Firstly.. thanks everyone for your comments re: Day 1 report. Greatly appreciated!
Day 2.
We went out for a day of pampering!!! Only the bare esentials, namely a salon for a mani, pedi, hair extensions and braiding.
Armed with directions, a map, an address, and the surety that we know where we are going, we proceeded up Poppies II, then down Poppies II, then up Poppies I, then down Poppies I... we then walked into the closest 'real' salon, and paid 800k for hair extensions and braiding.
I'm pretty sure we overpaid, as later someone assumed the 800k was for both of us, not each. Oh well... it was the price I had read in the forum, so am happy.
3 hours later we exited the rather unfriendly salon/massage parlour/BROTHEL *sigh* and went to the Matahari S/C via the Animale Retail store.. to be honest, we originally tried to find the Warehouse direct store, but couldn't find it.... seems to be a recurring theme actually!
Note... for larger ladies the plus size clothes in Animale are not particularly plus. My size 16-18 companion had trouble finding anything to fit. I had no luck at all at size 20.
Same at Matahari, but Bel snapped up a few cute numbers... and lots of hair accessories!
That evening we had signed up for the All You Can Eat, All You Can Drink "Snow Party" at Paddys Club in JL Legian, Kuta. Beware... don't bother unless you are 21 or under and have no taste buds.
Every cocktail was Arak with fake O.J. Really foul tasting but designed to get you smashed.
We stayed 20 mins then grabbed a taxi to Peanuts Bar in Legian. Much, MUCH better!!
Real cocktails, decent music (though repetitive), nice ambience and VERY friendly wait staff.
Either Bel and I are shining stars/sex kittens or the staff are paid extra by the charming and eccentric owner Elvis to keep the clientelle happy.
It was certainly flattering, and I commend Elvis as a very smart business man. At one stage we were shouting half of the bar. The other half had been enticed up onto the bar for an impromptu wet t-shirt comp, bump and grind, and eventual strip-tease.
It was all in good fun, and noone took it badly, but in retrospect I find the family group of 40yr old mum down to 15yr old daughter topless on the bar, grinding in front of a crowd of very appreciative males a teensy bit disturbing... but its Bali! :)
After about 5 hours of good natured partying, Bel and I decided to head home, and were safely delivered to the Bounty Hotel gate (via motorbike!! I am getting so brave!!) by a couple of our new friends.
An hysterical teen greeted us in the lobby and 2 hours later, our Good Sammy deed done for the day, we went to bed.
Reminder to all... the young lady reported that a group of young Aussie males had tried to grab her. She had quite a few bruises, and was quite hysterical. Please don't walk around Bali of an evening by yourself. You wouldn't do it at home, so don't do it here.
Last Note regarding Bounty Hotel.... we scrubbed our room Day 1. By Day 2 its starting to stink again... musty and sewerage. Oh well, at least the aircon is working, and we are never there anyway!
Day 3 - Shopping and relaxing!!
Today has been fun... recovery from the evening before involved water, and a nice sleep in. Then shopping! We strolled up Poppies II, bought some sunglasses 25k each, a heap of sarongs, dresses, skirts etc, 15k - 30k each, hats from a fixed price store on Jl Legian, and after browsing around for hours, we headed back to the hotel.
A short nap, followed by a light snack from room service, and then out again. This time we (for the second time), went in search of the tattooist Belinda wanted to use. Once again no sign of him. We ended up walking from Discovery S/C, via Matahari, and then through a bunch of back streets to TJ's, where I dragged Bel in for a yummy dinner.
Belinda is turning out to be a very very fussy eater.... the yummy Chilli Con Queso (cheese dip) was quickly moved in front of me, and Bel refrained from sharing anymore of it. Her ChimmiChanga was eaten, and looked delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed my Taquitos, though a bit of cheese or salsa atop the crunchy goodness would have been nice.
We didn't order a main meal on this occassion, but will most definitely next time! In total (including Bel's uneaten Banana Split) and 2 rounds of drinks, the bill totalled a very reasonable 200k.
On the way back from TJ's we stopped into a convenient internet cafe, I typed out this Here Now report, and then we are heading back to the Bounty for an early night.
Driver is organised for our Amlapura orphanage trip on Monday, and we are spending the next few days relaxing and soaking up the Bali atmosphere... well... apart from the Bounty Party Friday night..... and the Peanuts Pub Crawl we are looking forward to on Saturday night.
I think we are simply getting it out of our system.... we're grown up mums.. surely we can't party our way through the entire two weeks?
I'll report back in a day or three... though if anyone can recommend a great place to go for a motorbike tour to, please let me know. Bel and I are addicted, but want to get off the busy Kuta streets for a fun bike ride around the countryside. I'm sure we can find a couple of nice drivers somewhere... anything you want to find, you can find here afterall!
xxx
Becky