Planning…
I am a big planner. I must say. I usually plan travels nearly a year in advance, and partly because I utilise the American Express Companion Voucher, but this trip was slightly different.
We initially planned the travel back in 2025 for March 2026. But due to the war, we have had to cancel and postpone the trip to September 2026.
Initially, we were due to fly with Qatar Airways via Qatar, but we have changed our booking to travel with Singapore Airlines via Singapore. This was my first travel with Singapore Airlines (see further below of my experience).
Itinerary
I can be a little crazy with planning with my travels, with every minutes acounted for on my itinerary most of the times, especially where there’s a lot to do and lots to eat, but this trip was slightly different with LOTS OF breathing space and lots of time to relax. After all, this was my proper holiday after almost 15 months. The only plan I did was a day trip (which my husband wanted to do), and a little surprise birthday treat I planned. Other than that, there was only airport shuttle, flights, hotels, and detailed research of where to eat in Bali.
Why Bali?
There were two things I wanted to do on this trip. Eat and relax by the beach!
Eating, as you can already tell from this blog, is a big part of me. It is something that keeps me honest. When I lived in Swansea, Wales, the very first restaurant that I visited was an Indonesian restaurant called, Garudas. After all these years, I still think this is the best restaurant I can think of when someone asks me where to eat in Swansea, and I make sure that I make myself visit there. But because of that experience, I just needed to eat more Indonesian food! I will definitely write about Garudas’s delicious food.
travel pre-cautions
Every research, every Youtube post, and every travel blog I reviewed before the trip talked about what’s known as Bali Belly, yes bad stomach caused by mainly poor water/hygiene. Especially everyone talked about “Do not get ice” and “Drink bottled water”.
I was also super conscious and risk averse, so we got Optibac tablets to help prevent the Bali Belly.
Verdict? I am not sure!!
I got a bad case of gastroenteritis on day 2 of arrival… But given the timing, it was definitely not Bali Belly.. After that, I did not have Bali Belly. But I felt everyone talks about Bali Belly so much that I almost felt that I was overly cautious and felt I missed out trying a little more exotic food (like street food). But I felt, unless you are eating/drinking from a street vendor that doesn’t look to have a good food practice, I think you can trust:
- Ice from proper restaurants/bars/hotels
- Cooked/hot food
Travel medical?
Well, one thing I can say for sure. Make sure to have a travel medical insurance.
I have a travel insurance with my bank, so I relied on this when I made a claim. Even with an excess, and Bali being very affordable in most things, the medical bill was still quite a bit – around GBP200+ for doctor’s visit, medications, and IV drips!
If you do need a doctor though, I highly recommend the 24 Hours Doctor by Travel Medical (#notsponsored) I was slightly skeptical especially not having a website, but this medical practice was 5 minutes from the hotel I was staying at, and it also had a ‘visit hotel’ option, which I felt I needed at the time, especially with the stomach issue. They arrived within 20 minutes, the doctor and the nurse observed, and prescribed IV drips (which I have never had before) with medications and as well as a suggestion for a follow up blood/stool test (too much detail!). The results were also returned within the day, as well as the medical report which I could use for the travel insurance purposes.
pre-departure Lounge?
We were flying an economy but we had a 3+ hours to kill at the airport so we opted for a paid for lounge, no1 Lounges at London Heathrow Terminal 2. Because we were 3 of us, and with a pre-booking, we had a nice booth kind of seating as opposed to the main areas where everyone sits together. The price was around 40 pounds so it is not cheap, but considering the food, drinks and water that you will need to pay at the airport, I thought this may not be as bad of a deal. Although the food quality and choices are a little questionable, option to select cremant as a drink is a good one. There is no shower so if you are looking for a shower from a lounge, this isn’t one.
Singapore Airlines
As I mentioned, this was my first ever flight with Singapore Airlines. I almost always fly with BA when I fly internationally, so it was a rare occasion where I flew with a completely different one. But I knew the good reputation of Singapore Airlines and it did not disappoint.
We flew ecomony outbound and because we were 3 of us, we selected the very last row of the forward cabin. This is definitely a good option as the seat still allows you to recline in full, but there’s noone behind you to bother.
We flew London > Sinapore > Denpasar and the first leg was on A380, and it was super quiet and felt quite roomy with 3-3-3- configurations. The second leg was on B787 dreamliner and it had the same seat config as the A380. The food was excellent – and the hot food was served on the shorter flight and it was served in this insteresting looking container but was piping hot.
When we flew back from Singapore to London, we took a premium economy seat which is set at 2-4-2 configurations. There was more than enough space and the seat came with a noise cancelling headphone, which I was quite surprised with. Another unique and really valued point is the availability of amenies in the bathrooms (also for ecomony) including the toothbrush. This, I thought, was a really great touch!
Another thing that surprised me was that the Premium Economy has an option of champagnes as a drink choice. Whilst I only had a glass as the flight left Singapore nearly mid-night, this made the experience extra special. The meal choice was also different from the economy and they were super tasty. Overall, I do think Singapore Airlines’s Prem Eco products are worth the money especially for the return leg where we felt we needed to rest a little bit more.
One thing I bought & brought on this trip was the Sarisun’s travel pillow. I never really thought about getting this but after reading raving reviews and me being a terrible sleeper on an airplane, I gave it a go. I must say I will be carrying this all the time!
Hotel
When we looked at the hotel prices and places we wanted to stay, we immediately found 3 hotels in Bali which we wanted to stay.
- Desa Potato Head Bali
- Courtyard by Marriott Bali Seminyak Resort
- Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach By IHG
Potato Head is somewhere I would want to stay if I was going back to Bali again, but it was a little out of our price range (some review coming soon!) We initially booked Hotel Indigo for the March trip as it was booked well in advance and with a good discount, the price has gone up by almost tripled since that point so we looked at the alternative, which was Courtyard.
For the price at the time of booking, we were really happy with the facilities available – the room was clean and spacious with a daily house keeping, free bottled water, and a welcome drink on arrival. There were also some fruits when we arrived. The breakfast had a really good selections including lots of pastries, waffle/pancakes, usual breakfast spread, fruit juice and fruit area, and all sorts of Indonesian cuisine with some specials on the day. There is a pool in the middle which also has a bar with daily happy hour almost all day! There is a good gym facilities and also an in-hotel spa (although I didn’t try the spa). I would definitely recommend the hotel.
Thank you for reading
Look out for the next blog on where to eat and other things we did in Bali!
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