MY WONDERFUL AMAZING VERY GOOD DAY!

I decided to stay home today!  It was such a good day.  I started by walking up the street to get money from the ATM machine and then thought I would have a manicure.  I had a cup of coffee and watched the activities on the busy street.  It was lovely just to sit and enjoy.  I walked back to the hotel and decided to go for a dip and cool off - It was only 10:30 - but it was good to cool off.  

After writing the blog to get caught up, it was time for lunch.  So out I went in the other direction to find the Pizza Bagus restaurant.  Had a delicious simple small pizza with no chilis and black olives and a bottle of coke.  The total bill with tax and service charge..... 55,000 rupia or $5.50 .  It was so good and I ate the whole thing.  Then back to the hotel and into the pool again.  It was the best day.  

The rest of the girls went to a Hindu Temple.  It was another hot day and I was very glad to be out of the heat and just do things for me.

Just a few pics of the streets that we have been walking on for a week.

LOBONG COOKING SCHOOL

Today we were off to Cooking School.  It promised to be an interesting day cooking traditional Balinese meal and then eating it for lunch.... or not!

We were met by our host, Made (maday) and he took us around the fresh (??) food market. He was so informative and interesting to listen to as he guided us around the market showing us all the interesting foods and the fresh spices we would be cooking with after our walk around all the vendors.  Asian and Indonesian markets are hot, crowded and often smelly places.  This was no exception.  We did not purchase anything here - the purchasing for our cooking class was done either much earlier at this market or at a similar market. Markets open at 3 in the morning and are finished by 10:00 in the morning.  You wouldn't want to be buying anything later in the morning as the heat has already taken its toll.

These are the deady chilies for me - and they put them in everything!  I did bite into a green one thinking it was a long bean.  Even the tiniest bit no bigger than a small ring of green onion - finished me for the salad. 😓

Here is the fresh turmeric.  There was ginger, turmeric and aromatic ginger that sort of look alike.  The turmeric as you can see in this picture has a distinct orange look. The two gingers look the same but the aromatic ginger isn't as hot as the regular ginger.   When I cook these dishes at home - and I will at least once, I will definitely 

use the fresh ingredients.

Rice looks the same in every country and every market.

We went Made's family compound where 21 family members reside.  It was such a beautiful spot.  In this patriarchal society, when the son marries, his wife comes to live in the husband's family compound and there they remain.  As their family grows, they are given more space or a new building for their home within the compound. Each family compound has it's own temple. Balinese life revolves around god and family in that order.  There are so many religious celebrations within their culture at least 1 very 6 weeks.  The Balinese calendar is 6 months, so they have 2 birthdays to our 1.  So many more things we have learned - but for another time or maybe not.

OK onto the cooking class!!  We began by making the peanut sauce for the sate.  Nothing was in a food processor or blender - everything was done the Balinese way.  Two different kinds of mortars and pestles. The one for crushing the peanuts was really large and flat and then the deep smaller one for the pepper and cardamom.  So technical. The rice was cooked in the black kitchen where there is a wood oven. The pot was huge and the rice would steam for 1 hour.  It was not submerged in water like we cook it.  Patience is needed for Balinese cooking.  

Time for chopping.  We all were hard at work slicing and then chopping fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric and aromatic ginger, small red chili and green chili...the problem veggies.  We all contributed our chopped vegetables to the same pot. It was a great way for us to learn the technique for chopping a portion. 

Next we had to coarsely chop fiddle heads, grate coconut and and thinly slice red chili pepper for the salad.  Then  there was chicken.  We made chicken sate with pounded mildly spiced chicken formed around a stick and then bbq'd.  It was very good - I could eat and enjoy it.  There was chicken cooked in one of the pots we had cooked something else is (my goodness that's a good description) anyway to deglaze the pan, coconut milk was added and chicken breast with the skin on was cooked and then finished off on the grill.  Then the best of all was the black rice pudding.  That I will make for sure.  I have black rice at home and paid attention to the cooking of that.  No chilies or anything hot - my kind of dish.

Balinese Sate Appetizer

Salad  ... notice the red stuff

Chicken Breast and rice with garnish under chicken -
yep green and red stuff

Black Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

Then time to eat.  I had enough to hold me - but although I did try the food - there really wasn't much I could eat.  Our group was enjoying the fresh flavours and saying how good everything tasted.  I would love to cook these dishes for Pam, Sarah, Alessandro, Sandra and Clay.  Matthew, Mom Troje and I will have something different.  It would be fun to see them enjoy it.  First I have to find all the fresh ingredients!!  My fingers on my left hand are stained yellow from the fresh turmeric and my right hand still has traces of the dye from my silk painting.  

WALKING THE MARKET AND MONKEY FOREST ROAD

I had a very long and hot walk indeed.  Irene, Mary and I decided to walk through the town market.  The market was as you would expect.  Lots of clothing, souvenirs, knick knacks, carvings and other crafts.  There was a food area, but too hot and smelly in the afternoon to go in there.  We will be seeing a food market early in the morning later this week.  That will be enough for me.

                  

Walking all the way home was  an  "are we there yet?" experience.  At some point we got separated but never got lost - it is very easy to find your way in Ubud.  Two main streets - Monkey Forest Road and Hanoman Road.  both of them come together at some point...so you always find your way back to the hotel. 

I took Monkey Forest Road so that I would be able to see some monkeys - but didn't want to go into the park and have them rip my glasses off or steal my purse.  Not wanting a close encounter of the 3rd kind just close enough to get a picture. succeeded.  They are all over the place - must be a bit frustrating for the shopkeepers on the fringe of this park...or maybe the monkeys have learned the hard way to stay away!!

I kept walking some more - still hoping to catch sight of Mary and Irene - but no such luck. When I got back to the hotel, they were already here - at some point we had passed each other.  So thought I would take some pictures of our bathroom at the hotel.  Not a usual blog I assure you.  But there are certainly some things that need pictures and comments.

First the sink.  WTF - I can't tell you how many times I have spit on my arm trying to brush my teeth. Every sink in the joint is this high.  I can't for the life of me figure out the reason...I keep thinking of my friend Laureen and wondering ....well...just wondering...

The other part of this bathroom is that the shower is actually outside.  Still in the bathroom, but open to the sky - how beautiful to shower under the stars - but there is no place to put soap and shampoo. There is a lock on the outside of the bathroom door - not so you can lock your roommate inside - but because it is open to the outside....to lock anyone out who may be trying to gain access to your room!  A safety feature.  There is also a small deck through another door with drying racks outside to dry any handwashing you might do. However.....on the nights when we have had torrential rain....often in the morning it is still wet as it has had another soaking!

Surprisingly enough though even with the humidity, things do dry - I have been rinsing clothes out daily cause when you are constantly hot and sweaty, you just need to freshen your things up.  Oh and I have discovered what is worse than putting on a wet bathing suit....putting on a dry bathing suit when you are hot and sweaty....no there are no pictures...give your head a shake!

IT WAS A VERY BUSY DAY!

Started out early and didn't end until after 6:30.  With several times in and out of the bus and the oppressive heat and my goodness it was a tiring day.  We began by going to a weaving village where they were busy creating and weaving the Ikat (pronounced Eekat) The intricate patterns are designed by men - but it is taboo for them to weave them - so, in another larger room there are several looms where the clack of the shuttles and treadles is a lovely sound.  The young women are adept at their craft and are proud to show their work in progress.

Ikat fabric isn't for everyone.  Several in our group were interested in purchasing some pieces and were happy at such a huge selection.  It was very clear after seeing the weavers at work how to tell the quality of the Ikats.  We were shown the best of the best and also some inferior ones and a good way to tell is by the price here in Bali.  At home, I think without having seen really good ones - it could be easy to pay a high price for something of a lesser quality.

We were treated to a traditional Balinese lunch - once again, the no spice .... well you know. I ate my lunch and tried to remove most of the little slices of red chili peppers.  Sigh* chili peppers are only considered a vegetable here not a spice.

Next we stopped at a place where they were producing silk Ikats - how beautiful they are and quite expensive by Bali standards - but still very cheap compared to prices back in Canada.  Enough about Ikats?  Oh but wait there is more!  Our next stop was at the home of a lady who did incredibly beautiful creations and used all natural dyes.  The colours were so subtle and I really liked what she had to show us.  These works or art were unequal to anything we had seen.  These pieces were her private collection and I was so glad to have had a look at them.

We stopped at a market where there were lots of Ikat fabrics available for sale and our friends on the tour were able to purchase some to take home.  I went on a hunt with 3 other ladies for spices, however, we only managed to find one stall that had any for sale.  I did pick up a few to take home. This island is part of the Spice Islands, so it makes sense that I would be able to find some good spices here!  On Friday we are going to visit a food market, so I am sure that I will be able to find a good selection there.

Kids are kids every where in Bali - as school is out everyday at 1:00.  They go to school for 6 days a week starting at 7:30am.  They are always ready to smile or ham it up for a photo.  Here you can see how dark the sand is - black sand.  Notice sadly all the garbage in the background. Not the white bags, the the clutter just in front of them. I didn't actually take pictures of the garbage - but it is everywhere.  People just walk and drop and I'm sure some of it s result of stuff floating in on the oceans too.  I did find the tiniest piece of sea glass -I have a collection of small pieces for Atlantic Canada and will add this to the bottle at home.

One of the favourite passtimes of the children is to fly kites on the  beach.  They aren't always this ornate, however in groups of two or three they have them dancing in the sky and take great delight when they touch another kite.  It was fun to watch them carefree and having a lovely afternoon - school is out at 1:00 in Bali.

 

Our last stop was to walk a ways on the black sand beach to see the production and perhaps buy some sea salt. Wow what an arduous task it is for this 3 man operation.  First he has to make 50 trips to the ocean and carry the water back and pour it onto the prepared sand - then after some drying has happened, the salt is gather up and put through a kind of sluice box with added water and then the heavily salted water is taken to big troughs to dry for days out in the sun.  Finally after much evaporation, the salt crystals are gathered and packaged for sale.  Can't get more pure than that!

                         

So today I had my first I hope the very last encounter with a squat toilet.  It was a desperate and hurried venture. Suffice to say, the squat toilet won and I had to pay 5000 rupia for this experience. Thank god for plastic bags and vinyl seats. 

So back to the hotel - hop in the shower fully clothed...yah you know... A good cleansing and cooling shower, in my nightie and just to relax and read my book was just what was needed. Tomorrow is another day.

SILK PAINTING

What a rainstorm we had last night - torrential is the perfect word to describe it - The skies opened up and the deluge began and continued for a good 10 minutes or so.  Our bathroom is actually outside - as you can see, so i really had to get up to have a look at it raining down in the shower area.  Wow it was quite a sight.

The silk painting workshop was in a beautiful setting.  Her gardens were amazing. Orchids planted on the trees and blooming. So so pretty.  Bubbling ponds and even though close to the road ...so very peaceful and quite quiet.  

So up we got and were soon on our way to the silk painting workshop.  We were introduced to a lesson in canting pronounced "chanting" by a master canter. This is the method of applying the wax in the pattern onto the silk.  

Then we were able to give it a try ourselves. My goodness some of us are so quickly creative with flowers and curves - my straight lines were spectacular.  

After we gave that a try we were ushered to the room to create our masterpieces.  The canting was done for us and already stretched on the silk so now to dive into our paints and surprise ourselves with our colour choices.  There were 5 of us and all of them were quite different.  It was very fun.  They will be colour set and the wax boiled out and delivered to our hotel before we leave Ubud.  It was was wonderful day. 

My painting was creative and once again I proved to be the messiest including my hands. Even two days later I still have traces of colour on my painting hand.  My work station was quite a site.  I had to take a picture of Jan's workstation as she was sitting next to me.  I was so engrossed with what I was doing there was no time to put lids on and painting sticks all askew.  I had a really really good time.  

We had a box lunch delivered to the workshop and I had a lovely bun filled with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, cheese and sprouts.  It was tasty and served with some cinnamon tea.  Quite refreshing.  The we went back to finishing our lovely works of art by painting the background.  What a great activity.

Soon we were on our way back to the hotel and ready to submerge ourselves in the pool.  It is the only way to completely cool down at the end of the day.  For dinner we went to a local restaurant and I had plain grilled chicken and a salad with no spice that still had too much heat for me.  Go figure. The plain chicken was amazing.  Thank Vishnu (Hindu God) I was certainly ready for some meat for dinner.  

So all in all a pretty low key day and it was a welcome one.  Tomorrow is a busy one again.

RICE PADDY WALK

Today we had an early start and went on a walk down through the rice paddy terraces. What a beautiful walk. The skies were absolutely clear and a perfect day for us.  It hadn't rained the night before, so the paths were mostly dry.

You need to get started early so that the heat doesn't beat you up too badly.  There are many shady areas if you are walking in the morning and although it isn't really cooling, it still feels good on your skin to be out of the sun even for a few minutes.

All the way along the path there are local artisans making and selling their wares. Their crafts are varied and interesting.  The prices are so inexpensive and the items are delivered for free to your hotel so you don't have to pack them along on your walk.  We also saw a fellow selling coffee and chili pepper spice.  So there was something for everyone.

                              

We saw people carrying building supplies in on their backs - 2 x 4's bricks, sheets of plywood, a new door ... whatever is needed.  All of this in oppressive heat and high humidity. The path we were walking on is also the main thoroughfare for motor scooters going in both directions.  This was a busy artery servicing the terrace area.

                        

We learned that they grow mainly 3 types of rice - white, red and black.  The different rices grow different heights and takes only four months from planting to maturity. Unfortunately we weren't able to see any being harvested. Most of the harvesting is done the old fashioned way by scythe and manual thrashing.  Hard work but better usage of the terraced land to do things the old way.  

They use ducks for fertilizer and pest control and have an amazingly simple aqueduct system to increase or reduce water flow into the fields.  A council decides when a field is to be harvested and with great ceremony, it is accomplished and then new planting begins. The fields are all in varying stages of growth so harvesting and planting occurs frequently.  

Walking Hazards

So this was a beautiful and peaceful 7 km walk that ended in a superb luncheon at a local restaurant.  I had salad an bruschetta toast.  It was delicious!  There was no spices!   So I now have a go to meal. After lunch we went back to the hotel and just floated and bobbed in the pool for about an hour.  It was delightful to finally feel refreshed an cool......ahhhhh.

Many times I have quietly thanked my Physiotherapist, Grant  for making sure that my ankle was in the best possible shape for this vacation.  The streets are abysmal and the stair risers are all different heights as are the curbs.  Add that to all the broken bricks and uneven pavement.   I wouldn't be as confident - albeit careful, walking around had it not been for his excellent care.

Dinner was around the corner and I had salad and bruschetta toast again and loved every bite.  The others are enjoying the local cuisine as much as I am enjoying my salads.  One restaurant puts cut up boiled potatoes in their salad simply dressed with a vinegar dressing and I think I may do that when I come home too.  Now home to bed early again and loving that too.