Bali, we’re in LOVE

Last month we had a chance to visit Bali as a family. It was actually a business trip but I extend it into our short Bali vacation. We’ve been wanting to visit Bali since last year, but the airplane ticket was never on sale, so we keep on postponing. Ever since I heard that I will have a chance to visit Bali for business trip, then I inform Chandra and said “Let’s do this, let’s go to Bali”. Although we didn’t have designated budget for the trip hahaha (bad financial habit!).

Anyway long story short, we visited Bali for 4 Days and 3 Nights. The first night we stayed at Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel, located just 15 minutes from my office. And it was mentioned as one of the best Hotel in Bali for Kids (although it turns out I misread the information, kid-friendly hotel was Sanur Paradise Plaza Suites). The hotel was very big and spacious, it was an old one but I’m sure it was quite phenomenal during its age. The environment is also quiet, many tourist are just relaxing on the pool side reading books or sleeping. I was too sick to even try swimming so I just stayed on the pool side sleeping while the kids and Chandra enjoyed themselves.

The Sanur beach was within 10 minutes walking from our hotel. So we went there twice during the late afternoon and in the morning. The sun was scorching hot in the morning to the point it hurts, my skin felt hurt exposed to the sun. But the kids still enjoyed playing in the sand and get a little bit of splash. I tried grilled corn for only 5K and it was delicious!

The next 3 days are spent in The Breezes Resort & Spa inSeminyak, just across Courtyard by Marriot Seminyak. I initially wanted to stay at Courtyard but it was out of our budget. Chandra was the one who found the Breezes and he made a really good choice. We had a good deal from PegiPegi, Superior Room for 900K/night, but we end up having to add extra bed for 300K/night because Alika considered too big to share the King-sized bed.

I love the Breezes a lot. From the outside and the arrival area, the hotel looks plain. But once you stepped inside, it was private and the pool-side design was lovely. They put sands on the poolside and inside the pool, so we get the beach atmosphere without even stepping on the real beach. And the pool is shallow, only 1.2metres and 1.4metres. It was comfortable for the kids and I, because I could stand inside the pool while assisting the kids swimming.

We had several plans while in Bali, such as visiting The Safari Marine Park, have late lunch at Pirates Bay Restaurant and chillin out on the beach-side café, but we only manage to did one. We cancelled our trip to Safari & Pirates Bay, because it’s located quite far from where we stayed. And it will take up our overall time in Bali, so we decided to just enjoy our resort and explore the surroundings. Oh but we visited Gusto Gelato and Chandra’s comments was their gelato tasted like Haagen Dazs with half the price.

On our last night in Bali, we had early dinner at TheChamplungs. The food was so-so because we only ordered pizza and fish & chips, but the kids enjoyed it very much as they get the chance to play in the sand. And I get to take pictures of the beautiful beach. Lastly I manage to run on the beachside in the morning! It was super beautiful and refreshing, but beware of the stray dogs, I read on the Internet some of them has rabies.

Can’t wait for another trip to Bali! Some tips visiting Bali with Kids:

1. Sun block! It’s super important because the sun rays can be very harsh during the day.
2. Spare underwear for the kids. I end up washing their underwear because they ran out very fast, luckily the weather was hot so the laundry get dry easily.
3. Snacks and food. If you’re moslem like me, it’s very hard to find truly halal restaurant in Bali. At least it was hard on the mainstream and popular areas like Seminyak. Most of the restaurants are serving Pork.
4. Taxi from the airport can be very expensive. Uber and GoCar are banned at the airport but if you wanted to use their service, you might have to walk to the parking lot to meet these drivers.
5. We depend on regular Taxi booked by apps while we were there, we didn’t hire any cars to keep the budget low. I would suggest to book a car and a driver if you’re planning to explore to the other parts of Bali.
6. Relax and Enjoy. The relaxing ambience and hot sun gave unpredictable mood for the kids, so just relax and don’t stressed out if the trip didn’t work according to plan. That’s why we’re in Bali in the first place, to have fun!