Decadent Seminyak
Trip Start
Jun 10, 2012
1
3
14
Trip End
Jun 29, 2012
Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia
Thursday, June 14, 2012
We had a talk about the smiling and happiness. I don't think sarcasm exists here. Bitterness certainly has no place. Do the Balinese have stand up comedians? Do they have sitcoms? What is TV like? Do they have feel good talk shows and Martha Stewart style gardening and shrine design? Etiquette shows? I imagine many shows involve dancing and art. News with a smile. That would be nice.
Beach! We strolled in the heat, past the umbrella and pillow festival restaurants. Past the surfboards, and bars consisting of a guy with a smile and a cooler. The breeze sure felt good. Past the sunning Australians and Germans, a little disappointed none of the women were "going European". Past touts with kites, silver, hair braiding, mannycue peddicue, wooden sculpture, DVDs.
We realized we were hot and aimless so headed to a cute spot just off the beach, where there was construction going on next door. Have I mentioned the eternal construction?Always building, always improving. Our hotel had it going on, with apologies, from 7 to 6. I wonder if this place will be recognizable in ten years? Shawn says it will take 5.
Back to the cute spot. I think it was called Ocean Breeze. We faced the breezy ocean and had yummy lunches. I've been orderning the Gado Gado of boiled vegetables, peanut sauce and egg. Talk about yum! This time the greens were braided and held the meal on top, like a little hat. How could I eat something so lovely? I did. It was still good. It turns out we'd been getting a little too much sun. The food and shade cooled us down into normal thinking humans. We enjoyed some colorful juices that cleaned the insides before heading out to lie like beached whales.
We whaled for a couple of hours, sighing audibly at the relaxation of it all. Are we really that old? More smiling touts. Several fun dogs. A puppy. A tilting calliope of colors - the myriad umbrellas and lounge chairs (40,000 Rupiah). Reading and rolling over, turning in slow motion, like jello coming out of a mold. The fat ol sun does that to a person who just ate.
When we came too, we strolled back to our hotel to change and get moving to our next restaurant, one that came highly recommended. We took the beach way, walking alongside the aftermath of a sunset, and passed a ceremony in shadow: tassled umbrellas, boys and men in traditional skirts and hats, murmurs and soft laughter. Thick incense poured from a sillouetted shrine.
The beach front restaurant played mild club music and was baubled in red and white hanging lanterns. A fountain pool burbled in a plane of ebony furniture. Fancy! Security guards checked our bags at the door. It felt like LA. We had exquisite food and unforgettable cocktails. When asked if we were celebrating, Shawn told the waiter it was our "friendship moon".
After dinner it was martinis at a champagne bar, then the stroll home. Decadence for everyone!
