making up syllables: 1m2tm: ubud, indonesia

moving through september, onto the next month and into the balinese mainland, the first of october found me making my way to ubud, the cultural capital of bali. i got a personal pickup from yulia's by a guy who worked at my next rest spot, jati homestay (★★★★, beautiful room with a balcony overlooking a small rice paddy. quiet and off the busy main road but close enough to walk to pretty much everything. affordable with all the amenities, including hot water showers and free breakfast. apparently ubud is full of nice, cheap accommodation).

they told me when i first checked in that my room wouldn't have electricity or hot water because they were doing renovations, but apparently they got whatever needed finishing wrapped up before i needed either because they worked just fine. i appreciate the cautious warning anyways - much better than the disappointment that would have resulted from a different outcome. unlike most of first days, i jumped right into the tourism of ubud, stopping first at the highly amusing monkey forest. the monkey forest is exactly what it sounds like: a forest full of monkeys. a madhouse of monkeys. so many that they warn you to not bring in any food or drink, any kind of trinket that might be attractive to a curious simian, or really anything loose you don't want pilfered by a primate. two highlights to this effect: 1. a man, right when i walked in, was drinking from a water bottle. a monkey climbed up his back and onto his shoulder and tore the bottle from his mouth before retreating off to the periphery to fight it over with other monkeys in his posse. 2. a woman is pushing her infant child in a stroller as the babe sucks at a bottle of milk. a monkey jumps on the stroller and swipes at the bottle terrifying both infant and mom a like. aside from these warned-against acts of aggression there was very little to fear except maybe accidentally stepping on a tail.

after the forest i walked the busy streets; the main area setup mostly in a large circle lined with shops and restaurants. i had heard ubud was particularly good for souvenir shopping and their collection of batiks, masks, beads, and other cultural treasures were no disappointment. the first day i spent no less than $100 on handmade, hand-dyed batiks and another $30 or so on other goods. i also ended up buying another book, the tiger's wife by tea obreht, which was great. recommended. the rest of the day i walked around trying to explore the many temples that dot the area, most of which are right on the street.

one of the nicest was the lotus garden temple, which i think was supposed to be locked up and i more or less snuck into, but later that night i returned there for the first of two night performances i would attend. this one was kind of like a traditional balinese variety show with a mix of performances, although almost all of them were in the form of a dance with music played by an enormous band of mallet drummers. for more on these see the videos i embedded below. after the show i went for dinner. a cuban themed restaurant won me over by offering me a free shot while i was walking around and the food did not disappoint. i had a really delicious mole beef stew and a balinese cocktail mixed with arak, a liquor with a similar distillation process to soju. inside they had a pretty good salsa band and a decent size crowd dancing along with them. i opted not to join and instead went home to read and drink some beer on my own.

the next day i finally broke down and decided to visit a clinic about my foot. after some shuttling around i was able to get an x-ray and clean up some of the wounds (for about $200 american). the results showed up clear - no breaks, no problems - just some inflammation. i would just like to add, some two months+ after my foot is still messed up and visibly swollen at the joint. whether this is just the inflammation still acting up or indonesian clinics are not to be trusted i can't say for sure, i just know i need to get me some insurance for that good ole usa healthcare (but what are they going to do? rebreak my foot so they can set it properly? oh god i hope not). after lunch, and against the doctors behest, i took the very long walk (stay off that foot!) uphill to the neka museum, which features specifically balinese artists and art about bali. afterward i tried to take a "back way" to the perentan village, supposedly known for their exquisite beadwork, but got horribly lost and walked incredibly far out of the way. it was a little bit dangerous as it was hot and my foot was seriously inflamed but i was fortunately offered a ride from a guide passing through on his motorbike. i tipped him what i could and took a rest at home before the second night performance.

this second performance was a kecak fire dance. again, it was mostly traditional costumed dance but this time the only music provided was the rhythmic chanting of a ring of men. not only did their chants create the drama of the performance, but at time they were required to be set pieces or interactive elements, capturing performers or suggesting the flow of time. again, see below for a better look. the last part of the performance was a trance dance where a single man, supposedly under a spell, walked barefoot through the flaming coals of burning coconut shells, all the while dressed like a horse. it was bad ass (is that a pun??). that night i had dinner at ibu rei?? (i can't read my handwriting here) which was probably the best meal of the trip. i had crispy duck with a mango mojito and apple pie for desert, all for about $20. huh-maze-ing.

the day i woke early to join a group of folks for a culinary adventure in balinese cooking. our first destination was the local market which was hectic and colorful and a little scary but the spices! mein gott, the spices! we were introduced to traditional ingredients and foods we might not be familiar with and were able to pick and sample at our guides whim. then we headed to an outdoor pavilion where, with the help of the homestay's cooking staff, prepared a full five course lunch. i never ground so much corn in my life and i impressed more than one german lady with my whisking skills, but i can't say the same for the kitchen staff who kept taking things from me to do them better. how am i ever to learn!? whether we were naturals or the staff did most of the work, who knows! but the meal was a huge delicious success. included was:
• balinese sauce - used in several of the dishes
• corn fritters - i could eat several dozens of these but we only got 3 each
• nasi goreng - basically chicken fried rice
• fish ball soup - i made the fish balls!
• chicken satay - chicken on a stick
• and what i can only guess (again, my handwriting) as being tempe, which i think was a black rice pudding type thing

during lunch i somehow got myself talked into a walking expedition with an older german woman. so after lunch off we went, up the same horrible hill i had ventured up the day before and even further. i was about to write it off as a huge mistake until she mentioned a side path that went through a jungle path. with a little luck we managed to find it and suddenly everything was worth it. the path followed a creek bed that wound through a wooded valley. eventually we came to an area with a resort built precariously on a hill which i can only imagine as being one of the most picturesque vacationing spots ever. we walked up hoping to find refreshment but apparently the resort wasn't quite in operation yet. so we hoofed it back to the main road and eventually found a chic gelatto store in the middle of nowhere. for being an older woman she was surpringly well suited for the hot, long walk and only had to stop briefly when scaling the hill to the resort (which was admittedly steep). and honestly i enjoyed her company. she was an english teacher in germany and her outlook on exploration and vacationing was surprisingly young and refreshing. back in town we splitted ways and i made my way back to the homestay to prepare for my leave. i had a couple hours before my van to the airport so i got an hour massage (which i needed terribly after all that walking and injury done to myself) and then had a quick dinner.

i had the pleasure of riding to the airport in a van full of italian girls who were on an exchange program in australia. we talked about our various employments. they were apparently teaching their first language in another country as well and they further solidified melbourne as the #1 recommended place to live in australia. we split at the airport, they to australia, and myself back to korea for a long layover.

even though i had only been away for a month it was awesome going back to korea again if just for a layover (a long layover even, 4 hours). i was tempted to leave the airport to venture into the city but i had nothing in particular i wanted to do and just being around the oddly familiar people and signs and foods was comforting enough. or maybe i'm just projecting nostalgic feelings, now some 3 months since, onto my frame of mind then. i wrote a blog post, i had some food, i read my book and i just enjoyed the downtime. soon enough i would be back on a plane, this time for san fransico and then from there onto cincinnati. back to my friends and family i hadn't seen in so long. back to worries and real life problems. back to the motherland.