Vintage Gili T

Vintage Delivery on Gili T

We had heard of Gili T's little vintage shop but on an island only settled in the 70's, with no motorised traffic and a population of just 800, we didn't expect it to be quite so bloody brilliant!

no shoes-there's plenty more indoors

Tootling around the island,just a hop away from Bali and famous for its tepid turquoise waters, white sands and laid back hippy vibe, we weaved amongst the backpackers, divers and Cidomos (horse and cart.) Soon enough we spotted the shabby wooden arrow pointing us towards 'Vintage Delivery.'

pretty prints

Like big kids in a candy store we rummaged through piles of pretty printed frocks and stacks of vintage levis jean shorts, all displayed on the large porch-we weren't even inside yet and we were already overcome with excitement!

Rach rocking those butt hugging Levis!

This cute little store with beautifully merchandised men's and ladieswear, also had an array of vintage-esqu sunglassers, chic leather handbags and chunky jewellery.

By now we both had a pile of goodies to try, fortunately many of the dresses were too snug for me, as I had fallen in love with any that did fit, I could see the bill was totting up!

the much coveted playsuit

trying on the sunnies

As we argued over who took the monochrome striped playsuit, we were informed they had a second store just a short cycle away. Oh no! This was a bigger, more expensive store, good job our modest room was dirt cheap!

So off we popped on our bicycles, with a mountain of garments on hold for us.

dresses everywhere

Now this store was really something, as we pulled up a tall, dark handsome man sat on the porch, sipping a cocktail, vintage dresses hanging over open windows and laid back beats sang from his retro record player. I think he was the owner, married to the clever Swede who carefully sources her collections internationally, buying for both her own store and numerous others across the globe

more dresses

 swimwear wardrobe

More piles of dresses, folded on vintage furniture greeted us, as well as swimwear, and other little nic-nacs like retro miniatures and a particularly special gold palm tree bangle.

Second try-on commenced, including dancing like idiots to the handsome man's awesome tunes! They were loving our giddy and ridiculous catwalk show, we really made the most of our time in the store! 

for the boys

The helpful sales assistant welcomed our frantic rummaging, saying "just chuck it on the floor if you don't want it!" It all made for a unique and pleasurable shopping experience. And so what if we had spent the whole afternoon shopping instead of sightseeing! 

Armed with a bag full of beautiful dresses each, we hopped on our bikes, cancelled our fine dining restaurant booking and wolfed down street food in new frocks!

We stayed at Gili Nyepi which was pretty basic but the equivalent of $10 a night and left us with enough change to raid the vintage store! http://gilinyepi.com/

my favourite mode of transport

We had a superb lunch on the beach at Why Not bar, where the ladies cooked up a storm of fresh curries before our eyes, all for the bargain price of around $7 each.

curry on your crotch on the beach

The night markets cater to the backpacker on a budget but we ended up eating there twice, partly because we'd blown the budget on dresses but also the food was exceptional, as long as you like your curries with a kick!

sweating over the spicy goodness at the night markets

Scallywags on Gili T did a great seafood BBQ and we had a lovely afternoon at their other restaurant on Gili Air. We took a random blokes boat to the more tranquil Gili island, anchoring right outside Scallywags, where you can lounge on the paradise island in style, sipping sangria and cooling off in those stunning turquoise waters.  http://www.scallywagsresort.com/

laid back and lovely

door to door service scallywags gili air

If you are lucky enough to visit Gili T, be sure to make time to try on in both of these wonderful vintage stores.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Casa-Vintage/342649992510028

Ubud Day 2

Sight Seeing in Sarongs

Following everyone's advise and with only one day left, we hired a driver to do a whistle stop tour of Ubud and it's surrounds. It sounds extravagant but at $40 for the whole day, it seemed like a bargain. 

stunning rice terraces

Worth every penny, we had our own list of places we wanted to check out and Wayan was very obliging, throwing in his own knowledge and personal experiences of his home town. Typically proud and flattered that westerners want to visit their island, an attitude that shone through everywhere we went. 

Temples featured on our list, armed with our Desa Seni Sarongs and looking like a couple of badly dressed lesbians we were ready to explore. Most impressive and surprisingly moving was Tirta Empul. Built around hot springs that still bubble in the central courtyard, this place was heaving and most weren't tourists. Now, on the rare occasion I have visited temples, never before have I seen them so in use as this one. The Balinese come here to cleanse physically and spiritually. 

beautiful Tirta Empul

Watching the young mothers lift their little ones in to the water, smiling at us tourists, completely unfazed by our stares and cameras (yes I felt guilty for snapping away) brought a tear to my eye. Seeing how the pools were full of locals of all ages queuing so neatly to wash under the springs was very moving. I felt I had a genuine glimpse in to Hindu life in Bali. 

eat prey lesbian

"Can We Eat it Yet" at Casa Luna Cookery School

After a day on the road and a sneaky $5 foot massage we prepared for our cookery class. 

pinnies

duck caught and killed with bamboo that morning-at least its fresh

The Casa Luna cooking school is held at honeymoon guesthouse in the centre of Ubud, set up by Aussie chef Janet DeNeefe. http://www.casalunabali.com/cooking-school/Our teacher for the evening was Janet's right hand man, Yudi. Yudi liked a chat, luckily so did the rest of our group. Yudi often went off topic, telling us about her family dramas and her stand up comedy group but you know what, it all added to the experience and I learnt a lot, not only about cooking but also Balinese culture. We were making smoked duck, a ceremonial dish, served on very special occasions and ordinarily cooked by the men. Men cook the dishes for important occasions, whilst ladies do the everyday dishes. Yudi was taught by her mother and grandmother and passed on her tips to us. I also learnt a lot about the ingredients-I never knew there were so many types of gingers! 

stand up comedian

smoking the duck

lovely hibiscus tea

Other than a good go on the pestle and mortar, we did more watching, bantering and giggling than cooking but it was a fun evening! We shared beers with our classmates and got to tuck in to the smoked duck feast, served with fragrant yellow rice, long bean lawar and carrot and cucumber salad. Followed by coconut ice cream. 

my one job-squishing the spices

Casa Luna Cooking school-twilight smoked duck class cost $45 each, not bad considering you get a slap up meal! 

Ubud Day 1

Riding Round the Rice Fields

It was a good 1.5 hour drive to Ubud, Bali's cultural centre, from Bingin. For a little island, I was beginning to see it was one of diversity, far removed from the surfy, beach scene of Bingin. Busy little streets clearly catering to the abundance of tourists with spas, jewellery shops, coffee shops and it's fair share of tacky souvenir stores. I liked the vibe, despite the influx of travellers, many of whom were obviously Julia Roberts wannabes starring in their own Eat Prey Love (much of the book/movie is set here) it remained authentic with lots of charm.

moody sky

We knew where we were headed! I'd done my research and heard of an organic cafe/farm set in the rice fields, the food sounded amazing and we were hungry! Our hotel organised a couple of bicycles, partly because yes, I wanted to be Julia for a day too and also the cafe is only accessible by bike or a long walk on foot. Bikes cost us just $4 for the day each.

After a battle with the Balinese drivers-lunatics! We took a swift right turn up a very steep hill and in no time we were jollying along past rice fields, yoga studios, rustic spas and home stays. 

organik lunch

The cafe was bustling, with wooden beams and benches opening out on to their farm and chicken coop, with yet more rice fields in the distance. 

Their battered little plastic covered menus were extensive with no end of specials to tempt us

We went a little mad, ordering dishes to share. 

fruity and refreshing tea

We started with a Bodag Salad, a mountain of leaves, beets, feta, peppers and cashew nuts, with a healthy serving of tahini dressing on the side, so fresh! 

Next came the fish kebab, coated in a nicely spicy sauce and served like most dishes in Bali, with sticky coconut rice and those tasty little fried onion and shallot crispy bits on top.

The traditional Balinese chicken Sate was my favourite! Skewers of minced chicken blended with coconut and aromatic Balinese spices, served once again with more rice and vegetables! Everything tasted so fresh and flavoursome and went down even better knowing it all came from their own farms and local suppliers. http://www.sari-organik.com/

fresh salad

balinese chicken sate

Full and happy we passed out on the comfy cushioned window seat with a brew, before hopping on our bikes. 

moody sky

Weird Monkey Dance Eyes

The afternoon/evening was mainly spent shitting ourselves encountering the monkeys at Ubud's monkey Forrest-pretty fucking scary little bastards, who also have no shame in shagging at the entrance gate. 

terrifying

More fear at the traditional Hindu dance later that evening. An extremely expressive form of dance, the eyes on those dancers troubled me, and as for the bloke in the mask, seriously, shit scary! I have to say it was pretty impressive how those girls move the eyes and the fingers like that, I later read the girls are taught the moves as soon as they are born and are played the traditional Balinese music in the womb. 

eyes

Hungry again, our lovely hotel driver (all free) picked us up and dropped us at Naughty Nuris for ribs and beer! Quirky little honeypot just off the main drag, ribs were cooked on the BBQ on the street and tasted divine! I particularly liked their "Eat Pay Leave" sign by the door. Margaritas are a signature here too but I was by now hooked on Bintang. 

beer and meat

It was home to bed and complimentary kaftans.

kaftan weirdos

We stayed at the Komaneka at Rasa Sayang, great location just off Monkey Forrest Road, lovely room, with huge bathtub and those complimentary kaftans. A filling breakfast and afternoon tea not to mention being chauffeured about Ubud cost approx $450 for 2 nights for 2. 

Staff were amazing here, yet more excellent service, they organised everything from, cookery class, bike hire and boat booking! http://www.komaneka.com/komaneka-at-rasa-sayang.php

Micks Place Bingin Beach Bali

Surfy chic in a treehouse on top of the ocean

View gazing at Micks Place

Now in full holiday swing and fresh as a couple of daisy's after 3 nights of clean living we were more than ready for a Bintang by the pool

standing on the ocean

So, no one seemed to know how to get to this place, pre accommodation nerves kicked in-what are we venturing in to. After paying a little old lady with her tits out (no joke, spaniels ears just hanging there by the taxi window, as I scrambled for 5000 Rupiah)to open her gate, we were faced with a wall of ramshackle wooden arrows and signs, pointing you this way and that to surf shacks, beach, bar etc... perched on the cliffs above beautiful Bingin beach on the Bukit peninsular, a stunning eye shaped infinity pool juts out in to some of Indonesia's best surf below. This is Micks Place and I was starting to wish it was my place for more than our 1 mere night.

A hammock in a treehouse

We were shown to our Treehouse, through a little gate in our own private garden. I felt a little guilty as the manager (also named Mick) hoisted my over the top/packed the kitchen sink girl case up the little wooden ladders, but again excellent service - folk here just couldn't do enough for us. 

Treehouse for the kids

simple yet chic

We took a walk through Micks back door, past surf shack accommodation and beach front cafes to Dreamlands Beach. Dreamlands has a more touristy vibe to it and although beautiful I just wanted to settle my self in that pool, stare out at the surfers and sip on an ice cold beer. So we did!

surfers paradise

Mrs Twix practised her new yoga moves on the edge of the pool, I was instructed to pap away until she achieved an Instagram worthy shot.

Bingin Beach

View gazing

Beach walking

Now, I do not know what possessed us to venture out of Micks for the evening but here was our main error in the holiday. We took a taxi to fancy schpancy Ayana Resort to visit the much talked about Rock Bar. Admittedly the view is breathtaking, set in the rocks 10 minutes from Jimbaran Bay, but it had a weird touristy clientèle that lacked any charisma much like the bar itself. All style and no substance, character or atmosphere. Never before have I queued to both enter and exit a bar (only accessible by Stannah stair lift), you are plonked in an assigned seat(ours being right outside the toilet) and you can't mingle about the place (not that you'd want to mingle with this bunch)desperate to leave and get back to our own breathtaking view at Micks, we had to wait another 20 minutes for the bloody stair lift, all the while being bitten to pieces by those mozzies! Phew, thank god we had Mick! Once back at the laid back comfort of Micks place, we grabbed a couple of Bintangs a box of Pringles and sat poolside in candle light, listening to waves crash beneath us. To the amusement of our fellow guests, who we were now chatting with over beers, Mrs Twix and I were staying in the Treehouse. Jokes ensued about sleeping with a giant and very noisy gecko and having to scramble down the ladder to visit the outdoor toilet. But this was all a plus for me, we felt like a couple of naughty kids camping out in our own back garden, far from the parents by the pool. And not to mention waking up high above the sea, with the sun rising above the mountains, I didn't want to be anywhere else.

Sporting vintage shirt and denim Zara shorts on our ladders

It has a relaxed and friendly communal vibe to it here, perfect for surfy types or just a couple of idiot holiday makers like myself and Mrs Twix. Sitting around the communal breakfast table atop of the ocean, munching on a delicious breakfast of fruit salad and eggs on toast, we all agreed we were among the luckiest kids alive! And no one wanted to leave.

Big mistake(apart from drinks at Rock Bar) only booking for one night! 

I hear Bingin beach has its own seafood BBQ, stay here or eat at Micks, no need to venture anywhere else ie touristy Jimbaran seafood BBQ-we only wish we had listened to Mick!

http://micksplacebali.com/