Trip to Bali Round 2

A hotel top view of Kuta, Bali

 This past week Mari and I took our second trip to Bali, and this one was even better than the first. While the first trip was more of an exploratory trip to see what kinds of things Mari could find to sell here, this time was more focused. And of course, as we were going to be here for Valentine's day, we had to take a bit of time out for that as well. ;) For those hoping to make it out here at some point, here is everything we learned this time around.

Getting to Bali from Japan

Flying in, we got a direct flight from Haneda on Garuda Airlines. Garuda is a new Indonesian carrier, and although it isn't a part of any alliance yet, in the near future they will be joining star alliance, so if you get miles on Garuda, eventually you can transfer them over. As for the flight itself, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was actually quite nice. The service was actually really good, and the stewardesses were all really on point. For economy, leg room was also great. Overall, there were only 3 quams I had with it:

1) I felt like the seats needed to go back just a bit farther. We took a red-eye flight, and at least for myself I felt like my seat was only about 1 inch away from that perfect sleeping position.

2) As it was a flight from Japan, they only offered Japanese food. While I have no particular beef with Japanese food (no pun intended) if I have to eat airplane food, I would much rather eat my own country's. At breakfast I was starving, and the only thing offered was rice porrage covered in fish eggs. Not my ideal breakfast, and another option certainly would have been nice. (On the return flight though, western food was also offered).

3) My TV's on-switch was too sensitive. Over the course of the flight, I could swear that my tv must've turned on at least 4 or 5 times. I don't know if its because I keep brushing up against the on switch or because of a technical glitch or something, but the sudden bright light didn't help while I was trying to sleep.

My overall experience was a positive on, and I'd give Garuda Airlines a solid B+.

Staying in Kuta, Bali 

The Grand Whiz Hotel in Kuta, Bali

 
Much like the last time we came here, Mari and I stayed at a beautiful new hotel called the Grand Whiz in Kuta. The hotel itself is new, modern and gorgeous, and the staff was as nice and as friendly as can be. The rooms are great (although the beds are a bit hard for my liking), as is the pool, and food is also generally pretty good. The massages there are absolutely excellent, and actually cheaper than some of the massage places in the surrounding area.

Negatives: 1) Although the hotel offers free wifi throughout, the connection cuts out, and requires another login every few minutes or so, which is a bit annoying at times.

2) The area: although the location of the hotel is right in downtown Kuta, 10 minutes from the airport, and an easy walk to the Discovery shopping center and Central Kuta, the road you have to walk along to go to these places is really uneven (and at times dangerous if you aren't watching your footing) and absolutely packed with people trying to sell you things and services. I guess such is the case with any touristy area in any 3rd world location, so I shouldn't complain... But in the end, I ended up taking a taxi most places to avoid having to deal with.

Staying in Ubud

In the middle of the trip, to celebrate Valentine's Day Mars and I decided to get away from the hustle and bustle of Kuta and head up to the slightly more quiet area of Ubud (where all the super picturesque rice terrace valleys are). On the way there, we stopped at Kambung Village to have lunch. Amazing food, but the actual view of the rice terraces was just okay. (Conversely on the way out, we stopped at the Rice Terrace cafe where the view was incredible, but the food selection was nothing special).

The place we stayed at in Bali was called the Komaneka Tangayuda. For those who haven't heard of it, the Komaneka is a local owned and operated chain of hotels that instead of offering you a room or apartment in high rise, offers you your own private villa. Staying there was absolutely the highlight of the trip. During our trip to Hawaii, we stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Resort, and that was beautiful...but the quiet, tucked away nature of Komaneka made it a completely different kind of experience. Aside from the massively spacious villas, and quiet surroundings, the best thing thing about Komaneka was the service. Even coming from Japan, (where the quality of service and attention to detail is tough to beat) this place is still by far the best I've ever seen. I don't know if they had cameras on our villa or what, but every time Mari and I stepped out, when we came back our villa was spotlessly clean. And we never heard or saw a single staff member in the process. They also make sure that everywhere around your villa there is always a full water bottle. On your bed stand, in the bedroom, on the desk, etc.

Beyond that, another example is that if you mention that you have to leave too early to get breakfast, they will actually make a to-go box for you. What other hotel does that? Given the fact that it costs twice as much per night as the Grand Whiz (about $160 vs $70) we couldn't justify staying there for as long as we would have liked, but with the pool, gym, great restaurant, and amazing service I could totally see booking a seperate trip just to stay there for a week or so.

Scams to look out for in Bali

From what we saw, the biggest thing to be worried about in Bali is money scams, like a lot of 3rd world places, most local people living there don't make much, and as such, they are always looking for ways to scam "the rich foreigners" coming for a visit.

TAXIS
For examples, from what a local friend tells us, most taxi drivers in Bali only make about $10 a day, and as such, if you get in a taxi without the meter running, the driver will often try to charge you a flat rate (usually $5) to get anywhere. Even if by meter it would only be $1 or so. The easiest way to get around this is simply by using legitimate services. For taxis, The Blue Bird Group (usually written across the top of the windshield on blue taxis) is quite strict about using the meters. Sometimes you can also get non-blue bird taxis to turn on the meter just by insisting or threatening to take another taxi. Mari and I got around this by simply hiring a local guy (referred to us by the hotel manager) and then hiring him to take us everywhere we wanna go for the whole day. This was great in that he knew everywhere good to go, educated us on what scams to look out for, and what restaurants were good, etc. And we made a good friend out of it in the process.

MONEY EXCHANGE PLACES
The same goes for money exchange places. If possible, always go for the legitimate franchise services (MonEY EXchange) is a good one. Otherwise, while you aren't looking, the local services are likely to skim off the top. Unfortunately, this did happen to us once- and they got us good. I've heard this one is extremely common and they are very good at it. Even when you are watching closely. Another simple way to avoid this is simply to make withdrawals from international ATMs. (The airport exchange places are okay as well, but like any airport anywhere, the rates you get are pretty high).

Overall though, my impressions of Bali are very very good, and quite frankly if it wasn't for the fact that working as an actor means I need to live in a big city (Tokyo, LA, etc) I would get rid of my apartment here, and move there right now. (Well, that and the fact that its a bit too far from my Moms and family in the states.) Even so though, the idea of moving there, and renting a ridiculously nice, fully furnished house for half (or less) than what it costs elsewhere is an extremely appealing prospect.