Its beginning to look a lot like xmas....
[Bopgirl & Kermys excellent adventure]
Xmas day is looming and Katak is wanting to understand more about how we celebrate leading up to it and on the day . Now for me, the day has no meaning, no relevance, so rather than explain the ‘christian' version, I explain the rather delightful story of santa and his reindeer...
Katak asks me is Santa for real ????? Hmmmm.....I explain that he is real if you believe him to be and that on xmas eve we must leave a bottle of bourbon, some coke and ice out for the big fella to sample cos he has a loooong road ahead of him and with all the heat in Bali he will need a drink or 10.
Katak ponders this for a few minutes and gives me the look without words which I know means bohong. I turn to the frog [Kermy] and ask if she will verify, which she does without hesitation. So he asks me, so must I leave something out for Santa if I am going to get a present ? I explain that I have contacted Santa's helpers and advised a temporary address change for him and that all his gifts will be left at the villa for him and his friends under my xmas tree.... Satisfied with this he drops the subject....
So, I have friends arriving in Bali on Dec 21st and 22nd and must meet with them for drinks. Beepa is from country NSW and he coming to bali to spend xmas with his fiancée and beautiful 6 month old daughter. [In fact as I type this Beepa & Ayu will be getting married in the grounds of the Pelangi hotel in Seminyak - congrats my friend].
My mate Tony is also arriving and he is generally busy buying stock for his shop back home we usually manage to catch up along the way. My other darling friend Linda and her son Ty are arriving from Adelaide. [Some of you reading this may know Linda from the forum - she posts as Aminkila, the one who broke her ankle in bali in February on a cycling tour].
I briefly catch up with Tony riding past Indo-national while I am having a well earned drink with Jeff, Kerry & Milt. Linda doesn't arrive until late at night on the 21st so I will catch her the next day,[or at least I think I will]. I have to tell you all this, I know some people love Indo national and others can it, but if you go there and want a snack try the prawn toast ....it is sensational....I am additcted to it...
Around 11.00am on 22nd Katak and I drive to Tuban to catch up with Linda. When I ask for her at reception they tell me she has just checked in that morning and is not answering her room phone, so I leave a message for her to call me on my mobile. Meantime as this has now turned into a non-event day, the frog [Kermy] and I do lunch at La Lucciola, kick back and relax for 2 or 3 hours with a nice glass of wine. I do so luv La Lucc and the service as always is excellent. Now I must tell you all, on the way there on Padma Utara in the window of the fairy dress shop I spot the gorgeous green dress which I am determined will be worn by Katak on xmas day...he thinks I am kidding.....
... later back at Billys, did I mention I go to Billys bar ?? heehee...I have met up with Beepa and Ayu and their beautiful daughter and we have a few drinks...for a change. I again try to contact Linda and finally get hold of her in her room. She has left my bali mobile number at home and they missed their flight which is why they arrived 12 hours late, but I am sure she will fill you in on all her adventures when she returns...We arrange to catch up the next day, so once I have a relatively early night watching dvd's back at the villa with Katak.
Early the next afternoon we go collect Linda and Ty and bring them back to the villa so they can see where it is to come up for the champagne breakfast I am having on xmas day. We sit around having a few drinks, lovely cold champers and the boys have a bourbon or 2 and we begin to watch a rather unusual dvd called Gadis Baliku...which Katak has suddenly appeared with....how can I put this it was XXX and when I realized, it was switched off !!!! Men will be Boys !!!!! In the early evening we go up to Indo-national and Billys as Linda has not been to either and await for the return of the frog [Kermy] to come and meet Linda, but Kermy's son is flying back to Oz tonight and so she cant stay long as Katak has agreed to take them to the airport. Linda is so exhausted she has left to go back to the hotel by the time Kermy returns...so the frog and I get trashed instead....can you believe that??? In fact I think we drank Billy out of bourbon...again.....ooops!!
Xmas eve....Food shopping for tomorrow at Bali Deli, another trip to the booze wholesaler for essential items and a trip to Bintang...Earlier in the day the frog and I went on a little expedition to the fairy shop and purchased the green dress with matching halo....Katak was devastated when he spied us going into the shop and I was in hysterics when he walked in and said no way...the shop staff were giggling too...however back at the Pickled Gecko Katak frocks up for us and he looks adorable.......he is actually such a show off he posed for photos which Kermy and I willingly took...almost having to change knickers again as I was pissing myself laughing.
It's beginning to look a lot like xmas...well almost it is just about midnight on xmas eve and the frog [Kermy], Katak and I are sitting around having a quiet drink waiting for the clock to strike 12 so we can exchange a gift each. The frog presents me with my present and I open it to find an activity pad, coloured pencils and a cololuring book...just what I was hoping for.......[sarcasm]. I give the frog 2 frog table mats almost as childish as her gift and Katak is given a dvd of the 3 Stooges which he loves. I always call him and his mates, Larry, Moe and Curly... It then dawns on Katak that presents don't have to be serious and can be a joke. He tells me he has a present for me but it is a proper gift....bugger!!
Before he leaves he sneaks my present in and puts it under the tree for when he and his friends return the next day....we put out the bourbon and coke and ice for Santa and the reindeer and he leaves with a smile from ear to ear, saying I love the way westerners celebrate xmas.....
In the morning like any other xmas morning I am up early, waiting, waiting for the opening of the gifts....I am hot and clammy and my throat is like I have swallowed razorblades but who cares, its xmas day..... I wake up the frog [Kermy] and make her come downstairs so I can behave like a child and we exchange gifts. I have already cracked the first bottle of champagne as is tradition in my family.
Not long after the first of our guests arrive...Meredith, Bruce, Alex and Sam and we all exchange more gifts and pass around more champagne. Next to arrive are Linda and Ty, more gifts more champagne, then Beepa and Ayu, Tony and at long last my 3 naughty boys Katak, Wayan and Nyoman.... I give the boys their gifts a t-shirt each and a bottle of Jim Beam...indeed it is xmas....and we have on silly reindeer ears and elf hats and flashing jewellery to make us look even sillier and xmas carols, however the best is still to come.
Quite casually, I appear with the fairy dress and everyone is asking who is that for?....
Katak is hiding under the kitchen counter and his friends immediately realize that it is for him. Reluctantly, he frocks up but as always with good humour he laughs so hard at himself and every person in the villa is in stitches with cameras flashing....
Now here's the funny thing....I didn't make Katak keep it on for long, but as soon as it was off .... in a flash Bruce has the t-shirt off and the dress on before you could say Hulu's cafe.......It gets worse, after Bruce, Ty frocks up we all have tears in our eyes, rolling down our faces and then Beepa. I just about fell over backwards....cos Beepa is about as homophobic as they come ... that was a big thing for him...Seriously the best bit was watching Ayu trying to take photos of Beepa on his digital camera. She says, its not working, I look over to find she has the camera pointed towards herself...out of the corner of my eye I see Katak and Nyoman in stitches as they had been watching her. As I type this now I still have tears in my eyes from the memory of that day...oh how we laughed.
After all that frivolity we need to settle down and drink some more. The only 2 not to put the dress on were Wayan and Nyoman who have promised to wear it that night...and Katak will make sure they do...he is out for revenge....
As the day wears on they 3 naughty boys have to leave us for a few hours to play in a soccer match...we bid them farewell and continue to drink champagne. Thank god I had a good supply. You know Meredith is a great dancer and she was shaking her booty while the frog was singing...I got another drink. The kids were in the pool and so too was Meredith after I pushed her in...they begged me to...what was a good hostess to do.... :-)
Around 5.00ish the party broke up and that left Kermy, Linda, Ty and I to get ourselves ready to go out to Gado Gado for dinner that night. Katak was picking us up at 6.45ish to meet with Meredith, Bruce, Alex and Sam.
What can I say about Gado Gado that I haven't before. Perfect position, great ambiance, excellent service, superb food...oh and another bottle of champagne. I also caught up with Gussi who has just been in Australia for 3 months with Bali_crazy and family. He is such a lovely guy. We all had a wonderful dinner and some more laughs but the day had pretty much taken its toll and around 10ish we parted and some returned to the Villa for a few more drinks and started playing Connect 4 at some ungodly hour......
The party continued until 4.00 in the morning at which time I said ok guys it's time to leave. Kermy had crashed, Linda and Ty had gone back to their hotel and I was left with 9 people still drinking [4 I had never met before] and I felt like crap...
Xmas day was over, it was a fantastic day, one which I will cherish for a long time to come, spent in the company of some great friends, some new, some old. As I have said before...in the company of strangers you will never be alone...
Now lastly, congratulations to my friends Beepa and Ayu on their marriage today... I charge a glass to the bride and groom......
Still to come....a birthday bash, new years and home...