11 May 2006

Today started out like any other and we were out after breakfast to get Didi to the hairdresser I spotted a few days ago. When we got there, they weren't ready to start their day and so we walked around the area to find out what's on the end of that street. We ended up at a little cafe and got ourselves some dessert. Didi also got a nice blended coffee to cap off the breakfast we had at the resort. While we waited for our fried banana and ice cream dessert, Didi's colleague happen to pass by with his surf board in tow and joined her for a smoke. Didi was telling me about her colleagues also vacationing here but they didn't plan to meet up... I guess they're kinda sick seeing each other at work already.

Ugly On The Outside....


Yummy Within

Once we were done with our dessert, we headed back to the hairdresser's to get the haircut she wanted since the day she landed here. I don't know why she had to cut her hair here, or why the style she chose, because to me it seems the same like before. Not sure if it was cheaper either.

After she was satisfied with her new hair-style, we were off to get lunch and our tattoos, temporary tattoos to be specific (wouldn't have a home if I did a real one). We went back to our favourite little shop, Warung Yogya, that served this really yummy tempeh (fermented cake of soy beans) dish which was really spicy! On our way back, we were stopped by the tattoo painter. He isn't really an artist for just smearing goop over the template that's traced onto your arm, is he? He brought us to his corner to choose designs we'd like and Didi quickly found one and got hers done at the corner. I had a harder time finding something I liked with this irritating bitch who kept trying to bargain prices hovering around. She wasn't even involved with the whole process. Finally when she went off, I saw some designs I like and we asked him to continue with it outside our room, which was much cooler and more comfortable for everyone.

After an hour, everything was done and we started dabbing some of Didi's blush over the dried patterns in an attempt to make it look real for my masterplan - to trick Uncle Shane into thinking it is. Then when it was all nice and dried, with no chance of being smeared, we had our lovely lunch from Warung Yogya and started lazed around in the room till it was time to meet dinner.

Oh The Smears Were Markings....Hehehe

The highlight of the day was the meeting with one of my ex-colleagues, my friend and Extravaganza-cast-look-a-like, Wayan. We planned to meet him for dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant I after he was done with work but the bugger was a bit too shy to join us and told us to start on our own. Halfway though, he tried to scare me by jumping onto the ledge and roaring but ended up making a fool, a wet one at that, of himself. The path leading to the restaurant has 2 pools of water running through it and as he jumped up, he basically fell into the pool of water, getting his shoes and pants wet.

When You Wanted The Waitstaffr's Attention

When You Want To Be Left Alone












The Clown

The food there was set according to American portions and good thing we were pre-warned by the staff. We ended up getting a clam chowder (the one in the big blue bowl) that Didi enjoyed but it was too rich for me. We also tried the sampler plate that was more of a tray than plate. It came with an assortment of their specialities laid on printed paper made to look like old newspaper pages. If that was cute, the main course (with the fries and coleslaw) of fried shrimps, squid rings and crawfish was even cuter with the stuff on the same paper, served on a bucket. Everything here seems to be rather cute, closely themed around Forrest Gump yet not tacky enough to turn you off. After trying the sampler, I decided that I wanted to get some more shrimps back to snack on while watching tv. At the same time we ordered a pink magarita-like drink and a shaker to take home.

The takeaway order came and they didn't get it clear that we wanted it to go, so it was served up in their unique style and let us take a pic before they brought it back in for packing. During that time, the drink came and they dimmed the lights for an interesting performance from the staff. Now that's one souvenir shaker that has a huge memory stuck to it.

* CLICK ME * to view out Bubba Gump Experience.




Bubba Gump?

We stayed out a while more with Wayan and madke arrangments to meet before we left to get back to our room to start packing. Somebody also got comfy getting naked around me while I just kept to the nuclear gas wars we had been having the whole week. We were done rather quickly, compared to my experience in Thailand, and enjoyed the night with hilarious shows on tv, fizzy drinks and snacked on the yummy shrimps.

Trying To Kill Me For Taking The Previous Pic


Souvenir From The "Kidnapping"


About To Moon Me


Who Should I Give This To? Hmmm....


WTF?

And We Got The Best Piece Of Chocolate Today.

10 May 2006

Today's breakfast was bacon, eggs and croissants for me while Didi just had eggs and toasts. I loved the cute little croissants they had but not the choice of jam, which were my two least favourite, Marmalade and Strawberry. I got no idea why I didn't take any pictures of our breakfast but I guess my brain doesn't work as efficiently as my stomach does in the mornings.

After breakfast, we were out to find one of the money changers with a really good rate we saw the day before. And Didi was on the lookout for a hairdresser as well as a steak that she was craving. Along the way we did some window shopping and once we got our lunch and other stuff. we headed back for our afternoon siesta. It was another round of Nasi Padang but we ate it in the comfort of our room, using our hands and with a big mug of soda each.

Later in the afternoon, my nap was interrupted by Didi talking to someone and I thought she had started yakking with the guys from the room opposite already .... but after listening carefully, the other party was yakking in Malay and it had to be one of the staff... but it went on for quite sometime and I was thinking "don't you have to go back to work?" Anyway, that bugger was apparently the head of housekeeping or something and he just didn't know when to go back to work. Good thing that came out from him was information on what we could find around the other corner form the resort.

Finally we get him to go and we decided to travel away from our normal route and see if something there would interest us to stop for dinner. The road had a few shops, restaurants and a minimart just like the route we usually took. It also had a little modern bakery, a nice little coffee shop and even an internet cafe, which the other side lacks.

We ended up stopping at a place called The Flying Piano which Didi wanted because of the steak and I agreed only because I wanted to go for the fondue. We sat down at the table and was given a really sour welcome drink, that packed a real alcoholic punch in it, as well as a glass full of long buttery crackers. If they were breadsticks, they tasted nothing like bread in taste or in texture.

In the end, I decided against the fondue as it was just too expensive for a pot of cheese and bread and ordered a Caprese salad, avocado prawn cocktail and a Chicken Cordon Bleu with Rosemary potatoes. Didi stuck to her steak and got a Sirloin with mushroom sauce & a baked potato. The Caprese salad was a little disappointing since it looked more like tomatoes decorated with cheese and basil, slathered with brown sauce. The cocktail looked really nice, but when I tucked into it, I found that they were really generous with their sauces. This was the first time I ever had Chicken Cordon Bleu and I think it's really filling, especially with the lovely potatoes I had. With the disappointment of the first two dishes, I think I'd like to try this dish another time, another place. Didi had a really disappointing end to her craving. The steak wasn't done well and the sauce was too salty for her liking. The potato didn't help as it had a huge dollop of sour cream on it, while the salad on her plate had too much vinaigrette and ended up spoiling her steak too. So from a happy looking Didi, came one who ended up having a bad reaction in her tummy from all the vinegar and cream. The one thing that was nice about that restaurant wasn't even good enough to save the whole experience - the band. I guess they served a crowd that was more drunk and would eat anything you served them.

Caprese Salad With Missing Lettuce?




Vegetables Came On Another Plate...






Happy Didi...

Once we were done, we took a slow walk back and I wanted something to snack on but couldn't find anything interesting in the bakery or at the coffee shop. I managed to get Didi to sit down for a tea which might help settle her tummy but she ended up getting a hot chocolate instead, which I think made it worse. I chose an avocado juice but it was made more like milk flavoured with avocado rather than the thick avocado smoothie I usually had. Not wanting to take the risk of spoiling my holiday, I decided to get a double espresso to go as Didi had to go as well. The service was really slow and it took so long that she was already looking around for the closest toilet there, just in case.

Unhappy Didi

Once we got back, I chilled the espresso and hoped that Didi's condition didn't get worse. I thought she wanted to sleep, so I tried not to make too much noise but she thought I wasn't happy and was sulking away. Anyway, we decided to be 2 dugongs in the pool agian and after that I made a coffee shake with Bailey's. That definately helped her tummy and it kept me awake for a little longer that night.