Thurs - 3rd June - 4th Day

Had an Indonesian breakfast this morning - Nasi Goreng and Fruit Juice. It was nice, but the best part was the company. The "waiter" I guess you could call him, sat down at my table for a chat. His nickname is "Junior", and his real name is Wayan, which means first born.

At 8am, my driver picked me up to go to the cooking course. The course costs 240,500 (about AUD $37) We drove to a rural village called Gulingan. It's a wealthy area to live, but not considered as wealthy as other areas.



After about 40 minutes of driving, we walked along rice terraces to get to the house. They served soft drink (coke, fanta, etc) when we got there, although I just drank my water. Then they served sweet-potato chips, and 2 other delicious things that I can't remember the names of. One of them was made from a root of a plant, and the other tasted like golden syrup dumplings except crispier. The centre of the treat was made from palm sugar. Mmmmm.

Then we went for a walk around the village while we were waiting for the traditional Balinese coffee to be served.

The walk was really the highlight for me. It's fascinating to see how they live. Every place had their own temple. There was water from a river along the sides of the roads. Things were very quiet and relaxed here.

The company on this tour was the best. Tony came (Melbourne guy who piked out on the cruise), as well as a family from Adelaide (mum, dad, and 2 young primary-school aged children).
The kids were really quiet and well behaved, I think because they were worn out from the previous day @ the water fun park.

After the walk, we drank the thick, grainy, goup that is the traditional Balinese coffee.

It only starts to taste good with about... hmm.. 6 (SIX!) heaped sugars :)

Then it was time to cook.
We basically just watched them prepare the food, then each of us had a small turn @ mimicking while the rest of us either criticized or praised our attempts ;). Then we got to eat it - YUMMO.



Yellow Rice, Chicken Satay, Beans - I can't remember what else. Small spiders kept crawling all over me :(

Being out there was so very different than Kuta. It was hot and green and so relaxing. The company is really what made it great though, bad company could've ruined the whole event.

We got back into Kuta, then I went shopping @ a "fixed price" "air-conditioned" shopping centre. Except for the prices and items available, it is much the same as, shopping at somewhere like Myers, Central Square (Ballarat).

I bought some crap because it was cheap, and as I walked back to the hotel, I spotted another lady from the hotel at a bar and she asked me over to join her.
I had a tequila sunrise. Ahh, the life of holidays...I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I can drink "cos I don't have to drive". That mentality hasn't really hit me yet.

A couple of friendly guys asked us over to their table but she was a snob and said no. I guess she isn't very interested in meeting new people since she spends most of her time by the hotel pool reading books.

I went back to the hotel and here I sit.

I have just about finished packing all my stuff up to go to Denpasar tomorrow and shortly I will have a shower and get ready for my last night on the town.
I'm supposed to meet up with Nick tonight at Tubes for drinks, but I might have dinner there as well if I don't find anything tempting along the way.

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Went to Tubes, had a drink and some dinner with Nick.
Nasi Goreng again!! But only because it was the only Indonesian dish on the menu.

We then went to a place and I bought some Jack Johnson CD's and a few new-release DVDs.

Then we went to Paddies (Paddy's?). Paddies is where all the Western types go now since Sari was bombed. Paddies has one fantastic atmosphere, I really loved it there (although it was probably the company again that made it so great). This is my last night in Kuta.



Nick & I drank @ the bar for a couple of hours. Nick was drinking some lethal shit. After a few, I decided to just drink water - it tastes better and well, I wasn't sure of his jokes about me staying with him, etc. We are attracted to each other, but I have no intention of going there, I just want to meet new people and party, I'm not here for romance.

Byron turned up, so I grabbed his mobile number and might catch up with him one night before he leaves (18th June).

I decided to walk back to my hotel about 11:30pm as it's about a 15min walk. On the way, I stopped and chatted to Ivan, who is a really friendly driver.


Bedtime now.