We all hit the hay very early last night and despite a restless night (we were all woken by thunder, Miss 6 had a blood nose & I was freezing due to the little one scoring our only blanket), it was still the best night's sleep I've had in weeks!
After breakfast Miss 6,who from now on I'll refer to as "the BP" (the Bali Princess) has a pedicure & a massage in the Bale by the pool while Dad goes to "drop off the laundry". I put this in inverted commas because dropping of the laundry is just an excuse for my hubby to get some alone time. "Dropping off the laundry" can take anywhere up to 2 hours LOL. This also applies to my I'm just going for a "quick walk".
After the BP's pamper session, I have a massage too. Mine is peppered by the BP's constant questions - "how's your massage Mum?, where's the sunscreen?, where's my goggles?", "when are you coming swimming?". All this while her dear Dad is lying on a sunlounge next to the Bale peacefully reading the paper. My next massage is going to be off-site & blissfully solo!
Around midday we start walking toward Hardy's, stopping off for lunch at the newly opened Pizza Club. The standout was hubby's "White Heat", a cheese lover's delight of Mozzarella, Ricotta and Gorgonzola combined with whole cloves of roasted garlic on top of a perfect light & crispy base. Yummy but very rich - I only stole 1 slice :-)
Continuing on up the road we head for Nita Collection (about 150m or so South of the Hyatt, on the same side of the road). I'd discovered this leather shop when we were in Sanur last Christmas, unfortunately on our 2nd last day, which meant there was no time to have anything custom made. This time around I've bought along a pair of my favourite Nine West sandals to have copied, plus a pair of the BP's sandals from last Summer which have been outgrown. The quality & workmanship appears to be very good, similar to that of shoes from Lilla Lane. All leather uppers, soles & lining for around AU$60 for me and $40 for the BP. I also buy a pair of sandals off-the-shelf (the only size 42 they have in stock), which are exactly what I've been looking for at home for ages.
Hubby has bought along a pair of glasses & his prescription sunnies so he has his eyes tested at the Optical store just outside Hardy's and arranges new lenses for them both, plus a new pair of glasses with Ray Ban frames. All up it will cost around $300 which is less than what he'd pay at home just for the lenses. Pretty happy with that! They'll be ready in 4-5 days.
After another swim & a rest back at the hotel we walk along the beach to Kesuma for dinner. The meal was great - Spring rolls for starter, fish & chips, grilled Calamari & grilled Snapper served with rice, veges & my favourite Balinese raw sauce. I could eat that stuff by the bucketload! plus 4 Bintangs & a fresh juice for RP 230,000.
We head back for another early night and after the BP's asleep I crack open the bottle of 2 Islands Riesling I bought earlier. The first glass didn't taste that great, but by the 2nd, 3rd & 4th half-full Middy glass it was growing on me LOL. At RP 190,000 a bottle, I think I'll be back on the duty-free cocktails tomorrow though!
Attempted posting this HNR whilst enjoying my tipple but got frustrated by the very slooooooow Wi-fi and gave up & went to bed to read (thought I'd found myself something halfway decent to read in the VPA library - turns out to be a book I left here last December LOL).
Today we're beginning our quest to shop for furnishings, pottery etc for our soon-to-be-completed pool area & front garden, armed with a list of suppliers provided by the very helpful Trish Ryder. Wish us luck!