Day 4
This is supposed to be the day that we arrived. Security has been tripled we are checked on the way in and out of the hotel. Cars are checked. And then when you want to come back into the hotel you are searched and bags checked again. It makes us feel much safer to be staying. We go to Ramayana for shopping in Denpasar there are polisi everywhere, I was on the hunt for swarovski crystals for my veil. I get some for 750rp ea, some for 2300rp ea and some at 2500rp ea. We go to Optik Seis and I order 1 set of reading glasses and 2 sets of distance in some modern square frames. They are not designer label but they look great, in total on the visa card the have come to $125 for all three pairs. They say that they are going to take a week to make. So we organise for the aussie girl to bring them home for me. I buy some jeans for $17ea and some sneakers for work for 59,000.
When we return to the hotel we decide to take the free hotel shuttle to Hardy's and then down to the Beach for a massage. The free shuttle is great as it takes you to the Paradise Plaza suites, Hardy's supermarket and the Kesumasari village at sanur beach. When we arrive at the beach we meet up with Sani and the massage ladies. We play the bargain game and at 40,000 for 1 hour massage ea for 3 of us. When we leave the beach we walk for miles back toward the hotel. This is a lot further than any of us realised. We buy Tshirts for 20,000, more shorts for 30,000, Colin gets 2 kites shaped like sailing ships for 80,000. We came across a man selling hand paintings on cards he says he has done them himself but we later find out that they are not originals. It doesn't matter we are happy with our 4 piccies for 80,000. After many sore feet and some complaints about the heat we come across a young man calling himself Gday we have a chat and a cold Bintang for the boys 7,000ea. We walk up a lane to the main road we get in a local bemo for 5,000 back to the hotel for a swim.
Later in the afternoon we meet with AngieC and her business partner Allie to organise our wedding for July 06. This night the boys decide to do a mini pub crawl not that there are any roaring clubs near by thankfully, They start at Corridor, move to the Wateringhole, then back to the Jazz Bar on the by pass road and as usual head into Retro Bar for drinks with Jack. Jack is so funny he has a host of games and tricks with cards and matches. He is such an asset to the Bar. He tells us about his great barman and the tricks that he can do. Before you know it the Barman is doing Cocktail style shaker and glass tossing behind the bar. He lights up a couple of bottles and starts dancing around the bar what a great nights entertainment this is. We catch up with the Aussie girl again and have a chat. She is going to come to Arena with us when we go again later in the trip. I head to bed around midnight the boys are still at it til much later.
Day 5
This day is Galungan celebrations in Bali so many things are closed. The boys have booked to go white water rafting and have to be up early for the bus to take them off out. I decide to have a quiet day I go looking for brekkie and cant believe it when Corridor is shut aaargh... I walk up the street towards the beach and the Wateringhole is open. For 20,000 I have 2 eggs not so nice and toast with watered down OJ and Coffee Nescafe no Bali Kopi. I realise how spoilt I have been every other day. I walk back to the hotel and to the shuttle. My day of pampering is on. I arrive at the beach to Sani and the girls not being ready. I have a little laugh and tell them to stop slacking off. They come over with their beautiful smiles and hugs. I have a manicure, pedicure and a 2 hour massage for 120,000. They are trying to teach me Bahasa my very limited use of the language has them in fits of laughter most of the time. They are trying to teach me Jalan Jalan (walking walking) and the Lehut Lehut(Looking Looking) I mix them up and say terrorist by mistake. Sani is saying no no, she is laughing when she tells me what I have said. Many locals are at the beach for the day it is really busy Sani tells me that the Balinese swim like stones. I laugh and she laughs even more at me. The girls get me some pinapple and I order a drink from the bar 8,000 sprite. I have a great day and head off on the 12.30 shuttle back to the hotel. I hop in the pool and take a short swim to cool down. I have smuggled my contraband vodka in a water bottle down to the poolside and ordered OJ to drink. A bit cheeky I know but oh what the hell. After lazying around the boys arrive back very tired and sunburnt. They have had a great day we all laze around drinking and swimming for the afternoon. At 4 Colin and I dress up in traditional costumes and have some photos taken. This is all part of the hotel services free of charge. We also go to the Sanur Night Market with Widi as part of the hotel services. He is a great guide and tells us so much about the food and the culture. We shop with him and the bargaining is really easy. We head back to the hotel and get dressed up we head to Planet Hollywood for dinner. The taxi charges us 25000 to get there which we think is reasonable as it is nearly all the way to kuta from Sanur. The night is great but expensive compared to other places we have been in Bali. The restaurant is really empty. There is probably only 15 people not including staff in there. Security is high. We are checked twice on the way in. We get transport back to the hotel for the same price.
Day 6
We go to Ramayana for shopping in Denpasar this time we take the aussie girl back with us so that she can see where the glasses are supposed to be coming from. She gets some for herself. We wander around for a bit and head back to the hotel after about an hour. We spend the rest of the day resting and swimming as the boys sunburn is much worse than we originally thought. We bought some cooling gel from the shop across the road which helps a little but cool wet cloths help more to keep the heat out.
BV disappears for the day we find out later he has gone to Kuta for shopping we are not happy that he has done so but he is a grown man and makes his own decisions. He has a great day and says that Kuta is really quiet. That many tourists have gone home. We all head out to Arena for dinner with the Aussie girl it costs us 5000 from the hotel to get there. There is a live band and they are awesome. Its very late when we get in.
Day 7
Today we go to Waterbom Park. We get in on BV's American express card deal which costs us 150,000 ea for this we also get lunch with a drink and cake. It works out to be approx. $19ea. We have a great time lazing around the lazy river. I am a bit of a wooose so wont get on the other slides. I take film of the boys having a great time on them though. Eventually Mr 15 tells me that the Macaroni Tube is really slow and that its really good fun. After much convincing I trust him that it is slow. STUPID ME!!! I scream like a 10yr old all the way down and I am ready to kill him at the end from the fear of the fast dark swirling around tube. He decides that mum is not fun on these rides so goes back to playing with BV again. It takes me the rest of the day and many cocktails to settle my nerves again. BV and Mr15 try to climb the rock wall to no avail and along comes a Japanese tourist that literally walks straight up the wall. They stand there gobsmacked at how easily he does it. After one more lazy river ride we decide to leave and take a quick walk up to Sakura DVD. The boys go into Centro for the Bintang shop. We buy some DvD for 10000ea. Its really eerie walking around here as there are not many tourists but many Indonesians trying to get business. I order 3 bracelets with no gold coins for 40 000 ea. I don't get a receipt and wonder if they will be there the next day or not. Mr 15 wants a Holden shirt for 75000 but they don't have his size Hardy from the Melasti Market opposite Stadium Café promises to have one his size the next day. We head out of Kuta by 5pm as I refuse to be in there at night. We get back to Sanur for 35,000.