Day 2
B and J had booked a driver (a friend of their parents) for a day trip. OH and I decided to pass as we'd seen Kintamani etc before and were going north to Singaraja later in the holiday. B and J had a fantastic day and couldn't stop praising their driver, Wayan Merta. I think he has been mentioned on here before. If you would like his details, I can get them for you.
Meanwhile OH and I booked ourselves in for a pedicure and a massage at Melasti Spa, bought a sim card as the one my mum had given me had literally JUST expired. Dammit! We went to a little place just off Jl Legian, opposite Jl Padma. They were really friendly and helpful. Melasti Spa was not as good as I remembered it, the girls weren't as lovely as they used to be and the prices have gone up a lot! In saying that though, J got a pedicure done at the Intan Spa on Garlic Lane and as they added on for polish, flowers and heel scrub it worked out only marginally cheaper than Melasti. I was confused when they started charging extra for flowers! That is new! OH and I had a lazy day, wandered down Jl Legian and up to Poppies Restaurant for lunch. I've decided I prefer Poppies at night time, the ambience is much better. The place was literally empty the whole time we were there....what is with that. Poppies used to be so popular. Lunch was okay, nothing to write home about but pleasant.
After B and J returned we picked up our laundry and 'nipped' into Jimmy Gorgeous' DVD shop on Padma Street. We managed to buy 80 odd DVDs. How does that happen? I mean we're not huge movie watchers but we always end up with so many bloody DVDs. And bless their cotton socks, when you go to finalise your purchase they ALWAYS count them and tell them that you can choose another 5 free!! Of course when you get them home and get a dud (either quality or just a bad movie) you always curse those bloody free ones! B and J were gob smacked at our dynamic DVD buying skills. We swept in and 15 minutes we swept out again with our wallets considerably lighter and plans on where to pack this lot of DVD's to maximise weight allowances.
We went to Kori's for tea that night and as usual it was fantastic. That Apple Crumble and Sticky Date is as delicious as ever. I don't know why I bother with having the mains, I mean they are nice as well but I really only go there for the dessert. Actually come to think of it....that is the case in many restaurants in Bali...
Day 3
Am I boring you yet?
J and I had 'scheduled' a shopping trip this morning and hurried off after breakfast to try to beat the rain. We literally got to the very edge of the covered driveway at the hotel and the heavens opened up, there was wind, there was rain and it was disgusting! We decided to wait in the lobby for it to die down, ignoring the gestures from the boys that had spotted us from the patio at our room. Eventually the wind died down, the rain didn't look like it was going to stop though so we ventured out anyway. Of course before we could catch a taxi we needed to change money and visit Ketut for handbags. I mean what is a shopping trip without a handbag! We made it to Ketut's, did what we had to and with her ominous prediction that the rain 'might' stop around 4 o'clock took the plunge. We went straight to Geneva. I recently moved house and after having to unpack everything realised just how many 'handicrafts' with a little less of the 'handi' I have. So we decided we're going to have a garage sale to get rid of them all. That of course means there is now plenty of room to fill our house with more [not so handi] crafts! Also, J had never been and I really think everyone ought to see Geneva at least once. Sadly, I could see the handiness in the crafts more than J could and against my will found my basket was twice the size of hers. I steered clear of the baskets (oh so many baskets) but just got a few more coasters (never know how many glasses you might need out on the table at once!), cushion covers (only so many times you can cover the 5 cushions I have but I couldn't resist), table runners (I threw out my others before realising that you know what, they are just so damn 'handi'!), and some beautiful boxes on the second floor. I got one for moi after asking for a jewellery box for the last 5 Christmases and birthdays and getting everything but and another because.....you guessed it....I thought it would come in 'handi'.
After Geneva we flexed our shopping muscles and caught a taxi straight to the Mecca of Domesticity.....Tupperware baby! First time I've been to this place in Bali. Can you believe I never knew it existed? My mum bought an Indo catalogue home from work a few months ago and I've been plotting ever since. This place was fantastic; it was less of a shop and more of a depot. There were floor to ceiling boxes with that little pink word written all over them. People everywhere packing and unpacking plastic container after plastic container. There were bikes going in and out with humungous loads of Tupperware. I've never seen so much! We were in heaven! We were presented with the current catalogue and after much umming and ahhing, a lot of 'no stock' replies and more umming and ahhing we were done. Again, my shopping 'muscles' flexed more than J's and my bill was twice as high. How DOES that happen! We spent the same time in there. Of course, because I spent x amount, I get to choose something from this list for free. For free! Tupperware for free! Joy of joys. I decided to choose something sensible, like a rice bowl (now THAT is 'handi'!) but of course 'no stock'. The only thing they had on my list was a 'Jumbo' canister. No worries, I say, thinking it is like a biscuit barrel. OMG she brings out this ginormous canister that looks like it is for horse food! We burst into giggles, smooshed it into a plastic bag, got the taxi driver to take a picture of us with our ridiculously huge bags of plastic and decided we'd both be single if we spent any more money or bought anything else. Prices were much cheaper than Australia, about the same as you'd pay for Decor stuff in the supermarket but ladies, remember Tupperware has a lifetime guarantee and has fantastic unboring names like the Decor stuff. He he. Not the same range as over here but some very sensible and yes 'handi' stuff. Kind of like the 'vintage' Tupperware you find on ebay, simple square containers and lunch boxes etc but all in bright colours (a LOT of orange!).
We returned to the hotel, put all of our shopping in my room so when my OH reeled in horror at the quantity, I could say, Don't be silly! It isn't ALL mine! I deliberately hid that hideous giant orange horse feed cylinder at the bag...eek! The boys came back and we taxied it to the Healing Centre for another massage (couldn't be bothered walking...shopping takes it out of you, you know). All 4 of us had booked in this time. I was in the first cubicle and had the only female masseuse; I don't feel comfortable with a male even though J said he was fine. So I've on my stomach, eyes closed, relaxing, fan blowing gently on me to keep me cool, relaxing. I hear a clunk. Whatever. Relaxing next minute, I feel something really hot on my shoulder. I'm trying to figure out what she has put on her hands when all of a sudden I feel it on the other shoulder along with a loud 'pop' much like a suction cap has been attached to my back. And again. And again. And again. All the while burning like hell. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! Then I remembered, B's dad gets 'the cups' every time he comes here. Basically they heat the suction caps and stick them on your back, it leaves hideous marks that last for a while but in a few days it shows up all of your problem spots and they can work on them. Nooooo there goes all the lovely little summer dresses I bought at Ketut's! All I could think of, apart from holy hell take them off, take them off! Was OMG I'm going to be the only one with these great big red marks on my back. I didn't think to tell her to stop. She took them off with some very loud POP sounds, instant relief. Then I hear a burning and that familiar popping sound again. Oh good, J is getting them as well. In the end we all got them. We had what looked like very large but perfectly rounded love bites all over our backs. They got worse over the next day but no longer hurt. We went back to Ketut's on the way home to stock up on back covering attire after J got lots of comments about her very unusual 'tattoo' on the way home. So if you do visit, and do not want the cups, please be sure to tell them that. After our first visit we didn't think we needed to!
Suitably covered up we headed to our 'local' - Ours for some happy hour drinks and then onto Ultimo's for dinner. Not having been there before and just hearing about the fantastic food there we didn't think to dress up so looked a tad out of place but were not disappointed. Everything about this place is fantastic. The food (and margheritas) was divine. My hot tip - the white chocolate creme brulee. I have seriously never tasted anything as good this. ANYTHING! And I'm afraid, as much as I love Kori's Apple Crumble, Ultimo's Creme Brulee trumps it. After letting everyone taste, I had to fight them off and gobble it down so didn't get to 'savour' it as much as I would have liked. LOL. We were also amazed at how cheap this place was. The servings weren't massive but we had a bit of garlic bread to start, mains and then desserts and we could hardly move out the door so they are plenty big enough. B couldn't even eat all of his spag bog (substitute for steak and veg). The boys also had lunch at Uncle Norm's today and said it was great. Food was just good but everything else was great.