5&6 - Supplies from Seminyak and Carrefour, Jakung, Makro and electronics
A local driver who waits outside the Oasis Beach Resort on Jl. Pratama (Ketut XX) took us to Seminyak for some supplies. First stop, the Commonwealth ATM next to the Bintang Supermarket (and straight into the Polo shop again for Mrs PPW - she can't help herself!)
We had a look at some of the shops along Jl. Raya Seminyak (CHECK) and Jl Kunti. We stopped for lunch at Bali Deli and some supplies. We bought PPW Jr and overpriced book from [BOOK SHOP] next to Bali Deli (we managed to convince him that the $2 Spiderman book and the $5 Thomas book were better than the $45 Thomas book that the 'helpful' shop assistant kindly showed him).
We then grabbed some more supplies from Carrefour. This place is huge! Not necessarily somewhere you'd want to spend too much of your holiday, but they had just about everything (including vegemite at better prices than Bali Deli). I was even able to pick up a new charger for my IPod (for about $7), which I thought was okay.
We had dinner at Jakung on Jl. Pratama, which was a lovely place. The staff were very welcoming. The food was good and the prices were very reasonable. The staff loved PPW Jr, and played with him for most of the time we were there. They took him into the kitchen, which he loved and he helped the traffic guy out the front, by waving his red traffic want light. Another group arrived for what must have been their second visit. The staff welcomed them with open arms, 'ahh, welcome back.' This is genuine Balinese hospitality. I love it.
On day six it was wet, so I again called Ketut, who was in the lobby within half an hour. We had decided to get a portable DVD player to help make dining out a little easier with PPW Jr.
I stopped at Makro, but no luck. That didn't mean I didn't grab one of those huge trolleys and fill it up!!! We then went up to Denpassar, where I had a look for a Christmas present for Mrs PPW at **ARAB ST***. No joy - too hard. Back on task - DVD player... After visiting a heap of electronics shops, we finally found some that stocked them (the driver suggested we avoid the malls as they would be more expensive). The cheapest we found was 1.3M Rp. (about $160) for some dodgy brand that you could pick up for less than $100 at home.
In all honesty, I expected it to be more expensive here (noting a recent post 'when will people realize that Bali isn't Singapore...'), but not that expensive. Tired, wet and grumpy, I returned to the hotel.
After some lunch, a shower and a little rest - I had a new found sense of purpose. I must get that damn portable DVD player. So I jumped in a taxi to Kuta, determined to get one. 'Where to Boss?' 'Discovery Mall, thanks mate.' A rookie mistake. Like Ketut had suggested earlier, the mall was expensive. 2.2M for the same crap one! I had a quick look around and walked towards Kuta Square. I enjoyed just strolling around, up and down a few gangs, here and there. I ended up at Jl. Legian. I then headed up towards Jl. Raya Kuta (now sick of being offered massages with ‘happy endings' - funny hadn't been offered them when walking with Mrs PPW or PPW Jr.
I stopped at Kartika electronics on Jl. Raya Kuta, where I bought a dodgy Coby portable DVD player for far too much. Notwithstanding the fact that I know I got ripped off, I felt satisfied that I had completed my mission. It was now getting late (about 5:30pm) and I rang Mrs PPW to see what she wanted to do for dinner. She wasn't feeling up to going out. Yipee, I thought - I could grab something for myself from a Warung on the way. Checking out some of the Warungs along Jl. Raya Kuta, my tummy started to growl.
I got up to Plaza Bali and though I should quickly check it out - perhaps I could find that Christmas present for Mrs PPW. I didn't realize that it was just a big duty free store. It was quite expensive and after one quick lap, I was out of there. I strolled along Jl. Bypass Nguragh Rai towards the airport when Mrs PPW rang to say she was feeling better and wanted to go out to dinner. Bugger! No roadside sate for me.
I defied death by crossing the busy Bypass Road to grab a cab going the right way. There weren't a lot, so I settled for one of the gold ones (I prefer the blue ones). The driver hassled me the whole way to use him for a tour. I guess you can't blame a guy for trying, but by now I really wasn't in the mood.
THAT IS IT FOR NOW - the rest is just notes. I'll do some more if the weather turns crap again. Tks, PPWAU