12-OCT - Sat - Our 17th monthiversary with la mamma

What better way to celebrate our 17th monthiversary than in company of a special guest? We started our day by ditching the daily beach work-out and instead tried a local vegan café just down the road. Apparently the vegetable of the moment is “kale”, the new super cauliflower which fully detoxes you: we just had to try it! Not much different from a normal cauliflower, in our opinion, but hey, if this is the vegetable of the moment, it is a must! Food was very yummy and we will be going back more often, for a healthy breakfast. Our next step was to arrange transportation for the couple of days la mamma is visiting, and in Bali the preferred and most effective mode of transport is a scooter! As three of us would not fit on one scooter… then again, plenty of Balinese do use the scooter as a mass transport vehicle, but that shall not be us. We bargained our regular scooter outlet down, for a second scooter and off we went to pick up mother and convince her that, one: scooting is the best option for getting around; two: we are very safe motorists; three: we are now accustomed to local road conditions. Not much convincing was required; guess one does trust two adult 39-year olds! We spent the rest of the morning scooting all the way down the main strip to a larger shopping area, to seek shade during the midday heat, and mum absolutely loved the ride! On our return back to la mamma’s hotel, we decided to take advantage of the luxury offered by the W Hotel and joined her by the hotel pool, which faces the ocean (and the sea was displaying its usual spectacle of crazy crushing waves, where only a fool would jump in). After our pool-side relaxation, it was time for dinner at Nook, the local restaurant set in the midst of rice paddies, looking like a white cruise liner sitting in the middle of a calm green ocean. We all enjoyed the view, with swooping bats doing their acrobatics and keeping us mosquito free. The food, the wine and of course the company, made for a most pleasant surroundings to celebrate our 17th monthiversary. By now darkness and the cool air had truly set in, making it perfect conditions to take a stroll down the main strip and window shop. We must confess that one finds it hard not to dig into one’s wallet, when walking down the main strip in Legian/Seminyak, where one can find boutique after boutique of locally made, very fashionable clothes. After all, someone has to kick start the world economy, so why not make it us!? The day ended with these three Australians sipping a drink at the Woobar (W Hotel’s bar by the ocean), under lanterns and good music. What a day!