Home Thoughts

We will return though possibly it will be  just the two of us.  We were talking to a friend yesterday when we went to collect our mail. Lots of fond memories of the trip.
Bali certainly gets under your skin.
I've no real idea why as neither of us like hot or humid weather.
It's certainly not the shopping as I hate bargaining and so does hubby and we aren't big shoppers. As hubby said to our friend, "You leave the air-conditioned room and for the first 10 mins it feels a bit warm but you are fine. By the 2nd ten minutes you are starting to think it's a bit too warm and the your brain starts to fry and if  you try to bargain with someone, you can't think straight. You can't make rational decisions."
You are at a total disadvantage. Of course they have been bargaining since they started to speak and we arrive and expect to do well after a few days. It certainly has to be said that you have to take with good humour whatever bargain you finally strike.

But we do love that in 3 1/2 hours from the airport in our homeland we can be in a totally different environment. A completely different culture. Now that we have left the city it takes us 2 1/2 hours to get to the airport so it's most of a day gone traveling up, waiting at the airport and then the flight.
We only went for 7-8 days but coming home it feels like an age has past. You really feel like you've been on  holidays.
Would I go for longer? Most definitely, Yes! But I'd want to get away from Sanur. Up into the  mountains perhaps.
Would I go for a shorter time? Yes but nothing less than 3 days.
Walking, eating, relaxing. Total escape.  Loved the complete change from our normal life.

Temples and people to meet

Tuesday  :
Last night we went to bed early. Doing nothing much can be tiring. I think the weather is really starting to wear us down  as it seems warmer than last year in August.
Up early. ( I wake at 5am again) Read some posts on the BTF check my emails and double check the places we are to go today. I forget to transfer my last blog page info over the to the BTF. I'll do it tonight I think.
We are breakfasted and all organised by 8. Today we are to meet Wayan who is to be our driver today. I've asked about going to the Lake Temple, Goa Gajah and to The Mother Temple at Besakih.
We head out to the front at 8.30 hoping to sneak in a coffee before we go but Wayan is there already. So introductions over we chat about our hoped for trip.  The lake Temple is ruled out as it is in a different direction ( drats! maybe next time)  He suggests instead that on the way back we stop near Klungkung for lunch and the go to the Kings Palace and see the museum there.

Off we set. Chatting about the villages we go through. The wood cavers, silver smiths, stone carvers etc.  Eventually heading away from the towns and up into the mountains. We compare driving rules in Australia to Bali. Explain that all motor bike riders must wear helmets. That all drivers must be 17 at least.  Even if just going to school. He is convinced our eldest of 15 1/2  could be riding a motor bike. He is tall. He's about 175cm ( 5'9 at least) He tells us that helmets are fairly strictly enforced if you go into a large town or cross the bypass but for local riding  no one worries. I see lots of very small children wearing beanies, somehow I doubt this will help much in the event of a crash. At least locally the cars tend to stick to under 40 kms most of the time and its not uncommon to see cars going at 20-30 kms an hour. I've been watching the speed dials on the taksi's we've been taking. I explain that to go to work I travel 60 kms each way. Wayan is amazed at this. Then I tell him I usually drive at 100- 110 kms all the way there except in the towns I pass through.   He can't imagine that.  He asks why I don't use a motorbike and I explain I  have o watch out for timber trucks. He points at a small van. "Like that one? he asks. I use the small van  as a base size and explain at least twice as tall and threes times as long.  He keeps repeating, "120 kms for work?" He can't quite believe it.

 Soon we are at Goa Gajah.  he gives us instructions on what to do at the ticket sellers and if we choose to accept a guide, what to pay. 20,000. Youngest son and I are wearing 3/4 shorts so just to be correct we wear sarongs as well as a sash. Eldest glares when the sarongs come out. He is worried he'll have to wear "a skirt" too. He is being difficult today. Doesn't want to be here out in the sun and on a "family" outing. he's till mumbling about going home tomorrow, feeling hungry, it being hot. etc. Husband and Eldest are given a sash to wear.





We walk past the inevitable stalls selling goods to the ticket counter. There is a man nearby with a big python trying to tempt everyone to have a photo with the python.  I notice the python's mouth is taped shut with clear tape. Tickets bought. We pay for 3 adults and one child. (Can't remember the price now but  later I can ask hubby.) and then are directed to some steps going down. 
 We go down the steps ( photos to be added) and it not the first part of the temple. A guide comes up. Telling us he is there to explain about the temple. He tells us that some people pay him 4 or 5 to guide him. We've been told by our driver to pay him 20,000 at the end of the tour and no more. We are shown around the various sections of the temple.  There is both the remains of a Hindu temple completely destroyed in the early 1900's ( 1917?  1907?) and further down a Buddist temples which was also destroyed at the same time.
We visit the cave.  More pictures, though I'm not sure how many will turn out as I try turning my bi foclas upside down so that I can focus the camera. 
There are 2 bathing areas in the  centre of the temple grounds. One was for males and one for females to wash themselves in before praying. Now people  sometimes wash their hands for luck. We decline. We'd be using all our hand sanitiser up afterwards. There are some huge black koi in the water and some smaller light coloured ones. As we watch one of the  big black koi has a smaller one for lunch.  The other black ones become quite worked up about this and there is quite a stir in the water. I don;t fancy putting my hands anywhere near the water.Have photos taken and then wander down more steps to the site of the what was the Buddhist temple. Everything is slightly overgrown, green and lush..  There are small rice pools and a good few steps. My knees are not thrilled. At one stage doing up a big step I trip. and fall. Fall 2 of our trip. I am trying to save my camera which is round my neck. Our guide undoes my sarong and sash, checks to see if I have hurt myself   and then folds up the sarong. Oh dear. I'm not sure what  the story is. Am I in trouble? Will I get them back? We are still heading down towards the buddhist temple. Later I realise he was checking I was wearing long enough trousers. That I didn't really need the sarong. But I'm not sure why he didn't leave me with the sash. 

At the end of our visit we hand over our 20,000 to the guide. He is not impressed. I hand him another 20,000. I'm not going tot tell Wayan we gave in. 
Back up to Wayan and the car. Past all the sellers and time for some water. Wayan checks that it was ok. "Did we have a local guide?" Yes we say, but of course don't tell him about the extra Rp paid.





It's off to Besakih, The Mother temple.  There are to be many steps. I take some extra panadol with my water. Through more small villages , we see many signs for spices, kopi luwak( I explain to hubby and the boys about this, though eldest claims he already knows)As we get further up into the mountains  parts of the road are missing. Just small 10 m or so sections where  there are huge ditches in the road where rain has washed it away. . Eldest continues to grumble. We are getting good at ignoring him.
We stop part way for some photos. Looking down at Lake Agung?. Wow. We have come so high I feel my ears pop several times. ( pics to come)We discover that the batteries in both the point and shoot cameras are useless.  Despite being fully charged  they are claiming to be flat.  Youngest gets off about 5 shots before they refuse to work.

 

As we near the temple at Besakih we need to pay for parking. 15,000 each. Not for the driver. Just us tourists.  We park, with market sellers around us and our driver, Wayan takes us up to the guide desk. There are several men there. He negotiates with them to makes sure we pay the correct amount. Then  calls over one of the guides who is still across  in an open pavillion.   I should have taken a photo.
Soon our village guide. Made  is walking us up the slope towards the temple. OMG steps! not a few.  hundreds.  I groan.

The guide tells us about the various temples without the complex. The ones for the royal family. The ones for locals. We'e already been told about the different sarong colours.  (Black and white good/bad)  yellow and white for ( argh can't remember) Batik sarongs for those who have business or work in the temples. Sorry if this is not correct. My main focus was the steps. I didn't want to trip or fall again. Up and up we go, and then Up some more. 1000 ft. we stop.

The views are amazing.  More steps.

"We go to the top?" says Made. Hmm. More steps. "Just a slope," he says. "Ok". Up we go around a corner and more slope. But there are more steps!.  Made laughs.  Not for me. Eldest is complaining again. His stomach hurts. He sits with me and youngest and hubby follow the guide up, up up. They take the camera with them.

 Eldest mumbles more about his stomach. He's not sure if he is just hungry or if it's something else. I tell him we are going for lunch next.  it's 12.40. In my bag I have some emergency Mylanta and Panadol and Immodium. I begin to think we might need to use something.

Youngest and Hubby return and Made starts to lead us back down the hill. He does suggest further temples in the forest behind us but we decline. Down, down and finally back to Wayan. My knees have had enough.

It's time for some lunch. Hopefully that will fix eldest's stomach.

Down a bumpy track and past some homes. We see many people making bricks for fence walls. I explain to Wayan that in Australia people mostly  use tin for their fences not often stone or bricks as it is too expensive.

Soon as are at the restaurant.  You are paying for the view of course. We invite Wayan to join us but he  tells us has already eaten while we are at the temple.

Once we are seated I offer eldest some Mylanta. and we go to get some food.  He isn't took enthused though and soon disappears to the loos. The rest of us eat.  There are a mix of simple asian dishes.  and chips. :)  youngest goes for some chicken, pork , white rice and chips.  We all try a few things. Afterwards I  try black rice which was done as a dessert for the first time. Nothing too exciting about it. I am more excited about the  salak's I see. So I have one and actually manage to convince youngest to give one a try. I think it might have been a little under ripe. But still it was nice to have one after so long.  Eventually eldest emerges. He's deathly pale. We finish our meal and decide to leave. We'll forgo the Kings Palace and get eldest home.

Eldest sleeps most of the way. I think it is just the  heat getting to him more than anything.

We see many jackfruit bagged in trees and for sale as well as durian during the journey down the mountain.

We pass some new parts of road that are being built in solid cement rather than normal tarmac. Wayan says that it will be additional road for the heavier trucks to use. 

We arrive back at the Gardenia and eldest heads for his bed. We all decide to have some quiet time. I want to finish the last few chapters of my book so I can start on the new one for the plane trip home.

It's soon 5 and eldest is feeling a little better. He wants to borrow the laptop.  I hand it over. It's the last I see of it until morning. I decide to go for one last walk and perhaps to do a little shopping. We check what money we have and decide not to go for one of the lounge areas in the airport.  I'm hoping Maria Fashions will be open.

Down past the taksi's, the street vendors, and  to Maria's Shop.  It's open but there have not had any more pants in. I look at some blouses and end up buying 3. They will be perfect for work . 125,000 each. I pay 360,000. She is fixed price. 

Back up the street again.  I get back to the G and find hubby in conversation with a bloke with a beer in hand. The bloke, not hubby.  It is Ron. "Bloody Ron" He's come to say hello and see who this person is who has been checking out his pub. :) It turns out that many years ago he lived about 35 kms from where we now live.  Was great to meet you Ron. I enjoyed our chinwag.

Several beers later Ron heads off home and we consider getting some tea. 

Eldest is feeling better and in need of food.A hamburger for him.  Youngest just feels like chips so he can squash in more icecream. 2 chicken snitzels for us. We are just about to tuck into our meal when there are more arrivals. Gloria and Ming the owners of the gardenia arrive. They are just back from Australia. So we get to meet them too.  We talk in general about the costs of life in Bali and running a business. Jsut casual stuff. Passing the time. They ask if we've enjoyed our stay. Will we return? Of course, we hope to some day.

We declare that the chicken snitzel has topped  our list of "must have" meals. She says, she is about to have the same.  We are left to eat our meals.Youngest decides to save some of his chips. We are leaving so early in the morning that we can't have our normal breakfast. We've been offered cake, museli, and drinks to take with us to the room.  Hubby and I opt for some pancakes and eldest chooses cake. He loves the chocolate cake, even managing to squeeze in a slice after his hamburger. I'm guessing he feels ok again. 

We all head back to our rooms. Time to pack, see if everything will fit in. Then perhaps a swim and one last coffee. We pack, I accidentally pack my bathers and can't be bothered digging them back out. The boys bring in all their gear that they don't need for the morning. We realise we'll need anther bag for our purchased shoes.

2 pairs of sandshoes, 2 pairs of lace up shoes and 2 pairs of boots. I send hubby for a bag. he doesn't want to go by himself but my knees have had enough walking, climbing. One bag later we are packed.

 Hubby and I go for one last coffee. 

I hope we will be back.

Looking towards the Gardenia. Left side of the road. Almost centre in the photo.  It's the place with the  white balustrade.

Monday 25th- Snitzel for breakfast, room service and shoes.

Monday 25^th

Another early wake up. I spend some time reading my book and soon it is time for breakfast. Youngest who missed dinner last night declares he is starving and wants chicken snitzel for breakfast. Off to breakfast we go and sure enough, he can have chicken snitzel.  After breakfast the boys head back to the room while husband and I have our morning coffee. He tried the strong and so do I.  Not much different to the medium really.  The coffee isn’t as nice as usual. I wonder if the machine is not quite right after yesterday’s problems. It’s still a good cup though.

Youngest and I were to have gone to Waterbom Park today but he has decided he doesn’t want to go. Now that our friends are not going until Wednesday he doesn’t; want to go with just me. He knows I won’t go on any of the rides and, as he said, it’s not as much fun by yourself. I don’t dare tell him I might have decided to be brave enough to try a ride this time. So now our planned day is unplanned.

  Hubby and I wander back to the room. The boys negotiate over laptop use and decided they’ll alternate between cable tv ( a real novelty for us) dvd’s, and the laptop. Hubby and I decide to take a walk. I hope to get another shirt and some cinnamon coasters for some friends who were to have come on the trip but couldn’t and he is happy just to wander and perhaps get a watch. We walk and walk and walk. Stop to look in some beach markets we’d been in last year. The sellers were quite pushy last year and at first I don’t want to go in there. But hubby talks me into it and I’m in.  We wander around and I find the coasters that I want and negotiate a price. Last year I bought 4 packets of them for 30,000 each. This year I’ve paid 40, 000 for one.  Fair enough I guess.  I wonder what I should/could have paid but it seems a good price.

We walk on. Crossing back and forth over Jl Tamblingan, looking in the shops.

 Maria Fashions is not open, to my disappointment. I would have liked to see if there were more colours in the pants I bought. Hubby looks at some dragon kites and asks how much. I have tried to explain to him before that it is not good to ask unless you are willing to bargain and buy but he wants an idea of cost for youngest who will need to bargain for one himself. Youngest is considering buying one for a friend who likes his kites he bought last year. He does try to explain to the seller that he is only asking for his son who will come later to look but of course the seller wants hubby to buy it now for him.   Last year we think he paid around 35,000 or 40,000  at the Sinduh Beach Markets for a bird kite,

We walk further on, check out the Casa Luna Menu and admire some carvings.

Hubby finds a place selling belts and we get a belt for eldest and then eventually a watch.  We walk on towards the Hyatt section of Tamblingan and eventually get a taksi  to take us to Hardys to do some money exchange for our trip tomorrow.

Then it’s back to the G. We are hot and sweaty and in need of refreshments beyond the water we had taken with us. I decide to make a good dent in the scotch I have left and catch up on some reading. Hubby takes the boys to lunch. When the boys return without him I decided to wander down to the coffee shop and order a pizza. They can  deliver it to the room so I settle down outside on the verandah and continue to read my book. Hubby returns, has a swim and I keep reading. My pizza arrived. It looks wonderful. Far more than 

 snack size though.

I continue to read for a while and then decide to head for another foot massage.

Money sorted, I’m not taking extra this time.

Off I go around the corner to Ani’s.  When I get there I find she is busy, it will be about 30 mins before she is free.  There is another person waiting outside for her friends. We have a good natter and it turns out it’s “Barlee” another BTF poster.

We compare notes on places to go, Taksi fares and the G’s lemon meringue. Both of us feel it is missing it’s lemon bite. J

I have my massage. This time it is not Ani’s but her young assistant. Her name is Komang. Her massage is a little harder than Ani’s  A little bonier in the fingers I guess but it is still good. She works a little more on the left side of my left calf muscle than Ani does and  really works out some knots and a blockage. It feels much better  but I prefer the way Ani massaged my feet.  Hmm half and half. Komang is 19 and from a place about 20 kms away. He English is not as good as Ani’s but she is keen to chat. To practise her English. I find out she has 2 older sisters who are both married and have two children each. I ask about what age most people get married and if she understood me correctly she said 20. I comment that perhaps she will be married in one year too. She giggles. Komang tells me she earns 350, 000 a month. I think she also says she works every day but then she says something about Wednesday she is not working. So I’m not sure if that’s every Wednesday or just this one coming. She tells me her poor English is because she did not go to school as her parents did not have the money.

Yesterday we also discovered that the different taksi companies pay different rates to the drivers.  The Bluebird drivers get 30% of each fare and one of the other companies, It isn’t Bali taksi but I didn’t catch the name. (It also started with “b” ) pays 50%

My massage is soon over and I go to pay. I’ve brought the wrong money and hurry back for more $. Thank goodness it’s not far. I feel most embarrassed.

Back at the room youngest is hungry for a dinner but the rest of us are not. We decided to sit and keep him company while he eats yet another chicken snitzel.  Coffee and chocolate cake seems like a good idea.

We head back to the room for a short while and then it’s time to head out for our shoes and to get a little more money as we’ve forgotten to allow for dinner tomorrow night and departure taxes.  If we have Rp left when we head home we can always spend it on the plane or in the dutyfree back in Perth. Shoes are collected, eldest is very pleased with his new shoes and the repair to his old ones. We head into Hardy’s. The security on the door for the first time doesn’t check out bag. They are too busy chatting as we go through the scanner. Youngest and husband go up to the top  floor and sort out his watch problem.  It has started to play up and needs a new battery.

Eldest and  go into Periplus. I want to buy a couple more books. My stomach is rumbling ominously. Oh no! Hopefully it’s just the rich cake I had before we came out.

We complete our purchases and head for the road looking for a taksi. Home to the room. My tummy still rumbling.

I definitely don’t fancy dinner and neither does hubby. We are both full from the cake. Eldest decided to copy my earlier move and orders the snitzel for room delivery.

Eventually my stomach settles down.

Seems it was just the cake but for a while there I thought our Tuesday trip was going to be in jeopardy.More pictures from the Gardenia.

Sunday 24th Cappucinos, Music shop wash out, Ducks Nutz, A new driver to find

Awake just after 6.30. Yippee. I'm finally starting to sleep in. Yippee. Always works like this when I'm on holidays. By the time I can sleep until almost 7 it will be time to go back to work.

Today  our plans are fairly non existent expect to collect  or at least check on our shoes and boots tonight.
We are all a bit slow to get organsied today.  Hubby suggests a coffee as it has gone 7.30 by the time we are ready to leave for a walk. I tell him to go ahead as I type up my Saturday post.  When I eventually go to coffee shop he is still wait for our coffees. It seems there is a problem with the machine. ( first time ever) Oh no!

We have some iced water and decide to head back and make the boys get up for breakfast. meanwhile Hubby has been talking to one of the waiters and was told it is a Hindu Holy day.  A water holy day.  it explains the massive amount of motor bikes going past with whole families  crowded on. They've all been to the beach.
Perhaps not a good morning to go down there says hubby who isn't keen on crowded places.  ( in my mind I can imagine it might be interesting. Oh well) Yesterday we wandered past a small beach ceremony. At first it looked like a young couple were being blessed but then when we walked back I noticed they had a small child on the males lap. It was Saraswati day, ( day of learning ...) Or perhaps something to do with the age of the child. I would have loved to take pictures but I become acutely aware of being an  onlooker and an outsider and I feel like it would be intrusive especially as there is already a couple ( western) standing very close to the ceremony and looking on. We step away a little and watch for a short time.

Back to Sunday.

We go to breakfast and thankfully the coffee machine is working.  We have breakfast then stay for coffee as we usually do. No real plans, just relaxing but I do need to ring our driver today and try and organise a day trip. last year our driver Ketut took us to Kintamani and the Sukawati markets and  to the Elephant Safari park at Taro/ He also took us to a wholesale type shop and we enjoyed walking around without being hassled. the prices were good. and we liked the idea of heading back there. 

 

Back to the room and

 I research and make a list of the places we want to go. The G staff have been in and our bed is nice and tidy with the cover folded down.

I  practise pronounciation( I'm shocking)  and ring Ketut. But he is not available.  Time to post on the forum and ask for help.

 By this stage it is also 12.  

We certainly don't feel like eating so decided to go for a short outing to the Yamaha Music Shop, (Toms Music) on the By pass road. Youngest would like a guitar strap. ( Actually he wants one like mine but given it is over 40 years old I doubt he'll ever find one the same so if we can find a nice one I'll give him mine.)  we aren't sure if  Toms is open because yesterday Hubby had noticed it looked boarded up.   Out to the road and we head towards JL Tamblingan to find a cab. We decide we'll ask the taksi to wait for us as we aren't sure about grabbing a taksi from there. The driver seems to know where we want to go so Hubby and I head off. Youngest has elected not to come as he's hooked on something on the tv.   

We don't realise how far it is.  Pretty much all the way to Kuta and the Galleria and it is boarded up so we get the driver to drop us off at the Galleria instead.  Not sure yet if it is the only place called the Galleria. There seems to be a big Duty free building and a hypermarket and a Martaharis.  On doing some more reading when we get home I discover there is a Centro Galleria. Perhaps this was different. I'll have to investigate. We have a good explore anyway and after an hour decide to head back to the G for lunch. Lunch at the G. It's close on 2 o'clock.

Snitzels and burgers for all. Eldest and I try the iced chocolate drink. beautifully icy with a nice big lump of vanilla ice-cream in it.

 
 Time for a lie down  and to read my book. I pass on the idea of a scotch and coke knowing full well there is at least 1/2 a bottle to go. Oh dear. I'l have to have a few tonight.  I should know better by now than to buy a big bottle of  booze  duty free. Time is getting on. Almost 4 and I wanted to check out the live music at the Ducks Nutz and we need to get some money exchanged just in case they are ready tonight.  We hurry, just hubby and I. If we like the Ducks Nutz we will come back for tea with the boys. Around the corner down
Jl Tamblingan until we reach the Sanur Beach Hotel  and then a little further, taksi's seem to be a bit scarce today.


Finally we get one to take us to the Circle K opposite Hardy's for money exchange. We change money , cross the road again and grab another taksi to the Ducks Nutz. It's small, people seem comfortable and I suspect pretty much everyone there is Aussie except the staff. It's not rowdy. Or at least not at 5pm.
There is one guy wandering around who looks "in charge." He's watching /working the room, checking everyone is ok. Chatting to the staff etc. Hubby wonders if it is Ron. But I don't think he is as I have a vague memory of seeing a photo of Ron.  He comes and says hello and shakes our hands, I don't catch his name and ask, "Are you Ron?"   He's Bill. The other owner of the Ducks.  Keeping a close eye on the place and making sure everyone is happy.
I am enjoying the guitarists..The place is comfortable, prices are good and we'd happily come back for a meal without the kids. Youngest would complain about the smokers as it's a small place and it was rather warm.
 We finish our 2nd drinks, pay the bill and I make a point of saying good bye to Bill and thanking him.
Time to head back to the G.
I check my emails and the BTF and discover a list of driver suggestions.  I pick one and make a call.  Driver organsied for Tuesday. phew. Break the news to eldest that he HAS to come on a family outing on Tuesday.

Youngest by this time is keen for a beach walk so we head down and walk around near the Mercure on the beach. Youngest is looking for someone to play beach chess but it is too late in the day.  Last year he had a game with a non english speaking passerby who we guessed was staying at the hotel. he beat him. Youngest is a reasonable player. Top at his small school and when we came last year he was a bit sad that he was missing out on a tournament his  school was in. We suggest he comes back tomorrow a bit earlier and that he might find an opponent.

We wander the beach, past Cafe Kessuma.  The place is fairly crowded. I take a few snaps with my phone. Enjoying taking photos on my good camera using my bifocals has defeated me and when I inquired at the optometrist in Hardys about reading glasses I was told 2 days. Almost going home time.

We head out to get the shoes and boots. They are not quite ready. some final touches to my boots which look a bit more bikie boot than girlie girl boots but with size 11 extra wide feet they are not too bad. I'm happy.
We organise to collect them the next day.
Eldest's new shoes look almost identical to his old ones. We'll compare them tomorrow when we have both to look at.
Then it's back to the G for tea. .We get back and youngest who stayed behind is too tired for dinner but the rest of us are determined to eat. I have my green curry. yum!

Swim time!
Then it's back to the room.
It's about 10.30 I'm yawning. I can't face a scotch and coke tonight.

Saturday 23rd- Beach walk again, Sinduh markets, Kori's in Kuta for a 50th Birthday

Saturday.
Woke before 4 but managed to stay in bed until 6.00.dozing on and
off.  Got husband up and we went for a wander down to the beach. Another nothing much day as we have a big birthday night out in Kuta tonight for a good friend.
Spent about 80 mins wandering the beach this morning. Took a few photos and found Cafe Kesuma which we had obviously passed last year and not seen.

Then it was back for a pre breakfast coffee and then
on  collecting the boys some breakfast.  Toast, bali breakfasts and
pancakes later we break the news to the boys that they don't have to
come out until tonight.
Back to the room for showers and to get ready.
We are heading to the top end of Sanur, starting with a taxi to the Duckz Nuts and then further up.  Before the turn off to the beach road and markets we see the local markets we'd wandered into last year.  I'd bought some nice sari's there for my MIL who uses the material in her craft and sewing creations. We decided not to go in this year. The sellers were quite aggressive and to be honest we really aren't interested in buying. Not worth the aggrevation.

 Looked for a hairdresser I'd heard about but didn't see it.  Hubby says he wishes he'd found a shirt that says, "If I wanted a @#%$@! taksi, t-shirt, massage I'd ask for it!" I suggested  a t-short with a picture of a taksi on one side  and a t-shirt on the other with a ghostbusters type No sign through it.
I can understand why they are like it.  Business is everything.

Yesterday I had a bit of a  conversation with our taksi driver on
the return from Kuta. He said at the time of the 2nd bombings he was
working in a hotel. But after that there was no work. Bankrupt!  so
he was able to get work as a taksi driver.  Gede, a Balinese  man
from Sengarra<sp> he goes home about every 6 months for family
business.He said althought it is much better than then, business is still
quiet compared to the busy times. Bali needs the tourists. otherwise
they can not survive. sadly, we tourists are also a curse. So many
road sellers from Java who come because there is money to be made in
Bali, they find it difficult to get other regular work. Everyone is
trying to make money for their families.  Bali is groaning under
the weigh of rubbish and change.  We would love to be out of the
towns and away from the buy, buy rush and bustle.  Perhaps when our
boys are grown and can be left at home.



 Before we get to the beach markets we stop for a coffee at "The Glass House" coffee shop. The sign says, voted best coffee in Sanur, Trip Advisor, March 2011. We have to check it out.  We think we've found pretty darn good coffee where we are staying. We order cappucinos, medium. So we can compare.  The order takes a long time. Longest coffee making award says Husband.

The coffee arrives and it looks lovely.  Very decorative. As you can see below.  It is nice and  hot and looks very appealing. But I have to say the coffee itself was a disappointment.
It was also a lot more expensive than we would normally pay for ours.  57, 500.  We would normally pay
around 38.000Rp. I missed my cinnamon stick and pretty origami lotus napkin under the cup though hubby enjoyed having a spoon to stir with.

Took a photo of some creative brickwork on the way to the markets.   --------------------------->









Discovered Freyda leather just around the corner on the way to the beach. Sindhu <sp> beach.Have seen it recommended on the BTF. Down to the beach. gee it's hot walking in the sun.

Anyway we get to the beach markets and hubby goes in search of a shirt and I sit at the Tooties bar. I've never shopped at her fixed price shop, although last year I did go in there.

I sit in a chair on the beach and enjoy a cold coke while hubby investigates. Last year we had gone into the market and it felt close /claustrophobic at the back  of it. I didn't want to go in there this time.Hubby eventually has someone looking for a shirt in the "right" size and so returns to drink his coke while they look. Then we return, me ignoring sellers determined to get me into their shops.
He buys his shirt and we are off.  Back down the road to the main street to get a taksi back to the Circle K near Hardy's. Money changed , it's up a little today. 915,000 to the AUST 100 dollar. We decide to try out Cafe Batu Jimbar.  Things are a bit more pricey up at this end of Sanur. I guess more tourists means more $.

202, 000  hubby has a chicken breast fillet with carrots, peas and mash and I tried a beef rendang.  It came with a soup.  I did try the soup but could only eat a small amount of it. The rendang was delicious as was hubby's chicken.
This little ornament is a salt and pepper holder. I wasn't too keen to add any salt. I could see the finger marks from the last user in the salt in the little dishes. But I did like the little ornament.

Then it was into Hardys for supplies. Oreos, BBQ chips, water, cool drinks for us all, a few little bottles of dettol hand sanitiser( very cheap at around 90 cents a bottle) some dettol soap, shampoo to try out etc.

Time to head back to the Gardenia for scotch and coke and  lie down.

 Just returned from my first ever massage in Bali. Mind you I've only had 4 massages in my entire life before.  this one was for my feet and lower legs. Calves.  WOW.  my feet feel wonderful.  No swollen feet , sore soles or ankles.  80,000Rp for an hour of bliss with Ani. I will be going back!

Out to dinner to Kuta for our friends 50th Birthday dinner. We walk around the corner and decided to get one of the kajang's  from the men who constantly call out offering transport. He wants 100 ( 100,000Rp)  we say 80 or we catch a  blue taksi. We know it's too much but hubby likes the idea of riding with space instead of us being squashed into a smaller taksi as per usual.  he agrees( funny that). I'm in the front as usual, I get in and put my belt on. Hubby discovers none of them have seatbelts. There's grumbling but he isn't going to get back out.
 Off to Kuta we go.  Just before we get onto the Bypass Rd we see a massive amount of men streaming out of an alleyway and getting on to motor bikes. I look  and the driver laughs. Cock fight he says. They all go when the police come.  That explains the cocks I'd seen that morning on the road down to the beach. In separate cages. They seemed to be proudly displayed and I had wondered if there were still cock fights. Not my cup of tea.

To Kori's in Poppies 2 near the Legian end. Poppies 2 is directly across from the memorial.  We had left Sanur just after 6 and were there by 6.40. Nice timing.  However when we walked in  we found only 2 of our large party. ( family 2)  The rest had been delayed.  after 30 mins or so another part of our group arrived. ( family 3) Their news was not good. Family 4 were stuck. Their driver had told them to get out and walk. but he had taken them up a street my friend was not familiar with and they were not too sure exactly where they were. Eventually they convinced him into dropping them somewhere they knew.    The driver had already tried part way there to convince them to get out at the airport as he wanted to take another group from the airport. Despite them having booked him to go to Kuta. where they knew.  Not so good. with 2 children under 3 in tow plus 7 adults they had negotiated a fair price from Tanjung Benoa where they were staying to get to the memorial. Eventually they arrived. Not happy. the kids were pretty good despite the walk and everyone soon got into party mode.
Because we were a party of 24 we organised the bill to be bills. family 1, family 2, family 3 and family 4.
594, 000 was our bill. 1 aussie fish n chips which came in  white paper packages neatly sliced open. I meant to take a photo but was so hungry I got stuck into mine before I remembered., hubby had chicken cordon bleu and youngest, an american hamburger minus salad and onions.  4 sprites, 2 cokes and two sml bintang beers. Food was lovely and well presented. 
The place was lovely  and we admired  the beautiful ponds filled with Koi.  And the small bales/gazebos a much smaller dinner party could have sat at.  I would like to go back there again in a small group. BUT service was slow, despite there being many people working there, They have a huge amount of tables. Getting a 2nd drink was tricky. and getting the bill took quite some time.

We finally finish at around 10.
Some of the others were planning to party on but we wanted to get back to base.  Out into Poppies and back to Legian. The music was pumping, the streets were busy. I didn't feel comfortable there at all although it hadn't bothered me during the day yesterday. I wanted to get  away from the clubbing atmosphere. All I could think about was  a recent bomb attempt in West Indonesia 2 days ago.  So we headed away from the clubs and where it was a bit quieter found a taksi to bring us home.  The journey was .quick and cost around 55, 000 again.

Home to my book and a scotch and bed.

Bali 2011 Friday= Trip to Kuta, The Memorial, More DvD's

Woke early, no surprise there. The rain is very heavy. I woke several times during the night always to very heavy rain.
I wake up hubby trying to charge the laptop and find net access in the room but no luck with that. He suggests we to go to the beach but it's raining so we postpone. Seems a good day to explore Kuta. Maybe find a guitar strap with a Balianese theme, find the Kori restaurant in Poppies 2 were we are due for dinner tomorrow night, check out Poppies 1, maybe see some vaguely familiar sights from 20 years ago have another look around Garlic lane and see the memorial. And check out at least one large centre.  Discovery or Galeria.<sp>

We wander out and have breakfast then head back to the. Organise the boys for their day , at home base. Hooray for them. Show them how to use the mobile, give them instructions if anything to should happen
( hubby's idea), show them where the imodium and mylanta is. etc etc. Give them money for lunch which they will have at the Coffee shop.

Then it's off down the road, found out where our room neighbours go for massages. spoke to Ani. :) I will return and get brave enough for a first ever  foot and leg massage I think.
Down the road and round the corner as far as the Trophy Pub where we pick up a taksi to take us to Kuta.  Poppies 1. legian end we request.  20 mins later we are there. At least at Poppies that is but the beach end.
so we get out to walk the gang and head to the bali quilt place I'd read about on the Bali Travel Forum.

Trip, On meter cost $55, 400 Rp.  We wander along with Hubby half looking for a hawiian style shirt and maybe some more  billabong shirts.  Wandering along we get accosted to buy shorts so I say Billabong and there is a flurry. "Yes, Yes, we have billabong!" Soon hubby is embroiled  in some discussion over billabong t- shirts.  He comes out victorious. Prices are certainly better at Kuta but he has to watch the seller closely when he receives his change as the guy tries twice to give him the wrong change. 3 shirts for $155. 000Rp I take a couple of pictures with my camera and also a couple with my phone.

We walk further along and find Bali bedcovers and Guitars. Some nice guitars in the shop but the only straps are ordinary ones. I sense a market opening here.  Anyone?

  Out we go and head to legian. Turn left and cross the road. wandering at this stage but I know that further down is the memorial. (photos later) Time for a water stop.

We cross the road again and head up Poppies 2 to find Kori's and then really feeling hot we stop in for a juice and a coffee and a place on the same side of the road as Kos but closer to Legian. No idea what the place was called. But it was clean and cool. attached to some accommodation as well. the lady who served us was at least  6mnths preg.  very quiet. Sadly their coffee machine was not working. But we enjoyed our juice. Liked that they had a glass window where you could see their kitchen and them working in it.
saw a Circle K nearby but didn't like the look of it for money exchange. Back on to Legian and by this stage we were getting hot and sweaty. Found a Taksi and headed to Garli lane. Asked for Melasti street end but because of the one way system we told the driver to drop us at the Padma end.  Went passed the old bemo corner I remembered from 20 years ago and Kuta Kids. several times over the day.  (was wishing I had taken a picture of this corner all those years ago to compare. but I'm pretty sure I didn't) I'll have to dig out the photos when we get home.  We head up Garlic lane, really in need of Lunch by this stage but I'm determiend to  to get to the end first. hubby wanders along slowly , ovbiously less and less enthused. we stop at a dvd shop where  for 100, 000 you get 10 and 4 free. In Sanur it's 3 free. Called the boys to check on them.  With a struggle we find 14 dvd's. Zdown the road and neither of us can take the heat anymore. We jump into a taksi and ask to go to the Discovery  shopping center. So nice to be in cool aircon and wandering around. We decided to try the food hall after friends had suggested it.  Wasn't really our cup of tea.  I wish we'd had lunch back where we had the juice earlier. We were tempted by the New Zealand Icecream and had a small tub each. I scoop for 27, 000. This was the smae price as hubbys nasi gorenfg which looked prtty unattractiove. My ayam satay ( chicken satay) at least looked appealing, was tasty  and was 26, 000.  Had a quick gaze at breadtalk but  couldn't face anything there.
enough!
 Outside and into a taksi to come back to base.  Took a bit longer  than the morning trip due to the traffic and road works.  62,000 rp.

Found the boys in their room watchings Dvd's. Timne for a scotch and coke and read and rest for 30 mins.

Then its back to the coffee shop for cappucinos, youngest comes with us for chocolate cake and lemonade. The cafe is busy with the latest bus load of japanese/korean tourists having their afternoon tea.. We find a spot near enough to a power plug and enjoy our coffees.

I make a few posts on the BTF and begin this blog post.

 took a rest and uploaded phots then at 7.45 hubby insisted we have some dinner.
This was mine. I'd had a bit of the salad and about 1/4 of the snitzel by this stage. Chicken snitzel.  Delicious.

  45, 000 Rp plus tax.   for 3 of these plus a plate of chips, one coke, one lime juice, and 2 sprites with taxes the bill came to 222,915 Rp.
Hubby has gone for a walk. We've headed back to the room. Last year when he tried this he got offered all sorts of "interesting" things. I wonder what the offers will be this time.

Bali 2011= Day 3 Beach walk, Shoes ordered, Clothes

Thursday- 2^nd full day

Awake at 5.10am. Body isn’t really getting the idea that you are supposed to sleep in. Still it means it is peaceful. I can explore as soon as it’s light. By myself maybe. I wait until 6, fussing around and then fog up ( spray mosquito deterent) and wander out to the roadside. Everything is covered up at the coffee shop and it’s al;most cool.  Lovely, perfect. I head back to the room, switch on mobile phones so I can contact hubby incase of dramas, explain that I’m heading to the beach. He says he’ll come tomorrow if I say it’s nice today. By 6.30 I’m heading down the small roadway towards the beach. Camera at the ready. Can’t focus particularily well. Still getting used to the idea of wearing bi focal glasses and using an SLR.  It’s quite tricky. I have a few successful shots but more failures than successes. I’ll try again later.  I had been worried about dogs as last year I heard comments that there were a few dogs in the lane although we didn’t see any then. But there are none. I make it to the beach and wander down to the small stone pier? Sit down and try a few shots. I suspect they are out of focus. There is a lady on the beach with a puppy. It is on a lead.. A little bit closer is a black dog with a collar and lots of tags in evidence. No others.  I take a few snaps.  The  black dog comes over to sniff my bag, I guess for food.  I ignore it and it wanders off.  It has gone to play with the puppy which has been let off to play.  It has a red collar and a few dog tag. I notice the woman doesn’t seem concerned at all about the dog.  It certainly looked healthy enough.

  I think I’ve manage to txt hubby that I’m on my back from the beach. We really need to work out these cheap phones.

 I try for a few more shots.  One will be lovely if it is in focus.  I try for a few artistic shots looking up at a carving and end up with water up my nose. Ergh.

Back to the room. Time for a cappuccino and then we’ll wake the boys for breakfast.

After a quite cappucino with Hubby  we have breakfast. I love the marmalade they give hubby with his eggs/tomato/toast breakfast. I wonder if I have just toast if that is the "jam" I would get.
Eldest is getting grumpy as we are having trouble connecting to the free wireless and I'm getting a bit grumpy because he keeps borrowing my iphone which is still connecting fine. ( we discovere later that the password is not what we though, which is odd as I had put in the old password for my phone and it connected.) They seem to have boosted the signal and it shows up as two different wireless connections when you go to find the wireless signal.

After breakfast we head back to the room for a short lie down and to get organised.. My right knee is still giving me a bit of trouble from the fall  at Hardys yesterday. Hopefully some painkillers will help.
Then it's time to wander down the road and grab a taksi to the Bali Pub which I figured was somewhere  the drivers would know and which is close to Jinggo Leather. and some friends. We stop and bargain for a few fedora type hats for son  and friends.4 hats later ( 200, 000 rp)
Boss man is there. at the Leather shop.Yippee as his english is reasonable. He gets his offsider to measure eldest and we discuss his shoes to be made, make an arrangement to have his old pair repaired which he says he can do and then I organise some boots for myself. I have pictures.  I seem to have ordered 2 pairs. I hope they are good. I'm nervous as 20 years ago when I last had shoes made in Bali they weren't such a success despite the shoe maker being brilliant at jackets .also have a good reputation for making shoes. My killer, large, wide feet weren't something they were so used to back then.    Hopefully this time we'll be ok. Sons shoes will be ready Saturday and mine Sunday so we've agree to collect all on Sunday night. Plenty of time if corrections need to be made,
Meanwhile Hubby and youngest have wandered down the road to Sunrise 2  a DVD/music/games shop to look for some dvds to watch. All to keep the boys entertained if we want to wander out without them in the afternoons.Though this year with cable in the rooms there are 60 channels for them to watch anyway. Youngest has a book or two, plus they both have DS's. And then there is cake  waiting in the coffee shop always waiting for them if they want out of the room, or the pool.Eldest and I finish at the leather shop and head to the dvd place via Hardys once more. He wants more coke and I want a quick peek in the dvd shop within the Hardys building and then we join the others at Sunrise.60 dvd's later we are done.  some music but mostly movies. The girls have ruled out a few as poor quality and replaced them with the "just in" better versions.  So far the boys have played a few and only found one that doesn't work well.
Then its back to the room to cool off and have some lunch.
No surprises there, eldest and Hubby have the fish and chips which as usual looks delicious ( decent sized serve) , youngest sticks to a large plate of chips and I have the peanut satay. small but well and truely enough.
 We stay and have coffee afterwards while the boys head back to the rooms to settle in for the afternoon.
Nap and book time.
Power goes out and on protest from the boys we decide it's time for our afternoon stroll. Hubby goes to see about the power while I get organised. When he returns the power has also returned. So it was only off for a short time..
Hubby and I go out for a stroll. He's looking for Billabong t-shrts but there doesn't seem to be any around.
Eventually he finds 3 and the best he can bargain for is 220,000. Later on our walk we ask at another store and they make a call and return with some but this time refuse to go below 100,000 each. Hubby won't budge on these as last year they were 50-60,000 each. 

I hunt down "Maria Collection" where i purchased some shirts and 3/4 pants last year. I find one pair in black.  no other colours atm. BUt some next week according to the man who was there insitead of Maria.  Fixed price shop. 135, 000.  Couldn't really push for a price cut since I was only buying one pair.

We head back to the Gardenia for coffee and cake. :) chocolate for Hubby Lemon Meringue for me. It looks lovely but doesn't have any lemon bite to it. I think I prefer the icecream that came with it but Hubby and the boys always love the chocolate cake. Back to the room, we are really feeling the heat now. There is someone in the pool reading. Boys tell us the power has been out for ages. but it comes back on while I'm grabbing my bathers.  The pool is lovely. Not cold but still refreshing. Eventually at 6.30 I'm prompted to get out for tea. Besides it's starting to feel a bit chilly! Hubby and I are determined to return to the Trophy Pub for enchalatas but weren't impressed with the boys food portions the night before. The boys voted for food at the Gardenia. Eldest had, yes, you guessed it. Fish and chips, and we managed to talk teh youngest into a chicken snitzel which smelt wonderful and which we convinced him to let us try. Very nice. On the list for tomorrow.
We had coffee while they ate. Then boys settled back in the room HUbby and I wandered down to the Trophy Pub for our meal. Meal took a long while to come but was worth the wait. around 181, 000 for two serves of 2 chicken encaladas with mexican rice and some crispy veggies. plus a sprite and 2 sml bintangs. Yum.
Time to wander back to the room to recover/rest.