After breakfast, pakdokter and his partner were given another round of the 'Segari Giri' treatment to be followed by a 55-minute traditional 'Malay' massage. Honestly pakdokter could not make a difference between the traditional 'Malay' and 'Balinese' massage. Perhaps pakdokter had slept through the whole process.......
Lunch was served as part of the package and at about 1.00 pm we checked out for a weekend at downtown Kuta. The senior management staff of the resort were at the reception foyer to see us to our waiting limousines and we were each presented with a 'gift' of a 'boiled egg' in a small locally woven straw basket( bunga telur as we often take home at Malay weddings) so that we would all be blessed with 'fertility'........Hmm..at an age fast approaching 60.....do we still need to be fertile?....
Anyway, thank you pak Utomo ( resident manager at the Spa Village).....
We took the central route to downtown Kuta, instead of the same eastern coastal highway we came in on Wednesday. This route took us in a short westerly direction towards Tejakula before we turned left and up a steep mountain road towards Kintamani. Along the way we could see views of the Java Sea from several scenic spots. It took about an hour to reach Kintamani from where we could view the massive Lake Batur and the extinct volcanic Mount Batur (1700 metres)
The down-hill drive towards Kuta then became slow due to increasing traffic. It became worse as we approached Kuta and the traffic jam and dust made pakdokter wonder whether it was worth it to come to Kuta.
Fortunately once we checked-in into our Hard Rock Hotel in Kuta, pakdokter was happy to meet up once again with Russo and Ryo, the lovely boys of pakdokter's long-time friend from school, Maulana Rosli Azad Khan and his wife Maharani Linza, who had decided to join us for the weekend in Kuta from their current tour of duty in Singapore to escape from the searingly hot summer of Dubai where they are actually based.
Russo .....
Ryo....how fast you have grown up since pakdokter last saw you in Dubai in February..We dined at an alfresco Italian restaurant on Kuta Beach serenaded by a quartet of talented local musicians who played most of the songs we requested of them....
Siti and Hanie.....
Maulana Rosli Azad Khan and Maharani Linza listening to 'kaulah segalanya untuk ku....'
volareeee....
And despite such a long day, pakdokter wondered where we had the energy to then hang out at the 'Centre Stage' of the Hard Rock Hotel till late after midnight 'rockin' to the songs and music of a high-energy group of young musicians who called themselves 'Jogadanze'.....
What made Kuta 'great' was that even in a club like this, the whole family was welcomed! At the bar 2 young Ozzie kids who were probably just 4 years old sipped soda and swung to the dance and music of the sexy girls singing and dancing in short minis on the bar top. And 2 young Ozzie mummies sipped 'Bintang' beer from the bottle while the little infant slept peacefully in her 'pram' behind their bar-stools, oblivious of the din from the stage.......
we will, we will ,we will rock you........
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