We awoke on day 6 feeling refreshed from a great nights sleep. We headed out to sample the delights of the Ramada Bintang breakfast. As predicted they had a spread similar to most 4 star hotels. No probs. Predictably Hubby headed for the egg station and I headed for the toaster. The only comment I will make here is that they have a massive outdoor area to eat your breakfast in and a smaller set up inside. If you want to avoid the pollutants of the cigarette smoker at breakfast then you have no choice but to eat inside. I found this to be a real shame considering the monopoly of the chairs and tables were outside. Plus it would be nice to eat your breakfast, by the waterfall and enjoying your surrounds rather than stuck inside where the buffet area is. As it was, in the end, we did eat outside each morning regardless of the smokers. I have nothing against smokers being a reformed smoker myself. But in all the times I did smoke, I never lit up after a meal with others still eating and around. I would always remove myself from the area.
When we headed down to the pool area, we were not shocked to discover that the pool towel gremlins had been out in force in the early hours of the morning and coveted their spots. In fact all the ocean view loungers (on the grass overlooking the ocean) were taken and all the pool loungers with direct sun were taken. Not to worry! This was our first sunny day in Bali after 5 days of overcast and cloudy weather. We were going to make the best of the sun. I noticed that it was spot the Aussie at the pool and it seemed that 95% of the occupants were Russian.
My girlfriend and her son were to arrive tomorrow morning and so we planned to have a quiet day doing nothing before we became a group of 4!! We did pop out to Gracie Kelly's for lunch (forgive me I think I said Paddy's in my last JBR). Hubby had Beef and Guinness pie and I had seafood chowder. Both great choices!
Wayan arrived mid afternoon and wiled away some time with us. At around 4.30 we all headed to the room as 'H' was coming at 5 to drop our massive DVD order off. He managed to get 87 of the 130 or so that we needed and so we were very happy. He also had gone through (as before) and marked against those that were still a bad copy and so not worth the purchase. It worked out that Wayan knew 'H' from when he had his shop, so they exchanged business cards and no doubt will recommend each other to their customers.
Tonight we had decided to give Ma Joly's another try. We knew that this was going to be the last night we had together before K & C arrived. Our first visit here found us to be more than a little disgruntled by the portion sizes of the mains given the price you pay. I am pleased to say they redeemed themselves tonight. We had an entrée each (hubby had the greek salad, and I had a seafood soup) and then onto mains where hubby had a steak and I had the eggplant lasagna. Really good food. Only minor comment would be the eggplant lasagna was very oily. We also had purchased a bottle of Australian red which we had a glass out of and took the rest back to our hotel room. I didn't know that Ma Joly was like RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the Ramada and so when we headed off for dinner we ended up walking the huge block and some to get to it. Upon leaving, after we had paid for our delicious dinner, we were asked if we needed a cab and we told them that we were staying at the Ramada Bintang, and he laughed and said - next door!! We decided to risk getting back via the short walk on the beachfront even though the tide was coming in, with the help of the staff member who shone his torch and advised us when to run for it. So funny, hubby had the wine clutched against him with one hand and me in the other hand and we nearly made it! The waves got us and so we ended up being soaked from thigh down, much to the amusement of the Ramada beachfront restaurant patrons!
Morning dawned and the breakfast ritual was followed. I managed to smuggle some croissants and pastries out in napkins for Wayan, despite the many signs advising you are not allowed to remove food from the area!
Wayan collected us and off we went to meet the 11am Garuda flight from Perth. Before I left Perth I had made up 3 A3 signs with their names on it and a lovely colour photo, just to really embarrass them. We arrived early and went for a coffee and just as we received our coffee, the flight arrived! Of course! We knew we had about 10 minutes before the first lot of passengers would come out, so we finished our coffee and placed ourselves firmly at the front of the barricade with all the other transport people! Talk about the strange looks we got and the many laughs! Hubby was on camcorder, Wayan was on photos and I along with 2 others I paid, held the signs up. C & K were almost the first ones out after the stewardesses and captains! They laughed when they saw all the signs and the camera's flashing etc - it was good for them. C is a single mum and K has only been to Bali once before with his mum and her then long term partner. K was like a jumping bean - so excited about being here. We did the traditional bintang by the car (and a water for K) and then off to check them into the Ramada. Unfortunately, though they were given a room 2 doors down from us, it was a king size bed, so understandably given that they didn't want to share a bed, they were moved further down but on the same floor which was good. In fact they were 3 rooms from the end of the building, overlooking the pool to the right and the gardens in front - great spot.
Wayan hadn't seen them for quite a few years so they had the catch up and then before we knew it we were heading out to get them some money changed and stock them with water before heading down to the pool for a swim. Again we had a struggle trying to find loungers for us given the many empty but towel filled spots! C immediately got into the swing of things. C is not someone you would want to cross. This was definitely going to be an interesting holiday.
We ate out at stadium that night. Hubby had ribs (of course!!), C had mie goreng, I had nasi goreng and K had fish and chips. All meals were deemed to be a good choice. C & K were knackered from their early start so we headed back shortly thereafter and bid our farewells with lots of hugs and squeals (it's a girl thing!).
More to come...