DID: Took advantage of reciprocity benefits at the Grand Hyatt Resort in Nusa Dua (free shuttle between hotels, and there are two waterslides plus several pools and beach). Hotel is gorgeous, very dramatic views right from the entrance. More modern than our hotel but still Balinese-y with color tiled roofs and everything is open air. Nusa Dua itself is not to my taste (and is the prime reason we didn’t stay at this Hyatt). It’s a peninsula created solely for tourists – there’s security/bomb check on the way in to the Nusa Dua complex, and then it’s all hotels plus a souvenir shopping complex. It looks like a fancy, tropical military base/university campus. Blah.
Boys LOVED the slide (and me too!). We must have gone down it at least 50 times by lunch (my legs were feeling it after walking up the steps so many times!) By the afternoon Rhys could hardly walk up anymore but that didn’t stop him from wanting to go again (and again)! The only way we could get them away was to drag them over to the hotel playground. This one is a bit newer than the one at our hotel, and in addition to the slide/climbing/swing set, they’ve got a big trampoline and a kid-size basketball hoop. Jason showed off basketball dribbling skills I didn’t know he had, guess he was telling the truth all these years when he said he was the center on his school team.
Headed over to Seminyak for dinner and a walk around. All the books/guides/blogs said this was the best area so I had high hopes. Boutiques were very nice, restaurants looked good (and the one we ate at was very very nice) but everything seems like its for-expats-by-expats. Having said that, comparing it to Sanur (where we are staying) I guess given a choice purely on location I’d pick Seminyak. BUT, knowing that the south part of the island isn’t that appealing to me (so far anyway), having benefits at two resorts is a huge advantage – so if the option was there again I’d definitely pick one of the two Hyatts.
Back at the hotel Jason and Gavin made a visit to the concierge to find out what else there is to do outside of the Hyatt world on the island. Afterwards when they were telling me all about it, Gavin was expressing his enthusiasm for doing everything (fishing! snorkeling! waterpark! safari park!) When Jason said to him that he just likes to do everything, we have to pick a few favorites, Gavin’s response was ‘well, I don’t like shopping!’ Well said, Gav.
ATE: Breakfast – Regency Club brekkie. Eggs, chocolate cereal, toast, fresh juice, fruit etc.
Lunch – Lounge chair delivery service poolside at the Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua. GnR had chicken nuggets + fries, I had a chicken wrap + fries, Jason had nasi goreng (fried rice) with chicken satay. Good stuff and we were starving after all that sliding.
Snack – banana split and iced coffees at the pool bar. Ice cream didn’t have a chance to melt before it was gone (except for the stuff smeared on GnR’s face and hands after the race to eat it). Coffee here is surprisingly terrible considering we’re in the home of Java. This one tasted like they had drip coffee left over from the morning, left it on the burner all day, then added ice and milk.
Dinner – Sardine in Seminyak. Top setting overlooking a rice paddie. Lots of mossies though, good thing I had the spray in my bag. Seafood menu, French-influenced with Bali ingredients. Gavin slept through dinner, Rhys was perfectly ok with eating both of their portions of fish and chips. Chips were waffle cut – nice touch! I started with a crab tower, Jason had scallops. For mains I had had snapper in beurre blanc (enjoying all the non-Australian butter I can get!) and Jason had hamachi with a soy-based mushroom-y sauce. Dessert was black pepper ice cream with jackfruit and strawberries. Really weird (spicy) but good. I also had a cocktail called an ‘Arak Attack’ – arak with orange juice and sprite. Learned afterwards that arak is a local whiskey. Drink was a chugger, too strong to sip and enjoy for me!
Dinner 2 – Gavin woke up hungry just as we were leaving the restaurant, so headed for the main street of Seminyak in search of dinner. Ended up at the Café Seminyak where he had an omelet, fries and a baguette. Either he was really hungry or it was really good – either way his plate was clear in seconds.
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