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Published: September 22nd 2015
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After five weeks of daily blogging on our big trip, I felt a little lost coming home and writing nothing but history essays. I have tried to pick up my novel where I left it but it has proved to be quite a challenge so when the opportunity arose to write about somewhere new, I jumped at the chance.
This trip is very different to the last one in many ways, the biggest factor being it doesn't involve the whole family. This is quite a rare occurrence in our house - I can probably count on one hand the number of times only two of us have been away together. The purpose of this trip is an Indonesian Cultural Tour with Izzy's school whereby the kids spend time learning various aspects of the Indonesian culture to enhance their understanding of the language they learn in school. It's basically a day camp in that the kids get dropped off with their teachers in the mornings and go off and do their activities, returning by bus in the afternoon to spend the rest of the evening with their parents.
So, destination Bali. Originally living in the UK, my impression of Bali
was of a beautiful, tropical island with white sandy beaches and turquoise seas. However, living in Australia for the past 9 years has changed my impression somewhat, and I was now expecting somewhere much less charming - a sleazy place full of Aussie's getting pissed on cheap booze. The reality is somewhere in between. Izzy and I arrived at our hotel in Kuta on Sunday evening to a welcoming committee of 6 other parents and kids all champing at the bit to go out for dinner. Quickly dropping our bags in our room, we headed straight out to sample some Indonesian cuisine............at Jamie's Italian!!! The food went down a treat (as always) and the cocktails flowed freely. The kids had a great time laughing and joking with the friendly staff before we retired to our rooms at the Grand Istana Rama. For the price we paid, the hotel is great and I thank the Lord for single beds - there's no one in their right mind that would want to share a bed with little miss farts and wriggles and kicks you in the face!
Complete with school uniform and back pack, Izzy and her friends were ready to
meet their teachers and parent helpers for their first day. Their first stop was the education department which was by all accounts a long and drawn out formal affair which was filmed and apparently shown on TV later in the day. Next stop was an orphanage where the kids all took presents for the orphans and played with them. Izzy noticed many of the presents were being given to the younger kids, when she saw a boy of around fifteen or sixteen who looked quite sad. Taking out the bat and ball set she had bought, she handed it to him as he looked at her questioningly to make sure it was really for him. She was quite humbled by the whole experience and really enjoyed spending time there. One of the girls took her to see the room where she slept - quite an eye opener for privileged Aussie kids.
While Izzy was safely in the hands of the teachers, I had a relaxing morning laying by the pool, soaking up the rays in kindle heaven. As lunch time approached I began to feel a little peckish so took myself off to explore the streets of Kuta and
find a watering hole. Meandering aimlessly through the narrow streets (read: trying not to get killed by motorbikes riding on pavements the wrong way down one way streets), I eventually stumbled upon Bene Lane Cafe. This cute little cafe is owned by the son of a friend of my mum and came highly recommended. Perching on a high stool, with possibly one of the best views in the world (a book shop) I tucked in to my delicious fish tacos and fresh juice of beetroot, carrot, celery and other such cleansing vegetables. Revelling in my own company, feeling rather like Shirley Valentine (without the rock or the man to make "fock" with) I continued on my journey of exploration. The quaint little streets reminded me a little of Corfu Town thirty years ago but obviously with an Asian influence - the little kiosks selling street food and market stalls selling crap with customers bartering for a better deal. In order to deal with the countless people trying to get me to buy their goods or have a massage, I put on my game face, my 'don't mess with this chick' face and continued on my way through hordes of people,
being poked and prodded as I went and being asked if I'd like to buy a 'strap-on'! (The answer was a polite "no thank-you").
I finished my alone time with a walk on the beautiful white sandy beach before returning to the hotel to pick Izzy up. After a swim in the pool and a few drinks at the pool bar, the posse in our hotel went out to grab dinner at Tony Roma's (I'm sure we'll have Indonesian food at some point!) The staff were fantastic with the kids, getting them up dancing and singing with them while delivering special cocktails and showing them card tricks while they ate. The staff then danced around the restaurant singing Happy Birthday in English to two of the girls in our party and presenting them with cake. Our kids then shocked and stunned the Indonesian staff with an impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday in Indonesian. It's lovely to go out and meet genuinely happy, friendly people and to go to restaurants where kids are encouraged to have fun and be themselves.
The first thirty or so hours have far exceeded my expectations so I'm looking forward to more of the
same tomorrow!
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