Friday - 4th June
I finally made it to the "Real" shopping centre again, but the ATM only spat out 100,000 Rupiah notes - not even the large shopping centre has change for that first thing in the morning. Found a moneychanger to split it up, but they could only change in 50,000 R denominations, but is OK for the big shopping centre. Hmm.. "IS OK" ??? Now I'm even starting to WRITE in broken English ;)
I bought some more shampoo, conditioner, bandaids, moisturiser, and headed back to the hotel. As it would've been an hour's walk "out of my way" to go a different route back to the hotel, I also dropped in to see Iketut to say goodbye. 
I bought some DVD's from Ronnie (Rocky) from across the road from Flora. Such a great guy. Doesn't hassle at all. All the DVD's are good quality, but he will still play them all for you if you want to test them.
"Made" (guy who walked me to Papa's), "just happened" to be riding past the hotel and so I said Goodbye to him too and told him that I hadn't yet had the chance to check my email for the past few days so, no, I didn't get his email. I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but the night before the cooking class, he called the hotel about midnight and got put through to me. I was already asleep, but "is ok" I guess. Persistent they are :) I guess a bit neglected too, starved for some friendly company and a chance to 1) practice their English, or 2) the money thing.. they think we are millionaires.
The Aussie lady had final advice for me before I checked out of the hotel – “be careful".
I'm starting to get aggravated with "Aussie advice". They think I'm so naive. I've become disgusted with the way some Aussies behave towards Balinese. They are lovely, there is no reason to swear at them or to talk down to them. Thankfully not all Australians are treating them that way, but I've decided to dis-associate myself with those that do, and balance up the "bad karma" by being strictly nice to all of them. 
Those that grab you are usually the Javanese women who want to "plait your hair or paint your nails". They are the only ones whom you will need to be firmer with, and Nick gave me a tip that he said works... he says "respect", "a bit of respect" while putting his hand over his heart... Hard to describe, but if it works...I’ll try it! Hope I never become like those Aussies who have been there too many times and just don't care anymore. Arrogant, selfish, and up themselves.
I needed to get a Taxi to Denpasar. No taxi (Taksi) could find a way to get to the hotel, which is currently hard to reach due to the drain "renovations". Finally we got one that could work out how to get there, but he didn't know his way around Denpasar. Oh well :) Can’t win them all! We eventually found Ama's house. It cost me around 40,000Rp - should've cost only 25,000Rp, but 40,000 is only about AUD $6 - and for a 40 minute trip - who's complaining?
Denpasar is even busier than Kuta, which is hard to imagine. I felt very, very "white" in Denpasar. Most of the Westerner's hang out around surf/beach places - Kuta and nearby - so I'd better get used to the stares. I just smile at everyone like a dickhead :)
 I met Joni (Yonny) at Ama's - a really nice Balinese man with a contagious laugh! We had a drink (water) and a chat, then Joni went home, and Ama & I headed to the supermarket in a taxi.
On the way, we picked up Marcus, an American who has lived in Indonesia for years. He has a strong American accent and is really tall and well built. He lives with Ika, his adopted daughter (who I think is Javanese). Both Marcus and Ika are very lovely people. 
Marcus, Ama, and I went to a tailor so that Marcus could get some adjustments on his custom-made clothes, then to the supermarket. The supermarket was awesome. All the vegies looked different to anything I had ever seen, and I had no friggin idea what 90% of the food was :) The lolly aisle is the only one I ‘understood’ so I bought a kitkat for around 30 cents. Ama bought heaps of food - meat, veg, catfood, etc. which costed 100,000R ($15-17) all up - enough to feed about 6.
I will describe this beautiful house when I get time. I had a nap while Ama cooked up a delicious feast that could feed me for the rest of this week. Joni and his shy nephew (gday) came around and we chatted for hours and hours. Great Day!
Saturday - 5th June ~ Denpasar
 Today we went to the Denpasar market. We were only there for 1 hr, which confused me a bit as I thought we were going for the whole day, but at least now I know what to expect if I decide to go later on my own or with someone else. Ama's advice was to not point at anything, and to only pay 30% of what they ask except at wholesalers. We went across to the smelly food market. They are in need of some basic hygiene education and some refrigeration or ice. It was putrid. Ama bought some shrimp - he can eat 'that' by himself :) Bleh!
About 12:30 we went to Marcus's place. He had his other daughter there who was 3 - although looks about 5 to me. She is sooooo adorable - a very beautiful and sweet child. Ama and Ika cooked our lunch - Chilli Con Carne. We sat down and ate while Marcus and Ama swapped cheeky insults to each other - they are very funny and bounce off each other.
After lunch, we played Uno in the heat for hours. They’re all a bunch of sneaky cheaters :) I didn't feel like I was in a foreign country at all with these guys, I'm so comfortable in their company that it's easy to forget. Then I got a reality check as I hopped on the back of Joni's bike to ride back to Ama's. Ama thinks Joni and his bike is crazy so he walked.
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