Happy 18th. Daz!
Not a great start to the day with some confusion and tears. Darien took one look at the state I was in over their plans and cancelled their "trip". Thank God!
Breakfast was had at the Villa which was nice. Luke and also I think Matt and Maddie all opted for the Indo breakfast that was good and spicy. By the end of the day Luke realised that every meal he had that day had some form of chilli in it. There was talk of the Japanese flag :0)
Over brekky we discussed what Daz would like to do for 'his' day. It turned out that just being in Bali was enough (thank god again) so we just wandered and looked in a couple of great shops on Jl Laksmana with some unusual antiques. One had some fossilized bamboo complete with barnacles which was interesting.
We tried to revisit Luke's favorite art print shop on Drupadi but it was closed so we grabbed a cab to Delicious Onion. I knew that it wasn't a long walk but the walk down Drupadi can be dodgy with no footpaths and a big drain down one side of it and there was a lot of traffic coming from both directions. One cab pulled over and when I offered him what I thought the trip was worth he just laughed in my face and sped off :0) spose he thought differently. A few seconds later a bluebird picked us up and the fare came to what I had predicted.We tipped him for his U turning capabilities in the face of adversity :0) .
Delicious Onion has now moved up a couple of doors and has a whole new look..unfortunately.
Delicious Onion was always one of our favorites but since moving to the new location I think they've tried to spruce it up but we liked the rustic feel it had before and the pineapple margarita's which were always Fantastic were very average that day. We didn't even finish or want the freebie that came in the buy 2 get one free deal!
The girls had a watermelon cocktail. Not too impressed huh...
I can't comment on the food as we didn't stay to eat and grabbed a cab to Taco Beach which I had read was great on good old TA and it was! Thanks again TA :0) Min headed back to the villa for a chill and a massage. She was way ahead of us all with a massage every day so far. There was a little spa right near the villa that she had been favoring.
Luke had dropped Min back at the villa and was going to meet us at the restaurant. We passed him in a bluebird going in the opposite direction unbeknownst to him and the smile and look on his face was priceless. He was here in Bali doing one of his favourite things. He was a very happy man.
And now we were about to discover another restaurant that has made it to our favorites list.
It just kept getting better.
What's on the menu birthday boy?
Note the 'Trip Advisor recommended restaurant' certificate on the wall in the background.
Funnily enough a lot of the places we ate at had one of those.
Chorizo and guacamole fries.
The Margarita, hmmm just not the same when it's not in a fancy glass and in a Mexican restaurant too.It didn't stop me from having 3 though...they were so small and tasty.
Chilli poppers...Fantastic! They only got really hot right near the stem and are packed with mozzarella cheese and deep fried. What isn't to like about them! I knew to order these thanks to great recommendations from TA contributors, thank you. On a return visit we met the owner of Taco beach a very friendly American guy and he gave us the recipe for these. Have yet to make them though, very labor intensive and I have a feeling they will be totally lacking that Baliness, it's got to do with your surroundings too ..right ?. I will definitely give them a go one day though.
The nachos with a variety of (unlimited!) salsas and dipping sauces including a dragon fruit one.
babi guling burrito
It was decided that Taco Beach was a definite 'to return to' with Rob.
Specially as Delicious Onion used to be one of his faves.
Good food makes me and the boys very happy and the fact that we were eating our way through Darien's birthday wasn't surprising.
When we arrived home after lunch Darien found this lovely flower arrangement the staff had been gathered around the previous night, waiting for him in his room. Very nice gesture.
We relaxed for a couple of hours whilst again receiving Royal treatment. Putra again pulled me aside and asked what our plans were for Mr.Darien's Birthday Evening and I told him we planned on heading down to the bottom of Jl Dhyana Pura (sp.?) to watch the sunset from one of the beach bars and then we had bookings for dinner at "Udang Mang Enking" which I had read great things about and had checked out the menu online and booked from home.
I had given Daz a list of great looking restaurant options (TA again) for his day and he had really liked the look of this one.
Putra asked me if he could drive us because he really wanted to drive Darien on his special day...Sweet!. I thought Putra knocked off at 3 which he did but he wanted to come back again at 5:30 for Daz. He showed me the cake he had organised and said he would take care of getting it into the restaurant without Darien knowing...again..what a guy.
Behind the mirrored doors in the background was a movie room that we never did get around to using.
Beach bars as far as the eye can see.
I was looking for Crystal Palace or La Plancha and came across the later first.
This one's for you Dazzy one of your all time favourites.
Imagine if they had been playing this through the very loud speaker that was behind my bean bag instead of the Hip Hop that was blasting out of it! This sunset would have been all the more magical.
So beautifully colourful.
We hung out for a couple of hours and had lots of laughs, bought a few sarongs and watched the wonder of the sunset.
Ah Bali sunsets you just can't beat em'
One of my favourite shots of the trip...love it.
The foyer of Udang Mang Enking - I know Udang means shrimp and I think the rest of the title is somebodies name.
The banquet + a few extras. The entire bill set us back just $75, one of our cheaper nights out.
Geez it was a hot night without a breath of wind. The restaurant is a favorite with the locals and my menu wasn't the only one working double to try and create a breeze.
A lot of the complex consists of bales set over a pond.
I read in the reviews that mosquitoes can be a problem at this restaurant but we weren't bothered by them.
It is floor seating but there is a cut out under the table straight down to the pond where you can dangle your legs above it. We did sight a tortoise but the fish were elusive.
Daz's Buddha talisman which I had bought from home and had purchased from a store full of Tibetan antiques.
The seller had told me the small compartment inside was used for keeping things in that had been blessed..like a lucky charm. We would have to see what we could find that might fit that bill on our Bali travels.
Putra had successfully pulled off Operation Cake, bless him and about 5 restaurant staff members wandered along the path singing Happy Birthday with it which was really nice.
It is only the second Balinese cake that I had tried and again it had that strong liqueur or 'something' taste in it. Can anyone help me out with this? Is it kirsch maybe?
Putra was waiting to whisk some very tired holiday makers home after a day full of over indulgence.
My baby was now 18 and had hopefully had a memorable day.
Today had been my last day in my 40's and what a relief the clanger was averted!. As I settled down for an untroubled night sleep in my cloud like bed at The Maharaj the only regret was tomorrow was to be our last day in this beautiful villa. Ah but more adventures were to surely be had.
Sampai Jumpa!
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