After our long trip to Singaraja my "not so healthy" husband was not up to anything but sitting in his beach chair all day. I determined that my shopping days were dwindling and didn't have souvenirs for many so got a taxi.. My husband actually wanted to go to Sanur..as it was an early surfing spot..before all the tourists discovered Bali..So I went to report back. I got a taxi and stopped by the Hyatt..a classic hotel.. Looked comfortable..grounds not nearly as manicured as the Intercontinental. Beach view a bit different. But still much more quiet than Kuta. THen back to the main street to shop. It was TOO HOT. Did we end up there on the hottest week? I was nearly the only crazy person walking around. Got a shirt at Animale..90,000..on sale? but mostly they had larger sizes. The store was cool though!
Then a woman who was desperate to sell me something..so I got a pair of wrap around pants and matching shirt (80,000). She seemed to need the sale badly..and there were no other customers in sight. I picked up a couple of bags..one woven with cloth lining which became my new catch all bag. I got a silver necklace from another lady..poked around here and there and saw one other couple. This was in the heat of the day and it was HOT. Good thing my husband hadn't gone along.
Note: At the building where Hardy's Grosir is located..(ground floor), parking lot in front..money changer also.. upstairs-- I think the taxi guy called it the art market. At the top of the stairs are several counters of silver jewelry. Prices were quite decent and they only would take off 10%..then 15% if I got two items. Seemed very fairly priced in comparison to other places.. same pair of earrings was less than half the Celuk jewelery shop price.. final price still less.. Fairly substancial silver ring with amethyst for 55-80,000. I don't think other items were priced much differently, (crafts etc) but the silver seemed pretty reasonable. In the grocery section (first floor) I got Bali coffee, spices..cheap. Oddly there are things that have to be "written up" on a paper..and there are shop girls in pairs all over..mostly chatting.. When I picked up a couple of post cards a guy appeared magically to write it up. Naturally I ran out of time as I'd promised to meet my husband back at the hotel for late afternoon tea..so I reluctantly headed back..
Monday:
UBUD. We hired Dewa Parwita to drive for the day. He'd sent a nice note. He was a nice enough guy but he took us to a dance show on the way which cost 50,000 each and I suspect mainly because the drivers get a kick-back? Lots of tourists there. I really prefer seeing whatever happens rather than a planned show. He also stopped at an art gallery..pricey..then a batik place..outside info..interesting..but we didn't buy anything at these places. Also a carving place..where my husband was interested in the classic cars the owner had..The owner was definitely a wealthy person. Nice classic Mercedes..and other cars. (Oh and yes, lots of carvings)
On to Ubud.. where we had lunch at Indus.. This was a good choice for us: view plus decent food. We weren't sure we'd make it to Ubud. (Had I stayed in UBUD overnight I would have liked to have tried Mozaic.) The Balinese Paella (45,000) was quite nice..and beer was 25,000.. nice selection of desserts. Black rice pudding comes with some ice cream which my husband gave a "thumbs up". It started to rain.. We headed over to Verona Spa where we'd made a reservation. Driver left for two hours (his family lived nearby)and we had the lulur? massage/treatment. Outside a rice field..and while we were there saw farmers right outside tending the field. Massage was fine..scrub hurt..but I guess it does.. I have very sensitive skin so maybe should have skipped that. Then the bath. They left us in the bath saying they'd be back "in 20 minutes". SO the bath water, not very warm to begin with..got colder.. During the massge it POURED, and possibly the temperature outside was lower. So sitting in the tepid water wasn't too pleasant after 5 minutes. I thought we must be done..but they hadn't brought our towels yet.. We were the end room so even yelling down the hall wasn't so easy. Finally the lady came back and sure enough said "you can take a shower". By this time my sick husband wasn't too happy. We were actually cold. THen the shower water heater wouldn't work ..heated then..stopped heating. Had to turn it off again and back on to get it to heat. (They are a Japanese brand..perhaps past their prime?) We managed to get dressed and leave..but did not leave a tip.. I think perhaps the girls got busy chatting and forgot about us for a while. The place was acceptable (not fancy). THe price of course (90,000 each) wasn't expensive but perhaps I'd go up a rank and try elsewhere..or try Zen?
Leaving a Japanese person in a tepid bath..isn't a good idea.. We take 42 C. baths here. Tepid water isn't something Japanese like..
Oh, also the rice fields of Ubud..were ..not quite as exciting coming from Japan where we have ...rice fields. The view is still different with the palm trees but not as different as it would seem to someone from a non-rice growing area. So I still liked it..but my husband wasn't quite as impressed.
I saw some interesting shops but.. alas we spent too long in the silver shops we saw. Hara Ini? had fixed prices..I think that was where the chain isn't included in price..and the chain is not a very good deal. Buy only the pendants..get chain elsewhere perhaps? Got some earrings..more modern, simple styles. Oh I was looking for a ring..but in UBUD it seems every shop was out of smaller sizes and only had larger ones.. I guess the next delivery would have some..but not that day.
Exchanged some money and got the best rate there in Ubud. Counted it out..no problem.
Didn't make it to other interesting shops.. really an overnight would have been nice. Did not go to the monkey forest..we have monkeys in Japan also. Not enough time but wanted to at least see a bit. Would have driver go directly to Ubud..and skip the other places..only stopping on the way back IF we had time I think. The batik/ weaving place was of some interest..brought back memories of doing batik in 8th grade.......
Back to Jimbaran and to our Club lounge for cocktail hour...