Day 2:
Day 2 was our first full day in Bali. For breakfast we went to 'Borneo Bobs' on Jl Sindhu. It is my favourite spot for breakfast in Sanur and it didn't disappoint. I never get the breakfast package with my accommodation - breakfasts, well really all food is cheap and I like to order a meal rather than eat from the hotel bain-marie. We all had yummy mixed juices and banana pancakes. I always ask for the sugar on the side with any fresh juice, it is amazing how much sugar syrup they put in juices, much better to get the sugar syrup in a small jug and just add a bit yourself. The first breakfast set the scene for the rest of A's breakfasts - she ate banana pancakes 9 days in a row!
From Bob's we walked to the main street and caught a bemo to Hardy's to buy some supplies. We mainly bought food/snacks and a couple of drinks as I like to buy cans of drink and water from Annie's Warung to support her business. At Hardy's we also organised a sim for R, and A & I bought 'pulsa' (credit) for the sims we already had from my friends who had recently been to Bali. From memory sims last for 3 months after the last recharge. We then bought a few DVDs to get a start on our shopping lists and then got a driver back to the hotel as we had a few bags of shopping.
At around 12pm Annie, her son (aged 5) and her niece (aged 4) met us at the hotel for a swim. The kids love coming to the hotel and before we hit the pool I gave them a goody bag full of presents each. I kept a few presents aside for when I would be staying with them later, but gave them their bags which I had filled with reading books, colouring books, pencils, a couple of lollies, skipping ropes, blow up balls for the pool and some small Rupiah notes and coils. To make it fun I give them their gifts in the big gift bags that you can buy from the $2 shop and I always scatter the money throughout the bag. I love seeing their faces light up when they come across the notes and coins. A took a priceless photo that captures the exact moment that Annie's son found his first Rupiah note. No matter how many pencils I buy them, when I ask what they will spend their Rupiah on they always say more pencils!
Then it was time to swim in the pool. When the kids are at the hotel we swim in the main pool (not the pool by our room) as the main pool also has a kid's pool. To get there you have to walk along numerous outdoor corridors and it always makes me laugh to watch them run ahead and lead the way. When I spoke to Annie in the lead up to my holiday she would tell me that the kids were counting down until 'Tante (Aunty) Sara' was coming. I told her that I didn't believe it for a second and knew that they were only excited about swimming in the pool!
After swimming and playing games in the pool we went back to our room and ordered pizzas for lunch. A few days later I got the photos developed and showed them to Annie's extended family. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw photos of the kids running around the hotel and eating Western food! To me it was nothing, in Australia we wouldn't think twice about inviting kids to swim in the pool and ordering pizza, but their comments made me take a moment and reflect about how lucky we are in Australia.
Annie and the kids left mid-afternoon and the girls felt ready to try out a bit of shopping. We walked along the beachfront and I planned to introduce them to some of my friends in the market. Before we could get to the markets past Segara Village hotel one girl who works in the first block of markets near Jl Segara (who I only met briefly for the first time in February) walked up to me and said 'Sara, six months your back so soon!' Well that floored me. Most of the people that I am friends with in the Sanur markets I have known for a long time (and some my Aunty has known for 20 years!) so it doesn't surprise me that they remember me. And also someone from my usual travel group is in Bali fairly regularly... but to work in a different section of the markets and not only remember my name but when I was last in Bali was amazing.
I must say though that one thing that annoyed me (not really, of course) was that none of my friends greeted me by saying 'hello Sara, how are you?' The first question was always 'where is your Mum?!' Haha I found out pretty quickly that no one was going to let me forget that at the age of 27 it was my first time overseas without my Mum!!
We then went to a few shops in the markets. On A's hit list was a 'onesie' to wear to the Safari Park the next day and R wanted sunglasses and presents for her family. We also went to Tootsie's fixed price shop as they wanted a handbag each. I have so much stuff from the markets already so it was nice to help my friends 'barter' (read: spend their money for them). When bartering I figure what's an extra dollar here and there? Later at home R told her husband that I took them to all of my friends shops, said 'pay whatever they ask' and got them ripped off. Well hardly ripped off, but I tend not to barter in Sanur anymore. In Kuta/Legian yes, but I know the approx price of most things and so I'm happy to give the people that I know a bit extra.
We continued along the beach for a bit and then cut through Bonsai's to the main street. I love looking at the big Bonsai plants out the back... I don't actually know too much about them but I think that they are pretty impressive. We then went to a few home ware shops and also to Mercy photos where I put in my order for canvas prints. In February I got 4 beautiful Black and White photos that my brother took in Europe printed onto canvas. I hung them in my hallway and they always get lots of comments so I got another 4 printed to go down the other side of the hallway - at Rp90,000 (AUD$10) each for 30x40cm (size "12R" I think??) prints they are a bargain.
After a bit more shopping it was dinner time and before I knew it we were walking past Cinnamon restaurant (which I recognised from the forum so we decided to give it a go). The food was delicious and the cocktails were really good too. I had a chilli squid stirfry, R had Beef Rending and A had a ginger stirfry. R enjoyed a few strawberry daiquiri's, A had something stronger (can't remember) and I had the strongest of the lot. I ordered the 'Tsunami' as a bit of a joke because I'm not usually a big drinker and it had just about every type of alcohol in it. The first sip was a bit potent but after a while it started to go down a little too easily, so I ordered another one! After dinner we decided to taxi it back to Carla's Spa for mani/pedis. We didn't have enough time the night before and wanted to squeeze them in before they shut.
I forgot to mention in my last JBR that I have been studying Bahasa Indonesia in Adelaide and that night I made use of my new found confidence (thanks to the Tsunami's) and practiced with the girls at Carla's Spa. I find that I can read signs and billboards ok, and can listen in and understand some conversations, but I find constructing sentences and speaking a lot harder. It was so much fun talking to the girls and knowing a little bit of the language is a great icebreaker.
After Carla's we stumbled back to the hotel and called it a night. We had already done so much but were finding it hard to believe where the day went. Time flies when you are having fun!
Day 3:
Well day 3 turned out to be a long day. We were all up early so we went to the markets to exchange money, drop off our first load of washing and have breakfast on the beach at Tootsie's. Tootsie's is one of my favourites on the beachfront, the food is good but what really makes is it the staff that work there. One of the staff has been helping me with Bahasa Indonesia via private messages on Facebook and it was fun to practice with him in person.
After breakfast we went back to the hotel for a swim and rest before being picked up at 11:00 to go to the Safari Park. Kadek my driver had called ahead for us the day before and managed to book us in to an elephant safari ride but not until 4:30. He said that it is really busy now and that usually you need 2 days notice (and with the end of Ramadan it was busier than usual). Thought that was worth mentioning for anyone planning on doing the elephant safari. As we were going to be there until it closed he suggested going a bit later, hence the 11am pickup.
On the way he also took the scenic route to show the girls their first rice paddies. In hindsight we probably should have headed straight to the park. We still had plenty of time to see everything but we were out of whack with the show times and so we missed everything. Didn't really matter as I had seen it all before LOL and the girls weren't too fussed but if we had of had young kids with us it would have been a shame.
The highlight for me is always the orangutans. There wasn't a huge lineup and so we were able to have a cuddle with them both at the start and the end of the day - bonus! The highlight for the girls was definitely the elephant ride. I paid for Kadek to come in with us too as he is a big kid and is a bit partial to riding an elephant. In February we rode elephants at Taro and he enjoyed the Safari Park ride just as much.
I didn't tell the girls too much about the park, I wanted to leave a few things as surprises, and they loved feeding bananas and carrots to the mother and baby elephant and also eating lunch in the restaurant that looks out over the Lion enclosure.
Other than cuddling the orangutans, feeding and riding elephants we just walked around looking at things. Lots to see and do and we easily filled in the time before our elephant safari at 4:30. As a side note, apparently drivers love taking people to the safari park as it is a good chance to clean the car and have a snooze while waiting for their clients. Had to laugh when Kadek made a comment that it was much harder walking around the park all day!
After the safari park we headed back to Sanur and had dinner at Annie's Warung. I know that I am extremely (did I mention extremely??) biased but her mie goreng is by far the best I have ever tasted. The girls weren't keen to eat at the Warung straightaway; they wanted to make sure that the food in Bali and change of diet agreed with them firs. So by the 3rd night I was HANGING out for some of Annie's noodles. Yum!
After dinner we rested at the hotel for an hour or two and then caught a cab into Kuta. We were really packing a lot into our days but as R was only in Bali for 6 days I wanted to try and give her a taste of everything that's on offer in Bali.
We got out of the cab at Jl Legian and walked (seemed like forever) to the Memorial and nightclub area. Although it was a half decent walk it was much quicker than sitting in a taxi as the cabs were lucky if they were inching along the road.
We spent most of the night at the Bounty and also went to Paddies and I think Sky Garden. Yes, I know they are dodgy, but I wanted A & R to experience Kuta at night to show them another side of Bali rather than sheltering them in Sanur the whole time (another night I took them to Potato Head to again show them something different). We had lots of fun drinking 2-4-1 drinks in the Bounty "water bottles" and "fishbowls" whilst wearing the daggy Bounty bandanas around our arms. If anything we got some good photos!