On the way to Kori's we call in at the tailor for J to have a fitting for his suit which looked really good, for around $60 I think, it was a warm evening and the guys here are so good that J then went to get them some beers. We walk off to Kori's and although it looked nice, I thought it seemed a little too expensive. Steak and lamb etc around 170k. I think we've been spoilt by Rumours. So we have a wander instead to see if we can find somewhere else, as we walk past Janoko's (the tailors) we see the four guys sitting down enjoying their beer and they wave as we walk by. N comments that seeing them happy like this is one of the highlights of her trip. We ended up trying the Havana Club in Poppies I. Tried the burritos which were excellent and very filling. The music was a little loud and irritating though. Her indoors was not impressed by the huge cockroach she spotted on the ceiling after we had already ordered. I thought the cockies were big in Perth, but boy the Bali ones are massive. We all really enjoyed our food tho and the place was pretty packed.
Thursday - After breakfast - and I have to add that I am enjoying the breakfast at Kartika, it's not as good as the Sofitel but they do have baked beans, I don't know why baked beans make a difference at brekkie, but they just do. J and I start the day off with another massage at Melasti's, this place is too convenient to Kartika. We then head up to the tailors to meet up with the girls, who take ages to get there, so while we wait I ask the guy at the shop next door if he has those fold up reading glasses, which C had got earlier in the week from Sanur for 50k each and they looked like an ideal gift for my folks. Anyway he says no, but he can go and get them for me. I hesitate but say ok we'll wait for 5 mins for him, if he wants to go and get some. He comes back about 15 mins later, but they aren't the glasses I wanted, these don't fold up which I explained to him. They looked very flimsy but I felt bad that he had gone and got them for us, so I foolishly ask how much? He started at 275k each. J and I both laugh and J takes over as he is a far better barterer than me, J also knows that C had paid only 50k (and C was very much a novice barterer) for better glasses, so he goes back at 25k. The shop guy laments that he has had to go and get them etc etc, so J says ok then 80k for 2 and sticks with that, which to be honest was probably still way over the odds, they were really cheap and nasty. Now if he had said yes I've have bought them, that would have been ok, they would have lasted a week, but fair's fair, but no he wants 250k for 2. So we politely thank him for showing them to us, apologise and walk away to the shop next door. Now at this stage if he had shouted back that he was happy with 100k for 2 I would still have done the deal as I was still feeling unhappy that he had gone off to get them, but he didn't. The girls arrive and they organise more stuff to be made, just how we are going to get this new wardrobe back I don't know. My waistcoats ($15 each) are ready and they are excellent, I'm really happy with them. We take some of the stuff away with us to avoid having to come back with a trolley and walk out, to be greeted by the eeediot next door. Now I've walked away, no deal as far as I'm concerned, but he still wants to keep bargaining. J and I were very polite but I don't want them now at any price and we keep on walking. He started effing and blinding at us down the street really loudly, and both J and I are obviously holding ourselves back and we just keep on going, thank goodness the girls were with us, because otherwise........ Now I thought to the Balinese that it was the height of rudeness to lose your temper. I think this guy was Javanese actually. I've never had this reaction before, I'm hoping that this is just a one off scenario, because it wasn't pleasant. The problem is we have to go back to the tailors next door again and I don't want J and me to have to have a confrontation with this guy.
We have a huge lunch at Swells and the girls go to find a material shop (Alta Moda in Kuta Galleria) that Damien at Janoko's recommended, thankfully it is N looking for more material and not the wife. (The wife says that the range of material including a huge amount for men's suits was overwhelming and mentions names such as Pucci and Versace - I don't think we'll be bringing any material from Textile Traders next trip.) I head back to the hotel for a swim. Managed to get back to the gym with mar lady later on in the afternoon, but it was a bit of a rush as we had decided to go back to Ku De Ta for sunset cocktails and we wanted to get there early to get a good seat. If you are going to do this and I would highly recommend that you do, try to get there for 5:30 to get the best possy. We get seats right at the front overlooking the beach and really enjoy a couple of hours watching the sun go down with a few drinks and some good music. It cost us 570k for 4 cocktails and two tapas dishes. Not cheap but worth every penny. We had already talked about going to Jp's afterwards, because J and N had not had the chance beforehand. After a quick discussion on whether we should or go back to Rumours, we decided to give Jp's a try for dinner. I am so glad we did, we had the best night. You have got to try this place (it's on Jl Dyanapura), I've mentioned it before for lunch, but it was great for dinner too. They have a live band on from Thursday to Saturday, but this one (Jellyfish Band) wasn't like some of the trashy(er) bands you hear down in Kuta, they played some Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton etc. However, they did let one of the patrons get up to do 'My Way', he had a good voice actually and was apparently a regular. Shame about their rendition of 'Kay San?' by Cold Chisel, the wife lamenting about this being the unofficial Aussie anthem. Now the best Beef Rendang issue has finally been settled, in my mind anyway. Even J had to admit that Jp's version was one of the best he'd had. We did ask for local spicy too, so it was pretty chilli hot, but that only made it even better to me. The food is great, the service friendly and it's really reasonable. It cost us 270k ($35) for 2 beef rendangs, 2 margaritas, 4 waters, 2 drambuie's, 2 tequila slammers (don't ask) and 2 affogatos. How good is that! The other upside was getting to see mar lady get all fluttery over the (apparently) cute Balinese waiter, we virtually had to drag her out.