I FORGOT
The bali holiday was a birthday pressie for hubby as he is not into parties for himself and wanted a quieter celebration.Also forget to tell you the reason we went for a short trip is because its the first time we have left ou kids for more than 1 night.We have a 10 boy and boy/girl twins that are 6.
Grandma stayed at our house but doesnt drive so nanna and grandad came over each school day and took them to school and back.One of my brothers and his partner foolishly said they would have the kids for a sleepover and spend the next day entertaining them.BIG MISTAKE!!! He doesnt have kids and i'm not sure sure if he will ever be the same.This was predicted on my part and thats why a big portion of our duty free allowance went on the biggest bottle of top quality bourbon we could find!!One of the mums at school took the twins home on the monday and fed them and returned them ready for bed.She was a great help and we owe her big time.
On the flight over I felt sick the whole way too and came to the conclusion it was the idea of leaving the kids at home. I felt better once we arrived but was on auto pilot all day .I still couldnt believe we were there!
SHOPPING
We decided after our last trip that we wanted to buy some stuff to ship back home.We got prices ourselves but nothing was too easy.Then we saw an ad in the paper and contacted Trish Ryder to get some details.We then saw some postings by Trish on the forum and many positive words by people who had done the same. In july we went to the perth BTF dinner and met Trish.She is a lovely lady with a wealth of knowledge.We priced various products in perth and she was able to tell us straight off what price you could get them from and how much approx to ship back.The shopping list just got incredibly BIGGER.
Trish emailed us some shopping info just before we went and the name of a driver she recommends.Komang picked us up with his brother Wayan at 9.30 the next day.He is training Wayan to take shoppers like us to the places recommended.
First stop Balistone.In approx 45 mins we had chosen a 2 metre water wall with 8 green rough cut marble pieces at the top. The water looks great falling over these. Then 2 statues of the peaceful looking woman.One is 65cm and the other slightly smaller.The large one is for the garden and small one for our bathroom.We next chose 3 large straight sided pots and also got 4x 20kg bags of large green river stones.Then hubby(NOT ME! as I thought we had finished) saw a small water feature in a square tub and said lets get this as well!Who was I to say no. The staff were so helpful and we were given cold water on arrival so we soon headed to the next stop Geneva.
Geneva is 3 floors, furniture at the bottom then smaller handicrafts etc up the lift. We wandered through as I had my eye on a Balinese jail door mirror.We found one but it was a bit crooked so they brought out a new one and we chose the stain colour. THEN hubbys big mistake .He looked around ,while I sorted out the mirror and then said come here and look what I've found. There around the corner was a coffee table just like he always wanted(just like the diamond necklace I'VE always wanted!!!!) It was about 90cm square and had a wooden surround with a glass top and a big display drawer under the glass that was divided into about 9 sections.He was thinking we could put little trinkets of our holidays in each section and I was thinking Lollies in one part Choccies in the next etc.
Then up in the lift to get all the little things that we just needed to get. Placemats,wooden bowls,sets of covered baskets,3 masks for the kids,4 strands of shells on a rope,floating candles etc etc.
Komang was a great help here and he showed us how to check for borers. He also kept a good eye on what we bought and made sure all the prices were correct.This was Wayans first trip to geneva and He was very impressed especially with the lift.We filled a large box and Wayan carried it back to the car.We walked along the road for quite some way looking at furniture but did'nt see anything that really caught our eye. Then we saw a large canopy for our daughters bed.It was different colours in silk on top and the brightest purple tulle mosquito net. We asked how much and he said how many you want 100 or 200? This was the business district and usually people order big quantities. I felt slightly embarrased asking for 1. But we got it and we were very happy with the price of $30.On the way back to the car I spied a small gift shop with a lot of oriental looking things.For our son who loves turtles we got a black wooden door stop with a pewter turtle on top.For our oldest son we saw a game of naughts and crosses made out of a piece of stone and using small polished black and white pebbles. The girls did'nt even know what it was so we had a laugh teaching them.
We heade back to the hotel and it was about 1 pm so we headed to the pool
NO LOUNGE HOGS
We did not see one towell on a lounge the whole time we were there that was not being used.This was a really pleasant suprise and you could always get a sun lounge despite the hotel being full.
DISCOVERY MALL
The sales people in centro were extremley pushy compared to matahari and my hubby is not scared easily but after he wandered to mens aftershaves whilst I was buying revlon (IT IS SOOOO CHEAP) he wouldnt go anywhere near there again and we had to walk a different way to get out of the shop.While I was buying revlon a sales girl was in my face the whole time trying to get me to buy a different brand. I'm always so careful about not promising to even look at something if I dont want it but they were still pushing.It only seems to be the makeup section though as I just about had to prise a salesgirl from the back window of centro to ask about sizes in the mens clothes Mustt admit they had an MTV concert on the beach so they were watching that and giggling continuously.The thought of that happening in target made me laugh.
DENPASAR MARKETS
Komang took us to the markets on monday morning.Glad we went but probably would not go again. We got a few more bits and pieces. But I wanted to buy my mum a balinese umbrella for her garden.Got a big deep pink triple umbrella and a royal blue one for us.HE HE (Hubby detests them)Also we got a traditional costume for the twins as they had a school dressup day the morning after we returned. The lovely lady gaves us 2 offering containers and the woven covers for them GOOD LUCK FOR YOR CHILDREN she said.And as you know sunset, you have to get some umbal umbals. We have had a joke about these as neither of us knew what they were but were sure we needed them!!We only got 5 , but the most beautiful colours.Cant wait to have a barbie and decorate the garden.
Next jbr will tell you about the marble tiles we got for our bathroom etc.