As there's no breakfast included in the tariff at BSBV we walk down the beach to Benno's knowing that the hairy lanterns we ordered should now be ready to pick up, so we can accomplish two things at once.
I'm sure I've mentioned before that Mookie eats more than the average grizzly bear so we had some issues with ordering that took a while to iron out as the waitress struggled to believe that all of that food was going into that skinny little blonde kid. Snubs on the other hand, eats like Kate Moss minus the cocaine habit.
The infuriating thing about Mookie is not the fact that he eats so much, but more that he savours every mouthful. Ever the dutiful parents we have table rules - and rule number one is that no-one gets to leave the table until everyone is finished, which usually means that all of us have to sit around wait while Mookie duly inspects, tastes, chews and then finally swallows every single mouthful, which is frankly quite infuriating. I have learnt over his lifetime to make sure that my wine glass/coffee cup is fully charged at dinner time so I don't get caught short.
Mookie is taking forever so I send Ririn an SMS and ask her to meet us at Benno's - by the time she arrives he's just finishing his last forkful of scrambled eggs and she takes the boys back to the villa for a play and a mid-morning swim.
Munch and I go to our guy at the back of the Sindhu Markets to pay the remaining amount on our hairy lanterns and pick them up. He shows us a sample of a completed one so we're sure it's the right colour etc... and then he boxes them all up as lightweight as possible and says no need to hang around - I'll deliver the boxes to your villa later today. Very much appreciated. When we get home we'll have these wired up into garden lights - a little touch of Bali at in our own backyard.
When we first ordered these a few weeks ago I was inspired to hit Munchie up for a bale, so we could have a much bigger touch of Bali in the backyard. Being a stay-at-home Dad and general lounger I reckon I had a pretty good chance - at the end of the day it would of course all come down to price. We had noticed quite a few Bale manufacturers on the ByPass Road - so we decided to pick out three of them and get some quotes happening.
The first stop is the hardest - we really didn't have much of an idea what we wanted, what the options were, or how big it should be, so once we ironed this out we were set to go at the rest of the places. As it turns out, all of the quotations for a 2.5M x 2.5M bale were all pretty much line ball, and within what we expected to pay. The issue, as yet unresolved, is shipping. There are lots of shipping agents in Bali - but we struggled (and are still struggling) to find someone who will handle a door-to-door shipment to KL, so sadly getting a bale before the end of year is not likely to happen. Most are only interested if you want to order and ship a commercial quantity, and no-one really seems to be interested in just one bale. If anyone can help me I'll cheerfully give you a free hug and a week with Mookie thrown in. I'll even supply the food.
By the time we've visited all three places it's well past lunch time, and we race back to the villa to find a slightly frazzled Ririn trying to ward off a cranky, hungry Mookie with dried banana chips. Once the kids are re-fuelled and down for an afternoon sleep, Dean and I head out again for a walk down the street, drop off our massive pile of washing, get some basics from Hardy's and find somewhere to have dinner tonight. We've asked Ririn if she can stay a little later so that Munch and I can enjoy a night out before we have to leave in a couple of days. We've scoped out 3 Monkeys a few times as a potential - we like the look of it and the menu, and it's very close by, so we decide we'll go back there tonight.
On the walk back from Hardy's I spy a bracelet in Kapal Laut and decide that I'll buy myself a little treat - a chain of silver flowers, quite simple but nicely made. Most pieces are under $100, so it's very affordable for everyday jewellery and they have some lovely designs. The bracelet I bought was $45 AUD - more than happy with that. It's not meant to be a high-end jewellery store, so if you just want silver studs for work, gifts for teenage daughters or a simple bracelet to remind you of your trip, then maybe go and have a look.
Snubs and Mookie are up from their nap and swimming again when we get home, Munch and I play cards and have a couple of vodka tonics until it's time to get ready for dinner. One of the bonuses of the location of the BSBV is that you can call Villa Shanti and order room service from them to be delivered to your villa, so we order in dinner for Ririn and the boys and they're allowed to stay up and watch the Chicken Little DVD until bedtime, while we head to 3 Monkeys.
Little did I know that this evening's dinner was actually the launching pad of Munchie's Festival of the Pork (note, the Pork, not the Pig) where all things gastronomically porcine were to be worshipped, revered and partaken of.
It all started with wood-smoked pork belly paired with an Absolut Ginger cocktail and he never looked back. The pork belly had been slow-cooked and lightly woodsmoked, and the plate was drizzled with a 5-spice infused jus, delicate rings of shaved baby fennel, and peppered with little red pomegranate jewels that popped when you squished them with your tounge - instantly cutting through any residual porky richness. Oddly there were also pinenuts present, but for the most part they were drowned out amongst the other more dominant flavours. Generous chunks of pork crackling completed what was a perfectly executed expression of what pork belly should be, and I applaud 3 Monkeys for this.
I had a dish of salmon nested on fettucini with a delicate saffron cream sauce, which, had I not tasted Munch's pork paradise, would have been perfectly lovely, but alas, I am again suffering from menu regret. We each have another delicious Absolut Ginger cocktail, and Munch vows that we will return here in the next two days so that he can have that dish again - he loves it that much.
We have one more dinner and two more lunches in Sanur - and it just so happens that tomorrow is Sunday, and Munch has the inside intel that somewhere in a bar in southern Sanur they do a whole suckling pig on Sundays, and that it's pretty darn good. He has some vague directions given to him a few weeks ago by the ladies at the Bamboo Shoots Cooking School and a time - be there at 7pm. Fuelled by his pork triumph tonight he finds a new resolve to locate the Sunday suckling pig, and so tomorrow night's dinner venue is decided.
We arrive home to find to find that the hairy lanterns were indeed delivered as promised, and considering that each box contains four of them, they are extraordinarily lightweight - he's done an excellent job.
Ririn is snoozing quietly on a sun lounge no doubt exhausted, and Munch and I slip into the kitchen for a post-dinner glass of sparkling wine and some cards before bed, acutely aware that we have only one and a half more days before we leave this gorgeous place and head back to real life again.
Sampai nanti...
dutchnat