Sweet…because it is Bali. Because we are celebrating Heidi’s principalship. Because we have upped the ante in luxury. Because we have four days of just being together.

Bitter…because it will be the last trip we take together here in SE Asia. Together we have gone all over Malaysia, to Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Borneo, Singapore, Vietnam… and next year Heidi will not return. We will be half a world apart. So we will savor this time together.

We stayed at Jamahal Private Resort and Spa. Jamahal used to be a private residence. The owner built it so his extended family and friends could come and visit and have their own place and privacy. With a few modifications, it has now become a luxury resort with 13 rooms.

From the minute we were picked up at the airport, we felt like we jumped into the “life of the rich and famous”. While neither rich nor famous, we were made to feel like it. In the van we were given chilled, jasmine scented washrags to wipe our faces and cool off. Chilled ice water quenched our thirst. A quick 15 minute drive and we entered the gates of Jamahal. Immediately we were met by three attendants to carry our luggage and welcome us by name. Once seated at the reception area, we were given two flutes of champagne and met Dhita. Dhita has this over-the-top personality that keeps you laughing and interested at the same time. She showed us around the place and then brought us to our room.

We entered through a carved wooden door set into a tall wall. Once inside you hear the waterfall feature to your right. The path forward led through our garden, under a tall frangipani tree, skirted our pool, onto our deck and then to our “room”. Our “room” turned out to be ginormous. A large living room with flat screen tv, entertainment system/sound system, refrigerator, fresh bowl of fruit and massive couch. To either side were bedrooms and bathrooms. To the right was the extra room and instead of a bed there were two massage tables set up. A full bathroom with tub, rain shower, double sinks, etc. To the left was our bedroom with a canopy bed and similar bath set-up, but our massive stone tub was filled with warm scented water with bougainvillea petals and frangipani blossoms floating on top. We think we will be happy here!!!

It rained every day we were here, but the purpose wasn’t sight-seeing, it was to spend time together. Each night before we retired, we ordered our breakfast for the morning. And right at the requested time our doorbell rang. We pushed the entry button and in came our “butler” with breakfast and the morning Jakarta Post. We sat on our porch, protected from the rain, drank freshly brewed Indonesian coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice. We always had a bread basket, usually eggs with bacon, yogurt and fresh fruit. About 45 minutes later, back comes the butler to pick up our plates and take them away. We did the same for lunch. We think we could get lazy and fat real fast here!!!!

We LOVED our stay at Jamahal. We were able to unwind, relax and just enjoy each other’s company. We were quite content just lazing away the days.

DINNER

We actually did pull ourselves away from our villa for dinner. Friday night we crossed the street (quite a feat….the streets in Bali are narrow and you would think you could just scoot across no problem, but there is a steady stream of cars and scooters making crossing a most difficult task) But each time we wanted to cross, out popped one of the Jamahal security guards, whistle in mouth and red flag in hand. Right into the traffic he would venture, whistle a-blowing. It was like the Red Sea parting, and across the street we went. The Indian Ocean and the beach is down a side road, perhaps a quarter of a mile. Jamahal has a beach club there but we wanted to sit and have a drink at one of the nice bars bordering the beach. Of course we had to dip our toes into the ocean and then walked down the beach to the InterContinental Hotel. We had a few drinks as we watched the sun set and then made our way in the dark to Cuca’s Restaurant.

Cuca’s is quite famous in Bali. The chef, Kevin Cherkas, cut his teeth at El Burri Restaurant on the coast in northern Spain. This restaurant has over 1 million reservation requests each year, but only 8,000 lucky ones get a table. Following El Burri, Kevin was head chef at the Shangri La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, until he and his lovely wife Virginia opened Cuca in Bali. Sourcing only local ingredients and experimenting with molecular gastronomy, Cuca is a place where you want to pick your plate up after each course and lick it until you are sure you have consumed every last morsel and drop. It has “to die for” food. One of our teachers at school is a food reviewer and unbeknownst to us, she contacted Kevin and Virginia ahead of time and told them we were coming. When we entered the restaurant, they knew us immediately and brought us to our special table. Covered with rose petals and several long stemmed roses, we were seated in full view of the professional kitchen. Virginia came by to personally welcome us. We had the “rich and famous” feeling again and at the same time felt we were judges on The Top Chef. For soon our plates arrived. We each ordered three dishes and they came out one at a time. I cannot describe the taste but we have never had such delicious, mind blowing flavors in our lives. We were so full at the end of our meal we did not have room for desert, so we came back on Sunday. On Sunday we were seated at a long bar like table overlooking the kitchen. Each plate was brought to us by the chef and he explained how everything was made. We watched in awe as the crew of 11 chefs whipped up dish after dish. This time we saved room for three desserts. Heavenly desserts. I don’t know if we will ever taste anything better in our lifetime.

Dinner at di Mare

Saturday night we took a taxi to di Mare, a restaurant high upon a cliff with probably the best sunset views on the entire island. Unfortunately for us it was raining….but we had the restaurant to ourselves, enjoyed good food, and of course, the company. We enjoyed watching the waves crashing upon the beach below.

Massages

Of course we had to treat ourselves to massages….once in our villa and then once in the spa. The girls knew what they were doing…we felt so relaxed. The one in the spa was a two hour hot stone massage….so fine!!!!

As they say, all good things must come to an end and so did our stay on Bali. But we have memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives and time spent together….priceless.