padma resort bali
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Wearing: Gorman sea spray silk top | Gorman Caught in a Net skirt | Le Specs Neo Noir sunniesI don't know why it's taken me so long to make my way to Bali, but I'm so glad I finally did this December. With Bali being the top travel destination for Australians, I've always felt like I had been there through living vicariously through all the images I see of it online. So when Tom & I finally set out to plan our time in Bali, we had so much stuff we wanted to do and see, but so little time to fit it all in. Our first stop was in Legian, a slightly less but definitely still touristy town near the west coast of Bali, right in between Kuta and Seminyak. We were so lucky to be hosted at the beautiful Padma Resort, which was number #1 on TripAdvisor in Legian and rightly so! It was my first time staying at a resort of any kind and I now see why people can never seem to bring themselves to leaving their villas at all. With a door opening right out to the beach, endless buffet food at almost every hour of the day, massive swimming pools and beach huts at every turn of the corner, Tom and I spent so much fun exploring the resort during our time there. And Legian was also the perfect base for venturing out on the days where we felt like leaving our little comfort zone at Padma.I get a lot of questions when I go travelling about places we stayed at and the things we enjoyed doing so I personally thought I'd put together some information that I would be helpful should you ever decide to plan a few days in Legian. This is little bit different to my usual photo filled travel posts because I sense this post is going to start becoming very wordy (and of course, full of photos too!)Thank you Tom for helping me capture these images with me & thank you Padma, for such a lovely stay and for a resort filled with such friendly, smiling staff. Also hello to the two sweet girls working at Padma who follow K is for Kani!
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STAY: There are a heap of room options to stay in at Padma to suit a variety of budgets. We stayed in a Garden Club Chalet & our room was located at no #3 on the map. Our room had a garden view and so was surrounded by luscious greenery whilst still being easy access to all of the resort's facilities including the Tenkai Japanese restaurant which was just opposite and also, the two pools. The room package also comes with complimentary breakfast buffet at Don Biu restaurant, as well as complimentary afternoon tea at the Garden Club lounge (3-5PM) and complimentary cocktails & light dinner refreshments at 5PM-7PM daily. There's also complimentary drinks and light snacks available at the lounge during all hours of the day as well. Basically the Garden Chalet Lounge is where you'll want to be 24/7. So I would definitely recommend this room (or a room with similar benefits) for a foodie - you won't be disappointed because it's got Tom's seal of approval and he loves food! (maybe even more than me?)
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Buffet breakfast at Don Biu restaurant, followed by food coma (not pictured)
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Poolside essentials: RUBY straw hat | Westward Leaning sunnies | Kosmea rosewater mist spray | Bared wattle sandals in mint | Dior Vernis Lili(I'm going to have to declare this nail colour my absolute favourite for right now and probably a long while to come)
The lagoon style pool: It's a tough choice which pool I liked best at Padma but if I really had to put my money on one, I'd vote this one because of its incredible built in bar and beautifully built jacuzzi pool. You can actually also stay in one of the incredible rooms right next to the lagoon pool - the lagoon access room - and be able to wake up every morning and well, swim out the door!
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Wearing: ASOS prism print floaty bikini top (matching bottoms here) | Gorman Caught in a Net skirt
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Left: Grand doors opening up into the Presidential Lounge. Right: Balinese offerings to the Gods. A large majority of the Balinese people are Hindu and these baskets made daily and out of banana leaves give the Balinese sidewalks a very distinct and homely feel. I found these ones just outside a temple in Padma.
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(Top left) wearing: Lilya Lana dress | ASOS Sleeping Cat bag | Le Specs Neo Noir sunnies
(Bottom) wearing: Gorman lobster print dress | Gorman holiday necklace(aptly named haha) | Bared wattle sandals in mint | Le Specs hermosa sunnies
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Breakfast & the inside of Don Biu restaurant. This restaurant and also Tenkai Japanese restaurant hosts daily theme dinners which are a fun way to end the day. Tom & I went to a Japanese (surprise surprise) teppanyaki theme dinner where you pick out your dinner and the chef cooks your food in front of you. I had the best tuna sashimi salad there. Yum yum!
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Left: RMK sandals (I'm getting a lot of questions regarding these - unfortunately they're an older season design but you can find somewhat similar here & here!) & Padma Spa by Mandara. This is the luxury spa on site and you can book in for a heap of different treatments. We booked in for a frangipani body glow and ultimate indulgence package and both are highly recommended. Though I love body wraps so I am somewhat biased. These are packages and include a few different treatments in one big session. The rose petal and frangipani bath is definitely a signature Balinese thing and the traditional Balinese massage is definitely a must try! Right: being tempted at breakfast at Don Biu.
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Horizon watching from Padma. Behind is the main swimming pool.
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Do: from the main swimming pool you can order drinks straight from your deck chairs and beach huts. All you have to do is raise the orange flag and a waiter will literally walk to you to take your order. Tom & I had a good laugh about this before proceeding to exploit this service haha.
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Left: Motel Mexicola. Right: Dreamcatcher shop on Jl. Legian
Venturing outside of the resort: I thought I'd also put together some things you can do outside of the resort for those who like to do a little exploring as well!
1) Shop: Head down Jl. Padma & Jl. Legian. There are a heap of little shops right outside the resort selling all the popular things you can find in Bali including traditional batik fabric clothing, friendship bracelets, wooden and woven jewellery, dreamcatchers and woven bags. I wanted to buy a new dreamcatcher in Bali and was so excited to uncover a store specialising in them. When you turn the corner from Jl. Padma and head down the north-west side of Jl. Legian, there is a beautiful dreamcatcher store filled from floor to ceiling with dreamcatchers in every colour of the rainbow. Just opposite on the same street there is a beautiful store selling wooden jewellery with tree pendants and the like.2) Eat: If you ever find the need to leave the resort and its abundance of food, Warung Yogya is just around the corner (literally) and serves traditional Indonesian food for a few Australian dollars per dish. There's also freshly squeezed fruit juice which from memory was only about 80c per juice! They make one of the best Gado Gado dishes I've had in Indonesia!3) Watch the sunset: As the west coast of Bali is famous for their sunsets, Legian Beach makes for a beautiful place to enjoy the view in the evening. You can either check out the sunset from inside the resort (there's some beach chairs facing the horizon and beach at Padma) or right on the beach (there's a back door leading you right to the beach). It was so unfortunate that during our stay we didn't manage to witness a Bali sunset with fiery red skies due to the rain, though we did manage to catch quite a few at Lombok (post coming soon!). But that said, the Legian horizon is endless so I could only imagine how incredible the view would be.4) Headout: Seminyak (and Kuta) is only 10-15 minutes away by taxi and are great places to take a trip out to see what else is happening around. We took a ride to Seminyak to check out Motel Mexicola (thank you for those who suggested we visit, it was so lovely, especially the decor which I unconsciously and accidentally matched my outfit too haha!) and on the way back, walked by some market stalls in Seminyak to do some browsing.
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You made it to the end! I hope you enjoyed this monster post (let me know what you think in the comments also of this format of presenting my travel diaries?) Anyway, apologies for the absence over here - it's been such a busy month with uni exams, travelling, shop stuff, errands and whatnot and I can't believe how long it's taken me to update. I hope everyone has been having a beautiful December and I hope you all have the most amazing Christmas. More travel posts coming soon and thank you everyone for such an incredible 2014! Thank you everyone also for sending through all the lovely suggestions of places to visit and things to do on our holiday. We can't wait to share our next stop with you soon!You can check out my Instagram posts in Bali by searching #kisforkaniinBALI on Instagram here. Sending lots of love to each and every one of my beautiful readers,Connie Shop my Legian suitcase here:
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