Sukawati Market, Sanur Beach and a long journey home

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.