Day 10 - Tanah Gajah Resort & Day 1 of Wedding Celebration

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Today was very relaxed. Woke up around 8am and had our self catered breakfast of corn flakes & banana and some of the fruit that we were given on arrival, a nice gesture. Still can’t get over how cheap we got this accommodation but I think the reason is that it is older and less well appointed than the other 20 official villas in this resort. Ours is probably the original residence of the complex which was formerly called the Chedi Club but then redesigned by architect, Hendra Hadiprana. The cheapest 1 bedroom villa is around $650 but our 2 bedroom villa is less than $100 per night, quite a big difference. Sure the included facilities are not really up to scratch even by AirBnb standards but the fact we are able to make use of all resort facilities makes it an absolute bargain.

After breakfast, Daisy went for a swim in one of the largest resort pools we’ve ever seen. I decided to plan our next few days here in Ubud but Daisy convinced me to have a dip. I have to say that is was a very pleasant dip in the pool. There were only 2 other people at the pool and one of them offered to take a photo of us in the pool together. Turned out they were Aussies (no surprise there), both names Rachel, one from Toowoomba and the other from Orange. By coincidence they are both teachers who had met whilst working on Norfolk Island. We chatted for quite a while before we had to shower and get changed to meet my sister, Debbie who was due to arrive at 12.30pm.

Debbie’s plane was delayed, so we decided have a wander around and go to the restaurant for lunch. No one else was there but we both had very nice meals. Daisy had a prawn spag dish and I had probably the best Mie Goreng I’ve ever had. It was expensive by Bali standards but augered well for the coming meals we were going to have over the next few days.

We met Debbie at reception around 3pm and helped her take her luggage to our villa, then chatted until it was time for the first function of the 3 day wedding celebration, the actual reason we were Bali in the first place. My cousin Justin is marrying Lynn and Bali is a halfway point between Sydney and Shanghai where Lynn’s parents live. Dinner was Hainanese chicken rice and roast pork with buk choy, all very nice plus a scrumptious dessert. We sat on a table with Debbie and another cousin, Graeme, and his wife Anita and their son Ethan, who are always great company.

We then left about 9pm but not before meeting Lynn’s parents which was nice.

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