You gotta watch the sunset at Kuta Beach, Annie says. You gotta stay in a private villa, Raymond says. So on one of those mad end of the year moment, we decided to book Air Asia and go.
After some surfing, we booked Villa Damai , which promised a butler, driver, cook and massage for every one - wow a weekend of heavenly paradise. It was one of my first internet booking for Bali and with money upfront - no refunds. So when Annie asked , How ??? - I said a little prayer and said go ahead.
We took the family minus the spouses as it was again one of those mad last minute dashes typical of us and all our better halves couldnt make it. Too bad.
It was our first Air Asia flight and we had heard about the rushing for the best seats so we sent our best scout , Christopher. Because we had mum and dad with us, we were suppose to get priority but whatever priority we had ,was lost when the gate opened and it was like a free for all. That's when you appreciate MAS. Mum and Dad cannot beat these young Air Asia frequenter as they hobbled on to the airplane. However, thanks to Chris, they did get seated together. The black, leather seats were great and though the maggi mee was way overpriced, the combination with nescafe and nasi lemak was so goood.... The kids tugged in especially when you limit the portions.
Anyway, we got in late and the access road into the villa in Jimbaran was dark and creepy. The villa was the typical Bali villa and was dimly litted but the staff was all lined up to give us the warm welcome. We ordered MacDonalds takeaway as were too tired to go out. Macs in Bali - what a meal...
The next morning, though, was glorious - breakfast in the garden , beside the pool, a beautiful scenery of the myriad colorful bouganvillas and the faraway in the horizon - Bali beach. We had bacon, eggs, sausages, toast, pancakes, fresh juices and a view to tuck in . This ...is the private villa living that I imagine.
Our day started with a trip to Kintamani to see the volcano and on the way back was the rice terraces at Tegal Lallang. The volcano trip was a bit long and way too crowded. We lunched at a restaurant with a great view of the mountain but with swarming flies and an overpriced buffet which surprisingly was reduced when I looked like I was going to walk out. The view by itself was not enough though to make up for the downsides. And to top it all , the moment we walked out, we were swarmed again , this time by peddlers of souvenirs, t-shirts , jewellery and one particular woman was tearing when I said no even after she lowered the price of her t-shirt to a ridiculous amount. As I left the place and even days after when I think of the lady I kept kicking myself for not just taking the t-shirts.
The day ended on a happy note though because, the villa staff cooked a wonderful lobster meal - our best dinner in Bali really. After the dinner, we enjoyed the pool, drank a bottle of overpriced Chilean wine because we didn't purchase any at duty free and ate more bacon, sausages chips which the kids cleaned up despite the heavy duty dinner we had.
Villa living - more like pig living...
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