Tuesday Sept 12

We were off very early - 7:55am SQ flight to SIN connecting to DPS. The SQ flight was fine as always - we arrived at SIN and had to transfer to Terminal 2 where the regional flights depart. After a couple of hours in the SQ lounge we boarded our SQ flight to Bali on a newish 787-10 in the front row. The nearly 3 hour flight actually only took 2h6m - during which time they provided a full dinner service.

On arrival in Bali at 6:30pm we were met by our “Bali Fast Track” guide for which we paid over $100 - it turned out to be totally not required - having completed both our e-visa and customs declaration before we left we sailed through. Our pre-booked driver was waiting for us - to our amazement it took 45 minutes to get to the Anantara Seminyak Resort - the traffic was horrendous.

On arrival we were both “shot ducks” after a short night and a long day. The Anantara was a bit disappointing - being quite tired looking - but we hit the sack and of course things looked a lot better in the morning. Unlike many hotels in Bali the Anantara sits right on the beach and we had a large ocean front room.

Tuesday Sept 13

The day started with a very good breakfast on the roof top terrace - it was a cloudy but very warm day. After breakfast we walked to Ku De Ta (a bar and grill famous for it’s sundowners which we had loved on our trip to Bali some 15 years ago). It took us about 20-30 minutes and we checked it out - looked the same as ever. As far as returning for sundowners or dinner we were undecided as we would need a taxi to/from as we felt it too dicey walking at night dodging motorcycles and cars.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at an ATM to pick up some money - there was a CommBank one which rejected our transaction and one from an Indonesian Bank which worked and even let me select checking account - amazing.

We had lunch at our hotel - a shared panini - ho hum.

We did another long walk in the afternoon - the sun had come out and it was certainly the hottest part of the day. There is a nice paved path along the beach which goes for many K’s - the beach is lined with innumerable beach bars ranging from shacks to fairly nice places - all have sun beds and tables and chairs on the beach.  They seem to be pretty exxy - $3 for a beer or $4 for a spritzer.

We needed a rest upon returning to the hotel for showers prior to sundowners which we had at the bar/restaurant next to our hotel - Gado Gado - it was hip hop and happening but we managed to snag a good table where we had a couple of half-price cocktails while watching a lovely sunset. We rolled on from here and had dinner at Moonlight - the rooftop restaurant at our hotel - to our surprise it was packed but again they found us a table - dinner was chicken (prepared differently) for both of us - not at all inspiring. Then it was off to bed early - jet-lag !!