Bali Trip 2014: Day 3: First Morning in Bali (The Essentials)
What Really Happens In Bali? Well if you believe TV and mainstream media it is nothing but drinking and crazy risk taking. Well here is our version – stay tuned for our quick 2 week escape from Australia heading over to Bali and Kuala Lumpur.
Our first full day in Bali – after arriving at midnight we managed to get at least a few hours sleep.
Today’s program was just the essentials:
- Food
- Drink
- Massage
- Shopping
*Not necessarily in that order*
Despite a late night arrival we were still up reasonably early and ready to start our first day in Bali. There is nothing more amazing than that first morning in Bali.
Breakfast
With the multitude of breakfast options throughout Legian we opted not to book breakfast at the hotel. The hotel buffet breakfast is perfectly suitable, it is about 90,000k per person, but we just wanted to try some different places each day.
We jumped in a taxi and headed up to Jalan Arjuna / Blue Ocean Beach – and decided to try out Dejavu Kitchen. We have eaten here before and know that the meals are amazing.
We had the Dejavu Big Breakfast and the Eggs Benedict – both with Bali Coffee and Orange Juice. A lovely relaxing morning watching Bali wake up. Total price for breakfast was RP152k.
The Dejavu Big Breakfast, plenty to fuel you up for the day (at least till lunch).
After breakfast we jumped into a taxi to commence the other “important” duties for today, shopping. As most Bali experts will tell you – bring a half empty suitcase and buy your clothes when you get here. Clothes are pretty cheap and you will easily be able to knock off most of your Christmas shopping while you are at it.
Shopping:
We usually try and avoid the Kuta area but there are a couple of shopping areas we like to check out, first up was Discovery Mall – didn’t see much that called to us so headed up the road to Matahari @ Kuta Square. If you have never heard of Matahari it is a great department store chain in Bali, you can usually grab some great quality products are pretty reasonable prices. As a tip: If you want to buy something you need to find a staff member who will write out a docket for you. They then take the products to the register for you. You will then give the register operator the docket they will get your product for you. The first time you experience this it seems a little “odd” but just run with it, it actually saves you having to hold onto everything you want to buy while you browse.
Next up we wanted to stop off at Bagus Watches to stock up on some lovely jewellery and watches. Bagus sell high quality watches that look very similar to expensive brand name products. The quality of construction is usually quite good and you can usually not actually tell much difference between the Bagus version and a genuine version of a watch.
The store at Kuta Square is huge – 3 levels – and during peak periods can be claustrophobically busy, my advice is to head there early in the morning when the crowds are down.
On our way back up to Legian we stopped off at the Beachwalk Shopping Centre for a look. When we were last in Bali this place was still being finished and most stores hadn’t opened. It is certainly a stylish place with a unique design. We didn’t end up buying anything and then spent about 15 minutes trying to find the exit – a well designed complex, traps you in and make it hard to exit. If you are into big brand name shopping this is definitely your place.
We quickly jumped into a Bluebird Taxi and headed up to Bintang Supermarket up on Jalan Raya Seminyak. Bintang Supermarket is the place to stock up on all your essential food, medical, toiletries, souvenirs, everything. Most of the prices are pretty reasonable and there is usually a steady stream of taxis heading down Jl Raya Seminyak so your always assured of getting a taxi back to the hotel.
Just as a tip though, traffic can be hectic so make sure you grab a taxi heading in the direction you need to travel, saves the taxi driver having to waste time doing a u-turn.
Lunch
By this point in the day we were both getting pretty hungry so decided to stop and have a quick meal at Cafe Seminyak, which is directly out the front of Bintang Supermarket. The menu here is quite varied so you will be sure to find something that suits you. Their bakery products are pretty famous but we opted for a Nasi Goreng Ayam (Chicken). Total price for 2 Nasi Goreng and a couple of drinks was RP130k so not too bad.
Spa Time
So suffice to say that by this point in the day I had absolutely had enough walking and shopping and we were in need of some nice relaxation (well I certainly was – my wife was in need of an hour of peace from my complaining).
Just down the road from the All Seasons on Jalan Padma Utara is the Suksema Spa & Massage, I had the Balinese Massage for an hour (RP60k) and the wife had the Classic Pedicure (RP60k). This place is virtually across the road from the “famous” Santai Spa (which is very tough to get into), but overall the ladies who work here give great service, the massage was lovely really good techniques and by all reports the wifey was very happy with the pedicure.
Dinner
Our Legian tradition is to make sure we can see the sunset each night, coming from a city on the Eastern seaboard of Australia it is still a novelty to see the sun set over the water and the Legian Beach is a lovely place to sit for a few pre-dinner drinks. We took a lovely walk up the beach to the Crystal Palace Beach Bar just up from Jalan Arjuna; if you head north from Coccoon you will find the place. Overall we find the service and drinks here fantastic (and the toilets are always nice and clean as well which is always helpful).
Make sure you grab a beanbag chair on the beach and get yourself a great spot to watch the magical sunset in the afternoon. And if you haven’t been totally shopped out by this point you will be kept company by the steady stream of beach sellers with everything from Sarongs to Statues.
After a couple of rounds of drinks and a snack of some French Fries we headed back to Jalan Padma Utara for dinner.
Our dinner spot tonight was the lovely “little” Warung Yogya. This place is somewhat of an institution amongst those in the know in Legian – incredibly cheap meals freshly prepared in their tiny little kitchen. They have recently reopened after a short stint while they updated the restaurant area. Don’t be surprised to see a line out the front as there are only about 6 tables inside so you may need to wait for people to leave before you can get in.
We ordered 2 Nasi Goreng, a serve of Tempe, and 2 cans of coke the total price was RP70k – so are you can see a great value option for a cheap night out. The price however does not equal the quality, I put it down as our best Nasi of the holiday.
After dinner we were pretty much done for the night – sorry not crazy party animal types – I think perhaps the 18 hour commute the day before and lack of sleep might have caught up to us. So back to the hotel and to bed (via Putu’s Shoe shop across from Yogya for those last minute “essential” ladies shoes)
Liked anything you heard from today’s blog? Here is the summary of places we visited and their websites (where I could find them):
Food:
Shopping:
- Discovery Mall
- Matahari Kuta Square
- Bagus Watches
- Beachwalk Shopping Mall
- Bintang Supermarket
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