Thnakfully I had read on BTF that many first timers wonder what they have got themself into for the first few days- we were certainly having that problem. I do not know how we would have coped without having read all the info from BTF!
I found the money totally confusing- all the same colour and soooo many zeros! I think we made our first mistake in going for a walk on the beach first thing on arriving- every hawker must have picked us out and we were surrounded!! We were overawed by the persistance- and this was at Legian, where I had heard it was much better than Kuta!! Its funny now to think of that day- but we really thought of not leaving the Puri Raja again until we left!!!!!
The next day we decided to go look for the tailors as suggested. We headed off with a map, which was absolutely no use as we found the lanes and things not well marked with names and kept walking past things. Also, we are from a rural area, crowds are not something we spend much time in... and I'm not a woman who likes shopping much. Anyway, we were still not feeling very confident and some of the sellers (mainly watches and sunglasses and not in stalls but on the footpath) were quite pushy and even grabbed my son by the arm to pull him to their bags. Now he really was uncomfortable with that and was not happy with trying to say no 100 times without being rude. Plus we were still trying not to get run over and still jumping and turning around everytime a horn tooted!!! We finally found this awful lane where one of the tailors was supposed to be, and in a dingy horrible shop that did not look good we made our first attempt at talking about having Mitch's suit made. The poor lady could not understand us (our fault- it was her country after all) but it did not help our very jangled nerves. We gave up and left, "boss be back later... come back 2o'clock). Feeling lost and ....yes.... unsettled, out of our depth etc. we decided to head back to Puri.... On the way (which turned out to be the LONG way) we passed Komangs (House of) and I remembered that name from BTF. HOW LOVELY THEY ARE!!!!! They gave us a water, told us to sit and chat and talk about suit later..... they were lovely. Anyway, when we got to discussing the suit nothing was too much trouble- they really made sure we were all clear on what was wanted- a white suit, satin lapels (a formal suit). Also had a black satiny shirt with huge lapels made, too. Sounds gross, but it was what he has always wanted! Fully lined, beautiful fit etc. as it turned out. Anyway, back to the fitting. I had not told 16 yr old what was involved in being measured for a suit. this was the funniest sight- him standing there with a shocked face as she measured his crotch, moved his "tackle" over and measured other areas, all the time chatting to him..... I wish I had a camera!!! I could have bargained, but at $130 I was happy (well hoped I would be when it was made) as I had paid $100 to hire the last suit and it was crap. I also had a suit measured with jacket, skirt and matching pants $145.
When we got them, we were so happy I had another 3 pairs of pants made ($21 and a bit each!!!) Finally, pants that fit my tall, skinny, sway backed frame!!!! My sons suit is MAGNIFICENT. We gave them all the formal catalogues we had brought and they were very appreciative.
We headed off feeling a lot happier, stopped at Posers Pub for lunch and to watch the crowds on the street ($8.17 for huge yummy pizza and 4 drinks), at least we had achieved something- was it starting to feel easier??!! WEll, we thought so, but on walking back to motel we were obviously new faces, so got encouraged to shop at every shop on the way back... pkus the horns and the cars and the crowds......
I laugh now when I think of that first day.....