As much as we appreciated the opportunity to experience what Bali is really all about, by morning we were ready to leave Tirta Gangga. It was pouring rain, like buckets of rain, so the trek was out and quite honestly if you don’t have a ceremony to preside over, laundry to wash, or food to cook there isn’t a lot to do on a rainy day. We spent about 15 minutes walking around in the pouring rain bartering for a cab to Seminyak. It’s really quite absurd, but you completely lose sight of the fact that what you’re bartering over is the equivalent of about $5.
And in heading to Seminyak we pretty much leaped to the opposite end of the Bali spectrum – more traffic than you can imagine, glitz and glamour galore, shopping, fine dining and night life. Although we chose to skip the Kuta parties and instead ended up at a hole in the wall piano bar with a very amateur live band offering excellent covers of American tunes. Wherever we go, we just can’t seem to escape the American pop culture!
It's all glitz and glamour at the famed Ku De Ta, where the high-class come to see and be seen, and we sit hoping no one will notice we're making this one Bintang last 4 hours to avoid paying for the extravagantly priced cocktails.
Catching some sun and staking out a spot for the infamous sunset at Ku De Ta
Fabulous seafood grill under the starlight on the beach at Jimbaran Bay
Sunbathing, boogie boarding and getting a pair of awful sunburns, all in less than two hours time.
Ula Watu Monkey Temple
They aren't kidding when they say 'watch out for the monkeys' - I wouldn't mess with this guy and one of his buddies stole an old woman's shoe
Kecak Fire and Trance dance at sunset at the monkey temple
Enjoying dinner at Bali's best restaurant
Go to: http://www.notesfromamessykitchen.com/ 
Few things:
1- So true about bargaining over very small amounts of money. I’ve heard this from others before, too, so rather than attributing it to some personal shortcoming, I’m starting to think it’s like the brain’s overly-quick ability to adapt to new environments and new currencies or value systems. What do you think?
2 – That monkey has huge nuts!