j - j - j - jennie: August 2008

I arrived in Denpasar, Bali to my name on a sign held by a guy that owned Jati Homestay, my home in Ubud for the next five nights.

The family kids at the homestay

The first day, I woke up and headed down to the open aired patio that overlooks the family’s rice

field where breakfast, coffee, and tea are served every morning. After speaking with a couple other guests over green banana pancakes, I decided to venture off and explore Ubud. I stumbled upon the Monkey Forest first thing and ended up spending a couple hours there taking pictures and being entertained by the hundreds of monkeys that call the park their home. They had banana vendors all over the place that would sell you a bulk if you wished to feed the monkeys. I chose not to do this because I had been warned against it because the monkeys are so smart that they see you with the bananas and steal whatever it is they can grab off until you give in to a trade for one. Or, they just jump all over you until you feed them! And by the way, if you ever get the chance to see the monkeys and they start wrestling, just remember that this is foreplay for them if you know what I mean. They are so cute but they are not shy! Here's some of the PG shots.

This guy looked like he was praying for his friend that passed :(

Monkeys on the move

The temple inside the monkey park

Later that evening, I went to a traditional Balinese Dance but I forgot my camera. Typical Jennie right? The Dance was interesting cause it was like nothing I have ever seen but it was NOT what I was expecting. Think less dancing and more chanting. But the costumes were beautiful and at the end there was a guy that did do some dancing over fire embers that had burning throughout the show. Ouch!! Over breakfast the next day I started talking with this guy Richie. He is from Canada but has been living in Jakarta for the past six years with his girlfriend and speaks fluent Indonesian which came in really handy. We bonded over our confusion in life and like. He had been exploring the coast of Bali on his motor bike and was going to leave that day but after talking for a while, I was able to convince him to stay and show me around. For the next four days, we explored all over central Ubud, including the mountains, and a little of the inner east and north coasts, shared many beers (try Storm tropical ale if you ever get the chance) and talked philosophy. It was totally great.

Goa Gajah (The elephant caves) with Richie

We found a river that we explored our way down but had to stop cause it got too deep!

One of our many stops for directions. Check out the shirt...

PURA KEHEN TEMPLE, Bangli:

They have this sign outside of every temple. I guess if Muslim women are on their period during Ramedan, they don't have to participate in the fasting either.

All the kids go around in these groups and make up little parades that always involve a dragon and lots of drumming and bells. They originally started it as a form of entertainment when they didn't have any toys but now I guess they go around for donations too.

YEH PULU (carved cliff face) and the rice fields it looked out over:

DANAU BUYAN AND DANAU BRATAN:

I'm at the top of the tower in the middle but too small to see

A temple we barely caught before dark on the way back from one of our days of exploration

A random road side statue that was pretty awesome

TIRTA EMPUL:

The people cleanse themselves (spiritually) in this public bath every 12 days I think it is. This whole temple was very touristy but I enjoyed it because it was so colorful and festive. Our timing was perfect because just as we left, it started POURING rain.

Praying and getting blessed with holey water

GANUNG KAWI--this was my favorite of all the temples we visited but my camera died after only a few pictures. It was amazing because we happened to be there on a day where the people were making a special offering to the gods. There were hundreds of women continuously flowing down the stairs and into the temple with these bouquets of colorful fruits and sweets balanced on their heads that were over a foot tall. It was incredible and they were all so beautiful!

I signed myself up for a cooking class on one of the days I was in Ubud. We started with a tour of the local market where our (Balinese) instructor, his name was Elvis, showed us all the different fruits and spices and the areas where the locals shop that aren't so touristy. We then headed back to Cafe Bali where we prepped our ingredients and learned to make some traditional Balinese food. Actually, it was more watching Elvis do his thing than actually doing any of the work ourselves, but it was interesting to see the techniques they use and the kitchen was a new experience too. At the end of the class, the four of us (Eve and Roxanne, this very sweet couple from the south of France that I ran into numerous times around town after the class, and this other French chic) sat down to enjoy the meal we had just helped create. I would never be able to recreate any of the food on my own with just the one class but I'm all about anything that has to do with food so I really enjoyed myself!