Bali has developed a lot in some areas over the last 10 years.
When I visited a friend here in 1993 we met in Kuta and he said he was going to take me to a hip place called the Goa Café in an area called Legian. This was supposedly the better quality area back then.
We stayed at the house of a friend of his who was a bit of a recluse. The house was Balinese style, 2 storey with massive Javanese furniture, couches 9 feet wide and 4 feet deep. The house was surrounded by an area of jungle and I remember my bed had a double layer of thick mosquito of netting like something out of a Humphrey Bogart movie. Recently I asked my friend where that house was and he said “You know where Benny’s is on Blue Ocean Beach in Legian? Go another 100 yards south and that’s where it would be.” I was amazed. The jungle has been totally mowed down, a big hotel is there now. Expats tell me that the area called ‘Rum Jungle Rd’ was also actually a jungle at one time.
Following the development of Legian came Seminyak directly north. I remember getting postcards from my friend listing his address in Legian-Seminyak. This area includes Jl. Dhyana Pura which is the un-official party street in the area and Jl. Oberoi which is the fast becoming restaurant street.
I’m looking for a new place to live and yesterday I rode around one of the latest places to develop, Umalas. This quiet backwater once a rolling sea of rice paddies is now becoming a sea of villas. There is a new Café Moka out here and I’ve been to a couple of very nice places out here.
Riding around in the small lanes in Umalas I notice a mixture of local house with locals going about their business and newer more exclusive looking places. ‘ Access‘ is a word you’ll here out in this neighborhood. You can find places to live, you can also find land that is available to build on, but getting from the main road to these places isn’t the easiest. I stopped and talked to one young lady who told me her sister has houses for rent. We rode to her house and I handed over my business card. Her sister contacted me today with an ad for villas. Whether she actually rents them herself is another story but its all about connections.
Last night I met up with Vincent and Akari who are living in Ubud. Vincent got his 20 year old laptop stolen as well as his ‘made in England compatible with nothing PDA’. The items were taken from the house they are renting but he’s not too upset by it. We think it might be an ‘inside job’ as some of the ‘security men’ are opportunist bastards.
I gave Akari one of my homemade margaritas and it went down quite well…she asked for another. We stroled down Jl. Oberoi about 8.30pm to check out a new place I heard about. Rumours looks quite trendy with a central bar and music going on. The menu is bargain basement for Seminyak, I ordered a sirloin steak for 25,000rp! We thought Rumours was pretty good value and if you are on a budget or just a cheap-skate this is a place to try.
The night was not over and our next stop was Stadium Café on Jl. Kartika Plaza for the Chelsea vs. Leicester City game at 10pm. Vincent is from Leicester and suffers annually through their campaign. The 15 minute drive cost 15,000rp. I predicted a 7-0 thrashing. Chelsea demonstrated superiority early and went on to win 4-0. My attempts to cheer Vincent up during the game ( “lets pretend Leicester corners = goals” ) wasn’t met kindly.
Vincent there is an afterlife…its called Arsenal.
Suprisingly after the game had finished at around midnight the place started to fill up with men in white and black stripey shirts. Newcastle United were playing ManUre and we stayed for the first half of that one. I must say I always feel lucky to be watching soccer in Bali. Having my cake and eating it.
Stadium is a great place to watch sports but you’ve got to know the drink situation. The other day I drank Long Islands which go for 46,000rp a pop. Last night I went for the ‘3 beer deal’…3 beers for 30,000rp. You can find cheaper beer but 30,000rp to sit and watch 3 hours of sport isn’t bad.
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share             
|
