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I woke up at an early hour, as is my norm when I'm in Bali. Lots of birdsong to greet my rising, as I am up in the treetops. I got up to draw the curtains & was met with a pair of green eyes staring at me through the lattice-work bricks of my balcony. A cat is on the roof thatching watching my every move. I grab my iPhone & take a snap. As I open the sliding glass door, the cat disappears. I looked over the top of the balcony for it, but it was gone. Then I spot a big dragonfly resting on the tiling. It's a biggie, with gorgeous golden amber wings tapering off to transparency at the tips. Nature in her glory. I love dragonflies. Feeling lucky.
I test the rainhead shower. You could hold a party in here, it's such a big space. I wash my hair & decide to test how curly it will be in the humidity. Not as curly or frizzy - relaxed soft curls. My bruises are still evident, so I try some concealer but elect to wear my contacts today.
Off to the hotel restaurant for my breakfast, conveniently quite close to the foyer & my room. I carefully descend the stairs. Fortunately there is an ornate timber balustrade running down the left wall so I have something to cling to. There is a gardener squatting in the garden cutting the grass by hand with a pair of shears. Another is sweeping up the dried leaves & fallen frangipani from the cobbled pathway. They both say good morning with big smiles as I walk past. Selamat pagi, I respond, pleased that I remembered the Indonesian word for morning & didn't say evening by mistake.
At the base of the steps to the restaurant is a pond & water feature with 4 resident red-eared slider turtles. The smaller ones have grown in the past year. And just as greedy - making haste to the edge of the pond ever hopeful I've brought them some scraps. Sorry, not this time lads. I figure they're boys.
I take a small table along the left side of the restaurant. A waiter brings me a menu. I know the bread in Bali is very sweet so I opt for croissants instead. I know they are not compliant with the way I eat, but I'm on holidays I tell myself. Besides, there is a lot of butter in them, plus I intend to butter them. Butter the butter. That's gotta be good, right? I also ordered pineapple juice & scrambled eggs with bacon. A few minutes later the waiter returns to advise that only a continental breakfast is included in my tariff - do I still want the eggs? Yes please, I'm happy to pay an extra couple of dollars. My pineapple juice is freshly juiced with ice, & probably only 100mls all told. It's fruit, so a lot of sugar. I adore fresh pineapple juice. Feeling a tad guilty now. My croissants arrive warm & smell superb. I ignore the jam & marmalade & dive onto the butter. French butter. Bonjour, mon ami. Bon apetit. I butter the croissants & save one butter for my tea. Yes, I drink tea with butter. Get over your disgust now. It's a great way to eat some extra saturated fats. My scrambled eggs arrive with one piece of super crispy streaky bacon. Just how I like it. I wait until no one is looking before putting the butter into my cup of tea. The tea tastes different to what I'm used to & the butter is unsalted. Perhaps a homage to the seniors with high blood pressure?
Back to my nemesis - the stairs. Up I go, one step at a time. I change into my bathers & sarong, throw my hair up into a bun & spray myself with SPF 50 & Bushman's tropical strength insect repellant. I grab my bag, pool noodle & towel & make my way to the pool.
There are only two other people poolside, but plenty of towels placed on sun loungers to reserve them. My favourite spot to write is under the purple bougainvillea laden tree but both sun loungers there have been taken, so I have to sit on the other side of the pool. This side of the pool is in shade.
I start writing my blog on my iPad & a lady stops by & asks me If I do a lot of writing. Yes. I know who you are, she says - I've been sprung by a fellow Bali Travel Forumite. She has read my past blogs & knew I was describing this hotel. I had to admit I am Bagusbabe. She asked me if I'd heard about the Dengue Fever here? No. Apparently several guests had contracted it recently, one needed hospitalisation. It has been raining more this season, so mosquitoes are rife at the moment. The hotel is spraying the grounds more frequently, I'm told. We discuss some local restaurants (because I'm all about the food!) before she leaves for her facial.
Well, I've been outed. I hope I haven't said anything derogatory in the past about any of the guests! As I continue writing, the sun loungers slowly fill up with real people & several different languages enter the mix. British, German & possibly Dutch. And Aussie! I recognise several seniors I met last year on the opposite side of the pool. One of the staff brings a pile of folded towels to the bar. I snaffle one for myself before they all disappear. I'm getting hot, so I'm going to have a swim. I need to use the rail & the shallower steps on the opposite side of the pool, so I make my way there with sunnies on & bright pink pool noodle in tow. I nod to the lady in MY old sun lounge. The water is lovely. I float around on my noodle for ages. Note to self - buy a hat.
Back on my lounger drip drying, I'm finding the wifi drops in & out so use my iPhone to access Facebook & my emails. The sun has made its way across the pool & the guy on the next lounger makes an unsuccessful attempt to raise the sun umbrella lodged in the concrete table between us. He & his girlfriend leave shortly afterwards (hooray - he was a smoker) & I decide to try & raise it myself. A girl came over to help but we couldn't get the screw to stabilise. Our struggle was observed by a staff member who came to my assistance & he tweaked my idea a little until the umbrella was up & holding. I change loungers to take advantage of the better shade. I have to keep changing positions - my back is sore from sleeping on a real mattress. I've slept on a waterbed for over 20 years & any other bed does not cut it for comfort. As I was sitting sideways on the lounger, a cheeky little red ant decided to have a taste of one of my toes. Ouch! He's obviously oblivious to my Bushman's, or it washed off during my swim. I hope he doesn't tell his mosquito friends I'm tasty!
I was getting hungry. It's 12.45 & time for lunch. Back in my room I change ready for my trek into the main drag of Sanur. My thongs are giving me a blister on my right foot so I have to wear my Fluoro-Thank-God-I'm-Wearing-Sunglasses-Pink Skechers with my dress. Call the fashion police! I clash.
I walk up the little street to the main one & come across a restaurant mentioned this morning so I'll give it a whirl. It's called Warung Bali Bagus. I take a table near an overhead fan & a waitress brings me a menu. She also brings me a dish of what looks like chips, except they are hollow & look a little like rice crackers in texture. I'm not fond of rice crackers, but give one a try with a swipe in a small dish of sauce. Yum! They're so good & the sauce is spicy. I polish off quite a few as I peruse the menu. I asked the waitress what the snacks were made of - potato. Damn.
I have long been on a quest to find the best Nasi Goreng, so that's what I choose. It was very prettily plated. A small divided dish had a sweet sticky soy & chill sauce in one, tiny cubes of pickled carrot & cucumber in another & a satay sauce in the end. A tall banana leaf box held the rice with 2 satay drenched chicken skewers leaning against it. A sunny side up fried egg & prawn crackers completed the dish. It was very tasty, but not spicy enough for me. The satay skewers were heavenly.
Dare I have a dessert? No. Best not. I use the loo before leaving - very clean.
I cross the road after a bemo driver gives way to me & essentially stops the traffic on that side of the road. A couple of motorbikes coming in the opposite direction slalom around me. I hail a cab & ask to be dropped off outside Hardy's supermarket. I exchange some Aussie for Rupiah in the money changer I like to use, successfully cross the road again without incident & walk through the carpark into Hardy's. They are doing renovations, so it doesn't appear as wide. I'm happy to see the DVD shop is still there. It's still buy 10, get 3 free. I took my selection up to the counter & the girl there told me 4 of the 13 I'd chosen were not good quality yet, so she sent me off to choose 4 replacements. This is why they get my repeat business. I wonder who they sell the poor quality ones to?
I then weave through the rows of market-type clothing & take the escalator upstairs to the variety goods. They sell a few baseball caps, but the rest of their hats are hideous. Pass. I troll up & down the shoes aisles - the biggest size seems to be 39. I need a 40-41 (Bigfoot has nothing on me - short of stature, big of foot for no earthly reason).
I'll have to look at men's. I find some men's thongs that are red & grey, the upper sole has those massage bumps on them. They feel comfy when I tried them on. I have to wait for a voucher to be written & then take it right up the front to the cashier. Btw: the thongs I refer to are footwear, not underwear.
An escalator down brings me to the supermarket entrance. I grab a basket on wheels & buy Mr P nuts (delicious) to take home for the family as is my tradition. Winning - they are on special. I also buy some cans of Coke Zero, bottles of water, limes & 2 slabs of French butter - salted. I don't recall seeing any knives in my kitchenette, so I buy a small vegetable knife, for which I needed a docket written & made my way to the checkout. The checkout was right next to a little bakery & I could see a display case of tasty wickedness beckoning to me. Look at me, I'm delicious.... I succumbed a little, purchasing a bag of 5 small soft dinner rolls which I fancy will be yummy with my new butter. Naughty, but the lesser of two evils compared to sugar laden cakes. Justifying much? Hmmmm.
I walk back out to the road, heavily laden with my purchases & hail a passing taxi. He wants me to bargain for the fare. No, put the meter on. He persists, I threaten to walk, he caves & turns on the meter. I told him off for trying to rip me off. He apologises sheepishly & in the next breath asks me if I need a driver tomorrow! Yeah sure, I'd love to reward your bad behaviour! Not! These drivers are the reason so many tourists will only go with BlueBird Taxis. I like to give everyone equal opportunity, but my goodwill is challenged at times!
The stair climb to my room is Everest with my groceries. I'm knackered. I drop my grocery bags on the bench in the kitchenette & startle a lounging gecko who scuttles under the microwave. After my heart rate slows down, I unpack & load up the fridge then collapse on the bed. I watch a few shows on my iPad as I unwind to near unconsciousness & then perk up as I research where I'll eat dinner. I think I'll go to the Art Cafè - an old favourite of mine. In between time, I ate each of those baby rolls with a huge slab of butter in each. Guilty pleasure.
Before it grows dark, I get ready for dinner. I wear my new thongs around the apartment - these are not comfortable in the least. Damn. I'll have to wear my Fluoro-Thank-God-I'm-Wearing-Sunglasses-Pink Skechers again, minus the sunglasses. Bugger. Down my nemesis, and off the premises to the main drag.
Because it's only 6pm, I know I shouldn't have trouble getting a table at Art Cafè. And I didn't. I ordered their citrus & ginger spritzer which came with a small jug of sugar syrup. I didn't need it, it was perfect as it was. Yum. I ordered & ate their chicken kiev, which was served on mashed potato & baby snake beans. It was yummy. I resisted temptation & left before I could talk myself into having their molten chocolate lava cake. The walk back to my hotel was fine in the dark - pretty well lit most of the way.
Up Everest & a quick change into night gear. Yes, not even 7:30pm & I'm bed ready. 'Tis such an exciting life I lead! I watch my new favourite TV program - Code Black on my iPad for a few hours - there are fireworks going off nearby so no point having an early night. Then tiredness gets the better of me. I vaguely remember that I should remove my contacts but .....zzzzzzzzz. Oops.