Day 13
I woke up later than usual today, so was later going for breakfast. As I was eating my usual, a number of people walked past with pink balloons, one a 7, the other & 0. They were headed to the room facing the pool. Across the doorway & windows was a silver & pink banner which said Happy 70th Birthday. The hotel staff gathered with the recipient's friends & family singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl, who was sitting on the veranda now, still in her bathers from her morning swim. She growled at the singers, Great now everyone knows I'm 70!
After I'd eaten & headed back to my room, the birthday girl was on her own with her iPad as I said Happy Birthday on my way past.
I finished writing & posting my latest blog, did some internet browsing & bought a new iPad cover on eBay which will hopefully be waiting for me at home in a few days.
I started getting peckish as lunchtime came around. I had a fancy for pizza. I looked online to see pizza recommendations & The Village at Griya Santrian got lots of mentions. Sold! I called in there but it was deserted. I couldn't see any staff. I even went into the formal dining room & couldn't see anyone. They must be open, there were dirty dishes on a table for 6 waiting to be cleared away. No one responded to my hello, so I left. Stuff you then, I'll take my business elsewhere. How odd! According to Google Maps they should have been open.
I crossed the road & went to RiB which was close by. I was able to procure one of the front tables. I picked the watermelon, pineapple & mint juice combo to drink & the Cowboy Chicken Steak again. This one had even less creamy mushroom sauce than the previous one, damn it, but was still yummy.
Whilst I was sitting at the table finishing my juice, a curious toddler from a nearby table waddled off outside the restaurant & before he could step onto the road, a quick thinking waitress rushed past the startled still seated parents & scooped him up & away from danger. His Mum thanked the waitress & took her son's hand & walked him inside the restaurant to go & see the fishies. You can't afford to be distracted by your phones when you have a little one that can take off from his seat without notice. I was very judgemental of the young couple's parenting.
Back at the hotel I changed into my bathers & headed to the pool with Noodle & a towel. I popped my stuff on a sun lounger in the shade, kept my thongs on to protect my feet from the hot pavers & took them off at the water's edge. The metal hand rail was super hot but I needed it to navigate down the pool steps. The water was warm but after a few minutes of floating around, the warmth wasn't noticeable.
I chatted to a couple of guests & we swapped Bali stories, as you do. We were all Bali veterans. I floated around for ages. It was lovely. Every now & then I noticed the noise of a plane flying low overhead.
I showered after my swim & lazed around until it was time to change for dinner. I needed to go to an ATM as I was almost out of cash. The commonwealth ATM was within easy walking distance so I went there & got some cash, remembering to take my card out of the machine. I walked back the way I came & saw Forketta was very busy. I'd already decided that I was going to go to one of my favourites - Three Monkeys for dinner. For a couple of years they had the most divine chicken & young green papaya pizza on their menu. Alas, it is no longer there.
The waitress at Three Monkeys offered to seat me on the front decking on the garden furniture. No thanks. I don't want to eat from a low table. Inside wasn't full so she took me towards the back & left me with the food & drinks menus.
I felt like a strawberry margarita - frozen of course. I wasn't overly hungry so I chose 2 entrées.
Coconut prawns & bruschetta. The frozen margarita was piled high. I had to keep sipping for fear it would melt & overflow the glass.
The coconut prawns were nice, with sweet chilli sauce. They had some white fried noodles piled on the top - ?made of rice. They had no taste at all, so I didn't eat them.
The bruschetta I realised I'd eaten in the past. A piece of toasted sour dough with chopped tomato, halved cherry tomatoes & bigger tomatoes also in halves. Sprigs of basil, & drizzled with balsamic. Normally I don't like balsamic but this one was sweet & quite nice. There was also what looked like 1/2 icecream scoop of mozzarella on the top. I sawed at the toast - how blunt is this knife? So much so that my final cut through the crust sent a good portion of my tomatoes to shoot off the plate onto the table. I inspected the crust closer & cut it off completely. It was burnt. Not just burnt. Charcoal burnt. What the? I was annoyed that the chef thought that was OK to present to a paying customer. I left it prominently on top of the white fried noodles on the other plate. The rest of the bruschetta was nice. I didn't eat the mozzarella.
When the waitress came to take my plates, I pointed out the burnt crust & said I shouldn't have been served that. She apologised. I don't know if she showed the kitchen.
As I finished my quickly melting drink I watched the bar staff preparing cocktails with skill, flipping the measured spirits with a flick of the wrist & some flair. They'd obviously been doing their job for a long time.
My bill was pretty hefty for 2 entrées & one drink, in Bali prices. Rp336,000. I only left a small tip.
There was a lovely cool breeze blowing in from the ocean, making my walk back to the hotel very pleasant. I said goodnight to the security guard at the entrance & went to my room. The outside of the windows had condensation on them.
I spent the remainder of my night watching MasterChef on my iPad & TikTok.
Spot was quite chatty tonight, making his presence known without actually revealing where he was. I had successfully diverted myself from the knowledge that tomorrow would be my last day in Bali.
Ciao for now,
Bagusbabe.