In Reply to: JBR Villa Poppy and Ozjet part 1 posted by icky on Tuesday, 22. January 2008 at 13:57 Bali Time:
Day 4
Awoke to a yummy Indonesian breakfast for a change. Heavy rains gave way to a fine sunny day. The boss and I hang around the pool while Mr icky went off to do some shopping at Carrefore and Kuta. He came back loaded up with tee shirts and reported that Carrefour was indeed good and he picked up some one dollar tees for the kids. The boss and I went for a big walk down Dyana Pura to the beach which was really trashed from the storms, I assume. I didn't expect it to be so messy and it was like this all the way to Double 6. There were a few hawkers about and the boss made me buy him a boat kite which was definitely his favorite thing from the trip. We wandered back and had a fair few bintangs later that afternoon before heading off to the Outback for dinner on Dyana Pura. Mr icky and the boss had snags and I had some really yummy enchiladas - again good food for a good price. Grabbed some CD's from a passing street seller and went home for a small party. The boss kept jumping out of bed and grooving and the party ended at midnight when I wandered past his bedroom to find him standing by the door waving his hands in the air to my latest chemical brothers CD so we all went to bed, it was for the best.
Day 5
Woke to a mild bintang headache ooo and brekky yum. Off to the money changers for my adventure to Centro and Kuta. The kids shop at Centro had a sale on and I was stoked to find some really cheap new pumpkin patch which I bought for the twins. Bought a good fake Prada key ring and my very first ever Krispy Crème before heading off to Kuta. I still think puffin at Belmont Forum does better donuts than Krispy. I wandered into Matahari where I could have spent all day in the kids section there was some really pretty stuff at really really good prices. Well worth wandering around here before you go and face the street sellers.
I found the sellers full on and the prices astronomical. I was given starting prices of 350,000 for everything from watches to a kids tee and then they would get stroppy when I tried to bargain, getting the old, but the Japanese pay 800,000 rp for this! Anyhoo I got what I wanted ok but having been in Bali a few times now, this was definitely the most feral experience I have had. I am not sure I would do it again, I would rather go to Seminyak where the starting prices were a good 100,000 less and the sellers more sensible, if I do go back I will do it after a few bintangs first I think.
I did the hike back to the villa all the way up Jln Legian /Seminyak; its one of my favorite walks. Just before the turn off for the villas I found this clothing shop called Sale and you rummage through buckets of stuff that look like seconds for designers. Found some wicked tops in larger sizes for 20,000 rp and a lovely skirt too for 100,000. Don't tell hubby I went there 4 times.
Rain was threatening this evening and I had accidentally left the umbrella at Glory when I stopped off for a snack of mango mousse, I gave them a quick call and they knew me so we went back for dinner. I had the ribs too this time. They really are good. No, the best anywhere actually. Home for a quiet evening as the heavens did open. I found it strange to be catching up on my Indonesian dramas on the telly with the rain pouring down cms away. No, I don't understand a word of what they're saying, I just love watching the facial expressions. They make Bold and the Beautiful look lifeless.
Day 6
We woke up for brekky and decided to have a day trip to Sanur to see what was there. We were a bit limited with what we could do with the boss and a couple of hours travel to Ubud and the surrounds will have to wait until he is a bit older. Cost somewhere around 70,000 to Sanur by taxi which was good. Got a little lost but finally made our way to the beach which was really pretty. I am probably showing my age here but I loved all the little cafes and board walks. Lots of Europeans and older people here and when I next go to Bali I will be spending a couple of days here relaxing on the beautiful beach for sure and letting the boss play in the water.
Home and the boss had a sleep before we headed off to the Sofitel for teppenyaki dinner. Very expensive 350,000 for the seafood set menu in opulent surroundings. I mean seriously opulent. I have never seen anything like it and worth it for the novelty value. Not a place to bring children. Unfortunately this is where the boss chose to have his first melt down of the holidays which was embarrassing and frustrating, however he was pleased to see the big flame and scoffed most of dads meat. He had eaten very little so far so it was nice to see where his tastes lie. Ha ha.
Day 7
We had a quiet day at the villa as we noticed the boss was a bit over it all, so a quiet day in the pool was called for. For dinner we had previously arranged for Ilu, Ayu, Made and Gede to bring their beautiful families over for dinner of babi guling, satay and that yummy bean dish. Everyone enjoyed themselves but I did feel guilty when the heavens opened about 20mins after they left, knowing they lived 30 mins away. This dinner has been done by others at the villa and would be a nice tradition to get going.
Day 8
Off home today. Had a quick whip down to the Bintang to grab some spices and vanilla beans. I had checked with quarantine and could not bring back saffron - which is really safflower in Bali, cloves and lemongrass. Other spices and pastes were ok. Said bye to the staff at the villa and left some tips for them as everything else such as the shopping had been done at actual street cost. Off to the airport for the 2.10pm Oz Jet flight out of Bali. We had planned to go to the Prada lounge but by the time we had got through the various queues we only had 45 mins to spare. Another bus trip out to the boondocks of the airport to board the plane which the boss was very pleased with for another comfy flight back home. We all had good health for most of the trip due to fastidious use of Aqium hand wash before eating and Travelan for everyone before each meal - well recommended. Despite this Mr icky did get a little ill on the final day but was ok, he is notorious for his weak tummy and I do sometimes wonder if there is a relation to the belly and Bintang consumption. So that was our trip. I would definitely recommend Villa Poppy unless you will be upset by some nightclub noise for about an hour in the early hours. If I took a three year old again it would be for 5 nights not 7, next time a couple of days in Sanur is in order and next time I'm bringing back a bigger version of those beautiful mosaic mirrors. A highlight of the trip was asking the boss what his favorite bit about bali was while we were waiting to get off the plane. He replied quite loudly, 'the people'! everyone within earshot went awww.