Today's exchange rate: IDR 10,710 per AUS $
Today's weather: a beautiful, sunny day. Overcast and a bit of rain in the evening
I managed to almost sleep in today and woke up a bit after 7:00. I got up to enjoy the villa in the morning light before going to the communal pool to use the wifi; it's just out of reach from our villa. After FaceTiming with Mum, I headed back to the villa just in time for breakfast. For breakfast at Villa Coco, you order what you'd like the night before and request it at a certain time. It's them simply delivered to your villa at that time. I find the options a little bit limited, but how many choices do you really need for breakfast?
After brekky, we all got dressed and ready to go out; today we were going shopping. We had 3 destinations in mind; Kuta Square for Matahari and the Discovery Centre, and the beach markets. After changing money, we jumped in a cab to go to the markets. Up until this point, we hadn't really done any market shopping so we decided to make a quick stop there. I ended up buying some of those cute elastic waisted shorts that I wear as pajamas and 2 pom pom play suits; one for me and one for my sister.
The girls bought a couple of things including play suits, dresses for themselves for their mums and Courtney bought a couple for her little girl at home. It was then back into a taxi to go to Matahari.
Matahari is my go-to place for make-up and perfume. I came back perfumeless, I got quite a good haul of make-up, a nice ring and a gorgeous clutch handbag that was 50% off. The others also got quite a lot of make-up. It's so much cheaper to get in Bali than in Australia. I usually stick to buying Maybelline. For mascara that I would pay about $15 for in Australia, I bought for about $8 here in Bali. We all agreed that the payment system at Matahari is not great. It takes so long for to get through with the ladies figuring out which items belong to you, enter it all in the system and figure out any discounts.
We had a look in a few shops along the street before making our way towards The Discovery Centre. We had another stop at some markets along the way where Courtney picked up generics like Bintang singlets and Raybans for her sister. I bought a painting for a friend (no photo because it's all wrapped up) before being propositioned by a market man. He gave me a tap on the arm and told me to come with him to the toilet. "Great idea!!" I said, and followed along. Just kidding, as if I would do that.
We continued to the Discovery Centre, making our way around the dodger footpaths. We were starting to get a little bit hungry so we stopped in A&W for a snack before continuing with our shopping. We went to the Havaianas stall first as Courtney's thongs had broken a few days ago, and you know that thongs are essential when you're in Bali. I ended up buying a nice pair of Havaianas' sandals too. They were about $35 but that's still cheaper than what I would have paid in Australia. Silly me, I got a size too big but they don't restrict my walking at all. And please excuse the bad pedicure;)
Next stop was Bamboo Blonde. This is a regular shopping stop for me in Bali; I always find something I like and today was no exception. I tried on a number of this before settling on 3 items; a gorgeous dress with a crochet top, a pineapple patterned playsuit and a mint green playsuit with a lace trim. I was very happy with my purchases. Courtney got herself a couple of really nice dresses too and Mikhala got a beautiful maxi dress.
We finally made it into Centro. We looked at shoes, we looked at bags and jewellery and didn't find much that we liked. Courtney bought a couple of bras and then we made our way upstairs to the kids section. We all helped Courtney pick out a few more things for her daughter and I ended up buying some cool t-shirts for the little boys I babysit. Yes, I am the best babysitter ever. The t-shirts were 3 for 2 and the shorts were on sale as well.
By the time we had finished our shopping, it was nearly 2:00 . We had a booking at Potato Head at 5:00 so we decided to skip lunch at Poppies Restaurant and just go back to the villa to hang out for a bit before leaving again. We're planning on going to Poppies on Monday. We got in a taxi downstairs, but not before I asked him if he would use the meter. He said 50,000 Rupiah to Villa Coco. I told him no, I wanted him to use the meter. He told us to get in and turned the meter on, and then once again told me 50,000. I replied with a very firm "No, you use the meter." I don't think he was too happy but he did it anyway.
The traffic was not good so we got back to the villa later than planned. We had some time to hang out in the aircon, because it was hot outside and it was then that we started to feel a bit hungry so we decided to order room service. A couple of burgers, pizza and Pad Thai later, it was time to get ready for Potato Head. Thanks to our shopping today, we all had something new to wear.
At about 4:45 we walked down to reception and asked them to call us a Blue Bird. It didn't take long to arrive so before too long we were on our way. I tend to visit Potato Head during most of my trips to Bali and I was really excited to take Mikhala and Courtney, who had never been before. Mikhala couldn't quite grasp the concept of going, not just for dinner, but to hang out. Courtney was happy to just go with it.
The traffic was terrible along Seminyak Road so we ended up arriving half an hour late. We skipped the que and went down the reservation line. I always make a booking because with a place like Potato Head, you never know if it's going to be really busy or quiet. Today it was busy so I was thankful for my organisation. Turns out I had been given the wrong reservation code so the girl at the front had to search for it a bit, but no problem. We went upstairs and took it in. The waves crashing on the beach, the infinity pool looking over them, the music, the vibe. Ahhhh, I love Potato Head. We were lead to our table and told we only have it until 7:00 as there was another booking. I had request a day bed so while we waited, we ordered cocktails. Mikhala, Courtney and I had my favourite Millionaire Martini's and Sami ordered Midori and lemonade. They all arrived promptly and we sat back and enjoyed them.
Not long after, we were told a day bed was available for us, so we followed one of the girls down to the pool and got comfortable. We ordered a jug of Sangria to share and we drank, chatted and laughed as we watched the sun go down, but unfortunately there wasn't much to see because of the overcast. We decided to order dinner. I had fish and the girls had pasta. Our meals were delicious, although if I were to order again, I wouldn't have got the fish that I chose. There were a couple of components on there that I didn't like, but the rest was delicious.
A little while after 8:00 we decided to settle the bill. It came to about $180 for our cocktails, jug and meals. Yes, it's a lot for Bali but divided between the 4 of us, it wasn't much. We decided that instead of staying for dessert, we were going to go to The Pearl. We got a driver from Potato Head to take us back, for a price of 70,000 Rupiah. We seem to have been so lucky with drivers lately. He had some good music playing and we all sang along. We got him to drop us at a money changer on Legian road so Mikhala could change some more money. We walked along, down Double 6 and into the Pearl. We were shown a table, and there he was. Ahhhh, Anthony. He looked at me and said "You've been here before." Oh my, he remembers me. He invited us to sit and the dessert menus were delivered. Courtney and Sami had decided on iced nougat and Mikhala and I had white chocolate mousse. Just before we had dessert, we started to feel raindrops so we asked to move inside. Lucky we did, because it bucketed down for about 5 minutes. Our desserts arrived, and they were delicious. The Pearl never disappoints.
The girls paid while I went to chat with Anthony. No, not like that. I went to confirm my mum and dads booking for January and book my dad in for a massage (Happy Christmas Dad!). All was well, so we went on our way.
Once again, everyone was tired when we got in. We had been on our feet for the better part of the day so it was off to bed once again. Tomorrow, we're off on another adventure; quad biking!!
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