... A toast... to fine wine, good food, great friends and a happy heart...
From the first day I met with Katak [my new driver] when he came to the villa in Seminyak, he surveyed the surroundings and said 'good place for a BBQ'. I had said 'yeah great spot for a party, but we don't have a BBQ'.
He says..'my friends and I can do BBQ for you'....I said 'yeah? That would be great are you serious?". ..'Sure, you tell me when and we will do it for you..' Cool and so plans are set in motion for when Raels and Catty return from the Gilis to have a party
Word is out via sms over the next week that BBQ at the villa is on who wants to come?
Unfortunately due to some friends having commitments we have to have it after Catty and Shazperth leave bali and Tubes cant come as she is flying out first thing the next morning, so unfortunately they didn't get to enjoy a fabulous night, great food and guess what plenty of alcohol.
I have found a shop called Ace hardware and they sell decorations.. The day of the BBQ Raels and I and Katak go shopping. We buy balloons and hot pink feather fans, drink decorations, straws with decorations a fabulous feather mask. It is so cheap and most of the things we bought were between 40 and 60% off.
Next stop is the wholesaler to buy champagne and bottles of bourbon and wine, then to Macro for plates, serviettes beer, marinades, salad stuff and a host of other goodies. On the way home we go to Bintang supermarket for cheese, juice, sliced meats, crackers, bags of ice and anything else we may have missed along the way.
Back to the villa it is almost 2.00pm we unload the car and Katak is off to go buy fresh fish, chicken, corn and prepare sates, make sambal etc. He is such a sweet guy as are his friends. Raels and I go about decorating the villa, making salad etc in preparation for later in the evening. Start time is 7.00pm.
About 20 people have said the are coming to the BBQ so I give Katak a wad of rupiah to go buy the food. He is going to be a busy boy for the next few hours, He has to buy and prepare the food, drop off the bbq and pick up 6 of my friends in Legian...
To quote Steve Irwin by the time Katak gets back with the food he is sweating bullets and is running an hour late. By this stage Raels, Angie, Allie and I have cracked the first of a couple of bottles of Moet, and my friends wait patiently at Camplung Mas for transport to arrive.
Kataks friends start to set up the BBQ on the driveway of the villa and he heads off back to Legian to collect my friends, buy more ice and coke...By about 8.00pm everyone has arrived and later some Balinese friends will come down after they finish work.
So, now its time to relax, sit back, drink and enjoy the rest of the night. The food is sensational, first 4 big fish then chicken pieces marinated and lastly sates, rice and a sambal so hot it blew your mind. It was a smorgasboard. The boys had done a fantastic job. I cannot thank them enough.
One of the friends who came down to the villa is a musician in Australia and no doubt a few people have seen him get up on stage at Peanuts and play with Crazy Horse over the years. His name is Paul Felton and he gracious enough to say he will play a few songs for us, so Katak and I head off back to his house to get a guitar and amp, more bourbon and coke. Haha! You got to have the essentials don't you???
Angie, Allie and Vicki grab maracas purchased from Geneva and act as backup singers and go-go dancers, we are all in stitches and Paul blows us away with some blues and I hope in vain that the neighbours in the house next door are enjoying the live music. After a few songs Paul gives it away as Kataks guitar is in need of fine tuning. None the less we all really appreciated him singing for us. [ Paul is such a sweetheart that he offers to overhaul the guitar while he is in Bali. Katak is stoked with his offer and gladly allows him to take his baby away for repair] He is a great musician and has a cd called Time waits for no one. Paul is based in W.A. If you ever get the opportunity to see him play, do yourselves a favour and go to one of his gigs. The night after the party he played at Peanuts with Crazy Horse and has to do 2 full sets as the guitarist didn't show up and Endro arrived very late. A good time was had by all there that night.
Around 11.30 the boys from Billys bar turn up and the party kicks on. Around 1.30 a few people leave as they have early starts the next day. We continue on and then Katak and his friend Nyoman pick up 2 guitars and entertain us for a while. At 3.30 Pat and Jim pack it in. Raels drives them to the main street in Kataks car and waits with them for a taxi to take them back to their hotel.
At 5.00am there are still 5 of us drinking bourbon, telling jokes and carrying on. When daylight breaks we call it a night. Angie and Allie have a wedding today and Katak is working for them so they head off to catch a few zzzz's and I crash on the daybed surrounded by empty bourbon, champagne, beer and coke bottles. The death toll was 4 bottles of champagne, 2 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of vodka, half a bottle of arak, 30 odd beers and 4 bottles of bourbon...OUCH!!!
I wake up some 4 and a half hours later when the sun is searing down over me and I find that a cleaning fairy has almost completely cleared up the mess that was strewn throughout the villa.. Thanks Raels you are a champion but it wasn't necessary as the maid was coming at 1.00pm... To wake myself up I jump in the pool. It was going to be a long day...
My thanks to everyone for making a fun night. It is one of those special nights that I will cherish for a long time and a great way for Raels and I to celebrate our 20 years of friendship. Special thanks to Katak, Nyoman, Wayan and Wayan who cooked us such sensational food. Everyone was rapt and I have already told the boys we will be doing it again soon.
Raels, Pat, Jim, Vicki, Paul, Peta, Neill, Deb, Elvis, Cassy, Alex, Robbie, Allie, Angie, Katak, the 2 Wayans and Nyoman thankyou for being such fabulous friends...may you be forever young...