After a 5 hour day travelling via the shuttle between Candidasa & Seminyak it feels good to be "home" at the Sarinande. It seems almost all roads pass through Ubud & Guianyar. I could have taken a whole roll of film on the sights in passing. My favorite was the scooter with a rack on the back that held plastic bags of floating goldfish - all swinging in the traffic.
I love my evening walk on the beach to watch the sun go down & the locals' soccer game. (Jenn's grumbling about wet feet & sand- pooh!) Love the look of the Waves restaurant right on the beach (it's attached to the Seminyak Resort & Spa) but the 21% tax & service charge is outrageous!! The food prices were a little bit higher than we'd seen but not overly so. Too bad the service we got didn't justify the 21%! Ah, well. Food was pretty good & I loved being right on the beach at sunset.
The next morning Jenn is a pale shadow who hacks & coughs her way thru the day between bouts of resting. The room is awful & mouldy. I dream of a room of my own.
took the hotel shuttle down to Kuta square but wasn't really in the mood to shop so I hit the beach & just walked back towards Seminyak & the Sarinande, happy to have my feet in the sand & water. Wasn't bothered too much by vendors & it was amazing how many people were on the beach already - japanese (children with their hair cornrowed in all directions), a wide range of ages & degrees of white to pink to dusky brown skin. I watch some of the surfers & envy them their ease in their own body.
Time for lunch & continue my "research" of gado gado & nasi campur. At Benny's the nasi campur: 2 satay, rice, a yummy stir fry of water spinach, chile & chicken?, deep fried chicken thigh, hard cooked egg & tofu, cucumber slices & a small pile of deadly red chile paste. All very good.
Email stop, gelato stop (pistachio - I'm working my way through the flavors) the home for the dip in the pool. Wonder what's for dinner?
Tide is really out - full moon tomorrow? Hope to see some local celebrations. Went to a spot favored by ex-pats (so we've been told). A spot facing the strip to people watch - the bikes & the tourists (a bulgy sort of guy, ponytail, Brit flag runner singlet with short shorts & a huge fanny pack hung low like a cod piece. Oh yum!). Had the swordfish which was pretty good in a homestyle sort of way (my home not balinese!) Too much to eat so I scooped up the rest to leave for the resident kitties back at the hotel.
Up pretty early to walk the beach & there are definitely some celebrations going on near the Oberoi. Cooking fires were being fanned & it smelled pretty good. Lots of people , colors & offerings etc.
Ask about booking a car & driver which is of course more expensive throught the hotel than through someone else. One of the regular long term guests offers to help arrange something for me & I'm looking forward to a day out in the country side.
I got "caught" yesterday by a young man who asked me to fill out a survey about Bali - assures me he's not selling anything. It comes back to haunt me when I get a phone call telling me I've "won" a 7 night 5 star vacation in Bali etc. I said if this involved a time share presentation I was NOT interested. Someone else calls a few hours later. NO, no, no. And I get yet a 3rd call (at this point I'm probably more than rude in refusing) over the course of the next few days. Sigh. I'm more angry at myself for falling for it at all.
A walk on the beach mid day brings more vendors than I've experienced. And I think I've seen my 1st Kuta cowboy - one beefy guy with long hair fresh from the water smiled & said something I didn't catch. I didn't twig on till very shortly after there's 2 Bali boys (I'm pretty sure) in florescent thongs posing (what else?) on loungers. I thought: that's odd. but then ah! Kuta cowboy material!
On my way back from lunch I pass 2 boys at the taxi corner: taxi, miss? transport, miss? Programe? Honeymoon? I did my balinese husband schtick & one of them indicated he could be a candidate. It was good for a smile.
Lovely sunset. Eat at Kafe Warun? kind of fun. Good view of sunset & an international menu. Did a what the hell & ordered nachos which were better than I feared but oh, so tiny. (what do I expect for $2.50??) We did the cocktail thing & had arak attacks - arak & lemonade. Fun, but after the ice is melted it's not a drink that lingers well. Our full moon is shrouded in cloud but a lovely walk on the beach back to our room.
Last installment in the next few days. I don't want to go home!
Michelle