June 22, 2014

Third time’s a charm for Bali

Chiara Di ASIA, TRAVEL Bali, Bali Wedding, Indonesia, Jimbaran Bay, Seminyak, Travel, Wanderlust 0 Comments

Before this time I’d been to Bali twice before. Once as a 12 year old the other for New Year’s four and a half years ago.

I’ve never been a ‘Bali person’ – someone that loves it and returns year after year – but I must say on this trip, I actually enjoyed my time on the holiday island.

It was a family trip with my partner’s family for a friend’s wedding. We stayed at a lovely resort in Seminyak called Vasanti, which was on a quiet back street but close to W Seminyak and Potato Head. Everything at the hotel was perfect – but one point to note is you can’t just walk out onto the street and take off for the day, you need to take a taxi to leave the hotel.

The four day, three night trip saw us leave Perth at 7.30am and arrive into Denpasar’s new airport – impressive I must say – around 11am. When we arrived at the hotel we couldn’t check in yet so the first stop was Potato Head for lunch.

I enjoyed my first coconut of the trip and soaked in the holiday atmosphere. After lunch, my sister-in-law and I headed to Cocoon Beach Club for hens day celebrations for the bride-to-be. I’d never experienced the Bali beach clubs so it was nice to experience two in our first day.

That night once more of the family had arrived we headed to Jimbaran Bay for seafood on the beach. We enjoyed lobster, crab, prawns, fish and more while the kids ran around and made friends.

The next day the girls started the day with a bit of shopping around Seminyak Square, approximately a five minute taxi ride from our hotel. We then found a beauty salon to get manicures and pedicures, ready for the next day’s wedding. Following we headed back to the hotel for a swim and lunch by the pool.

That afternoon three of us headed to W Seminyak for sunset cocktails. What an amazing hotel – will definitely stay there the next time we come to Bali! We sat on the deck laid with lanterns and overlooking the ocean listening to tunes by the DJ and enjoyed an espresso martini and lychee martini.

That night we headed to Mozzarella’s in Legian for dinner – a nice Italian restaurant. After dinner we checked out the markets on the street outside and then three of us took a taxi to Kuta. We headed for the Sky Garden – a multi-level club on Kuta’s main strip. We went to the top level, which had views overlooking Bali and enjoyed some drinks and dancing.

The next day was wedding day. After spending the morning swimming, we then got ready and headed off to the venue in Nusa Dua early afternoon. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and sat around the bar admiring the view while we waited.

At 4.30pm the ceremony started followed by photos, food and dancing. It was a lovely night under the lanterns and stars and marked my first overseas wedding so is sure to be something I won’t forget in a hurry.

Sunday was our last day in Bali with a late flight home that night. We all headed into Kuta for some market shopping and then had a one hour foot massage (a must for any similar holiday). Following we all met up again at Bamboo for lunch – apparently owned by an Australian which was apparent with the number of screens showing AFL games.

We then head to Beachwalk Shopping Centre which has the likes of Topshop, Zara, Victoria’s Secret and many more international fast fashion stores. Our day ended with a coffee before where headed back to the hotel to freshen up and make our way to the airport (the rest were staying an extra three nights).

All in all it was a much more enjoyable experience of Bali so I can actually say I liked it! I think staying in Seminyak and frequenting nice places helped with this … who knows when I will be back!