Woe be to those who get a budget airline for a long-haul flight. Luckily though my arrival in Bali could not have been more pleasant as my sister had booked me into the 'VIP arrival service'. I was met at the door of the plane, escorted past all the lines, immediately given my visa, a man picked up my luggage and I was in the car all within five minutes of landing. Goodbye budget backpacking!
For the first week of my stay in Bali I am sharing a villa with my sister, my soon-to-be-brother-in-law Graham and my mum in the town of Seminyak, while Graham's family have the neighbouring two villas. Seminyak is Indonesia's version of Miami - stuffed with high-end designer boutiques, champagne bars, fashionable clubs and luxury spas - and the streets are lined with bronzed, beautiful people. Once again, goodbye budget backpacking!
Villa-life appears to be a Bali institution as wherever you look you find stunning designer pool houses boasting well-heeled Westerners supping cocktails in the sun and enjoying the fruits of dirt-cheap domestic help. Next week for the wedding itself we are booked into an absolute palace. However, mindful of budget we have started more modestly and have avoided Downton-Abbey-esque grandeur as yet. Nonetheless, modesty here would still appear a little, well, immodest as our villa is heavenly compared to some of the backpacker dives I've been staying in.
Our three villas are reached down this charming little path.
(The interior decor may not be traditional Indonesian fare, but we'll survive)
(look at the size of my bed! - every night it is left strewn with fresh flowers)
(my private bathroom - it is larger than some houses I've lived in)
(bowls of fresh flowers abound)
(the table is always beautifully set)
The biggest draw of our villa though are the fantastic staff. The security guards at the entrance welcome us with smiles each time we pop in and out, the head maid is a font of all knowledge and the pool cleaner is unfazed by all the crap that Oscar has taken to throwing into the pool. Above all else though, there is Dayoo - our maid/cook/babysitter/love-of-our-life. With a seemingly limitless amount of energy, she restores the villa each day to perfection, launders our clothes, cooks whatever our whims might demand, keeps the fridge stocked with freshly squeezed juice and ripe fruit and still finds time to look after Oscar whenever we fancy a swim. I repeat, if this is a modest villa, what do we have to look forward to next week?
Day 89: 23/05/11
Today was mostly spent getting used to our new surroundings (i.e. sunbathing in the glorious 35 degree heat) and watching Oscar's glee at his new home (and Hull City Yoda-towel).
Venturing out into the town I was struck by two things. One is the ubiquity of the canang sari offerings - these are little leaf boxes containing ceremonial gifts to the gods that literally litter the streets and cover nearly all surfaces. They are made daily (even in our villa by Dayoo) and contain everything from flowers and incense to sweets and lollipops. I was initially wary of accidentally stepping on them, but it turns out that that is actually what one is supposed to do!
Secondly, I was struck by the sheer incongruity of the high-end designer stores sitting amid traditional Hindu and Buddhist architecture.
Today Dayoo made us some Nasi Goreng - a stir fried rice dish containing sweet soy sauce, garlic, chicken, tamarind, shallots, egg and chili - and the girls relaxed with a manicure and pedicure.
Day 90: 24/05/11
I decided to buy a new wardrobe after three and a half months' of the same few
T-shirts day after day. As might be imagined, things are somewhat cheaper here and I successfully managed to exchange my Primark and H&M for Ralph Lauren, D&G and Paul Smith. As however I am spending my days almost entirely in swimming trunks I haven't yet had a chance to try these out.
For lunch Dayoo made us Mie Goreng - the same dish as Nasi Goreng, but this time with noodles.
It would seem however that everyone in the extended families is on a pre-wedding diet, so for dinner tonight we shunned the fried goods and instead Dayoo made us a chicken salad.
Day 91: 25/05/11
You can take the family out of England, but when the chance for an afternoon high tea presented itself we couldn't refuse. Half the table went for the traditional fare accompanied by some lovely crockery and tea-cosies.
The other half (me included) went for the Asian High Tea - a veritable tasting menu of Asian delights. We began with salak (the fruit of the Indonesian palm tree) poached in cinnamon and star anise
This was followed by dadar gulung (a coconut pancake roll), a Balinese samosa with a date chutney, Vietnamese spring rolls, a tart of ayam sisit with sambal matah (shredded roast chicken, shallot, lemon grass, lemon salsa and sauteed fern tips), a curried egg sandwich (much nicer than it sounds), date scones with mango jam, Moroccan orange cake with rose tea syrup, pineapple and mint agar-agar (a vile jelly), kue mochi (a delicious glutinous rice ball) and to drink I chose a rather fine masala chai (though spicy as hell).
(we didn't eat the accompanying chili)
(a look of decadent abandon)
Day 92: 26/05/11
Now the danger of booking your wedding venues on the Internet is that in person the places might prove a tad disappointing. What promises to be tasteful is so often tacky, what says it is high-end is instead a converted sewer. Therefore it was with some trepidation that we arrived at the unusually named 'Potato Head Beach Club', an exclusive beach resort which will provide the setting for the welcome-to-Bali drinks party next week.
The entrance was suitably grand ...
... and to our surprise through the gates a true paradise unfolded itself, far far surpassing the bride and groom's expectations.
(the perfect beach)
(the infinity pool)
(Club Tropicana drinks are free)
(the very happy couple)
(Oscar enjoying the pool bar)
(my sun bed)
(Being a Hindu Island, Bali does love a cow or two on the beach)
(none of this could compare to the blue of Oscar's eyes though)
The pool was filled with tanned-and-toned models and their rich 60-year-old sugar daddies, hyper-cool music played through speakers in the palm trees and highly attentive waiters were all to eager to bring us drinks and food:
(a tequila prawn and mango ceviche served with a further shot of tequila on the side)
(some delicately presented crudités)
(this time a tuna and avocado ceviche)
(Oscar loved the bread sticks)
As the wedding date approaches more and more of the bride and grooms friends are arriving on the island and we were joined today by three further families. Together we watched the sun go down and thanked our hosts for choosing Bali for their wedding and not a dingy London hotel.
(the sunset brought out my Essex orange skin-tone)
This looks AMAZING. Lizie and I are very jealous as we sit in our hostel in Medellin eating pot noodles and looking forward to a good nights sleep in our bunk beds. P.S the keratin seems to be working!
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