Seminyak Day 1

Our red eye flight with Jetstar from Cairns arriving into Denpassar at about 2am was not the idyllic way to start our holiday in Bali but our arrival greeting at Umna Sapna Villas was warm and wonderful, so the flight was soon forgotten.  Waiting for us in our Villa was a delicious green ginger tea and fruit platter that hit the right spot after our 4½ hour flight.

Here are some photos inside our private Villa called "Bunaken".

We had said to our friends who are also staying at Umna Sapna, to not expect us at breakfast on our first day.  We thought we would need to catch up on sleep but alas, sleep eluded us. We wandered over to Kilo Kitchen Restaurant when we woke and it was a lovely surprise see our friends sitting there enjoying breakfast.  

Over breakfast we decided that we would walk around Seminyak to get our bearings and stop for lunch when we found somewhere nice.  After about an hour walking we heard music playing down an alleyway so we followed the sound and found ourselves in a grassy area where we ordered local Bintang Beer and listened to the music.  After awhile the musicians left so we made our way back along the main street in Seminyak to find somewhere to eat lunch.  

The streets of Seminyak are very narrow and crowded with motorbikes and vehicles.  There doesn't appear to be any street rules and I think the main idea is to bully your way and ride/drive with courage! The sidewalks are extremely narrow and you can only walk single file.  If you stumble you are right in the path of traffic so extreme care must be taken when negotiating the sidewalks.  

We eventually found a lovely place to eat lunch and I can always tell if the food is going to be good by the standard of the rest rooms.  These were exceptionally clean and oh so pretty! 

I chose a "sampler" dish for my meal and it was definitely the right choice.  Amongst many things on the platter were chicken satay, beef rendang,  chicken green curry, eggplant relish and a large banana "cone" of rice. 

After lunch we went back to our respective villas for a nanny nap so that we could enjoy a beach sunset and dinner latter in the evening. 

We were all to meet at reception at 5pm and what a wonderful surprise we had to have two of Kurt's old school friends greet us! There were also in Bali for a bit of RnR.  Michelle was Kurt's girlfriend for many years and Trina is our friends eldest daughter.  I shed tears of joy at seeing them and even more tears were spilled when I was presented with a birthday dessert "platter" and the whole restaurant sang "Happy Birthday"!

The restaurant that Trina and Michelle had booked us into was five star all the way.  The food was some of the best I have ever eaten.  Philip and I shared a BBQ'd seafood platter that was loaded with Prawns, Lobster, Scallops, Calamari, Soft Shell Crab and a ceviche salad all for the princely sum of $45 AU.  Food is very cheap in Bali.

Everyone came back to our Villa for night-caps that ended up going on until midnight, but it was oh so enjoyable to be with great friends and company.