Day 31 I went with a friend to the Garuda office at Sanur Beach Hotel and reconfirmed out tickets, requesting seats for our return flight. Discovered that Garuda have a frequent flyer scheme, and that children are now part of it to a certain extent, so picked up 6 application forms to fill in later.
Swam with the kids, then drove to find where the Australian Consulate-General had moved to. It was too late to visit our friends there, so we went to Ramayana Department Store in Denpasar and bought some jewellery for my daughter, some bathers and shirts and DVDs.
Then to Donald's Restaurant (where we had our wedding reception in 1993) for dinner. Still absolutely beautiful food - Rp380,000 for all of us. That evening we all went to Jaya Pub in Legian. Exceedingly average band, until Rio (a guest), his trumpet and his younger sister got up on stage and performed a fabulous version of Mustang Sally.
Day 32 we went to Sakura to buy some DVDs and to try to find a place to repair our digital camera (needs 3 months and to be sent to Jakarta!). I'll let you know how good the insurance company is after we process our claim.
Huge traffic jams, but visited friends from almost seven years working at the Australian Consulate-General. We're all a little older, but that's about it! Ended up with lunch at KFC and dinner at the hotel.
Day 33 we drove up to Bedugul. Only one of my children remembered this trip. Ate some great Nasi Campur from the sellers, took some photos on a borrowed camera, and enjoyed the view. Then back to Sanur, Donald's on the beach for dinner, then Batu Jimbar to hear the Salsa band.
Day 34 we all went to the Batak church that we used to attend. Dressed the kids up nicely, wore my best kebaya and sarong, and smiled a lot. As usual, lots of accapela choirs - if you think Batak quartets are good, you should hear that! Stopped at Warung Pojok on the bypass in Sanur for lunch. Forgotten how good they are. Six meals, drinks for Rp120,000-ish. Back to the hotel for a swim then out at 5.10 to go to the English language church I used to attend when I lived in Bali. They had moved to Jl. Danau Batur #3 and, when we got there, found out that they no longer had an evening service, only a morning one at 10.30am. Oh, well, will just have to see them the next trip.
Warung Pojok for dinner - yep, that's how good the food was - even the kids loved it.
Sunday night jazz at Jazz Bar & Grill. Coco on guitar, Niko on drums, Ito on bass guitar, guest conga from Batu Jimbar and a stream of great artists. What a wonderful jam session.
Day 35 drove to my eldest son's old primary school, SDK Harapan in Sesetan. Wanted the kids to see what difference there is in the schooling. Then to Ramayana, Pizza Hut (well, we can't afford it over here!!!), Commonwealth Bank in Denpasar you can take out Rp1.5 million a time. After visiting some family we returned for dinner at Warung Pojok (to make up for the money spent on pizza) and then to Cat & Fiddle again.
Day 36 went to visit my friend's at my last workplace, Bali Weddings International, while the kids stayed with my husband at the hotel and swam. Went to visit more friends in Denpasar, then home in time to watch a free Barong performance at Hardy's supermarket. Of course, being Tuesday, had to watch the salsa band at Café Batu Jimbar again.
Day 37 drove to Nusa Dua to visit family friends from the early 90's. The fathers are musicians and doing it hard. After the bombing in 2002, they have struggled to get back on their feet because all contracts were cancelled and they just lived on their wits for several months. Only now have some of them started to build up belongings they had to sell to survive. Met a nephew and his family - amazing how much children grow in 5 years! Went out to dinner at a real out of the way place off Jl. Nangka on the other side of Denpasar, but very nice nonetheless.
Day 38 and my birthday. The day we have to leave Bali! What a shocking present to give myself!
Did all the last minute purchasing of coffee, cologne, picked up laundry, picked up boarding passes, fixed husband's phone, then Warung Pojok for lunch. Kids agreed not to swim, and watched dvd's while packing was done. Then dinner at the hotel.
Left for the airport at around 9pm. Got through very easily. After checking in our luggage, we realised how long the queue had gotten. My tip - arrive at the airport much earlier than you need to to avoid standing in long queues. Another tip? In the rush to fit in everything, don't forget to put the cologne you've just bought into the luggage, rather than cabin luggage. Can I blame it on the kids? No, probably just old age. Yep, it was taken from me. At least I made the airport staff laugh!
Our flight was 15 minutes late, but arrived half an hour early. The airport bus service was there waiting and we arrived home earlier than we had anticipated. An excellent trip for us, and now the heavy duty saving for the next trip.