Saturday today and we wake up to a beautiful sunny day. After our usual yummy breakfast we took off up to what has quickly become our local haunt - JP's Warung. It's just up towards the end of the road that Sofitel is on (Jl Dyanapura). It's a small place with great food, that is just so cheap it's not true, especially as all the salads and vege's are organic (apparently) but it certainly is good and happens to have free wi-fi. So I check my emails and try to do just a little bit of work. The wife wants to show me a top she has seen, so we go and get that from Innuendo and then I get a couple of really nice trendy shirts at a pretty flash place called Dejong down the road.
The rest of the day was resigned to chilling out on the cool day beds at the Sofitel. There are only a few of them, but the 6 of us managed to hog 3 for the day. They are really comfy, under a thatched gazebo roof, with linen curtains if you want some privacy. They are right on the pool and you can look down to the beach. Surprisingly there have always been one or two free, the hotel doesn't seem too busy, but everyone wants to get a tan. I think the majority of the guests here are European, so we must be the only Aussies, who are happy for the shade after a sweltering January in Perth. We got so comfy we just had to stay here for lunch, which was excellent, but then for the price it should have been. I had a mixed peanut sate (chicken/beef/lamb) with steamed rice and the wife had the chicken and goat's cheese pizza and along with a lemon squash each, total bill was $36AUD which is quite exxie for Bali.
The girls all had their second fittings this afternoon and as there was a few of them the tailors came up and did it at the hotel. Apparently he handled them all stripping off to their undies quite well. Wife is chuffed so far and commented on how much easier it was having the fittings in the air con.
We decided to check out 'eat street' tonight, otherwise known as JL Oberoi. We wandered along, noting some of the restaurants recommended on this forum. One took our fancy though, especially as it seemed so much busy than the others. It was called Rumours and we ended up eating here three nights altogether, which I'm embarrassed about to be honest. But we all really liked it, it was quite buzzy and seemed to be a bit of a local hangout too. The food was just fab. The steaks especially, which I was surprised about as I'd always thought it was hard to get a good steak in Bali, but a nice bit of sirloin, with fries, béarnaise sauce and roasted aubergines and peppers for 50k ($6) is just too hard to pass up. That plus the warm chocolate pudding with espresso sauce and ice cream, made this a must return place for us. Oh and the margaritas were also one of the best I've had in Bali. Can you tell I'm a foody now?
We walked home to give our huge meal a chance to settle. There is a quietish road that runs down to Jl Dyanapura and it's quite rural actually, with lots of local life, a few cows, banana plantations etc and locals fishing in the drains at the side of the road, yes fishing in the drains, what they get and how they can eat it is a mystery to me! It was about a 20 min walk, so not for the faint hearted, but this for me is one of the reasons I'd definitely stay in Seminyak again, there is just a much more relaxed 'fresh air' feel about it compared to Kuta, You can eat right on the road easily without too much hassle and see palm trees rather than hotels.
Sunday - We head straight for the pool/beach after breakfast. It was so good yesterday, I needed some more chill time. We tried sitting down on the grassy area closest to the beach. The hotel has some double loungers, which were a nice idea, so we cuddled up on one of these, actually it was too hot for cuddling. We did have a walk down the beach and went in the other direction away from Kuta and realised that it was only 5 mins or so to walk to Ku De Ta down the beach. (made a mental note)
Went to do a bit more shopping just before lunch, Wife wanted to show me some shoes (1,000,000rph, how much!) I comment that they don't look very practical for walking in (is that a typical husband comment) the wife says that they aren't for walking in! Anyway the 38 is too small and the 39 is too big, thank goodness for Bali sizing I think. We go back to another shop (getting hot now) that the wife likes called By the Sea on Oberoi st, she gets a few bargains and we look for somewhere to have lunch. A few of the restaurants are closed and those that are open just don't seem as appealing as Jp's. So we get a cab to Jp's and are happy to spend a couple of extra $$'s just to get what we know will be an excellent, cheap lunch.
We went to meet our friends J and N at the Kartika Plaza for sunset. J is happy being back at his favourite hotel and we sit on their balcony looking out over the ocean with a few drinks, before heading off to Poppies for dinner. Poppies is always good value I think, even if for nothing more that the Beef Curry, which as it turned out we all four ordered.
Monday - Another hot sunny day, yeah! We have some shopping planned for today and I wanted to get some jeans. J had taken me to a shop called Homeboys on Jl Legian before and although the name put me off I went back and got some great jeans for $50, plus a few shirts, belt and trendy cap. Why can't you get such a good choice in Perth? We then went to Dog's Tail a little further down the street to see if we can pick up anything for our pup back home. They had some nice collars and leads etc, and we got a few prezzies for some of her doggy friends, it's sad that we are buying presents for dogs before family isn't it? It's a good shop though if you want to stock up on stuff. We then meet up with the others at Swells in Poppies 1 for lunch, then to the tailors for another fitting for the wife. I decide to get a couple of waistcoats made while I'm here too. I get to see the stuff wife is getting made and it all looks very good, perhaps with the exception of one of the shirts, but a suit, two satin tops, casual skirt, casual dress and trousers that's not too bad. It has cost around $10 per piece to have them made. The wife was glad she brought her material and some pictures of what she wanted. The tailor was Janoko in Poppies II (ask for Damien or Made, who have the best English) The prices are so good, you don't really need to barter.
We have a booking at Bodyworks this afternoon. I get a facial and a pedicure. Yes I know what a girlie am I, but if it hadn't have been for the woman scrapping at my feet, I think I would have fallen asleep during the facial, why haven't I had one of these before I think. It also avoids the whole plastic panties drama.
We walk around from here to meet up with the others at Ku De Ta. Now we'd heard about this place before and I have to say, to watch the sunset here over a cocktail is an unforgettable experience. It was an easy walk up the beach from the Sofitel for the others. We had some fabulous cocktails and a few of the 'grazing' plates of food, which were excellent. It was expensive though, with the cocktails being over $10 each. But it was so relaxing and yes a little bit trendy with more than a few of the 'beautiful people' around, but an absolute must in my opinion, will definitely go back.