#12 Kuta, Taman Sari Cottages

Last night I met Michael (from a travel internet site) at Tubes and we had dinner at his recommendation : Taman Sari Cottages (across from Tubes). The food was not cooked right, I ordered Nasi Goreng: the rice was dry, but it still tasted edible, just a bit bland (the chicken satay was yum). Michael ordered something else and his rice was so dry that he asked them to bring in a replacement. And that was the start of the evening.

He was ok, but he had this attitude that they (the locals) should be treating him special because he was a tourist and I dunno.. I was just a little embarrassed to be associated with him when he made some of his comments. I guess that's why you don't meet up with people from the internet ;) - Nah, that's not true, Ama was awesome and he was from the net !

After dinner and dessert (banana pancake for me, chicken satay for him) we said our goodbyes as I was friggin tired from my long day and lack of sleep, and wanted to nap before going out, so I said that I might meet up with him at Apache Reggae later. It was about 9-9:30. I woke up around midnight but felt like death, so went back to bed and slept til 8:30am!

#13 Kuta, Papa's Cafe

I then walked to Papa's Cafe which is along the beach. It took nearly an hour to get there. On the way, I met a guy named Made (may-dee). He apparently was speaking to me the other day, but I don't remember him. He walked with me there after asking if it was ok.. I said yes, and joked that as long as he doesn't ask for money (which he didn't).
I was to meet Ama (local from Denpasar) there and his friends, but only Ama turned up. While waiting for Ama, I asked Made if he would like a drink. When Ama showed, we both asked him (Made) to stay for lunch, both intending to pay for him. Ama ended up paying for all of us! We all had the same thing - Nasi Campur (cham-pour)- Boiled Rice, Veg (mm), Tempeh, Tofu, Chicken in Satay sauce, beef, shrimp - it was delicious.

Ama is a cool guy. He gets paid Australian wage from a job he found via the internet (he has a masters degree) and lives in Bali, so he's wealthy compared to most of the locals. I will stay with him in Denpasar in his village for a couple of days.

We took a cab back to Bemo corner and Made & I walked back to my hotel. I tried to offer some money to Ama but he wouldn't hear of it - he said "Give me 1 million US dollars or nothing". He's funny and cheeky and more "himself" than others here. I gave Made my email address. He was eager to catch up again, but I don't see how it will be possible as I'm pretty booked up for the rest of my time in Kuta now and no idea whether I'll be coming back to Kuta before I go back to Australia.

#14 Kuta, Gallery

Had lunch @ some gallery place near Paddys. Wow. It looks like "white tablecloth" dining, in an outdoor environment, surrounding a beautiful blue pool. The prices are reasonable (from 18,000 to 40,000), although you have to watch the extras that they add without asking, such as rice with a non-rice dish, will add more to your bill, and they assume you want rice so the question is not asked. I had a dish called Apar Apar (I think), which is steamed water spinach and bean sprouts with freshly grated coconut & lime and steamed rice. I'll definitely be back in the future. Best experienced with a group though.

#15 Ubud

Had lunch at a nice quiet place filled with paintings on every bit of available space on the walls. Kinda weird but gives you something to look at. The waitress was genuinely friendly and really interested to speak with me, probably the nicest "genuine" female I've met in Bali. I spoke with her until the meal (nasi goreng) was ready. It was pretty nice (and cheap = 7500).

While I was eating, another local sat down @ a nearby table with a drink and started up a conversation. Another tour guide!! But as he was friendly, spoke English fluently and wasn't pushy, I listened to what he had to say about his upcoming trip to Australia in July, his job trekking up the volcanos, the sacrifices of cows and other animals that they offer the volcano (and why) and read other travellers reviews and saw photos. It was very tempting.

#16 Denpasar, Traditional Balinese from a local

First stop was Joni's sisters for some lunch. Traditional Balinese food. Don't ask me what it was - I ate it, it tasted good, and I didn't get sick, and that's good enough for me :)

Actually, it was pretty nice; spicy, and it was something like minced pork and spice in a banana leaf? steamed rice, some spicy, oily stuff that turns rice yellow, and some banana tree hot-spicy-soupy stuff which was 'way too spicy' for me. I also had a fruit tea which tasted like black currant, but I'd prefer water!

No-one could speak English, not even broken English, so we used sign/body language which will motivate me more to learn Indonesian when I get home. Joni's sister showed me photos of her children and a recent ceremony involving her 17yo daughter getting her teeth filed straight.