The curtains to the rooms at the Semara keep the morning light out beautifully, and I sleep in past 7.00am today. Hubby & the BP are still sleeping so I quietly make a coffee & sit out on the balcony enjoying the peace & quiet.
We head up to The Deck for breakfast around 8.30 and sit at a table out the front, overlooking the road. I like the hustle & bustle and watching early morning walkers, the truckloads of workers and the construction going on at the new hotel across the road.
When we'd checked in we were advised that The Semara was no longer offering a buffet breakfast, instead we are given RP 100,000 credit per adult & RP 50,000 for a child to use on the new A la carte breakfast menu. We weren't too sure whether this was for the better or not, but the menu is interesting & gives the opportunity to try something different each day if you want to.
The kids menu is a bit limited (only 3 items - pancakes, toast with sausage & baked beans, or cornflakes & milk all for RP 50,000 or under & includes a fruit plate & juice).
The rest of the menu is quite extensive & offers more gourmet choices than your standard breakfast. Hubby opts for Eggs Benedict and I choose avocado & tomato on sourdough toast, sprinkled with feta cheese & EVOO with a roasted tomato with basil dressing.
The food looks good when it arrives but it takes me a minute or 2 to realise that something's missing. Where's the fetta cheese sprinkled on top? I ask the waitress & 5 mins later she arrives with an apology and a big lump of fetta along with a small dish of olive oil. Looks like it's DIY fetta sprinkling for me LOL. We spend about RP 50,000 over our RP 250,000 limit by the time I have a flat white, hubby orders a juice & a water. You can see why they've abandoned the buffet breakfast idea!
After breakfast hubby & the BP go back to the room to get ready for a swim & I decide to grab a taxi to see if I can find Pt Lumbung Ayu, the shop we couldn't find yesterday. We head up Jl Raya Kerobokan, drive along Sunset Rd a short distance & then I spot it. Not sure how we managed to miss it yesterday but find it on the first go today. The taxi driver waits out the front for me & I go inside and place an order for 2 copper birdcage lights, with fibreglass inner shades and 2 x 1m lengths of copper chain to hang them by. Not cheap at AU $300 for the 2 but they are good quality (better than the ones I'd found at Solaris the day before, due to the metal thickness being greater and less flexible). I am chatting to the manager & telling her that I found the shop through their ad in the Bali Advertiser (always helps to know if you're advertising dollar is bearing results) and she explains that they supply a lot of hotels, restaurants & interior designers in Bali. I say that I saw the lights I wanted at the front of a hotel in Sanur & she says that they supplied some to the Puri Santrian. Bingo! I've found the exact same ones I'd wanted from The Mezzanine restaurant & can't believe my luck.
I ask the driver to drop me off at Seminyak Square so I can take a leisurely stroll back to the hotel, looking in whatever shops take my fancy along the way. I'm trying on a dress when hubby texts to say that the BP has gone to the kids club, he has ordered her lunch to have up there & now he's at a loose end. I tell him to meet me at Petitinget for lunch in 10 mins as I'm only a short walk away.
We'd intended to try Petitinget on our last holiday but didn't make it there for one reason or another and I'm determined not to miss it this time. It is a lovely French colonial style restaurant with both an outdoor terrace area or you can sit behind the white iron & glass doors in airconditioned comfort. I arrive first & go to check out the ladies & to freshen up from my walk. The toilets are up to scratch and I'm a happy camper! I sit out on the terrace under a fan & while I wait for hubby I check out the specials blackboard.... Poached prawn salad with lemongrass & mint dressing, mixed seafood spaghetti with olive oil & basil, fresh baked bagel with sliced roast turkey, brie, cranberry sauce, Rucola & aioli and the dessert of the day - mango tart with strawberries & coconut icecream. Bugger lunch, I might just go for 2 serves of dessert!!
Hubby opts for the seafood spaghetti & I have the turkey bagel which are both delicious. We share the mango tart for dessert & it was every bit as good as it sounded. Seriously light and crumbly pastry with a mango custard filling and the coconut icecream is to die for. We had a couple of mocktails & a granita. All up the bill was about RP 350,000. Would love to go back for a dinner if we get the chance.
We walk back to the hotel, collect the BP from the kids club and go up to the room to relax for a bit as a light rain is falling. I have a 60 min Semara Signature massage booked for 2pm so I leave hubby & the BP to it and walk downstairs to the spa. The massage is great, the Semara spa every bit as good as I remembered and as this is a freebie, I leave a generous tip to the lovely Kadek. She is the same therapist I'd had twice in September and I would request her every time if possible. She's the true meaning of petite, but those tiny hands of hers are pure gold!
After relaxing for a while with my ginger & lemon tea, I go upstairs and take the BP for a walk. She's run out of Yakult and I need some milk for my morning coffee. After stopping in at the Mini Mart, we cross the road & check out a décor shop which has some interesting looking stuff. The BP buys herself a teddy bear made out of Batik fabric & I buy a copper & glass rectangular candle holder, with red glass tea light holders. Will look great out in the pool cabana with our copper light fittings.
They also have some fantastic cushion covers but I can't justify spending over $100 for 2 no matter which way I look at it!
Back to the hotel & we shower and change for dinner, grab a taxi to Jl Laksmana to book Nirvana for tomorrow night (hubby's birthday) and then across to Ultimo for dinner. Hubby orders mixed seafood spaghetti (yes again!) and I have the lobster linguine. The BP has a margherita pizza. Hubby is off the alcohol as he has a session at the Semara spa at 8pm so I drink his share - a champagne cocktail with triple sec & cranberry juice and then a couple of glasses of very good Chilean Sauvignon Blanc (excellent for the RP 85,000 price per glass). The food is good but I think as far as Italian goes, Massimo in Sanur is very hard to beat.
I have a quick peek in Animale after dinner (bought the most comfy pair of pants ever) and then we get a taxi back so hubby can have his massage. The BP and I lie in bed together & read a bedtime story before she falls asleep & I hit the balcony for a duty free nightcap.
Tomorrow we'll be driving to Denpasar for the last of our 'big ticket' shopping, some granite pavers for our front garden. The plan is to finish the shopping & then drop off the Invoices and balance of payments at Nusa Trans Cargo. Fingers crossed again that all goes according to plan!