We had dinner one night at Bubba Gumps to celebrate a teens birthday. Ive eaten here a few times as its very popular with the kids for celebrations. The food is ok but also one of the most expensive places to eat. On the big night the birthday girl was somewhat aghast at the Birthday parade put on by the staff. Cymbals crashing and drums banging away she didn't want to be embarrassed so asked us not to tell them. Like that was gunna happen. My Nieces 7 yr old boy told her he would be back in a tick and took off. We didn't really notice him missing. The band started up again in the corridor and in they came. Leading the pack is the boy , smashing these Cymbals as he marched into the restaurant with the rest of the band. After singing happy birthday the band departed and the lad sat down . We were laughing so hard , and managed to keep cacking up all the way back to Sanur.
Had a foot massage on my second night in Sanur which was a bit soft for my liking. Travelling through the main drag one day I spied a big picture of a foot with pressure points . I assumed if they had a pic it might be a bit more intense. As most would know , Reflexology is what I was after , and was it any good. My feet are always sore from my work so it was fantastic to have this treatment . I think it was called Aya Spa , if i recall it was opposite Cafe Smorgas?
Picked up at 730 by Wayan from Bali Bike Baik , then a few more people from various hotels and we were of up into the hills for our bike tour.The tour included a stop on the way to the Civet cat coffee joint .Its located in a forrest of Vanilla and Cinnamon plantation.They have a few Civet cats too look at and tell you how the cat chooses the best beans which it eats the fruit from the out side then craps out the bean.
They then get the bean , wash it and roast it then make coffee. Personally Im not that fond of cat poo , nor any poo for that matter so i certainly wasnt going to be drinking coffee from a cats ass.
I can just Imagine how this discovery was made. Two dudes walkin through the forrest come across a pile of cat poo , see the beans and go , lets roast that then drink it.????? No Foxtel I guess.
They take you to some seats in the forrest where you get small glasses of other coffee to taste.Straight Bali coffee , coconut milk coffee and a very nice lemon grass tea.on the way out you can purchase various types of coffee , cocoa , and a whole range of spices like cinnamon , star anise , vanilla beans , saffron , pepper etc.$2;50 a pack but i had already got my spices from Hardys supermarket for $1 a pack so didnt bother.Needless to say the Americans in our group spent heaps so that made up for it
From there we drove through village after village on quiet roads.Miles of rice paddys and old temples etc on the way to Kintanami for breakfast. Nothing enourmous , Indo style. Mie and Nasi Goreng , fruit toast and coffee.Did the job.
Back out through Ubud , climbing all the time through the old villages until we came to where there was about 60 mountain bikes lined up. Got the helmet then each small group headed of at 5 minute intervals with 2 guides per group. We stopped at a couple of ancient temples with our guide Wayan explaining the rituals going on .Big celebration for Galungan so people arriving all day with their offerings balanced on their heads , fruit rice and incense .Im Sure youve seen the pics,
The tour continued downhill with little peddling required , past the rice paddys.Along side the road was the irrigation system that works based on gravity.It stretches for miles with small locks at each farm to divert the water so most of the way down you can hear the trickle of water.Through village after village , kids singing out hello and waving , chickens scratchin , just rural bali Life.
At the end they have cold towels and drinks then into the van to go to Wayans family compound for lunch cooked by his wife and family.Satays with peanut sauce , smoked duck salad , smoked chicken curry , fried tofu , water spinach with garlic , gado gado and a delicious green bean salad , fruit coffe etc.Cold Bintangs available cheap.It was fantastic.
A tour of the family compound , through the rooms all set it beutifully manicured gardens , bannana trees palms all the usual tropical subjects.Then into the bus and back to the Hotel