and famous.
Yesterday morning Big Les and Pete Guru decided that it was about time that we wandered over to the west side of this island and see what all the rich folk were doing.
Big Les decided that we should start our brush with fame at the Ku De Ta. So after a few palate cleansing ales plus the 'one for the road' we clambered into the chariot and set off.
This is when I learnt of an ancient Balinese tradition. Pete Guru explained that it is an ancient tradition that whoever sits in the front seat of the vehicle must pay for the beer. Well knock me over with a feather I had never heard of this before. However this being the 'Island of the Gods' I was not willing to risk the wrath of any particular god and decided it was best to go along with tradition.
On arrival at the entrance to the Ku De Ta we were greeted by 5 security men complete with cute little cameras on sticks, batons and whistles. Now remember that this is only a bloody restaurant. Looking up the driveway I noticed another two security guards and an armed soldier. I don't if I was meant to be frightened or not, but I was.
Luckily my sense of humour kicked in as we drove along their entrance road. Next door was a block of land containing numerous trees and a low boundary wall. To me this made their elaborate security system look completely useless. Just to make it a tad more humorous there was a gap in the wall wide enough for any suicide bomber to meander through.
However I suppose the rich and famous love this type of stuff, so I was willing to like it too.
We happily perched ourselves up at the bar and were promptly offered a selection of lukewarm beers. I thought if the rich and famous like warm beer I was going to like it as well. It was at this stage I heard a whimpering beside me and looked down to realize that it was my wallet starting to sob. Apparently it had already seen the price of the lukewarm beer and was going into panic mode.
So we look around for the rich and famous and noticed that others were looking at us wondering if we were the rich and famous. I had donned my best pair of 60,000rp Crocs and my new 25,000rp Bintang singlet so I was looking pretty dapper. I have heard that the rich and famous love to dress up a bit so I was willing to give it my best shot.
After a few tepid beers I mentioned to the lads that the rich and famous may not throw up on the Ku De Ta lawn but I was in danger of doing so unless we went somewhere else and drank cold beer (the way God meant it to be drunk)
So we wandered down to The Metro Sports Bar and had a few nice cold beers with Steve Jamo who operates the place. This was more like it. I asked Steve if he was either rich or famous but he refused to answer. Again armed with 'one for the road' we headed down to Legian. A visit to Bali Rock Café was deemed necessary.
On the way there we called intotThe Bali Beach Shack in Jalan Sahadewa. This has only been recently opened by a lovely Australian lass named Robby. By this stage the beer was starting to have an effect and with in a very short time I was telling Robby how to run her business and what she should do to make everything good. Please understand that I have never operated a restaurant and normally have no idea how one should be operated. Luckily Robby is a tolerant lass and seemed to say ÿes' in all the right places. The Beach Shack is well decked out and looks quite good, I reckon a few return visits are on the cards.
From here we made it the 200 metres to Bali Rock and had a few badly needed beers. Unuckily Jacqui was not there at that stage so she missed out on some wonderful free advice on how to operate that place. From there we stopped into the Sandok, D.D's and then the Mini Bar to see if the same maidens who have operated their personal businesses from there for so many years were still alive.
However it must have been 'Hookers Day Off' because there were none around.
Suddenly we were in Secret Garden having a wonderful cold beer. How we got there is a mystery but it just seemed to happen. By this stage I was an expert on anything and everything and was willing to tell anyone all that I knew. Belgium Steve from the AFL shop was there. I tried not to give him too much advice. He is a big bugger.
Pete has a mate who has a small café nearby so we toddled into there are grabbed 'one for the road'. Back in Sanur we popped into Sally's for a nightcap or two.
Sadly today I am back to having no idea of how to run a restaurant, a bar, a nightclub or even an AFL shop. I can not even remember meeting anyone rich or famous. Oh well there is always next week.