After Julia’s little spree, which yielded no fruits, we had some hours to kill before we planned to meet two of our friends arriving from Kota Kinabalu to join us. We hoped to explore some Kuta night life later on.
Our petrol indicator said we had used no petrol and we only had the bike until the morning, so we figured we’d try to use some of the tank. Nusa Dua seemed an obvious choice. The rich-man’s part of town and during my travel agent days in Cape Town, it was the most popular place to book for holidays to Bali.
We drove around, spotted a board for Nusa Dua and blindly followed the signs. A good 30 minute later we were back where we started, gob smacked. On our second attempt to we followed the signs more closely, got onto the highway and the bike up to 70 kph, and eventually got to a public part of the otherwise private beaches that are Nusa Dua.
A short stint admiring the blue water and white beaches was followed by the return journey, which was a lot quicker than the drive there. Our travels had made us hot and thirsty and we rewarded ourselves with a Bintang (for me) and Bacardi Sprite in the pool. I wanted a large Bintang, but, said the bar lady at the pool bar as she gestured towards a board of surfer dudes behind her, they finished all of it.
We ogled at least 9 empty large Bintang crates behind her and looked at the dudes. Thankfully we knew the pool was heavily chlorinated each morning.
After soaking in the pool and beer, we had a brief nap before heading to the airport to meet Phyllis and John. The flight from Kota Kinabalu yielded numerous familiar faces. Pip and John were pleasantly surprised to see us. As Julia knew John was also quite keen on riding around on motorbikes, she suggested John and I take the bike back and she and Pip go in a taxi.
Dinner at TJ’s Mexican Restaurant in Poppies Lane 1
As KK is devoid a decent Mexican restaurant, TJ’s Mexcian Retaurant was welcomed as a great idea when Julia suggested it. Although the restaurant wasn’t particularly Mexican in theme, the menu was authentically inspired with a decent selection of dishes.
We immediately noticed a variety of tequila on the menu and had to have a Margaretha. I also ordered a round of shots for a night of good luck. TJ’s Mexican satisfied in quality of food and price. They closed at 23:00 and we were last to leave.
Legian Road
We exited through Poppies Lane 1 on the Legian Road side and wandered down the street lined with clubs and big surf-brand stores open till late. This is the street of the 2003 Bali Bombings, and recalling the mayhem of the many new articles written about it at the time, it sent chills down my spine.
The street has been declared a no-parking zone and security is visibly present. We discovered the brightly lit monument built on the site of the club that was destroyed during the blast. I noticed that 2 South Africans were amongst the many who perished.
T-shirts in nearby shops proclaimed “fuck terrorists – we love Bali” and it was encouraging to see many tourists were mulling about. We ventured into the Bounty Discotheque, right next to Paddies Club, lured in by images on a live screen showing the action of a foam party inside. We followed the directions of friendly staff, and made it to the pit. Aside from 4 surfer boys and one girl in the foam, a couple passionately exploring each other next to it, and several onlookers, the club didn’t have much going for it.
We next walked direction Kuta Beach Road along Poppies Lane 2, a long, narrow and winding road littered with surfboard shops, internet cafes, restaurants, convience stores and pharmacies.
Nearing Kuta Beach Road a spotlight attracted our attetion. It turned out to be Ocean Beach Club and was packed with people, so we ventured in.
Ocean Beach Club, Kuta Beach Road, Kuta
The club was filled with young, beautiful people and entertainers were working the crowds in weird and unusual costumes. We were invited in by friendly service staff with no cover charge.
Ocean Beach Club consists of a large area that includes several bars, a dance club area, outside seating on huge, comfortable couches, a swimming pool and a big screen with a grass verge.
The entertainers included two tiny girls dressed in skimpy clothing, walking on stilts that were made to look like FM boots. They necessarily garnered loads of attention and in the first part of our visit were doing gullet shots.
Another creature looked something like a scorpion or crab, also on stilts, but a full body costume with lights on it and claws. I pitied the person inside as the night was hot. Drinks were quite affordable and we lounged away the night.
Eventually we decided to try Double Six. We approached a taxi driver, haggled the fee death and set off on our journey.
Double Six Club, Seminyak
The bungee platform at Double Six seemed high, but not high enough for a first time bungee jump, something Julia, virgin-bungee’er, was considering. We were keen to go in and have a look, nevertheless.
From the short queue in front of us, many people were allowed in. When our turn came, they pointed us to a window for an entrance drink. It turned out to be Rp 60,000 for a small Bintang. The average price of a large Bintang is no higher than Rp 26,000, a small one is in the region of Rp 16,000. We weren’t that desperate to get in.
In the meantime, Pip had disappeared and we founder her on the verge of the beach, tossing her cookies. “Lightweight”, she said, “alcohol make me puke”. Her drink count for the night was 3.
This seemed like a good time to call it a night. And after a brief haggled taxi ride home, that’ exactly what we did.