2012-06-28T00:33:00.002-07:00

Didn't really sleep well last night as I kept waking to see if roomie was home yet – probably something to do with being a Mum. She did however mention that she might stay the night with the Sydney girls at the Pullman. So when I was wide awake at 6am & the bed next to me lay untouched I guessed she must of stayed there.

I was really thankful I didn't head out after dinner last night & I felt 100%, as this afternoon I had planned a day trip to the Bukit Peninsular. Roomie & the 2 Sydney girls had planned to come with me. None of them had been to Bingin before, so we are going there first then onto Single Fin at Uluwatu to have sunset drinks and listen to some live reggae music. Have really been looking forward to this afternoon!

As it was too early for breakfast, I decided to go for a walk along the beachfront path. Hardly anyone was on the beach yet....

Early morning Legian Beach

I walked past the Ramada, Jayakarta, Kumula Pantai & the O-ce-n Outrigger. I was happy to find a few good restaurants mentioned on TA not far from our hotel. Seaside, Lanai & Zanzibar which I had tried a few years ago.

Legian Beach

When I came to Jl Double Six I noticed a big sign saying Happy Hour Cocktails 4-7pm. It was for Cocoon – this was on my do to list last year and I hoped to make it this time. I wandered in to take a peak and they were cleaning the pool. I tried asking the pool man if you needed to book a cabana but he spoke little english, guess it would be better to phone and ask. I kept walking as far as La Plancha – just wanted to see if it was a doable walk from the Puri Raja.

Cocoon

Lounges inside Cocoon

After that I headed back to the hotel for breakfast. I was the first one to arrive (this would become a habit as I'm an early riser at home too). I just ordered the fruit platter and would wait and see how long the others took to surface. About 30 mins later, the 3 girls who came to Jemme for lunch with me yesterday turned up. These were also the girls who had come home early with me last night. We didn't see any of the other girls until a fair bit later, I thought they'd all be nursing nasty hang overs, but they weren't too bad at all!

After breakfast I had my ritual pool time & then roomie showed up looking like something the cat had dragged in (just kidding). She had walked home from the Pullman in the hot sun still dressed in her clothes from the night before! Apparently they had gone back to the hotel after Mixwell and jumped in the pool. I asked if all 3 of them had slept in the king size bed and I laughed when she told me they'd dragged cushions upstairs from the sun lounges for her to sleep on!

I left her lazing by the pool and decided to tag along with the other 3 girls who were going shopping. First stop was to check on their suits & order some more outfits to be made from Alta Moda in Bali Galleria. We thought it would take a while so one of the girls and I thought we'd go for a walk. We walked up to an intersection & we could see a surf factory outlet across the road, but as the traffic was coming from 3 different directions we just couldn't manage to get across. So we walked a little way down a side street and jumped in a taxi. He laughed when we told him we only wanted to get across the intersection. The meter didn't even budge from 5000 but we gave him 10,000 for his troubles.

When we arrive at the factory outlet they are setting up, bringing stock out the front and we go to walk in. The security lady stops us and says they are not open for another 15 mins. Bugger... we have to get back to the girls pretty soon. So we stand watching them fluff around and think 'why can't we go in', the doors are open. The security lady has a good sense of humor and we keep asking can we go in yet, she keeps saying 5 minutes, 5 minutes... we are drumming our fingers on the wall and peering over trying to see the stock, we couldn't stop laughing as it seemed so absurd that they wouldn't let us in!

Waiting for the shop to open!

Finally we could go in, but we probably only had 10 mins before we were to meet the others. In that time I managed to find a Roxy beachcover type dress & singlet which were originally about the same price as home, but with 75% off ended up being only $6 & $8 each. Then I went upstairs & found a new DRESS! Nothing fantastic but it was only about $10 and fitted well. The brand was Bamboo Blonde and later on in the trip I noticed they had a shop in Kuta & Seminyak.

We raced back to find the others waiting for us and jumped in a taxi heading to Geneva Handicrafts. Couldn't believe how much stock was at this place. It took forever just to go through one level, then there was another, and another and yet more I still didn't get to see.

I bought the kids some musical instruments, some shell bowls & trinket boxes for gifts, silver elephant & buddah statues for myself. Everything was much cheaper than I could buy at any fixed price market stall or shop.

I finished before the others and sat outside but was starting to feel so hungry that I felt sick. One of the girls had also finished by now & she suggested I should get a can of coke for a little sugar hit, that did the trick!

Finally everyone had finished and we jumped in a taxi with all our bags & headed to the Delicious Onion for lunch. The girls hadn't been there before & I was keen to introduce them to their wonderful food.

The Delicious Onion

We decided to share a bunch of entrees – pork & cabbage rolls, pork gyoza, calamari, chicken & rice balls, sticky hoi sin pork, & sesame seared tuna. Each dish came with it's own sauce or condiment. Everything was outstanding with the exception of the rice balls which were a little bland. We all agreed that it was the best calamari we'd ever tasted! They also offered buy 2 cocktails, get the third free. When we paid the bill we were given 2 free vouchers for pineapple margaritas to be used on our next visit. (We did come again with the other girls for dinner one night – but silly me left the vouchers in the room!)

Pork & cabbage rolls & THE best calamari!

Sticky pork, chicken & rice balls, pork gyoza with condiments

Enjoying our lunch

After lunch we returned to the hotel & when I dropped my shopping in the room I found roomie in bed. She had been vomiting (she assured me it wasn't alcohol related....). So unfortunately now she wouldn't be fit for our afternoon trip to the Bukit. She said I could still go with the other 2 girls but instead I decided to reschedule for Wednesday so she would still be able to go.

Now that we weren't going on our afternoon trip I decided to see if I could get into Santai Spa for a treatment. This time I had the reflexology..... the room is dimly lit & the chairs are so comfy... it was magic.

Reflexology room at Santai Spa

After my treatment I was feeling a bit peckish & I knew I couldn't hold out until dinner, so I walked across the road from Santai to a restaurant (from memory it was called Pavone). I just ordered some calamari and a Bintang. It was a nice setting with lounges and a big screen TV playing sports. Unfortunately the calamari was no way near as good as the one from the Delicious Onion, but it did hit the spot.

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the pool with a few of the girls. Then I headed back to my room for a shower and got ready for dinner. Roomie still felt unwell, so she decided to stay in & order something light from room service.

Tonight 2 of the girls were leaving. We decided to try Seaside for dinner on the beachfront path not too far from our hotel. We sat upstairs to catch the cool breeze.

Very extensive menu here. Some of girls ordered Mexican dishes and they looked really good – esp the fajitas.

Dinner at Seaside

I ordered the satay chicken, it was really good. The portion was quite big and I had trouble finishing it. Might have something to do with my late afternoon snack!

Chicken satay

Pleased with my new red dress!

After dinner we said our goodbyes to 2 of the ladies, they had thoroughly enjoyed every minute of their trip.

One of the girls didn't feel like heading back to the hotel as yet as it was still quite early, so I stayed out with her and we decided to walk up to the SOS Supper Club to check it out. We headed out the front of Seaside and turned right walking up the beachfront path. Passing Cocoon, we stopped in for a quick look, but didn't stay - still wanted to check this place out on sunset to take advantage of their happy hour.

We passed Crystal Palace, La Plancha and all the bars with bean bags on the beach, all the while chatting as we were walking. So it didn't seem too long for us to get to SOS.

The SOS Supper Club is on the 4th level of the Anantara Hotel in Seminyak, right on the beachfront. Gado Gado Restaurant is opposite. If you are coming from Jl Legian, you turn into Jl Abimanyu (also known as Jl Dhyana Pura or Jl Camplung Tanduk) and head down to the beachfront.

Infinity pool on ground floor of Anantara

At least the tsunami would extinguish the fire!

This place would have spectacular views on sunset. We could see lights all the way down to the airport and the curve of Jimbaran Bay. Unfortunately I forgot to take any photos from the bar. We arrived around 9pm and the place was pretty deserted. We couldn't understand why as there was a really good covers band playing. We ordered a Bintang and sat back to listen to the band. The drinks were pretty expensive here and after one we really didn't feel like anymore anyway. So off we headed for our hotel.

I woke roomie up coming into the room and she was feeling a lot better. Hopefully she'll be back to normal tomorrow...

Day 4 .... A new dress