woke up in the middle of the night dripping in sweat. I was soaked, the sheet under me & doona had damp patches. If I was menopausal, you might think night sweats. I went through menopause in my mid 40s & never had night sweats. It's possible I wrapped myself in the doona like a papoose. Or maybe we lost power & had no aircon for awhile. It's a mystery. So in the meantime, I had to sleep on the right side of the bed, which felt quite odd. Even after 30 something years sleeping in a queen sized bed, I still sleep on the left. A creature of habit. Seems wrong sleeping on the right.
I got up at my usual time of 6:30am & went down to the gym for my workout. Someone had re-arranged some of the equipment so there was no room to stretch. One of the benches had been changed from flat to an upright seat & was smack bang in front of the mirrored wall. Some macho man must have needed to watch himself while he pumped iron. I had to put everything back the way it was to have some room. I worked solidly through my program, again with the gym all to myself. Beginning to claim the gym as my own.
Breakfast time! Whoop, whoop! Real bacon & chicken sausages on the menu today. Yay. I eat my fill along with scambled eggs made to order & some waffles with fruit. I took a pastry thinking it was one filled with chocolate. Blah! Cheese inside. Not eating that. How disappointing! For once my plate isn't practically licked clean when I leave the restaurant.
I shower back in my room & notice 3 bruises on my R) wrist. They look suspiciously like finger marks. A momento from yesterday's massage methinks. I am going down to Legian today to see about getting a leather coat made. After some research on the forum, Dolphin Leather gets a good rap & it's on Garlic Lane - a street familiar to me at last! I ask reception to call a taxi for me & one arrives fairly quickly. The traffic was truly atrocious. For some reason it was stop, start, drive a car length & stop again. Motorbikes were weaving in & out of the stationary cars & one took out the taxi's left side mirror. He didn't rip it off, but he knocked it right out of position. I could hear my driver muttering under his breath as he wound down the window, leaned over to reposition and adjust it. It took forever to get to Garlic Lane. So much for these new roads & extra traffic lights. The traffic is as bad, if not worse than it was 18 months ago. Along the way I happen to glance out the car window & saw Divine Diva shop & gave a mental poke out of the tongue to the large lady in Animale the other day.
I finally get dropped off at Garlic Lane. I don't know how it got its nickname. The street is actually called Jl Sahadewa. As I walk along it, I see a market stall with singlet tops out the front - one of which says "I f*cked Rhonda, Sorry Ketut". I burst out laughing. I have to get a photo, so took out my camera & made the mistake of stepping forward off the footpath. Photo taken but now at the mercy of a pushy vendor pushing other singlets under my nose to buy. I quickly back off & run. Oh, ok. Walk briskly then! I spot the restaurant Ours - haven't been there for years & as it's lunctime....in I go. The tablecloth has definately seen better days. I read through the menu & fancy having sate lilit - but chicken, not fish. They are minced fish or chicken mixed with spices & molded to flat bamboo sticks & grilled. I have a diet coke & open my iPad to continue reading my e-book. My meal takes ages but worked out to be well worth the wait. Yum. As I am eating, I am being dive bombed by a persistant bee which I continually have to wave away. The young male waiter tries a few times to catch it but it keeps coming back to annoy me. He says it must be because I'm sweet. Aw shucks! Ok, I'm old, compliments don't come my way very often so I'll take it! Damn bee, buzz off!
I wonder which way I need to go to find Dolphin Leather. I cross the road as there is no footpath on this side & spot the shop a couple of doors up from Ours. So I cross back to the other side & go in. I am greeted by a woman & tell her I'm after a leather jacket. Long or short? Short. She shows me some styles already made, none of which really grab me. Zip or bottoned? Zip. She pulls down a burgundy jacket from a display on the wall. I really like it. Simple, a bit fitted, some nice styling at the back. Soft leather, nice lining. Yes, this is the one. What colour? Black. How much will it cost? $170 AUD. How long will it take to make? 4 days. Excellent. With a tape measure, she measures me all over, fortunately calling out the numbers in Balinese, so my ignorance is bliss. I say I've got fat arms, as she measures them. Yes. Damn, I walked into that one! Fortunately I am the only customer at the moment. I leave a $50 deposit. Anything else? - a handbag maybe? No thanks. I already gave a great handbag & show her my oversize Colorado bag. Very nice. (Yes, it was love at first sight at Strandbags 25% off sale at home a couple of weeks ago. I am a self confessed handbag whore, especially with Colorado. Love, love, love their stuff.) Mission accomplished. I'm thrilled to have something made especially to fit me. There is a money changer next door, the rate is 10,950Rp to AUD. Good rate, so I change some cash over.
I head towards Jl Melasti to catch a taxi when I spot a spa across the road. PIPS. Its chockers with patrons in armchairs. I go in & ask how much a Balinese massage costs. 75,000Rp an hour. That's less than $7.50. I ask if they have the time now, as I can see a long line of dockets along the top of the counter. Yes madame. I take a seat & am given some water. I can see that the women on the armchairs are having pedicures. Popular place. A few minutes later a young woman comes to get me & we walk through the 'salon', then through a corridor into a large area divided up into about 20 cubicles, curtained off at the front. There is gentle music playing in the background. My masseuse instructs me to remove all cothing except underwear & to place them in the basket box on top of the table. I do so with expedience & she comes back in, gives me a sarong to cover my chest & calls me over to sit on the far side of the table. I see a bowl of sudsy water on the floor. I'm too short to submerge my feet in the water whilst perched on the edge. It's ok, she says & scoops water with her hands over my feet & uses a flannel to wash them. She dries them off with a towel & instructs me to lie face down on the table, face in the hole. She then covers my whole body with the sarong & begins pressure massage all over & at one stage she is up on the table herself, leaning her bodyweight on her hands as she does my back & shoulders. She then uncovers one leg, oils up & begins to massage my feet & leg. Oh God it's good. Like yesterday, my leg is lifted & bent forward at the knee. My knee protests. Its the only part of the massage I didn't enjoy. She recovered my leg, exposed the other & worked her way up my body descretely. When I rolled over onto my back I was completely covered by the sarong & feeling secure. She placed a flannel over my eyes to block out the light. She didn't ask to massage my stomach, thank God, but did massage my chest to start of my boobs but no further. She also did up & down my nose & across my forehead firmly a few times too. Then she asked me to please wait. I wondered for what? She returned a few minutes later. The sarong was folded away from my leg & she began washing me with a flannel & patting me dry with the sarong. A sponge bath! I was not expecting that! It felt good though. She announced when she had finished and left with the bowl. I got dressed & went to the front desk to pay. The place was still really busy as I exited to the street.
Out on the street I hail a taxi. The driver doesn't know the hotel, so I show him the hotel's business card. The traffic was still fairly intense but not as bad as driving down. Along Jl Kerobokan I instructed the driver to turn left, pretty sure this was the right street. A couple of minutes later I realise we are on eat street & I'm confident I can direct the driver back to the hotel. No problems, no mistakes made. Arrived back safe & sound. I'm learning.
I lie down for a bit before getting ready to go out to dinner again. A reader on the forum suggested I try the creme brulee if I go back to Ultimo, so that's exactly what I am going to do. For appearances sake I will eat a main before dessert. I ask reception to call me a taxi around 6:15pm. The receptionist reels off my room number before I have a chance. I'm getting predictable.
Taxi arrives quickly. Almost pinched by another couple until the staff intervened. Bloody cheek! Had the best run yet to Ultimo, no traffic jams for a change. No problems getting a table - this time I am out the back in the outdoor garden area. Fairy lights abound. I order a glass of Sav Blanc - I am getting predictable, & make short work of eating the contents of the breadbasket with its accompanied garlic butter. Mmm, delicious. For main, I order chicken & mushrooms pasta which I had a few days ago. Also delicious but could have been hotter, temperature wise. For dessert - milk chocolate creme brulee. Yes, outstanding. So creamy. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for the tip!
Again, no problems hailing a taxi from outside in the street. The driver went a different way, but it didn't cost more in the end, so all good. Up Mt Everest, as I have named the steps up to the foyer & along the breezeway to my room. I ring housekeeping & ask for a bed sheet, after last night's fiasco. No more doona for me. Tonight I watch another of my newly puchased DVDs - 'About Time' a sweet romantic comedy that I quite liked. Off to sleep dreaming of time travel under my newly acquired sheet.