Bali Dive Blog

Idul Adha fell on a Tuesday this year. As we’re not Muslim, nor living on a Muslim island, the only effect this had for us was a day off. Excellent. So how best to spend it? Playing with Gregor, of course. Lucky for us, it was a gorgeous day. After weeks of seemingly endless rain and grey skies, the sun shone bright and clear through blue skies. Fantastic.

We took Gregor to Munchkins, which just opened last Sunday. It is the closest thing we have to a neighborhood playground. Just across the rice fields, I ambitiously hope to brave traffic one day with Gregor and walk there. Until then, it is an easy drive, you arrive only moments after setting off. And it is close to heaven for a three and a half year old. Not bad for parents either. They have tons of comfortable chairs and sofas in the shaded joglo where parents can relax while their kids play.

Mostly Munchkins is a jungle gym- with plastic equipment surrounded by wood chips. There are play cars, slides, even a moon bounce. Enough to keep Gregor busy for a few hours. There is also a shaded play area with plastic mats, balls, a play house and slide and other diversions. There is even a small air hockey table.

As it just opened, the staff is still in the learning phase, but they offer a good menu with breakfast and lunch items, and are very friendly. We went at around ten in the morning and I had smoked marlin on toast with fruit, Hengky had an adult sized hot dog. The kids menu covers all the basics, and I was pleased to see that the hot dog and fries also included a small side of vegetables.

Gregor ran around taking advantage of all the toys. The staff plans on adding some shade to the playground which will be nice, as it can be HOT, HOT, HOT under the Bali sun, but it didn’t seem to stop Gregor. To cool down we spent a long time playing with the plastic balls, and I was glad to see that Gregor’s aim is coming along nicely.

Seeing Gregor’s eyes drooping, we decided to head home a bit after one. I’m hoping that Munchkins will offer memberships… as it is still the soft opening it is a bit unclear how the pricing policy will go. This was our second visit, and we hadn’t been charged either time for Gregor playing, though our restaurant bill more than made up for that. Ideally they should offer a yearly membership- I know we’ll be there at least once a week.

Promising to be back soon, we wrangled Gregor into the car and took him home for his nap. He woke up to pealing laughter coming from the swimming pool. Ottie had brought his girls, Sara and Josephine, and their visiting cousins over for a swim. Gregor rubbed his sleepy eyes and soon jumped into the pool to frolic with his friends. Hengky even got wet- starting a water gun fight with Sara.

The Ottillies had to go home, but as they left, our next guests arrived, Marta and Wolfgang. Hengky and Wolfie pulled out their cameras and discussed where to get some good sunset shots. We decided on continuing our holiday at Echo Beach in Canggu, at the Beach House. We loaded up the car and set forth. Arriving, we were disappointed to see the retaining wall holding back the ocean.

Gregor managed to find a small patch of hot, black sand and contented himself digging sand castles with Iluh. Wolfie and Hengky started in on their never-ending photography competition. Marta and I relaxed with some drinks and enjoyed the afternoon. As the sun sank and the sky slowly darkened, the restaurant business picked up and I was surprised to see so many familiar faces from GlobalXtreme. Gusti, Kevin, the friendly man with the Maggie-like dog and so many others. So now we know where they go when not surfing the net at our place.

The sunset was perfect, a rarity in the rainy season. I put my swollen sausage feet up and relaxed watching Gregor play with newfound friends. The tables filled and the Beach House staff began to set up a BBQ.

Wolfie and Hengky continued to take advantage of the good weather. The last few times they had made plans to shoot they were foiled by the rains. We were all tempted by the BBQ, and as the sunset faded and the photo opportunities lessened, we ordered up steaks, tuna and clams. I must say that the food was fairly disappointing, but at least now we can say that we’ve given it a try.

Sated, we finally piled back into the car to head home. The restaurant had emptied out fast after the sunset and we were one of the last remaining tables. Gregor was beat- after so much family playtime he was ready to hit the sheets. Reading his bedtime story I found myself yawning right along with him, and fell asleep moments before he did.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 at 10:33 and is filed under Others, Bali, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.