Bali Holiday (March 2015) – Pirates Bay Nusa Dua

Posted in Bali, Holidays by jahbella

Jah is currently in his ‘I am a pirate yo ho ho!’ phase. I vaguely remember him being in a similar phase when he was about 1 but I think he was too young to be excited about more than a Jake and the Neverland pirate show. So this time around we thought we would indulge him in his pirate phase when we heard about Pirates Bay in Nusa Dua, Bali.

There is really very little information online about the place. The only things I managed to gather from its website, was the fact that it was a team building site and it also has a cafe with tree top seating.

To be honest, I kind of regret hyping it up to Jah because I was alittle disappointed by the place, myself. To be fair, we only had drinks there since we were going to Ku De Ta in 2 hours. But I think we were fortunate that we were there as a big group because we could at least kick a ball around alittle, bury some little ‘treasures’ (sweets) in the sand for the kids to find and entertain ourselves.

Perhaps the place would be livelier over a weekend (we were there on a Monday) or maybe the ambience would be different after sunset (we went at 10am). If anything, I was quite impressed by how they built the treehouses and pirate ship. We actually saw people working at it while we were there.

Nevertheless, I would say that the place is a simple place to chill out with family. Just remember to bring a book (if your kids will give you some downtime), sand toys and ball for the kids and some of your own treasure to perhaps do your own little treasure hunt. 🙂

P.S – We saw that a Waterpark was being built right next to it. Perhaps it would be a complementary product that could add alittle more excitement for people making a trip there.

JahBella’s Mummy

20Apr2015

Bali Holiday (March 2015) – Pandawan Beach

Posted in Bali, Holidays, Travel with Kids by jahbella

A little misplanning due to the fact that it was the day after Nyepi and many shops/ restaurants were not opened before 1pm, threw a spanner in our plans for the morning. So we decided to head over to a local beach and left it to our Villa Manager to recommend and decide. (Honestly huge step for Mummy but about time that I got started and kept to my 15 things to differently in 2015 list – read it here.

Our Villa Manager/ driver suggest Pandawan Beach which is a 10 minutes drive from our villa. We were told that they recently ‘discovered’ and constructed roads to access the beach a few years ago therefore we had to pay a entry fee to go in. ($5 for foreigners and $1 for locals). I expected less crowds given that it was a pay to access beach but well no such luck.

We were dropped off at the ‘end’ which was supposedly safer for play and ‘swimming’ whereas the waters further down were apparently better suited for surfing.

We walked along the beach (to our left) and shops (to our right), trying to find a good spot to settle down. There were beach chairs lined up all the way and you could rent 2 chairs + an umbrella shade for $5. After settling down in a pretty squeezy spot, one of JahBella’s Aunty did some exploring and suggested that we forgo our rented seat and head further down where it was more spacious. (So a tip for everyone, keep walking! The spots towards the end are definitely more spacious and relaxing and rental is the same price. First timer mistake!)

The waves were pretty huge/ majestic/ frightening. The kids did not dare to venture close to the shore which was fine by me. They played with their sand toys close by to our rented chairs. While the adults took a dip in sea and well were crashed by the waves a lot. I was eventually ordered by Jah to get out and not go into the waters because it was too dangerous.

But Jah! It’s so fun! (Yes I told him that and he was not impressed.) 😦

The waves can get pretty big and can really wash up quite far towards our chairs and even towards the road and shopfront so do watch out for your bags and slippers. Bella was absolutely terrified of any water touching her at all. So unlike her but pretty amusing to watch!

There are also taps/shower points situated along the beach so no worries trying to rinse off or wash off the sand.

We settled for lunch at one of the local Warungs located just behind our rented beach chairs. Just be aware of which table you occupy and which warung you ordered from as they can get quite territorial. We had some simple nasi goreng with fried chicken and Mee (abit like bak chor mee), fed all 9 of us and paid $20 in all!

Honestly a simple morning out in Bali which we would probably never have done on our own without the extra pairs of hands from JahBella’s uncles and aunties. And I’m quite glad that we did it and got to expose the kids to something totally different from what they know in Singapore.

Next up Pirates Bay and all the food we ate in Bali…

JahBella’s Mummy

11Apr2015

Bali Holiday (March 2015) – Villa Bali Blue

Posted in Bali, Holidays, Travel with Kids by jahbella

We were finally off for our long awaited Bali holiday with JahBella and some of JahBella’s uncles and aunties. (yes mummy has many siblings so we had to pick our favourite aunties and uncles to join us for the trip :p just kidding!).

Which favourite uncles and aunties got to go on a holiday? :p

Bella learning to sit still (not quite) in her own seat at 1 year 10 months..lets hope she does better on the next trip (for Papa Joel’s sake)

“Mummy you don’t bother me, I do my own thing and you do your own thing. You fill up your forms.” – True Story!

The advantage of travelling in such a big group (7 adults and 2 kids) is that you get to rent a huge awesome villa and have so much crazy fun in your own private pool.

Our villa (Villa Bali Blue) in Jimbaran was an approximate 20 minutes car ride from the airport which was perfect for kids who can’t endure long car rides. The villa is located on a pretty secluded uphill area which meant that we had to depend on our villa manager and the villa transport when we wanted to leave or return to the villa. But for S$50 a day (12 hours use of the car) for the 9 of us, I’m not complaining. Having to coordinate two cabs back and forth may have cost us more money and/or stress.

The moment we entered the villa, I felt like we were transported to another world. 2 levels, 4 bedrooms, 1 entertainment room, a pool overlooking the ocean front, a pool table and kids toys. The villa manager and his housekeeping team were on hand to assist with any request or questions we had. I will let the photos do the talking.

Given that we arrived in Bali on the eve of Nyepi (Day of Silence), I am really quite relieved that we stayed at Villa Bali Blue. Staying there meant that we were pretty self-sufficient and the kids had enough to keep them occupied even though we were not allowed to go out.

Locals all dressed up on Nyepi Eve while we were in search for any food place that was opened..

Bella enjoying your breakfast and the sunrise…this girl knows how to enjoy…

Simple dinner while the sun sets on Nyepi

Sunset view from our villa

From repeatedly coming down the pool slide (Bella) to going skinny dipping (Jah), the pool was our family’s favourite hang out place and any reason was a good reason to take a quick dip in the pool. In fact the kids gained so much water confidence during the trip, it was really quite amazing to watch them. 🙂