Rat-A-Toohey

Bali; Not the highest rating holiday hot spot on my agenda, but, a great place to visit non the less. Shopping here is a must. Barter to your hearts content, every woman's mecca.

The hotels and apartments are of a high quality that caters for all budget levels, and all manner of accomodation.

Frequenting this island on a yearly basis with friends and family, I have become quite familiar with the shopping and dining outlets.

One particular evening, our group of four were wandering aimlessly along and decided that we were ready to eat, drink and be merry.

We looked into several restaurant windows, checking their menus and what they had to offer. One restaurant in particular appeared to be all that we were looking for. I had dined here on several occasion and could vouch for the service and quality.

The menu looked good, prices were good and drinks were more than appealing. All in agreement with the appearance of the venue, we strolled in and waited to be seated. It was fairly early in the evening so there was no problem being accommodated.

The waiter seated us together in an alcove that overlooked the room and it's patrons. The lighting was subdued which gave a feeling of relaxation and calm.

We ordered a bottle of wine for starters and we glanced over the menu. The seafood platters looked amazing, it came on a huge share platter, which was stacked with lobster, prawns, squid and every other crustacean caught locally. We were all in agreement, and placed our order. Whilst we waited for our meal to be prepared, Alice and I thought it was cocktail time, Pena Coladas for two. We intended to have a great night which would put closure on a splendid day.

Conversation was light hearted, it had been a hectic day sightseeing and the sun had scorched us to a crisp.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was warm and welcoming, conversations were flowing and our spirits were high. The Balinese people are so friendly, they want nothing more than to make you feel at home and comfortable.

Whilst waiting for our meal to arrive, I noticed that Alice, was preoccupied by looking under the table. She had a quizzical look about her.

" What's the matter, have you dropped something?"

" No." she said, but kept looking non the less. " I thought I felt something touch my foot."

On that note, we all looked down to see what it could be. I was afraid that it may be a giant spider. The one thing that I am truly terrified of; all other manner of creature I can handle.

We all lifted the table cloth that was draped low to the ground, and to our surprise, we spotted a rather large rodent looking worriedly up at us.

No sooner did we see the culprit, it swished in a circle and disappeared into the wall.

Alice let out an almighty screech and lifted her feet up onto the bench seat.

Meanwhile, the rest of us broke into hysterical fits of laughter. Bearing in mind that we had by now consumed several drinks, plus the effects of the sun.

This was compounded as the waiter turned up at our table with a fly swat in his hand, appearing to act nonchalant, but obviously on edge.

Looking at the fly swat, my husband Jim said. " What do you intend to do with that?"

It appeared the waiter had hoped that we had not seen the intruder.

" I am here to clear the mosquitoes for you." He replied.

On that statement, our laughter was raised by several decibels. This was obviously a regular occurrence, but the previous patrons must have not witnessed what we had seen. Therefor he had gotten away with the excuse to be walking around with the " lethal weapon."

" Well by what we can hear running around in this wall, they must be bloody big mosquitoes." Said Jim.

The waiters face turned a bright red. If it were possible, I think he would like to have crawled into the mouse hole with our furry friend.

" I think it's obvious you are chasing the rat that ran under our table, which, might I say, is now running up the inside of this wall."

The look on the waiters face was one of embarrassment and shock. He had been caught telling his lie and was shamed into submission. He apologised profusely.

With all the commotion and noise coming from our corner of the room, the manager came over to investigate what the fracas was about.

Between fits of laughter, we managed to tell him the story. He immediately offered his apologies and offered to deduct fifty percent of our meal, pleading with us to stay. He tried to assure us that this was a one off incident and that his kitchens were the cleanest in all of Bali. Asking us to come and see for ourselves and veryfy his statement.

I felt sorry for the man, he was clearly distressed. He must be fearing that we could cause trouble for him which could jeapodise his business.

Non the less, now that we had seen the rat, we could not unsee it!

Upon discussion, We all looked at each other and agreed that this was not the place for us and gracefully declined his offer.

We assured him that we would not report this to the authorities as he promised to have the matter rectified.

We left the premises and headed down the street in search of another eating establishment.

" I think I'll leave the next choice up to you guys." I said between fits of laughter. I have been known to criticize on more than one occasion, and sometimes may I say, a bit brutal. However, on this occasion, I feel justified with the criticism I made.

From that day on, the restaurant was christened " Rat A Toohey" in honour of our furry visitor.

Thank God that we were a fun bunch and saw the funny side to our encounter. Needless to say, this was the highlight of our holiday.

Sue.