We have another lateish start to the day & head down for breakfast just before 9.00. We order our food & wait and wait and then we wait some more. When it finally arrives, my dish is missing something (this is pretty much par for the course at The Deck). I'd ordered the breakfast ciabatta with avocado, bacon & BBQ aioli sauce. No sauce and I'd describe the dish as 'deconstructed' when I'd imagined it being served as a sandwich. Looks like it's DIY time again!
After breakfast the BP wants to go to the kids club & I change my original plan of walking up to Jl Raya Seminyak for a wander amongst the shops as it is clear blue skies and the sun is blazing hot. I decide to catch a taxi to Discovery & shop in airconditioned comfort instead.
What a rookie mistake that turned out to be and I have 2 words for you... NEVER AGAIN! It took about 45 mins to get there through the traffic snarls and when I arrive the place is heaving, with mostly local tourists.
I have a wander through Marks & Spencer but when I go to try some stuff on there's a queue for the 3 change rooms, about 6 people deep. I abandon that idea then have a wander through Sogo but I'm lacking enthusiasm by now.
I decide to head up to the top floor for a look at the homewares & discover a Bali Zen shop up there. Things are looking up, Bali Zen is one place I'd planned to go on my walk through Seminyak. I buy my sister a gorgeous table runner with coordinating placemats, similar to one I'd bought in September that she'd admired. Also picked up 6 cushion covers for our new outdoor lounge and a couple of sets of coasters. They have beautiful stuff, it's an eco-friendly & fair trade company so I feel good about supporting them (Oxfam sells some of their items if anyone's interested). The queue for the cashier is long & I have to wait about 15 mins in line to pay & collect my shopping. Ugggh!
I also see some of the birdcage lamps from Solaris on my way out and feel better - hubby had thought paying AU $300 for 2 was a bit expensive, but their selling for RP 3,500,00 each in Discovery. Can't wait to tell him how much money I've saved us LOL.
Hubby messages me to say that he's heading off for his 90min massage at the spa so I decide I'd better get back & pick up the BP from the kids club.
I jump in a taxi & we head off, going nowhere fast as it turns out. There are major traffic jams on every street we turn down, even the lesser-known back roads. An hour and a half later & I'm still sitting in the taxi stuck in traffic. Eventually I ask the driver to give me directions back to Jl Raya Legian & I get out and start walking. By now I'm busting for the toilet & dying for a drink so after a 15 min walk I hit Blue Skyz for a toilet stop, skull a bottle of water followed by an icy cold Bintang and start walking again. And walking and walking and walking. There is not a single taxi heading north along the road and by the time I hit Bintang Supermarket I think I'm going to end up as a puddle of sweat on the footpath! Still no taxis so I keep going. And going and going and going. I'm just about at Jl Laksmana when one finally beeps his horn at me. I jumped in the passenger seat & was so grateful I was about ready to kiss the driver. By now it's nearly 6.00pm and I'd left Discovery at 2.30.
We'd decided earlier that we'd be going to Mano's for dinner tonight so I text hubby & tell him I'll just meet them there. If I go back to our airconditioned hotel room I may never leave it again LOL.
Shortly after I arrive, hubby walks in with the BP and the family we'd had dinner with last night. I'm tempted to order every item on the menu (hadn't eaten since breakfast) but we settle on grilled Seafood combo for me, Bebek Betutu for hubby, and fish & chips for the BP. We also have some Vietnamese spring rolls to start. The service is slow & a bit haphazard here but the food makes up for it & it's so cheap you don't feel too put out.
After dinner we walk back to the hotel (I asked hubby if he'd piggyback me but he wouldn't be in it damn him!) and I have a sneaky after-hours night swim before hitting the balcony with a well-deserved glass or 3 of vino.
It was really a bit of a day from hell as far as I'm concerned but hubby and the BP have enjoyed themselves at least. Tomorrow I am not setting foot outside the hotel until Jaya arrives at 5pm to take us to W & M's villa for a barbie :-)