As a bit of background our family Me, Wife and Twin five year old boys usually spend between one and two months a year in Bali staying in a two bedroom villa at Sri Ratu and we have plenty of lazy days. Thought I might post an example of one of those days.

7:00 am - We are normally all awake by this time and I have already started to get the breakfast ready. Children watching a DVD and a couple of slices of toast each (2,000rp).

7:15 am - Adults breakfast then starts with a bowl of homemade noodle soup. Indomie brand Mi Goreng, bought by the carton from Bintang Supermarket (36,000rp for 40 packets), the one with the five sachets – seasoning powder, seasoning oil, sweet soy sauce, chilli sauce and Fried onion. All these ingredients are poured into a bowl and chopped fresh chilli added. The noddles then go into the saucepan with chopped up green vegetable – Sayur He-Ju (spelling?) bought the day before at the early morning markets in Legian (3,000rp for three days). Bring to the boil and put noodles, vege and some of the liquid into the bowl and mix well – yum oh (3,800rp for two bowls).

8:30 am – Head out of the villa and wander up Three Brothers Lane towards Jln Legian. Halfway along stop for breakfast number two at Warung Kartini. Sharing two pancakes with butter and syrup and three fresh large juices, (25,000rp all up).

9:00 am – Jump in a blue Taksi on Jln Legian and head to the beach at the bottom of Double Six (10,000rp). Here we are greeted by our beach boy (man) Safar or Safari, two beach loungers, two side tables, one umbrella, one boogie board (children need to learn to share) (30,000rp).

9:30 am – Annie the fruit lady wanders over and yes one seedless watermelon cut up into wedges, placed in plastic bags and into Safar’s iced up esky to make cool (20,000rp). Sandcastles, boogie board surfing, reading and crossword puzzle time.

10:30 am – Half the watermelon is devoured. More playing and relaxing.

11:00 am – I wander up to the Circle K with the kiddies and get a large bottle of cold water and the kiddies choose a small sweet each (3,000rp). On the way back to the beach stop and get some Nasi’s from the blokes selling them off the back of the motor bikes. Check to see who has the warmest one’s and get three packages of Nasi plus a pack of Kraput (spelling?), large rice crackers (10,000rp all up). The brown grease proof package contains rice, small amount of chilli chicken, carrot, green beans and some noddles (Nasi Campur) extra two scoops of chilli sauce for Dad but no jack fruit soup for anyone. Time to chat with all the beach sellers as they meander along the beach.

12:00 Noon – Annie wanders back over and it’s time for lady finger banana’s. Half a dozen please (4,000rp).

1:00 pm – Gotta catch the donut man on the motor bike as he does not hand around long. One dozen please – share some around with the beach sellers (12,000rp).

2:00 pm – Drink o’clock. Bintang for Dad soft drinks for the rest.

3:00 pm – Peanut man arrives we’ll have two bunches please (1,000rp). More Bintang for Dad. Rest of the watermelon is consumed.

4:00 pm – the man with the fresh hot corn turns up. One of those please break it in half for the kiddies to share (2 or 3,000rp – can’t remember too many Bintang’s). Ok one more Bintang for Dad.

5:00 pm – time to leave the beach and head back to the Villa. Safar helps carry all the stuff up to the road and time to settle the drinks bill, Dad needs another Bintang while this is going on. Drinks Bill for the day at the beach 47,000rp (5 Bintang’s and 4 soft drinks). Time to wander up that narrow pathway from the beach road to Jln Padma Ultara, pushing a double side by side pram, trying to negotiate the potholes and not to mention the motor bikes. Ok the kiddies are five and they are still in a pram??? They hate walking and are only small in size for there age – so who cares.

5:15 pm – stop at internet café to check email (4,000rp).

5:30 pm – Arrive at small convenience shop opposite the Resort Tunjung Bali on Jln Padma Ultara to stock up on supplies – 5 soft drinks, 3 large Bintang’s, treats for the kids ice creams, sometimes mozzie coils, sometimes Arak, sometimes top up mobile phone (Average daily 100,000rp).

5:45 pm - Kids in the bath whilst Dad ducks around to Bamboo Corner to get the kiddies some take-away Chook Schnitzel and Chips to share. Well whilst Dad is waiting may as well have a Bintang (34,000rp).

6:00 pm – Kids Eating Mum and Dad showering couple of duty free cold ones and a quick game of cards whilst the kids finish off watching a DVD.

7:00 pm – Off to Warung Kartini again. Nasi Goreng with chicken and extra chilli for Dad, Mie Goreng with veges and no chilli for Mum, this lovely dish of Sayur He-Ju with tomatoes, fish gravy, garlic and some other sauce, fresh fruit for the kiddies, two more Bintangs and two soft drinks (44,000rp)

9:00 pm – Bed time for all.

Hope this was not too boring or too long but once I got started it was kinda hard to stop.

Larry

Hi Larry
Really enjoyed reading your days events. Our kids are grown up now, Thank god, but your day sounds like ours used to be, BUT our kids were later risers.
Regards Cindy

Now that's a great day!

What was your accommodation like?...any details/information would be interesting to know.

What else did you do?

Catherine

Accommodation – Sri Ratu – Legian

Sri Ratu is a small hotel that is located in Three Brothers Lane, between Jln Legian and Jln Padma Ultara behind the new All Seasons concrete jungle.

As stated it is small, but after doing the large hotels, eg Bali Mandira, for many years we won’t go back to those large places again, and we love the villa/bungalow type set up as it gives us more options rather than a boxy hotel room.

The property is divided into two separate areas separated by a small lane way. The main area is the two story hotel type accommodation, with reception, pool and restaurant. There are about a dozen rooms in the main complex and very close together.

They are as follows:

Queen Superior Suite Room 205 – Upstairs. One double bedroom, one twin share, both A/C. Downstairs living room with tea/coffee-making facilities & fridge. A/C. Bathroom with WC, shower & bath downstairs. TV in one bedroom. Breakfast for four guests. RP375,000 per night

Queen Suites Room 101 – Ground Floor Room 206 – Upstairs. One double bedroom with A/C & TV. Living-room with tea/coffee-making facilities and fridge. Bathroom with WC, shower & bath – tub. Breakfast for two guests. RP275,000 per night

Queen Deluxe "A" Rooms 110, 208, 209 & 210. All rooms have A/C & TV, some double, some twin share. Bathroom with WC, shower & bath – tub. Breakfast for two guests. RP225,000 per night

Queen Deluxe "B" Rooms 201, 202, 203 & 207. All rooms have A/C & TV, some double, some twin share. Bathroom with WC & shower. Breakfast for two guests RP200,000 per night

Queen Budget Rooms 102 – 109. Double or twin share rooms with A/C. All rooms with shower and WC, some also have bath. Breakfast for two guests. RP 175,000 per night.

The breakfast is nothing fancy just pot of tea or coffee, toast with jam and fresh fruit.

The hotel complex is built right around the pool area and is very small. You step out of one of the ground floor hotel rooms and five steps later you are literally in the pool. The pool is also very small, but we are beach people not pool people, and very deep. It has a three seat pool bar and the pool area does not get much sunshine at all. There are only 4 pool lounges that rarely get used and no pool towels. The restaurant only has a few tables and the menu is limited but the food is good and the price is very cheap. Also the place is very clean. The safety deposit boxes worried me a bit as they were located in reception and were those old wooden type ones – but nothing went missing so no drama’s. We did not stay in the hotel complex but at the villas/bungalows across the lane. Staying in the villa/bungalows still had you access to the full hotel facilities including room service.

There are eight villas/bungalows as follows:

ANGRREK – three bedroom, 2 air con, 2 bathroom, combined large lounge room, dining room and small kitchen, TV, fridge and day bed. RP375,000 per night.

MAWAR, MELATI & BOUGAINVILLE – all two bedroom both air con, 2 bathroom, combined large lounge room, dining room and small kitchen, TV, fridge and day bed. RP325,000 per night.

MATAHARI, RASTA & TERATAI – smaller two bedroom both air con, one bathroom I think, some on two levels, small lounge room, dining room and small kitchen, TV and fridge. A bit pokey for me. RP275,000 per night.

LILY – one air con bedroom, bathroom, small lounge room, dining room and small kitchen, TV and fridge. RP225,000 per night.

We stayed in the Melati Bungalow and had daily maid service, clean towels daily, clean sheets every two or three days and one of the ladies did our washing for RP1,000 per small items and RP2,000 per large items. The showers had hot water but the basins in the bathrooms and sink in the kitchen only had cold water. If you get more than 12 spits of rain the laneway outside the bungalow area does flood but subsides very quickly.

Terms and conditions are as follows:

Standard checkout is at 12 noon
Late checkout attracta a charge of 50% of the day rate
Sri Ratu staff can provide airport transfers, however due to ever increasing fuel prices there is now a nominal charge for this
Pickup is 70,000Rp drop off is 50,000Rp. This will be added to your account, but can be refunded upon meeting the conditions set out as follows:
"Budget A" pickup refunded after a stay of 3 nights, drop off refunded after a stay of 5 nights
"Deluxe a & B" pickup refunded after a stay of 2 nights, drop off refunded after a stay of 4 nights
Suites and Bungalows receive free transfers both ways after staying two nights or more
Room Rate Discount
10 Nights or more - 10%
20 Nights or more - 20%
OK this is not a five star resort more like 1 to 1 ½ star but it is clean and comfortable and the place has a real family style hospitality to it. The reception area closes at 11pm and reopens at 7am and during this time two security guards are on duty, so it is quite safe.

Summary

If you are after accommodation that has big fluffy towels, pristine white bed linen and all mod con’s this is not the place for you. But as a family, on a budget, staying for 4 to 8 weeks at a time we find this place very comfortable.

Any other questions let me know and I will post some stuff on what we did when I have a bit more time. We will be back there is a little over 6 weeks and cant wait to be back in paradise.

Cheers Larry

Your detail is admirable, thanks for taking so much time.

Sounds like an excellent choice, especially for the money. Location is quite handy to all the necessary places you need, or may want to access, in the area.

I've found the one drawback in some villa accommodation, for me, is having the TV in the bedroom. My husband tends to stay up much later than me so there's always that dilemma of reaching a compromise over television/sleeping rights. Having a villa with the TV in the lounge area solves the problem instantly.

I'll certainly keep this place in mind. It's always great to find out about places you would otherwise not even know existed.

All the best to you and your family,

Catherine