Bali 2014

I can’t remember how many times i have been to bali but it is probably my 5-6 times here. Most of the time i was here for the conference, including my first blog. It was done here 3 years ago. I was not sure if i will continue to blog after that initial trial but here i am again 3 years later 🙂

I came here with ex-girlfriend (aka wife now) many years ago and now here i am with my two lovely boys. It is a different kind of feeling. The joy and hapiness is more complete? Apart from the tireness of having to run after them and stop them from climbing around like a monkey. It is still fun. I noticed that the airport is new. Even bali has a new airport, what about the capital Jakarta? The first 2 nights we stayed at the Sheraton Kuta. It is not bad as it is connected to a big shopping mall. The shopping mall is about 4 storeys. On the first day, the traveling already took half a day so by the time we checked in, it is already afternoon. Then settling the kids and taking their afternoon nap. It will be evening time before we come out.

There’s a small infinity pool.

A large modern shopping mall is just next to Sheraton. 

Second day was spent going outdoors. We took the transport to somewhere where a boat will bring us to the turtle island. There you will see the sea turtles and take pictures with some other animals like eagle, bats, etc. It is quite an adverture for the kids where it is the first time they take a boat. I was very surprised to see the turtle so colourful. They are really pretty.

We also tried the famous dirty duck. The duck is really worth trying as it is very crispy but a little small.

This is the famous coffee luwat. What makes this so famous and special is that it is a very expensive coffee. What happen is that the civet cat (picture of this animal below) eats the coffee bean and it passes through its intestinal tracts before passing it out. Then they wash the beans and sell this as luwat coffee. It is supposed to be smoother and less acidic after going through the cat. Yes, it does taste less acidic but I am still not sure if it is worth paying so much for it. This cup cost just SGD5 or USD4 which is still alright maybe because they want to entice you to pay for the whole packet. The whole packet is really expensive. It cost about SGD30 for a packet of 100g.

This little fellow is the luwat or civet cat.

On the third day, we changed to Club Med at Nusa Dua. First impression is pretty good where there’s someone to receive you and you are already checked in. You do not even need to check in. The welcome is a little sloppy to be honest. When we checked into the room, we are a little disappointed with the condition of the rooms. It is nothing compared to Sheraton Kuta. I think it is time for a major upgrade of the rooms. The shower unit is so small and as tight as the japanese hotel. Why do they make it so thingy when the land is abundant and not so expensive? If Asian has difficulty squeezing into them, then what about the westerner being bigger? The floor is also generally dusty and dirty where you can feel it with your feet. The room looks just dirty and run down. Let’s hope it gets better as we go along.

We head straight to the swimming pool and there’s the kids pool. Seems to be heated and shallow enough for toddlers. The good thing about club med is that your package includes all the meals and drinks so even drinks by the pool is ‘FOC’. I ordered a tequlia sunrise and a magarita to enjoy by the pool. Shiok!! One of my to do list here is to try all the cocktails at least once. 

The food at the restaurant is just okay and not fantastic. Food quality is only average. What is surprising however is that they changed the menu for every meal so you don’t get sick of eating the same buffet for a few days.

There are plenty of GO (some customer relationship officers) but they seem to focus on certain groups of tourist or stick to same countryman out of comfort. The korean GOs are always with the Koreans and i hardly see them speaking to others.

We work up late on the forth day and missed the golf session for the kids. Then when we tried to place our elder boy at the mini club where the ‘GO’ will take care of them the whole day, our boy just refused. This is one great concept of club med and i believed that’s one of the reasons why many parents love to go club med. It allows the parents to have fun while someone is taking care of the kids full time. We will try again later in the afternoon to ‘dump’ my elder son there. Think asian parents should learn to let go and not shelter the kids too much. We need to succeed or we are wasting our money in club med….

Finally we managed to get our kids into the mini club and my wife and I played some golf. There’s a 6 holes mini golf course which are all par 3. Then we went archery and laze around by the pool. 

They have a restaurant that serve ala carte if you are sick of the buffet. However, this restaurant will require you to queue up at 9.30am for dinner reservations. Here’s the queue which thank god is rather short. I don’t exactly understand why they require guest to queue as compared to phone booking. Anyway, it is worth the effort versus the buffet food. This is fine dining and the food is really good.

Will i go back to Club Med? Most likely not Club Med Bali but I may explore other Club Meds as long as my kids are still small. Won’t mind trying Club Med Hokkaido for a snow holiday.