Good morning everyone,
Yesterday was a very quiet day for me. I somehow managed to convince everyone that they really wanted to go shopping to Carrefours for a few hours, thus giving me time to rest and relax!
So I went to bed, and the troops left for a last time in Legian shopping expedition. Stocking up on lotions, potions and the like.
Mum also dropped past Bintang Supermarket and bought two big rolls of bubble wrap! Yippee, wooden panels will be protected for transport!
After their return (and me crawling out of bed feeling much more revived!), I started the onerous job of packing.
Now please remember that we were "packing lightly" when we came to Bali... and only just squeezed under our 20kg allowance per person. Just.
Now I have the same suitcases to fit all my purchases in.
I managed to squeeze all the items I have to declare into one suitcase. I think the men at customs are going to have a field day with all the wood and plant stuff I'm trying to bring back into Australia! They'll probably decide to just fumigate the whole suitcase, rather than worrying about checking each item!
So there I am... two more big suitcases, a couple of big sports bags, and a LOT of stuff. It is at this time that mum calls out in distress, and I turn to find that her suitcase is full.... and she hasn't packed most of her purchases yet. Oh dear.... do I have room for her to pack stuff? Sure... of course... I'll make room!
Hahaha
So with one case firmly locked, bolted and not to be opened again until we reach Australia, I go to work.
It took shuffling, squishing, rolling and a fair bit of cursing, but we managed to get pretty much everything packed! And this is only to move from Legian to Tanjung Benoa!!
I don't even want to think about trying to pack for the final flight home! As it is, in addition to cases we have a box full of toys (that we will probably leave behind), toiletries, swim wear, swim toys, lap top, all our chargers, and power adaptors, and power boards etc, as well as our sleep clothes, three bags full of snack food that we haven't even looked at, and two bags of bintangs, baileys and vodka that we need to drink... The Novotel are going to be in shock when we arrive. Its ridiculous.. it really is.
There are 7 people... we have 6 large suitcases, two small suitcases, two large sports bags, one box, 5 back packs, two helicopters, two bubble wrapped wood panels, five bags of food and drink, and three large plastic shopping bags full of dirty clothes, swimming gear, and 'stuff'.
Oh... and a stroller.
*snicker*
I jokingly told Nyoman yesterday that he might want to arrange a truck to transport our luggage.... I'm starting to think that he really should.
Anyways, enough about my packing nightmares!!
Nyoman picked us up at 5:30pm. I dropped into Rezeky Tailor where I collected the 6 polo shirts Father In Law had asked for. These were a very specific style. With elasticated ribbing at the end of the sleeves, and at the bottom of the shirt itself.
Unfortunately we were unable to match the quality of the fabric that he wanted, and we had real issues finding anything similar. So our colour choices were quite limited. As such, while the tailoring job is brilliant, I'm not sure that we ended up with what we wanted.
This is not the fault of the Tailor. It is purely a result of not being able to find the quality fabric we required.
Large polo shirts, including all fabric, and a bit of fiddly work with two-toned panels etc, 200k each.
After the tailor, we dashed off to Jl Melasti for me to collect my second wood panel, and hubby's bar sign.
The panel was ready and after a close inspection it was declared bora free, and packed up. Hubbys bar sign arrived 3 minutes later via scooter... gold lettering still wet. This was another lovely job, and both hubby and I are very happy with our purchases.
Custom made bar sign cost 250k. My panel, 300k.
For dinner we returned to Yut'z restaurant, and were all very pleased we had done so.
The food was once again superb. Mum had been raving about the vegetable curry for nearly two weeks, and once again ordered the same. Uncle tried the lamb curry which he devoured, and I ordered Beef strips with mushroom sauce... ie, Beef stroganoff. This was really lovely. One of the nicest I've had. Lots of tender beef, and the mushrooms were plentiful and very flavoursome.
7 people for dinner. Mains only, plus drinks 720k.
Once back at the villa, we sat around in the comfy lounge area, and decided that as much as we love it here, we are all looking forward to moving out of Legian, and into the quieter confines of the Novotel.
Luxury on a slightly grander scale. :)
So on that note, I'm going to have a wander around the villa for the last time, take a few photo's and prepare for the move to Tanjung Benoa.
Have a truly wonderful day everyone!!!
BaliDaze
P.S. Word of warning. I cut my toe a few days ago, just a tiny little cut. Despite using dettol cream and keeping it bandaged, it has become infected, and I'm now taking antibiotics to kill the infection.
It just goes to show that being prepared, and having some basic medications with you can be a real life saver!!