hi btf's, just spent 17 days in bali with my sister, niece and grand niece! arrived in bali on may 7, stayed 7 nights at bakungsari hotel, sharing a room with my sister and my niece! three beds in one room, oh so squeezy! we r all single, me 45, sis 50 and niece 33. we settled in, swimming and shopping. i usually go alone, so was an experience sharing a room with 2 people. after fighting who gets the two single beds or the mattress on the floor, we sort of got in a routine. because my sis n niece is vegetarian and me a meat eater, we eventually got into the eating. a couple of times i went to the local market to get my craving of sate kambing(goat). the week went by so fast. my sis had some older lady friends staying in bali, so we met them at tekor restaurant in seminyak. the age range was fm 60 to 75. after a few binnies, we decided to rent a kijang for the day and go out for the day to lovina and the buddist monestary near lovina. so me and my sis went out car renting. we finally got a kijang for 130,00rp for the day.
who cared about the rear tyre on the back seat, it will be alright we said. so we set out early the next day to get petrol and get the spare tyre put under the car where is was supposed to go. there4 was going to be 7 ladies in the car. so we found a roadside mechanic, just looked for the many signs for "benkol" on side of the road. it took an hour to put the tyre under the car, the tyre lever was bent, the man had to physically pound it out to a bend! ok, that all over, i asked my sis which hotel we have to pick the ladies up fm.
she said her friend said look for the sign of the hotel on the main road, on the way to seminyak. ok, about 2 hours later, we found the sign, not on the main road, but on a side street.
ok, because i am the driver, i am cool. we finally got everyone in the car, we r now on the way to lovina. yeehaa!
my sis was suppose to be the co driver, sit in the front seat and read the map, which road to go on. ok, so we have a pit stop, have a drink and a much needed ciggie! one of the ladies decided she wants to sit in the front seat. ok, because she complained of cramped legs, we let her sit in the front. so we r on our way, i see a sign, do i turn or go straight on? my sis was in the back seat, i decided to go straight! 2 hours later, small roads, going through villages, the locals seeing a kijang, blonde hair woman driver, 6 ladies in the car, looking lost! finally, after much turning, winding through mountians, i finally stopped at a police station. i speak indonesian(luckily) and asked where were we. after consulting our map, we were in west bali, nearer to gilimanuk ferry! we were suppose to be north. it was around 4pm, we decided to head back to kuta.
we all agreed, it was good to see bali that we would never see. and i always wanted to be a tour guide!
now is frid 13, we have to go to airport to meet my niece's daughter(14) coming fm perth to bali, to spend a week with her mum and us. ok, so we pick up this teenager, we made her a sign and stood waiting where u come out. already our bags packed and head up to ubud. we stayed at the panorama hotel. i shared a room with my sis, niece and her daughter stayed in the other room.
we visited my sis's friend, he is balinese. we met his wife and children. they asked us if we would like to see rehearsals of the father. so we went and saw the kecak dance, was good to see my sis and nieces enjoying themselves.
we spent 4 days in ubud, time to go back to kuta. we checked into my sis's favoutite hotel, mastapa hotel on legian street.
we got a family room, with full size fridge, tv and sink. i was suppose to get a cheap losmen, and come and visit my sis. i got talked into sharing the room.
ok, the room only had two single beds, the staff went and got a bed to put into the middle, oh where was i going to sleep? after much furniture moving, there was a space between the big bathroom and the wardrobe. decided a single bed can fit into there.
finally, we managed to get 4 beds into the room. waws ok for me, i had a back door and a patio for me.
ok, back into shopping. i usually only get dvd's when i go alone. because i was with a teenager, my niece loves to shop, i had a good time shopping. i even relented and bought a lv bag etc.
i rented a motorbike for 5 days, i have a yamaha virago 250cc here in perth. i bargained for 20,000rp per day.
it was so good, i was driving like a local, but i was always safe. i even went to ubud for a drive, was unreal.
we spent 8 days in kuta.
because my birthday was on the 19th may, i celebrated in bali. we all got dressed up, went to have a binnie at the bar in the hotel.
my sis stays at the mastapa every time she goes to bali, she knew the staff pretty well. we were drinking, when one of the staff comes out with these drinks for all of us. it was a cocktail. i was surprised, my sis told them it was my birthday.
then one of the staff, wayan brought out this platter of flowers, in the middle was a slice of chocolate cake!
apparently my sis told them when we checked in that is was my birthday! we found out later that the manager(she knew my sis) planned it. wayan apparently spent all morning gathering the flowers and arranging it on this wooden platter. i have a pic, i will put it on later.
so after all the congrats, my sis made me put on a pink tiara, we walked all along legian street to go and have dinner and drinks with my friends(alit and agus) at their restaurant in poppies 1.
after a couple of hours, my sis n nieces decided to go back to the hotel. i decided to go to apache club, for a couple of dances.
ok, now is 23rd may, have to go back to perth. i am planning to go to bandung(west java) in september to visit some friends i not see for a couple of years.
i hope that i not have bored you all, but there is so much more to my holiday, will have to write a book!
cheers all