Monday saw a new day dawning and places to go. We missed hearing the roosters in the morning instead we were woken with some noisy staff members who seemed to like meeting right outside our room everyday! We went down to get my Dad just after 9 but he was still asleep. Soon he was up and getting ready in Bali time so we helped him along a bit! Off to order breakfast wondering if there would be bacon today. LOL We all ordered the same as the day before and handed over our beans. We explained to the waitress that we would like it all to be served on the one plate with the beans on the plates as well. When Doug and Dad ordered coffee she said 'oh so sorry we have no milk today'! We all just looked at each other and shook our heads. Doug really likes his morning coffee so took it upon himself to go to the mini mart on the corner and buy a carton of milk which we left with the waitress when we paid the bill for the extra toast. Breakfast arrived on one plate but,,,, no beans again! Yes she had forgotten to give them to the cook again! LOL So once again they came just as we had finished our meal. Well sort of finished, Dad couldn't chew through his bacon, and Doug had ordered extra toast but when he buttered it and had a taste he realized that the butter was rancid! Yuk. There was this very skinny cat sitting under a sun lounge so I put Dad's bacon on a serviette and took it to the cat who loved it and ate it very daintily.
We had arranged to meet Kelik and go to Denpasar with the hotel driver but he had gone out so we found one from the GVC and went with him instead. Doug wanted to look at mobile phones but couldn't find a 'contractors' phone so decided to leave it and get on back at home. We took Dad to Ramayana so he could buy some new trousers for the wedding. I have never seen so many men's pants before, there were heaps of them and they were really lovely quality and sooo cheap!. Dad bought a beautiful polyester, wool, nylon blend and they just fit perfect, and another thicker pair plus a lovely top all for Rp204,092 less than $25!
Kelik loved a black polo shirt so we said that we buy it for him, he was made up and wore it many times over our stay. I needed to buy a small eye shadow as mine back home was too big to bring as it is in a big case. I saw a nice little one with three colours and it was only Rp48,000. (When we got back to the hotel I realized that it was a Martha Tillar one.) We went upstairs and my Dad bought a few Gamelan CD's. We stopped at the restaurant upstairs and we all ordered watermelon juice but it was vile!! It was really gross and tasted slimy. Back to the hotel and Dad went for a sleep while Doug and I went out to buy some DVD's. We picked all of the latest releases. On the way back we stopped at Breeze for a quick snack of pizza and chips and it was really yummy. A street seller came to our table and we bought a few CD's for Rp7,000 each.
Back to the hotel as our 'Dad free time' was up. Dad was ready so we went back out and I bought 3 pairs of heeled sandals, 2 sequined and one black leather pair for Rp180,000. By now it was nearly dinner time we had arranged to meet Kelik at Bali Bagus on Jl Padma Utara. All of our food was just lovely and cost Rp322,000 for 3 entrées, 4 mains, and 6 drinks. After dinner we wandered down to the GVC as that was where Kelik was playing we also needed to drop off the vouchers for the GVC to claim for our 2 nights that we had booked. It was just great to see all of the staff again. We had a good chat to the staff and found out info about the sackings and robberies etc. I mentioned all of the dreadful stories that are on the internet about the staff and the hotel in general. We were told that there had been some sackings of staff from the garden, kitchen and cashiers. Most of the staff we have known for over 8 years were still there and very pleased to see us again. The incidents about the Bra Boys and robberies came up and apparently the Bra Boys caused quite a lot of problems and the staff had to repeatedly call the police to come and control them, in the end they were all asked to leave. There were 3 alleged robberies and the police were called in and in each case the guests were present while the police did a search and the alleged stolen money/items were found either in someone else's bag or not where the person had said they thought it should be. I guess there are two sides to every story and who is to say who is telling the truth?
Back at the bar things were rocking!!! There was quite a crowd who were singing along with the band. The bar staff were really pleased to see us and even remembered what cocktail I drink. It was just like old times sitting and listening to what we believe is the best band in Bali Yellow Band!!! Our Perth friends came in and joined us and we had a really lovely night. We asked Dad to show us the way back to our hotel and once again he had no idea. It is quite sad to see what was once a very independent energetic person succumb to this insidious disease and not even know where he is.
More to come.....