settling in and setting up

Day one was all about getting settled in and setting ourselves up for the rest of the week. Which is best done over a decent coffee. And in Seminyak that means Revolver. Or at least that is what the internet was telling us. At a little under 3km away it was a good choice for breakfast as it would take us a long a main shopping drag before the shops were open and before it got too hot. So after a quiet night - weirdly quiet considering the hustle and bustle all around - we got up and got wandering,

After a reasonable wander past a squazillion knock-off shops (I dread to think what Kuta is like!) we found our cafe. Not put off by what appeared to be a security guard on the closed-door-in-an-apparently-windowless-wall we went inside to find a cool - in both ways - bar. All dark and skulls and criminal underworld themed. Should really have clicked off some shots of the inside but didn't. If you find yourselves over here then you can do a lot worse. And yes, the coffee is pretty decent.

After brekkie we continued our wander. It was pretty warm by now, despite only being about 9am. I got into a conversation with a hawker; nice chap, a rep for a local hotel chain. I enjoy a natter, Sal not so much so she drifted off towards some better looking shops. I followed soon after, caught up with them in a clothes shop and then exited to keep on walking, camera in hand.

I found a few interesting things to snap pictures of. Some graffiti (of course!), the...er...petrol stations I guess? Loads of the tat-shops sell petrol to the scootered. The petrol is sold in plastic water bottles, or booze bottles - Absolut seeming to be a favorite. I particularly like how close people stand and smoke to these petrol stands.

Anyway, the rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent wandering a bit further along and then back to our villa. The turn point was on the beach at a hotel called Ku De Ta - bit out of our price range for this trip but looked rather nice. I dragged my heals on the way back - camera made me do it. A few pics of this and that - random diary stuff. My google pics album is here, unedited. I'm still a little taken aback whenever I see the Hindu swastika on a building and I know I should not be. They are relatively common on the temples.

We all had a collo off in the pool and then Sal went for her first massage. I booked into do some diving on Tuesday and Thursday and the kids entertained themselves picking pebbles up from the bottom of the pool before having a go at some Indonesian cartoons. The iPads came out pretty quickly.

Just to make sure my last post did not end as a lie, a few other things.

Holy shit, I forgot the most important thing from the morning (after Revolver.) H lost her tooth overnight. She got AUD$2 for it, bit in Indonesian Rupiah that is IDR205000. Her mind was a little blown.

Sal had spotted a rodent in a tree. I thought it looked like a squirrel. On the way out to dinner I confirmed my suspicions that said rodent was a
Plantain Squirrel. Go me! Other local wildlife news is so far summed up as:

• sparrows, to make me feel homesick
• other little tiny birds that I've yet to ID
• brown frogs, one of which was looking a bit skinny and unwell yesterday afternoon and very dead yesterday evening. It is currently being recycled, and I reckon it will be a small pile of bones by the weekend
• stray dogs, of which there are plenty, but they seem relatively unconcerned by people. And cars. And scooter, and, and, and...

And as is usual for my just before bed on the day after blogs, I'm running out of steam and think it is time to relax for a bit then go to bed. Out for dinner tomorrow night, so don't know if I'll get to blog about today's visit to the rice paddies at Ubud, the Kopi Luwak coffee and local teas, the Monkey Forest....but I'll get to it. And if I don't, at least you have a link to my photo album now.