Well the Melbourne gang of SLOBBS met last night at Jakarta Indonesian Restaurant in Carlton and the first thing on the Agenda was a change of name from Slobbs to something a little more fitting for us.
Several suggestions were put forward and it was decided BAGUS was the go. From now on no more SLOBBS or BLAH BLAHS.
Now this is where I get stuck because I can't remember the EXACT wording of acronym which was decided. The other one keeps flitting round in my head (thanks Mark). So my fellow BAGUSer's please come to my aid on this. Sad really because I didn't touch a drop of alcohol.
Seventeen of us enjoyed the great setting and the food.Eleven brave souls ventured for the Bali Banquet- reminicent of authentic Bali except for the price but hey you can't have everything.
For $35 a head we were served
Lumpiah Jakarta(Spring rolls)
Tahu Kipas(Prawn beancurd)
Beef rib soup
chicken satay
Udang Baka Jakarta(Grilled King prawns)
Ikan Bumbu Pedas (Fried fish with spicy sauce)
Ayam Bakar Jakarta (Grilled chicken)
Nasi Putih (rice)
Gado Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce)
ice-cream
Others who didn't think they could tackle a banquet tried
various ala carte menu items. Seeing the plates were licked clean
and no complaints heard, I'm guessing everyone enjoyed the meal.I
certainly thought we were offered a nice array of food and enjoyed
it all. Some drank Bintangs, others wine and then there was a bottle of Arak floating around and being diluted with
orange juice. I would love to see what sort of headache our friend Mark woke up with today, as he was drinking it straight. I digress here and explain Mark and his wife Gayle are our friends, and never been to Bali. He had never heard of Arak before and unaware of
it's potent kick. Despite warnings, he was seeing drinking it like it was water .....
The show and tell of wierd and wonderful Bali souvenirs brought out the usual oddities. Honest, I'm referring to the souvinirs not the people who brought them. Just thought I would clear that one up :)
Some of the items that were shown around included Brooksey & Wendy's matching indonesian hats, Jenny C's well worn but much loved tray,shar^kie's duck on a seat (don't ask..I begged him not to bring it ),Kay's cats and the usual little bits and pieces of good to Bali Bad taste that always make an appearance.
The conversation round the table was like a mini Bali Travel Forum
and everything from cremations to playstations were discussed. It amazed me at the first meeting, how total strangers can get together and actually get on like a house on fire. This time was no exception and it was nice to meet the new faces of Ann ,Denis,Lynn,Granny Deb and Ginny.
Ann brought along a digital camera and took some great snaps. Shar^kie and Ann are collaborating together to bring us a web page of the night to show those poor unfortunates who were unable to attend, what sort of people we really are. Hey Ann did you get one of Brooksey scrounging in the rubbish hopper outside the Restaurant?
Brooksey assures me it was purely professional interest only (he collects antiques and items of rarity)but that gleam in his eye...hmmm..Wendy you might have to up his medication.
It was also decided that Grand Final Eve might be a good time for the next get together if some interstaters want to join in on our fun.
Venue to be decided later. I think everyone agreed next time if we go to a restaurant we will organise separate bills to be made up from the start. Luckily four of us organised this, but the other 13 had the usual headache of working out who ate and drank what,and why the money was short,then too much then short again! It was reminiscent of a money changer's shop for a little while!! Then the professional Bali Barterers got themselves organised with a calculator(thankfully not a money changer's one)and it was worked out in no time.
Some more chat ensued and shortly after we made our farewells and headed off into the night with
memories of a good evening and inspirations of returning to Bali as soon as we all could.