Crap. Would love to sleep solidly for the whole night but not be. Had alot of trouble getting to sleep. My dodgiest knee - the left one, was giving me grief. I couldn't get comfortable. In desperation, I used my airplane pillow - one of those U-shaped neck pullows filled with micro beads, around my knee for some added padding. It did the trick, I drifted off for a couple of hours, woke, slept, woke, slept & woke to my alarm, groaning. I make the decision not to go to the gym this morning, to rest my knee. Of course I can't fall asleep again, so I start watching one of my new DVDs - '12 Years a Slave'. I stop it after an hour or so - it's depressing & injustice is one of my bugbears so it was getting hard to watch. Time for a shower & you guessed it - breakfast! I don't think I mentioned the smell of hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg gas) when I first turn on the shower every day. It lasts for 15-20secs then disappears. I admit to doing some research to ensure I wasn't bathing in water contaminated by sewerage. It can happen when using well water or natural gas, I read. I was somewhat reassured. So far it is the only fault I've found staying at this hotel & it's no biggie.
Yuk, weird beef bacon & pork sausages on offer today. My plate looks meagre when I accept my freshly made scrambled eggs with little to accompany them. I'll make do. Waffles & fruit & a couple of mini danish make up the short fall. One of the waitresses comes over to remind me it's a Balinese buffet tonight & gives me a 15% discount voucher. Yes, I'll be there & I book a table on my way out.
Today is going to be a day of R&R. I look out my room window & can clearly see that the pool loungers have already been claimed. There are only a dozen or so of them. The beanbags on the hotel website have not made an appearance, largely because the lawn has been cordened off - new grass I suspect. So I settle back into my pillow armchair & watch the remainder of my DVD. It was a good movie, but not very uplifting. I remembered that I'm running out of clean nickers & I also need to wash my long yoga pants to wear home on the plane. So I do a bit of handwashing, roll my garments up in a bathtowel & stand on them to get all the moisture out. There is a cord to hang stuff on over the bath, but it took ages for my bathers to dry, so I ended up laying them across the wicker chairs on the balcony. I didn't fancy my nickers blowing next door, so I unearthed my travel clothesline with its 4 pegs & hooked it around the arm rest of each wicker chair, pulled them apart & hung my freshly laundered clothes out to dry. Half my balcony is glass, the other concrete, so it's not easily seen from elsewhere unless you were specifically looking. The hotel is 4 stories high & stands in a U shape, with the pool, lawn & outdoor bar in the centre. There is a bar on the roof which affords good sunset views of the beach but it is closed for renovations at the moment. I really like this hotel & would definately stay here again.
It's lunchtime. I contemplate getting room service but there isn't much I fancy on the menu. As I've had such a lazy day so far, I think I'll walk to Thai Corner again for lunch. Swap thongs for my new Go Walk shoes & make my way up the road in the sunshine. I need to keep an ear open for cars as I walk, as the road is narrow & not quite wide enough for 2 cars to pass at the same time in places. It's breezy & my new tiered dress is doing a Marilyn Munro along the way. A runner passes me, going in the opposite direction, water bottle in hand. You idiot, running in this heat! It reminded me of the Bikram Yoga studio I saw yesterday on the way to Legian. Just doing yoga outside would pass for Bikram here, surely? Would a heated room really be required? I wonder if they do much business? In one of the overgrown paddocks are some docile cattle with cow bells around their necks & a long chain so they can walk around semi-freely. At the feet of one of the cows are a couple of white stork-like birds - I think they might be herons. Possibly they are catching insects that hang around the cows. A motorbike passes with a box on the back full of cut fruit. He honks his horn every few metres - he sounds like Harpo Marx on a bike. I wonder do children run out to the street in eager anticipation as kids at home do for the gelati man or Mr Whippy?
Ah, the smiling waitress is working today. I order what is becoming a firm favorite - chicken & cashews with chilli jam & mixed bell peppers. Mmm, so good. I walk up to the Circle K to buy a few cans of diet coke & some nuts. I waver about going for another massage, not at the salon across the road again, but one on this side. Nah, I can't be bothered. There's a couple of dogs near the store growling at each other, hackles raised. One backs off - I see it is a male. The other is a female with a loose belly & swinging teats. Was he being mean to you? I crooned at her. She wagged her tail & waddled over. No I'm not patting you, you don't look very clean, my girl. Wag, wag. I begin walking & she's following me. I turn & tell her firmly she can't come with me. She stops walking, tail still wagging. I start walking again, obviously she understood me because she has turned around & is walking away. I sigh. I miss my dogs. I hope they are being good boys for my Mum.
Back at the hotel I scale Mt Everest to the foyer, & make my way back to my room. So lazy today. And hot! Collapse on the bed & start reading as I wait to cool down. I bought a bag of Mr P peanuts & idly consume them with a background feeling of guilt for breaking my snacking rule. I watch a DVD, do some writing, contemplate having a swim but there are no free loungers so I veto that idea. My afternoon disappears leisurely & I get ready for dinner.
There are not as many people in the restaurant as last time. I'm shown to ny reserved table & order a glass of sav blanc. Up to the buffet, the food is the same as last time. I start off with chicken & ? ginger soup. Then I have sate lilit, chicken, vegies, shredded chicken & few other choice morsels. I didn't go back for more, I'm not as hungry as usual. As I'm eating, I notice a stand of Bali Moon cocktails on the table. Cosmic Colada! I break my second rule today - that of only one alcoholic drink per day & order one. Just as divine as I remember. As I am eating, two female Balinese dancers come out to give a performance. I'm pretty danced out, having seen more than my share over the past 20 something years. Dessert consists of pancakes filled with palm sugar, sesame seeded balls with sweet potato centres & fried banana. When I asked for my bill to sign it was lucky I checked it - it was for a la carte items that weren't mine. Waitress very apologetic & rectifies the mistake.
On the walk back to my room I notice there are alot of crickets about. I had one in my washbasin the other morning. They are obviously immune to the spray they use to keep the mosquitoes at bay. I'm not keen on creepy crawlies, especially when they can jump! I tap my room card to the sensor on the door & open up my room. My usual night routine ensues - watch a DVD, write, read FB, read my book & go to bed. I might actually do something tomorrow. Being an elephant mahout for the day looks cool. Eek, the price is not! I am much more comfortable sleeping under a sheet than a doona. I can still hear the trio band singing in the restaurant over the noise of my aircon fan on full blast. But not for long, I'm out for the count.