Well, it has all come to an end. Today is my final day in beautiful Bali and already I am regretting not staying for longer & contemplating jumping online as soon as I get home to book another trip.
I wake up a little later tonight due to a broken street from noise on the street and some really bizarre dreams which I will attribute to the antibiotic/steroid/antihistamine combination & not the number of Bintangs consumed last night.
I meet C & company down at the breakfast buffet and immediately launch into what has pretty much become my standard breakfast of cereal & fruit followed by eggs (omelette again for reasons previously detailed). C however did decide to go out on a limb & order the poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce. They were again bought in from a mystery venue but nicely presented on tiny sweet muffins with lashings of bright yellow Hollandaise. Iridescent yellow actually - must be mighty good chickens over here or very interestingly coloured butter as I have never seen such a bright hue.......
After breakfast, C and Miss E and I decide to venture down to Legian to the Bintang supermarket to stock up on important supplies such as body wash, lotion, scrubs, Sensodyne toothpaste & batteries. All which cost a fraction of what we pay at home for exactly the same product.
After purchasing my stash I left the girls and walked down Jl Legian towards Seminyak, looking in a number of boutiques and homewares stores. Saw some beautiful clothes and bathers but as it is my last day, there is little point of purchasing new togs. Making my way down the street and ignoring the incessant toot of horns from taxis I turn right into Jl. Kunti and wander past Taco Beach Grill (unfortunately it is too early for it to be open as I may have been tempted to buy something just to get over last nights disappointing Mexican meal) and a number of other small warungs & restaurants which were all shut. I finally arrived at Chill Spa which I have read very good reviews about. I had actually tried for a number of days to get into Jari Menari but they did not have any vacancies each time I called. I decided to give Chill a go, even though I have never enjoyed reflexology based massage but I am open to new experiences.
I was met in reception by an extremely friendly lady who showed me a locker to place my jewellery & purchases from Bintang. I was then greeted by my masseur whose name I sadly did not make a note of but he was a lovely man. He washed my feet at a small area behind reception where water flows freely over these little rocks and he splashes water onto your feet to not only clean them but cool them down a little from the heat outside. I was then lead into the main massage room which is a large room with a central corridor and massage beds lining each side. There is not really any privacy except for a transparent curtain dividing each massage station. This is not a problem though because the type of massage done here does not require you to change into a gown, it is done fully clothed. I was shown to my massage chair and asked to lie face down. I was wondering at this stage how relaxing this was actually going to be as I could hear the traffic outside as well as noises in the room itself as there was not music. I need not have been concerned however as I was shortly passed earplugs which I placed in each ear and then lay down and drifted off to the most beautiful, relaxing music I have heard in a long time. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I bought the CD!
I had selected the "Holistic Chill" treatment which is a 90 minute deep, full body pressure point massage that focuses on 'stimulating & clearing energy pathways in the body'. The massage started with my lower legs and feet and was absolutely amazing. I will not lie and say it was not painful, it was, but in a 'good pain' kind of way. It hurt at the time but as soon as he moved onto another area, the muscles that had just been massaged felt fabulous. The most painful part of the entire massage was the soles of my feet - I almost jack-knifed from the bed when he started on this area. Subsequent research shows that this is the area linked to my gall bladder, liver, solar plexus, stomach, pancreas & kidneys. A week of daily alcohol intake not surprisingly made this area super sensitive! Might be time to embark on a detox I think...
After my legs he moved to my shoulders, back and arms before I flipped over and the process was repeated on the front of my body. I can totally understand why Chill Reflexology gets such great reviews - they staff are clearly well trained in their area, the set up is calm and relaxing and the entire experience truly did make me feel stimulated & cleared with renewed energy. Might be all in my head but by God, I felt like I could take on the world.
To celebrate my cleansed pathways, I hailed myself a taxi and took myself off to La Luccioloa for lunch. This was my third visit to La Luccioloa over the past few years, having done dinner and breakfast on two previous trips. Although arriving at 2pm, I still had to wait 20mins to get a seat - they ask you to sit on the grass out the front while you wait. This is not a bad thing as you can watch the swimmers down on the beach as well as a bit of people watching in the restaurant itself. The place was busy with Asian tourists and a number of groups that were either expats or families holidaying together. I was eventually given a seat, upstairs and right at the front. Rock star table! Result! The lunch menu was divided into brunch and lunch menu items. Brunch consisted of a sweet pastry dish; banana toast; scrambled eggs; bacon & egg soufflé or a savoury pastry with prosciutto. I didn't really fancy any of this so gave the lunch items the once over - grilled calamari; stuffed zucchini flowers with cheese & anchovies; risoni salad with baby octopus; ham, mushroom, spinach calzone; bruschetta; fritto misto with aioli; Balinese duck & mushroom pie; Baramundi or char grilled beef fillet. Sadly, none of these dishes really grabbed me either but I was here & I needed to eat. I chose the Frito Misto which included three pieces of trevally, three king prawns and three pieces of calamari. The batter was extremely light and crispy but could have done with a little more flavour - it was kind of like a really bland tempura batter. I also chose an Italian coleslaw to accompany the meal - it was nice but no better than I can make myself back home - literally a bit of cabbage with some dressing doused over the top. I also chose a glass of Venetian Pinot Grigio which was quite overpowering but perhaps that is just because I have been drinking beer for the past week. Looks like those reflex points on the soles of my feet are in for another pounding!
The service was slow - really slow. The winner for this restaurant is the open air dining experience and the location on the beach. I do feel that the food was perhaps not quite as good as I recall but they could have been having a bad day. I would like to visit again for dinner before I make a final opinion.
I walked back to the hotel and met up with C and Company at the rooftop pool. This is one of the best features of the Paasha hotel - the rooftop pool and bar that give you a 360 degree view of Seminyak, taking in the ocean, surrounding areas and sadly, a number of cranes heralding even more development. We all swam for a bit laughing at the fact that we are quietly confident we are the most unattractive people in the entire hotel. Almost every deck chair held a stunning lady in bikinis with fabulous tans and gravity defying body parts if you get my drift. Our chairs held three middle aged women whose best days could be said to be behind us but who cares - we are all healthy & happy!
After a swim I threw my clothes on and took off down to the Silverberry jewellery store on Jl. Oberoi. I have generally on past trips purchased my silver jewellery at Filthy Gorgeous in Garlic Lane but I had dropped by their Jl Legian store this morning on the way to Chill and did not see anything that really grabbed me. Silverberry on the other hand was catering to Katt friendly pieces on this day and I believe I may have parted with enough cash to keep them in business for the next few months. Bought a number of earrings, several pendants, chains etc. I love each piece and cannot wait to start wearing them.
Back at the hotel I treated myself to a couple of final Bintangs (oh, my poor feet....) while I packed, then unpacked, then re-packed wondering how it was possible to have bought so much when I was pretty sure I had hardly bought a thing. Finally, the bag was packed, the zip closed with moderate resistance and I was ready to leave.
We decided that our final meal would be back at The Junction. This time we demanded a table upstairs and were glad we did. There are only perhaps five tables upstairs and although there is no air-conditioning, there are holes in the walls which allow a pleasant breeze to filter through because you are above ground with no obstacles. It was really comfortable up there, so much better than the stifling heat of the air conditioned room downstairs! This visit, I selected the Scallops Tagliatelle and it was fabulous. Well cooked pasta in a tasty mornay type sauce with perhaps half a dozen well cooked scallops. I was a little worried they would be overcooked & chewy but they were clearly done separately to the sauce and then added. C chose her standard - the prawn Ravioli. Our other party members opted for the Grilled Rib Eye with French Fries & vegetables and calamari. All satisfied with our location and meal, we made our way back to the hotel, collected our bags and met Kadek downstairs in the foyer. We made good time to the airport and check in was fast and efficient when compared to the long lines that I encountered last November. We passed the next couple of hours and were boarded and departed right on time. Just after we take off, I noticed that the two seats in front of me were vacant so I quickly nabbed the aisle seat which happened to be a bulkhead so afforded me a little extra leg room. I quickly reclined my seat, covered myself with my scarf and drifted off to sleep for a couple of hours before being rudely awakened at around 5am for breakfast. Bleary eyed, we arrived into Melbourne at 7am to be met by 10 degree temperatures and rain. Welcome home!
Another great holiday in Bali is over. Highlights were definitely the people, as always, and the food. I especially enjoyed my day trip out of Ubud to discover parts I had not discovered as well as spending a week alone in Ubud to just get off the conveyer belt of life for a bit and really think about things. Until next time, thank you for reading and for your encouraging comments. I really appreciate it.
Katt