I forgot to mention in my first JBR that I purchased some Flitemate pressure reducing ear plugs prior to our plane leaving. I have a terrible problem with my ears on descent and nothing seems to work. Well I have to say that the ear plugs don't work either! I thought they did at the start, but as soon as we really started to descend it was obvious they didn't....oh well at least I tried!
I also forgot to mention that upon check-in at the Kartika, we were presented with vouchers to attend 2 of their buffet nights free of charge (excluding drinks), a free hour massage voucher each, and 2 invitations for cocktails on the 2 Mondays we were their as a long staying guest. Very nice!!!
Now where was I...oh yes day 3.... Well day 3 was always going to be a quiet day as we had booked with Wayan days 4 & 5 to do the eastern part of Bali with the view of ending up in Lovina for the night. So day 3 dawned with myself in a much better frame of mind albeit it though still with a troubled night. The noise from the Musro Room had hubby and I awake from about 3am. When I say noise it was basically just a thud, thud, thud from the base that was obviously beating out in the night club. Well The Musro is supposed to close at 2am - so I was not sure why we should be subjected to this again - (we had it the previous night but as I was up and down making Walrus mating calls), we sort of didn't really notice it!!! My noise overpowered the base according to my hubby... nice one darling! Anyway at 5.30am we decided that we weren't to have any more sleep and so I fixed us a cuppa and we sat on the balcony in the darkness listening to the boom. When dawn arose, we threw on our shorts and singlets and decided that a morning walk along the beachfront was in order before breakfast. I have to say the beach wasn't too dirty in front of our hotel but as we headed into the Kuta part, it was filthy. So much debris and garbage just littering the sand. I spotted some broken glass and duly collected it, given that I was walking bare foot I would hate for myself or any other person to spend the rest of their holiday with stitches keeping their foot together. It really is annoying to see so much crap littering the beach. McDonald wrappers, sweet wrappers, empty bottles etc etc.
After hitting the end of Legian we turned back for the homeward stretch and for a much needed breakfast. I have stayed at the Kartika before and I have to say their breakfast is massive. The choice is endless and as I was unappreciative the previous morning, I was very happy to take in the sensory pleasures this morning. They have a bread station - complete with croissants, danishes, sliced white, wholemeal & fruit bread, loaves of cut your own rye, seed or brown bread, bread & butter pudding slabs, already made pancakes and a chef their to make a fresh pancake with your choice of filling, should that be your desire. Across from the bread station is the asian station and omelette chef. The omelette station became a favourite of my husbands, until I gently reminded him that eggs every day was not very good for his waistline, or cholesterol - kill joy!!!!! Opposite the asian section to the other side of the restaurant we have the fruit, cheese, cereal, juice station. The selection of fruit was impressive and was constantly topped up. They also had bircher muesli, cereals, yoghurts, cheeses and cold meats etc, freshly squeezed juices (3 different choices), milk and chocolate milk. Across from the fruit station was the other egg chef and the bain maries filled with the requirements for a full American breakfast. This egg chef was happy to do your eggs fried or poached. They had a bain marie of crispy bacon, normal soft bacon, scrambled eggs, chicken sausages, pork sausages, beef sausages, baked beans, grilled tomato with cheese, a vegetable variety for the day and of course the potato dish of the day. So much choice where do you start!! Well given that I am usually a toast and coffee person, I decided to venture into having an omelette that morning as my hubby was queued for his and he was happy to wait in line to get me one too. Mind you having said that, omelette and toast is very filling if your not used to it. So I had to admit defeat after this and forgo any chance of tasting any of the other delights on display. Maybe tomorrow!
After breakfast, we made our way to the pool area and observed the pool towels that had been thrown on various lounges - obviously the pool lounger hogs had been up early and claimed their space. We decided on a shady spot, given it was another hot day and spent the morning in and out of the pool, trying to establish the all important base tan! Around 1.30 our tummies were grumbling and a snack was in order. I convinced hubby it would be foolish to leave the pool area and that we should eat from the pool menu and duly ordered some nasi goreng which was one of the most genuine nasi's I have eaten for a while, and also a small serving as opposed to a Western size serving. As a side note, have you noticed the size of the meals they serve you in the restaurants? Massive serves. To me this is not a good thing as massive serves mean weight gain and massive waist line at the end of your holiday!!! Anyway the serving we got at the pool bar was perfect.
We settled back into our pool loungers and after a snooze by my husband, which was evident to anyone within a 3 metre radius due to his rather loud snores, I remembered that we needed to change a rather large amount of money given that we were off around the island for the next 2 days. So off we set to the money changer that we favour. I have always found this place does the best exchange rate. It is located on your left hand side on JL Legian just before you hit Bemo corner. Now I don't know whether it was because the day before I was so unwell that I didn't get hassled, but if it was, things were about to change it became a distant memory. 'Scuse me, scuse me, I not sell anything...' 'Hey boss....' 'Hey mama...' - now that's a new one for me! Oh it was good to be back to the hustle and bustle of the street. I am not sure I liked the hey mama comment and was all ready to turn around and blast the poor guy who said it until my darling hubby assured me that I didn't look any older than I did last year and that no I definitely had not got the rotund look deserving of a mama comment! Thanks hubby for your lies - I love you for it!!! Anyway we got to the money exchanger and exchanged a few hundred and were rather annoyed that they gave us our wad in 50,000 rp's rather than the 100,000's we wanted. So with a wad of cash that wouldn't fit in my purse, but stuffed in my handbag, we set off for a quick window shop and back to the hotel. Well I am not much for window shopping, as I really like to be in the shop. So one dress 30,000rp, sarong 30,000rp, top 100,00rp from Body and Soul and pair of thongs 12,000rp later, we are on our way back to the hotel. Hubby knew he was fighting a losing battle and any plans of not doing shopping until our second week was becoming a distant memory in my mind. However he reigned me in and was spared the pain of trekking in and out of shops...what a good wife I am.
Back to the hotel and the sun was setting. What a stunning array of vivid reds and pinks that we were witness to on many occasions from our balcony! I'm gloating again!! What was even more spectacular was the congregation of people on the beachfront side of the Discovery Mall - all there to enjoy, as one, the sunset. It was packed every single night.
Showers were had and we had already decided to use one of our vouchers for the theme buffet dinner they had - which was of course Roast night being a Sunday. I am not much of a meat eater, so I was not too bothered, but hubby was looking forward to his roast! I had a pumpkin & fetta soup to start with as I do love my soup whereas hubby just went straight for the mains! He came back with his slabs of meat and veg and salad and was a happy man. I stuck with veggies and a small piece of spicy chicken, which was lovely - I was still also feeling a bit crushed from the mama comment so was determined not to eat too much. The meat on display was beef, pork, lamb, turkey & spicy chicken. Veggies to be had were your typical roast veggies, mashed potato, cauliflower & broccoli cheese etc etc. I have to say it was a lovely meal - probably not worth what they charge if you don't have a voucher, but lovely all the same. The sad thing was the lack of people enjoying it. We were there from 7.45 until 9 and there were maybe 7 tables maximum. They had a roaming band too which entertained each table with their two song requests. I requested Robbie Williams Angels against my husbands wishes and had a phat old time singing along with the band - or should I say warbling....either way it was enough for the band because they only played the one request song at our table and took off to the next table who got the mandatory 2 in! I didn't realise that I was that bad....
A nice walk after dinner along the wall front topped off the night and eased the digestion of our food. We were in for an early start tomorrow morning as Wayan was picking us up at 8 and as we had such a crap sleep the night before, we decided to turn in and pray that there would be no more noise from the Musro.
Sorry it is so long winded and probably boring. Days 4 & 5 - Eastern Bali, & Lovina to come....