Bali 2008 - November 28

Morning found us not quite rested enough, but the kids and I headed to the pool for an early morning swim before breakfast. Sri offers a good selection of breakfast items included with the room, and hot tea or coffee delivered to your room if requested. The bathrooms and the pool have been renovated since our last visit, and they also now have free wi-fi in the rooms. Wow! More on that later.

After breakfast we had a couple of hours to kill, so we walked down Monkey Forest Road to check out the shops. We found some really cute shoes (new style!) for about $20 a pair - didn't buy any hoping to find them cheaper elsewhere.

Further down we found a couple of bead shops that were astounding in their selections. We brought a few strings, but it is difficult to choose. A person could spend the better part of the day (and their money) getting "one of these and one of those".

The kids mentioned that they were (still) hungry, so we stopped in for an early mid-morning snack at Sagitarius. They each had another breakfast (2 eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, grilled tomato) and a milkshake, and Lace and I had ice lemon tea and lumpia, a spring roll filled with julienne vegetables and (pretend it's not there) tofu and served with a sweet chili sauce. Absolutely delicious! This cost us 100,000 rupiah including tip (less than $10).

Made was waiting for us when we got back to Sri, so we quickly repacked everything and transferred it all to Londo - our home in Bali. Made suggested we relax for a bit, but Lace only brought a couple of outfits so we trooped down the road to buy more clothes. We didn't find exactly what she was looking for, but she ordered 5 pairs of pants made to order and the kids and I got outfitted with appropriate temple clothing.

We meandered back up the road and decided to have dinner at one of our old favorites, Sari Bamboo. This used to be a quiet, friendly little place right on the side of Penestanan Road. They had about 5 tables, an old dusty postcard rack, and a pretty decent menu. Well, they have done some extensive renovations since we were here last. The old dining area is gone completely, and where the kitchen and internet cafe used to be is a beautiful new two-story building. The food and the service are still great, but I liked the old arrangement better. The new dining room is open in the back and is almost on top of the pool. (Sari Bamboo has bungalows out back.) I guess they're doing well, so that is good anyway.

One of my Indonesian friends in Richmond loaned me a cell phone to use on our trip, a luxury we've never had in Bali before. Made took care of getting it set up for me. It is a prepaid deal, which I gather is the way things are done here normally. I'm still getting used to the fact that I have it, so when it rings it startles me. Well, shortly after ordering our food, ring it did! Made was calling to tell me that a temple ceremony in the village had already started and we should hurry. You can't hurry food prep or restaurant service in Bali, so I was nervous about our time. When the food arrived, we ate quickly and rushed back home.

It is imperative that you bathe before attending any temple ceremony, so we all ran through the shower and put on our new temple clothes. Made was already in the village, so we weren't quite sure where we were going. Since Jake had gone to the village with Made earlier, we let him lead the way. Our walk took us down the old jungle road, which used to be a muddy track and is now completely paved in concrete, and wide enough to accomodate a car, not that you could get a car there in the first place.

Coming next - Temple Ceremony