Day Four - Singapore Chinatown, Arrival in Bali, Nusa Dua

  • The swimming pool in the Melia Bali hotel » Click to zoom ->

    The swimming pool in the Melia Bali hotel

We awake reasonably early (though not as soon as intended due to Jameson's and sleep depravation catching up with us) and after breakfast spend our last hour of free time in Singapore before Bali walking around the nearby Chinatown district. It's here that again the heavens open. This time we're out in the open in the middle of it, and the sum total of the wet weather gear I've brought on holiday with me equals a shirt. Cotton.

It's as close to recreating a Blade Runner environment as possible as we wander through the numerous pungent Chinese shops spread out onto the pavement selling bizarre dried cooking goods and mutant-looking foods straight out of eXistenZ. We get soaked and eventually wander back to the hotel for a quick unplanned change of clothes before leaving for Bali.

The departure area of Singapore airport makes it quite positively the best airport I've visited. No queues, open expanses, luxury good quality shops - even plasma screen showing the Olympics for travellers, or free PlayStation games to play whilst whiling away the time until take off.

It's only a short two hours or so flight, and as we land it is just so exciting to return here. The first time we came it was fabulous because of the originality of the experience. Now it's just exquisite to be back with the expectations of the paradise that lies here.

We clear customs and arrivals quickly, and are pleasantly met on a one-to-one basis by the Kuoni rep for the transfer to Nusa Dua. The familiar hustle-bustle of the mopeds spread out on the road brings back so many memories - even, believe me, the smell of the place is the same. It's fantastic to be back and be greeted by the genuine friendliness of the Balinese.

The Melia Bali hotel has a lot to live up to against the Bali Hilton, yet it stands up admirably , and our room is gorgeous. We upgraded to a suite (downgrading our hotel in Singapore - a nice ability) which is a split level affair. A roomy lounge is met at the entrance, with table and chairs, plus a sofa. There's a wooden staircase leading to the open bedroom with an adjoining bathroom containing a plethora of complimentary items (forgotten your toothbrush? not a problem...). After enjoying a Bintang beer on our balcony, we wander down for a quick swim and look at our home for the next ten nights.

We're on the top, fourth floor, which is gratifying, as I'd hate to be sat out on ground level with people wandering past. Unfortunately it's not possible to see the sea, yet the view across the gardens is lovely.

I know that travellers would scoff at the molly-coddled luxury and lifestyle we are living in. don't get me wrong - I'd love to backpack around (and in fact still hope to in the future), but with only a precious few weeks holiday a year, my holiday is valuable as I need a bit of extravagance and pure rest as well. We're going to be going out and experiencing the 'real' Bali, yet it's nice to come back to the sanctuary of the hotel. It would be easy to get the impression that the hotel might be tacky, but that's simply not the case. The Balinese government forced all of the international hoteliers to develop the resorts to a strict tasteful standard, and that's what happened. By law no hotel can be taller than the highest palm tree, and so hotels generally don't go above four floors, so it instead blends beautifully into the environment.

Unfortunately it's a little overcast (yet still a little blue peeks through) across the island, and quite cool, yet the sculptured pool is enticingly warm, and we are able to feel the stress literally fall off as we float around.

We eventually manage to drag ourselves out to the Nusa Dua Galleria around 9ish to change some money. The Galleria is an extensive collection of shops, stores and part-open-area restaurants. They include many alleged designer stores selling extremely cheap Armani jeans and the like. These may not be quite 100% genuine, yet they look good, so frankly who cares.

Bali, with the exception of Kuta, shuts down relatively early. It's unlikely that restaurants will still be open gone 11pm, and we have another traveller cheque nightmare as all the moneychangers are now shut. Penniless, we head back to the hotel, order room service and vegetate around the suite before retiring to bed.

Lying in bed, we start to hear loud, worrying scratching noises emanating from above our ceiling. It's like the opening scenes from The Exorcist, and we both lie staring at the wooden ceiling, wondering exactly what kind of creature is ferreting around. There's even squeaking noises and gnawing of wood. Lisa's paranoid that at some point the wood will collapse and some hairy monster will drop down on top of her...