Whirlwind 24 hours.
So many things I didn't take photos of, but hopefully my words can fill in the gaps.
The highlights:
Got money exchanged. Apparently the exchange rate is the best its been in 10 years!
Got motorbikes rented. If you have two seconds, go onto youtube and search bali. You will get a small taste of the transportation climate around here. Insane! Whole families, literally, Grandpa, Mom and three kids with no helmets riding through busy streets with little or no traffic laws. Zipping and weaving through masses of strangled cars and tourists. Its really a sight. Everyone drives like a mad person, but with a gentleness and kindness I have never experienced. In the few situations where I have slowed the flow of traffic, no one yells, honks or sends negativity my way. Always patience. For me, this has been a learning experience. Never ridden a scooter, much less a motorcycle. It felt akin to being pushed out of the nest and told to fly, on a street where everyone is driving on the opposite side of the road (british style) on a bike I have no experience balancing or driving on, with a brake system that is moderately sketchy and the bustling noises and scenes of busy urban center all around. Wild! But its amazing how fast you learn.
Endless rice patties. everywhere agriculture is occurring. You will be in what feels like an incredibly dense urban environment and then bam, rice, gardens or farm. The contrasts are incredibly and mildly jolting.
This was breakfast, Nasi Gerung with Ayam (chicken). Essentially Fried rice with turmeric, small beans, a little bit of noodle and a chicken. 50 cents! No lie. Delicious.
Yesterday was a day of shopping, which was a wild experience. I could go into way to much detail, but one of the things that fascinates me about visiting foreign cultures and countries are how they adapt to being places of tourism for largely western audiences. Traditionally most Asian cultures don't know cheese. Or tomatoes and don't consume milk in nearly the quantity we do. So grocery stores and markets are like field trips for me. I'm a nerd. Anyways, they have a lot of western stuff at some of these places. Both dismaying (I want "authentic") and interesting (this is authentic in the present moment). We went to two places with a western bent because we were in search of ingredients to make pasta. Brian brought 5 pounds of farfalle to share with our Balinese friends. They love Italian food, and the pasta around here sucks so they were doubly happy that we brought all of the grub. We set out to make Pesto and a red sauce from local ingredients. It was amazingly easy. They had pine nuts, basil, olive oil and garlic. The bag of pine nuts costs 150,000 rupia (roughly $15) and the clerk double taked. She was shocked that so little could cost so much and made sure we were certain we wanted it. Funny! Also funny, the main beer brand, Bintang, also runs one of the main "western" groceries.
Upon returning home we commenced to drink tequila and play uno until our party guests arrived.
Which brings to the happiest part of the day. These fellows!
And this beautiful man:
According to people wiser than me this is my spiritual twin. His name is Qull (pronounced almost like kewl) which means lazy in the Balinese. Some of you can guess the connection. :) Unfortunately, we did not take any pasta photos, but the meal was delicious, I assure you. And what goes along with a good meal in Bali? Arrack. The local rice wine distilled to 30-40% alcohol is a real treat, if you can find the good stuff. Luckily our friends Wayan and Mogly came through in a big way. between their liter and a half of arrack, our delicious fortaleza and little bittle of scotch that needed polishing off, plus Bintang as a chaser, the evening was prodigious. My liver requires no sympathy. Luckily it did not end there.
If you're ever in Ubud and need a night cap, this is the place. Just don't order wine.
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Today:
Went to bed around 3am and had to wake at 7:15 for a Solare conference call. Joy! My body felt no pain. Needless to say the local coffee brew is heaven on earth, and amazingly rejuvinative.
After slowly coming out of my sleep cocoon we made a huge egg feast (what else would Brian do in a foreign place but buy 2 dozen at his first chance) and got on the road. We had to run a small errand and then planned on going up to rice patties for views and shopping. Word is there is a drum factory on the road to the patties, so I was curious to say the least. Well.....my brother has been out of Bali for two years and while his sense of direction and place is solid 80% of the time, in this case, it was not. We got set on a wrong road out of Ubud and didn't realize for a good 15 minutes. So instead of rice patties, we visited a very cool temple. Hell, when Bali gives you bananas, make a smoothie. So instead of vista points and drum shopping, we saw a parade and some incredible statues and temple grounds. Here are a couple highlights.
Here's a small video:
And of course we had to eat more:
This is called Mie Gelung (fried noodles) with some Satay on the side and more eggs!
Nice panorama from our seat:
And the beautiful toilet:
Ok, that's all I have for now. Whew. Brian is getting massaged right now. I need to take a nap. Peace and love to all of you beautiful people who took the time to read all of my "nonsense", I wish I could could share what it feels like to be here, feel the sounds, hear the chatter and the motor bikes, see the 50 pound bags of rice teetering on over loaded scooters, touch the stones that have experienced a millenia of human habitation, abuse, care and attention and mostly breathe the air. Its something else. LOVE LOVE LOVE
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