{"id":1638,"date":"2011-07-21T10:43:54","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T02:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1638"},"modified":"2017-08-17T21:33:12","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T13:33:12","slug":"bali-pg-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1638","title":{"rendered":"Bali Pg 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wed 13th<\/sup> continued.<\/p>\n

Now, where was I?\u00a0 Ah yes, we\u2019d just had our elephant safari and taken pictures so were now ready to find Moh (hoping he was still around!!!) to drive us home again.\u00a0 We needn\u2019t have worried; well, we didn\u2019t!; there was his smiling face exactly where we\u2019d left him even though he\u2019d moved his car.<\/p>\n

As we drove towards home we were telling him that we weren\u2019t comfortable bargaining to buy things and he offered to take us to a shop with set prices.\u00a0 Oh yes please!!!\u00a0 And I also mentioned the amazing horse statue that had taken my fancy as we zoomed past it the previous day with no chance to take photos, asking if we would be passing it.\u00a0 Moh assured me that we could easily go to the statue and stop so that I could take all the photos my heart desired and he was as good as his word.<\/p>\n

\"Krishna

Krishna Statue (Front)<\/p><\/div>\n

Isn\u2019t it fantastic?\u00a0 And completely clean and wonderful to be enjoyed by all.\u00a0 No graffiti or damage as it would have here in Australia.<\/p>\n

\"Krishna

Krishna Statue<\/p><\/div>\n

The statue was in the middle of a road island near a set of traffic lights and these lights amazed us too because there was a numerical countdown for when the lights were going to change colour.\u00a0 Here you are \u2013 green for another 15 seconds<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Green Light<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

And red for another 58 but to be honest, who the heck cares because not only did the cars in the middle of the intersection get there after it turned red, the half-car you can see on the right is heading that way too.\u00a0 But nobody beeps, nobody gets angry, the green light people just start moving and they wend their way peacefully through each other like some choreographed Maypole Dance!<\/p>\n

\"Red

Red Light<\/p><\/div>\n

While I\u2019m on the topic of roadside statues, here\u2019s another.\u00a0 They really were the most ornate and intricate creations and very beautiful.<\/p>\n

\"Another

Another Statue<\/p><\/div>\n

We saw Moh pay a man and presume it to be for having parked for the 5 minutes or so while we took our photos and then we drove a very short distance to the \u2018fixed price shop\u2019.\u00a0 The shop was called Krishna\u2019s and the horse statue had been dedicated to the god Krishna.\u00a0 Whether those 2 facts were related I do not know.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t quite know what to do with ourselves in the shop because the first section was full of boxed foods, all unknown to us, and the second was full of wooden things and we certainly cannot bring wood home past customs into Perth.\u00a0 But at the back we found a massive section with clothing and slowly got into the swing of things though the prices looked horrific!\u00a0 R4,900.00 for a small child\u2019s garment and, no matter how much we convinced ourselves that this was very roughly AU$4.90 it was very hard to believe.\u00a0 In the end though we picked up a few gifts for our grandchildren and 2 dresses for me.\u00a0 The rest of the shop was mostly full of wood or cane items that we could not bring home, as I\u2019ve said.<\/p>\n

As we left this parking area, Moh gave some money to another man who strode out into the traffic waving 2 batons and stopped the traffic so we could turn right.\u00a0 Whether the money had been a parking fee or a fee for help to rejoin traffic I do not know.\u00a0 Either way, David and I looked at each other and said \u201cWe\u2019ll fix that!\u201d\u00a0 After all, Moh had been paid by Club Med to take us straight to and from the elephants \u2013 not joy-riding afterwards \u2013 so we were not going to leave him out of pocket.<\/p>\n

We travelled home uneventfully but still in awe of the traffic.\u00a0 I never ceased to be amazed by it, and David horrified by it.\u00a0 We left Moh with a decent tip to cover his additional expenses as he pressed a piece of paper with his mobile number on it into our hands.\u00a0 I have to say he was a lovely man who could not have been more obliging if he tried so may as well share his number here in case anyone is going to Bali so that you can use him\u00a0 081 236 463 269<\/p>\n

We were relieved to be safely back and were very ready for our dinner!!!\u00a0 Each night the restaurant had a suggested dress idea but we\u2019d been out all day and had no clue what it was so we just rocked up in what we were wearing. \u00a0In actual fact it would be lovely if they let you know before you left your homeland what the dress ideas would be so that you could go prepared.\u00a0 Anyway, I think tonight was \u2018black and white\u2019.\u00a0 Other nights were things like \u2018jeans and black\u2019, \u2018elegant with crazy hair or hat\u2019 and a couple of other nights where we didn\u2019t bother searching out the scarce and hard-to-find notices and rocked up as we were.<\/p>\n

Dinner was much the same as last night, and the nights to come except for 14th<\/sup> July (which is another story yet to come).\u00a0 In our opinion the Asian sections of the restaurant were a much larger percentage of the foods than the percentage of Asian guests, but we could be wrong.\u00a0 And for the most part, understandably, the Asian foods were not to our tastes.\u00a0 We love Thai food and there was never any of that.\u00a0 We love Western-style Chinese foods but there were only rarely anything that could squeeze into that category.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking sweet and sour fish, satay prawns and the like that we\u2019d have welcomed.\u00a0 What they did have was things like (shuddering!) whole fish or heaps of meat dishes including animals that made me very sad to think that they\u2019d been killed and cooked.<\/p>\n

The main thing that was a major problem to me was that despite having sections for almost everything there was not one for vegetarians so I had to pick carefully along the rows of foods reading the labels \u2013 almost every dish had one so that was good.\u00a0 But one led me sadly astray.\u00a0 It said tofu somethingoranother so I said whoopee and put some on my plate.\u00a0 It was only as I took my first bite that I realised the sauce it was in contained minced meat.\u00a0 I felt quite sick.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t eaten red meat in 25+ years and did not welcome it now.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t tofu for vegetarians?\u00a0 Apparently in Japan (which I think was the section I found it in) it is not.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m talking about the meals I\u2019ll get this opinion out of the way too.\u00a0 The meals really were not very warm at all.\u00a0 I understand that by the time you\u2019ve wandered around a large buffet they will have chilled more but even allowing for that they were not hot when they hit our plates.\u00a0 I do though appreciate that they served 4,000 meals a day and there must be very difficult logistics attached.<\/p>\n

The show after dinner was called Neverland and was a story about Peter Pan \u2013 now there\u2019s a surprise LOL\u00a0 But I have to admit to being rather tired and did not take any photos.\u00a0 And the cocktail I tried this night was no better than the night before \u2013 very bland.\u00a0 Oh dear, it seems I have my whingeing hat on *grin*<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long time since a photo so here\u2019s one of the gorgeous lamp in our room.\u00a0 For the first 2 nights it had oil in the top which smelled pleasant but we think was also a mosquito repellent.\u00a0 It was never topped up again though.\u00a0 However, it served as a great night light so I didn’t bother with my torch for loo trips and we wore our eye masks while we slept.<\/p>\n

\"Oil

Oil Lamp<\/p><\/div>\n

And so off we went to bed after a busy day.<\/p>\n

Thu 14th<\/p>\n

Breakfast included pancakes with maple syrup \u2013 what more is there to say?\u00a0 Yummmm!\u00a0 Though one poor young lad at the table next to ours had his pancake stolen by the squirrel and began to cry.\u00a0 His Dad was off at the buffet so David and a lady comforted him until his father returned because he\u2019d refused David\u2019s offer to get him another pancake.<\/p>\n

After breakfast we went for a wander down to the beach and headed left where we saw signs for an \u2018Art Market\u2019 so we took a left along the outside of the wall of our resort and sure enough there were some stalls with the usual things for sale.\u00a0 Wooden crafty souvenir things and dresses and sarongs by the million, all accompanied by the ladies plying us with \u201cYou want massage?\u201d and our reply \u201cNo thank you\u201d.\u00a0 This was always met with the predictable \u201cYou buy dress?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYou come look?\u201d as they tried to get us into their lairs.\u00a0 David told them \u201cNo money!\u201d which we didn\u2019t, we\u2019d gone for a wander along the beach and Club Med is cash free seeing as there\u2019s nothing you need to purchase, but they laughed and didn\u2019t believe us.<\/p>\n

Eventually we got through the market and out into the road beyond. \u00a0There was no footpath to the left on our side of the road.\u00a0 None on the other side either but a tiny width of sand that would suffice and keep us facing traffic but crossing the road was quite another endeavour.\u00a0 The natives would have stepped into traffic flapping their windward arm with every confidence but that takes more guts than either of us have so we waited.\u00a0 Several taxis beeped at us offering their services and we began to think that would be the best option to get to the other side but we stuck to shaking our heads madly and saying our well-practiced \u201cNo thank you!\u201d.\u00a0 This was only a single lane each way back-road but the traffic never stopped.\u00a0 Finally there was a gap and we hastily took it as a laugh and a cheer went up from behind us.\u00a0 Probably nothing to do with us but I laughed imagining that the locals had taken bets on the length of time it would take us to cross and someone had won.<\/p>\n

I have to say that we were quite shocked at how far around we had to walk to get to the Club Med front gate \u2013 and how many proffered taxi rides we had to refuse along the way. \u00a0We also had to pass both security points which was a surprise; we didn\u2019t realise we were outside the first one.\u00a0 But once back into Nusa Dua \u2013 which is the posh, clean, touristy part of Bali \u2013 we laughed at this rubbish bin.<\/p>\n

\"Froggy

Froggy Bin<\/p><\/div>\n

When we got back we went and sat on one of the lovely round beach chairs for a while \u2013 just to celebrate that we\u2019d found one free really.\u00a0 We wished that the canopy pulled right over so that we could snuggle in private but they were anchored.\u00a0 Our main entertainment during this half hour or so was a young Asian boy with his dad.\u00a0 It seems they\u2019d found a crab.\u00a0 We knew this because the pair of them were peering at something with great interest when suddenly the boy began to cry and there appeared to be a bit of a panic to remove the offending crustacean from the boy’s fingers.\u00a0 Ten minutes later the scene was repeated exactly, and again a third time a little later.\u00a0 David was laughing and saying \u201cObvious answer, let the bloody thing go free!\u201d which made me laugh as well.<\/p>\n

\"Circular

Circular Beach Chair<\/p><\/div>\n

Once that entertainment seemed to be over we \u00a0decided to spend the rest of the time before lunch at the quiet pool.\u00a0 Aaahh what a life!<\/p>\n

In my notes I now have written \u2018French boring lunch\u2019 which are obviously David\u2019s words, but it brings to mind the fact that many of the desserts after dinners and lunches seemed to be remarkably tasteless.\u00a0 What ingredients does one use to make something that tastes of nothing?\u00a0 We found ourselves wondering this many times as we tasted brown things, white, things, green things, flat things, round things, square things that all tasted of nothing much at all.\u00a0 And then occasionally there would be a really nice one<\/p>\n

Oh, the reason for the French lunch was that this was Bastille Day and I guess because Club Med is a French company, and the boss of the resort was French (we quietly referred to him as Monsieur Le Francais) and a lady that appeared to be in charge of front-of-house in the restaurant who we called Madame La Francais, a big deal was made.\u00a0 Anyway, here\u2019s the bread table at lunch which I have to admit looked impressive.\u00a0 Whether it would have been welcomed to break the top off the Tour Eiffel, stick in on your plate and add butter I\u2019m really not sure!<\/p>\n

\"Le

Le Pain D'Eiffel<\/p><\/div>\n

After lunch I decided on a granny nap and David sat on the verandah with his trusty book.\u00a0 I truly couldn\u2019t tell you what we did for the rest of the afternoon.\u00a0 More of the same I suspect, wander around the beach, quiet pool, wander around the tennis courts and explore where the golf was.\u00a0 Nothing of any remark anyway.<\/p>\n

The evening brought the promise of a French banquet and all the stops were out for presentation around the dining hall.\u00a0 The bread Eiffel Tower had been replaced with a carved ice one and there were impressively carved watermelons all around the dining hall along with red, white and blue decorations and banners and dimmed lighting.\u00a0 It really did look good.<\/p>\n

\"Iceffel

Iceffel Tower (Sorry!)<\/p><\/div>\n

I haven\u2019t mentioned yet that as we were seated at each evening meal we were offered a glass of wine.\u00a0 That was it \u2013 one \u2013 so I took to saying yes please as well so that David could have both.\u00a0 I\u2019ve tried not to compare this holiday with Club Med Whitsundays but there at dinner you helped yourself to either a glass or a whole bottle of wine!\u00a0 Anyway, for this meal there were crepes for dessert so that made 3 meals this day I\u2019d had pancakes.\u00a0 They made up for the other watery dessert excuses LOL<\/p>\n

Well, I am going to stop here because there is lots to say about the excellent evening show and I\u2019m going to save it for tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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Wed 13th continued. Now, where was I?\u00a0 Ah yes, we\u2019d just had our elephant safari and taken pictures so were now ready to find Moh (hoping he was still around!!!) to drive us home again.\u00a0 We needn\u2019t have worried; well, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1633,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1638","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1638"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3909,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1638\/revisions\/3909"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}