Bali

Sunday night saw me leaving work very quickly to travel to Kovan where I met up with Kathy and Helen to share a taxi to the airport for our flight to Bali. Michael had collected Mum from Robert's place and we were all at the airport in plenty of time for a snack before boarding. By the time we arrived at our villa in Ubud it was 1.30am and we were all rather tired but the villa certainly gave us a boost...especially when we were introduced to our butler!

Our Bathroom, complete with goldfish in the surrounding pond

Everyone was happy with our private pool

We got off to a slow start on Monday with a splash in the pool followed by a leisurely breakfast in the cafe overlooking the pool. Then it was back for more lolling about before hailing the shuttle bus for a trip in to town for lunch. Lunch was at a very pleasant eatery called Oops before we took a leisurely stroll through the market area. It was certainly the time to go as the crowds of earlier seem to fall away around 3pm...all the day trippers have returned to their coastal possies.
Helen and Kathy came over for dinner in, served by our butler, and an evening of cards...and perhaps the consumption of some duty free purchases.

continental breakfast...pancakes filled with strawberries

On Tuesday morning we opted for breakfast in our villa, served by our morning butler. We all enjoyed the fact that when we finished eating we picked up the phone and all the mess magically disappeared!

Part of the Indonesian Breakfast 

On Tuesday afternoon we arranged a 5 hour tour that took us into the country side around Ubud where we our first stop was at the Pura Taman Ayun Temple.

Built in the 1600s by the King of Mengwi, Pura Taman Ayun survives today as a beautiful example of a royal public temple. The descendants of the Mengwi royal family still sponsor the temple, which also serves as the clan kawitan temple (a temple dedicated to the worship of the deified ancestors, in this case the previous rulers of the Mengwi royal family).

"Taman Ayun" means "beautiful garden"; a moat surrounds the temple, which gives the complex the appearance of floating on water. A landscaped front courtyard entered through an ornamental candi bentar (split front gate) adds to the temple's beauty. The inner courtyard features a number of multi-tiered meru (pagodas).

Our second stop was at a nearby Monkey Forest, one of 4 in Bali apparently, where after a short stroll past a large number of monkeys with a local guide, we were shepherded into their stalls and pressured in to  buying their products. We declined although some members of our group did end up with some purchases.
The final stop on our tour was at Tanah Lot for the sunset. Tanah Lot stands on a rock some distance from the shore, towering over the sea. 

The temple's construction was supposedly inspired by the priest Nirartha in the 15th century; after spending the night on the rock outcrop where the temple now stands, he instructed local fishermen to build a temple on that site. A multimillion-dollar restoration effort in the 1990s saved Tanah Lot from falling into the sea.

Tanah Lot

It was very pleasant to dip our feet in the ocean as we made our way over to the island on which the temple stands where we received a blessing from the resident monks. Unfortunately you cannot get in to the temple area at all so we had to be content to watch the sunset ...with the hundreds of other people who were there for the same purpose. By the time we returned to Ubud we were all feeling weary so we decided to eat in again .

Spectacular sunset 

We began Wednesday the same way as the previous 2 days, delicious breakfast and a swim. While lolling about we heard the sounds of drumming and found the celebrations were going past our front door.

We had a look at some of the other accommodation options offerred and decided it was certainly a place to consider for a special celebration with a group!
After lunch it was into the minibus for our airport transfer. 10 minutes after leaving the villa, while sitting in near stationary traffic, our driver took a call to inform us that someone, who shall remain nameless, had left their phone and house keys in the safe! So back we went, a short distance that took half an hour due to the dreadful traffic congestion in Ubud. 
After arriving back in Singapore around 8pm it was a quick call to our Real Estate agent to organise the signing of our new lease as Michael was departing for Australia at 6.15am. Another job done before our new living arrangements begin!