LATEST NEWS COMING SHORTLY

Hi I'm Putri Cantik Epstone and live with Mummy and Daddy here in Seminyak, Bali

Hi Darlings!

Hi darlings,

Well......... 2 months later we can honestly say we are 'sort of settled' in Bali!
We have our RETIREMENT visas!!!! Robert has a tax code! I don't! I guess there is something to be said for being merely a housewife. Ha:) As if! We have a lovely ayi who comes 6 days a week and costs roughly half we paid ayi Chen for 3 times a week!
We miss all our friends and Ginger a lot...... we are looking for Ginger 2, but it is really difficult to replace 'perfection'. Woof
I have applied to some magazines, and, although I say it myself, they liked my work!!! but am suffering from 'let's do nothing today syndrome', or 'every day is the weekend' sort of thing, but keep promising myself I will do it tomorrow.
There are 2 Carrefours here. Both are like our ones were 5 years ago. ie have got virtually nothing, and there is an embargo on most imported foods which is bloody annoying. However, all is not lost, there are 2 delis like City Shop who have most things so we can survive!
We have had various pieces of furniture made, but they are really slow, and sometimes not well made like the directors chairs we received yesterday that collapsed when Darling Robert sat on them! Also getting fabric here is a nightmare. We wanted very simple blue and white stripes for garden furniture. Can we find it. No..... everything is bizzy, bizzy, bizzy.
There are millions of Australians here, which is fine, but, as yet we haven't really found any 'real friends', certainly nothing like the ones we left behind in Shanghai.
On the other hand, the weather is perfect, we have a lovely apartment which is slowly coming together ( really slowly)! the wine is drinkable, cigarettes cheap and the beaches are lovely.
DR has joined the Rotary Club. Yes! it's good for him, especially as he loves helping and doing charity work, he also meets a lot of people there. I have been once or twice to lunches and have met some pretty cool people.
DR has bought a funny, cool BRIGHT ORANGE safari jeep circa 1975! in which we rattle around the island searching for more treasures.
We took delivery of our 34 boxes shipped from Shanghai a couple of days ago. Why, oh why do things go missing? I mean, who's going to wear my gorgeous Shanghai Tang jacket and watch old DVDs such as 'Gone with the Wind' and 'The Sound of Music" for goodness sake?
We have planted a 'jungle' on our deck and have created a tiny dining area for candlelit dinners
which we enjoy overlooking the moonlit swimming pool...............

Another adventure for the family Gill and the Epstones........ after a huge amount of research done by Darling Robert, we decided to go to the Gili Islands. Namely Gili Meno! We knew it was the smallest island and were told there was only one hotel and one restaurant, and cold water showers etc. This is not true, there are a few restaurants, most of the hotels have gone due to the economy, the bombs, and because it is ghastly! Sorry, we stayed at Mallias Child Hotel. It was dirty, damp and virtually uninhabitable! The barbeque was horrid......... so with great joy, we chartered a glass bottom boat and went over to Gili Trawangan): A different world! We stayed at the Villa Ombak, clean, nice people, clean rooms and at last no rain. On Gili Meno it rained the WHOLE time, I had to buy a raincoat and it was freezing. Here the sun shone and all was well with the world.
We had great food at Scallywags, lunch and a barbeque dinner and left the next day for Bali. Oh and the youngest Gill member, Yoyo learned to swim without wings!!

Our travel agent really got it wrong in terms of travel time. We took a car from Seminyak to Dempasar Airport. The flight too 30 mins. We were collected by Harry who whisked us to the port, we jumped on our boat which took about 20mins to Bali Meno. So fom door to door around 3 hours and it was the cheapest way to go.

Good to be home in Seminyak:) More to come.............

a day in Ubud

OK, yesterday, we went to Ubud :( ok, we had lunch at Naughty Nuri, highly recommended all over the world! no SERIOUS - wow those Martinis are lethal. Their spare ribs, lamb chops, steak and barbeque chicken are outstanding. The place is like a shack on the side of the road, BUT YOU HAVE TO RESERVE A TABLE!.................. a bit like the Caprice or the Wolsey in Mayfair, London..... no really!

Chris, our favourite English artist, his gorgeous wife, Sylvia and their divine 7 year old daughter Yoyo, based in Shanghai, are with us on our first Bali adventure and thank goodness! Through the eyes of a child things are simpler, she preferred the Vanilla milkshake to the Martini at Nuri. Why not? Then we went to a cool art material shop where Chris chose his acrylic paints to cover our deeply boring huge pot with his unmistakable art which has seriously sold really well in Shanghai. Hopefully soon in Bali. Will let you know

Bali Uncovered 1st Issue today!

At last we have arrived in Bali! After 8 amazing years in Shanghai, with lots of fun and lots of people trying to screw us and indeed, kill us! I'm not joking. Actually my husband, Darling Robert was the target,
not me, you understand........... we have finally arrived in Paradise. Phew!

In Shanghai we had the most gorgeous puppy called Ginger, he was the love of our life, a Schnoodle ( poodle/schnauser) picture to follow.......... you will love him. Sadly rabies has attacked Paradise, so Ginger couldn't come too, anyway, he has to wear a 'knitted jumper all the time so would have been too hot.

We are sitting in our fab apartment having a glass of 'Brem Bali', our new favourite afternoon tipple. Golly............that's strange.