Monday 18th April
We booked the boats again this morning for a few hours snorkeling in the popular spots south of Candidasa : Jepun and the Blue Lagoon. Jepun was only about 25 mins away by boat with the Blue Lagoon just a short distance from there.
On the way we checked out the beautiful and exclusive (and isolated) Amenkila and Alila Manggis resorts (from a distance) but didn't really feel too envious.
The snorkeling was just great this morning. I used a life vest for the first time and finally found my snorkeling mojo!! I felt relaxed and able to just immerse myself in the experience without feeling anxious about getting too far away from the boat. The coral was not in a good state in these two sites but the variety of fish was just amazing - and the water was very clean! We all really enjoyed our two hours in the water at both sites.
We were very ready for lunch when we got back. We made a return visit to Puri Pandan Cafe for our farewell lunch with the Fischers which turned out to be a good choice today with an ocean front, shady table available and a beautiful sea breeze. We loved our time together and the beautiful Pandan Nasi Campur and ikan (fish) dishes and their wonderful hand made ice creams and black rice pudding.
The Fischers left at around 4.00pm with Eddy, ready for the drive to Denpasar airport and then back to Australia. It was another goodbye to dear friends who's company has made this such a special holiday - and one we'll never forget.
We took it easy for a few hours until Judy arrived at the door all excited with a very late announcement, that it was hers and Jurgen's 29th wedding anniversary (oops almost forgot!). We used the remaining 10 minutes of Happy Hour to ensure we drank their health with the hotel's 3 for the price of 2 Mojito cocktail offer.
Sunday 10th April
Crazy Pete and crazy Jennie went white water rafting this morning (but they did survive it, declaring it AWESOME!) and the young things went off for the day to Bali Waterbom in Kuta.
Ros and I did an early morning Ubud market shop for sunset drinks: limes, mangosteens & lemon grass. Then Rob and I spent a relaxed rest of the morning at Three Monkeys enjoying the coffee and the ambience but experiencing the frustration of slow Internet here in Ubud (that's why my blogging got so far behind!).
In the afternoon Rob and I went back to our favourite Bodyworks on Jalan Hanomen for a relaxing but occasionally painful deep tissue massage (the best and strongest in Bali). It was as good as we remembered it, including the zen like state you feel after wards relaxing in the compound garden with ginger tea and fresh melon dipped in tamarind paste and palm sugar.
There was no time to rest for us as it was our turn to host drinks this afternoon - around the Sri Bungalows (small) pool. There were 18 of us here - a gorgeous time of the day to share with dear family and friends in Bali.
Both Ella and Abi tried mangosteens for the first time at our "drinks" - introduced to them by James! They loved them of course.
White water rafting was excitement plus - and very challenging, but Jennie and Pete were very proud of having met the challenge - and lived to tell the tale!
After wards it was on to Ibu Rai for dinner together - another unforgettable feast of duck and sambals and hand made icecream for dessert. Abi slept through her second dinner in Bali - still on Australia time!
Saturday 9th April
Amazingly, we all fronted up reasonably early this morning after our big night out the night before. We met up with the young things at Cinta Grill for morning juices and coffee. Unfortunately Ella and Abi have been very attractive to the mosquitoes at Cendana overnight and are both sporting a few big pink bite spots this morning.
Rob and I were tour guides for a long rice paddy walk this morning - starting at the laneway just past the Lotus Cafe and ending closer to the bridge at the bottom of Jalan Raya Ubud.
It was a beautiful walk at this time of the year with most of the terraced rice fields under water and everything buzzing with life and every shade of green imaginable. No matter how many times I do this walk there is always so much to see that is new depending on the season.
We were able to stop for a cool drink at Sari Organik as it wasn't booked out by the Ubud Readers and writers Festival like it was the last time we visited Ubud in 2014.
We met up with the young things for lunch - this time at Josh and Ella's favourite babi guling (roast pork) place, a much more expansive annexe to the iconic little Ibu Oka near the Royal Palace, made famous by Anthony Bourdain (initially) and then Rick Stein.
The most fun for me, other than eating the pork (you would not believe how yummy it is) was checking out the pets in the restaurant garden with Abi: tame cockatoos, a squirrel and lots of chickens.
Tonight we are all involved in something very special. We're invited to Eddie's house in the small village of Kemenuh for dinner and then on to the village temple and banjar to see all the celebrations entailed with the culmination of the week long temple festival (one of the big twice yearly festivals for this temple).
Because we'll be visiting the temple, according to protocol, we have to wear sarongs and sashes.
It was very interesting to visit Eddy's family compound in the beautiful village of Kemenuh (about 20 minutes drive from Ubud). He explained why all the various pavilions and family temple were sited the way they were and after meeting his wife and two sons and mother and father, proudly showed off his motor cycle collection.
Eddy had cooked a meal for us..all based on pork because it was a special occasion!
Eddy helped the men tie their headscarfs.
And then we headed to the village banjar along with hundreds of other beautifully dressed villagers to watch the most amazing performance of gamelan orchestras and special dances to celebrate this festival.
We ended off the night with a visit to the village temple, beautifully decorated with offerings which different families contribute to throughout the course of the week. Balinese Hindu is such a sensible religion as families take their offerings home at the end of the week long festival and are able to use and eat their blessed offerings!
This was a pretty amazing night for us and a very different experience of Bali for most of us.
On the way we checked out the beautiful and exclusive (and isolated) Amenkila and Alila Manggis resorts (from a distance) but didn't really feel too envious.
The snorkeling was just great this morning. I used a life vest for the first time and finally found my snorkeling mojo!! I felt relaxed and able to just immerse myself in the experience without feeling anxious about getting too far away from the boat. The coral was not in a good state in these two sites but the variety of fish was just amazing - and the water was very clean! We all really enjoyed our two hours in the water at both sites.
We were very ready for lunch when we got back. We made a return visit to Puri Pandan Cafe for our farewell lunch with the Fischers which turned out to be a good choice today with an ocean front, shady table available and a beautiful sea breeze. We loved our time together and the beautiful Pandan Nasi Campur and ikan (fish) dishes and their wonderful hand made ice creams and black rice pudding.
The Fischers left at around 4.00pm with Eddy, ready for the drive to Denpasar airport and then back to Australia. It was another goodbye to dear friends who's company has made this such a special holiday - and one we'll never forget.
