Beijing/Bali Trip 2013 Day 7: Money Conversion Problems
After climbing the Great Wall and riding elephants, today was the start of the trip where it was less about sight seeing and more about resting and enjoying our time here in Bali. We woke up this morning with no plans and just the knowledge that this was our last full day at the Royal Pita Maha in Ubud, Bali.
We woke up at a leisurely pace and probably didn't get out of bed until after eight which is the latest we have slept in this entire trip. I can finally say that I think we are officially on their time zone. Once we got ourselves ready for the day we were off to breakfast. Instead of going to the buffet we decided to try the organic breakfast restaurant at the hotel which is located right on the river. It is only an extra $5 per person and you get a three course fully organic meal. I liked the breakfast a lot more then Jenn did but neither of us could argue with the fact that we had the whole restaurant to ourselves and the views were downright breathtaking. Jenn started with a morning bread basket, freshly squeezed orange juice, and scrambled eggs. I started with oatmeal, banana juice, and a crab cake eggs Benedict. Just as we were finishing up breakfast a gentleman from the hotel came with a small cake and wished us both a Happy Anniversary. Even if it was a day early it was a nice touch.
After breakfast we walked up to the lobby to take the free shuttle bus into the city center of Ubud. The ride itself only takes fifteen minutes and we were dropped off at a museum which had shopping in each direction. Of course now Jenn was on a mission and she went straight to clothes shopping. We spent a good hour or two walking up and down the streets of Ubud, Jenn got a few things while I even bought a locally produced red wine. We both hit a real low close to noon and headed back to the area where the free shuttle would take us back to the hotel. On the way back to the bus we came across yet another Starbucks so I made sure to get a quick iced carmel macchiato and we were on our way back.
When we got back to our Villa it was beautifully flowered with rose pedals both on the bed and in the bath tub. It was a really nice touch and even if it was a day early got us in the early anniversary mood. Jenn ended up taking a good hour nap while I worked on finishing up some of the photos/posts for the trip thus far. At around three in the afternoon it was pretty warm out again so I took advantage of our private pool while Jenn joined me outside and kept me company. The pool is gorgeous but a bit cold. No wonder since they get so much rain I would imagine even with the eighty degree heat its probably tough to keep them warm.
At around 5 PM we decided that instead of eating at the hotel again we would take the free shuttle into town and get a good authentic meal, and that's exactly what we got. Jenn had her eye on a restaurant from our shopping trip this morning and so we went straight there. The restaurant is called Cafe Lotus and it sits right on a huge lily pad garden where they do Balinese shows. We got a traditional table which meant no shoes and you sit on the ground. It was quite the experience. Jenn got a glass a couple glasses of red wine and I had their local beer.
To start Jenn got a mushroom soup and I had their crab and shrimp rolls. For our main entrees we both went with a variety of meats on skewers. Jenn got lamb skewers while I had those along with a beef and chicken skewer. The food was incredible. What was hilarious though was when we sat down to the table and looked at the prices they seemed incredibly high like 50 bucks a plate. However when I pulled out my phone and did the currency conversion I realized I had been doing the converting wrong all day. So what I thought would be over a hundred bucks was less then half of that. The flip side to that is that Jenn also realized this applied to her clothes shopping and her eyes lit up!
For desert Jenn was literally in heaven and got a Balinese Crepe which had bananas in it and vanilla ice cream on top. In a reverse of roles I instead went with just good old chocolate ice cream. After our amazing meal we went shopping at a few more stores, Jenn of course partook in helping with Indonesian economy and we headed back to the hotel not to long after. Today turned out to be both relaxing and just a ton of fun. Isn't that what trips are all about? Oh, and great food helps too.
