DAY TWO (Thu)
Dawn came and in Sanur you are awakened by numerous roosters and dogs calls. After breakfast, Hero the guide from last night starts to harass us to book a tour with him. This guy basically hangs around the lobby of the SPG hotel and can be quite a pest! He quotes me 400K Rp for a day’s (8 hrs) charter! To get him off our back, I agree to book a transfer cum tour from Sanur to Ubud for Saturday, and managed to get him down to 300K Rp – the ‘market’ rate. We needed a ride to Denpasar—shopping! And he offered to take us for 25K Rp if we didn’t mind going along with T&A who had booked a day tour with him that day, since it was on the way. Everyday, some ceremony happens in Bali and we pass a cremation procession along the way. T&A were mesmerized by the sounds and colors and immediately got out of the van to film it. It was “we’ll pass” for O & I. We’re ethnic Chinese Singaporeans and to us, funerals are inauspicious occasions, regardless of the race and culture that is having it! Nevertheless, Balinese cremations processions are colorful spectacles and the Balinese have no issue with tourists watching.
We drop off at the Matahari dept store (Jl Teuku Umar) in Denpasar. My wife found it (& prices) too up-market and much like stores in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. By then, it was time for lunch and we ate at the air-conditioned food court at Matahari’s basement. We end up eating KFC! My wife swears that the Colonel’s fried chicken tastes better out of Singapore. The chicken is much crisper and tastier instead of half soaked in oil. We found quite a few locals at KFC as lunch progressed. There were few takers for the other food outlets so it seems we made the right choice!
We make our way to the Ramayana dept store at Bali Mall (Jl Dipenegoro) and found it much to our liking. Prices at Ramayana were more ‘local’ and this gives you a feel of how much things (should) cost in Bali, good point(s) of reference for bargaining at the tourist places later.
They had a rock band competition going on at the atrium of the Bali Mall. It seems the Balinese are accomplished rockers as well, coz this Axl-Rose-like guy had quite a few girls (both local and tourist) swooning. I said I wish I could sing like that and O immediately decided it was time to go to Kuta Square!
We are approached by calls of “transport?” The taxi guy belongs to the ‘white taxi cab’ co. The cabs from this co. are quite beat up and have no A/C, unlike those from Bali Taxi (light blue). He wanted 40K Rp for a ride to Kuta and we got him down to 25K after starting to walk out. Sometimes you get your price, sometimes you don’t. Things are not as great in Bali as before the 2002 bombings, but they’re not that bad either. Anyway, a ride in a non-A/C taxi should cost less!
“The traffic heavy and roundabout way to Kuta, you see.” It was 2pm and traffic was bumper to bumper in downtown Denpasar. He got us out via the back lanes and we were soon on Jl Legian. Again it was slow moving traffic, but it was OK coz we had time to take in the scene and orientate ourselves to the shops and restaurants in the area. We finally stopped at Kuta Square and I give the driver 32K Rp.
Jl Legian is filled with: restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, apparel boutiques (surf gear, legit or otherwise), shoes, money changers, travel agents, convenience stores, etc. After a while, you can literally repeat the previous list ad nauseam and you get the array of shops in Kuta. You quit worrying about where you are going to find stuff or services coz eventually you will run into one that gives you the deal you want. O was in shoe heaven and I was just happy to chill and watch the street scene while she raided the shoe stores. We also bought three pairs of fancy cushion covers for our sofa from a ‘fixed price’ store and these were 160K Rp after bargaining.
Dinner was at the Ketupat Restaurant. The restaurant was set in a nice backyard away from the road and is a great example of modern Balinese architecture. The starters were excellent—we ordered the prawn spring rolls; the seafood platter was a disappointment as we found the food over-BBQ’ed and dry. O & I came concluded that Thailand is still the better place for seafood. The satays came with hot coals but we found this to be gimmicky. Unless you eat your satays quickly, the heat actually dries out the meat and makes it tough. It is more practical to serve satays on a plate once they have been BBQ’ed to perfection
We are still jittery about 2002’s bombing and with the recent bombings in London, steered clear of clubs (anyway we’re getting too old for that) in Kuta and headed back to Sanur for an early night. If you are not staying in Kuta the best spot to get a taxi is along Jl Patih Jelantik. This is the road where all the traffic comes into Jl Legian and you have a choice of either traveling south and getting stuck in the Jl Legian traffic or heading up north towards Legian, J Jln Melasti and out of Kuta quickly. We hailed a Bali Taxi here and the fare to Sanur was 47K Rp on the meter.
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