Friday is our last day in Sanur before we move to Villa D'Suite in Seminyak. We always knew that The Event would take place on this side of the island, so as much as we love Sanur - we spend the day starting to pack up the three tonnes of luggage you take with you when you have young children - 'Peter Rabbit?' (Snubs) 'Check'. 'Lamb Lamb?' (Mookie) 'Check'. 'Vodka?' (Mummy) 'Check'. Right-o then - everything else we can live without...
I suggest we have dinner at Café Jepun which is one my all-time favourite places in Sanur. It delivers quality, fresh food, and while the service has varied over the years, I usually find it's very pleasant and we always go back there. Jepun used to be one of the pricier places to eat in Sanur - a tiny bit more up-market that than the others, but I noticed this time that while the prices have crept up and up an up everywhere else, Jepun has stayed static, so in fact now it's a very good value place to eat considering the quality of the food and the menu. It's a bit of a walk from our end of Sanur - but many restaurants in the area - just give them a call and they'll come and pick you up from your hotel and drop you back after dinner for free.
If you do actually get here one day - do yourself a favour and have the Smoked Marlin Salad as a starter - I've talked this dish up to many people and it has always delivered; thin slices of cold smoked marlin nested on top of coral lettuce, julienne carrot, very thinly shaved salad onion, drizzled with an olive oil and basil dressing, and seasoned beautifully. I followed this with stuffed Lombok Chillies -large red chillies gutted and stuffed with rice and spices, then roasted over a fire - they retain very little 'heat' but all of the flavor of a chilli, and are beautiful. Shame I didn't get to eat mine until they were cold.
Entrée had just been cleared, the band had started up, Mookie was wowing a table of sexagenarians with his signature moves, and I looked down to notice three missed calls on my phone. OMG! OMG! OMG! What if it was artist!!! OMG! OMG! OMG! I poke C under the table and show her my phone, she mouthes 'OMG' at me and I excuse myself from the table and head for the bathroom.
I dial the number back and get an unenthusiastic 'halo' on the other end. 'Halo! My name is Natalie - I missed a call from your number...'
'Oh! Yes! Mrs Natalie - are you still interested in my fainting?'
Fainting? No, I'm not the least bit interested in your fainting, or your narcolepsy or any other temporary loss of consciousness you might experience thank-you-very-much.
'Umm - I'm sorry - I don't understand...'
'Fainting. My fainting from the gallery. My fainting of the Barong. My boss calls me to says you want to buy it.'
Oh! How could I be such a twit! I've known ever since I came to Bali the first few times that 'f' and 'p' are just about interchangeable, to the point where I once saw garlic pried frawns on a menu once - can't believe it didn't click. Anyhoo - seems I'm in the game for a painting now...exciting! 'Yes! Yes! I'm still interested - will you sell it to me please?'
I won't bore you with the details but we banter back and forth half in English and half in Indonesian about the price and what I can and can't afford, and yes it's a very special present for my husband's birthday, and family members are all contributing money, but really this is all I have and I know this is a work of art and I'll totally understand if you can't sell it for this much etc... etc... He says he'll call me back.
I head back to the table just in time to see my Lombok Chilies slide into view and C is staring at me quite intently with a 'and?' face. I quietly shrug my shoulders, mouth 'not yet' and swing into the conversation as if I'd never left the table. A sip of caipiroska, and with knife and fork poised menacingly above my toasted chilli I see my phone flash again. Damn! The band is so loud I can't hear the darn thing ringing! Munchie spots it and says 'your phone's ringing - is it the driver for tomorrow?' He's brilliant and he doesn't even know it. 'Oh yes - maybe, I'll just nip out and call him back.'
Just outside the restaurant I call him back. He explains that he can't possibly sell the fainting for the price we wanted it for - but if we were to swing him another $50 he'll do it because it's my husband's birthday and he doesn't want my husband to be sad. Nawww, isn't that nice - even sympathy has a price it seems, and that price is $50 USD. I agree to his velvet extortion and explain that I need to pick it tomorrow morning because we're leaving Sanur at 1.30pm to move to Seminyak, and that the day after that is Munchie's birthday. He says 'OK - come and pick it up now.' Now? 'Um... I'm having dinner with my family now, can I pick it up tomorrow morning please?' 'No - I'm here now - come and pick up the fainting now.' Hmmn. What to do? Several issues. One - it's a bloody big fainting. Two - I don't have anywhere approaching that much cash on me right now. Three - I'm in the middle of dinner. Four - what am I going to do with it?? Ah what the heck - I'll work it out. 'Sure - I'll be there in ten minutes'.
Surprisingly calm I walk back into Jepun and by luck or fate, Munchie has gone to the bathroom. 'C! C! We got it! But we have to go and pick it up now!' 'Now?' says C, 'What are we going to do with it?' I grab her by the hand and head for the street 'That's your department.' We abandon O with Snubs and the gyrating Mookie and I remember there is an ATM machine just near the roundabout on the way to the gallery. Unfortunately it's one of those annoying ones that only lets you withdraw Rp1 Million at a time in 50k notes, so multiple transactions later C and I have our pockets stuffed with wads of blue notes and hope we don't lose any - luckily the gallery is only a short walk away.
When we arrive the Barong is on the floor being prepared for transport - I'm soooo excited, and very, very pleased that Munch is getting what he wants for his birthday. C and the artist are in the process of gently packing and rolling the canvas while the boss lady counts the wads of cash and issues me a receipt, except - the tube the artist has is too small. The fainting doesn't pit. *facepalm* We've already been gone for about 15 minutes and really can't hang around any longer. The boss lady suggests we can go and they will deliver the fainting to Peneeda View tomorrow in a bigger tube. *facepalm* It takes everything I have to calm myself down, and smile - yes of course, thank you - that will be lovely. Please call my mobile before you arrive, and I'll meet you in Reception. I guess they just had to make sure that they'd actually sold it. Ahhh Bali!!! You test me sometimes!!!
C and I race back to Café Jepun and I spot my lonely cold chillies next to a very unimpressed Munchie, Mookie is tired of the grandmas and has the grizzles, and O and Snubs are counting dead bugs on the floor tiles. Perfect. 'All sorted,' I announce 'the driver will meet us at 1.30.' 'It took 20 minutes to work that out?' muses Munch out loud. 'Oh no... not really - I was just asking him questions about whether he could take us to dinner on the night of your birthday, and also organized our day trip to Ubud and couple of other things, oh and C wanted to ask t him about a day into Kuta to get her jewellery done, so sorry - it took a while. It was very noisy on the street - we had to repeat ourselves a few times.' Some people will believe anything.
Café Jepun transported us safely home to Peneeda and we all roll into bed and wait for Gary's Final Gala Performance. Even on our last night he wasn't inclined to treat us to a seven - but I was so pleased to have Operation Barong well under way it wasn't a problem, he's his own lizard - he can do what he likes.
Sampai nanti...
dutchnat