My four best friends and two of their partners from New Zealand met me in Bali and we all had the greatest week ever! We were celebrating a milestone birthday for Angela, plus we all wanted to holiday together again as it had been six months since our last trip to Rarotonga! Here are a few favourites of the million photos I took and snippets of what we got up to in a fun-filled week:
Day One. 17.05.17
My friends arrived and we checked into The Breezes Bali Resort & Spa in the late afternoon. I had stayed there once before during my first visit to Bali and I absolutely love this resort. After being shown to our rooms and a small tour we hopped straight into the inviting pool and took advantage of happy hour! We also joined in the pool bingo game that runs daily at 6 pm which is always a fun time.
In the evening we wandered down the road for dinner at a local favourite Mades Warung. Many of us ordered the Babi Guling, which I recommended to try (as it was their first time to Indonesia), which is a traditional Balinese spit roast pork dish. We also got to watch a bit of Indonesian dancing which is on in the evenings at 8 pm.
We've arrived!
At the entrance of The Breezes
I shared a comfortable deluxe twin room with my friend Anita
Beautiful welcome flowers and fresh fruit platter
We had our own private balcony in front of the pool!
Today us girls took a taxi to Legian where we first stopped into Bali Tattoo Studio to book in our tattoos for our last day there. I got a tattoo with them the last time I was in Bali and I highly recommend them. (We booked for our last day as you can't swim with fresh tattoos). We then wandered down the road, past the memorial site where the Bali bombings happened in 2002, to Smart Spa and Salon. Two of us wanted a hair cut and I, again had been there before and recommended them. $16 for a good hair cut, not bad at all considering at home it can be upwards of $60 in most places. Also in the area we had a delicious lunch at Kopi Pot. I had sate lilit which is minced fish on lemongrass sticks that comes on a charcoal grill. So delicious! Also, obligatory Bintangs, of course.
Before returning to The Breezes we popped into Spa Bali which is just down the road from the resort. I got a mani-pedi, because when in Bali - treat yo-self! We then hopped back in the pool and rested for the afternoon. That evening we had dinner at the hotel's own restaurant. We ate there at least four times, the food is always delicious and in-house guests get a 20% discount so it's a very good price too. Afterwards, we had a booking at Frankenstein's which is only a 10-minute walk away. It's a fun monster laboratory themed bar with entertaining cabaret shows on every night, awesome themed drinks (like eyeball martini, 'injection' shots and iv bag cocktails) and good music. It was a very fun night!
The memorial site
Lunch time Bintangs at Kopi Pot
Delicious sate lilit
Pool time!
Amazing cocktails at the swim up pool bar
Fun at Frankensteins
Day Three. 19.05.17
Today was our friend Angela's birthday! We had a fun day planned starting with water sports at Nusa Dua. We booked with a highly rated company called Bali Jetpacks & Water Sports which included transfers. We picked from a wide range of activities including parasailing, banana boating and jet skiing. I got a little seasick, so if you're planning on doing water sports take some sea legs with you! It was a really fun time though and also included in the price was a professional photographer so we got a tonne of photos at the end of it which was such a nice surprise!
After a late lunch we got dressed up for the evening and had celebratory champagne before taxi-ing to Potato Head Beach Club, one of my favourite spots for sunset! It was as always very busy, but we eventually got seats and had a nice cocktail to enjoy the sunset and tropical vibes. We had a reservation at Bambu for dinner, a very nice restaurant just a five-minute walk from there. I love the setting over the water and the food is absolutely delicious.
The Breezes surprised Ange with a birthday breakfast treat!
Today we all had a well-deserved lazy pool day, as we had been quite busy up until then. We enjoyed the 2 for 1 cocktail happy hour special that runs at The Breezes from 11 am - 1 pm and then ventured out for lunch back to the local Mades Warung. We got a bit excited when we saw there was a beer tower on the menu so we all pitched in and shared! 3 litres of delicious. Then a stop for ice cream and more relaxing around the pool and that was the gist of our day!
Not a bad way to start the day at all
Cool street art in Seminyak
Beer tower!
The sate dish was my absolute favourite from The Breezes own restaurant
Day Five. 21.05.17
Today we had a second lazy pool day which was again, so nice and relaxing. One of our party had a full-day motorcross tour, but the rest again enjoyed happy hour before venturing out for a walk. This time we went to Seminyak Square and had a nice lunch at Naty's Restaurant. I had my fave, Nasi Goreng and a refreshing Bintang radler. We browsed in one of the coolest shops I've ever been in called Skull, where everything from clothes, bags, accessories and memorabilia are skull themed. I wanted to buy so many things! After a shopping fix we walked home via the beach which was nice to see again. Aaand cue more relaxing!
Lunch at Naty's
Coolest shop ever!
A random figure in front of Seminyak markets
Back to the pool bar!
Day Six. 22.05.17
Today four of the seven of us had a tour booked to climb Mount Batur for sunrise. The rest of us three (including me) decided to see Tanah Lot, a famous temple on the coast that is a rock formation with a Hindu shrine perched on top. We were a little scammed by our taxi driver, but that was bound to happen sometime. Tip: Hire a driver for a fixed price and don't take a taxi, he rigged the meter and tried to charge us 7x more than we should have paid. Never mind, I still really enjoyed seeing it and I was even blessed by a holy Balinese Hindu priest which was a special experience.
A typical breakfast for me from the delicious daily buffet
Today all of us did a full day trip to Ubud. We booked a driver easily through The Breezes tour information centre for 8 hours, but we actually went overtime for 10 hours! We had so many things we wished to see and ran out of time. You definitely need at least two days in Ubud to be able to see everything. But we prioritised and had a great day visiting the Tegalalang rice terraces, Bali Pulina for Luwak coffee tasting, Pura Tirta Empul - a holy water temple and my favourite in Bali.
We had a nice lunch before visiting the Sacred Monkey Forest where most of us had a cheeky monkey on our shoulders for a banana. I love seeing them roam around freely, as they should be. Just watch your belongings! Lastly, we visited the Tegenungan waterfall where we went for a brief dip. It was so great to visit Ubud again and get out of the main touristy hub for the day. Next time I will definitely stay the night there.
Today was sadly our final day. The others did some last minute souvenir shopping before checking out at 12 pm. We all jumped into a taxi back to Legian where we stopped first at Warung Padmasari, another of my favourite local places to eat. Next up it was tattoo time at Bali Tattoo Studio. We all got them done one after the other and it was smooth and painless (for me!). Afterwards, we waited outside with a beer for the boys to return who had gone shopping and one of the tattoo artists joined us playing guitar and singing for us. He was so talented and it was such cool vibes! A great ending to our trip. We then had to say our goodbyes as they were leaving back for New Zealand that night and I had to be off for the next part of my adventure.
Sad to say goodbye to the beautiful Breezes
With our tattoo artists
Aaand one last group shot sporting our new friendship tattoos!
I truly love Bali so much and enjoyed it just as much as ever. I honestly wish I could live there! I love walking down the streets and seeing the colourful Hindu offerings, I love the temples and the smell of incense. I love the flowers everywhere and how lush and green it is. I love the food and mostly how warm and inviting the Balinese people are. I cannot wait to return again for the fourth time, no doubt soon enough!
I can guarantee I will be staying again at The Breezes Bali Resort & Spa, who are outstanding. The resort is absolute perfection and the small touches every day in our rooms, including a different towel animal and personal note, the friendly staff, amazing pools and services, restaurant, cocktails, everything about them is top-notch. I have written a hotel review of them previously on my blog, if you would like more information here is the review.
I also made a video for my YouTube channel of all the fun my friends and I got up to during our week together in Bali:
It was a fantastic week and all of us left with some great memories (and polaroids) that we will treasure forever. Next up will be my Jakarta travel diary which was a lot more challenging than Bali! Coming soon.
