NRT and Bali
 

My first “Trip Report” will actually begin with a pre-trip report. My family (5) flew to Tokyo 7/15 for my wedding ceremony 7/22. Pre-ceremony plans, pre-vacation work preparations, and a week of showing the family around all conspired for a busy July!

My parents and my sister’s family flew ROC-DTW-NRT on NW. Other ff’s berated my failure as a son to get them here on a better airline, but the flights all went fine, apparently. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

The week in NRT was great –1st time for my sister’s family, 3rd for Mom and 1st for Dad since Iwa Kuni back in the early 50s! Time constraints made for “local” adventures, many of which focused on my 6 year-old nephew. Anyone planning a Tokyo trip is free to contact me for local tips.

One highlight of their visit was my wife working out a good deal with the Capitol Tokyu Hotel. Always friendly service and decent rooms, etc. The best part was the outdoor pool, especially given the mid/high-90s that week. My wife and I stayed at the Osaka Hilton in May (UA 50% cert.), and they wanted 2,000 yen (US $19) per person to use their pool. (A standard practice at the few hotels with pools.) The Capitol, however, had friendly, English-speaking pool staff with toys for the kids (and pseudo-kids) at no charge. A great break from the heat and the jetlag.

7/22 was almost 100 degrees, but a fine sunny day for a wedding. After 13 weeks with only 1 non-rainy Saturday, we were lucky indeed. The ceremony started at 11:30, and reception/parties went until 8:00 or so. Everything blurred by so quickly that we are hoping to see someone’s video to help remember the goings-on. We also stayed at the Capitol that night to get a few final hours with my family as our flight out was 4 hours ahead of theirs.

Soon to come: Having a ball in Bali.

Special thanks to Craig6z for telling me of his SIN/Bali report ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/000823.html ) I will try and limit the following installments to actual “Trip Report” info!

-KP back in NRT

kidpachinko: for my wedding ceremony 7/22.

I wish you a happy long life together!

(I am sure, that in other statements later on this thread, I will learn how to 'toast' in US-english to a newly wed couple properly!).

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 07-29-2000).]

Congratulations! And enjoy one of my favorite spots on earth...Bali!!

Can't think of many better spots to honeymoon than heavenly Bali!

Well it sure is good that you sent us the pre-trip report as I've a suspect that we will not get the rest of the trip report for sometime http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Congratulations kid.

btw Rudi - a proper Bestman's toast should include 4 points;
1) good attributes of the wife
2) attributes of the groom
3) how or why those attributes go together
4) some humor interlaced

Congratulations, kidpachinko.

Congratulations, kidpachinko! My bride has a sister that lives in Bali. We plan to go there to visit after visiting her parents in Chiba next year. I hear Bali is fantastic. Good Luck to you and the new Mrs!!
-RKG

Many thanks to Rudi, PremEx, Magic111, violist, RKG and everyone. Getting hitched went off without a hitch. -Being legally married in March helped us relax a bit!

We flew JAL725 NRT-Denpasar via Jakarta. My normal AA doesn't go that route, so it was a good excuse to try JAL again.

The JAL ticket agents were pleasant albeit not overly friendly. Osaka people are more prone to casual banter, and no upgrades were in the works for this trip.

Was interesting to see JAL's "self-service miles." You put your mileage card and boarding pass in the machine and your miles are (hopefully) credited. -Not sure how much time is saved by this, but was a quick process.

Our 10:55 AM departure started with a long shuttle ride from E70 in Terminal 2 at 10:35. Those interested in seeing various aircraft up close & personal would have enjoyed the tour.

Pushback was more or less on time, with takeoff at 11:10. We were given 44 A&B on the B747 (3x4x3) = just behind the wing. Not the greatest seats, but it is hard to offset a honeymoon couple's happiness. The JAL main movie screen seemed clearer than other flights I have taken, but it could have been just my good mood.

The menu for the flight out was as follows:
Lunch: Salmon and salami with marinated veg.
Hungarian Beef Goulash or Simmered Sea Bream & "Tofu" in soy sauce with rice.
Fresh Salad & Pasta, Muscat Grape Jelly, Roll and Butter. (pre-landing cookies).

From Jakarta was a snack of Lemper Isi Abon, Finger Sandwich, Potato Croquette, Fresh Fruit Tartelette, Indonesian Shrimp Crackers.

The food was decent, and the flights were smooth. The coach wine was Beau Rivage Bordeaux, and both the red and white were delightfully mediocre.

We had 40 mins in Jakarta before reboarding, so I changed some US $ (cash) to Rupia in case we met some immediate cash needs in Bali. I was surprised to find a large discrepancy between exchange rates for $ and yen cash/TC:

The Jakarta rates were:
$1 cash = 8675 Rp; $1 T/C = 7900 Rp; \1 cash = 72 Rp; \1 T/C = 62 Rp. If $1=\108, then \1 should have been closer to 80 Rp. I don't know about other currencies, but it seems US$ had the best rates. Once in Bali, the difference between cash and T/C was no so pronounced, but I am glad I took US$ T/C instead of (actually in addition to) yen.

The plane out of Jakarta was 1/3 full if that. We could have moved to a middle row, but were content with our 44 A, B and C.

Arriving in Bali was an experience - perhaps my first feeling of being in a "foreign" country since SIN 6 years ago. Upon leaving the airport we encoutered a throng of people holding signs and people offering "Transport." We fended off the various offers, and eventually found our own taxi to the Ritz-Carlton.

Taxis to/from the airport all operate on a flat rate, and taxis in general are very cheap in Bali. After confusedly tipping the guy who put our suitcase in the taxi and later the taxi driver, we arrived at the R-C.

Next: What's all the fuss about the R-C "Club"?

Much congratulations Kid. Please don't feel obligated to edit yourself because I posted a long report in the spring. My view of the world is distorted by my personality, and previous life experiences. How you look at the same situation as I did, is of enormous interest to me, and hopefully others.

Have a great time in Bali!

Congratulations, kidpachinko.

-A former honeymonner in lovely Bali

After a thrilling (my wife would say "frightening") taxi ride to the R-C, we were greeted warmly and shown to the Club concierge for check-in. The whole resort seemed filled with the scent of this tropical flower (white) which only blooms/smells at night. (Can't remember the name for the life of me.) The check-in lady asked if we had our voucher, which led to the realization that we were actually not supposed to have ignored the people at the airport holding up "JTB Tours" signs. Oops -there goes $4 for the cab ride. (Although amusement park rides cost less, don't last as long and are usually not as exciting. A bargain, if you ask me.)

New to the resort scene, I was very impressed with the R-C and their Club amenities. Slightly larger rooms and of course the free food and drink in the Club room. They also offered to clean and press 4 articles of clothing for free, so I didn't even need to use any of the "For Men Only" Travel Tips for clothes. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Perhaps this is standard, but the Club food goes like this: It is open from 7-11:00, with 5 different presentations of food. We managed to hit pretty much all of them, and everything was excellent. The beer selection was a bit lacking, with only Fosters/VB/Heineken and Bintang. The food (although only the breakfast buffet was probably designed to be a meal) featured a lot of local dishes, and everything was great - especially the fresh fruit and juices. Wines and "simple cocktails" completed the alcohol offerings.

Fresh fruit was brought daily to the room, along with flowers for the bed in the morning and the afternoon turn-down. A bouquet of roses with a "thank you for choosing to spend your honeymoon with us" was a nice touch. (And one that JAL could stand to learn from.)

Craig6z would be happy to know that they had CNBC, CNN, HBO and other assorted abbreviations, along with actual (or not) words like "Cinemax" on the tube. I even caught a glimpse of MTV - my first in years. (And a short one, as there are better things to do in Bali!)

The Wall Street Journal was brought daily, but somehow I managed to stay on vacation and not look at it.

We were charged an extra $50/night for the Club room as part of our package. Since I am in Japan (and the yen rate vs the Rp was so dismal), I am sure it could probably be arranged directly for less. I was told that the normal Club rate is US$218/night. At any rate, I had very little difficulty eating and drinking $50/day to make sure that we got our money's worth!

It seems all rooms/villas have an excellent view of the ocean. The R-C is located about 6-7 miles (?) due SW of the airport (a bit longer driving as you hug the coast). At any rate, the incoming planes fly East to land, and those so interested could have whiled away many an hour on the balcony watching the planes go in and out over the ocean. -Close enough to see well, but not enough to hear.

We got in around 9:00 PM, and after some beer/wine for me and dessert for Mrs. Kid we were ready to call it a night.

Tomorrow (or whenever I can post it): Club/Pool/Strolling and Lounging. Ahh, life's rough!

Anywhere outside of Australia with VB sounds fine to me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Actually I learned to really enjoy Bintang - maybe it's the heat - and the views! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I settled into VB (and wine/rum) near the end, after a thorough comparison of the others. Bintang would be a delightful alternative to Gatorade on those hot days!

<Report will continue soon>

Club/Pool/Strolling & Lounging: <aka "How do you get Bold/Italics in your post, anyway?">

Our first day in Bali brought perfect weather. We had a surprisingly good breakfast in the Club lounge (out on the balcony overlooking the ocean and the distant Denpasar airport), and then went for a stroll.

The resort grounds are very peaceful, and it seems new flowers bloom each day. We strolled down to the private villas, equipped with their own small pools, etc. A bit off the beaten path, the privacy might be nice, but we were content with our room. (Plus the villa folks no doubt have to put up with punk Kids like us traipsing thru their yard!)

We walked all around the resort, thru the spa and the tennis courts, the 1/10 or so scale golf course, etc., before settling in by the pool.

The pool is a two-tiered deal, with a waterfall going from the top to the bottom (and a small pool feeding the top). It is designed so that the edge of the water on the top pool looks to run into the (somewhat distant) ocean, with the sunset not quite directly across the ocean. Very picturesque, and refreshingly cool.

Under the waterfall on the ground level is a swim-up or walk-up walkway with a large (5 meter?) aquarium. Lit up at night, and kinda neat.

Dinner was at "Sami Sami," perhaps the best of the three resort restaurants we went to. I had filet mignon, and Mrs, Kid had a Scallop/Shrip Lobster Risotto. Excellent food, and reasonably priced (if Tokyo) at under $50 (with a drink or two).

Some kind of Mexican trio was serenading the people over in the smoking section. They were very good, but not good enough for me to take up the habit.

Back to the Club for dessert and some more relaxing.

Day Two brought clouds and our first Shopping Day. One aspect of Japanese culture (that I find both quaint and occasionally annoying) is that when you go on trips you have to buy souveneirs for people at work (whom you've inconvenienced by taking time off) and friends. You are also expected to get things for people who gave you wedding gifts (in this country, such gifts are usually cash). Although sincerely grateful and meaning no disrespect, we unfortunately spent about 2 of our 5 honeymoon days loading up on native crap for the folks back home. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

Shopping Day #1 took us to Nusa Dua - a shopping center in the middle of many resorts. (Next to the Hyatt.) The bank there gave the same exchange rate as the hotel (8400 RP/$) - although the hotel uses 9000 as the rate when calculating Rp values of $ charges.

We found a local supermarket next to the Duty Free building, and supermarket prices are much cheaper than anything else you will encounter. We loaded up on a lot at the supermarket, and also at some of the stalls. I recommend people stop in to a Bali supermarket before haggling with the locals, to if nothing else get an idea for the normal Bali price of things.

Outside the supermarket, we were hit up to fill out a "tourism survey" and told we had a chance of winning one of their various prizes for cooperating. Whatever. It only took 1-2 mins, and I thought I'd help their quest for demographic info.

We took the hotel shuttle into Nusa Dua, but weren't ready at 1:15 to take the shuttle back. The driver informed us that a taxi would be less than 20,000 Rp ($2.25), so we opted to taxi it back after we finished.

TAXIS in Bali: The official "metered" taxis are the cheapest way to go, and are blue (Blue Bird group or Blue Bali Taksi). Others charge "fixed" rates which are invariably more expensive.

After we finished we asked where we could grab a taxi. The shopping area is apparently controlled by one group of taxis, and they were asking 50,000 Rp to drive us. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif They quickly offered 40,000 as a "special price." I said we were told it should only be 20,000, and the leader said (rather quick on his feet) "20,000? No way! You must mean 20,000 each." We said "No thanks" and went back inside, ignoring shouts of "35,000!"

Asking where a metered "Blue" taxi might be called, the information guy said "They don't come here because of problems with the taxi group outside. You could try and see if there are any Blue taxis waiting at the Hyatt."

Great advice! We were able to get back for 13,000 Rp + 3,000 tip. Although we had to walk over to the Hyatt (5 min +) to save just $3-4, it seemed like a small moral victory over the oppressive fixed taksi syndicate. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Back to the hotel for relaxing in the Hot tub (one by the pool, one in the spa), etc.

Dinner was at "Padi" - an acclaimed restaurant according to our guidebook. They served Indonesian food which in our opinion was just so-so and was overpriced. $75 for us, and not as good atmosphere/food as at Sami Sami. Another nice sunset over the ocean.

Tomorrow: A morning phone call, and Bali haggling tips.

[This message has been edited by kidpachinko (edited 07-31-2000).]

A morning phone call, and Bali haggling tips:

Awakening in paradise to the sound of a ringing phone, my initial fear was that people at work had some emergency that cold not wait until I got back. (They left me alone, except for two faxes that sent me scurrying to the business center and necessitated a quick call to the US. :rolleyes http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Instead it was an enthusiastic woman who greeted me with the kind of conversation radio DJs will give the "9th caller" when they win something. A bit confused, I told her "Yes, this is KP. Yes, I remember filling out a tourism questionnaire yesterday."

Wonder of wonders, I had been chosen to receive the grand prize of a free one-week stay for 2 adults and kids at any of their assorted resorts around the world. (Valued at US$1,000.) Still half-awake, it sounded like good news.

Fully awake, it sounded like those marketing presentations I've heard about. I asked the Club concierge, and she advised staying away from the whole thing. "It's not dangerous, but other people have gone to such things and said they felt cheated."

I still have no experience of my own with such gimmicks, but we decided not to keep our 10:30 pickup appointment. The woman called back around 11:00 wondering what happened, and assured me they were not a timeshare group. When I asked her for a phone #, she only gave a cellphone, and we decided to forego the "explanation"/presentation and get on with our honeymoon.

Instead of going to Kuta - the other close shopping area (and coincidentally where the phone lady's office was) - for more shopping, we went back to Nusa Dua as we were comfortable there. Kuta has more shops, but we'd been told people there are more pushy, and it's hard to relax, etc.

Checking the Nusa Dua $ changer, I saw they were giving a phenomenal rate of 9035 Rp/$ (cash or T/C). Strange, as the morning TV reported the $ had slipped from 9100 to 9000 Rp. Unfortunately, I didn't have my passport on me, so could only use the bank that took my NY license. (8500 Rp.)

The first (and only) day of real rain fell today, so it made for a good shopping afternoon. (Kuta is more open, with more protection from the elements at Nusa Dua.)

Loaded up on more traditional Indonesian ware (aka local crap), before retuning to the hotel and learning a couple basic Bali Haggling Tips:

1) Japanese pay more. They/We just do, and there ain't much one can do about it.

2) When given the initial price, either laugh it off or act indignant before telling them that you couldn't pay more than ___. <-This initial offer should generally be less than HALF of what you were quoted. I was very surprised in Ubud (the first place we went after hearing this tip) when a guy wanted "120,000" for a simple (but nice) painting. Just to see if it would work, I said I wouldn't be interested in it unless it was 40-50,000. He said "How about 75,000?" and we settled on 60 ($7).
3) Try to get them to offer as much "good luck" as they can. It must be a karma thing, but as they lowered their prices everyone seemed to add "... for good luck." (As if to show they are being generous, when in fact the supermarket sells the same thing for 30% less.)

4)Whatever price you get them down to may well have them acting like they donated you a kidney, but rest assured they made out very well. (If you can offer the same agony at offering a slightly higher price, you will probably do okay in the Bali markets.)

Then it was back to the hotel. The evening featured a traditional Indonesian dance/performance and dinner. It was similar in theory to Japanese Kabuki, but much more clamorous. Or maybe it was like a Vegas show without Wayne Newton/Tom Jones. Whatever analogy works. -Worth seeing once, with interesting dancing, but not horribly enthralling, IMO.

Next: Our day trip to Ubud via taxi, and my slip-up at the money-changers.

This has been a fun trip report to read so far. As you can tell I am an infrequent poster here but try to read a few times a week. My new bride and I were in room 1415 (the last room on the left, on the Club room level in the same building) at the R.C. from 7/27 through 8/1.

Your trip report has been very accurate and anyone going to Bali would be well served to read it!!!

[This message has been edited by SkiMerlin (edited 08-07-2000).]

SkiMerlin,

No kidding? We were in 1425 7/23-7/28. We prob'ly saw you in the lounge. (White guy & Japanese wife.) You aren't that British family, are ya?

Small world indeed! I will continue with my postings (2-3 more planned) once work settles down enough to let me.

-KP

The Good, The Ubud and the Hungry:
<not to imply Ubud was "bad," of course!>

Ubud is an arts/crafts village, a little over an hour's ride Northish of Denpasar. We decided to make a day trip out of it, and had the hotel call us a taxi. <"you're a taxi">

An older driver drove up, and I explained that we were "off to Ubud, after a quick stop at the money changers in Kuta." The hotel had told me the m/c to the right of Matahari Dept store gives the best rates. As we were driving out of the hotel grounds (2-3 km), he pulls the car over, gets out and yells something to someone we can't see.

{On an earlier day, our taxi driver pulled over suddenly in mid-ride, and exchanged money with a sketchy-looking roadside dude. It looked like he exchanged a 10,000 Rp bill for some 1000's, but it also looked like something else might've been exchanged. I dunno, and our question went unanswered.}

Anyway, a young guy comes up to the taxi, and the driver explains that the younger guy has better English. When asked if we wanted him to drive us, we said "Whatever's fine." The new driver said the old guy was his uncle.

He explained the 20% surcharge for going out of town, which we had heard about from the hotel. He would take us around and then leave the meter running if we wanted to spend time walking around, etc. I don't remember how much an hour of "waiting" costs, but is not enough to worry about. <I checked the meter when we got out, and it hadn't gone up much while we were gone.>

We stopped in Kuta, and I found the m/c I was told about. An even 9000 Rp = $1 today, which beats the 8400 at the hotel and the 8500 at the Nusa Dua bank. (The $ had fallen from 9100 to 9035 that day.) I wanted to cash $400, figuring I would use any leftovers to put against resort charges (dinners, etc.). He started counting out 10,000 Rp bills. I asked if he had anything bigger, but he didn't. (Another foreigner came in as we were counting, and was turned away as I had apparently broken the bank.)

He laid out 5 stacks of 200,000 Rp, and asked me to recount them. This was to be the start of my single most idiotic move in quite a while.

All I can figure is that my brain, in a rush to get back to the taxi and my wife, recounted the initial 1MM Rp as a "new" 1MM. Thus, after counting out the initial 1MM, I then counted out a new 1.6M to arrive at my 3.6 million Rp. <And to think I'm in charge of importing/purchasing for a major company!> I don't remember it too clearly, but I think the m/c guy gave me a puzzled look as I gathered up 2.6MM Rp for my $400.

The other possibility would be that he skimmed off Rp as I was busy counting - not too hard to do when counting millions 10,000 at a time. Still, I would prefer to think it was only my fault, with the m/c's blame only being that he could have actively said "You don't have enough Rp!" Either way, I'm an idiot.

At any rate, I walked out of the m/c with a 3 inch stack of bills instead of a 4 inch stack. (Maybe this was an example of the "good luck" all the shop hagglers were hoping to get?) Probably the only person to go to a 9000 Rp/$ place and come out with under 7000 Rp/$. (Didn't realize this until on the way home.)

Kuta is a bustling place true to its reputation. Nusa Dua is certainly more relaxed, but there are many more shops in Kuta. Kind of like the crowded backstreets of Singapore, maybe. Still, not bad to visit, and Kuta has many non-resort hotels for the backpackers, etc. among us.

Driving along was just a fun way to see the countryside, etc. <Even saw one m/c offering 9090 Rp/$! -He must not have watched CNBC in the AM to learn the actual rate was 9035.> The first week of August brings a big religious holiday to Bali, our driver told us, and preparations were being started that day. <Sorry I don't know more.>

There is a huge gap between the resort areas and the "normal" towns of Bali. It is clear the economic problems of the last couple years have not helped anything, either.

One interesting surprise was all the kites flying in the air. Some fascinating shapes and designs for what I am guessing are relatively cheap and simple toys.

We stopped in to the "Monkey Forest" on the way to Ubud. Our driver told us there wasn't really much to see, so we said we'd be back in 20-30 mins. In all truth, it is just a forest that has monkeys (entrance fee = 3,000 Rp = $0.35). There was a family with a baby monkey that my wife fawned over, and a temple tucked away inside. A neat little nature hike, but no need to be there more than an hour.

As you approach Ubud, an arts/craft town, you pass gold/silversmiths, woodworkers, etc. Everything is pretty much divided into sections, and the goldsmiths seem to have bigger/better houses than the others. If you were seriously into buying some precious metal goods, this would probably be the place for you. Since I apparently have enough trouble exchanging money for money, I am glad we told our driver to keep on driving! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

A hotel guy had recommended the Cafe Lotus (Buddhist version of the hard Rock?) in Ubud, so we headed there first, after working out a 2 hour wandering break with our driver.

A had a beer and the Nashi Goreng, while Mrs. Kid settled for mineral water and the vegetarian spinach lasagna. About the only mistake made here was my plunging in with a forkful of what I thought were vinegared vegetables garnishing my rice. I'm not sure what it was, but I know it wasn't vinegar!

My mouth was burning out of control - although a man -even a Kid- has got to remain calm and cool. I cooly downed my beer and some of Mrs.' water, before my saliva began to issue forth at a rate warranting any other liquid unnecessary. It was kinda like when we would try and see who could swish Listerine around in their mouth the longest, only worse.

After about 5 minutes of this, the sting died down. After 10 minutes, I was able to resume eating. The Mrs. (for some strange reason) refused to try my vegetables, but I was surprised to find that I could now eat them with impunity. (The initial mouthful must have killed off my senses.)

Everything at the Lotus was good. It's constructed right next to a temple, and was a great place to just sit and salivate.

We walked around Ubud a bit, and bought a few local things. I got a shirt (that I just wore this weekend) that makes me look just like, well, just like a white guy in Tokyo wearing an Indonesian Aloha-type shirt.

We also got a necklace that broke, and that painting I wrote about earlier. Prices in Ubud are cheaper than in the city, but don't let that stop you from doing your best Marvin Haggler impression. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Lots of the same touristy crap, with more craft-stuff available. Also an abundance of temples haphazardly scattered around. If the many people offering "Transport" were not so pushy, it would be even more pleasant.

We considered going another 30 min North to see a famous terraced farming area, but opted against it due to the time. (Plus, there were plenty of terraced rice paddies where I used to live - albeit doubtless less picturesque.) We headed back home. (Mrs. mentioned stopping in Kuta to check out some shops, but I was too tired.)

The taxi meter (prob'ly close to 150 km and 6-7 hrs) read 116,000. Plus 20% is just about 140,000, so I gave the guy 190,000 Rp ($21). A $20 cab ride in Japan would get you 6-7 km. My wife didn't think he was the most friendly guy, but for a guy called over by his uncle to waste 6-7 hours schleppin us around, I think he was just fine. (And his English level could very well have limited his desire for all-out banter - although he did answer questions of "What's that?" etc.)

Dinner was at the seaside restaurant at the hotel - although the name escapes me now. Seafood and meat Satay skewers are their specialty, and everything was reasonably priced (under $50 for two, I think) and very good.

The only down side was that my wife picked up a lingering cough on the flight over, and I had a rare bout of allergy troubles. (Not sure why, but I imagine stress of work/wedding plans and showing the family around by day and working into the night might have caught up with me.) It was bad enough that we called the hotel doc, as I had run out of my "emergency stock" of Benadryl. (575,000 Rp for the room visit and medicine.) I had been taking a bunch of medicine, and neither one of us had much of an appetite, despite good food.

The tuna steak was good, but I was surprised that their "butterfish" was even better. Not sure if it a seasonal fish, but Bali butterfish is highly recommended.

The view from this restaurant is perhaps better than the others, and it was a rather-casual-yet-very-romantic atmosphere. I think my R-C restaurant rankings are therefore the Seaside Skewer place 1st with Sami-Sami a close second, and then Padi bringing up the rear. Neat pier on the other side of the Skewer place with lanterns and two guys playing traditional music over the sound of the waves.

And thus ends our last night at the R-C.

Next: "Sun, you ain't no friend of mine!"

Kidpachinko,

The white flower is "Frangipani."
Sorry about the M/C incident, they're good at it. BTW, congrats! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Congratulations kid! And thanks for this well-written trip report.

People sing songs with words like "Here comes the sun la-la-la-la. Here comes the sun, and I'll say ... it's alright." These people have clearly not sat by the pool in the Bali sun through the lunchtime hours!

Most Denpasar flights seem to happen at night. Although arriving in the daytime with time to do something would have been nicer, our 7:15 PM pickup for the ride to the airport gave us a full final day to hang out. The R-C offered us a late checkout of 4:00, which I then had them extend until 5:00.

After morning packing and breakfast in the Club (again!), we headed for the pool. The people that occasionally bring around fresh pineapple slices are appreciated. I would have given them AA SOS cards, but I figured I'd only get blank looks.

The original plan was to relax by the pool until a break for a late lunch, and then return until checkout and dinner. Instead, we must have been at the pool from 10:30 to 3:00. My wife was tucked under the umbrella shade, whereas I was actively seeking the sunshine in an SPF 0 bid to make up for 2 days of clouds. This turned out to be a very bad move!

The day was thus spent reading, relaxing and eavesdropping on a group of 10 young Ozzies apparently staying at the R-C Bali on business. <-Not too shabby for a bunch of 30 year olds!
:utter_jealousy: (I know it's not a smilie, but it oughta be, dangit!)

The sunset that night was probably the best one of the week, and we snapped a couple more pictures before heading up to the Club for some final food and drink. (This is about when the sunburn began to set in.)

The Club manager gave me another sarong/pants set (he prob'ly didn't know I'd been given one the night before) with a "thank you for choosing to spend your honeymoon with us." Friendly folks, and everyone was so nice I never knew who to tip.

We joined another couple and a group of three for our shuttle to the airport. In keeping with FT etiquette, I refrained from wearing shorts, even though my legs were at this point starting to heavily dislike the black jeans they found themselves in. 50,000 Rp departure tax per person.

Check-in was quick, and we had a solid hour to kill before boarding. The Mrs. was not interested in airport shopping, except for a requisite purchase of Toblerone (sp?) chocolate for the people in her company, and I was ready to just get a seat somewhere and regret ever being near the pool that day.

We left for Bali with a half-filled suitcase and two half-filled (small) backpacks. We checked our very full suitcase, and were left with only our backpacks and 5 shopping bags full of Bali's finest. (or maybe not)

As we were waiting for JAL boarding (I memorized how say "Attention ladies and gentlemen. Boarding announcement for Garuda flight xxx departing for Tokyo from Gate 5, blah blah blah" in Indonesian), we heard an announcement saying "1 carry-on is allowed per passenger."

Right.

We compressed our junk into 3 shopping bags and our backpacks, and tried to think of which one(s) wouldn't break if we were made to check them. Luckily we weren't, and everything fit where it was s'posed to fit, with minimal discomfort to anyone. -Except perhaps the guy in Biz Class whose overhead bin we used. <Just kidding!!>

The flight back would have been just as enjoyable as the flight over, had I not been glowing like http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif and had not my allergies been bothering me. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Our seats for this leg were 46 J/K. The upside is there is no one behind you. The down side is that you are right next to the galley. I don't think there was a seat on the plane I would've been comfortable in, and it was a long flight through no fault of JAL's.

The flight attendants were very good about keeping water coming, which I appreciated. I changed out of the dang jeans as soon as the bathroom was available, and my legs thanked me for putting a pair of shorts in my backpack.

We deplaned in Jakarta for almost an hour, before getting back to our seats. With nothing else to do, I stopped into the 1W executive lounge to see if they would let me in despite my ungainly appearance and the fact that I was not flying on a 1W carrier. As expected, they didn't. I didn't try the JAL lounge next door, and opted instead to sit by the gate and watch the tv monitors. (RAW wrestling - or is it "wrastlin'"?

Back in the air for NRT, and luckily the allergy medicine kicked in halfway through, allowing me a couple of hours of sleep. This sleep occured through the meal service, so I don't know how the food was. (I've got the menu here somewhere, but I'm not sure where.)

We landed in Tokyo Sat morning, and were finally home a couple hours later. I was surprised that the luggage service is able to deliver on the same day for AM arrivals, My plants in the bathtub made it through a very hot week in the apartment, and once the A/C got going we were OK - if tired.

Sat and Sun brought an increasingly crimson hue to certain parts of my body, and my itchy allergies didn't help. With lots of gift allocation and a week of e-mail to catch up, the weekend flew by.

All in all, it was a busy week. Bali is great, and the R-C was wonderful. (Although those more familiar with the resort scene may say that all resorts are great, or that the 4 Seasons would have been much better, etc.) The only downers were having allergy problems, miscounting money and overdoing the sun (both my fault), and spending more time than I would have preferred shopping for people back in Japan. Mrs. Kid and I decided that we will take off on another trip before too long (Guam again?) without telling people we are flying somewhere. -That way we can just relax and not worry about such duty-bound shopping.

When we do, you can rest assured a Report will be issued! (And prob'ly as wordy as this one.)

"And that's the way it was."
-KP

[This message has been edited by kidpachinko (edited 08-09-2000).]

Great job of reporting, Kid!

Congratulations both on the mariage and the report (love your sense of humour) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Piece of advice about the sunburn: take plenty of aspirin...

Great report and a belated congratulations!

Congrats on the report and your nuptuals!

As a Bali regular, and since I speak Bihasa, I loved your report...seing Bali through the eyes of a newbie, and laughing with my partner about how your 60,000R purchase would have been 8K if you haggled in Indonesian! Did you find the wonderful women's art center. For $40 US we are sponsoring a teenage girl's whole YEAR of art lessons, including a canvas sent to us to show her progress!

Great to here your stories of Bali. I love the place and couldnt figure how a sober person could get ripped off by a moneychanger till it happened to me with a moneychanger in Kuta TOO.I only changed $40us.he counted it, my friend came to the counter i looked at her for a second and lost half. I told a waitress at a restraunt a couple of doors up and she took me back stood with her hands on her hips yelled at him and he gave me my money BACK!Ill never change out of a hotel or hole in the wall again!

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Great reading.

BTW, do you ever get the urge to grab a microphone and scream "MY NAME IS KID .... PACHINKO"!?

Thanks to all for the comments! Before I go to Bali again, I'll have to learn Bihasa.

The classes here in Tokyo'd prob'ly cost more than I would save in the haggling!!

And Opus, my urges tend to run in other directions! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

-Mark (one of many here)

Great Report kidpachinko!

I can't wait to go to Bali. There are similarities here: white guy (with Japanese wife), burns easily! I will be glad my new sister-in-law, a local, will be there to look out for us!

-RKG

Great report.. your not the first or last to get conned on a money change in such a place!