Bali 2013

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Bali 2013 – How it All Happened



Wednesday 27^th February - Woohoo, the day had finally arrived, heading off to Bali for a 5 night break, catching up with the Rat, the Burger, the Stork and the Gaz.



Arrived at the airport in plenty of time and joined the queue to check in, all uneventful, and headed to get some duty free. 1 bottle of Gin, and 2 bali plugs later, and we headed for a coffee



Hung around for a while having coffee, then said our sad farewells, tears in our eyes, and I waved as I left Clare (turned around as I went through the gate, and noticed Clare had already left and was halfway down Tonkin Highway, tyres screeching) – maybe she left the iron on, or had food in the oven?



Anyway, headed through to the little bar and had myself a Beez Neez to refresh the palate. Went to duty free perfume shop and asked about some weird shit Marie was looking for, but none of the girls had heard of it.



Few minutes later, the girlie announced that we could head through



Being on an Emergency Exit seat, I was called through first (Express Boarding), so was in my seat, buckled up as most people were getting on



Uneventful take off, meal served about half an hour in (rice and stuff), then headphones on, iPod playing and had a gorm out of the window.



Arrived Denpasar 4.55pm with no hiccups, onto a shuttle bus from middle of the runway to the terminal, slight bit of rain, and quite cloudy, but not too hot.



Towards Visa on Demand, through customs and picked up my bag. Headed towards the exit (was confident of not being stopped and searched this time, as I was only carrying 1 litre of alcohol, not like last trip where I carried mine and 3 others, so was almost shot) – a cursory glance at me and my bags, and the nod of approval to go through.



Next challenge was to find someone holding a Mr Pom, or Martin the Pom sign (or a variation thereof) – quite disappointed to see a sign “Mr Ward, Villa Este” – thought the boys would be more imaginative. Made took my suitcase, tutted when he realised that the handle was broken and did not extend, but also pleasantly surprised at the lack of weight (a mere 9kg) then escorted me to his Kijang, parked near the taxi drop off.



Did not seem too warm, Made asked if I wanted to stop off to grab a Bintang as it was about a 2 hour drive, I laughed and said “no, no, 2 Hour jalan”! He though this was hilarious and proceeded to speak Indo for the rest of the trip – note to self – do not show off too early in the trip. He wasn’t really a talkative person, and I seemed to do most of the talking. He may not have understood a word I said, but he grinned and nodded a lot, and we headed out along Sunset Road and towards the villa via the back alleys (gangs)



Arrived at the villa about 6.20, so pretty happy with the time between arriving at the airport and then at the villa



Villa Este, nice looking, 4 bedrooms (3 upstairs), pool, air con, large lounge, large kitchen, with TV, DVD, Radio, local FOX type thing, cleaners, gardener and a pool man.



The boys were sitting out the back, very merry by this time (they arrived 9.30 that morning after the stupid O’clock flight), and had been shopping, stocked the fridge, bought gay shirts and then consumed lots of Bintangs



Few Bintangs later, I was in the pool, cooling off before we decided to head out for tea



Being the first night in Seminyak (for me) we decided to head to the local - Café Seminyak, (http://www.cafeseminyak.com/index.php?section=intheheart) on Jl Raya Seminyak, next door to Bintang Supermarket



Head off down gang Baik-Baik, through a communal Warung area, past a couple of other nice looking villas, turn left, then right, then left, then right, etc, and we were there, about a 5 minute walk.



Round of Bintangs and we looked at the menu, ordered lumpia (spring rolls) and a Beef Rendang and sat back and took in the delights of Seminyak – the motorbikes, the taxis, the smell, the noise. Ahh Bali; how I have missed you. Unfortunately, no toilet here, which means a minutes walk down the back of Bintang Supermarket to the local toilet. Ummmm, adequate would be the nicest way to put it.



Food came out and looked pretty good – better than anticipated, although we did notice that one of our party had fallen asleep at the table, without touching his beer or food (Burger!!) so I consumed said Bintang, and we shared out his food between us



Burger had had enough and wanted to head back, although the rest of us were keen to carry on a bit. I walked Burger three quarters of the way back, to familiarise myself with the windy way back, then he convinced me he was good, so I headed back through the maze to the guys.



First stop for a beer and toilet stop was a flash looking wine bar type thing, along Jl Raya Seminyak (forget the name tho), a large bar area and down some stairs towards the cooking are at the back, to the rest room. Very clean and well maintained. We took the opportunity to ring Burger to make sure he was OK back at the villa – he was, so we were happy to continue drinking.



Next stop was the Jaya Pub for a Draught Bintang and some pool – bar staff encouraged us in with the promise of some live music, although this was not high on our list of must haves. Couple of bowls of complimentary peanuts, and about 8 beers later, the Rat and the Gaz were plum tuckered out, so headed back to the Villa. The Stork and I went outside and decided to check out what all the fuss was about over at Potato Head.



Very flash looking, lots of Japanese (older men with young model girls) and reasonably pricy (around 45k for a beer), but you can see why people flock there, attentive staff, clean and beautifully manicured lawns and gardens. Had a couple of beers, and headed back to the villa.



Got to the villa, the Stork went inside and a guy on a bike caught my attention – I asked if he could take me on a tour around Seminyak on the back of his bike. What a great idea! Zoomed around, in and out of little alleys and roads for around 15 / 20 mins, and then got dropped off just about where I started and went to bed. Probably would have been better in daylight and when sober, to get a better look, but hey, no-one died!



Thursday 28^th February - My birthday – woke up to kisses from all the guys, no cards or presents tho!



Up at 7.30 with the traffic noise, into the pool and waited for the others to stir. By about 9, everyone was up, so we went for breakfast. The guys had only ever eaten locally or by taxi, so we walked left along Jl Raya Seminyak to Jl Padma and saw the Indo National (http://www.indo-nationalrestaurant.com/ ) (normally I would avoid places full of and run by expats, as they are often inhabited by fat bogan aussies, swearing and smoking, but it was fairly quiet), so we ducked in for breakfast.



Tried the Indonesian breakfast, mixed juice and Bali Kopi, all of which came within a few minutes of ordering and was very good. Got a birthday hug from one of the waitresses, and she took a couple of photos for us. Food was good, drinks were good, much nicer than I expected, so would maybe try again for lunch in July



After breakfast we decide to walk to the beach and have a look around. First thing to notice is the plastic covered beach (ie plastic bags, rubbish, etc). Gave myself a chance of catching some mysterious disease and went calf deep into the water, which was surprisingly clear, given the amount of debris floating in it.



We were hassled a little bit by the watch/sunglass/Viagra salesmen, although they were not too bad, and only asked a couple of times before wandering off to the next suspect. 5 guys walking down the beach, they probably did not expect to sell much anyway. Gaz bought a pair of genuine oakleys, for about 30,000 rp, as he had left his sunnies at the villa.



We figured that a walk up the beach back towards the villa was in order, so headed along about 5 minutes, til we arrived at the first lot of Red Eskys. Just about outside of the Puri Raja, where we stayed in Feb 2011, myself and Stork sat down and grabbed an icey cold Bintang, and were soon swarmed by locals offering everything from metal crafted crabs, bracelets, and massages. The other 3 went off for some manscaping, as they were not quite ready to start drinking. Talked a while with Wayan the owner, who told us he pays 450,000 rp per month for his little area of beach – would imagine he would make a reasonable (by Bali standards) living from that, averaging 6k profit per Bintang, would cost 3.5 cartons to cover the months rent



After 3 beers, we put the women out of their misery and allowed a hand, foot and shoulder massage. Toenails cut (mine were pretty grim looking and even I don’t like touching them!) Feet massaged, fingernails cut and hands and arms massaged, then the neck message. All up they were busy for around 30 mins each (1 each on foot, hand and neck duty). Paid them 80,000 rp to share amongst themselves, after bartering down from 400,000 rp each girl. Few more Bintangs (20k each) then we settled our tab (340k – you do the math!!!!) and drifted along the beach some more



Slow meander back up the beach and over a couple of interesting “Rivers” that seem to be some kind of local drains, and back along Jl 66. Was getting warm, so we hopped into a taxi back to the villa (5 mins) paid the guy 20,000 rp (if on meter, would have been about 7,000, but Stork was negotiating the deal, and paying, so I didn’t really care)



We beat the boys back to the villa, and realised they had both sets of keys with them. Oh well, it was lunch time anyway, so back to the taxi rank (just outside the villa gate) and off to Bale Bali on Jl Kunti for lunch (http://www.balebaliwarung.com/index.htm)



Had a starter of some prawn roll things, which were delicious, followed by Crispy Bebek, which was perfectly cooked. A sambal on the side to spice things up, and all was good. A few cold Bintangs, and we settled back and watched the traffic.



Once again, back to the villa, to find the boys still not home. No problems, as our security man also hangs around the taxi rank, as was able to open the gate for us, which meant we could jump in the pool. Alas, no beers though. No problems thinks I, looking at an open window. Opened the fly wire and reached in and opened the window, then climbed in and got a couple of beers, and opened the sliding doors. Back into the pool, just as the guys arrived, fresh from a manscape and massage.



Smooth clean flesh was bared (no need to go into details!) and touched, and we fell into our routine of beers and cocktails in the pool for a couple of hours.



Around 7.30 we thought about tea. I checked my to do list (I was the only one with a map, and a plan of what I wanted to see, eat and do in Bali) and decided to try out Taco Beach Grill on Jl Kunti. (http://www.tacobeachgrill.com/)



2 x taxi’s, giving each 20,000 (again would be less than the 5,000 flagfall on a meter) and we were there. Wow, it is small!! Only 6 tables, with seating for around 18-20 people, but only a couple of people there, so we got the large table and 5 of us sat down. I had read a lot about this place, and was expecting good things.



Dispensing with our usual opening line of “Lima Kecil Bintangs Terima Kasih”, we opted for Margaritas. Nice and cold and refreshing. Just had to try the chilli poppers as an entrée, so we ordered 3 chillis and salsa dip for 5 to share. The chilli poppers were delicious, peppers filled with cheese and crumbed, cooked to perfection. I would have eaten all 3 myself, but the other guys were hungry too.



We then ordered a mix of burritos and tacos to share, and they were all fanstastic, you could see them being prepared in the kitchen, and the fresh salsa and sauces available were great. Definitely recommend, and will definitely go back in July (in fact, I had a sneaky visit back on my last night while the guys were dining at the golf club in Sanur, ordered 2 x chilli poppers as an entrée, and the babi guling soft taco – absolutely fantastic)



Feeling full and fresh and alive, we headed back to Villa Este for some more cocktails, Bintangs and pool shenanigans



Friday 1^st March – This was the first of my alone days, as the guys were playing golf, so they had breakfast in the villa, and I went out on my own to tick another establishment from my list. Wandered along Jl 66 then hit beach corner. I had heard good things about Tekor (no website) so stopped by for breakfast. Had an iced coffee, mixed juice and Nasi Goreng (can’t help feeling that it is wrong to eat rice for breakfast, but hey, I’m on holiday!)



Nice view of the beach and Red Esky guys getting set up for the day, and was offered newspapers, Viagra (must look like I need some help) and watches, all of which I respectfully declined



Breakfast over, I decided a visit to Matahari in Kuta was in order. Jumped in a taxi and spent the next 35 minutes getting through the traffic. Driver had put the meter on as I got in, 24,000, so I gave him 30,000



Matahari was as I remembered from last visit; I bought a couple of T-Shirts, 59,900 and some shorts, 129,000 and some little bits and pieces for the girls. Wandered around most of the store, checking out prices for future reference.



Only so much shopping can be done at one time, and I was ready for my next drink. Was almost lunch time by now, so jumped in taxi and got dropped off on Padma, where I lunched at Mozzerella (http://www.mozzarella-resto.com/) The place was very quiet, and going by my normal mantra of if it’s empty it can’t be good, I would usually walk by and find somewhere else. Clare had been here before though, and said it was good, so went in. I was thanked for choosing to dine there, given a cold towel, and ordered a beer, which was reasonably cold, but not icy. Nice multi coloured chairs, looked like old fashioned deckchairs



Lunch was mixed satay, with boiled rice, and was a nice lunch time sized portion, around 6 sticks of satay, rice, salad and some pickled veggies, and condiments on the side. Yet again, could not fault the food at all, and if the beers had been a little colder, would maybe have stayed for another.



Back outside, grabbed a taxi back to the villa, jumped in the pool with a G&T and cooled off for a while. The golfers were not expected back til 6.00pm ish at the earliest, so I had plenty of time on my hands, had a shower and headed off for a massage.



Didn’t want to spend too much time getting hot and sticky, and getting lost trying to find somewhere, so down the maze, out onto Jl Raya Seminyak, and walked towards Legian, looking for the first available place.



Can’t remember the name (not a Carla Spa or anything that I had seen before), but a 1hr massage for 100,000 (advertised for 180,000) and was well worth it. Was offered manicure, pedicure, hair wash (???) and shave, but no happy ending!



Feeling all nice and relaxed, I left the nice air conditioned premises and back into the heat and humidity.



Walked along a little, and noticed a DVD store (Galaxy), so in I went, with my little list in hand. Very friendly staff grabbed my list, a basket and headed off to do my work for me, which gave me time to browse through any movies I wanted that weren’t on the list. He came back a couple of times to check he was getting the right movies, and let me know that some were still crap copies, and he didn’t want to sell them to me (Hansel and Gretel, and a couple of other really new movies) – some slight form of honesty amongst piracy!



Got my 65 DVD’s for $455k and headed back towards the villa, via Bintang supermarket, to pick up some Salak, bananas, more tonic and some junk food (chips, nuts etc). Bought some more Bintangs, Nasi Goreng spices, chilli sauce and the usual things to take home.



2 shopping bags, and a full backpack, was now ready for another dip in the pool, so back through the maze, into the villa, settled in with another G&T and lazed in the pool, drinking til the boys came back from their trip.



The golfers arrived around 6.30, Burger getting the line honours, had a couple of beers / cocktails (Storky specials) in the pool, then a couple of vodka and red bulls to boost our energy, and we left for tea



Next on the list of places to eat, was Sea Circus (http://seacircus-bali.com/)



We waved down a couple of taxis and gave vague instructions on roughly where we wanted to go (near the Oberoi) - our driver nodded like he knew the place, but really had no idea. Driving slowly down Jl Kayu Aya, I spotted it ahead and we jumped out.



First thing we noticed was the size – again not a huge place, an outdoor eating area, with 10 or so tables, and an indoor with around 8 tables.



Sat down and ordered some cocktails, then scanned the menu. We opted for a couple of dishes to share from the entrees and had bacon wrapped prawns, Balinese prawns, and crispy calamari, all of which were delicious. Followed entrée with some Bintangs and a range of tacos and quesadillas to share, again, beautiful fresh ingredients, fresh salsa’s and condiments, and really good to eat. Highly recommend we visit in July



Since we were in the general vicinity, we thought our next stop should be Ku De Ta, another top notch, must see place in Bali. Once again, you can see why the Aussies love this place, imagine the best bar in Subiaco, without the hefty $$$$ tag. Still pricy by Bali standards (1x Bintang =45k ++, so 53k per beer, and Bacardi & coke at 120,000) but very enjoyable couple of beers, and since we were White Water Rafting the next day, we thought it wise to try for an early night



Back to the Villa, and the early night turned into a 2.30am finish, although Gaz did finish a little earlier than us, with some weird bus driving noises coming from his bathroom.



Saturday 2^nd March – White Water Rafting and Ubud day!



Since we were on a bit of a tight schedule this morning, we went to old faithful for breakfast, Café Seminyak, where I rushed down a “Special”, which consisted of bacon, egg, sausage, toast etc, together with a mixed juice and Bali Kopi



Gaz was missing from breakfast, although he was alive and murmuring when we left. We figured he would not be coming on little day trip, but gave him the option when we got back to the Villa, he declined!



Wayan was waiting as we bundled out of the villa, each of us going back inside to grab something we had forgotten, til finally we were ready to go. Wayan was the driver that the guys had used for their golf trip the previous day, and so were familiar with him, and had discussed our options for today, to best fit everything in.



Our idea was to go White Water Rafting, then have Babi Guling in Ubud (the Babi Guling capital of the world!) and have a wander around Ubud markets, before heading back. Wayan was confident he could sort all of this for us, so we left it all in his hands. We wanted to avoid being picked up by the tour driver, as they usually pick up from 4 or 5 spots, and what should be a couple of hours travel each way, turns into 8 hours driving around, dropping people off etc. The cost of the driver for the day was well, well worth it, to have somewhere to leave our things, and be able to take off and do whatever we wanted afterwards.



Couple of hours drive towards the Telaga Waja River – I had not driven this way before, so saw a couple of new places along the way, we headed towards Gianyar, then towards Besakih, although not many towns to go through, and rather uninteresting trip. We were all a little tired, so wouldn’t really have noticed much anyway.



Arrived at Alam White Water Rafting (http://www.water-sports-bali.com/telaga-waja-rafting/http://alam-amazing-adventures.com/alam-amazing-rafting.php) just before 11.00am, and Wayan did some negotiating for us. List price for the 2.5 hour, 16km journey was $88 USD, but we paid $56 USD, about 560,000. If you book direct in advance you can get it for around $40-$45 USD, depending on group size.



Had a welcome coffee and pastry, packed our wallets into a dry bag, along with hats, and we were ready to head down to the river. Kitted out with an experienced guide (!), a life jacket, helmet and a paddle and down we go!



The river is at the bottom of a smallish valley (some rafting tours take you down very steep sided valleys with not much of a path), full of rice paddies. There were people working in the fields as we headed down narrow pathways, and steps to the bottom, about a 5 minute walk.



Once there, our raft was inflated, we were given a safety talk / instructions on when to duck, when to lean back, when to paddle like mad, and when to hold on! Pfft I thought, imagining it would be like the lazy river at Waterbom (how wrong can you be……………………..!)



First thing the guides do is make sure everyone is wet, by flicking water at you. The water was reasonably cold. Next thing, we are pushed off and away we go. After 20 seconds of leisurely paddling, we are told “hard fast paddle”, as the current steers us towards the river bank, “stop” the guide yells, and we lift our oars, then “lean back” – we are heading towards a low bridge, and need to lie completely flat to fit underneath! Before we get chance to sit up properly, we hear “hard fast”, and have to steer away from a low branch, which hits my head (good idea to wear the hard hat!), and we bounce off merrily downstream. Rat has his waterproof camera, and is gleefully snapping away at our misfortune, at the same dropping his oar, to the derision of us and our guide! This same process continues for the next hour, before we stop for a drinks break and to stretch our legs. Not exactly an easy glide down the river (although the term White Water should have given it away!)



We pull over to the side, where some local guys have built a small lean to shelter, with a table and bench seats. Out comes the Esky, filled with Bintangs, Cokes etc, for 30,000. Couple of happy snaps later, we are refreshed and back into the action. After about 10 mins of paddling, we arrive at the highlight of the adventure – a 4m drop down a weir! Cool



We are given instruction to keep arms, legs inside the raft, and myself and Stork (we are at the front) sit on the base of the raft with our legs dangling over the front. Feeling slightly apprehensive (wondering if this has been done before with the kind of weight we are carrying!) we slowly make our way to the edge, then weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, down we go!



Rat captured said moment on video, so hopefully we can see it, but not as bad as expected, although my balls did get squashed, my elbow banged onto Storks head, and my ankles felt broken. No time to nurse ourselves, straight back into our seating position, and “hard paddle”, which soon fixed any ailments resulting from the 4m drop.



We continued along the river for about an hour, until we arrived at a sweeping bend, where we could see the other raft parked up. We made our way over, and were told we could get out and swim, jump etc, as this was a deep part of the river. I jumped in and let the current drag me down the river, pretty quickly actually, so I tried to stand up and walk back to the others. The river was actually very strong, and it was hard work making my way back the 20 or so meters I had just travelled. Won’t bother with that again, so I found a nice deep part with a slow current and lazed around for a while.



After about 15 mins, all the people in our group (3 rafts in all) were thoroughly soaked – some after having their raft tipped upside down by our guide and safety person (!), and we climbed back in for the last stretch of about 1km.



5 minutes in, we noticed a lot of water splashing around in the raft. Pointing out our concerns that we were sinking, we jumped out, and the guide tried pumping up the bottom of the raft, with his mouth (ummm, don’t think that’s gonna work!)



We limped home, full of water, knackered, and ready for a drink!



Finally made it to the end, climbed out, and headed up the stairs to changing rooms, showers, toilets, where we dried off, and then went into the Riverside Restaurant



Stork ordered us some Bintangs and we has a small light lunch of bain marie rice/noodles/spring rolls etc, which was OK, but nothing special (we didn’t eat much, as we were heading to Ubud for lunch anyway)



We were going to purchase photo’s of the event, but with the other groups all looking through their digital poses, we decided to head off



Back up the hill through the rice paddies, to be greeted by Wayan, and we made our way towards Ubud. Not being quite aware of where the Telaga Waja River was, we figured about a half hour drive, but I now know that it is a bit further than that!



After about an hour of driving, Wayan checked with his mate that the restaurant he was taking us to was still open and still serving Babi Guling (they cook so many pigs, and then close the restaurant when it’s all gone), and we found ourselves at Ibu Oka 2 (Ibu Oka is world famous, due to Rick Stein, and Anthony Bourdain’s rave reviews when they visited). There are 3 locations, so not sure if any is better than the other? No 1 is on the river, and is the original, the others are overflows that are recommended if No 1 is full



We had the choice of sitting downstairs or upstairs, upstairs being low tables with no chairs (ie for the Japanese market!), so I quickly decided a downstairs meal would be best for our knees



Ordered some Bintangs (not very cold) and 4 x Specials, at 30,000 each, which was a tasting plate of all bits of pig. Yummy. The other guys weren’t too keen, but they had trusted my judgement so far, and I had yet to let them down, so away we went. Very fast service, and before long I was tucking into pork crackling, blood sausage, pork pieces, fried meat (some kind of offal maybe? Was quite chewy) rice and a sambal. I thought it was delicious, the other guys were just hungry and ate because of that. I helped finish off some of the leftovers (pork crackling with bits of hair on it!!) and we left to find Wayan.



It had started to rain while we were eating, and so was beautiful and cool, and we jumped into the car to head to the markets. Traffic was a nightmare driving into Ubud (we did see some escaped monkeys from the Monkey Forest on the side of the road, which meant no-one was tempted to stop for a look) and eventually we were dropped off near an alleyway leading to the markets.



Spent around 1 hour looking around, bartering and walking away, and bought a couple of singlets, and some T Shirts (160,000 for 5 items) and then we thought it was time to head off (was about 5.30pm)



Back to Wayan, and we headed to the Villa. Uneventful trip home, most of us were dozing a bit!



Arrived back to find Gaz up and alive, full of Buscopan and electrolytes, but not quite ready for a night out. We jumped in the pool, had a cocktail, a swim, then showered and headed out.



Tonights pick (I was starting to feel guilty at making everyone follow my list of to-do’s, but no-one put up any resistance, so I secretly think they enjoyed not having to make any decisions themselves!) was Lucky Day (website under construction) on Jl Dyanapura.



Grabbed a taxi, and were dropped off right outside the door, easy to find. Met by a smiling waitress, and we were ushered in and sat under a fan. Lucky Day is under new ownership as of November, Mitch and Emma from Port MacQuarie – we spoke a bit to Mitch about life and running a business in Bali, was very interesting!



Anyway, we had a nice icy cold Bintang (kept in an ice box full of ice) and browsed the menu. Decided on a couple of starters to share, and went for salt and pepper squid, and Vietnamese Rolls. After a couple of minutes, we were told there were no Vietnamese Rolls left tonight, so we went for the spring rolls instead. Both arrived quickly, and were pretty good. While eating our entrée, we were convinced to try an Espresso Martini (60,000), made from Vodka, Kahlua, Espresso and some secret ingredients, and O M G it was fantastic. I could have sat drinking them for hours – and then would have fallen over when trying to stand up!



For main, I ordered the Nasi Rames, which was a tasting plate of all things Bali, and was faultless, well presented, and tasty and a good size. The other guys enjoyed theirs, although they did lean a little towards a western meal - Rat had the Cordon Bleu, Stork had a chicken baguette, and not sure what Burger ended up getting



All in, was a fine experience, and definitely worth another look in July.



A swift walk down to the beach, and we checked out La Plancha for a couple of beers. Nicely set out tables and bean bags on the sand, with mood lighting pointed at the tables, gave a colourful eerie glow to everything. Music playing from speakers set up, and it was pretty packed, compared to everywhere else we had been so far. Drinks 25,000, we could hear the waves lapping on the beach. Would be good to head here for sunset at least once, if not here then down the beach at Crystal Palace, or ABC (Amazing Bali Café) or anywhere before you hit Jl 66.



Still not quite full of beer, we walked along the beach to Tekor, and grabbed a draught Bintang in a Stein, nice and cold, and surprisingly cheap, less than 120,000 for 4 beers



Finally had enough, so back to the Villa!! Instead of sleeping though, we thought it would be a good idea to hit the pool, drink the remnants of the duty free, then watch Strippers vs Werewolves on DVD. Perfect ending to a great day!!!



Sunday 3^rd March 2013 – an alone day for me, as the guys were heading to Sanur to play golf at a charity event, which included an evening meal. If I could be bothered, I would head over to Sanur and meet up with them for tea.



We had breakfast at Bush Telegraph Pub, where I had the different cheese and tomato jaffle, toast, poached eggs, mixed juice, Bali Kopi. Not too bad for food, but definitely no need to go back here again, nothing special. The guys picked it because it looked “Aussie”



They jumped in a taxi to get their gear sorted, and I went down the familiar path to the beach, and then walked down the beach to Kuta! Would take about 1.5 hours in a straight line, but I had a few diversions off to Red Esky land, and the whole thing took me over 2.5 hours. Walked off some of the beer I had been consuming the last few days J



After consuming a few beers, I hit Kuta needing a toilet. Looking for somewhere familiar, I headed to the stadium sports bar, where I bought a beer, used the amenities, and watched a bit of the Swans vs Saints game. Next stop, Matahari again for some more T Shirts and shorts (I had tried my previous purchases on, and was happy with the sizing), so grabbed more T Shirts, shorts, and some T Shirts for the girls. Left Matahari and thought I’d look round the markets, ended up buying a hat, some bracelets, necklaces etc for the girls. Was almost past lunchtime, so a quick taxi back, then thought I’d try and find Delicious Onion, just off Jl Dyanahpura /Dupradi. Well, I looked and looked, but could not find it – then I noticed an area that had been bulldozed down, and there was the sign, but no restaurant there, all gone. Sadly, I had not researched this very well, because they opened up further down the road that week! Oh well, will try again in July!



Disappointed that I could not try Delicious Onion, I headed back towards the beach, and settled on Zanzibar (http://www.zanzibarbali.com/home.html) for lunch. Had a nice cold draught San Miguel, and ordered spring rolls as an entrée, with a club sandwich chaser (the waiter asked if I wanted them together, or after each other, which was thoughtful gesture) Nice view overlooking the tourists at the beach, and yet again offered newspapers, watches and Viagra



Lumpia came out, nice and hot, but with a tomato sauce dip, rather than sweet chilli / spicy sauce (maybe they cater to a lot of tourists), but still very good.



Club sandwich came next, and was served on a huge plate, complete with about a kilo of fries. Would be plenty for two to share, but no complaints about the sandwich, fresh, tasty and toasty, very filling.



Had another San Miguel, paid and wondered where to head next. Thought about Sanur, then decided against it, so I opted for another walk, this time I walked along Dupradi to Sunset, then back down Jl Raya Seminyak to Jl Kunti, where I branched off to have a look for Villa D’Va – I had noticed the sign a couple of days before, so knew roughly where it was. Walked past Bale Bali (almost dragged myself in for a beer!), then past Taco Beach Grill (at this point I had the brain wave of forgetting about Sanur for tea, and coming back here. Golden plan)



Villa D’Va is a little further than TBG, down the first gang (alley) that you come to, around 50m or so from Jl Raya Seminyak, on the right hand side. Turn into the gang and its on the right as you go down. Looks nice from the outside, clearly marked 1A and 1B, tall gates, so nice and private. Could not get in for a proper look, but the alley was nicely paved, and all around looked clean and well maintained.



Having snooped around for a while, I went back to the villa for a swim and cocktails. Headed out for tea at about 7.00pm, walked to TBG and consumed Bintangs, Chilli Poppers and Babi Guling Tacos. Divine. This place will be our go to for whenever we need a quick, nearby establishment, along with Bale Bali. Should have gone into Bali Deli while nearby, but didn’t think of that!



After tea, over to Bintang Supermarket, bought some Bintangs, a couple more DVD’s and walked back to the Villa. The guys were back, and we settled down and watched some movies, drinking a few beers.



Monday 4^th March 2013 – going home today!



Last breakfast, so we awoke, into the pool for a quick dip, showered then headed to the beach. Lanai (no website) was todays choice, and we were taken up the stairs to the top level, which had a good view of the beach. Ordered our mixed juices, Bali Kopi, and then the Eggs special, which was Eggs Benedict on a potato rosti. Perfectly cooked eggs, very nice hollandaise sauce, and crispy rosti, made it a very enjoyable breakfast. Downside was the juicer broke, and we had to settle for OJ instead of mixed juice, but hey, that’s First World Problems for you!



Walked back along Jl 66 and then Jl Padma and weaved through the roads, until we came to a familiar looking area full of massage places – Legian. Hassled by all the girls to go to their massage places, we escaped unharmed!



A little further on, I looked in on Wali Warung, Warung Patrick, and Sammys – our haunts from 2011. Good to see them still there, so will try and head over there at some point in July to see what they are like.



Time getting on, and I still had to double check my packing, so myself and Gaz headed back, while Rat and Burger spoke to tour guides about flying to Lombok for a golf day.



Back at the Villa, I finished packing, checked for itinerary and passport, and sat around til about 12.30, before saying my tearful goodbyes to the boys (I think they were actually glad to see the back of me, I was far too bossy and organised for them!)



Every meal we had was good, most were fantastic, I think it helps to review, research and plan beforehand, so you don’t miss out on somewhere you want to go. A might fine To Do list, if I do say so myself J



Taxi to the airport was quoted at 70,000, which is less than the going rate of 80,000 at the airport to Seminyak, and less than the 100,000 it cost me to get here. However the extra 20/30,000 is well worth it to get someone who knows where the villa is, because most of the taxi drivers don’t. After the first couple of days, I worked out that by telling the drivers we were near the corner of Nakula and Gang Baik Baik, they knew where to head.



Drive to the airport took around 35 minutes, so got there in plenty of time, checked in, through immigration and headed to Prada lounge. 155,000 rp to get in, and had some food, and a couple of Bali Hai draughts.



Uneventful flight back, good seats again (Emergency Exit) and very quick through duty free at Perth, picked up some Glayva and Opal Nera, had my card checked at immigration (I ticked yes to foodstuffs, and told them it was supermarket spices, sauces and lollies), picked up my suitcase (being first checked in, I figured I would be just about last off!) and headed to the customs area. The customs girl took one look at me, asked me again what I had, whether I was travelling alone, took my card and told me I was free to go through – marvellous!



Met at the gate by my beautiful wife, and 3 beautiful girls - Tessa was the most excited, followed by Molly, Sam, and Clare. Maybe I should have shaved at some point during the holiday, cause they all commented on my beard, but again, First World Problems!!

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Comments

[Marie]

For some reason I am now hungry. Cheers good work!!