Saturday 11 August - Dinner meeting with Bali Sanur Rotary members
As some of you know I was travelling to Bali to conduct a distribution day for the Rotary sponsorship project I run from Australia. The project is run in conjunction with the Bali Sanur Rotary Club so prior to travelling I arranged to meet some of them for dinner.
I had no idea how many would be coming or if any of them spoke any English. Lucky on both counts as there was 6 Rotarians who attended and one couple are Canadian expats so no problems communicating. The dinner was arranged to check what plans were in place for the distribution day and what needed to be organised. We have been planning this day for months so I was a little taken aback when they announce we could not hold it on the 18 August as planned due to Independence Day. I explained that we could not change the date at this late notice as I had people coming on that day who I could not contact. After a little discussion it was decided to go ahead but just be more aware of it for next year.
My friend Made joined us for dinner as this project was started due to him taking me to his village for a visit on my first trip to Bali. For this reason he will always be very involved in the project in some way. We decided on Kori's for dinner which worked out great. It was close to my hotel and the food and service was fantastic.
While we were waiting for our meals to come out to the table, Made noticed a couple sitting next to us. It was evident very quickly who this person was. For several years now I have communicated with KiwiCarol(BTF) via email but we have never had the chance to meet. Well this time around it worked out we were in Bali at the same time and they were indeed having dinner on the next table. It was great to finally put a face to the name. It was like meeting a long, lost friend as we hit it off straight away.
Anyway, we had a great meal although I didn't eat much as I was still taking it easy with food. The conversation was great and any concerns I had previously about the language barrier were now long forgotten. Lots of plans were put in place for the upcoming distribution day and we all departing with to-do list.
Sunday 12 August - Shopping with the boys
The first thing I did when I got up this morning was head over to Troppozone to check on Marc & Dylan. They had decided today was shopping day for the girlfriends and mothers and asked me to come along and help. Well what a great day it turned out to be. My hubby hates shopping and after a couple of shops is complaining and wants to go home. Well shopping with these two was a totally different kettle of fish. Dylan in particular was a shop-a-holic. He went in and out of every store, checking everything out, giving feedback on items I showed interest in, until eventually I nicknamed him the bargain b****. We had an awesome time shopping for handbags and sarongs etc. Stopped off for a quick drink until Dylan promptly rounded us back up and out shopping again. I have not laughed so hard as I did this day for a longtime. Managed to pick up a gorgeous handbag at a great price without haggling on Jalan Double 6. I am not a handbag person but this one jumped off the shelf at me so I had to have it.
After shopping the boys headed back to BIMC to check on Quentin while I went on my way as had to be at S&S by 4 pm for BTF get together.