Mrs Romance explores Bali… and I get to play with rum

Mrs Romance has left for Bali, and with the help of her travel companions, has taken ownership of the hashtag #BossLadiesDoBali. Said travel companions consist of the following spectacular women:

Carly from Smaggle.com

Kate from SecretBloggersBusiness.com

Emily from BombshellBaySwimwear.com.

Let’s check out what they get up to on the Island of a Thousand Temples.

This bar set-up at Single Fin in Uluwatu looks amazing. My arm’s covered in pinch marks where I keep having to wake myself up from daydreams of this place. Seems that it really takes off here on a Sunday afternoon and into the evening.

How good would it be to hang out here with a few Bintangs and watch the sun go down over the surf?

For some inexplicable reason I’ve woken up very early this morning. I’m not happy about it, but the view from my bedroom window makes up for it. Mrs Romance may have bars overlooking pristine oceans but I’ve got this golden light with a rainbow appearing over the tops of the roofs. From my bed.

Mrs Romance sees my sunrise and raises me a sunset with palm trees. Well played, Mrs R. Well played indeed.

I think this is one of my favourite shots of Mrs R. She does love a bit of beach time.

Photo courtesy of Smaggle.

This afternoon, I’m out to lunch with my mate Dave from The Plant Gallery – a new cafe in Bondi that’ll be selling food of the like you’ve never seen or tasted before. It’s a raw vegan cafe restaurant serving up delicacies that are not only really good for you but are also packed full of flavour – usually these two elements do not exist easily together.

Anyway, we’re at Paramount Coffee Project and I’m about to destroy this pile of kimchee scrambled eggs with black sesame. Quite excited!

Today we’re looking back on our time in Mexico. While we were in Tulum, we visited a couple of Mayan communities thanks to the tour booking service offered by Home In Tulum. It was an absolutely fascinating experience – a truly cultural adventure.

This guy I’m standing with was in his 90s but was still able to show us how to shred the skin off a plant to make the fibres for hammocks and slingshots. He then showed us how the Maya hunt with slingshots – he’s still got it, you know!

All of the Maya are this tall, by the way. They’re incredibly friendly, welcoming people. Looking into their eyes is like peering into history. It was a very special highlight of our trip.

Here’s what we did on the tour of Señor and Tihosuco – two Mayan communities.

Mrs Romance and co are taking it easy today. And why wouldn’t you when your digs look like this. They’ve rented a four-bedroom villa with a central pool and no one else around. Each room is separate from the rest and has its own en suite. There’s also a kitchen you can cook meals in.

It’s on AirBnB so if you’re on your way to Bali and looking for accommodation, do a search in Seminak for this place.

Mrs Romance and the other Boss Ladies head out to see some of the sights of Bali today. This temple in Ubud really looks the part, doesn’t it? You can imagine Hindu ceremonies going off in a place like this… and then you notice – just off the side – is a bloody Starbucks!

I suppose even monks need their caffeine hit these days.

While Mrs Romance is busy nutting out new strokes of blogging genius in Bali, I’m out with her sister enjoying a leisurely breakfast in Paddington. This bacon egg roll with rocket and a delicious salsa is the work of the lovely ladies at Underwood Cafe… on Underwood Street, of course.

Not only is this an incredibly tasty way to start the day, it’s also a nostalgic one. I used to live on Underwood Street – one block down from here in fact. And it near here that Mrs Romance and I met. It’s good to be back in the old ‘hood.

Mrs Romance is out at Padang Padang Beach today. I don’t think there’s any need for words – even if I had any!

Mrs R is making sure her work/pool balance is in a state of equilibrium – it’s a delicate ratio to maintain. Especially when taking into account factors such as pruning and number of swimmers packed.

Earlier in the week I got to meet and chat to one Ian Glen. Ian is a lovely chap. He also owns and runs the micro-distillery Stone Pine. We’ve mentioned Stone Pine in the past when talking about their excellent dry gin, but it’s the rum that’s in the limelight this time.

Dead Man’s Drop – a name I absolutely love – is the first black spiced rum to come from Australia. I’ve had trouble enjoying spiced rum in the past, but this stuff”s really tasty. It’s also pretty easy to work into a cocktail.

Check out my write-up of the rum, an exclusive interview with Ian Glen and my recipe for the rum sour that I think really makes this stuff sing.

Meanwhile, back in Bali…

Mrs Romance has discovered that, thanks to the large numbers of Australian visitors and expats here, the coffee in Bali is actually really good. A good coffee rosetta mixed with the naturally occurring shabby chic decor of the island and you’ve got yourself Instagram gold!

Post coffee intake, Mrs R and the girls are back in Padang Padang to get some last-minute beach time before they head back to chilly old Aus.

In my infinite wisdom, I’ve decided to get up early to meet Mrs Romance at the airport. It’s still dark outside but as I get to Hyde Park and Museum Station entrance, I’m rewarded with this:

Did aliens build it? Is it what bread and Diet Coke do when they think no one’s watching – like in Toy Story? Could this be the incredibly unlikely result of a toss-that-shit-out-the-car-window moment?

No. I think it was drunk people.

Oddly, there was one single bread roll discarded on the floor. It seems its acrobatic skills just didn’t make the cut. The bread knife cut. Ok. I’ll stop now.

It’s great to have Mrs Romance back. I have missed her. But I do just need to sneak off while she’s having a nap and test out what the Royal Albert pub has on offer this afternoon.

It’s their latest tap take-over and I reckon it’s their best yet. Black Dog Brewery in Glenrowan, Victoria – I now know – makes amazing beer. Their Kolsch is terrifyingly drinkable, and their American IPA and Black IPA are just incredible. I haven’t got time to try the rest of their beers, but I’m going to keep my eye open for them in the future. If you like good beer, you’ll do the same.

In celebration of us being reunited, Mrs Romance and I have decided to have a cheese dinner. We don’t do this all that often any more, but it’s great fun when we do. Tonight we’re enjoying a couple of types of goat cheese and a chunk of roquefort, and Mrs R has done her spiced butternut squash dip too – it’s inspired by Baby-Mac’s recipe in this post.

And of course a drop of wine. This bottle of Printhie Shiraz from Orange we’ve been saving is going down a treat.

Hopefully the cheese hangover won’t be too bad tomorrow…

How was your week last week? Did you get up to much? Do you have any plans for Easter this week? Tell us in the comments!

Images by Mr and Mrs Romance via Instagram: @MrAndMrsRomance, @HairRomance, @Christina.Butcher – Mrs R’s Insta account and @AngryBastard of course!