Bali Day 4: HardRock Hotel

I was deciding between Bali Dynasty, which we last stayed and HardRock Hotel. We eventually decided on HR and it wasn't a choice to regret.

Bfast on the 3rd morning was a breeze - eggs and more eggs please. We did last minute packing and left the villa at 10am. Goodbye to the villa that provided us with such comfortable stay for the last 3 nights. It was such great fun with the big group.

It was the same mini van that took us from the airport and was again a tight squeeze. I sat with Zaky and the girls and almost lost my life - the kids tortured me. Sob. I wanted to have nothing to do with the kids for the rest of the day. Lol.

I must be the happiest person to finally arrived at HR. While we were checking in, the kids were so noisy, running around playing tap and screaming at the same time. I pity the other hotel guests.

The rooms were not ready except for the Chan family's. We headed out for lunch shortly after our Welcome drink.

Restaurants and shops lined the street and the sun was shining brightly, it was so different from Ubud.

While waiting for lunch to be served, I brought Zaky for a walk and he was lured into a shop that sells imitation basketball T-shirt. The sales was so quick to leech him to buy a T-shirt, asking him which team he likes and which basketballer he hearts. They are pro. Within seconds, Zaky was presented with a Jordan shirt. I was quoted IDR600k, which is a freaking S$60! With this kind of quote, I didn't have much idea how much to bargain. I eventually paid INR150k and still left feeling that I was a carrot head.

After lunch, the kids wanted to try the fish spa.

It was funny how they were all screaming in agony and excitement at the same time. At one point, Auntie J took ER's place and all the fish went to her, leaving almost none for the kids. She had so much dead skin on her feet.

We didn't have any agenda in the afternoon, which also meant that it was swimming time! HR has a few slides.

The water was so cold but the kids seemed not to be affected at all. Seriously, if we didn't stop the kids, they can soak in the water the entire day.

The kids adjourned back to the room for more soaking in the bathtub. The room was awesome with 2 big beds.

Zaky didn't soak long in the tub though bcos there were quite some good free movies to choose from.

We had dinner at HR Cafe.

The dinner ended with the live band back at the hotel.

It was an awesome night and the beds were so comfy. We all slept well.

Mummy Lim

Bali Day 3: Bali Treetop Adventure

We had a wonderful time at the Bali Treetop Adventure the last time and knew that we just had to come back. The villa owner helped to arrange for a full day transport.

I chose to wake up slightly earlier to quietness that didn't last very long bcos Zaky came and disturbed my peace soon after. Chey. It was a cloudy day but at least no rain!

Bfast was a lot more efficient the 2nd day - just give us toasted bread and a lot of eggs.

We set off at 9am and Treetop Adventure was 1.5hr drive away. The ride turned painful when the kids started getting bored and grew grumpy and noisy. We were so happy to be finally arriving and let out of the mini van. The air was super cooling given the high attitude. Super nice.

While the parents signed the indemnity and paid for the adventure, the kids pretended to practice or monkey.

It wasn't too crowded and we were done with the payment shortly and all harnessed up. We had to go through a safety briefing and a mock circuit to get use to the hooking system before we were allowed to explore the circuits. 

There were different circuits with different level of difficulty, distinguished by colours, going from yellow to green to orange then blue, red and finally black. The green, orange and blue circuits each comes in 2 levels. The kids needed to be of a certain height for the more difficult circuits. 

When we were there the last time, Zaky could only manage the green circuits bcos he was too little physically. This time, we hit the orange circuit immediately. Lil Shauna tried the orange circuits the last time and went directly to the lower blue circuit this time. She complained that it was super tough. Lol.

The drizzle came midway and the cables were super slippery. Luckily nobody fell. Probably bcos of the rain, we were also surrounded by mist/ cloud at one point while we were high up in the trees. It was super nice.

Zaky completed both orange circuits while Lil Shauna tried the lower blue and higher orange. For the last one, Lil Shauna decided to go on a green circuit with Boo, leaving Daddy Lim and I to go on the lower blue circuit with Zaky. It was fun and more physically challenging. Zaky needed a lot of help; there were times that he couldn't reach to hook up or was left hanging after he was hooked up. Bcos we helped, the circuit was completed so quickly. Yeah, lower blue conquered.

The staff didn't seem to be tracking time. However, 3-hour was just nice. By then, we were all tired and hungry for a good lunch. It was great fun.

The driver brought us to the same buffet lunch place that we last went in our last Bali trip; there must be some commission tied up. The food wasn't too bad or maybe we were too hungry from the workout.

Zaky fell asleep shortly after lunch and was angry when we woke him up at the strawberry farm only to realise that it was not the season and there was no strawberry to pick. We eventually decided to visit the Monkey Temple instead.

We were told that there were over 600 monkeys and the staff will feed them sweet potatoes in the morning and bananas on the evenings. We were not supposed yo touch the monkeys but they may choose to climb on us. Even though so, still no touchy. Daddy Lim and Auntie J had one each that climbed onto their head. They must have special "smell" to attract monkeys.

We were not allowed into the actual temple grounds. The opened area for the roaming monkeys wasn't big and we were done in less than 30 mins.

Auntie H and Uncle C were telling us the great crispy duck that they had in Bali 10 years ago. The driver then arranged for us to try crispy duck for dinner. We were given a gazebo seating that is built on the lake and the kids went crazy over the koi fish.

The restaurant serves western food and the kids had their pasta since a long time. Their appetite finally picked up; Indonesian food is not their thing for sure. The food was great and so was the ambience despite all 14 of us squeezed in 1 tiny gazebo. 

We headed back to the villa after dinner. The driver helped us arrange for more massages and Lil Shauna's little hand shot up really quickly while we took count for order. Lol. 

It was our last night at the villa. It has been very enjoyable at the villa bcos we had such great companion. There was always something to do, somebody to chat with. Thumbs up!

Mummy Lim

Bali Day 2: Green Bike

The alarm clock rang at 6.50am. I jumped out of the bed and peacefulness greeted me. I like the quietness before the kids come bouncing around. Daddy Lim joined me thereafter and continue to laze around.

I had the chance to take some pictures of the quiet villa.

It was still raining since the night before and we had booked a bicycle tour with Green Bike. Bcos of our group size, it was just by ourselves, which was great when we have so many kids. We opted for Green Bike bcos they were so fast with their responses as compared to the other 2 bicycle tour companies. Also bcos of our size, we had a good discounted price.

We were still struggling with bfast when the Green Bike representative knocked on our door. It was afterall the 1st morning in the villa and the caretaker needed to adjust to our schedule. It was a full day tour and the cycling would take only 2 hours. Though raining, there would be a chance that the sun would shine when we start cycling. Otherwise, ponchos would be provided. We decided to proceed than to be stranded in the villa and in the rain.

There was a car ride to some places for the kids to test and pick up their bike. It was drizzling hard while the selection went on. The original plan was for kids to be on their own bike; that was what all the "training" in Singapore were for. Zaky complained of knee pain and we thought it would be better for him to go on tandem bike. However, what they had were the double bikes and it was way too big for the boys. Zaky also got excited when he saw the girls choosing their bike and declared his knee pain gone. He  eventually got his  own bike. Ground zero.

After the selection, we were brought to the coffee plantation. We saw the cat that poo poo the coffee bean and none of us wanted to try poo poo coffee. The animals eat everything but opted for the best, which is why the coffee beans that they consumed and pooed are the best.

These are how the poo looks like. Who would drink That?!

The guide explained the process for coffee making and there were hands-on too.

We were invited to bfast part 2 - pancakes and more interestingly, coffee and tea tasting.

It was also a great place for pictures taking.

We had our 1st group picture less Daddy Lim, who was stuck in the toilet poo pooing. Lol.

Enroute to the cycling start point, we visited a volcano for more pictures. Finally all in for group picture.

Finally, we started the cycling tour at about 11am. The rain finally stopped! Yeah!

The moment we started, I realised that it was a wrong choice for Zaky to be on his own bike. Apparently we were driven to somewhere at a high attitude and we were cycling down a huge slope. What we had to be was more control and braking than actual cycling, which is super difficult for the kids. Barely started, AN crashed into my bike bcos I had to stop as Boo was going slowly and Zaky had to stop to avoid crashing into her and I was behind Zaky. Chain effect and she ended up being the victim. We changed tactic to alternate the adults and kids. Zaky also was banished to the end so that he would be less of a hazard to the rest.

It was a tiring journey. For the entire way, I was riding behind Zaky, yelling at him to slow down, to brake, to keep left/ right... whatever. I was just constantly yelling. I had to be very alert as well bcos the little boy had the tendency to suddenly brake and stop to sneeze or scratch his head/ face/ hand/ leg/ whatever. He had so many itchy spots when he rode. Faint. It didn't help that a large part of the journey was on roads that we had to share with cars and many motorbikes.

There were a couple of pit stops along the way. This one, we visited a local home. They had cats and puppies and the kids went crazy.

At the main pit stop, I tried to coax Zaky to take the tandem bike with Daddy Lim. He refused and I wanted to cry bcos it was so mentally tiring. The staff gave us biscuits and bananas to replenish our energy.

We went on for a while more and were so far behind from the rest bcos Zaky was stopping so frequently. I couldn't take it anymore and realised that the bicycle mechanic was on a motorbike following us. I suggested for Zaky to take the motorbike instead and he took the bait. Muahahaha. The remaining 30 mins was truly the "bicycle tour" for me. I easily caught up with the rest and got the opportunity to enjoy the scenario; for the 1st part, all I saw was Zaky's rear tire.

Zaky did grow bored as the pillion. My job from yelling at him to slow down had changed to yelling at him to hold tight. My poor heart. Finally we arrived at the end point.

Lunch was provided. We were sent to a restaurant that sat next to a padi field for buffet lunch. The kids didn't eat much bcos everything was spicy even though they claimed that it wasn't but the adults had amazing appetites.

The kids went to explore the padi field after that. It wasn't that great an idea now quite a few of the adventurous kids had their shoes in mud.

We headed back to the hotel after the tour. It was finally swimming time and it was freezing cold!

We had arranged for the cook to prepare dinner for us at IDR6.5k per pax. It was a nice spread but almost everything was spicy. Kids ended up with instant noodles as supper.

Much of the time left was spent in front of the TV. The staff arranged for massues to come to the villa for messages. When asked who wanted massages, Lil Shauna's hand went up really quickly. Lol. Well, it only cost about S$12 and the little girl had her wish.

The massage must be heavenly after a whole day of activities bcos the little girl fell asleep midway. She was barely awake after that and willingly slept in our room; Daddy Lim was banished to the other empty room. Sleep was so much easier than the 1st night.

How was the bicycle tour? It wasn't too bad. The route was well planned out. I was hoping for a workout though but I didn't get any bcos it was downslope all the way. Lol. Zaky likes it though and asked to do it again! I don't think my poor heart can take that in the near future. Lol.

Mummy Lim