Hello again peeps. This is the final installment of my holiday. Room upgrades, flights, cooking school etc
I trust you have enjoyed the four recounts. I will stay active on the forum for another couple of weeks before I hibernate again . Please feel free to ask anything I have posted over the last few days.I will return when its about 6 weeks to our next visit
I wish you all well, have great holidays, spend up, enjoy the people, the smells, the traffic !, the sunshine and all that is Bali
God Bless you all
17th March, slight revisit
Forgot to tell you in my last JBR that I checked on the Monday wit h the front desk if all is still OK for our room upgrade on Tuesday 18th. I was told that there was no availability! I said I had booked it middle of last week, signed to say we would move, and started to get a tad worried. In the end, we were told we had to check out of our superior room, bring luggage to lobby, and there would be accommodation in a Tropical terrace room from 10 am on Tuesday 18th. So, I have no idea what the problem was, but all ended up OK..may as well have a bit of drama eh?
18th March
Of course ..Brekkie first ,and back over to our superior room to get our stuff together
Room upgrade day...YAY!! So, we move our luggage (ourselves) to the lobby, and we are told that our room wan't ready.In fact it was, and we move straight in. This was our mistake for not doing this from the start, I would have been far happier f we had this room when we first got her, but being a tight ass, I decided the extra $500 was best spent on shopping ! Anyway..the Tropical terrace room, is more upmarket, but not greatly , if you know what I mean. It still has a king bed, but is better furnished has a distinct room divider, when folded back exposes a bath in the middle of the bathroom, with a toilet in one corner of the room, and a shower with a dinner plate size shower head in the other. It has flat screen LCD TV, which also seemed to have more channels..(all rubbish though)..it had a turn down service and they left a little note each night saying 'sweet dreams'.. they are as long as you can kill the damn mozzies!The bathroom accessories are of a higher caliber, in nice neat tubes, but our robes were missing, so a quick call to housekeeping to sort that out.We had to laugh when we first moved in , the lights were already on, and there was no ‘swipe' card in the holder. To make them work, there was a simply folded a piece of A4 into about 8..and that was in the slot!! I was wondering if the same paper could also open our front door! So we are much happier in this room, but still feel a little aggrieved at the first few days in that musty , mouldy superior inferior room.
So we moved in, and without further ado, its taxi time to seminyak. We did our usual walk all the way from Seminyak, right the way through to the Stadium bar in Kuta.By then, I needed a foot transplant! We stopped off and walked down JL 66 , Benny's had gone, so we had lunch at Tekor Bali which was great.There is a new Outriger being built 100 metres away from this restaurant and may be worth a look on the internet in future.We went to matahari in Kuta Square and got a T-shirt for our daughter, some thongs from obe of the shops (40,000), and stopped off at the Bali Discovery centre for guess what? Yep..Starbucks and a yummy from the adjacent bread shop
19th March
NO brekkie for me today , well, not at the hotel in any case. I was collected at 5.30am, to go do the Bumbu Bali cooking class, which was the highlight of my week. We were taken to Jimabaran markets to source herbs, spices, veggies, chicken and pork.Then to the waters edge to check out the freshly caught fish, squid, shark etc. I fely very priviledged that the clas was led by Heinz von Hollzen, the owner of Bumbi Bali. We went back to the school, which is at a bed and breakfast place just past bumbu Bali number 2...and it was really full on. All supervised, we went through a dozen recipes in a flash, and all base pastes were soon simmering away.We then learn how to do Balinese stuffed chicken, black rice pudding and proper banana fritters.I forgot to say, we had the yummiest brekkie, and a feast of a lunch.You eat what you have cooked and the other 50% gets used in their restaurants that night.Good business I reckon..you pay $75us to do the school, you cook the food under supervision which then gets served at his restaurant. If anyone wants more info on this let me know, I bought back all the literature. It really is well worth a few hours of your time, a good laugh and very sociable.I got took back to the Novotel around 2.30pm to meet my better half, and we immediately get a taxi to Bali collection to go get some more gifts
We went to that MINI restaurant again for dinner which was really good, I even had ice in my drink.Then cocktails on the beach.We then endured a storm, and the rain set in for the night, and the following day.I had never seen it rain like this in Bali before, I was a tremendous sight and a good photo opportunity.
20th March
Last day. We semi pack, check with front desk that the Tour East mob are picking us up in the morning...all good, and we get a note under our door to confirm a 5.30am pick up time.Off for our last brekkie and try and get photo memory impressions of the view over the ocean.i try not to let this be blocked by that damn german and his 42 pool towels!
We went to the little shop on the other side of the road just up from the Novotel, and we purchased 50 mozzie coils, and we bought 2 mozzie coil holders from the hotel lobby shop ‘'la boutique'. I popped back to Bumbi Bali to get a posers cooking apron, and then back to lunch at the hotel.We had a very light lunch.it was raining all day, so we didn't do much. My better half started to come down with a flu type virus, and I had promised Sukthi I would say good bye on my last night.So I caught a cab on my own back up to Bualu village, and sat with her for ½ hour or so,welaughed and chatted, sharing silly phrases and comments.. I said goodbye, we hugged, she thanked me for my business , she said she loved me very much, and I walked away with tears streaming down my cheeks. I was determined not to look back, as I said I would be back next year.A charming, lovely lady who typifies the Balinese friendliness and love of life.Bless you Sukthi , we miss you already.
21st March
All over red Rover
No brekkie.Picked up at 5.30am...to the airport at 6am, checked in for our Royal Brunei flight, no hassles, we walk upstairs, the duty free and other shops are all completely closed! What to do? We find an English couple to talk to, and then we find out our plane is delayed until 10am..from 8.25.. this is then delayed until 11am..and then midday. Technical problems is the word, but is typical, in my experience, of RB airlines.We board after much walking round, ( a favourite pastime of mine), and RB shouted us a curled up cheese sandwich, soggy fries, and as much sprite as you could muster as by means of apology.Shocking.
So we get back to Bandar Seri Begawan..guess what..our connecting flight to Brizzie is delayed also..what a surprise. We amble around the tiny transit lounge, and when we are called to board, my hand luggage causes concern. I had purchased a mortar and pestle from the bumbu bali cooking school, although we are getting back on EXACTLY the same plane as the one we caught in Denpasar, now these objects are deemed unsafe, and sharp,a nd could cause dmage to other passengers.Yes, they would if I cracked someone over the head with it.I also had a ball point pen in my pocket, I could do some damage to an eye with that too if I wanted too. Bloody stupid.. so I have to check my hand luggage in, and told that if it gets broken it's not their fault.Damn cheek, we have 5 hours worth of delays and then tell me not to blame them for anything.
Took off, arrived in Brisbane with a death defying shattering thud on the landing.. I though we came in vertically!! I immediately think of a shattered mortar and pestle..and a few broken bones wouldn't be a surprise either.So, wearily, and drearily, I'm back in my home town of Brisbane around ¼ past midnight. Bad news is, I have to drive up to mooloolaba in 9 hours time for the easter weekend.
I better go get some sleep eh?So here it ends..but it doesn't does it? It's just until we do it again next time
I thank my wife for being patient when mr grumpy was walking
I thank Sukhti for the time she spent with me
I thank the lovely beach sellers outside the hotel for all the running round they did for me
The people who run that little convenience store are legends , as are all the restaurant owners who are obviously doing it tough at this time of year
Finally thanks to all you guys who make this forum what it is.Bless you.
They said Bali was raining when I left because I was crying that we were going.well, i'm very upset myself that I can't write anymore
Bye for now, take care, safe and happy travels
WHARFIE
XXX