We woke to a cloudy day and then it was rushing rushing. The flight at 1305 meant that we had to leave by 1030 from the resort. By the time baby K was ready, we left the room at 915 for breakfast.
The staff was happy to see baby K and hi-5 him as we came. Had his last serving of papaya from the resort, ate some cereals and bread while I had some steak and mommy had the waffles. By the time we left, it was 1015. Rushed again, bathed baby K and called the staff to help with our bags as we booked the airport transfer (to save the hassle, came with a premium). Paid off what we owed the resort with all our rupiah and the rest by card as USD wasn’t accepted. About 400SGD spent including the day trip driver, not overly expensive.
Fish special.Waffles.Minute steak.Room 205.
The drive to the airport was not too difficult, managed to arrive at 1130ish and we proceeded direct through the X-ray security before checking in. There was a queue already but it cleared rather quickly. Next we go through another X-ray checkpoint before the immigrations officer. Again the queue was cleared rather smoothly and we were going through DFS and past the branded stores.
Bali airport near departure.DFS walkthrough.Shopping inside the modern Bali airport.
Wanted to buy some foodstuff but couldn’t find anything particularly interesting and sharable so ended up at the waiting area, ready for boarding.
Waiting area at the gate.
The return flight was not too difficult with baby K curious to just walk around and sometimes become momentarily interested in the Pororo on screen. He had the post weaning meal which he only took some spoonful and soup that mommy cooked and brought aboard. After his meal, we each ate one after another as one of us had to hold onto this constantly moving toddler. Good thing was he managed to fall asleep while I gently rocked him as he sat on my lap to watch cartoon and that lasted an hour till we landed in T3, a different terminal where we initially flew off from.
Although it was a mere 5days trip that was planned without much objective other than escaping from the daily grind to celebrate mommy’s birthday, it was tough some days as baby K was having flu and was highly irritable, and he had learnt to become whiny, something that we really disliked in kids, before we had one ourselves. This also set us thinking about future trips, long ones that had lots of inland travel, if we could survive those then. Could we do it with more detailed planning?
Royal Santrian Villas provided incredible service beyond our expectations and that made the stay mostly enjoyable and the difficult times bearable. The price was slightly on the high side expected of a 5star resort pool villa but it was worth it for the services and the food that was available.
Woke up at 6am in preparations for our trip to Bali, a flight at 925am on SQ. We had to beat the weekday traffic so leaving early was the strategy. Our bags were mostly packed and with a toddler in tow, we needed a 28″ minimum and a smaller 25″ for the 5 days trip.
Baby K was nursing a cough that developed over the weekend (with fever on Monday and Tuesday) and was snoozing all the way till we were about to leave the house. Once carried he wouldn’t go back to sleep.
On the car, we chose the PIE route and had slow traffic till Toa Payoh, thankfully. Managed to check in by 8ish but was disappointed to find out that I had forgotten to order the post weaning meal when I called in to reserve bassinet seats. We managed to arrange for the one on the return at the separate SIA sales counter near the check in counters.
Weren’t much time left after I purchased some syringes at Guardian pharmacy for feeding baby K his meds and mommy bought bread from the cafe and we cleared immigrations. Wanted to have some coffee at the newly opened Ya Kun while baby K munched on his bread but the queue was horrendously slow that we gave up and proceeded to boarding.
Boarding the plane was done rather quickly and we settled down after placing all the carryon bags at the overhead compartment, luckily space was available. As the plane took off, baby K fell asleep, having not gotten enough of it since feeling unwell the last few days. Parents rest time with the rare moments of watching a movie on board a plane since baby K’s birth. It was short lived though as baby K woke up 1hr later.
He wasn’t feeling well and had showed signs of throwing up. Wonder if he was beginning to able to feel air sickness. The journey was otherwise pretty smooth and he only showed uneasiness as the plane descended in altitude and pain in his ears (and he was being stubborn and not wanting to drink any water).
We arrived at a large modern airport to our surprise as we didn’t remember it the last time we came here. There was a small nursery room where we changed out baby K. The luggage was really slow at arriving as we had to wait for about 40mins before finally picking it up (clearing immigrations was like 5mins).
Nursing Room at Bali airport.Inside nursing room.Long wait at the belt.
After exiting the hall, we were trying to identify our airport transfer driver but couldn’t find my names amongst the hordes of white cards. Had to make a call to Royal Santrian while they call the driver. In the meantime we just stayed around and take photos of the airport.
The driver came shortly after with my name and showed us to the car park where he parked the vehicle. From then it was pretty much 5 stars treatment with the cold Aqua and cold towels to the luggage handling. Upon arrival at the entrance after 20mins on the road, we were given a chance to participate in a Balinese ritual and blessing before entering the resort. It was interesting and fun to see baby K with a flower on his ear. Checked in was done at a sofa and we were shown how the welcome drink was made.
Bali airport outside Arrivals.Our airport transport vehicle.Cold towels wrapped up.Refreshments of water and cookies.Bridge gave quick access to Nusa Dua.
The staff then showed us to our huge villa and all the amenities there were. I was in awe by the size and the number of beds where we could just sit around and chill (am not the frequent resort tourist so was easily awed). Baby K was just walking around enjoying the new environment.
Balinese ritual.Preparing the welcome drinks.Welcome drinks end product.View from the reception area.Outside day bed with fridge and table.Villa pool.Room day bed with TV.Huge bed.Fruits basket.Bathroom with bathtub, shower and toilet.Outside rain shower.Inside shower.Minibar area with wardrobe and vanity desk.
After resting for a bit and feeding baby K some milk, we went to the recept to ask for directions to the nearest supermarket. We were told that there was a resort shuttle that could bring us to the local Hardys mall and back for free.
We boarded the same vehicle as earlier airport transfer and was sent to the local supermarket just 10mins drive away. We told the driver that we would probably take 30mins and he would pick us up again. The building was huge and the supermarket was just a portion of it. There was a section for meat and seafood but we settled for frozen salmon. Bought some milk too and left.
We also got ourselves some lunch over at the fast food My Dea Fried Chicken counter within the same building (didn’t checked out the 2nd floor where I suspected there might be a food court). My Nasi Goreng wasn’t exactly fast. There was an indoor game arcade where I brought baby K to pass time waiting for the food.
At Hardy’s supermarket.Fish.Games arcade at the mall.Mini playground at the arcade.My Dea Fried chicken fast food restaurant.
The driver was already there when we exited the building and we were sent back to the resort. Had our fast food lunch and I brought baby K out to the beach in an attempt to get him to nap.
Nasi Goreng from My Dea.
At the beach, there were some huge lounge beds where baby K and I chill and watched the activities going about in the sea. He couldn’t nap and worse still, was climbing around. After sitting around for half an hour, I then brought him nearer to the waters. As there was a breakwater far away, the waves coming in were very gentle. The only issue was that the sand was extremely soft and I kept getting my feet sink into the sand.
For a while, I strolled close to the waters and as baby K still didn’t sleep, I started walking back to the villa. Soon he fell asleep, probably the sounds of trickling water from all the pool villas made him sleepy. No matter what it was a good thing, left him on the day bed and went to wash off the sand on my feet, weird that I couldn’t find any washing point at the entrance to the resort (which there were, I realized later in the next few days).
Resort temple.Busy beach.Crabs on rocks.Central pool of the resort.
Mommy was taking a bath and had an issue with hot water as it never seemed to be heated up. Called the resort staff and when she turned up to check, the hot water came. It took really long (which we realized also later that during the initial introduction we were mistaken to believe that the right tap was for hot water but in fact it was vice versa).
The awesome staff at the resort then brought over a small cake and a large roses arrangement to the room. They couldn’t sing a birthday song since baby K was sleeping but it was a nice gesture. They had to leave in a fog when the fogging of mosquitoes took place at that time of the day.
Cake and rose arrangements in room.
Baby K slept till 7ish (with me beside him as he woke up half way) and we left for dinner at the resort hotel with our portable steamer with food cooked for baby K. There weren’t anybody at the restaurant when we arrived and we chose to be seated inside the aircon area to avoid mosquitoes. Baby K was given a high chair and throughout dinner, he was slightly fussy. Thankfully for the good service of the staff, they were keeping him entertained while we ate.
Food was ok and price was as expected of a resort restaurant but wasn’t really very expensive comparative to Singapore standard. At the end of dinner, the staff switched off the lights and came back with another birthday cake! This time with a birthday song as well! It was a lovely sight as baby K clapped along with the tune!
Green curry with rice.Chicken chop.Fish FilletBread with beautiful butter.Carrot juice.Mango juice.View of the restaurant.
After dinner we went back to the room under a blanket of stars and only could wish to just watch them twinkle out on the day beds but didn’t as we didn’t want to risk getting bitten by mosquitoes.
View of bathroom from the outside.Day bed at night.Night view.
Back at the room, bathed baby K at the huge tub (hot water was topped up manually with boiling water) and washing of the bottles and cutlery began. The tap water was slightly salty and we had to drink from bottled water ( which was free and there were 10, so were all the drinks in the minibar). After all the washing was done, we got off to bed, with a lot of light switches to turn off.
Total duration 5D4N Singapore is in the same time zone as Bali. Flight time is 2hrs 40 mins on SQ from Singapore to Bali. Return is just 2hrs 20mins from Bali to Singapore.
Morning flight on 13th July at 925am and arrival in Bali at 12:05pm. Return flight is on the 18th July at 13:05pm and arrival in Singapore at 3:45pm.
This escape plan was planned as a short escape to a beach resort to celebrate wifey’s birthday with a toddler in tow. It was planned as a relax holiday to just enjoy the luxurious villa and a bit of sightseeing.
Budget nature: For a luxurious and comfortable villa, it will not be cheap.
The resort accommodation was not cheap but we felt like royalty while staying at the resort (only maybe poorer after the trip). But seriously the staff was amazing with the services, especially when they tried to entertain my toddler as he got fussy. The butler was always there when you need attention. And 2 birthday cakes, thumbs up!
Complexity: Easy
We had airport transfer which was not cheap again. We also booked the driver direct from the resort albeit somewhat more expensive then what could be found outside.
