Hmmmmm...this time last week we were lolling about in the fantastic pool villa in Ubud eating our banana pancakes,drinking the fresh squeezed pineapple juice, listening to the river raging below us that had swelled overnight due to the heavy rains,marvelling at the awesome rainforest view....heavy sigh. We have landed with a thud back to our usual routines and life.
We arrived in Bali on the 1st. of Sept after a quick Virgin flight from Adelaide 4hrs/20min. Booked Murti and was through in 15mins. would have been shorter but had to wait on luggage and there was a bit of a kerfuffle at the x-ray check with a young Japanese stomping all over 4 cartons of cigarettes with her stileto's. The officials eventually handed her a Stanley knife to aid in the destruction. Then out into the wonder,the smells,the heat and the relaxed chaos.That initial hit is one of the things I crave like a drug. The Padma man had a long list to wait for, so ushered us to one of their drivers and we were lounging around in the Padma Resort before you could say "saya cari frozen margarita silican".
We had a lagoon access room and it was pretty good though,it will be better once the section is completed, as the large corridor is still in progress and I was pretty much over the sound of drilling and banging after our 2 night stay. There was also work going on opposite our room on the pool deck after the pool closed in the afternoon with annoying sawing and hammering. The room is quite small but nicely appointed and had the comfiest bed of our holiday, I didn't check but it felt like it had a woolen underlay. They're probably still ironing some kinks out because it's so new, as we needed to call maintenance when we blew the fuses and couldn't get hot water in the shower. If you like the big resorts I would recommend this one down the track as the service, pool,grounds and breakfast were all great.
We got ourselves off to Gado Gado that first night and split a quick seafood plate which was all a little overcooked and tough but the atmosphere and location were exceptional and we'll give this one another go as we were pretty strung out by then and that soft bed was definitely calling!
Now,... we had stuck with our booking at the Padma with some trepidation as the day after I booked it via the net...whaddya know the reviews re. the gastro (or worse) flooded in! It seemed to be confined to only one horrible week in July and my heart definitely goes out to anyone affected as I've driven that bus in Bali myself. So my blood ran cold when I was awoken in the early hours of the morning by the sound of MMM "reviewing the days menu"! Very worrying as in the 29 years I've shared in his life I've often marvelled at his inability or should we say stamina to not chuckup. But all this was to change on the first night of our "romantic getaway"! As it turned out it wasn't any Padma curse or Bali Belly but by mid holiday we made the connection between a new medication he's been on for a month. Just really bad timing that his body decided to react when it did!
Next day we did all we were in Legian for - buying Mentari cards, movies from Jimmy's disc(good quality),pedicure/manicure,the ordering of bags/shoes from 234 Leather and dresses from Ayu Cintya and her sister Leah. They met us in our room and they're just lovely,it was a pleasure to meet these two gems. I took my own material and photos of what I wanted and a week later they met with us again and the adjustments that were needed were done promptly and returned to us the next day. Two very skilled and professional young women and I hope their business does well as I think it will!
That evening we had organised to meet with our driver Jack (brother of Jimmy) as he was going to babysit my large suitcase (the cargo container!) whilst we were in Gili T. It was just so wonderful to see his smiling face again and he introduced us to his lovely pregnant Ayu. What a wonderful man, his genuine concern for Mr.Rob(MMM)and suggestions for all that could be done was touching.Jack accompanied MMM on a fishing charter last trip and they now have a special bond that somehow occurs when fish,beer and boats are put in the same pot!
I'd read so much about Pearl on the forum so we gave it a go that night, as MMM was on the mend. This was the first of many occasions, when we got carried away with the menu and really didn't need to order that main! One of my favorite dishes of the holiday was had here,a Miso salad (it was called something like that)even tried to reproduce it last night (tasted great even though nothing like it!) and we know why everyone raves about their desserts!
Felt really guilty about not enjoying the duck I had as a main and tried to time it so the waiter took it back to the kitchen without the chef knowing how much I left!!
Ok... I'm off to light and incense and run a pineapple through the juicer!
Cheers!