Shopping Mecca and the First Birthday Party (One of Many)...

I woke up feeling almost 100%.  I'm finally getting over my jetlag - how lame is that?  It was lovely to wake up to the sweet sounds of birds and other creatures, but still not fun getting bitten alive.  I don't think my bug repellant is working...

For breakfast, the villa staff set out a nice array of exotic fruits, pancakes, juices, eggs, and pastries.  (not great, but nice)  At breakfast, we chatted with a couple (B & E) and they were super fun and nice, gorgeous couple too!  (They have the most romantic story - married 6 years, they met on a flight, and then chatted for hours during a layover, whereupon B convinced E to give him her email address.  After that they would speak together for hours on the phone and then they started dating.

   He said that by the 3rd date, he knew he wanted to marry her.  wow!  that's certainty for you - but then who can blame him - she's gorgeous, smart and fun!) 

After breakfast, V, A, C and I headed out to shop at Seminyak!  V had told me that the shopping was amazing and super cheap, but I didn't know what to expect.  I guess I thought it would be more handicraft, folksy stuff, but I was soooo wrong.  There were tons of trendy boutiques selling the most gorgeous sundresses, sandals, handbags, jewelry, etc. - all at amazing prices.  A and I got so excited, we totally missed the meeting spot, lost V and C, and realized we had no idea how to get back to the villa (or the name of our villa to call for a driver). ..  Luckily before panic set in, we found V and C on the street looking for us after about an hour.  Thank goodness!

(Shopping Note:  We found that most of the shopping in Seminyak was fixed pricing - i.e., no bargaining.  But in Ubud, you can bargain at most places.  Once you get the agreed-to price, the vendors did honor it - not true for Siem Reap, so be careful when shopping there!)

On the way back to the villa, we stopped by a local cafe to grab the Indonesian version of "fast food".  Essentially different foods are already prepared and lined along the display window, and you just point to what you want and they fill up a banana leaf (?) and wrap it up for you.  I had some rice, an egg, some curried beef and veggies for about $2 USD.

  When we returned to the villa, our poor friends who opted out of shopping to lay out by the pool had been waiting for 3 hours for lunch.  (The villa is nice but the staff is excruciatingly slow.  It did cause some problems during our stay, but sometimes you just have to give into "balinese time", but that's more difficult when you are hungry... Also some of the baths are a tad outdated but serviceable - the 2nd villa (Ohi) is definitely more updated with a better layout.)  We sat by the pool and relaxed a little with some cocktails. 

For dinner, V had arranged for a lovely dinner party at the villa - we had grilled fish, skewers, a variety of salads, chicken curry etc.  Again the food at the villa is just ok, but it was lovely eating in the veranda area, with music playing.   (J and his roomie seemed to be hitting it off - super cute!)  We danced, drank, sang into the night (and for some, into the wee hours of the morning).  My foot was turning blue at this point (quite frightening) but I danced on it anyways.  Everyone had a great time!  V's friends are all really nice and fun.  Not sure how I got back to my room - according to J, I was "sloppy drunk", which probably meant I just said things w/out properly filtering them first.  I'm a blunt person, and that translates to comedy esp when drunk.  :)

Unfortunately A got sick.  :(