in which he had two mobile phones in the pockets. So much for being organised and having mobiles with phone numbers before we left. We last remember it being tied to one of the bags before being loaded into the car so we think it's probably still in there as it would have to have been taken off for the handle to be put down. We'll organise a new phone and another backchat sim card when we get around to it.
It's not always going to be smooth sailing so might as well learn to breathe now!
We're here, in beautiful Bali, arriving after a long day of flying. I wish I could remember the reason we flew Brisbane-Singapore, Singapore-Denpasar totalling just over 10 hours of flying time rather than a quicker Brisbane-Denpasar flight which surely would have been around 6 hours cause God damn it was a long day but I'm sure there was a reason; something to do with flights and/or costs. Anyway, we're here safe and sound.
Firstly, the kids. We're so proud of them. They travelled so well and never complained once. They watched movies and played video games, slept and it was the little things that excited them like hot, wet washers to freshen up, the individual remote controls for the tv, the mirror in the table trays, and the provided blanket and pillow.
And food. The benefit of requesting special meals (vegan for me and children's meals for the kids) meant we got our meals served first. Actually quite nice food too as far as plane food goes.
Travelling with kids can also be a benefit. We were able to board the planes first in time to get settled, queue jumped at immigration and whisked through customs without even a second glance (we declared items).
Travelling with kids can also be a benefit. We were able to board the planes first in time to get settled, queue jumped at immigration and whisked through customs without even a second glance (we declared items).
Took us a bit to find our driver who was standing in the background with a sign saying "STRARK." Dave reckons he was a bit dodgy but we were tired and just wanted to get to our hotel.
It's raining, actually pouring this morning but that hasn't deterred the kids from the pool and waterslide. So far, from what we've seen, the kids club is awesome. I want to know where's my sun?
Lastly, as they say, it always happens in three's! A few weeks ago Dave lost his wedding ring, then my mishap with my handbag which was never found and now, this morning, we've realised Dave's jacket (the one in the first pic) is missing in which he had two mobile phones in the pockets. So much for being organised and having mobiles with phone numbers before we left. We last remember it being tied to one of the bags before being loaded into the car so we think it's probably still in there as it would have to have been taken off for the handle to be put down. We'll organise a new phone and another backchat sim card when we get around to it.
It's not always going to be smooth sailing so might as well learn to breathe now!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
ADVENTURE EVE
Well, this is it! The night before we leave Australia. Can't quite believe it's finally here. We're fully packed, loaded and ready to go. Have a taxi booked for 6 am in the morning to take us to the airport. We've got 3 alarms set and no doubt we'll be looking at the clock all night, getting little sleep. First stop, Bali staying at Sanur Paradise Plaza Suites for 3 glorious sunny weeks. See ya Australia.
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