The following is the 6 day account of DJ Dave (and his fiancé Janelle) from Komodo Music as he flies over to Bali for a client’s wedding.

Day 1-

Delayed for HOW LONG?!?!

Due to the APEC summit which was happening in Bali, our flight with Gaurda airlines had initially been changed and instead of leaving Perth at around 9am, they changed it to 2am in the morning. This was done months ago so there was no big deal. Janelle and I arrive at the airport at 10:30pm on the Tuesday 3.5 hours before our flight, and check in and wait around enjoying each other’s company. At 12:30am they tell us the flight has been delayed and that it wont be leaving till 10:30am that morning!Guess who was more than a little livid?!They paid for a taxi back to our place, we got 4 hours sleep, then got back in a taxi to the airport and FINALLY left Perth on our way to Bali.Upon arriving at the airport, we had the hotel taxi waiting for us and took us to the Kupu Kupu Jimbaran. It was a lovely hotel, really boutique and very personal.We were shown to our rooms, went down for our free afternoon tea. Unpacked, and then went to dinner at their restaurant on the beach (Good food, could use larger portions for the price). We walked back to our hotel room till Janelle found a massage place and left me to enjoy one of the perks of Bali- cheap costing massages ;-)

Day 2

Business and Shopping

Since this was not my first time to Bali, I already had a few contacts and the first was my good friend Mr. Bedu who runs site seeing and day driving. He would be our driver for the day and the first stop was to meet with Kirsty and Ben, the clients getting married and the whole reason we came. Janelle and I met with them at the AYANA Spa and Resort….it was beautiful. A 5 star resort on a cliff face, surrounded by stunning grounds and wonderful staff. Yes I can see why they might want to get married here! AYANA Resort We just did our final checks (as everything had been sorting previously in Perth) and they showed me where the reception and ceremony was to take place. We said our goodbyes and then left the hotel.Next was to make sure the equipment was all sorted.Now I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous. Even though PhenomManagement is a reputable company and recommended by the AYANA, you always hear stories of equipment failing, people not turning up, etc. My nervousness increased when the address they gave us was a half constructed house:-/But all was fine. The company was actually 3 doors down in a fully standing building and their warehouse boosted heaps of Light and audio equipment. After checking everything was in order we said our goodbyes and decided it was time for sightseeing, lunch and shopping. First stop was the “Silver Shop”. A beautiful building where you can see all how they create the jewellery and then you can buy it from the thousands of individual pieces they have. It was interesting to see but neither Janelle nor I are that much into silver so nothing was bought (although we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be next to these frogs) Silver jewelry making Couple with Statue Since we were almost there, Mr. Bedu took us to a special tourist stop where Janelle tired “Poo Coffee”. Yes that’s right, it’s a coffee made from the beans eaten and then pooped out by the Luwak. Very expensive in the States, it can go for well over $50US a cup, over here, you can get if for $15 a bag. Since I had already experienced this on a past trip, I let Janelle have her own "flavorsome" experience :-P Afterwards it was time to get something to eat. People drinking coffee Mr Bedu took us to a local Indonesian restaurant in Ubud and we enjoyed a lovely meal. We then decided to head down to the Monkey Forest where I bought some bananas and was attacked by monkeys (ok not attacked, but it was still funny)After buying some DVDs, we headed into the Ubud shopping district. Since this was Janelle’s first time to Bali I wanted to ease her into bartering rather than the craziness that is Kuta or Denpasar.The best part of me was when Janelle went to do her own bartering at got a sarong for 60,000Rp (about AU$5.50) and she was all pleased with herself only to discover a person around the corner with one selling at a starting price at 20,000Rp. I laughed, gave her a kiss, and told her it is not about how much you paid, but as long as you were happy to pay it at the time.After that were exhausted so we headed back to our hotel, said goodbye to Mr. Bedu, and had dinner on the beach at Intan Sari Café. If you ever find yourself in Jimbaran go there, the meal was only about $40 for 2 people and SO MUCH SEAFOOD!

Day 3

Rehearsal and a disaster dinner

We took it easy on Friday. We went down to the Bali Galleria (yes they have one of those) where we had lunch and did a little bit of duty free shopping and even managed to pick some stuff up for our wedding (wait and see ;-) ). I was scheduled to have a rehearsal with Kirsty and Ben at the AYANA at 3pm so we made our way slowly and I also met Dona from Bali Wedding Paradise and Iin (The wedding coordinator for the AYANA). Both were lovely ladies and we did the final checks regarding times and setup. Then Janelle and I hung by our pool back at the hotel till we decided we should think about dinner. Wedding Rehersal at the AYANA We got changed and went down to the lobby and asked the staff member if there was anywhere they could recommend for dinner (as we had done their beach house, seen the seafood restaurants, and wanted something different)Oh boy was that a leading question!They said they recommend this restaurant on this other beach about 15mins by car and they would get a car to pick us up for free. The driver arrived and took us to this place where there were heaps of restaurants, we got out and had a look at the menu and saw the prices were almost double the amount we paid the day before at the other restaurant and offering less food. We said we would like to look around but then they said we would have to pay the driver 40,000Rp (about $3.8) for taking us as the car was only free if we ate at that restaurant. After getting on the phone to our hotel and explaining my displeasure, we paid the restaurant and then waited almost 30 minutes for a taxi. All the other food places were offering the exact same thing at the exact same prices but they ALL wanted to barter on the price! It’s one thing to barter for a bowl, dress or wooden nicknac on the streets, but I do not want to barter for my meal.We returned back to the hotel, I gave the hotel clerk a piece of my mind, and then we went down to the restaurant in the hotel and had a romantic night in an empty restaurant with mood lighting and very good food.

Day 4

Wedding!

Well the wedding was here. I arrived at the AYANA at 11am and the crew started setting up the huge sound system and lighting display. As part of the cost I also had 3 operators there all night who made sure the levels were always good and controlled the light! Roadies Setting up Gear Everything was going smoothly till I opened my travel case to set everything up…. my Macbook charger was missingPANIC!!!!!!Even while writing this I have no idea where it went. I was not in any of my cases, I know it was packed before we left, and it was not at home (I have had a check) so I came up with the only logical explanation…Apple have ensured all their products have dissolving acid in all their devices which they randomly use to ensure your continued dependency on their products and buying of new parts…I hate you Apple, I really do!So since nobody had a charger and I didn’t want to risk leaving the hotel, I organised a driver to pick up one from the store and return it to me…US$130 later I had a charger with an American plug…TOO BAD BALI USES FREAKING UK PLUGS AND I HAD ONLY AUSTRALIAN ONES!! Luckily the hotel had an adapter and the rest of the night went swimmingly!

To check out just how well everything went, click here to see the wedding blog with all the photos of the night!

Afterwards I caught a taxi home into the loving arms of my fiancé.

Day 5

Last day in Paradise

Well the Wedding was over, so this was my official holiday with Janelle so we decided to head to Kuta to do a little bit more shopping. We were going to do Waterbom Park but decided we would save that for our next trip. We bought some more DVDs, had some lunch, and Janelle’s flip flops broke. Luckily being Kutu there were plenty of shops with them ready to be sold. After a bit of haggling I got her a pair for 20,000Rp. Janelle was happy thinking she got a great deal by only spending $20…till I explained to her that it only cost us about $2. Then she was over the moon and admired my haggling skills (Seriously, you think I can sell in Australia DJ Services, come to Bali and see me haggle then lol)We headed back to the hotel, packed our bags, had dinner, and had one more night together in a place we had over the past few days come to think of as home.

Day 6

Back to reality

The next day we said our goodbyes, got to the airport, arrived back home at about 5:30pm where the first thing I did was open my laptop to answer the emails awaiting my attention.