Wednesday 6th June: Today us girls shop till we drop and boys go there own way on the motorbike.
Well today we all had a nice sleep in, enjoyed our morning coffee outside under the gazebo table setting and got ready to go to breakfast. This morning the boys got straight on the motorbike and us girls did our morning walk up the lanes and met at Daddy's Cafe for breakfast this morning. We got the last table available at the time we arrived for breaky at Daddy's cafe and enjoyed our 'Reggae breakfast'.
While eating breakfast I pre-warned mum about our serious day ahead of shopping and told her your never going to shop as much as what you do today lol, beacuse when I shop I really shop. I made sure that we all had our backpacks with us to fill with goodies and told her to wear comfortable shoes as we'll be doing a lot of walking today.
We bid farewell to the boys and they happily departed on their motorbike and were heading to Discovery Mall to hit 'Time zone' then go where ever they chose to go on the motorbike, so son was very happy.
Us girls walked from Daddy's Cafe to Centro and I got a few things that I had spotted on our previous trip to Centro. I got a large ghecko wooden wall plaque and it is very light weight but looks great hanging on my wall at home, this was purchased on the first floor on the far left hand side of the mall. Mum and I purchased a Gucci hand bag each and mine was a denim look with silver print of butterflies and brown twisted handles. My daughter purchased a gucci purse and mum got three purses that were on sale for 50% off for my sisters. We then walked from Discovery mall to the main street of Kuta to continue our shopping spree.
We first went to the billabong shop and I got a pair of billabong jeans and 2 trendy roxy hats, a red and black spotted hat for my daughter and a black and white spotted hat for myself, mum purchased billabong jeans also. Then we went to my favourite 'Body and Soul' clothes shop where I purchased two body and soul T-shirts and a black 3/4 pair of pants I also got a very unusual black and white top from here that has a metalic looking red dragon on one side of it, mum purchased a couple of shirts also. We went to a shop a few doors up from body and soul and they were having a jeans sale so mum got a pair of jeans and got some calvin and klein undies for my brother. Time for a refreshment so we crossed the road and went to Dulung Dulung Cafe for a cold drink.
I love Dulung Dulung and it's well known for it's refreshing cool water which sprays light mist from fans to cool you down on those humid days and is most refreshing. We ordered a cocktail each and my daughter had an aqua. I like sitting here in this cafe and people watching out at the street and passers by. The street is quite busy which is great to see compared to our previous visits and the balinese are smiling and making some well earned sales from the tourists flocking the shops for bargains.
Ok enough daydreaming, back to work...more shopping! Next stop was Sonia Sonia a little shop which I always pay a visit to. I got some nice big pink and white frangipanni hair clasps from here for my daughter and mum made some purchases also and got a nice photo album and some nick-nacks. I think we looked in almost every shop in this street, then at the end of the street we turned right at KFC. A few doors up from KFC I purchased some nice silver jewellery which consisted of a bracelet with an opal looking type of stone and a matching pendant and silver choker and matching earings. We then crossed over and had lunch at a little restaurant and had a bintang each.
By this time mum thought she'd had enough as she had a saw shoulder and obviously one of the waiters noticed and he bought out a bottle of the famous 'Natural Spices' herbal remedy which has a tree root in it and started massaging her with it. She swears she was instantly cured and she bought 2 bottles of his magic potion from him. I still have some at home so I didnt purchase any. I ordered her another Bintang so she could rest up as she was ready to go another round of shopping. As we were sipping our 2nd cold bintang we were approached by a man selling music Cd's so we purchased some more to add to our growing music collection. Then after feeling rejuvenated we set off up the street.
A few doors up I found a lovely wall hanging which is quite lengthy and has beautiful delicate fans embroided on it and has a wooden pole which it hangs from, this looks lovely hanging in our bedroom and I'm glad I purchased it as it fits in with my bedroom decor. Next stop was at a stall run by 'Bobby Brown' and Mum purchased a really nice channel 'carry on' bag with wheels and trolly handle for the plane trip home, as she didnt have a carry on bag as yet. It was a good size and came in handy to load a lot of our shopping into, she also purchased a handbag for my sister. The channel bag which he had on display had a few scratches on the handle so we asked for a new one, so one of the guys went for a drive on his motorbike to get one for us. Mum was realising by this stage that if she waved her hand like a fan in front of her face that the balinese men and boys would almost come running with a stool for her to sit down on to rest. I think she was taking advantage of this as she did it in about 3 of the stalls where we stopped to look and buy things lol. We spent a good half hour with 'Bobby Brown' and Co and had a genuine nice chat with them, they then loaded the bag for us with our shopping and we were on our way wheeling our channel bag of goodies along the street. At the end of this street we turned left and followed it to the corner and turned left again.
I was in need by now to get some money changed so went to some dingy little money changer that was very sus, but because I know my money well I was willing to take a chance. My intuition was correct as he decided to do the money trick on me and slip 3 x 50,000 rupiah notes behind his counter. This is the first time in 13 trips that I have ever had a money changer try to swindle me. He was offering the best rate I'd seen going and well i know why, he was obviously trying to lure in some sucker like myself. But luckily this sucker didnt take the bait ,this guy was like a magician with this trick. I watched him so carefully and yet I couldn't pick him doing it. He first counted out the rupiah which I had changed $100.00. dollars and it was all there, then he re-counted it in piles and said ok but looked very suspicious. I picked the money up and sure enough 150,000 rupiahs had disappeared from my pile of money, so I swiftly grabbed my $100.00. note that was still on the counter and handed back the rupiah and told him i will change my money with a respectable money changer and that he can have his rupiah. A few doors up I came across a tour desk where I remembered I'd changed money on a previous trip and gratefully exchanged money with a honest and trustworthy money changer.
By this time we need a toilet stop so found a nice little cheap restaurant and had a bintang each and daughter had a fanta, bintangs were 7,000 rupiah and fanta cost 4,000 rupiah.
Next stop was for another silver jewellery purchase for myself a pink pendant and matching bracelet and earings and I got my son to volcom hats. Mum got a louis vutton purse and some bintang beer coolers. We then made our way to The Bintang Shop and I got hubby 3 shirts and 2 singlets made from good quality material, because of the amount I spent in the store I got 2 free Bintang beer glasses and a Bintang sticker.
Next crossed the road as daughter was dying to go to Surfer Girl we did go to the Surfer Girl store in Kuta but couldn't find anything for her there. The one in Kuta just can not compare to the large out-let in Legian this shop is huge and daughter loves the DJ on the stage in there playing all the latest pop hits. She purchased a good quality pair of black long roxy pants and a trendy red roxy top with black dots. The hat we had bought previously was a perfect match for this outfit and she also got a Roxy hot pink handbag. I got a pair of black 3/4 cargo surfer girl pants from here too. Then we went to our last shop for the day a bit further up the road where I purchsed 5 pairs of channel and christian dior sunglasses and also got some B_______ T-shirts for my son. We went next door and had a lovely Bali moon cocktail and then piled into a taxi loading all our goodies into the taxi's boot and headed back to the villa.
Arrived at the villa and the boys were sitting on the front verandah having a cold drink and listening to music and both seemed like they had enjoyed their outing on the motorbike. Hubby said motorbike is definately the go in Bali and said he wouldnt go without one again. The boys enjoyed timezone and son showed off his prizes that he won. We went for a dip in the pool and then got ready to go out to dinner, daughter and I wore our new out-fits and trendy hats.
Tonight we went to Gracie Kelly's for Dinner and met up with our old friends such as the staff and band, we're always happy to see them
they are all lovely people. Tonight was Charity quizz night so we all took part in the quizz which is for a good cause to raise money for needy children and their families. We had our dinner then enjoyed some drinks and mum, my daughter and I danced the night away, we then made our way back to the villa when the kids became tired and retired for the night.
Hope I didn't bore you too much with all the mention of what we purchased but just thought I'd share with all the shopping enthusiasts.
Next Installment JBR - Part 5 'Our Bali Holiday' (Continued).