Evening flight AA from Perth. Late. Wish Bali airport would use the one-queue system which works well elsewhere. Soo frustrating getting in a slow queue as I invariably do.
Met up with husband at Masa Inn (he is surfing elsewhere in Indonesia for 2 or 3 months). Pleasant place, Masa. Nothing fancy but comfortable & everything works well, the grounds are immaculate, staff pleasant, good value & a convenient location for doing things. Always fully booked & no wonder.
Went to Dr Rudy's surgery at Bali Mall Galleria for a scale & polish. Not thrilled this time - rough. Husband agreed. Could've spent hours in Ace Hardware. Great lunch at Salvador - the Nasi Campur is excellent.
Went to Optik Seis & Melawi there as I needed new glasses - quoted Rp2.25 million for clear plastic multifocal lenses & more for tinting.
Called Mr Honeyman who came to the hotel. I had my own frames for sunnies, didn't like his frames for clear glasses (he has a large range - I am just fussy & dislike small rectangular frames) but had found some I liked at Optik Melawi. Mr Honeyman charged Rp 1 million each for lenses for sunnies & clear specs. Less than half the price quoted by Melawi & no extra for tinting. Bought the frames I liked from Melawi (fortunately on sale & a discount for cash) & delivered them to Mr H outside Bintang supermarket. VERY pleased with my new specs & with the savings. I had my doubts but I will only ever use Mr Honeyman in future. I recommend him HIGHLY. Had my eyes tested in Perth a few days before leaving.
Went to House of Komang to have some clothes copied. They had copied black gabardine work pants for son in November & did a great job. But I won't go there again. I wanted a very simple dress copied twice & made a bit larger using my material, a pair of pants & a simple top made a bit smaller (which Janoko had done perfectly a year ago). Messed up the dresses & I threw the top in the bin. The pants are fine. It's not as if the dress was difficult - I had made it myself so easy peasy. The prices were very exey. Poor choice of fabrics - eg no linen. Back to Janoko but they are soo busy.
Jl Legian is being dug up at the Kuta end so huge traffic jams. As it's always near impossible to get taxis to venture into Poppies 1 I used motorcyle taxis a lot - fun. Saw some gangs I never knew existed, saved time & money & got dropped off at the hotel.
We rented a bike (husband says he will always get a bike in future when staying in Kuta/Legian) & spent a delightful day with a Brazilian surfer friend of hubby's & his Missus at their casa near Seseh out past Echo beach. WHAT a place!! A white & turquoise dream. Almost no doors, just bamboo blinds & filmy muslin dancing in the constant breeze. Spectacular views to Ulus from the 3rd level bale. Drooled with envy. Bloody camera wouldn't work grrr.
Rented a car (Taruna?) & drove to Ubud. Even though we had booked 4 months in advance we could only get 2 nights at Greenfields - a lovely place. I had only stayed in MF Rd & Jl Bisma & it was good to be in a different part of Ubud. Room wasn't ready so we went to Tropical Bale (not to be confused with Tropical Bali in MF Rd) for an indulgent lunch. Car couldn't cope with the hill & died. We had the restaurant to ourselves which we loved but it's sad that such a superb place is so under-patronised. Husband hadn't been there before & was gobsmacked by the standard of food & the small bill. The standard is similar to Jackson's in Perth but waay cheaper.
Car made it back to Greenfields - it took 5 litres of water in the radiator. Next morning empty again. Called the owner in Kuta who delivered a new Avanza within 90 mins. Most apologetic, grateful that we hadn't continued driving it & no extra charge for a better, newer car.
Being limited to 2 days in Ubud was a blessing. Based on info from this forum I booked 2 nights at Puri Alam in Munduk.
More to come on beautiful Munduk.