Chronicles :
Day 2, 11/6, Tues : We had a simple (nicer word for plain?) breakfast at the hotel and we lazed by the pool the whole morning. Had a dip in the pool (it was sooo cold!) and sat in the sun to dry off. He tore off the gauze on his leg and after our swim, we discovered a swarm of savage ants crawling all over the bloodied gauze. I was lucky I did not get to see the whole thing. By that time, he had already burnt the gauze to get rid of the ants.

We learnt today : Gauze burns easily.

After our shower, we walked down to this very cosy restaurant down the road called Kopi Pot. It serves Satay (spelt as Sate on the menu) in the most elaborate manner I have ever seen. The steamed rice comes in a little cane basket lined with a piece of banana leaf. The sauce comes in a separate dish and the 10 sticks of meat were served on a miniature charcoal grill with pieces of burning hot charcoal in it. We sat upstairs and the ambience was really that of a little rooftop garden.

Did I mention that I had been drinking the local Bintang beer since i touched down? Had one at Mama's (German Restaurant) the night before and had one again during lunch. I don't normally drink beer you know.

We went window shopping after lunched. Walked down Legian street (which is pretty long and has 2 rows of shops lined up along both sides. Then we went back to our hotel for a shower and I called Sandy, MJ and Mel up for dinner. We arranged to meet at KFC, Matahari Square at 7pm.

We took a cab to the beach at about 5+ to catch the sunset. Little did I know that when we set foot on the sand, we were immediately bombarded with peddlers trying to sell scarves, bracelets, leather chokers, hair-braiding services, massage, manicure and pedicure, temporary tattoos and more. It was quite scary. They swarm around you, pushing their goods into your face. Women touting hair braiding services would shove a picture of a well-braided girl under your nose. This lady asked if I wanted a massage on my shoulders. She was kneading at my shoulders as she spoke and she even had the audacity to tell me that the kneading on my shoulders as she spoke were free-of-charge! I have not even mentioned about her outraging my modesty for rubbing my shoulders without my permission!

I had originally wanted to try out hair-braiding, so we bargained for a price and the lady spread out a beach scarve on the sand, on which I was to sit while she began braiding my terrified hair. Once I sat down, 6 other women knelt down next to me insisting that I purchase their services. One woman grabbed my hand and gave me a manicure on my left pinky for free as a demo. Subsequently, he bargained for a good price and I got all 10 fingernails done. To cut the long story short, there was 1 woman doing my nails, 2 rubbing my feet with lotion, 1 rubbing my hands and 3 braiding my hair. I have never had so many women "beautifying" me at one shot!

I am tired and will sleep now. Will continue this when I come back from the next camp , Camp Explorer, which starts today, 15/6. I got to wake up at 6:30am later!