Went for a quick walk along the beach after brekky. It was stinking hot. It must have been almost 30 degrees. I chickened out and headed back to the air-conditioned room for some respite from the heat. What to do in this heat? A nice relaxing massage indoors of course. 15,000r for taxiride (A$1.60 - A$1:9,200r) to get to Bali Collection, shopping centre next door. 30,000 for the return ride (A$3.25). Don't ask me why it's double charge.
Princess & I decided to dip our feet into the fish spa. Little fish called Garra Rufa from the carp family are imported from Turkey. They nibble on human skin, feeding on dead cells from the human body. They are known to provide temporary relief for many skin ailments. They are also very relaxing... supposedly. It was the strangest feeling. It felt like a thousand flies landing and taking off from your legs. The soft nibbly sensation takes a while to get used to. It cost about $10 for 20 minutes of fish spa therapy. It's taken off in Asia the last few years and we just had to give it a go. The fish swarm around your legs as soon as you dip them in. They are like toothless little piranhas. After much giggling and girly hand-holding for moral support, we finally got used to the funny sensation after a few minutes. It was very interesting.
This photo shows how the fish swim up to feed on your fingers as soon as you put them in. Photos of our experience were taken on a my compact camera which is upstairs in my room. I will upload a few on my next blog.
After booking a special 4 hour pamper package, Princess & I decided to grab a light lunch at nearby Hanabi Japanese restaurant. Sushi was yummy and my favourite sake was beautiful. The owner of the restaurant, Budi came for a quick chat. He owns several restaurants in Bali and after a good chat about our love for food, he rang his staff from his restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Hotel to bring us their signature dish, the seafood avocado salad. The dish was on our table literally within minutes of the call. It tasted really good. Princess who has never liked avocado wolfed it down faster than you can say avocado. Budi poured me several more cups of sake which only minutes ago, was gifted to him by his regular Japanese visitors who had only arrived in Bali that morning - I never say no to sake (!). These four couples from Japan visit Bali twice a year for almost twenty years now and for the last seven years, dine at Budi's restaurant almost everyday during their holiday. They often rock up and order food not in the standard menu.
Talk got onto preparation of food when he offered to teach us how to prepare sushi. No kidding. He would send a car to pick us up tomorrow morning at 9am. Hmmm... is this guy for real? Anyway, only time will tell.
After details were exchanged & a little more sake than I was prepared, I staggered merrily towards our spa. 4 hours of bliss. Started with a foot bath, foot massage, herbal massage (herbs wrapped in a hand-held heat compress), full-body scrub - green tea for me and coffee for Princess followed by a facial, quick shower and then finished off with mani & pedi. All for A$150 for the two of us.
The herbal massage was fabulous. Most skillful masseur and the most relaxing massage. I didn't want it to end. The combination of the heat and the herbs left our skin tingling. The scrub on the other hand, I found very messy and uncomfortable. The masseur used just enough pressure to spread the paste on. Then she scrubbed it all over my body while I'm lying on the massage table in only a disposable underwear, turning me over to work on the whole body. A towel was then used to scrub it all off. Lying there on the mess was my least favourite part of the whole pamper package. Felt yucky. The choices include: lulur (whitening), coconut, green tea, coffee, strawberry, milk and seaweed. My skin felt truly amazing after the scrub. It was glowing! So soft, hydrated and shiny. I loved it. The result is truly worth the mess and discomfort for me. I have a scrub at least once a year.
More cocktails for me before dinner (naturally) before we finished off the night for me to go body butter and body scrub shopping at the local supermarket. The beauty products are C&G - cheap and good. I brought back some coffee scrub at my last visit three years ago and I've come back for some more.
Don't forget to follow my blog tomorrow to see if Budi keeps his promise...
...abroadin5inchheels
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