Day 3 – What’s on the cards?

Weather: 25 degrees | thunderstorms | 95% humidity
Exchange: 9,690 Rupiah = $1AUD (hotel) | 9,850 Rupiah = $1AUD (street)

We wake to rain for the first time.  The sound is lovely, but I begin to wonder how long it will hang around for.  I check my phone to find a message from Miss 7, which was sent 7:30am Adelaide time and realise I stirred about 5am – not sure if it was because I heard the message or my body clock hasn’t adjusted yet (probably a bit of both).

A wonderfully warm shower, Travelan tablet washed down with morning coffee and we’re ready to head to breakfast about 9am.  Hubby is over his dodgy belly, so goes in search of bacon but as I mentioned previously, is nowhere to be found.  As a waiter approaches, I joke “no bacon?” – He tells me no problem, just need to order... bacon butt coming up!  I locate an interesting dish that I have never tried before “Jackfruit curry”, so pop a bit on my plate.  Not bad – a great alternative for vegetarians – the texture could easily be mistaken for shredded chicken.  Another waiter circles the room with a tray full of mixed fruit smoothies as a treat for guests.  Before we leave we are approached by another staff member asking what we thought about the smoothies, as they like to offer something new each day, so I compliment them on their effort.  The staff here are delightful and I assume due to the recent name change (they dropped the “Quest”) perhaps they are under new management – no complaints here!

We are soon to head to Seminyak for a bit of shopping and what I hope to be an amazing experience enjoying Asian High tea and Tarot Card reading at Biku Bali.

The hotel phones for a taxi and we manage to find “B Design” (Jo’s Shop) near Kerobokan Prison.  We ask the driver to wait and while hubby rushes me around the shop, I still manage to pick up a number of gorgeous items for a grand total of 370,000 Rupiah.  I confirm with the shop assistant where their other shop is in Legian and inform hubby I will return there by myself another day.

We jump back in the taxi about 20 minutes later and head straight to Biku Bali, costing us a total of 70,000 Rupiah – not bad considering the crazy traffic from Kuta to Seminyak and the waiting time.  Unfortunately, we are 1 hour early for our Biku reservation and the place is packed (as most reports would indicate is normal).  We decide to stroll down the street, pop into a deli to grab some water and when we come out it starts to rain – quite steadily.  We walk fast back towards Biku, take shelter a few doors down and watch the pouring rain for about 20 minutes.  At 12:55pm we quickly walk back to Biku and I’m saturated, but the wonderful staff usher us straight in and to our seats, before immediately escorting me over to Christine, my Tarot Card Reader.

Approximately 15 minutes later, after receiving an informative and enjoyable Tarot Card reading – a lot that made sense and gave me some insight to what might be in store for me in future – I return to hubby, who is looking rather bored.  We are attended to right away and Asian High Tea is delivered to us in moments... absolutely delicious!  This includes: Coffee or Tea, Samosa with chutney, Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Ayam sisit with Sambal Matah tart, Curried egg sandwich, Date scones with mango jam, Moroccan Orange Cake with rose tea syrup, Pineapple and Mint Agar –agar, Kue mocha, Salak poached in cinnamon and star anise (Total 170,000 Rupiah for 2 people) – I order Cold ‘Wedang Jahe’ Ginger (Sweet Javanese ginger served with fresh wild ginger blossom and a cinnamon stick) and hubby has a Long Black with Arvo Tea; we order a further Long Black and Biku Blend over ice (served with mint, star fruit, and fresh wild ginger flower) and the Grand Total is 239,000 Rupiah.  I search through the Book Section and find a bargain book “Dancing out of Bali” (John Coast) for 70,000 Rupiah.

We quickly get in a taxi right outside Biku Bali and end up having the most enjoyable ride back to the hotel.  We have a very colourful conversation about education, politics, knowledge, watching TV, his wife’s fertility problems and nearly wet ourselves laughing every time he uses common Aussie expletives like FN BS.  When I can change the subject, I explain to the driver I have been searching for a book but cannot find anywhere, so he detours to PeriPlus Books for us before dropping us at our hotel - still no luck finding "A Little Bit of One O'clock".

We spend the next hour on Skype with Miss 7, Nanny and Grandpa and all is well at home.  As the rain has finally subsided, we decide to go for a leisurely walk from our hotel to Bali Brasco and possibly Biarittz.  The time is approximately 5:30pm and after a fair distance to Bali Brasco (which did not impress me much), we ask for directions to Biarittz.  Down Jl Sunset... walking, walking, walking... not sure if we are going in the right direction... pass another tourist who pulls out a map and has even less idea about where we are then we do... car lights are beginning to be turned on... I’m certain we are on the wrong road.  Eventually we come across a group of shops and there it is!  But... the pearly gates are closed.

So... we decide to keep walking – down Jl Kunti, left up Jl Raya Seminyak which turns into Jl Legian, in search of somewhere to eat dinner.  By now it’s 7pm and what do you know, we are right in front of our Painter friend Julio.  We decide to pop in and see if we can find a picture we would like painted for us – something that represents Bali.  After a few minutes searching the net, we come across exactly what I have been visualising in my head – can’t wait to see the finished product, 70x90 for 400,000 Rupiah.

We keep walking up Jl Legian – it’s eerily quiet – until we finally come across a restaurant we remember eating at last year that was fairly decent, and does not charge any tax, The Sidoi.  We order Nasi Goreng Seafood, Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi with sautéed veggies and fries, 2 icy cold Bintangs and 2 icy cold Smirnoff Ices (total = 208,000 Rupiah).

Across the road, into a taxi, a quick visit to Circle K outside the laneway to our hotel and we are absolutely done!  After walking approximately 10km's if not more, it’s time for a shower and straight to bed for me; need to save my energy for Biarittz shopping tomorrow!