DAY 12, 24TH SEPT.
Up early after first sleep as married couple. I am still amazed that we are in this lovely apartment; the deal is that Norman wants us to test the apartment before he lets it to the public for US$350-00 per night.........he usually does this himself but we are the lucky ones this time. We get Bali Mystique driver 'Nga' to take us to Sanur to check out and collect our stuff. A stop on the way at SOS medical clinic as Gary's mum has had a fall in the grounds at Mandira Hotel, she has x-rays and is given strong painkillers as she has a black eye and a lot of discomfort. Poor thing not a pleasant thing to happen, but at least there do not appear to be any broken bones.
Back to Seminyak for lunch and to settle in to our room for the next 10 nights. We have a nice lunch at Bali Mystiques new restaurant, well priced and very nice food.
Gary settles in to watch the Grand Final on our big TV. I have filled the spa up for a soak and then plan to work on my tan on the terrace, no footy for me.
Dinner tonight is at Bali Mystique restaurant, the food is really fabulous here, not worth venturing out for a while just kick back and relax here.
DAY 13, 25th sept.
Woke to a cloudy day in Seminyak. Today we are off to Bali Deli to pick up some stuff for a cocktail party on our terrace> we got some cheese, bikkies, olives, pate etc...I still can't believe the wide range of goods on offer now, a few years ago there was only that plastic cheese in Bali. Also went to Bintang Supermarket to pick up cooking supplies to take home, the spices in Bali always seem to taste better than the ones we get back here.
The afternoon is spent relaxing with friends and watching another Bali sunset.this is certainly the life.......
DAY 14, 26TH SEPT.
2 weeks have flown by, we only have one to go till we go home.
Woke up to a wet day in Bali, we had quite a bit of rain last night. Today we have a driver taking us to Tanah Lot with Gary's parents. Had a pleasant drive to Tanah Lot and walked through the market to get to the beach and temple. It was great going in the morning as it was fairly quiet here. I assume it is packed here at sunset. I loved Tanah Lot, it had a really nice feel about it and I could spend more time here exploring. We did a bit of shopping at the stalls, a traditional outfit for a niece for RP60000, also got some pottery and jewellery from the stalls. The stall holders were great, good humoured and fun to bargain with, none of the aggression and negativity I had heard about.
Went to Le Meridien Nirwana for lunch. Was not too impressed by this hotel, it is in a great spot, with lovely gardens and spectacular views, but that is pretty much all it has going for it. The food we had was very average and highly priced. It was one of our most expensive, but worst meals in Bali!!!! I had squid and it was tough as old boots!!! Definitely expected much more from here. Very impersonal service here and we all felt we could have been at any large unfriendly hotel anywhere in the world. This is such a shame as the hotel is in a great spot and could be wonderful.
On the way back went to 2 great finds, Angels Natural (ask for Marcus) and Ready 2 Buy in Jl Tangkuban Perahu No 70 Seminyak. Angels makes all of the cushions and bedspreads for Bali Mystique apartments and we ordered a lovely silk throw for RP400000 (much cheaper than places like Havelli Interiors), also got some cushions and handbags here. Across the road at Ready 2 Buy was amazing, we had to make a choice to go back another day as there is so much to see at wonderfully cheap prices. Farewell to Gary's parents and other relatives and friends as they are back to Melbourne tonight.
Dinner tonight was with friends at Zanzibar, had a nice meal here for 4 of us RP412650, but we ate well and had seafood here. Great company and another wonderful day in Bali.
DAY 15, 27th SEPT.
Back to Ready 2 Buy and chose lots of pieces such as Buddha statues and some really nice modern pieces too, only spent RP1.82 million and got tons of stuff. It is a great place, has really good stock and is much nicer than going to the big market in Denpasar and has better stock than Geneva. Now we have an issue with getting it all home. Next time we will definitely organise a container to take stuff home.
Went to visit friends at Kuta Lagoon and organised dinner at Panterai Greek restaurant as we have heard good things from several people. Walked home along Jl Legian and got some great silver from some of the small shops, managed to get wholesale as Gary buys so much, so prices were really good. That is a positive about shopping with Gary; it is awfully cheap for me too, lucky he is in the trade eh....
Panterai was lousy, not good at all. We were all very disappointed and it was quite dear at RP801000 for 4 of us.