Day 10:
I have mentioned Lee before, a lovely lady that we met, who was travelling with her son. She very kindly invited my boys to stay with her and her son for the night in their room to watch DVD's (brave lady!)
After dragging a mattress from our bungalow to her room, she told us to bugger off and go out and enjoy ourselves.
We didn't need to be told twice, and headed off for a night out on the town on our own, which was a lovely unexpected bonus for us.
Walked the back gangs from Jl. Padma through to Poppies 2, passing Camplung Mas, and Warung 96 (stopping for refreshments along the way!) I already had a destination in mind, but wasn't too sure how the hubby would react.
Mr Barong's Tattoo Studio in Poppies 2!
We had discussed the possibility of "maybe" getting matching tattoos while we were in Bali, depending on the safety of the establishment and good reports from other people who had been there. Well, i had done my research on this place and I know many people would think we were mad for getting tattoos done in Bali, but I felt very comfortable in Mr. Barongs. The place was spotless, hygienic, you opened your own needle packets and took the top off new ink for every customer.
Without going into too much gory detail, my hubby and I now sport a permanent unerasable memory of our trip to Bali, and I couldn't be happier with the whole process and outcome. Now here's the really good part. The cost was unbelievably cheap! For both of our tattoos, the bill only came to $43 Au. !
So for anyone who is into that sort of thing, I recommend Mr Barong's. These people are true artists, amazing stuff, and they take their art very seriously, and couldn't have been any more professional or nice to us.
Made our way back to GVC. It was still only early, but we didn't want to be away from the kids for too long and we were both feeling a little queazy after our adventure. Sat up at the bar for a few hours enjoying the band and even jumping up to do a few numbers of my own! Downed a few more bintangs, then headed off for a much needed early night.
Day 11:
Hubby returned the favour to Lee and watched all the boys while we shopped! Went back to Geneva with Lee and my mum. I was in more of an observational role this time, but these ladies shopped big time! (Lucky I was there to help carry everything for them) My mum spied statues up on the top shelf and asked how much they were. A boy climbed up and got them down for us. 80cm Roman Goddess statues, I'm not sure what they made from, but were heavy, for 25,000 Rp. each !!!
At that price, mum was willing to take the risk of getting them home unbroken.(In the end, I had to take them home for her, as I had more of a weight allowance, and unfortunately, they were both broken in half when I got home, but a little super glue for that rustic look, and stick them in the garden and they still look ok. Still a really good buy in my eyes)<On a funny sidenote, when they were x-raying the suitcase at customs on our way back, everyone had a really good laugh as it looked like I was trying to smuggle two midgets back into the country!)
Headed back to GVC bar with all of our wonderful purchases for a refreshing post-shopping cocktail and spent the rest of the day cocktailing and sunning at the pool bar.
Dinner at La Monde across the road again for yummy brushcetta and pizzas. Kids ate first then spent the rest of the evening playing pool while we ate and drank and talked with our wonderful company.
Day 12:
Was excited about finally getting to meet RandR (Rick and Ruth from this forum), who my folks have known for a few years and have many happy Bali memories with.
Meeting place was Hulu Cafe! Was able to take the hubby along this time as Lee had very generously offered to watch our boys again.(Thank you Lee, if you ever read this, you are a gem and one in a million, girl, we're so lucky to have met you and your family)
Met Rick and Ruth. What AWESOME people! We had such a good night. I made sure to sit hubby in the hot seat at the front and he had no clue as to what was going on, but I knew, from my previous Hulu experience, that they would lavish attention on him and give us all a good laugh! Well, I wasn't disappointed. Every act came down from the stage and tried various stunts like sitting on his lap and rubbing his chest, and trying to get him to dance. It was a scream and the photo evidence shows him smiling, no matter how much he denies it! I have never seen him blush so much. We had a really great night, and finished off with a marathon Bintang session at the GVC bar, which went until about 4am! Thanks for a wonderful night, RandR, it was a real pleasure to meet you both and can't wait until next year!
(Will post the photo evidence when I find out where the hubby has stashed the pics!)
Final installment coming to a BTF near you soon!
~Shell