We had a great day today. Let's set some ground rules. Men who cook are either, cute (Jamie OLIVER), tough (Chopper REID) according to his latest book he's a great cook or gay (every other chef with a cooking show on T.V). I think I've covered the full spectrum of who I can upset but I digress.....
Raceng picked us at 0900hrs this morning and I know I've said it before but I'm going to say it again, he's a nice bloke.
I gave him my list of things to do that I had taken from the forum. Now that sounds like a good idea doesn't it. Well I took it one step further and laminated them at work. Apparently that's just being a wee bit retentive. Funny thing was Raceng thought the same thing. I could see it in his eyes.
Oh and Denise he says 'Hi', to you and Matt and wonders when you're going to pay him......you know I'm kidding. I think everyone knows not to take me too seriously by now....... Ardjuna?
We headed into Denpasar. Last year we went straight to Robinsons and wondered why we bothered. The first stop was a fish and tackle shop CV Puri Pancing JL Diponegoro 127 Denpasar Ph 224858 email puripancing_bali@yahoo.com , where the kids were entertained for ages with the fish tank (thank god) and Shayne with the huge range of gear. I'm no fisherman but even I knew that this was a fisherman's heaven. I bought a heap of squid jigs for 5000rph (less than a dollar), hook sets 5000rph, and some poppers 17000rph. Most of the lures were less than 25000rph.
They have great quality fishing bags for telescopic rods for 21000rph $3AU. Even the heavy duty 10 foot long ones for travelling are only $30.00AU. No surprises what the brother in law is getting this year (Not you Travis).
We got back in the car and headed to Rimo. Rimo is a multi storey building full of computer gear. It's nowhere near as good as Sun Tech City or Sun Tech Plaza in Singapore but it's still worth a look. They don't offer international warranties on any of their equipment but it might be worth the risk. Sony Hard Disk 20 x zoom digital video cameras were $650.00AU and I think that's pretty good. Toshiba Satelite Laptops were $800.00 with an 80 Gig HDD. Again not a bad price but no warranty. We bought a new USB card reader for our camera for less than $9.00AU and a 2 GIG compact flash card for our camera for $45AU which I think is OK.
They have heaps of MP3 and MP4 players but none were bigger than 2 gig (spewin because I would have bought one). They came in all shapes and sizes but the one with the biggest 2 inch screen was only $110AU which was half the price of Perth but also much smaller capacity.
Be careful but because they have ipods which until you have a close look at them you realise they aren't ipods at all. However, the young bloke was up front about it and in fact pointed it out to us.
I didn't see any software at all but the DVD shop in Centro has a pretty good range.
The kids and I were managing to hold it together by this stage........... Cass read one of my previous reports where I may or may not have referred to her young bloke as Chucky.......still not sure how she took that. I did point out it was in context and I also pointed out that I did refer to my own child as the Devil's Spawn. If she tries to drown me tomorrow at WaterBom we'll all know what she thinks.
We walked to a shoe store across from Ramayana, Mewah Shoes and Bags. I don't think Cass and the big boss even knew Shayne and I were in the building. The place could have burnt down around their ears for all they cared as long as they got some nice sling backs (they're shoes in case any blokes are wondering).
The shoes were good quality but still inexpensive. They stock a big range of casual, smart casual and office type shoes. Funny how a four year old can be so obsessed with shoes already.
My gals bought 4 pairs of shoes all under 40000rph each and the big gal got one smart pair of shoes for work for 179900rph. I can't say I wasn't scarred by the whole thing. They have the most uncomfortable 'dad's' chairs. You'd think they'd look after us considering we spend so much time smiling like we care and nodding like we agree just to get out the door.
I must have been in shock after the whole shoe thing because I walked out of there, turned left and walked for about 600 metres before one of the girls realised Ramayan was straight across the road from the shoe shop. Oops. It's a pretty big place after all.
My wife reckons crossing the road from the shoe shop to Ramayana was more exciting than bungy jumping. One of the hawkers selling sunglasses stopped the four lanes of traffic for us. It was like Moses parting the waters. Bet he didn't know the wife is Jewish. Really.......she hates me bringing that up. Says I have an issue but I reckon it's great that if she went to Israel they could draft her into the army.
I bought two pairs of sunnies from the hawker that I will probably never wear and paid more for them than I should have but he did have a grey beard, was wearing a robes and carried a crooked stick. Even Raceng laughed at me and called me soft. Alright he didn't call me soft but again, I could see it in his eyes. No one else held back but........
They have a great food hall upstairs in Ramayana. Mee Goreng and teriyaki beef were only 15000rph each. Two of the kids had crepes which were less than $1AU 6500rph. I rate the iced milo. Who would have thought milo without milk could taste so good.
Ramayana has a huge selection of everything. The cheer squad bought bracelets, necklaces, hair ties, 5 pairs of shoes, 2 for the kids and 3 for the boss (can you see a pattern here) all for 269000rph $40AU. Great quality shoes. In fact the girls are still wearing some of the shoes we bought at Ramayana last year that have even been passed down through our two kids to one of the nieces.
We jumped back in the car. The aircon in Raceng's new car is very, very cold. Just ask Cass's two buddies. Hey, Shayne pointed it out. I didn't even notice.
I'd like to draw you all back to the first paragraph of this rather long story before I go any further. I like to think I'm a bit Jamie and bit Chopper. Then I would like to point out, Tupperware is tough. I think we'd all agree. And cute (some of those little kids sets you can get are cute) and in my mothers day 'gay' meant anything that was brightly coloured. Well Tupperware is certainly colourful.
In the 13 years the wife has been putting up with me she's cooked 12 meals. Yep 12. She made double digits a few weeks before be came to Bali. We threw a party, I cooked...... She's a good cook but I enjoy it so it's not such a chore.
Now let me point out Shayne and Cass are in much the same sort of relationship. But he's much nicer than me. He is. I can say it because I reckon he is too.
So how excited do you think Shayne and I were to learn, from the forum, that there is a Tupperware wholesaler in Denpasar. It seems so wrong but feels so right that two grown men were more excited about the Tupperware shop than the fish and tackle shop.
Not that I know the price of Tupperware off hand but I bought a double colander for drying salad, a pretty pink lunch bag that holds a drink container and two small containers and a knife and fork (not for me) and a double carry set (now that was for me). It all cost $54.00AU. I could hear the shock in your voices from here. Yep $54.00AU for all that Tupperware. And Tupperware carries a lifetime international guarantee.
Raceng must have had a chat to someone who knew someone because he said the Tupperware comes from America and this is the distributor in Bali. He didn't know where the shop was and had to ring it to find it. I told him every bloke from Australia would love to know where it is.
Turns out it was less than 5 minutes from Ramayana. I'm not going to carry on about it too much more but a special note: You can save on space when you're packing by putting socks and jocks inside the colander......
We had dinner at the Flying Piano. Nice food. Nice Restaurant but bad bad pina collada. I'm not sure if they are suppose to have lemon in them but that is all you could taste. And I'm trying to convince myself it was a squirrel I saw run across the floor. Honestly I think it was and I am in no way bagging the place because like I said the food was good and the restaurant itself really nice.
By the way if you need to set your watches, our number two child always hits the wall at 1915hrs.........like clockwork. WaterBom tomorrow. God I hope number one doesn't want to do the Boomerang.