My inevitable trip to Bali with my SO

[kevinkhchan]

My SO is originally from Jakarta but having come to Australia in her youth she had never been to Bali - cue the, "What?! You have not been to Bali?" She was quite determined to put a big fat tick on a visit to Bali.


Having enjoyed our first OS trip in ages earlier this year we decided that we should make many more trips where and when possible. An opportunity presented itself when the in-laws "hinted" that they would be in Bali later this year and we decided to combine that with a (possible) status run to try and gain SG with Velocity so we could upgrade our flights OS (this was before I spent more time at AFF). Hence our unusual outbound journey of SYD - PER - DPS with a stock standard inbound of DPS - SYD. At that time I had no idea what I was doing - and still don’t although I am learning as much as I can here.


So this morning we headed out on our little adventure and I am using this trip report as a practice run for our trip to HEL early next year.


We are currently in the SilverKris lounge in PER and are about to board our flight to DPS. I will try to update when and where possible.

 

[RooFlyer]

Sounds interesting

 

[Dr Ralph]

Enjoy your trip

 

[kevinkhchan]

Our PER - SYD leg was scheduled to depart at 7.15am which required an early start. Unfortunately UBER X and Black had nothing on the road at 5.00am around our place so it was a switch to GoCatch to get picked up by a Silver Service cab within 5 minutes. The drive into Terminal 2 felt quite short as discussions turned to religion and politics...perfect for that time of the morning.


Checking in with an ever so apologetic chap at the international counter we headed back out to the kerb to enter via the Sydney Premium Lounge entry. We breezed through the dedicated security and settled in at the lounge for a snack and some pics.

The lady at the counter ducked out of sight as I took this pic right at the entrance through the Sydney Premium Lounge entry.




Looking in at the lounge there is some table seating in front of the food and beverage counters, some lounge seating to the right and most of the lounge seating to the left.



This is another seated dining area to the left of the food and beverage counters. Almost feels like I'm at a startup canteen.



Along the windows (turn left as you enter the lounge) you will find a little nook for some privacy if desired.



We opted for the area further along the windows which was quite a comfortable location. ABC News 24 was on that screen and we were catching up on something we had missed earlier in the week.

 

[kevinkhchan]

This is the view if you decided to stand up for a stretch. The upper deck was closed at this time in the morning.



The ever so obliging and smiling barista who made a macchiato to request. I didn't think to get his name.



The drinks available to you if you were able to hurdle over the counter and push past the barista and the other staff. Or you could ask nicely...



The complimentary wireless was of an acceptable speed. I have added the Telstra speed for comparison.



Overall it was a reasonable comfortable lounge though the food was limited (hence no photos) to some fruit salad and cold cuts with breads or toast. I was just happy with an OJ and the coffee - then again the SO said I was too busy embarrassing her by walking around to take photos. I was curious enough to check out the shower which reminded me of the offerings at a Fitness First.

We dutifully wandered off towards our gate when the boarding call was made. Who knew Gate 45 was at the end of the bloody terminal! The area looked positively empty with the exception of the gate crew who seemed to be busy talking into walkie talkies. The chap was very nice when he scanned our passes and welcomed us to the flight and then quickly called out the the others "Gate Close!". That was a first for us. Last ones on board!!!

 

[kevinkhchan]

It was a new experience to be last to board but then it was incredibly convenient as we were in 1A and 1C. We rocked up to the plane just as the last few pax were about to step onto the plane. We hopped on behind them, popped our knapsacks in the overhead bins and settled in to the flight. We were looked after by Karina and Kaan who made it an enjoyable flight - Kaan was a wealth of tips for Bali.

I'm 178cm (about 5'10") and there was enough space for me to stretch out a bit. Mrs quipped she needed a stool to rest her feet.



Seats 1D and 1F were empty so I took a shot because I could. Kaan even quipped that I could do whatever I wanted and to make myself comfortable anywhere on the plane <grin>.



The Samsung tablets were placed into the pockets in front of us for our use. The were fully charged and good to go. Mrs' tablet had a broken cover and Kaan offered to bring another from the many many tablets they had up the back. I found the quality of the videos to be quite poor so the higher resolution screens were of no benefit. I decided to use the Virgin Entertainment app on my iPhone 6 Plus and was reasonably happy with the quality. Squeezed in a One Plus One interview with Dr. Karl and called it a day on the IFE. Did use it to follow the journey of our plane (bad habit I developed early on).



Being an early flight we were served brekkie. The table was not dressed (as I had become accustomed to) though the food was quite tasty. Mrs opted for the hot dish (being the corn and capsicum fritters) and I went for the cold dish to see how it was different. Kaan forgot to add the salsa and he came to "dress" the dish after the photo was take <oops>... and he seemed a bit embarrassed by the state of the croissants.



Mrs opted to use her own devices and settled in to watch the last few episodes of Series 8 for Big Bang Theory. She wasn't too happy with a photo I took of her earlier - yes I am tempting fate.



We arrived at PER about 15 minutes early which gave us time to figure out how to get really lost.

 

[kevinkhchan]

We let the only other J passenger get off the plane before us as he was a local and tried to follow him out of the terminal. We lost him as he was walking way too fast and the Mrs had to check out the ladies' loo for a trip report. We got out of the terminal easily enough by following everyone else but realised that the (supposed) coupons we were given at SYD check-in for the bus transfer were different and one did not seem valid for Perth.

After a short wander around to find someone for help we were informed by the International Check-In at the terminal that coupons were not required in PER as the transfer buses were free anyway. With instructions to locate the bus stand memorised we headed outside and started walking towards the Long Term Parking bus. Then the connecting bus rocked up and we made a dash for it with a few people around us.

We can now say that we have set foot in PER and strike that off the list. This is the new looking freeway connecting the terminals that can be seen when approaching the airport.



Now that we were at the international terminal I took the opportunity to embarrass the Mrs. by taking a picture of the bus. I have a side picture of the bus if anyone ever needs to know what the bus looks like when they are chasing it from the side.



We have many pics of the International Terminal in the middle of a face-lift but I may save it for a new album titled airport renovations. Immigration and security check was straightforward although I found it odd that they would check if you had filled out your exit documents after you had lined up for immigration. Thank goodness I had taken a large stack of the exit documents to pre-fill on my last OS trip since VA probably considers Bali as part of Australia.

Thanks to AFF I was able to appease the Mrs. a little with a visit to the SilverKris lounge to while the time away. We checked out where Gate 1 was so we knew where we should dash to if required then headed in the opposite direction to find the lounge near Gate 4. She wandered past the refrigerated cold offerings including sushi, mousse (which she tucked into before we headed to board), cold meats and sandwiches. She came back with some risotto balls (and more risotto balls) and curry puffs. I helped myself to some beef rendang (a little tough) and rice.



We got to the gate with about 15 minutes to spare and so took a seat amongst the kids in the creche section. This looked like it was going to be quite a noisy flight to DPS. No one paid particular attention to boarding order when the call was made and I had to stifle a laugh when the Mrs. suggested we take our time in future to be last on the plane again. I decided to embarrass her one more time by stopping to take a picture of the plane. We had to walk down two flight of stairs from the gate and head down a long plank...

 

[kevinkhchan]

Flight VA0057 from PER to DPS proved to be a different experience in some sense. We nicknamed this the party bus as this is what came to mind when we saw passengers standing around chatting and having a drink - <ahem>thinking tour busses of our youth<ahem>.

We stuck with 1A and 1C which was not too ideal as I completely forgot that we would be on the warmer side of the plane heading north in the afternoon. We were wonderfully looked after by Johnny who was assisted by his trusty side-kick Aaron. We saw two sides to Johnny - the ever so pleasant and obliging Johnny for the six of us in the first two rows, and the Asian dragon towards those up the back who would not follow instructions. This included one lady (if you would refer to her as one) who was boasting on the tarmac about being so close to the toilet (and yet so far) before being called out by Johnny as we were making our final approach to land in DPS. Party. Bus.

Not much to add in terms of pics for this flight but we had fun. Johnny made the trip memorable with his conversations and hospitality (especially for the lady in the row behind who was not a flier but was more comfortable after an entire bottle...and a half of wine). He insisted that he had arranged wheelchairs for all of us at DPS so we should all eat up and drink up <grin>. Even the elderly gentleman who actually did need a wheel chair eventually downed an entire bottle of Chardonnay.

This time around our table was dressed and we got a starter, a main and a dessert ... and the PER - DPS was a shorter flight to SYD - PER. Johnny did not have a printed menu for us so had to recite the options. I messed with him trying to figure out what he was saying and what I actually wanted. I started with a pumpkin soup that was delicious.



The Mrs. had a Prawn with Sweet Corn starter - no idea what it was called since there was no menu for reference. Johnny unsuccessfully tried to give all of us a second serving - it wasn't for the lack of trying.



I was still feeling full from the "snacks" I had in the SilverKris lounge so was begging off the two options for mains. A vegetarian option had Polenta with Blue Cheese. The Mrs. had the Lamb meatballs in tomato and spices. Johnny would have none of it and then whipped up a special made up of a Chicken and Chorizo rice from up the back dressed up with the prawns from the starter. Turned out quite tasty.



The Mrs. took a whole lot of wonderful pics out the window since I gave up my seat to her - not that I really had a choice. Otherwise it was a relatively uneventful and noisy flight. For the first time in a long time we had to get off the plane onto the tarmac. The Mrs. actually made me take out my phone to take a pic for a change. With the fear of getting in trouble I quickly grabbed a pic.



Any advantage that would have been gained from disembarking first from the pointy end was negated when we all had to play sardines in a wonderfully non-airconditioned bus. This allowed you to quickly smell who was drunk and who wasn't. Ultimately there was no need to worry about a rush for the purchase of the Visa as the hall was massive and they seemed to have enough staff on duty.



Anyone who rushed through immigration found that it was all in vain anyway since the luggage took forever to arrive. They decided to play fair and hold the luggage until everyone from the flight was at the luggage carousel. They even fiddled with the hardware while a shrilly alarm was used for our entertainment in the meantime. Eventually the first bags arrived with no Priority tagged bags in sight...they came a little later.

Since we were not declaring any items we went through the Green lane (with everyone else) and had our bags x-rayed for entertainment. A whole lot of passengers were caught off guard and were trying to figure out what had to go into the x-ray machines (hint: all your bags).

Note: When you head out of the arrival hall you are actually not out of the arrival hall. You get the opportunity to change some money and get a TelkomSel SIM card...or you can try and get a TelkomSel SIM card and then get directed to the money changer since they only accept cash. Beyond that you have the wonderful opportunity to experience the Duty Free offerings before finally breaking free. (We were lucky as the staff seemed intent on grabbing a group photo so we escaped tout-free into the welcoming arms of our hotel driver).

 

[Magpie10]

Loving your TA can't wait for further episodes.

 

[kevinkhchan]

I couldn't grab a picture but we had just come out of the arrival hall with the money changer to the right, the TelkomSel stand in front of us and slighty to the right, and the wonderful Duty Free store to the left...and a whole lot of people waving signs with names just behind the barrier directly in front. We were met by a staff member from the Novotel Bali Nusa Dua for our airport transfer to the hotel. This chap must have plenty of experience as he seemed to know when I saw our names on the board. He waved and indicated he would wait for us to one side. I was torn between getting a Telkomsel card, changing some money and getting out. I think it was going to cost me about Rp. 300.000 (yes...get used to the zeroes) for 6GB of data (yes I am a data addict) and I wasn't keen on poor exchange rates at the airport we headed out.

The staff member guided us across to the main parking structure and had us wait just to the left of where we entered. We were eventually joined by many other potential victims...I mean Aussies...while the drivers got their cars/vans.

Saw an amazing structure which would be a preview of all the carvings to come. I have no idea what this gate structure leads to but it is right next to the airport.



You can identify different sections of Bali and the visitors to the area based on the shops you find there. In some cases it brings comfort to some...



Traffic is inevitable in Asia so there is no need for more photos. However, our driver took us onto the new Tollway on our way to Nusa Dua. This is a relatively new tollway/bridge which is about a year (?) old. It avoids all the traffic in the old route unless you are paying by distance and time...<cough>taxi</cough> The toll costs about RP 10.000 and shouldn't add too much to your bill. I've heard the length is about 17km with about 11km or 14km over water. You know you're headed in the right direction when you approach this structure.



Not as many vehicles seem to use it at the moment...in comparison to the traffic in the usual places in Bali (think Kuta, Legian or Seminyak). It does look impressive.



We finally join the main structure over water...this is where you get reminded that drivers here are a very different species. There was a big bus just to our right...out of the picture.



This brought us to our hotel in about 20-30 minutes.

 

[Buzzard]

Certainly enjoying bthe TR. Look forward to the next episode.

 

[kevinkhchan]

The in-laws have "hinted" that I may need to have a rest day today so I am hoping to catch up with my trip report...that is after I stop reading all the other posts <sigh>.

We arrived at what appears to be a security check-point. Thinking we were at the hotel we started looking out for the lobby / reception. Instead there were more roads! It turns out that we were in a gated-community of sorts for hotels and resorts. What?!?! Apparently this area has about 30(?) properties within.

We reached one end of the area where Novotel Nusa Dua Hotel and Residences was located and went through another security checkpoint. Beyond this was our goal for the day...the reception where we could check in. The wonderful staff were efficient and even served us an ice-cold glass of sweet sweet tamarind juice which went down a treat! Pleasantly lulled into relaxation mode they threw in an upgrade from our Deluxe room booking to a one bedroom suite...YAY!



We started walking towards the buildings when the check-in staff guided us back towards the entrance. Our puzzled expression was immediately replaced by one of those glances you throw to your SO...we were told that they buggy would take us to our building. How big was this place?!?!?!



A mere minute or so of gently guiding people off the walkway the porter delivered us and our luggage to the second floor of the building (conveniently labeled 3 to mess with my tired brain). Entering our suite or apartment we found a tiny lounge room.



Once we tipped the porter (a bad habit we picked up from our SFO trip) I excitedly checked out the rest of the place...with smartphone in hand of course! First stop the bedroom. This stay was going to be tough. How does one cope with a King sized bed? However in the event of a disagreement we would both have our own TV's (CNN for the Mrs. and BBC for me).



Next was the all important bathroom - very important for any required thinking time. It was reasonably appointed and provided great entertainment when the Mrs. used the toilet for the first time...mistaking the purpose of the knob on the side. I was a happy chappy since I could have a comfortable soak in the deep tub without having to alternate the soaking of extremities.

 

[kevinkhchan]

And there is a kitchen! Unfortunately there is no microwave oven though there is an induction cook-top and accompanying pans, plates and cutlery. I am going to be able to go back to my tight-cough days of fried rice if we overspend on this trip and use up our rationed AUDs. Alternatively there is the ever present kettle and complimentary coffee. After checking the state of the kettle I was satisfied that we could survive on Cup-O-Noodles if needed. Definitely more useful than those Nespresso machines everyone else is getting on their trips...<sigh>



There is a dining table for me to make a mess in the dining room. This WILL be fun. Looking in from the balcony you can see that this is a small space...Mrs thrown in for comparison. She is busy messaging me to stop taking pics.



There is quite a nice view from the balcony. This finally brought a smile to the Mrs. face as we started to settle in and relax...I just tried not to point out the children's playground that was right in front of our building.



This place is quite a large resort...looks like about 10 buildings in total. The back of the complex backs onto Jalan Nusa Dua Selatan with The Grand Bali opposite. This is a street of convenience as there is a Circle K convenience store loaded with products geared towards tourists without the price. We reload our water supplies here at Rp. 7.000 (that's about AUD$0.70) per 1500mL bottle of Aqua. You can avail yourself of some local snacks, pharmaceuticals, and "protection" if you get lucky.

 

[parsonstrish]

Enjoying your tr, especially the humour.

 

[kevinkhchan]

On the way to Circle K we bumped into my Mrs' cousin from Sydney who is now based in Jakarta. Of all the resorts in this town! Fortunately he gave us a quick run-down of the grounds and surrounds. He suggested that the food from the restaurant was reasonably priced and edible to boot.

Having made the exploratory run towards the back of the hotel for water our stomachs began to call out with deep resonant growls. The duration of the flight for the extra status credits (I am seriously hoping my maths is reasonably correct) was creeping up on us too. Ever tried to ignore your growling stomach and slept? Not us.

So we headed to the hotel dining option called the Square Restaurant...with the by-line "Food outside the box". Yup...this sounds really promising. Along the way dusk seemed to bring a magical quality to the place...or we were just beyond tired.



We navigated the path around the swimming pool in hope of finding the entrance to the Square...and perhaps the bar next to it. The swimming pools were looking quite inviting at this stage too as we were still acclimatising to the heat and humidity. It was just calling out to me...perhaps not to you if you are enjoying the cooler climes of the southern hemisphere.



Checking out the a la carte menu it appeared to be an exact match to the room service menu...both for options and prices. I made a suggestion which the Mrs' agreed with whole-heartedly. That shocked me for a while so it took us a little longer to make our way back to the room. Once there we unusually picked one dish each very quickly (I think the stomachs had taken over by now) and placed the order. The order was delivered in almost no time by an efficient chap carrying everything on a wooden tray. The Mrs. ordered the Nasi Campur Bali (Bali Combination Rice) for Rp. 58.000 (approximately AUD$5.80). Now this is an absolute rip-off by Indonesian standards but incredibly reasonable by Australian standards. Consider that it has two sticks of chicken satay, two sticks of fish satay, one stick of prawn satay, some braised beef and long beans with rice...I may yet make it to the end of the trip without cooking.



I opted for some booteh...with the Mrs' blessing of course...and ordered the Sop Buntut (literally translated as Tail Soup or more commonly known as Ox Tail Soup). Much like any "special" hotline you call I had no idea what would be on the other end of the line. Fortunately it turned out to be a memorable experience...with a tad too much oil...for the special price of Rp. 77.000 (approximately AUD$7.70).



With the stomach satiated my brain demanded some attention. I had to get to the AFF forums to feed on some posts. We have Vodafone International Global Roaming on both our phones (yeah that AUD$5 per day deal) as a precautionary measure when travelling. Telstra would invariably rip me a new one if I used my Telstra SIM outside of Australia. The Mrs. scored IndoSat on her phone and was not getting any success with data. My phone latched on to 3 and I was getting data...e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y. I noticed that there is a Wi-Fi base station outside EVERY room so we decided to try that out. There is a free option and a paid option...I'm of Asian descent so it's against my DNA to pay for the internet if I can help it...so I picked the free option. The speed for 3 was...well you may remember what 3 was like back in the day. The free WiFi however was surprisingly adequate.

 

[Mattg]

This is very well-written. Enjoying the humour.

 

[puppysparkes]

Fantastic TR! I'm sitting on the couch having a laugh.

 

[aaronjames000]

This is great for a chuckle... and even comes with an excellent travel report as well!

 

[kermatu]

Not only a valuable TR, but also a great read. How long was the recovery time from the shock of the Mrs agreeing with you?

 

[kevinkhchan]

... How long was the recovery time from the shock of the Mrs agreeing with you?

Hahaha! Took about two minutes for it to sink in. I kept asking to confirm that I heard correctly. Again...I was really lucky it worked out. Or I would be including a report on the comfort of the couch outside...it was long enough for me to lay flat.