“What’s my next move?”
Legian Beach, Bali
Joining in with Debbie’s One Word Sunday – Concentration
Tag: Bali
Living it up in Lively Legian, Bali
After checking out of the Novotel, we took Grab Cabs to our next destination, The Pullman in Legian. Upon checking in I found that my request for adjoining rooms had not been accepted! We were all on the same floor though, us around the corner with Elena and Damian in two rooms with a room in between. I was a bit miffed as I had asked twice for this and in plenty of time. Never mind, time to move on and get settled for the next four days of more fun in the sun.
In the evenings there was always a PG film or cartoon showing.
Pull up a Seat and enjoy the show.
Our room was more than okay and the balcony overlooked some beautiful frangipani trees. I saw cute squirrels hopping from branch to branch, peering up at me.
After swimming in all the pools and eating lunch at the hotel, we headed elsewhere for dinner. Elena and I had our wires crossed as to the restaurant I had chosen. Ending up walking further than I had planned only to find that it was “Drag Queen” night. The place was packed and not entirely suitable for young eyes. Always restaurants aplenty in Legian, so we just ate next door.
The Pullman featured three pools, one was adults only. This one overlooked the ocean and a cocktail or two are easily available to watch the sun go down. With Legian being on the west side of the island meant we got to see some glorious sunsets.
One afternoon Rosie and I were having a siesta in the room and ventured outside to watch the squirrels. They were extremely tame, but I chickened out at the last minute to actually hand feed them.
As it was school holidays the breakfast buffet was crowded and noisy, also expensive. There was a long wait for coffee from a state-of-the-art coffee machine, operated by one man, and no other options available. So the next day we opted to eat at nearby cafes.
Anthony continued his daily regime of walking two hours everyday, even in the heat and humidity. I managed a 15 minute walk to the shopping centre nearby. Holidays in Bali are all about relaxation, reading and swimming for me, with a cocktail to hand.
We had a drink one evening on the beach and watched the sun go down.
We didn’t venture to the beach much in the daytime. The sea on this side of the island is good for surfing but not swimming.
One night Anthony and I walked back along the shore. The waves gently lapping around our ankles and enjoying the cool breeze. As we bent down to put out shoes back on a not so gentle wave jumped up and soaked us. Luckily we didn’t have much further to go and squished back to the hotel.
All in all there is something for everyone in Legian. A place to go if you want to party all day and night. Restaurants, bars and cafes line the roads and the beach. Upmarket hotels and budget places jostle for space, most with an oasis of calm and tranquility at the back. A wonderful time creating memories with family.
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In this post I’ve Set the Mood, and Pulled up a Seat to watch the trees and leaves.
Family Adventures in Benoa and Legian, Bali
I decided to change things up this time for our family holiday in Bali. Four days in peaceful Benoa and four days in lively Legian.
It was extremely late by the time we arrived due to a delayed departure. The lobby was large and spacious with enormous high ceilings. Checking in took a while but we were finally given our keys and taken to our rooms. We were assigned interconnecting rooms for Elena, Damian and the kids, and an upgrade for myself and Anthony. There are two parts to the Novotel and the block we were staying in was across the road and away from the beach. I was disappointed to start but after the first night was feeling quite happy with this arrangement. It seemed less busy and the adult and kids pools were just below us.
I had a great night’s sleep, but Anthony said it was too noisy for him. When I stepped onto the balcony I realised that we were very near the road.
The road doesn’t look too busy in this shot, but the bikes are a big problem!
Breakfast was served in the beach block across the road. This is manned by two attendants who try their hardest to stop the traffic. The bikes especially just drove around them and the cars mostly ignored them!
The above photos show some of the artwork on display around the Novotel.
A buffet was on offer serving up all kinds of traditional food plus fresh fruit. There was an egg station plus waffles, pancakes and donuts for the kids. Something for everyone.
Over the next four days, we swam in the ocean, played in the pools and relaxed. We found some fabulous restaurants for dinner but stayed at the hotel for lunch.
One day we took a tour on a glass bottomed boat to Turtle Island. The kids loved the boat. Out at sea was exceptionally busy with all kinds of activities. I thought I had seen most water sports, but all of a sudden we saw a flying lilo with someone holding on for dear life.
The sea here is tidal so the optimum time for swimming was around 1 pm. Anthony and I swam every day, but the kids preferred the pools. There is a forest of seaweed, undulating beneath the sea and I wasn’t keen on swimming over this. The feeling of feathery tendrils sweeping your legs was most disconcerting.
Waiting patiently for the tide to come in
Some more of the sculptures around the hotel
One of the things we enjoy about Bali is the food, always tasty and full of flavour. Unlike the others I prefer something not too spicy, whereas they all have a dish of sambal on the side.
Some of the dishes we ate. The top dish is called Rijsttafel, a Dutch word that translates to Rice Table. It consists of many (forty is not an unusual number) side dishes served in small portions, accompanied by rice prepared in several different ways. Popular side dishes include egg rolls, sambals, satay, fish, fruit, vegetables, pickles, and nuts. Source: Wikipedia. One of Anthony and Elena’s favourites.
Family dinners were not complete without Ipads and earphones. This meant we could all have a leisurely dinner. Although you couldn’t ask for better behaved munchkins.
Spot Rosie!
Last day in Benoa, ready to hit the road for Legian
See you in Legian!
~ Moving Forward with Day 2 of May Squares ~
It’s day two of Becky’s Squares and I’m really having to think outside the box for these themes. I’m enjoying seeing other bloggers also take to this challenge. It’s different for sure as there is no one object to focus on, brain power is needed to participate. You could use any photo but the challenge is for the words to fit and remembering to square them!
This photo was taken in December last year from the rooftop bar at the Novotel Bali Airport. We sat there watching the planes take off into the sunset over our cocktails and beer.
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~ Highlights of Hotel Indigo, Seminyak, Bali ~
We are once again in Bali for a short break and this time staying at Hotel Indigo. This hotel is perched almost on the beach with a very small road to cross. Mostly used by motorbikes so not too difficult to cross. It’s a surfers’ beach and not one where you can have a leisurely swim. Seminyak for us is more about relaxation and drinking and eating!
Our room is called a “comfort room” and is indeed extremely comfortable. There is a balcony with small forest outside. We don’t have a great view, but it’s still pleasant to sit outside when there is a breeze blowing.
The staff are super pleasant and eager to please, nothing is too much trouble. There are plenty of sunbeds at this time of year, it’s just out of season. Two fabulous restaurants and a small cafe. We’ve had breakfast, lunch and dinner here and no complaints from us.
We have eaten in a variety of places, upmarket and downmarket! On the beach and overlooking the beach.
La Plancha, a Spanish tapas cafe. This place looks about ready to fall down, adds to the atmosphere!
The Plantation, Double Six Hotel. A 1920’s style restaurant with enormous windows overlooking the ocean. This was luxury at it’s finest. A special treat was in store as there was a beautiful soprano singer to entertain us.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant – Makase
Seminyak is famous for the glorious sunsets, the beach bars make the most of this time and offer beanbags to relax on to watch.
We sat here for ages enjoying the beach life and our drinks, but time was passing and we needed to get ready for dinner!
And that’s a wrap!
😎A Family Holiday in Seminyak, Bali😎
At the end of every year around December, we usually go to Bali for a family holiday. This year was no exception and we chose Seminyak this time. I booked a beautiful resort around 10 minutes to the beach. The beach in Seminyak is more for looking at than swimming, unless you are a pretty good surfer. The resort was called Montigo Resort Hotel, although there was renovation work going on at the time, our rooms and the pool were unaffected by this.
Seminyak is approximately 20 minutes from the airport, or should be! With the traffic problem that Bali has it’s easily double this time. It is full of resorts, cafes, restaurants and bars. It was hard to know where to start when going out to eat.
The Resort
We spent most of the day around the pool, going out for lunch and dinner and resting in the afternoon in our rooms away from the heat. All except Anthony that is, he just loves a walk in the heat and still managed to walk two hours everyday.
I enjoyed time with the children splashing about in the pool and having manicures, pedicures and foot massages at the beautiful spa at the hotel
Out and About
and shutters
This installation is made up of 5000+ flip-flops installed at the famous Potato Head Beach Club in Seminyak, Bali. Washed ashore on beaches along Bali’s West coast, the discarded soles have been collected by employees of Potato Head. The flip-flops are not coloured or changed in any way; they are merely sorted by colour and re-arranged into a new visual reality.
“I want to show people a different perspective of what we consider rubbish. Everything we throw away comes back to us: via the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil we grow crops and raise animals on.” – Liina Klauss
There is a famous beach bar/restaurant in Seminyak called Potato Club and it was fairly close to our hotel. It overlooks the beach and has a massive bar area and upmarket restaurant. To access these areas and the beach you first have to walk through a tunnel of bamboo and on one side there are small glassed in studios depicting recycling techniques.
We didn’t stay here, just walked on down to the beach to watch the sunset and found a restaurant overlooking the sea.
The food in Bali is delicious and there are many fusion type restaurants. Unfortunately we all succumbed at one point to “Bali Belly”. Luckily it didn’t put too much of a dent into the holiday.
Dining
This place was extremely upmarket! It was so nice though but not entirely suitable for the children, but have to say we enjoyed every morsel.
A very laid back warung with outdoor dining. Plenty to look at and explore for Lachie and Rosie. Plus more mouth watering dishes for us to share.
The Beach
earned rest
🎂Celebrations🎂
On the morning of our departure it was Anthony’s birthday. The staff very kindly sang Happy Birthday to him much to his consternation!
Going to Bali with the family is always such a treat and despite upset stomachs we all had a wonderful time. It was then onto Hong Kong for us and back to Perth for them.
Can’t go wrong with a cocktail
~ Lens-Artist Challenge – Unique ~
Unique – being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. Oxford Dictionary definition.
This week Amy @ The World is a Book has set the theme of Unique. As we are in Seminyak, Bali this week I have spotted a few unique opportunities around the streets.
The greatness of art is not to find
what is common but what is unique.
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Always remember that you are absolutely
unique. Just like everyone else.
Margaret Mead
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Douglas Adams
Pick a Word – November 2023
Paula from Lost in Translation hosts this challenge once a month. She chooses five words and matches the words with photos. It’s a fun challenging challenge! See what you can come up with, thinking outside the box helps.
Buoyant
Charming
Ill-Mannered
Perpetual
Tubular
As we are in Bali right now, I thought this photo of Lachie on a beanbag is a good one for Buoyant
One thing you can always rely on is the Perpetual tides coming in and out
Through a sculpture in Reykavik Iceland
Overnight stay at The Patra Resort, Tuban, Bali
I didn’t feel like sitting in traffic for nearly two hours on the morning of our departure from Bali, so instead booked to stay in a hotel near the airport the day before. We left Ubud around midday and arrived at 2 pm to The Patra. We were pleasantly surprised by this resort as we were taken by buggy to our upstairs villa. Once again we were given a free upgrade, although I didn’t hold my breath after what happened before!
Not at all disappointed! A possible new place to stay for future trips to Bali.
After offloading our cases I wanted to just get to the pool for a swim and a read, Anthony headed off for a walk along the promenade. This hotel is just a five minute drive to the airport but away from the busy streets of Kuta itself.
The Pool and Gardens
The resort is huge with numerous two floor villas in blocks surrounding the gardens. Going back and forth to the pool and restaurant we did get lost numerous times.
The Beach and Promenade
This statue sits somewhat incongruously on the edge of the ocean, just rising out of the sea.
We enjoyed our one night stay here and the next day we headed off to pastures new…
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Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, Bali
After leaving Beratan Lake, we made our way to the rice terraces. It took around 40 minutes along windy country roads. The rice terraces have always been on my list of places to see, so I was looking forward to this trip.
Stopping by the side of the road to take some of these breathtaking views.
We stopped for lunch overlooking the rice fields, the restaurant served a simple buffet lunch of curries and stir fried vegetables. It was so relaxing just sitting and looking over the terraces.
I had a quick tour of the outside of the restaurant and was intrigued by the different chairs and benches in use. I also took a video of a waitress trying to evict a stray dog!
“I’ll leave when I want, thanks”
After lunch we walked across the road to take a walk along the rice terraces. The different tones of green were amazing and I was stopping every few seconds to take photos. We saw mostly women in the fields, of course! It looked to be back-breaking work. We could have walked the loop but it was already late in the afternoon and we had over an hour’s journey to drive back.
I can’t imagine the exhaustion these people feel at the end of the day, still so primitive and much the same as it was many years ago.
My dear hubby is a big rice fan and we eat it nearly every day at home. I have a rice cooker so it’s always cooked perfectly. Woe betide if there is too much water and it ends up sticky! Before the rice cooker is opened, he says “did you cut the rice”. Rice has to be chopped or cut before it is served.
Jatiluwih Rice Terraces are now a protected UNESCO Heritage Site and well worth visiting. They span more than 53,000 hectares of agriculture fields mostly covered with rice terraces. The system of terracing was developed based on the Hindu religion’s beliefs of being in harmony with nature.
We had a fabulous day visiting the temple first and then the rice terraces, it was well worth the drive.
