Day 4:
After our night out in Kuta we had a slow start to day 4. We wandered down to the Sanur markets and had breakfast again at Tootsies. More fruit, pancakes and eggs while we discussed our plans for the day. As the girls had had a few days to settle in and get used to paying with Rupiah they felt ready to tackle the shops in Kuta, Legian and Seminyak.
We got picked up at around 10am to try and avoid the traffic into Kuta and we got dropped at Discovery because we wanted to start the day in the air-conditioned shops and I was also keen to go to the DVD shop there. I find the DVD shop is set out well and it's a lot easier to search through the DVD's in Discovery rather than in Hardy's Sanur. I bought a few new releases and R bought a selection of Thomas the Tank Engine DVD's for her son. Standard Rp10,000 each with buy 10, get 2 free (I think in Hardy's Sanur its get 3 free..)
After buying our DVDs we just wandered around the shops but found that we weren't really interested in any of the 'brand' shops and weren't in a trying on clothes mood (could have been something to do with going out the night before!?). We bought iced chocolates and iced fruit drinks from the café on the lower floor by the beach, can't remember the name of the café but they are worth checking out. In the past I have had nice club sandwiches there too..
From Discovery we walked to Kuta Square stopping in at the Art Markets along the way. Again nothing was of great interest to us at Kuta Square. My usual travel group loves the Polo and Tommy Hilfiger type shops so I thought the girls might want to check them out too but they were more interested in market shopping and looking in boutiques rather than the chain stores.
We then had a weak moment and ate McDonalds for lunch. Something that I usually hate doing in Australia let alone Bali where there is such nice food to chose from but our hangovers were still 'hanging around' so we all caved in and grabbed burgers for lunch.
From there we walked back through the Art Markets to the beach to meet Kadek where he had parked the car. Next stop was Jl Double Six. I wanted to go to a particular set price necklace shop that I really like and also knew that there were other shops for the girls to look at. We got dropped at the first lot of shops as you drive away from the beach and started shopping down one side of the road. A & R bought a few sandals and dresses and I bought a few knickknacks for the house. I also ummed and ahhed about buying a canvas but didn't get the price that I wanted so I left it - I always regret doing that - I thought I would have learnt by now! We then came to my the necklace shop but found that it was shut for the end of Ramadan. It just wasn't our day!!
Kept walking along Jl Double Six bought a few more things, the usual t-shirts, sarongs, dresses, gifts etc and then turned around and did the same down the other side of the street. Before we knew it it was 4:00 and I still wanted to go to a few shops in Seminyak so we called Kadek, he picked us up, and off we went to Jl Oberoi.
Our first stop on Jl Oberoi was Joy Jewellery. Joy is by far my favourite shop in Bali. I bought another 2 sterling silver bracelets to add to my collection. I now have 6. They are not cheap - one cost Rp1.1M and another was Rp500K - but I just love them. My favourite is one that I bought in February - the charm reads 'Live the life you love. Love the life you live'.
Looked at a few boutiques on Jl Oberoi but found that we had run out of time as Kadek had to be back in his village for a meeting later that night. So back to Sanur we went. All in all we had a good day shopping and the girls bought most things that they were looking for but in hindsight I think I should have thought more about the types of shops they like and next time we would probably avoid Discovery and Kuta Square and instead walk along a section of Jl Legian..
Back in Sanur we had a swim and then got ready for dinner. For dinner we went to the Sector Golf Club which is part of the Grand Bali Beach hotel. My goal for the holiday was to try and show them as many different aspects of Bali as possible so I thought after a long day of shopping and walking a nice dinner overlooking the golf greens would be the way to go. We all enjoyed our meals but noticed a few mosquitoes hanging around; a quick dash back to the room for some spray solved that problem. We could have sat inside but we wanted to be outside and enjoyed watching the people who were practicing at the driving range.
After dinner the girls called it a night and I walked to Annie's Warung to talk to her and the other customers in between her orders. I had a lot of fun trying to practice my Bahasa Indonesia with locals and also talking to expats and others who were staying for a few months in Bali. Close to midnight I walked back to the hotel and called it a night too. That's one of the things that I love about Sanur.. I always feel safe and have never been worried about walking by myself at night.
Day 5:
We were all up early for a swim and then went to Tootsies for breakfast. The plan for the day was to go to Ubud and stop at different places along the way.
Got picked up early at 9:00 so that we would make it to Gianyar in time for a Barong dance at 9:30am. The Barong & Kris Dance was at Batubulan Village and as we pulled up we noticed that it was quite popular with a lot of people there to see the dance. From memory it cost Rp80,000 each. It was a good setup with a big stage and amphitheatre type seating under cover. As we entered we were invited to have a photo taken with a beautiful lady in traditional dress (similar to what they wear for Legong dances). Later we had a good laugh when our photo was presented on a plate for us to purchase as a souvenir. A couldn't help herself and bought one for Rp100,000. Tacky, yes, but also very funny.
I had seen many Legong dances before but never a Barong dance so I didn't know what to expect. The dance was in 5 Acts (went for a little over half an hour) and we were given a handout which gave a run through of each Act. Lucky we got the handout otherwise we wouldn't have known what was going on!
After the dance we went to Tegenungan Waterfall. Walked down the stairs (quite a few stairs) and took photos down by the waterfall and then walked back up and had a cold drink from the Warung that overlooked the waterfall. It is really pretty and it's good to know that if you are not keen on lots of stairs you can look at the waterfall from the Warung at the top. Apparently you used to be able to bungy jump there but it shutdown soon after the bombings as there wasn't enough business, but the actual bungy tower was only removed a few years ago..
After the waterfall we then made our way to an orphanage. We were really in two minds about whether or not we wanted to go. R wasn't sure how she would cope as she was missing her son and if I am being 100% honest the main reason was that we didn't want to be sad or upset on our holiday (a bit shallow, but the truth). Well, I am sooo glad that we did it. Kadek took us to an orphanage that he has supported (by taking tourists there) for many years, maybe for 12 or so years? and as soon as we arrived the kids ran out and gave him a big hug which set the scene for the visit.
The orphanage is called 'Kesayan Ikang Papa' and is in Gianyar regency and it is for kids with disabilities. As it was a Sunday there was 'only' about 15 children there, during the week there are nearly 40 kids that live there and a lot more that attend the school that is attached to the orphanage. All of the children who attend the school have disabilities, some live with their families and just attend the school and those whose families can not look after them live at the orphanage. Many of the children are hearing impaired and so a lot of the communication is through sign language. We donated money and clothes and it was interesting to note that we had to log the donation in a book - made us feel good that the money wouldn't be 'lost'. We took lollies and it was a simple but effective way to interact with the children. We had a quick look around the orphanage but mainly spent time in the main room smiling at the children and talking to one of the volunteers. It was a really good experience and we left feeling positive and not in any way upset.
After the orphanage we went to lunch at a restaurant about 5kms from Ubud. Sorry I can't remember the name but it had a nice view out over rice paddies (as do most in the area).
From there we headed to Ubud and again debated about whether or not to go to the Monkey Forest. I don't really like the monkeys at the Uluwatu Temple (went there in February) but Kadek said they are not as aggressive at Ubud because they are looked after by the Monkey Forest staff. Anyway we decided we would go there and if we didn't like it we could leave quickly and tick it off as another thing that we had done.
Well lucky that we went because it ended up being one of the highlights of R's trip to Bali! The 'forest' was beautiful and most importantly the monkeys left me alone. A monkey sat on Kadek's shoulders while he was feeding it a banana and he said he wasn't worried because all they wanted was food - but I didn't want a bar of it. The girls fed the monkeys and I took photos. We then went for a walk over an ornate bridge and went deeper into the forest. It was really beautiful and ended up spending just over an hour there just walking around looking at trees and statues. It was nice and cool too which was nice.
After the Monkeys it was time to hit the Ubud markets. We bought a few things there - canvases, wooden toys for kids, table runners and a couple of dresses. Lost the girls a few times in the rabbit warren that is the markets but it was good fun.
After the markets we headed home but got stuck in traffic there was a hold up because there were lots of trucks that were transporting big kites on them. Amazing how they manage to navigate with such large awkward things on the back of the trucks!
After arriving back in Sanur we had a rest for a few hours and then got dressed and perked up a bit ready to catch a taxi to Potato Head in Seminyak. The taxi cost us Rp125,000 from Sanur which wasn't too bad seeing there was 3 of us (just under AUD$5 each).
We weren't planning a big night but just wanted to go for a late dinner (got there around 8:30) and a drink to again do something different. The food was amazing. Every meal that A had she proclaimed that it was the 'best meal yet' but in the end I don't think anything topped her burger at Potato Head. In some ways a bit of a shame that her favourite meal was a burger and not something Indonesian but she said the gorgonzola cheese made it to die for. We all had cocktails which were 'ok' maybe it was our choice of drinks? For some reason something came over me and I chose the Pineapple and Pepper Margarita, still not sure why as it doesn't even sound good!!
After our meal (which we ate towards the back of the complex under cover) we moved to the beds near the pool area. I was still on my first drink but the girls ordered a second and then we just sat there for a bit enjoying the view of the beach lit up by lights whilst having a bit of a breather after such a long day. After hanging out for a bit we decided that we had done enough for one day and caught a taxi back to Sanur.