As mentioned by some forumites, Cool found the beds at the KP unbearably hard, so we went to Carrefoure to find a cheap mattress. She found what she needed for 120,000rp, just thick enough to make the mattress usable. She left it for the room service guys when we left. Carrefoure is an amazing place, so many different things under one roof & so cheap too! How cool is it that you can look out the window and take a photo of rice paddies and cows while riding the escalator in a major department store? On the way back to the hotel we had to get the driver to do a u-turn so we could get a shot of a factory sign which read 'GASTRO - Kitchen Specialists'.
That evening we went to Sanur for drinks and dinner. It was my first time at Nyoman's Cafe. The margaritas are excellent, and they do come quickly. Had my first encounter with the Bintang Baron (Hi Ron). Cool stayed with Ron & Irma on her last trip so they are good mates. Met a great crowd of locals there - a big hello to Scoobie (better stay off Irma's pushbike mate!). After watching a glorious sunset on the beach, we all went out to Massimo's for dinner. The food was very good (gnocchi with bolognese sauce was a big hit), I thought the service a little impersonal for a quiet night, but overall a good night & lots of laughs.
As it got closer to home time, we went back to Dianne's for more clothes for family, up to the huge central court of Discovery Plaza for some inexpensive gifts for mates & relatives, then Bali Colada for another Ginger Chill (I'm still trying to work out the recipe!). Into the depths of Kuta Markets for some different t-shirts for me & a small shoulder bag to carry on the plane. There are so many sellers there, the competition to get you into their shops is fierce. When you bargain well to get a good price, then throw in 10,000rp 'for good luck', the sellers are obviously pleased as they move around the shop touching the other merchandise with the money. It's a cheap feel-good thrill for any Aussie shopper. I told Cool she was trying to save the world, one t-shirt at a time. Not a bad philosophy...
Cool had long wanted to visit the Hulu Cafe, so we headed off. We went in early to reserve seats near the front, then went off for a drink down the road, getting back just in time for the first show. Then, B*GGER, realised that neither of us had remembered to bring a camera! Oh well... The show is started by a guy who looks almost as ugly in drag as I would (IF I wore drag), but he is a great showman. He comes down into the audience looking for a sucker (sorry, volunteer) to get up with him. No takers. Being an entertainer myself (and having had 2 great margaritas by now) I feel sorry for him and get up to play along. Cool by now is really kicking herself that she has no camera, not even a mobile phone, so no evidence now exists (huge sigh of relief), but it was very camp & lots of fun & I got a huge 'thank you' for playing the game and a big kiss (on the cheek! Settle down!!). The other 'girls' were great-looking, impossibly skinny and put on an excellent show. One of them came and sat with us for a chat between shows, she didn't want us to buy her a drink but she chatted very hard to get a tip. The margaritas were not cheap at 60,000rp each but very good indeed. All in all, it was a top night out.
We were set to come home the evening before Galungan. Realising that we had too many bags for a taxi, we called Nyoman who came out from his home to take us to the airport and brought his two lovely young sons with him. Once at the airport, we found the flight had been delayed (again) so we paid to go into one of the lounges. Sadly I don't remember which one it was! The food was ordinary, the drinks were warm & the internet was down, but the chairs were comfortable, the toilets were clean and they did give us plenty of warning to board our plane. The flight was easy and uneventful, the movie was boring, the food was okay. We picked up our prepaid duty free alcohol at Perth Airport - what a great idea that is! Cool was not happy that after we had declared our few harmless wooden items, customs decided to go through all our bags. So much for honesty. They found nothing of course, and we hit the taxi rank and went home.
Nothing left to do but unpack and wait for the Back-From-Bali Blues to set in.
Didn't take long...
Our favourite meals, not in any order:
Ifiori - Lamb shank with herb & parmesan crust. Rich and tender. Perfect.
Yut'z Place - Bali fillet steak with bacon-wrapped asparagus, pesto tomato and mashed potato. Perfect.
Seaside - Deep fried eggplant;
- Tomato & basil soup with blue cheese; - Watermelon gaspacho with red wine vinegar, fresh mint, chopped seedless grapes & red onions and fetta cheese.
- A great hamburger made with local beef. All perfect.
ps. In case you are wondering, we don't eat much local food, because Cool & I both have problems eating rice. B*gger!
The Margaritas, also not in any particular order
Best ones were: - Ifiori
- Nyoman's Cafe
- Hulu Cafe
All three contenders served authentic Margaritas without gimmicks or odd flavours. All three used good quality tequila and didn't use too little of it. Hulu Cafe missed the perfect score because the price was a fraction high at 60,000rp and they push the drinks at you a little too fast, even for us! Nyoman's lost a fraction of a point only because it was so busy we couldn't find a chair. Ifiori lost a little because the price was higher than Hulu Cafe at 69,000rp and because the company at Nyoman's was so great! Green Garden and Seaside get the honourable mention because they are both very good and not too dear.
The only really bad margarita was (sadly) at Ours. This was our favourite last trip, and we were really disappointed. It seemed almost all the staff had changed including the barman.
We were sitting by the water at Sorrento Quay this afternoon & Cool asked me do I ever just wish I could drop everything and go back again? I said 'Yeah, about every ten minutes.'
Thanks for reading, everybody. I know you all love and miss Bali as much as we do and I think we are incredibly fortunate to have this wonderful place so close (especially to us in WA) and so affordable.