After breakfast this morning, the BP and I hit the pool. A family has arrived this morning with 2 young kids so I swim for a bit with BP and then get to read in semi-peace while she plays mini-Mum, towing the 2 year old little girl around the kids pool in her blow up ring. Aah, this is the life.
I'd sent a text to Burhan at Permata Dewata jewellers in Denpasar yesterday, asking about having a replica of my Mum's eternity ring made. My Mum passed away last year and as one of 4 girls I didn't end up with either her engagement or eternity ring. A replica won't have the same sentimental value but it will still be something I can pass down to the BP, and without all the bitterness & ill-feeling that would've come with arguing about who received Mum's jewellery. The money to pay for the ring is coming from the settlement of the estate so in a way it's like she gave it to me :-)
Anyhoo, the point of this story is that if I want the ring made, I must go to Denpasar today at 11am as Burhan's goldsmith's will be taking holidays from 25 Dec until 2 Jan. I'm glad I didn't wait to make contact, I'd just assumed it would be business as usual through the Christmas / New Year period.
Hubby had gone for a bike ride and to 'drop off the laundry' and when he wasn't back 2 hours later, I rang him to ask where he was as I wanted to get the trip to Denpasar over & done with. 'I'm just having my nails done' he says. What the?? I haven't even managed to get mine done yet, and here's dear old hubby having a mani & a pedi (sans nail polish, in case you were wondering!).
He kindly cuts his pampering session short & when he gets back I grab a taxi to Burhan's shop to drop off a photo and discuss the design.
I get a text message back later telling me the size of the diamonds he's sourced, and the price for the ring (AU $750), so I give him the go-ahead. Mum's ring was valued at AU $3500 when the estate was being settled & I'd been prepared to pay up to $1000 for a copy. The ring should be completed & dropped off to me between the 26th & 28th.
I ask the taxi to stop off on the way back & I pay for our Christmas lunch at the Sanur Paradise Plaza hotel, a buffet lunch with an appearance by Santa Claus for the kids. All up cost is RP 620,000 for the 3 of us.
By this time I'm starving so I get dropped off at Mona Lisa and have a quick sandwich and a Ginger Fizz (fresh ginger juice with sugar syrup & soda water - would've made the perfect Moscow Mule with some Vodka & fresh Mint!) before heading back to the hotel. I'd been trying to text hubby to let him know of my ETA but had no service on my phone. When I get back he tells me that he'd texted me to say that the shoes we'd ordered from Nita Collection were ready to pick up. Damn, could've stopped off on my way back if I'd received the message.
The BP is champing at the bit to see her new sandals (she's a chip off the old block!) so we take her for a walk to get them, passing the Agus art shop along the way. I'm so excited - our painting of the Bedugul temple is underway and sitting on an easel at the front of the shop. It's really cool to see it in progress, hubby says he stopped off on his bike ride this morning & was watching Ketut Teker as he painted it. It's strange but seeing it taking shape bit by bit makes it even more special. I tell Ketut's wife that I also want the painting of the Legong dancers (hubby just rolls his eyes) and she says 'I knew you come back for it, I put it away for you in our house last night'. It was meant to be :-)
We also stop in at the Ari Putri Hotel for a look around. I'd come very close to booking their "Suite Room" for this trip but chickened out & went with the familiar V***a Puri Ayu instead. The newly refurbished Deluxe Rooms are lovely - as are the refurbished pool areas. You wouldn't think looking at the outside of the hotel that it would be so nice within. At USD 150 per night for 2 bedrooms & a living room, it's great value & we'll definitely keep this place in mind for our next Sanur trip. A hidden gem!
When we get to Nita Collection they pull out the new version of the sandals I had copied & I could've sworn they were the same ones I'd left there 2 days earlier, albeit brand new & shiny ones. Very, very happy with the outcome & at RP 600,000 they are half the price of the originals & fit even better. The BP takes off her thongs & starts wearing her new silver sandals immediately, they obviously got the stamp of approval too.
I also showed him the very expensive Niluh Djelantik sandals I'd bought the BP in August, where the leather lining & sole are starting to separate. He clucks disapprovingly & asks 'where you buy these?' and when I tell him he snorts 'Niluh Djelantik pah! Nice design but poor quality. I will fix for you properly'. So we leave those there to be repaired & I order another pair of sandals to be made, a version of the BP's shoddy Niluh Djelantik sandals in a slightly different design for me.
We decide to jump straight in a taxi from the shop down to Sindhu beach for a walk & an early dinner at the Beach Café, which has long been one of my favourite places to eat in Sanur. It's very quiet along the beachfront (and everywhere else) in Sanur, very different from the same time last year. It's pleasant & peaceful walking along the beach path until the BP starts up with 'I'm huuuuungry, I'm tiiiiired. When are we having diiiiiner?'. Back we go & I order her the kids fish & chips without the chips (she's eaten a truckload of them in the past 3 days), hubby orders his usual Devil's Seafood Spaghetti and for me the Devil's Seafood Calamari with herbed rice & salad.
The food is a bit disappointing this time around, as are the cocktails. It's 2 for 1 happy hour so we ordered frozen Margharitas and while hubby's Mango one is OK, my Strawberry is horrible, too much lime & not enough sugar. It left a horrible taste in my mouth. The Mojitos we had were OK but after making my own, I'm fussy! They used brown sugar which is just wrong - should be sugar syrup or white sugar otherwise it's a Caprioska with Rum instead of Vodka. Hubby's favourite spaghetti is a let down too but my Calamari was delicious - sauted with red chilli & basil, Thai style and served with herbed steamed rice & salad. The BP has a scoop of strawberry gelato and hubby & I share the Tropical Crème Brulee, which is as yummy as ever so all is not lost!
After dinner I get dropped off at Hardy's to stock up on toiletry items and then I head across the road to The Pantry for some organic tomatoes, avocado & ham to have at breakfast. I can't eat another scrambled egg or piece of oily bacon! I just want some fresh ham, tomato & avocado on toast.
Back at the hotel, the BP has crashed unshowered & fully dressed, so it's time to finish off the rest of my average bottle of Riesling & continue the hunt for the bird cage lights. An hour of Googling & finding numerous wholesalers, with a minimum order of 100 pieces & then suddenly a light bulb goes off over my head (pardon the pun). I recall seeing an ad in the Home & Décor section of the Bali Advertiser a few weeks ago for a shop specialising in Copper & Brass items. A scroll through the online version of the Advertiser & I've found the ad I remembered. I have to laugh, all this time spent Googling and the ad's picture shows the birdcage lights in 2 sizes! The shop is just down the road from where we'll be staying in Seminyak so I send them an email asking if they have them in stock & then I head for bed one happy camper!