After the extremely hectic 1st week we paused for a break, worked on the sun tan, got some more massages in, checked out the local restaurants again and in short - veg out. We are pretty good at that. In so doing we caught up with other previous Bali Haiites around the pool and enjoyed their company.
At 'Glory' I had found out about 'The Cat & Fiddle in Sanur (Opposite Sanur Beach Hotel) from Gordon1 so arrangements were made to meet there on the next Tuesday along with Chellenz, Antonia and Mike. As it turned out we made 2 trips there on consecutive Tuesdays and were treated to some fine food at very reasonable prices (one might even say cheap), many a cold Bintang and the opportunity to try the new 'Storm Beer'.
Now Storm Beer was heavily promoted by a quartet of black and white mini skirt clad young ladies who were all very tall (for the Balinese) and extremely good looking. I called them 'The flying sepeda motor' Quartet, as they all arrived at great speed on their motorbikes. The girls would approach each table and extol the virtues of their product in a most alluring way. Needless to say much 'Storm Beer' was dispensed but I did I notice that none of the female diners present seemed to be the slightest bit interested in it Naturally I had to try it and, once it lost it's coldness, it improved to the extent that I could taste the 'hoppy malty' flavour. Verdict - not bad however, a bit heavy for Bali I thought.
The added bonus of attending Cat & Fiddle on Tuesdays was the formation of an Irish ensemble (Note- I didn't say Band) which, included the British (Honorary) Consul to Bali, his twin brother, a Balinese fiddler, the head of the local International language school (And Skippy's boss) other ring ins and on the second Tuesday, the Italian Consul, who sang Tenor and the Swiss Consul whose contribution was to Yodel, yes that's right YODEL. Nonetheless the resulting music did indeed resemble Irish Folk/Rebel songs and I was more than gratified when my 2 requests (Dirty Old Town & Fields of Athenry) were sung by the group.
The menu was excellent as it offered all the delights of Indo/Balinese food but many old English/Irish delights such as - Guinness Pie, Meat Pies, Shepherds Pie, Bangers and Mash, as well as Pork Pies. The food was well presented, portions more than adequate and the prices, as stated earlier, more than reasonable. Most of the diners were expats and tourists. Both evenings were excellent made even more so by the company of Chellenz and friends together Gordon & Skippy (Ratna). While this establishment might not be everyone's cup of tea we certainly enjoyed being there and strongly recommend forumites give it a go sometime.
Shopping was taking up a lot of the daylight hours and forays were made to Discovery Mall, Matahari, Kuta Square, Animale Factory Outlet (Jl Raya Kuta) and Millenia (in Denpasar - Jl Teuko Umar) for kids 'label' clothing. Benny rediscovered 'The Big Shop', situated next to Indonational in Jl Saha Dewa (Garlic Lane) where she beat the world speed selection record by finding, trying and then buying an outfit in under 10 minutes. Naturally we ended up at Indonational for lunch and one (or 2) of their very cold Bintangs.
While we did not like the full on 'whiteness' of Discovery Mall we soon warmed to the shopping inside and we visited lots of 'Toko Toko' there taking full advantage of the many bargains to be had. Centro was excellent, so was the supermarket on the lower level. The smell from the bakery always beckoned me and although I didn't buy anything, there were many who did and the queues at the check out were often quite long. Periplus was a great attraction and apart from kids books for our grandchildren, we got hold of a copy of 'A Little Bit One O'Clock), a great read so far.
Of the Opticians there, we chose 'Optik Tunggal ' as our provider. In all we bought 2 pairs for Benny (dark & graduated lens) and a pair of readers for yours truly. The total cost was a little under AUD$400 which included all lens, frames and a 10% discount which I had cheekily requested. The Manager, Mischella Hanika Reiner (yes she is Balinese) and her colleague Mia were really lovely and by the end of transactions we were good friends. They are on the ground floor, on the left as you enter from JL Kartika Plaza. The Bintang shop is located in the main building however, the entrance is on the outside wall on the Kuta side. Having found it, I managed to find quite a few things to buy including some well made T Shirts and the odd 'Shot Glass' (for my single malts). For my patronage I received 2 large Bintang Glasses and 2 cans of the amber liquid.
Sports Station for runners was good and very reasonable price wise and we found an excellent restaurant on the 'Sea side' of the Mall where we enjoyed a couple of meals. Its name is 'Bali Colada' and although it doesn't have the full sea view of the eateries
on the upper levels, the quality of the food at such good prices more than made up for it. I got some 'Tuscany' Eau de T (Estee Lauder) for RP450,000 or AUD$60, not bad considering it old for AUD$88 at duty free in Melbourne or AUD$120 in D J's or Myers.
Millenia in Denpasar was excellent for kids 'Name labels' but fell short for adult clothing. It was not well patronised on the day we went there and therefore, we had the full attention of the staff. Their prices were excellent and we came away with a 'Mountain' of kids stuff.
Matahari, well what else can you say, always good, always cheaper than most for good quality and excellent for make up whether it be Estee or Clinique however their system for payment and collection of goods needs a rapid overhaul. We waited for over 20 minuets one time with only one cash point open and many customers waiting. I was treated to the unusual spectacle of the Balinese shoppers grumbling about the wait!!!
Lunches at la Lucciola, Kori and Ma Joly were all as good as we had experienced previously however, we ventured further afield on one occasion and (deliberately) ended up at Bumbu Bali In Tanjung Benoa. What a marvellous surprise, DB we certainly know why you rave about this place. We had the 'Nasi Campur' and by the end of the meal we were quite full and very happy indeed with its overall quality. One of the waiters, Penny is a friend of Ratna (Skippy) and she and all of the staff combined to make our lunch a most memorable experience. During the meal we were fascinated by the number of Turtles swimming past and discovered that chef Heinz Van Holzen buys them at the market, allows them to get well and repatriates them to the ocean. Near the exit there was a pool with dozens of baby turtles and a bin where one could assist (Financially) Chef Holzens efforts. We made our contribution when paying the bill.
Having come this far, we got our driver to give us a tour of Tanjung Benoa, and were quite delighted by what we saw. We will go back there for a much longer visit on our next visit.
Later that week we went back to 'Uns' restaurant which is located in a lane off of Poppies 1 and goes through to Jl Pantai. (The lane is only 100 metres from Jl Legian) and is probably only 250 metres from Poppies itself. We had been to 'Uns' on quite a few occasions until a couple of years ago and now it was time to go back. As usual, on arrival, we were offered and accepted a small frozen Margarita together their menu. Apart from Indo meals there is a whole host of international dishes and while Benny settled for Tuna steak smothered in sesame seeds I opted for the steak, medium to rare.
A couple of complimentary Bruschettas (excuse spelling) arrived before the mains which, when served turned out to be one of the best meals we ate during our 30 days.
It's just a shame that there are so many good places to eat and that you just cannot get to them all even if the budget allowed. We missed going to Ku De Ta, Indus, Bebek Bengil and Lamak this year but discovered many more good places to eat at. The choices every year seem to expand, truly this is not just the Island of the Gods but also the Island of the 'Guts'.
We were now getting down to the last few days of our holiday and one of them was to be yet another highlight, the annual distribution day at Sobongan. We had looked forward to this event so much but didn't realise just how wonderful a day it would turn out to be.....................
Clive M