The rest of the trip went as follows.
SAMMY & SUSYS.
I went to S & S most evenings as I know most of the sellers there & I love to meet up with other people from the BTF.
Sammy as we know, has been very sick & wasent there the first couple of weeks & Susy was helped by the family.Her daughters has grown up & matured a lot.
Sammy was saying to me the doctors have told him he has vertigo.
They are trying different drugs to try & rectify the problem & it is costing a lot of money.
He says that he can be ok for two days but on the third he will stand up & loose all his balance & has to go to bed. And it comes on without warning.
I hope things come good for him as he is a lovely person.
The usual sellers are still there, Bali Boy with his watches, Kellie with her clothes,Dony selling the sunglasses,Eddie with his wood carvings,Melissa & Kim doing the nails,hair & massages, Mangku with his leather wallets & naturally Susy plus more.
They had some very big crowds there during the Kuta Karnival & especially the weekend of the food festival when they were still operating at 11pm as the beach was packed.
So its still a good place to meet up & have a few drinks with other people from the BTF.
KUTA KARNIVAL.
The Kuta Karnival went from June 25th till July 3rd & was a huge success.
I found the last couple of days when they had the food festival the best.
All along both sides of the beach road from the start of the Legian Beach Hotel to the end of the Mandira Hotel there were stalls selling food & drinks. Most of these stalls were put there by the restaurants from Kuta & Legian. The Kori, Mamas, Hard Rock Cafe, Uns, Bellas, Bottle Shop Bar etc etc.
There was a stall there selling clothing made by the widows of the people killed in the Bali bomb.
It was great just walking up & down having a drink, something to eat & talking to the stall holders.
On the beach in front of the Mandira there was a huge stage erected where the bands performed at night.
The whole thing was very well run.
TAILORS.
Everbody in their just backs has their own special tailor to talk about.
I have been going to Olgas in Jl Sahadewa a couple of doors down from the Indo & the past two trips & had four pairs of sports pants made each time, which were an excellent fit.Friends of mine have had their dresses made there & everybody was happy with the prices & quality of what they were getting.
But this trip Ketut has put all her prices up & a lot of people have dropped off.
I was told to go to a tailor called Nia which is in the little arcade on the corner of Jl Melasti & Jl Legian.The contact there is Alex.
Had six pair of shorts made there which I am very happy with.
I still recommend Olgas & Nias for good quality & well made garments at good prices.
As I said everybody has their own special tailor.
FOOTWEAR & PERFUME.
Found a great place to buy good leather shoes & good sandals.
Its called Jocelyne & its in Jl Melasti same side & not far from the Bali Rock. Bought three pair of shoes & two pair of sandals for $A120 & am very happy with the quality etc.
Also noticed they sell perfume for RPH40000.
Its not the cheap junk you buy in the markets & then its not the quality we have in Myers either but its in between.
The bottles I bought back to a couple of females here have been given the thumbs up & the after shave for myself is also okey.
Its a good shop to visit.
GENEVA.
I needed a few more handicrafts for my house & went along to Geneva.
This is the place to go & do all your handicraft shopping in one hit.
It has just about everything that the stalls in the markets have & at good fixed prices & so there no more walking around in the heat bartering.
Its a three story place & has aisles & trolleys like a supermarket. Just push your trolley up & down the aisles & go to the checkout.
An elevator takes up.
Its on Jl Kerobokan & most taxi drivers know it.
Its worth a visit.
ALPHA
We went to Alpha a couple of times to buy toothbrushes & other items in bulk.
I usually go to Makro on the way to Sanur & still think its a better place as it is bigger & has a much bigger range of things.
But Alpha is ok.
DVDS.
Like most other tourists I bought my share of the latest films on dvd.
Found everything I wanted at Star next door to the Indo & Bali Gong both in Jl Sahadewa.
Naturally when I arrived home a couple of them wouldnt play. These were titles that I bought the day before I came home & had just come out in the stores.
Never buy the film when it first comes out. If you have time left on your holiday leave it at least a week.
PEANUTS NIGHTCLUB.
One of my favouite haunts is Peanuts in Jl Legian as I have known Ngurah for many years back to when he had the other Peanuts up where the New Bounty is now.
He has been a good friend of my family over the years & we have stayed at his house in Negara. The past few years Peanuts has been going down & down but now the renovations have started with a lot of money to be spent.
All out the back has been completed & will be known as Peanuts with all the old photos & bits & pieces still there.
The new part at the front that has been pulled down will have a new theme.
This part will be open during the day till four in the morning & the rear will be the night club starting at ten at night.
Carnt say anymore at the moment but the entrance will be something really to see & hope to have the whole thing up & running by early October.
MY BALI FAMILY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY TRIP.
I have sponsored through the Helen Flavel Foundation two girls in a family in the village of Sambagan near Singaraja. For $A120 each a year I am putting Nyoman & her little sister Ketut through their schooling. This pays for their books, uniforms & schooling.
I have been up to their village on three trips now. They live with their parents a brother & a baby sister in a little makeshift shack of the main road near the school.
Previous trip I took up a gas stove & gas bottle for them to cook on & this time a tv for them to watch.
When I go up we go to the local market & buy food consisting of rice, dried fish & other food items.
Then down to to the local supermarket for other things like toiletries etc.
The first time I went to their school I noticed when they walked in front of me they no heels & backs to their runners. $A20 for two pairs soon fixed that.
To see the looks of the faces of the family when we walked up with the tv was worth a million dollars.
It makes me feel real good when I drive away from their village to know there is one family that has a chance as the povety is very bad up there.
Helen has over one hundred & fifty familys sponsored at the moment.
GOING HOME.
Went to Peanuts around five in the afternoon on July 8th as it was going home time.
Had a few drinks & something to eat with my friends, said goodbye & Wayan took me out to the airport.
Hate that final drive & hanging around waiting to leave.
Another trip was over & now looking forward to number 24 on 5th
October.
Another good flight home with Air Paradise.
Hope I havent bored you all too much & go Saints!!!!