This blog entry I'm writing on the train back to Leeds from Kings
Cross. Everyone said that I would be
really shocked by the weather and how cold it would be, but actually it's been
quite pleasant. I do love the warmth and
sunshine of Bali, but there is something to be said of the ability to walk 100
yards without literally dripping sweat everywhere!
Anyway, I wanted to write about my last full day in Bali which was really
good fun. The day started very well
with a gorgeous Banana Pancake with caramel and coconut on it and the usual
selection of fruit - Papaya, Pineapple, Watermelon and the option of a tiny
banana or green tangerine with coffee.
Rachel came by my hotel with Kiran having found a really lovely guy to
be our driver for the day called Putu - Made was busy with some preparations
for a family cremation.
First of all we drove to Sukawati market as the market that I'd been keen
to visit in Ubud is currently being renovated.
Sukawati market is huge and I think that we saw only a very small part
and mostly the tourist shops, and it was perfect for completing my holiday
present shopping. I bought 3 sarongs for
the pretty batik patterns that I will be able to use in my embroidery and
sewing work, a lovely little dress for one of my friend's babies (who hasn't
been born yet so will have to wait a while to grow into it.), some small
paintings for my Mum and some incense for Coddy from the "local" part
of the market. Everything is brightly
coloured and I could really spend a whole lot of money there and if
transporting them back to the UK wasn't an issue I'd love to buy some of the
amazing wood carvings and furniture.
We got back in the car and drove out to Sanur which is a beautiful coastal
resort. We grabbed some lunch -
impressively there was a baby chair so Kiran was able to bang his hands on the
table and make a mess of all the food that he was eating and Rachel got to eat
using both hands for a change. We both
had some very tasty Nasi Campur.
It was a warm and sticky day and so we walked along the beach and found a
nice spot to lay out our sarongs and get into our swimming things and Rachel put
Kiran into his swimming outfit. He was
much more interested in playing with and trying to eat the sand of course.
We went into a beautifully clear sea which
was really calm and shallow, and as warm as a nice bath and perfect for Kiran's
first experience of swimming in the sea.
He loved it and smiled and giggled as we splashed him around in the
water. Rachel and Kiran got out and I
swam around for a bit until I spotted a sea snake nearby and so decided that
was a good time to get out!
We walked along the beach for a little bit and I bought an amazing kite for
my Dad which was shaped like a boat and we saw a Labrador that was happily
lying in the sea enjoying the warm water (he was there for ages as we saw him
on the way there and the way back!)
Our
driver took us back to Ubud and we got showered and changed and relaxed in the
hotel room until Made came with Maya to pick us up and take us to a lovely
restaurant for dinner.
The restaurant was very attractive and a large section of it had
individual tables in little huts where you sit on cushions on under low
tables. We ordered a big fish sharing
platter and some rice and it was pretty spicy, but really tasty. Maya and Kiran amused themselves by trying to
crawl under the table and Kiran enjoyed shredding paper napkins like an Andrex
puppy. I ordered a young coconut drink
which was huge and very tasty. Basically
it was a whole young coconut with the top sliced off and some sugar, avocado
and jelly added to it - was more than enough for a pudding even though it was
just a drink!
After dinner I was dropped
back at the hotel and was determined to fulfil the final thing on my list that
I'd wanted to do and I walked down to find somewhere that I could get a manicure!
I initially went back to the first place I'd been where I'd got my pedicure
done earlier on - Kenko, but at 8pm it looked distinctly closed so I walked
back and just went for the first place that wasn't too far off the main street
who shouted "Yes massage" at me!
I asked if they could do a manicure then and they said yes and I went to
Daisy Spa which was by no means glamourous, but for £3 for a
manicure I was more than happy. At the
last minute I also thought that I may as well get my toes redone as the
pedicure I'd had was starting to chip after 10 days of walking around in flip
flops and so the girl got her friend and I had my feet done at the same
time. It was a bit of a weird place and
experience made even odder when the girl doing my nails told me "You are
beautiful, I like your face". I
took it as a compliment, but "I like your face" is one of the
strangest compliments I think that I've ever been paid.
Back in the hotel room I packed up my suitcase as I knew that getting up at
4.30am I wasn't going to want to do very much at all and I managed to snatch
about 4 hours sleep before Putu came by at 5.30am to pick me up and drive me to
the airport.
Yesterday was a really long day - the whole day went like clockwork in
terms of getting picked up, the flights that weren't delayed and the transfers
that were very smooth, but 19 hours or more of travelling is just
exhausting. I grabbed breakfast at the
airport in Denpasar and even though I was tempted by Eggs Benedict, I dedicated
that an Indonesian breakfast was a good idea as I'm not likely to get the
chance again for a while. The journey
from Bali to Singapore was very smooth and I had a brief snooze in between the
time when they fed us. The transfer from
Terminal 1 - 3 in Singapore was smooth, a brief walk and the "Sky
Train" in between the terminals with about 10 minutes free to buy 2 very
expensive bottles of water for $4. On
the 13 hour flight from Singapore to London I managed to watch a total of 4 1/2
films! I was trying hard to keep awake
to try and right my sleep pattern by going to bed early and waking up at a
usual time this morning. I think that
it's more or less worked, although I did practically fall asleep in my dinner.
First of all I watched "The Hunger Games" as I was interested to
see how it was done compared to the book that I'd read earlier on in my
holiday. The film is really faithful to
the book and it was very similar to how I'd pictured everything in my
mind. The portrayal of the main
character - Katniss Everdeen was very good and just as I'd imagined her, the
actress - Jennifer Lawrence looked very similar to how I had imagined her. Peeta Mellark who was one of the other main
characters looked different as I'd not imagined him to be blonde, but Josh Hutcherson portrayed him well in terms of character.
I suppose my only criticism was that they didn't really make as obvious
in the film in comparison to the book the main characters feelings about each
other, they glossed over it a little which was disappointing, but does make for
a neater conclusion.
Next was People Like Us I'm not sure why I chose this one, but
it was a bit of an odd film with a plot that could have been shortened and
tidied up considerably, but felt quite unnecessarily drawn out. Basic premise is that Sam the main character
is a bit of a shyster and is short of cash, in debt and doesn't visit his
family. He ignores calls from his Mum
all day and then his girlfriend tells him that his Dad has died. He makes every effort to avoid going to the
funeral including hiding his ID from his girlfriend, but they end up arriving
there late and missing the funeral. His
Mum is played by Michelle Pfeiffer and she is clearly angry with him and a lot
of the film explores their strained relationship. Sam picks up a note from the lawyers about
his fathers will which is an odd request to deliver $150000 in cash in a
shaving bag to a "Joshua Davis" who he then discovers is his Dad's
Grandson to a half-sister that he never knew existed. The majority of the film then is a slightly
farcical exploration of him getting to know his sister and nephew without
revealing until right at the end who he is so that she ends up trying to kiss
him. All in all it's a bit weird.
Total Recall the remake was next. I
think I've watched bits of it in the past, but I can't remember watching the
whole film. I was a bit sleepy during
this one so I think that I may have nodded off and had to rewind at
points. I do remember that they left in
the 3 boobed lady from the original film in the dodgy district that the main
character - Hauser visits to go to Rekall.
The premise of the film is good and the remake seemed good too -
although I can't remember if I've seen the original in full to give an accurate
comparison. It reminded me quite a lot
of Inception that I've seen recently and the special effects were very
accomplished. The ending was fairly
satisfying and there of course were lots of parallels that can be drawn with
global politics which I always find quite interesting.
Finally I went for Papadopoulos & Sons which was actually a lovely
film. It was the story of a self-made
Greek millionaire - Harry Papadopoulos - who over leverages himself and ends up
bankrupt apart from £25K cash and a closed down fish and chip shop that he
co-owns with his estranged brother.
When he is evicted from his mansion with his 3 children, they all decide
to move into the shop and re-open the business and it's a lovely exploration of
family connections, and whether money or happiness is more important. I really liked the film, it had a predictable
ending, but it wasn't too saccharine sweet and had some good performances from
some British actors.
I started to watch 2 days in New York which was quite good, but I just kept
falling asleep and then they collected up the headphones, so I'll have to have
another try at this one in the future perhaps.
The flight got in a little early to Heathrow and so my parents only had to
wait a few minutes for me and then drove me back. I gave them my presents, managed to eat some
curry takeaway before falling asleep very early for me at 10pm.
