Fit for Two - Tea Time with Lena the Tea Lady

Discover a whole new world of teas, Keemun Panda

Lately, I have been noticing a resurgence of consumers asking for loose leaf in the black teas. Usually, they have just discovered loose leaf is better than tea bags, but do not know any other choice other than English favorites like Orange Pekoe (which is not the name of a tea by the way, it is usually a Ceylon) and English Breakfast. They have not discovered Estate Teas yet. Estate teas, can come from anywhere in the world producing good quality teas. Unfortunately, today, in Ontario , the tea industry is where the wine was 25 years ago. I can remember going into the LCBO and you could not find any good red wines.Today the LCBO has improved greatly since the 80’s. In Canada, only two provinces are truly appreciating fine teas, Quebec and British Columbia. Anything in between, we have a long way to go, in creating a momentum and demand and educating consumers. At the present they are mostly drinking tea for its health benefit’s 90% of the time, unknowingly, they are not getting any health benefit , because they are drinking tea in tea bags. In my next blog I will elaborate on this subject. Today, I would like to talk about a wonderful black tea from China. In China, black tea is often called red tea. It is called red tea due to the color of the infusion. The rest of the world refers to it, as Black tea. Most of the black tea production from China is for export. Of all teas produced in China, Keemun Panda is probably one of the best known. Often compared to Burgundy wines, Keemuns have a complex aromatic cup. The aroma is fruity, with hints of pine, dried plum with a slight flowery note, displaying hints of orchid. Depending on the variety of Keemun, the cup might be more bitter and more smoky. Keemun Panda #1 is simply outstanding and without any bitterness or astringency.
Keemun are also one of the best keeping black teas, retaining their flavor for years if stored properly and will mellow their winey character. I strongly encourage you to go out of your comfort zone, and sip a new tea.Just find a tea shop that sells this tea. A good tea shop should be able to provide you with a sample. This tea, will also, entice you to try other black teas, now that you have discover that teas are like wine, from one terroir to another, from one garden to another, the aromas vary greatly. I also strongly suggest you to inhale the aromas coming from your cup, before tasting, it helps improving your tasting ability. You might not even be able to return to your Orange pekoe after tasting this tea. Orange Pekoe is for us, a grade of tea leaves, it does not refer to a kind of tea.

Why you should go to Bali

Well sadly, like any good story, there’s an end! To complete this journey I will give you my comments about Bali and why I hope one day, everyone has the chance in their lifetime to visit what’s known as the cradle of civilization, Magical Bali! I have been doing some research but have not been successful to find the real reason behind its name “ The cradle of civilization” or “morning of the world”, I am sure I will find the answer but it will require more research and time, which I don’t have now. I will also answer some questions, which I was asked throughout my journey by various people I met. From the philosopher in the airplane to the taxi driver in Bali, and to those in the Western world . I will also give you some tips about travelling to Bali, just in case one day, you are blessed by life and have the opportunity to visit Bali. Once I complete my book, I will work on inserting images for each blog and have someone correct my text. I will also include some unique facts about their tradition.
Myself, I sincerely, want to have a house and a business in Bali. I would buy a property in the mountains, where the weather is similar to our summer, with breath taking panorama view. If ever, I don’t have the chance to be a homeowner, at least I want to return with my husband. I want to go when we will not be rush by time and visit Australia, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand as well. If you come all the way to the other side of the globe, you might as well, visit those countries. All, more beautiful than the other.
Travelling tips
ACCOMODATIONSBali is rich in architectural inspirations and craftsmanship that is outstanding. Wood carvings are everywhere, so are stone works. If I didn’t have so many books to carry and luggage to pack each time, I would off change hotels every three days. If you stay 3 nights you always get better rates. There is so many beautiful places to see, all with their own uniqueness. Often, the curbside look, like we call it in North America, is not very inspiring , once inside the grounds you may find yourself entering in a small oasis of wonder and beauty. So, don’t stop yourself from looking at a place just from what you see first. Many places are beautiful and worth visiting, not all of them are found in the books or web sites like Lonely planet. Many restaurants have booklets with ads of accommodations. They are one of the best way to discover these places, as some of them or not near the main roads but well worth the drive. If you are looking for houses to rent, many realtors can help you with this, or find a copy of the local journal, there is usually pages and pages. There is more and more foreigners immigrating to Bali, and they are opening places that are eco-friendly, sustainable and more. I also notice, the price on internet are what they are and what you will pay if you book through internet. But when you are there in person, negotiating a price you can do better. If you go from places to places, you will begin to see, who really offers the best deal. Sometime a good deal is not so good, for a couple dollars more, you could of have towels, waters, soap and shampoo, breakfast, air conditioning, etc… these are details that vary from one place to another. You will need to compare and ask a lot of questions.
You can find accommodations for very cheap. From $10 a night to $600 a night, there is so much to choose from! It is surprising how a $12 a night accommodation can be actually pretty good. Reviews, on web sites, are usually pretty accurate. I would off never chosen a $12 a night place, but the reviews were very good and it was near where I need it to be. The best accommodations are often between $60 to $100 a night, for the average traveler. If you are an executive, with a big budget, the sky is the limit!
In Bali two people with $100 a day budget can live comfortably, all three meals included and often left over for an excursion. Most accommodations include a breakfast and often have an all you can eat breakfast buffet. Those are the best, with plenty of fruits and juices and a omelet bar. I strongly recommend so try some of the Balinese traditional breakfast item, like the black rice pudding, who is so delicious, don’t stop yourself, just for what it looks like, it worth the look.
Bali is not for people out of shape or overweight. Unless, you only visit the beach areas. Bali is built on mountains and cliff, so every place you stay as many stairs. You will rarely find elevators as there is a rule in Bali, no hotel should be higher than the coconut trees. If its three floor high, it is only starirs. If you are grasping for air when you climb stairs in North America you will be worst in Bali with the air being so heavy and humid. If you have a physical condition that impairs you to climb stairs, I would only stay at places that are near the beach. Any other place would be mountainous and hilly. Often accommodations are built on the edge of cliffs.
If you are travelling with kids, strollers are not the best solutions. Most parent travelling with kids in Bali have a baby sac. The sidewalks are design for heavy rains, so they are flat, for only a few feet, followed by a steep slated hollow like a gully.
EATING IN BALIBalinese is not a place where you will have to worry about liking the food or not. The dishes are vibrant, colorful and so delicious. Even the small places in small alleys can be good. Don’t let the price fool you, you can eat a full meal for $7 in a restaurant that is an extension of a family compound and it will be just as good as a restaurant located on busy streets for $15. You can find international food everywhere is Balinese dishes are not suitable for your diet. Many places offer organic food, raw food, Ayurveda drinks, tapas, sushi, you can even find hamburgers and fries. You will not go hungry in Bali. The entire month I was there, I never got sick or even close to it. I miss the food very much; it is so colorful, fresh, healthy, tasty and very well balanced. Often the alcoholic drink cost more than the meal, eating in Bali is pretty cheap. It is a very trendy place, so they are to date with what is hot and what is not. Most restaurants don’t take credit card, make sure you ask first. If they do, you will pay extra for sure. You can eat at any time of the day, and some restaurants are only open for diner.
For breakfast, since most accommodation included breakfast with your room, very few places offer breakfast. But you can find some good breakfast; I actually had one of the best breakfasts in a long time in Bali. You must try one of those Ayurvedic juices, they make a difference in your day, especially in humid climate, little help from herbs and plants, is welcome.
They are very thoughtful; In many places they will great you with a fresh cold towel to refresh you before your meal. It is so humid, you will eat less.
If you have rented a villa or bungalow, you will find all your fresh fruits and vegetables at the market, but for meat and things like dairy, etc… you can find supermarkets with everything you need. You can even find wine and beer in the supermarket. Bing Tang is a well know chain in Bali, with quality and lots of variety. Ubud as also an organic Farmers Market which I strongly recommend, it is not located at the same farmers Market downtown. The organic Farmers Market is where all the foreigners go, it is clean and so nice. Look for a paper to find out their hours of operation.
FOOD ALLERGIES
If you have allergies to fish and peanuts you will have to be extra careful. Balinese dishes are often made with a shrimp paste, and lots of peanuts are used. The shrimp paste is in pretty much everything that has been spiced. If you are only allergic to peanuts, it might be still possible to find restaurants you can eat, but if you are allergic to other nuts, it will be difficult for you. Candle nut is like Macadamia, it is used to make the spice blend that is in every Balinese dish, you wouldn’t know it is there unless you know how it is made. They also used a lot of Cashews.
EXERCICE
High end hotels and resorts, all have well equip gym and trainers. If you are not staying at a resort, there is many good places offering, yoga, meditation, pilates, etc…Yoga and meditation seems to be the most popular in Bali. The local paper and magazine have many ads. The yoga barn in Ubud is an excellent place. Bali is very spiritual, therefore you will find more excercices that are related to the mind the body and the soul. I didn’t see any aerobic classes, but I wouldn’t want to do aerobics in this kind of humidity. If you feel sweating is what works best for you, try the yoga in a very humid and hot room, depending on each studio, the name vary, but they always refer to yoga practice in a hot environment.
EXCURSIONS
Don’t be fooled by the price of excursions. It is very Western common thinking that the more expensive something is, the better service and product you get. In Bali this is not necessarily true. If an excursions cost less than a other, and often with a substantial difference, it does not mean you will get less for your money. Very often a cheaper cost for a certain excursion, just means they have a very good reputation and owned by Balinese. The most expensive excursions are most often owned by foreigners, and you will get less for your money.
Refer to Lonely Planet and references of this sort to read reviews of excursions. Usually people writing the reviews are travelers, they have been around and use those reviews for guidance in many of their decisions. They are 90% of the time accurate. I strongly suggest you do the Eco Bike tour. There is many Bike tour and I had not seen advertisement of the Eco Tour at my hotel, I had to look their number on internet. Lonely planet had also their coordinates. It is in dead the best cycling tour you can take. One of the girl in my group was on her third time, always bringing different people along with her. The guide had no problem recognizing her! If you want to have even better, I strongly suggest you contact Sang Made Merta at; sangmer@yahoo.com, 62-812-3651778. Sang Made has very good English, which is unusual for Balinese. You can easily understand him. He is also very well interconnected with the tourist industry and worked for many years at one of the high end resorts. He is very passionate about his work with tourist and wants to ensure you will have a true Balinese experience and be fully satisfy. He will educate you on anything you wish to know about Bali. He will customize is excursion to your need and wish.

GETTING AROUND
It seems in Bali, everyone with a car can become a taxi driver when they feel like it. In Depensar, the blue cars are officially the taxi drivers with permits, but outside Denpasar there is no longer any bleu cars! So when you find a taxi driver you like, ask for his card and call him every time you need a taxi. They have cell phone there and they use them just as much as us! If your taxi driver does not have a card, because they are being printing (as everyone as the same excuse), most likely your taxi driver is a taxi driver Du Jour! Nevertheless, they are always pleasant, do you need a taxi is the most frequent question ask in Bali! Once a scooter stop beside me, as I was walking, asking me if I need it a taxi, his scooter was already full of stuff everywhere, I should of ask where he had intended to have me sit! As I mention before, they rarely have change, so be prepare otherwise a $2 dollars ride can cost you $5. Taxis are so cheap there, no need to take the local bus. The local bus would be a good option if you are going far and on a very small budget. Otherwise there is a lot of places selling seats in a mini van, more comfortable than the local bus for very little, but you need to be minimum two. If you are travelling alone, the local bus, is your best option or negotiate with a driver a fix price to the destination you wish, often you can get a good price. Depending where you are, but in some areas, all you might be able to find as a reliable driver is one with a scooter! They are very careful usually. I also find the drivers very respectful of their customers, while waiting for you, if they smoke they will not sit in the car and smoke, they will smoke far away from the car so the smoke and smell does not bother you. I had a very reliable driver with a very clean jeep. Dewa would pick me up whenever I need it or anywhere. If I return, he would pick me up at the airport. You can contact Dewa Made Ngurah at isiaty_balitour@yahoo.co.id or cell phone number; 6281-338-583-754 Dewa will gladly help you arranging any transportation you might need, at honest prices.
It is very easy in Bali, to rent a car, jeep, scooter, motorcycle and very cheap. But you must be aware that they drive on the other side, there is rarely any streets name or any indication once you get out of the city. I kept asking everyone, but who do you know where to go, the answer was always, you just know. Crossroads, rarely have any signs of direction to a nearby town or which way this road leads to. Also, there are no traffic rules. There is rarely stop or lights and if North America, the rule might be the one to your right as priority, in Bali the priority for everything seems to be, who honks first! You will need to learn the language of honking and understand it, as it is also a signal to you! You might think, it don’t matter if there is no indication, you can always ask, usually when you go out of the city limits, people rarely speak English, and you might have a hard time finding someone that can give you directions. I have seen maps, and they are not like or maps, there might be a road on the map, but it does not indicate you, you need to take the tiny ally to your right to reach that road, the map just shows the main road. Even by foot, maps are confusing! I wanted to rent a motorcycle so bad, but I didn’t want to jeopardize my health. The shifter for the gears is also on the other side, when you drove all your life knowing your gears are on the left, it quickly involves too much thinking, you need to think about the road, looking for street names, etc… It is very easy for Europeans and Australian but not for us. Also, when you drive a scooter or motorcycle, it is a bit like India, it seems everything is permitted if you drive one. If there a space for you, you go for it, even if there is already 4 motorcycles!


HOT SPRING BATHS
If you intend to try the wonderful spring bath of Bali, here a few words of advice. Do not wear anything, white, beige or yellow. The minerals in the water will stained your swimwear in a reddish or rusty color. Do not go to the spring waters when it is a Balinese holiday or there is a celebration coming. As the water is for them, purification, you might find it very crowded if there is some kind of celebration coming up, that involves purification. Also attend those springs in the morning; they tend to get very crowded after 11:00am. Anyone travelling near a hot spring should experience them, as they are very beneficial for the body. The entry fee are usually very low, anywhere between $3 and $10 dollars. Most places have lockers you can rent to lock your personal belonging. Don’t forget your suntan lotion, you should apply the lotion only to your face.
VISITING TEMPLES
If you wish to enter Temples, you must respect their traditions and wear a sarung, and appropriate top. Some Temples will even lend you one, in exchange of a small donation. There is so many Temples to visit throughout Bali. You should also educate yourself on the fundamentals of Balinese Temple, there is always at least three temple in a town. It is very interesting to learn the facts and belief the Temples have. They are very respectful of us, you should do the same, and even if no one is watching a Temple, do not enter without wearing a sarung. They are everywhere, you can buy one anywhere from $2 to $100 for a pure silk one. The sarung must be worn by the men as well. Photos are allowed and will provide you with many opportunities to take breath taking images of Bali. A woman in her menses should not enter any Temple as well. They would be horrified if they found out you did! This would probably require some special spiritual cleaning of the Temple! So, please respect their traditions. In Ubud there is one that is famous for being guarded by the Monkeys, the Temple itself is not spectacular, but the Monkeys are truly guarding this site. No one forces them to stay there, and they could go anywhere at any time, but they never do. In the sacred Monkey forest, they even have an area that if you enter, the monkeys will not be happy, as they feel it is their private space. There is another famous Temple that is guarded by poisonous water snakes. I didn’t have the chance to visit this one.
MEDICAL ATTENTION AND MEDICATION
If you are taking medication make sure you have everything before you leave. Pharmacies are not a common thing there. You will find herbs and natural medicine shops but rarely a drugstore. Item like toiletry can be found at the supermarket and small corner stores, along with things like headache medication, heart burn, upset stomach and more. If ever you injured yourself there, there is hospitals, from what I gather from other tourist which were injured, you will get a good and reliable service. If you have medical problems and wish to address them naturally, beside the post office in Ubud, there is a medicinal lady that can do treatment, she has also a gift and can tell you what is wrong with you. It is the same lady as the book Eat, Pray and love. You must leave your Westerner mind home if you intend to experience a treatment with her. But it is effective and you see results right away. You also need to be aware that you will most likely be in her shop for hours and if you are prude, this is not the type of treatment for you! If you wish to experience something different, it is worth every penny.

MONEY
Don’t bring travelers check. The banks don’t even want to change your travelers check, if they do you will have to make a few trip and they only allow $200 a day. In the end it will cost you more money than using the ATM. If you use the ATM smartly, it is your best option. Just be aware of the limit of the ATM you are using, some will only give you $50 others might allow $300, the less you use it the less transaction fees you will be charged. Credit cards are only accepted at upscale places and high end hotels. If they do accept credit card, they are not shy to charge you a 3% fee on top of your bill. If you bring US dollars, strangely in North America, no one wants to take your $100 bill, in Bali, the bigger the bill the bigger the rate. You will get less for $20 dollars bills than $50’s and $100 is the best exchange rate of all. If only, I had known! Bali is also pretty safe, it is amazing how you go into these tiny shops to exchange your money, and they have hundreds and hundreds of dollars, day after day, and no one goes in there to rob them. There is no security and often a tiny woman is tending the shop alone. Thieves are not a common thing in Bali, I am not saying they don’t exist, as a thief could be very well, a foreigner, but it is very safe. Safer, than anywhere, I have been. In Bali a $5 bill is actually a large bill for them, they never have change and often when you change money, you will get either lots of $5 or lots of $10, rarely you get denomination that are higher. You will find that you can go a long way in Bali with a $5 dollars bill. It is pretty easy to figure out the money, you just remove a few zeros. $10 is $ 100 000 Rupiah. Make sure you always have plenty of $1 and $2 dollars bills (10 000 & 20 000 rp) on you. A cab ride is often $2 but might cost you $5 if you don’t have change.
80% of the time, the tip is included but it is so minimal, it is recommended you leave them extra. For them .50¿ is a lot and so little for you.
Changing money is not a problem, shops, post their rates on a board on the sidewalk. Always change your money between Monday and Thursday. Never on Friday, Saturday or Sunday as the rates are always lower, you get more for your money when the banks are open. If a Balinese holiday is coming make sure you change your money a few days before.
You will see many banks but only a few banks accept to deal with foreigners. If you did bring travelers checks, you are best to exchange them in the shops. The bank will make you come back two hours later, and often you come back and they will say, sorry the internet or computer was down, so they could not confirm with American Express if your checks are good or not. They also only exchange two hundreds at once. The shops can exchange up to $500-$700 at once. But be aware, sometimes the shops, or the bank will argue you saying, it is not the same exact signature, make sure you are signing exactly the same way, otherwise they will not cash it in.
SPAS
Bali, is the epicenter of pampering! They have a way to take a massage and make it their own, adding their own touch and techniques. Avoid spas that have a Japanese name and fancy fronstore, you will pay astronomic price there. They are owned by Japanese and have almost exclusive Japanese clientele. As they are known to spend the most money to preserve their beauty. You can get the same and better treatment without the extra frills for a fraction of the cost. You can be in a spa for 3-4 hours, being pampered and your bill will be less than $25! While in Bali, try to have at least one massage a week, it is so beneficial for your skin, your health, your moods. A simple shampoo there , can turn into a myriad of talented hands and a short trip to la la land! Don’t miss out on such experience. Balinese woman are truly gifted and are very timid, they will not bombard you with questions while you are trying to relax, they work tirelessly on your body, firm but gentle touch always. I was very impress they actually do pedicure the way I believe they should be done. I used to do Holistic pedicure, and people prefer to sit in a chair, that gives you some kind of massage, which I have always found annoying, because it is not the real sensation of a massage. And they don’t feel like they are having a good pedicure if there feet doesn’t soak in water for 10-15 minutes. In Bali they do it the right way. Have you ever try to sand a piece of wood that is wet? If you try, you will see that sending a wet piece of wood, gives you poor results and you will need to send again. It is the same with our dry, crackled feet! If you wet it before, you can never do a good job, and it actually damages your skin. You never notice that not long after a pedicure, already need more buffing? If you do it on dry skin, the job is well done in no time and you don’t need to do it again, for a long time. In Bali, they do the feet soak at the end, with flowers and real botanical and essential oils. No fancy equipment, just a beautiful bowl, fresh flowers and water! That is a real pedicure! I would hope one day, consumers will get it and accept to have a different kind of pedicure. I would trade that nice comfortable chair for the leg massage they finish the pedicure with. If you are having a pedicure at a place where they truly know the art of pampering, they should apply a hot towel on your feet. In a split second, you feel the difference, it will pump your blood back up, and you will feel so good. Now, when I have a pedicure without the hot towel I never feel it is complete. The Balinese have not yet, caught on to this, but the Thailand spa have, so I assume Bali, will one day have the perfect pedicure.
You must also try their facial, there is nothing better than a real facial and this is rarely available at any spa in North America. A truly beneficial spa, should do facials with botanicals and organic matters. I had a wonderful cucumber and honey facial, my skin was radiant for days and my sunburn redness disappeared. I could talk about their various treatments for pages and pages, you are just gonna have to go and find out for yourself.

SHOPPING
Shop, early in the morning. For Balinese, the good luck of the first buyer is very important. If they didn’t make any sales at the end of the day you might get a deal. The shops owned by foreigners will not bargain any prices or make any deals. Those shops are easy to recognize with their nice glass doors and windows. Very modern looking. The markets and small Balinese shops are the best place to bargain. Of all Bali, Ubud is the shopping paradise and don’t make the mistake of thinking you will get a better deal in the next town your heading off. It will be more expensive and lot less choices. The next time I go to Bali, I won’t bother packing a suitcase. Many people also buy their suitcase there, because they get a fancy brand name for very little. The shops in Ubud have something for everybody, almost. If you are overweight, you will have difficulty finding clothes for yourself. Nothing goes over size large, there! But if you are a small or medium size, your choice are endless. You will find the perfect clothing to wear in climates like Bali. It is so hot there, even a t-shirt is too much! Spaghetti dresses, light skirts, spaghetti camisole are the best to wear. Anything to heavy will stick to you and get soak.
If you want to buy gold, there is an artisan village near Ubud where all the handcraft men, crafted beautiful 21k gold jewelry. You can also buy really good gold in the Ubud market, it might surprise you, as the gold shop might be near the meat or the fruit vendor, but it just as good quality. If you get to know and trust a Balinese, you may want that person to make the purchase, as there is a Balinese price for gold and one for foreigners.
Before heading to Bali, don’t even bother getting a pedicure or a manicure, save your money you can have a pedicure anywhere from $6.00 to $25.00 the average with a leg massage and fancy nail polish is around $14.00 at the most. If you go to a Japanese owned spa, you will pay $25-$45. Japanese owned spa usually have a Japanese name so there are easy to recognize and their design is lot more fancy than your typical Balinese place. So if you don’t mind the décor, you can have a really good pedicure, in a shanty looking place, with a really good massage for $12, or pay for the ambiance and have an ordinary pedicure.
Another thing you should not bother to bring. Leave your make-up artillery home. No one wears make up in Bali, and when you do, you stick out of the crowd! It is so humid and hot, make up on your face will feel uncomfortable, foundation will probably cake on your face and anything else will run. It is so humid, you don’t need moisturizer either. If we are on the subject of leaving things home, I would also add high heels. Most likely you will not wear your high heel once. And if you do, they will be doom for the garbage after one night! Most of the sidewalks and resort are handcraft with little pebbles, making impossible to walk on high heel. In the street, it is like cobble stones. For the space they will take in your suitcase, it’s not worth bringing any, you can buy a pair for really cheap there , if you insist on walking with high heels.
ANSWERING ALL YOUR QUESTIONS
What was to most unique thing you saw? I was very fortunate to see a really rare sight. A Komodo dragon who is in fact a giant lizard! The Komodo dragon made the news upon my return, for the first time ever, a female Komodo gave birth to six eggs without being expose to any males. To date, only a few animals have been recorded to be asexual, the Komodo dragon was not known to be one of them.. You rarely see one because they are very shy and run from humans. I tried to get a picture of it, but it was going to fast into the deep jungle to snap a photo. Komodo dragons are also one of the oldest species on earth going back to prehistoric time. They are truly as big as the say they are. They have a face that is cuter than the rest of their body. They are not very colorful, mostly dark brown.
What is your biggest deception about Bali? They allow merchants to sell Ivory. Elephants are killed every day, simply for their ivory tusk. When you think an elephant takes 20-22 months before giving birth, and is a toddler for another 24 months, it is obvious at this rate if we keep killing them, they will disappear. Balinese are very talented and make beautiful sculptures and carvings with the Ivory, there is no doubt about that, it is a beautiful.
What did you like the most about Bali? That is a tough answer, because I liked so many things I cannot answer with one word. I like the most is their people and their culture. And culture includes food!
What would you change about Bali? I would clean up their beaches. I would campaign for everyone to help, there beach are not always clean and the ocean is worst. There is a lot of beautiful villages on the oceans, and they are dying for tourist. They don’t realized that the way they keep their beach will never attract tourist. For them the beach and the ocean is something different, it is not a leisure place. I asked a lot of questions and observe a great deal while on their beach. I didn’t understand why their beach are so polluted with detritus. I never saw anyone throwing or leaving anything behind. So I couldn’t understand , when I asked, they would say, it is the fault of the older people, they don’t understand plastic does not return to the earth. The elderly spent their entire live living of nature, and returning things to nature, for them, it is unconceivable that something cannot be return to the planet. They know a banana leaf will eventually return to the earth and plastic should do the same. But it still didn’t make sense, until I came home and did some research. The culprit is not really the Balinese. It didn’t make sense to me, people almost everywhere I went I was so impress how the streets and the villages were very clean, compare to Jamaica,India,Republic Dominican, China and places like that. Bali, specially Ubud are the ultimate, cleanest, tropical destinations I ever seen. So, why so much garbage in the ocean? Please google “Citarum River” and see those videos on you tube and more. This is something the entire planet needs to be aware of. I have never seen something so horrible, if we don’t do anything about this, the entire planet will be affected. Costeau’s son, recently, reported they found flip flops in the bottom of the ocean at the north pole. I assure you, no one wears flip flops in the Arctic. The Citarum river is in Indonesia just oust of Java. Java and Indonesia are like a different world compare to Bali. There is a lot of similarity with Bali and Quebec in Canada. It is like a country within a country, but without being a country! Balinese are the only one in Indonesia to speaks that language, although they must learn Indonesia in school, they have a different religion than the rest of Indonesia who is Muslim, they are living very differently than the rest of Indonesia. They respect the nature and life. They believe about balance in life and would never hurt nature as they know it will revenge. Their culture is different, there food is different, everything is different than the rest of Indonesia. So Bali is not responsible for the Citarum River. You can also log on to; www.feww.wordpress.com fire earth is an organization denouncing abuse of the planet. I warn you, those photos are very upsetting, it is unconceivable, humans can think there would be no consequence to such collective behavior. If there is anyone out there, reading my blog, and as a solution, an idea for action, anything, please contact me. We simply cannot leave this up to them, they will keep destroying and polluting important bodies of water. Too bad their religion, does not preach respect nature in all its aspect. They are so fervent of their religion, if this was in the book, they would never act this way. Sadly, the nature might revenge before we can act, with great consequences. And then it will be too late!
Is it safe there? I felt safer there than back home! There is only one jail, it is in Denpasar, a big urban city with millions of people and immigrants. Because of their culture and respect for life they would never think of doing something that would not be right.
Will you insert photos in your blog? Yes, my intention is to do so. When I have time and money, I wish to have the text edit and I will add some very interesting facts about Balinese life and culture, but for now, I must focus on completing my book.
Why would you want to live there? Because Bali, is about everything I embrace in life. Their culture is beautiful and they believe and live their life with respect to life, nature and humans. They believe that everything in life is about balance. Their priorities are family and friends. I love the food, the availability of fresh produce, the climate, the scenery, the people, the music, the choice of restaurants. They have an open mind. There you don’t have to have a commercial land to open a business, you just need a beautiful setting, a good business project and staff and there you go. Here they don’t grasp that eco tourism, must be considered differently. In North America, you can only open a business that is granted commercial zoning. Who wants to spend the night in an eco tourism business that sits on a commercial road . An eco tourism business or green business, must be in a green environment, with a scenic view or stunning green space. For example, we have a beautiful property in Hockley Valley, with one of those million dollar view, but better!It is sheltered by the forest, it is like an oasis on top of a mountain, with a 360 degree view. The view of the valley is stunning, only from there, you can see only picture, the glacier gliding into the valley, it is very obvious, the valley was created by them. We are actually a lot higher than the Hockley Ski resort. For years I have dreamed of opening a spa with finish bath and sauna. One, as since open in Collingwood, but in Hockley it would be such an addition to the region, being only an hour away from Toronto. We could never dream of opening such a zen place, because the authorities of the Niagara escarpment and the town of Mono, can’t think out of the box. They have not think about green commercial zonage yet, eco tourism would be such an asset for Ontario. It would bring so much to the world, people would be more conscientious of their planet.
If you had to describe Bali with one word only, what would that word be? Magical!

Thank you for following this journey with me.

Sadly on my way home, leaving beautiful Bali

Last day in Benoa. The weather is still beautiful, I just can’t get over the fact, that a month as gone by already. It truly does not feel like it.
I didn’t go to Jimbaran, I didn’ t know why I didn’t really want to go eat live lobster, I had many reasons but didn’t exactly know why. Here everybody as a friend that owns a restaurant on the beach at Jimbaran, and offers to pick you upand drive you back for free! This did not raise any questions in my mind, because I saw Mc Delivery here, pick up is not good enough, here McDonald will deliver your fast food . First I thoughtI just didn't want to go anywhere I need it to drive too, I wanted to stay in this area, I don’t have time to go there and there. Also, I felt guilty having a mouthwatering crustacean without my husband who loves crab. It didn’t feel right with me and I would not of enjoyed my diner alone with a big lobster. And the third reason is, do I really want to go somewhere they will screw up my lobster. Every time I have ask for cold shrimp in my salad, they yes it is possible, but the shrimps are always arrive hot. Here a shrimp cocktail is hot, never cold. So I know they would off serve me my lobster hot, and only like seafood cold. When its cold it brings the sweetness and flavor out lot more than hot. But if it's luke warm I will not enjoy my meal.
On the way to the airport even the taxi driver ask me if I been to Jimbaran I said no, he made it sound like I miss something extraordinary. I ask him to stop at the big nice monument in town so I can take one last photo and ask him what the monument was about, and he said, for the bomming victims. I knew one had been in Kuta, I didn’t know where was the second one. Jimbaran is where the last bomb hit. Now, I know why everyone want you to go there. I guess many tourist stay away from that area, and all the Balinese are connected together to bring tourist there. It is known to be the place for live seafood, caught right there in the ocean in the morning. Did I mention that the thought of eating a lobster in water that if full of garbage didn’t appeal to me either? If the only two beaches I seen were dirty, most likely the rest are too. I was explained what is happening in Bali, since the beginning of time, the habitants of Bali found their food in the nature and cultivated some of their food. Then, they throw everything back to the nature. If they eat in a banana leaf plate, the leaf is thrown back to the nature. If they cook food in a piece of bamboo, the bamboo goes back to the nature. They live their entire life in symbiosis with the nature. The last generation now, has been throwing back all plastic to the nature, because all they know, is that you can make anything from the nature and the nature will decompose it. They cannot comprehend plastic is not decomposable, how can something found in this planet not decompose. It is hard to educate those people living in remote area, or very pool. I was told that in school the kids are thought not to throw the plastic away. But the eldest really don’t get it, they either burn the plastic or throw it in the nature. The younger are trying to teach the oldest you can’t throw plastic into the nature or burn it, as it is very toxic. I can understand what is going on, what happen to the Balinese, they got invaded by plastic too, and they didn’t know at the time it wouldn’t decompose or you cannot burn it, they might have had a second though.
They also believe that the water makes everything disappear because it always did for hundreds of years. I saw in Benoa some students that were cleaning the mangrove, which is a good sign. They understand the importance of the mangrove and the younger generation will try to save it, but what is happening in Bali is happening everywhere else, with the poor countries of the world. Now, we have to reverse the damage, and a lot of the damage in poor countries is done unknowingly by its habitants.

I arrive in time at the airport,early enough so I can eat. I am a bit surprise how you find many McDonalds in this area, but it is logical for them to be here. Lots of tourist, it’s a big city, culture goes out the window here too. I was curious to see the menu here, but too much luggage to check it out. If you want to eat here, the restaurants are all outsides in the scorching heat, No food inside the airport, that is a bit strange and I am glad I asked, otherwise I would off been stuck inside the airport with no food to eat but junk. So I ordered take out and went in, in the much cooler environment. I am flying with Air China to Taipan is it is very interesting to observe the Asian's behaviors. I watch them in Ubud as well, as they would go to Ubud in a charter bus to shop for the day. When they were in Ubud, you couldn’t walk on the sidewalk of Monkey Forest Road. They were so numerous. They must be the champion of shopping, not just their women but the men’s as well. I think brands do well because of their fierce appétite for brand names. They love brand name, the more expensive, the more popular the brand is!One thing boggles me, they seem to be champion at shopping, but I would like to know where they get their sense of fashion. It is absolutely indescribable. They will wear a Coach purse, with some backpack that looks like it belongs to a two year old, some ugly designer skirt that looks like it comes from Value Village, a top that is far from matching anything they are wearing, with a bright neon oversized pair of crock's! They own every gadget on the planet, as you watch them wait, they are all busy pushing some bottoms, no one talks to each other, they have a conversation with a piece of metal and plasticl As I Iook around, they all have an ipod in a pocket, a camera around the neck and either standing or walking while texting. For them, going to Indonesia to shop, is like going to heaven, they get lot more for their money as their currency is very strong (Japanese). Many just fly over for a week end, it is still cheaper than shopping back home. They are also, starting to invest in Bali. In a newspaper I saw a statistique of the increase of foreigners residents in Bali. Japan was first in the progression of foreigners moving to Bali with an increase of 41% compare to last year. The official number of Japanese immigrants, was 1797 in 2009. They are now, side by side with the Australian who have been immigrating for years to Bali. If you are curious Canada is in 11th place with only 210 immigrants. I sure hope to be in the new statistic one day.
The return, is a long flight but shorter than when I came in. From Denpasar, we have a four hour flight to Taipei. In Taipei some two and half hour wait for the next flight. There I spent some time looking at their duty free shop, our duty free shops are nothing compare to Taipei!. If you want to see rare and fancy liquor they have it all!. I have no more doubt now, believing, as I heard they spend $1000 on a tiny bottle of iced wine from Canada. They have exclusive cognac, sake, iced wine and so many special edition liqueur. Even special edition from France. I don’t like liquor but it is fun to look at the bottles who are all more exclusive than the other. They are so expensive they are in a glass case that no one can open.Sometime a guard stands beside a particular one. I am glad, I didn’t buy any liquor. Because when you have a transit, you have to go through security again. No liquid is allowed over 10 ml. They don’t care how much it’s worth they take it away, no matter what.
We arrived in Vancouver early enough for me to see the beautiful mountains, covered in snow. Since I have been away for a month, I have no idea how the Olympic went, since when I left they was not a lot of snow for the competitions. There is still a few athletes in the airport, returning home, but they are all in a wheelchair. I still have a few hours to go, so I go to Tim Horton to get a bagel and a coffee. I have not had anything like this in awhile. The coffee was aweful; I forgot how I don’t like Tim Horton’s coffee, I have been drinking real good coffee in the morning, without any bitterness and full of flavor. The coffee in Bali is so good that I barely used milk, when you did used milk, the coffee still remain dark. It was nice to hear Canadian news on the big screen tv in the waiting area, but it made me realized, do we ever go without any murders for a week?. We have so much violence here compare to Bali. The only jail is in Denpasar, as it is a big city, there is sometime trouble there too, but I was told murdering someone is an extremely rare casualty. Crime there is mainly theft and still for a country that is not so rich, theft is not common as we would imagine. Once we boarded the West Jet flight, it really felt like I was truly on my way home. We had West Jet most friendly and funny flight attendant team ever. Specially Wendy who was the Flight attendant in charge, she had a talent and should be a one woman show! After her first announcement, I said out loud, I need some of that coffee you are drinking, everybody laugh and the men next to me said, that is not coffee, but something else! Here is some of her funny instruction or announcement;
On the welcoming announcement she invited anyone with a bad mood to walk of the plane now, as they do not take passengers in a bad mood! She then announce the light will be tame down during the flight as recent studies shows that when reducing lights during flights, it slows the appearance of wrinkles of the flight attendants. Please, be aware that the arm rest can be lifted in case you need to stay tucked in your seat, please use the arm rest, if you don’t wish to be found drewling all over your neighbor in a big profound sleep! For your convenience the head rest, also wraps around your head for better stability. If ever the cabin pressure drop, a mask will drop in front of you, put the mask over your sniffer and kisser…Ok let’s get this Boeing going!...This buckle belt as been around since the 60”s, if you never seen one of those, we have them here…. If you have any question write it on the back of a $50 bill, I promise, will get back to you…The lighting system on the floor as been approved by Martha Stewart…
She was so hilarious, everyone clapped at the end of her last announcement. It was nice to laugh like this, after a long trip and nice to see there is still people with a good sense of humor. And the entire team was happy going with lots of vitality. If she would off worked for Air Canada, they would probably penalized her for inappropriate conduct, during her announcements. I am very happy and so were the other passengers, that West Jet lets her bring some humor into those boring announcement. I hope to find the time, to let West Jet know that we appreciate her sense of humor and the team smile. Someone like this deserves to be notice. She was so funny and talented; I was thinking if I was a producer I would get a hold of her!
And I arrived in Toronto at 6:00 am not a minute before, as we are not allowed to land before 6am, in a beautiful sunny and warm day. We all say good bye to the people we have made conversations with during the numerous flights and it really hits me now, back to the normal life. I will greatly miss Bali. I love travelling and appreciate every culture and country I visit, but this is the first time I encounter a strong sense of belonging there, and wanting to move there. Rather I will ever be able to convince my husband of this is another story! I am sure it would be an easy sell if it wasn’t on the other side of the globe! When you think of it, it is far away, I was only two hours away from Australia. When I arrived home, it felt so weird and different. The morning are so quite, compare to the wonderful birds signing in Bali, it was so strange that I went for a walk in the mountain, still, there is no birds signing,during mid day. I will miss all the birds you hear every day, they kind of fill the background for you. Now, I will have to put on, one of those CD you use when you are at a spa, with the birds and the water in the background, it is so relaxing, it as a soothing therapeutic effect. I know now, as I feel strange without the noise, they are truly calming and soothing.

I would like to express my gratitude to my loving husband, who probably just had the longest month of his life. I am greatful for his fidelity and trust, patience, understanding and love.I would like to thank everyone who followed my journey, I did not feel so lonely with you in my life. I know the blog was full of spelling mistakes, as someone amically commented that the orthography would make a second year English major blush, but this blog is at least authentique! What matters is not the perfection of the English text, what matters is the journey.I hope, you still understood the fundamentals. I wish to thank every one that had a thought or pray for my computer, so it does not let me down due the humid heat it had to endure. My laptop made it home without crashing! If you wonder what made it possible, it is called Quantum physics, you should look it up, I cannot explain this one to you but I can give you something very powerful to do. I did it while in Bali, and good things started to happen, as you witness on my blog. Do this exercice once a month, it takes only 23 minutes of your time, you dont need to understand how it works or what you read, just sit there and go with the flow, see how your life will start to change. It is free, so use it, pass it along to all your friends. It was important for me to introduce you to Quantum physics as I talk about it in my book.Go to;
www.quantumk.co.uk/quantumk_video.htm
Do not hesitate to send me your comments and I do accept donations for my future return to Bali!! Love you all, read my last blog about Bali after Easter, before we return to blog about tea!Donations and comments can be sent to; thetealady@bellnet.ca
And don't forget to have a good laugh today, laughing is what keeps us young at heart and happy. A life without laugh is also a life with illness and health issues. Laugh is the best medicine, and one that no one can charge you for it!

Cremation of the Balinese

For a change I woke up to the birds signing, not the roosters! I slept very well in my new pad. This place is so peaceful and beautiful. What a change from the busy place of Ubud. I spend the day writing at the beach, I know I have AC now, but why would I stay indoors, when I am fortunate enough to be in the tropics. I have the beach all to myself, comfortable chair with a good table and straw roof. The water did return to its normal level, but the beach is still a deception. Again too much garbage washes on the shore. Beside the garbage tons of weed ends u on the beach and the hotel do not sweep it. The water is also full of seaweed. I went for a walk on the beach, I didn’t go too far. Being alone I have no one to apply sunscreen on my back and shoulders. There is a lot of water sports here. And the beach is not a true white sand beach. Everywhere it is advertise as a white sand beach, I can understand why it is white to them with so many black sand beaches, but it is more like a pink golden color. It’s a coarse sand. Some part of the beach are impossible to walk, you sink so deep into the sand, it feels like quick sand, but I never experience quick sand so I am not sure. I am amazed how fast the day went by. Then I lift my eyes from my laptop and the water has recess without me noticing. I go in the room to grab my camera but I had to return to bring it back. Trying to look through the lens I kept loosing balance, and I was wondering what was going on with me, I have been drinking only water since Nyepi. The water had not completely withdraw and the attraction is so strong that you can’t stand still, you feel the ocean pulling you. As I never been to the Bay of Fundy, I have never experienced a tide under my feet. I actually like this phenomena. I can walk on the sand far away, near where the waves are breaking, at least a mile walk. The water is so warm here, it does not shock you, when you enter, no acclimatization is needed it. The water is probably at the same temperature as my body, it is so hot. If you want to cool down, you go take a cold shower! Even far away where the waves are, it is warm. You can’t really stand in the water, waiting for the waves to hit you, you feel being pulled forward. Even bending down to look at sea shells in the water, I kept losing my balance, fortunately I have put the camera away. I was lucky to found some rare sea shell and some red coral. Highly prized and prohibited to take, while its alive. Luckily these are pieces that have been broke off by the ocean. This cute little Balinese boy, no older than four years old, was throwing the star fish back into the water, as some of them get stuck on dry sand when the water recess. I thought this was really neat, even that young, they respect nature. His mother didn’t seem to worry he was so far away alone in the water. The sun was coming down and I know what they mean by there is no sunset; you see the sun coming down only to a certain point, as the sunset is on the other side. I had to hurry back, I didn’t notice the sun going down and its coming down fast. Going out for diner it easy here, I just cross the street and you have many choices to pick from.
As promise, I will explain the cremation of Balinese, their last journey. They believe they only finished a cycle of life and will come back for another cycle. They believe, the human body is made of the five elements; earth, fire, air, water, and light. Cremation, allows the spirit of the decease to leave and to be removed from his now useless envelope.
Cremation here is a lavish affair. Impressive and spectacular, with an astronomical bill, only high rank people, like Brahma priests, master of rites and descendants of the Royal Family, who is no longer in power but highly respected by the Balinese, are entitled to individual cremation. For other Balinese the ceremony is collective. If someone dies they are buried into the cemetery and will be dug up for the collective cremation usually every three or 5 years at the maximum. A collective cremation, consist of people from the same village. The date of the ceremony is decided by the priest, for a favorable day accordingly to their calendar. Before the body is buried, a piece of metal is inserted in their mouth to ensure they will have solid and good teeth in their future life. They cover the eyes with mirrors for future bright eyes and the eyebrows with a leaf of intaran to be attractive in their future. Maybe that is the secret to why all Balinese look good, either it’s a women or men, they have a beauty that is hard to describe. Before the cremation, three weeks prior to the ceremony, all men of the village must dedicate two hours of their time on a daily basis to help with the preparation. The sarcophagus and the tower must be built. The sarcophagus have different shapes, according to their clans; bull, lion or fish. The sarcophagus will hold the decease and will be set on fire. If the body has not been buried, the body is placed in the tower. If it has already been buried they place a portrait or a photo of the decease on top of the tower and collect their remains at the graveyard. On the day set by the priest, the entire village dressed in ceremonial outfits, and walk to the ceremony. Women walk ahead, carrying their offerings on their heads followed by the empty sarcophagus, carried by men, and then the tower. The orchestra closes the procession playing and singing. Once there, if the cremation is collective all the towers and sarcophagus are placed next to each other. Each family unearths the remains of the body, wraps them in a white cloth and puts them down on a bamboo base until a drum gives the signal. At the signal the bodies are placed inside the sarcophagus along with offering and portraits of the dead sprinkle with holy water. A metal container is at the bottom, in order to collect the ashes. After they have collected the ashes, on the same day, they must carried and spread the ashes to the sea of to a river that ends up in the sea. As they believe water is the beginning to every life.
Twelve or Forty-two days after the cremation, depending of the region, a ceremony called Nyekhas is organized. During this ceremony they place a portrait of the decease in a new tower then burn it too. This way, their spirit, finally freed from their body, will take its place in the family temple, among the ancestors.
Cremation are like a playful riot, it is believed a show of grief disturbs the spirit of the deceased and prevents it from leaving the body. Arak, the national drink (palm liquor) flows freely at these events, fueling the bearers who must twist the funeral tower at each crossroads in order to shake of any recalcitrant demons. The tower and the sarcophagus is on the same bamboo structure they put the OGOH-OGOH on, like a grid, with a man in each square of the grid. The tower is also called a pyre, the higher the rank the higher the tower is. Strange as it seems it is in their cremation ceremony that Balinese have their greatest fun!
The cremation I witness was a beautiful bull. Balinese are very talented artist. Everything they touch is beautiful. They are master at intricate decorations.

Benoa and the beach

I was a bit nervous going all that way without reservations, none of the hotels I e-mailed reply, and phone calls is not as easy as back home. Off course you can make calls from your room but its $3 a minute each call. Rather you make a 20 second call or 1 minute, it’s $3. It can add up pretty fast if you call a few hotels. When we arrived in Sanur, I don’t really like it, it is still too close to Kuta, extremely busy and noisy. Dewa tells me that he used to work in Nusa Dua and he could make a phone call to the hotel he used to work. So I told him that I was debating going there too, but on the map it seems far from the airport. Since it’s at the very tip of the island, the most southern part of Bali. He said, no it is much closer to the airport. He also mentioned Benoa. Benoa is the place the lovely couple from Nice had suggested I go there, she had given me the page from her book with photos, but the hotel never replyed to my request. They had spoked highly of Benoa saying it was very quiet and if that’s what I was looking for, I should go. After finding out that the hotel in Nusa Dua was over $100 a night, no breakfast included I said to Dewa, let’s go, I don’t even want to go visits the hotels on my list. They were beautiful hotels, but I can tell Sanur is not for me! As soon as we enter Benoa without knowing we are here, I said to my driver. I like it here, what’s the name? Benoa. All right this is where I am staying. It is close to the airport, we drove by, and the beach is beautiful just from seeing it from the road. We passed a name I recognized, having looked at everything about Bali, I know the name of the two most exclusive hotels in Bali, and rank among the first 10 in the world. If they are located in this area, it means it’s a good place. We stop at a hotel, Dewa says it’s a nice place and ask me if I want to look, of course we kept driving by the five stars, I know I can’t afford them! The place he suggested does not look like much from the parking. They shows me a room that I immediately loved! I don’t need to see any other place this is perfect. I can see the beach from my balcony, it is very private, and each room is a small bungalow, all sitting in an impeccable manicure garden. My balcony is very private surrounding by stunning bird of the paradise! Beautiful pool and the beach a few steps away. The room is also perfect for working; It is the best chair I‘ve had so far! A nice bathroom with a clean comfortable tub, mini bar, air conditioning and a TV! No insects, the place is very clean compare to Ubud and no insects crawling around. The room smells good. A smell not enhance by fragrance. This will be strange to have a tv, I have not miss it, at all, but I feel like I have been cut off from the rest of the world. People are talking Obama and I have no clue what is going on, he is supposed to arrive in Denpasar the day before I leave, but apparently he cancel but no one knows why. Someone else told me the Macchu Pichu has been closed for over a month. Last time this happened to me, Pavoretti had died and I only found out 3 months after. I was in shock I never heard about it, but I was away for a month without tv again.
And today again, I thought I wouldn’t have anything exciting to talk about, but the island of gods, always blesses me with something! I was fortunate enough to see a rare event happening, and one that is even more symbolic than Nyepi. I had heard so many things about their cremation, the equivalent for the Western world is Funeral. Last year in Ubud, some tourists were very fortunate to see the cremation of a member of the Royal family and that is even more grandiose. A heafty bill of billions of rupies, I was told. To transport the tower into the street, 500 mens were needed it. And I will explain furthermore, on the next blog, but the tower is not the only element transported. So, as we are leaving Ubud, we need to take a street that leads to the main road to Kuta area. The street is closed, so we have to find another street, to complicate matters, many of the streets here are one way. I see a beautiful procession and Dewa says, Cremation. Are you serious? Yes, cremation, you want to see? What a question. I get off the car and ran to the next street, it was quite far away, I arrive soak and wet, but I am not the only one, many tourist ran in order to get a few shots and to witness one of the happiness moment of Balinese life. They party even more than the day before Nyepi. As I mention on my blog, I did not see anyone with a drink on that day, and it was pretty low key compare to our New Years eye. A cremation is the only time, everyone drinks and they must have a good time. Nobody must cry. I can see even the women’s must off had a drink as well, they are smiling so much, I should say laughing, not smiling! I had already known the basic of this ceremony, but it is so unique, to actually see it happen, it really gives you a complete understanding of the whole concept. As much as there is flower s everywhere in this country, in every step of restaurants, offerings, statues, there is no flowers for the cremation. The whole thing looks to the eyes of a Westerner like a parade. If you didn’t know you might think it is a celebration of some kind, you would certainly not think it’s a funeral. First of all there is no casket. At the beginning of the procession a few men carry some kind of decoration, much further; a few mens are carrying something that looks like a pedestal, all decorated with gold material and beautiful details, that only Balinese know how to do. Than much further, a man that gives the signal to either stop or move ahead. They alternate, walking to running than to a complete stop. I supposed the rhytm is to allow the carriers to catch up their breath. The next podium is a huge bull, carried by about 20-30 men. The bull is bigger than the one standing on Wall Street in New York. A man on each side of the bull is standing. Further down 30-40 man carry the tower, followed by the bells, the musicians and the guess and curious!
Once settle in Benoa, I went across the street to have lunch it is pass 4pm my breakfast is pretty far. I noticed right away, a gentle breeze is felt! Ah! Some fresh air, less humidity, still very hot but less heavy on the chest! I have a really nice green Papaya soup. I want a light lunch I am dying to swim in the ocean.
And I go put the gear on, hunt for a beach towel and off to the beach! Both my arm drop when I go to the beach. This was a shock, A very old German guy standing by the beach saw my reaction and had a good laugh, he said” arrtomorrow you srwim” . Buy the way this hotel is all retired Germans, and they are nice with me, they all say hi to me in German, all I can say is sorry ni speaking German, I am sure by the end of the three days, I will know how to say hi, it just sound like the noise your about to make when you spit, reahrrr! The old man said tomorrow you swim, it took my little while to understood what he said! It is a good thing I didn’t go see the beach when I visited the room, because I would off said, not here. The beach was gone, at first I was devastated, but when the German guy showed me with his hands I understood that it is the low tide at the moment. So I went back grab my camera and went into this amazing natural phenomena, for exploration. First it was like crossing a marsh, with small soft grass, than it looked like sand dunes, than enough water to puddle. For about 40 minutes you walk and the water is to your ankle, than it the deep ocean with a wave breaker. It was amazing opportunity to see things and capture them on film, sea lettuce, hundreds of star fish, probably four different species of starfish, and I have never encountered any of them before. I saw a few rare things I don’t even know their name. It was fascinating, the water was so warm I had to sit in it and let my legs relax, I would off miss all that if I would off seen the beach, because my first thought would off been, there is no beach here. Apparently the beach is a faitful one and will be back tomorrow morning. Haven seen its bottom, I know it is clean.
The place where I am staying is so beautiful, so private, it almost feels like I am home. I wish my husband was here to see this, to see this beauty and this atmosphere. Three more days...

Today is my very last day in Ubud and still so much to see!I am sad I didn't get to visit the artisanal villages Sang Made wanted to show me,specially the gold and silver craftsmith. He had also found me a cock fight that I could attend, I am really sad I will miss that. It is another part of their traditions I wish had the chance to witness.Not enough time. There is still a few restaurants I wanted to try, notably I just find out, just up the road from where I am staying, there’s a good restaurant with a view on the paddy fields, who serves all organic food. I could off gone tonight but I had to pack and write, instead I went up the road, to buy my last can of cat food for my poor Bamboo, who was faithfully waiting for my return from Lovina, not far from my room. I now, have to leave him for good. I hope the gods will take care of him. I think the staff as gotten used to him and they will probably keep him. One admitted to me, that he had given it sausage while I was gone. At the small restaurant, I didn’t ask how much, just if they had take out. She said yes, I told her the three choices I wanted. Snake beans, corn fritters and vegetable noodles. She wrapped everything in a brown wax paper and stapled it, that is my take out container! You eat in it as well it is fully biodegradable. Very little packaging and no pollution, also a lot less cost for the operator of a food business. I had to make her repeat when she told me how much; the cost for my meal was $1! And it was very good. Sadly I discovered here, that MSG is also everywhere and I sure would like to find out how this was introduce to them, because I know every family cooks with it. When we went to the market with my cooking class, we bought our ingredient at a stand, while she is explaining me a few things, people come by and buy this bag with white crystals, I know salt enough to know this wasn’t salt so I ask her, what was that white bag every- one was buying. She said MSG . I was shock, MSG who ever thought them to use that in their great food! Probably some government brainwash about preservative, since they only cook once a day. Also here, a few things are subsidize if you live by the rules set by the government For instance the rice. The government is the one asking them to use chemicals for faster and more frequent crops. If they don’t used the chemicals, there is a catch 22, just like they first subsidized the seeds for rice. Instead of keeping some rice to replant, an incentive program was in place that they buy the seeds. Farmers didn’t know that humans could manipulated seeds, the seeds they were buying were GMO (genetically modified) if you use the seeds from that crop it does not grow again, it is design for a single crop, so farmers keeps buying seeds. The seed company ,were also allowed to patent the seeds since it is not found in the nature this way. Many farmers didn’t keep seeds from previous crops when the GMO’s arrived, so now, they all have to buy seeds for their rice. And yesterday I was told people don’t bath so much in the rivers because it gives them itchy skin, for the first time ever, they are starting to have diabetes, which here they call the rich disease. All, from commercial food ,entering the doors of Bali. Funny enough I found a MSG free diner tonight, and yesterday, I had completed my chapter “Be aware” and MSG was a big part of it.
In town in did my few last errands, buying some ingredients for Balinese dishes, a few good books that I know I will not be able to find in Canada, otherwise I would wait, books can add to luggage weight pretty quickly. Mailed my last post card and this was an interesting stop. I ask the young girl for 2 stamps for Canada, than I ask her if she could show me more stamps. She didn’t understand, so I pointed to her book and ask her to see the stamps. First page are the ones she just gave me, no, no next page please, yes give me one of those. Then she says, but not the same price, it’s ok I said, she gives me the stamp but takes back one stamp from before, I said no this one is not for Canada. She looks at me, and I say,for collection ,not to mail. I ask her more stamp and she ask again for where, I said, next page please. I ask for that stamp and I said how much, she gave me my total, on the last stamp she gave me one of those looks like I was a lunatic or crazy person, you want stamp but not too mail? Collection means nothing to her, she does not know that as Westerners we have money to waste on things that we will never use, or even worst spend money on a collectable item with great expense, which would feed them for a whole year! I knew there was more stamps in the book, but my husband will have to be happy just with these two stamps for his collection. I was near causing a riot there, as every one behind started to talk and look over the counter and wondering who’is the cocoo buying stamps that will never be mailed.
I went to watch a movie at the Rendez vous doux café, own by French people, it is a café library style. You can buy all kinds of used book and they have a giant screen. Everyday there is a screening of “ Bali 1930”, filmed by the anthropologist Miguel Covarrubias. Although, black and white and silent, it is a magnificent film. Back in the 30’ the women were bare breast, the young girls too. The film shows that very little has changed since. Their food was prepared the same way, the men wore the same cute scarf around their heads, and the dances were very similar. The Temples were exactly as you see them today. You can also see the Temple of Uluwatu, which is a very popular tourist `attraction; the Temple sits on a tiny island, mainly rock, in the ocean, apparently guarded by poisonous snakes. I am not sure if there is many left, just by looking at all the purses and boots you can buy here! Most of the beautiful “post card rice paddies you see, are already in the film. This means they have been standing there for at least this long, back in the 30’s this was no easy task to build the terraces. At some point in the film the women are wearing a sarung around their breast. When I return, the porter knew I went there, because I couldn’t find the place before and he told me where it was. I asked him, he said it was around 1940 that the Balinese women started to cover their breasts. The screening is free, and well worth it.
I had a French onion soup, I wasn’t expecting too much of an onion soup in Bali, but the broth was from a French cook for sure. The cheese was very different , it didn’t sit on a crouton and was not “gratine” but some melted cheese was in the bouillon, I could not recognize the taste of that cheese. But the soup was good. There is a lot of French restaurants here, as many French people live here. They are called the “expats”. They have been here for a long time and are part of the foundation that made Bali such a good tourism destination. Balinese admit they only know how to farm, business is not part of their skills. Bali is what it is today because foreigners help in a big way. Most of the shops here are either own by Asians (mostly Japanese), Australians, French and a few Americans. As I read the French paper this morning, they even have quite the repertoire of school selections for their kids, from kinder garden to Natural and Eco friendly school to High End Private schools. If you want to buy a house in Bali, you can find a long list of professionals that can help with the legal expertise and advises, most of them are French. So I would have no problem!
Did a few last photo shots, while I was down at the spa, I saw the lady that did my massage, she said hi and she remembered me very well and even told me what massage I had, she was wondering why I didn’t come back, I told her I was here to work, and I had such a bad sunburn, massage was out of the question for awhile. I told her she had an amazing memory, as she seen many people since. Today is the day I could off had another massage, but I have no money left, I need to keep what I have left for my accommodation and food. Also, going to the beach is more costly, the rooms are not as cheap as here. I had a change of heart and decided to go to Sanur. Seminyak is too busy and apparently too many single people, for someone that is not looking for company! Also Seminyak being on the west coast has the beautiful sunset, I am going to the East coast which is beautiful sunrise, It just seems to be fitting my life now, to be attracted by the sunrise rather than the sunset. Not to mention, sunsets are far too romantic for someone who greatly misses the love of her life! I will keep Seminyak for when I return with my husband! Sanur is known as the “snooze” place! Meaning; older people. It suits me fine to be in that category. I am glad I was made aware of this, before actually being there. And it is funny, at the same time I realized why I could never stay at the other place I was supposed to stay in Ubud. The room was very nice, it had windows all around it, but it was right next to the pool, I mean, 5 steps and you’re in the water, so ever one would see me all the time sitting on the balcony, thinking I am lonely and probably need company. I even went back twice and couldn’t decide to stay there, I didn’t know why. Now I know why, because every time I went, all I could see were single guys, every time I walked by, as it is on Monkey forest road, I could see only men’s walking out of there. And they all looked lik,e the kind of men’s that have no string attaches, with lots of bugs, if you know what I mean. The ones that never resolves any issues they had in life and always blames the others. I am glad now, I have the answer, my instinct knew and I followed, but I didn’t know the logic behind. Now I feel much better, I was truly feeling guilty for not staying there, because it was really nice for the price, I could off save lots of money but I rather have paid more and be left alone, with no one feeling I might be lonely! Every one guarantees me that I will have sea breeze in Sanur. I can’t wait to see the golden sand, walk on flat grounds and feel the breeze on my body. It is 11pm here and my thermometer on my clock says 82 degree, that is without the humidity factor!
Again today I witness the power of the nature, somehow there was a dead tiny scorpio on my floor in my room, yes, I was pretty discussed myself. I have no idea who kill it. In the evening the staff always come to your roam and prepare your bed, close the curtains, change the mosquito coil and open the lights. Many one step on it and didn’t know or maybe kill it but left it there. I just know it wasn’t there when I left the room. The tiny aunt that live here, seem to have a highway from the balcony directly to my bathroom and underneath the sink they probably have an access outside the wall and their nest not far behind. One night I had kill three huge aunts, who usually never came in, I had left them on the floor and when I return they were gone, I could tell the staff I not been in my room either and I thought that was strange! Now I know what happen. The aunts were carrying this scorpion, all the way to the bathroom and than I thought, there is no way they can go up the wall, well did they, many time falling right back down, but they manage to carry their heavy load, 500 times bigger than them to their nest. Now, I know what happen to the aunts I had killed.

Eco tour to Mt.Batur

This morning I was picked up by a small van to go biking. I am the last one being pick up and the mini-van is full. I can feel already I am in a good group. Our guide speaks good English and Dutch. He tells us a few interesting things. We had a good laugh when he talk about his childhood on a farm in Bali, the magic box came before the electricity in 1984. Everybody seems to know what was a magic box, I didn’t, so I asked, turns out no one knew what he meant, since they taught he was talking about the x box! Magic box was tv! Magic, because they still don’t understand how come there is live image there! The first one they had run on batteries. So electricity is a fairly recent modern change for Bali. Sanur,Ubud and Kuta were among the first to have electricity back in the 70”s. He tells us how he up end being a guide and that he is happy and married. We had a good laugh because he talks about how his wife didn’t get along with his mother, so he sent his wife to school, and now she is a teacher and very happy. She does not have to spend so many hours in the compound with her mother in law. Often a compound can have around 40 people living in it. With one kitchen, here they cook once a day only and that’s it's for the entire day. If you only saw how their kitchen are, you would want to cook only once a day. That’s one thing I must say, I could live the way they do, with raising animals, growing all my food, hunting for wood, harvest and all, but I would need a kitchen little more complete with more light and a sink. If they would saw our Western kitchen, they would not believe it, as the kitchens in North America are the center of every home, usually one that cost more than any other room in the house and in second are the fancy bathrooms, another room they would not recognized! In the bus we have a guy that works for KLM and from Holland. He is really funny, he decided to come to Bali last Friday and arrived here just a couple of days ago. A mother and her sister, from Finland visiting her daughter studying in Denpasar, she is learning Indonesian and business. Indonesian is her 7th language! She is a very pretty girl and very nice, we had some good conversation, like me, she eats well, looks for organic only, does Yoga and she told me David Wolf was here a couple of weeks ago! She has been in Bali for over three months, I wouldn’t be surprise she never leaves the island! The two girls in the back are from Sydney Australia, they are really funny to, also they have a different accent from the girl beside me, who is from Perth, every word she says I don’t get right away! But she is a sweetheart, she is here with her parents, they wouldn’t do the bike tour. We had great conversation and I learned a lot about Australians. I didn’t understand why they were so many here, as they have a beautiful country too, full of beautiful beaches for surfing or for sunbathing, plenty of sun and not as humid as it is here. For them it is cheaper to flight here for a holiday, rather than taking a holiday in Australia! She did admit that they have a bad reputation, because the young Australians, party hard, they mistreat the Balinese, they are rowdy and rude. She says not all Australians are like that, is just that those who are like that, all go to Kuta. I was explain that KUTA in Indonesian means K=KOTA(City), U=UNTUK(For), T=TAMU(guest), A=Australia, City of for the guest of Australia! We start our day with as breakfast at the Mountain View restaurant, who is perch on the side of the mountain, overlooking at a spectacular view of Mt Batur, and its crater. Mt Batur last explosion was in 1963, it is still an active volcano, with only faint traces of smoke. At the bottom of the volcano, is lake Batur, the view is spectacular. You can see the black lava, which nothing grows on it, not even moss. It imparts a more dramatic landscape. The breakfast is also very good, we are sitting on the edge of the cliff, with a beautiful view and magnificent sun! On the way here, I also experienced another stunning view, we made a stop to one of the most beautiful rice terrace I ever seen! I saw a lot of beautiful rice terrace, but I was starting to wonder, where were those on the post card?! Today I stand in front of the very one that is featured in many post card. It is stunning, with its shades of green. My photos will not be spectacular, as it was early in the morning and the sun was too bright! I have the camera to do it, but not the skills! I am surprise to find out, we are stopping at the LUWAX coffee place. I had plan to go there another day with Sang Made. I booked the Eco Tour cycling tour, because everyone I met said it was the only one to do, even the lonely planet, but there was no brochure at my hotel, so I had to find their number on internet and just reserve. I didn’t know all we were supposed to do. Before we saw the coffee, we walk through the organic gardens, I had learn a lot from Sang Made, but there is always something new to learn everywhere you go. I saw a tomatillo tree, it looks like a small plum tomato but taste like the Guava and a bit of tomatoes. Tomatillo is great in salsa, but here many people eat it just like that. Than we saw the animals that eats the coffee berries. Than they collect the excrements all over the forest.It looks more like a ferret than a fox. It is a timid animal, apparently it is a smelly one, so it really sounds like a ferret, but here they call it a civet. I am sure it is in the same category.A young lady who separates the male coffee from the female, sits patiently all day at the task. There is a lot less male coffee beans than females. They are highly prized by the coffee next to her is a man sitting beside the kitchen fire, who roast the coffee all day long. Sitting beside a fire all day long in this kind of heat must be very exhausting, he is roasting the coffee, which takes roughly half an hour with constant stirring. The coffee sits in a clay pan that looks like a wok.As for the Luwak coffee, Lukak is the name of the animal. The beans are rinse than wash, sun dried than roasted. I can’t believe it I did it, I ordered a cup of the Luwac coffee. Included in the tour we had a cup of each; Ginseng tea (different kind here, the one you eat the leaves) Ginger Tea, Hot chocolate, Bali coffee, Lemongrass Tea. The Luwax coffe was extra, $3 a cup. It actually comes with a small teapot of coffee. It’s a stronger coffee than the Bali coffee, not bitter at all, very smooth. I didn’t really enjoy my cup, here coffee is served without milk. If you want to have a degustation that is the proper way!The best was the hot chocolate made from the cacao on the farm. Each table was also supplied with rolling paper, pure tobacco and matches. This spice farm also grows organic tobacco, and they want you to try it. I asked my guide to roll a cigarette for me, the paper as no glue so you must hold it. The cigarette as a sweet taste, the paper is made of sugar cane. Very natural, but I only took a couple of puff, just to try it, it does taste much better, if anyone has doubt cigarettes are full of chemicals beside tobacco, have a cigarette of real tobacco. The tobacco does not even look like the loose tobacco sold in Canada. The taste is very different. Natural or not I got an instant headache, and one that kept getting worst, just from a couple of puffs! I haven’t had tobacco in a long time, it will be even longer before I try that again! I shared my coffee with the guide, I can only drink one cup,too much coffee would mean doing many pie stop! it would be a shame to waste such a rare coffee! After, we enter a shop, which at first sight, looked small, it was in fact huge. They sold all kinds of spices, pure essential oils and natural product. I bought organic coconut oil and essential oils that I can get in Canada, great for making perfume. The essential oils are made with rare flowers and one of my preferate is Lotus flower, a rare oil. I also got a few scrubs for my body . This was a really nice stop. I also asked a lot of questions about the oils, they are distilled with steam not alcohol, a sure sign of it's good quality. We hop back into the mini van, at the next stop our bikes await for us. They give us helmets and we all said; is that really mandatory? I probably had the worst mountain bike of all, squeaking everytime I push the pedals, but amazingly for three hours I barely had to pedal. Once my chain came off, right away the van behind us fix it. It is downhill the only time, rarely going up. We stop three time in between. Once to visit a family compound of 40 people, this was not a beautiful compound like Sang Made’s family, but we still learned more details. The life of Balinese is truly unique. I will keep these details for the last blogs. When you see an old person here, no one knows how old they are, as no records were kept! The next stop was at a Temple. I have seen many temples but this one is going under a very special celebration. Once per generation , approx. every fifty year, the Temple must be purified. It is a very costly celebration and the amount of preparations that goes into it is gigantic! I mean, you cannot understand, until you see the temporary shed, built with Bamboo. The shed contains all the offerings they have been handcrafting since December 19th 2009, everyday they are making new offerings, there are rows and rows of them, stacked on shelfs 4 storey high! Today, they were making natural play dough, rolling in it in their hands and shaping the dough into all sorts of offerings. At least 20 women’s have been working at crafting these offerings daily since December. They have another two weeks or so to go. The Balinese think about everything when it comes to spirits. I saw this in every temple but just thought it was a decoration, it is a piece of bamboo, that's stands high and other pieces turn in the wind, making a nice hollow sound, all made from bamboo. The wind turbine, if I may call it that way, is actually a radar for the spirits, so they know how to find the Temple without getting lost! Pretty good. We make one last stop before we eat and we divide the group, at this point we have the choice, those who wish to do the last 45 minutes downhill and those that want to go uphill. I do not want to go uphill, it is too hot and my headache is pounding so bad, I feel like throwing up. So I take the easy ride. The three hours of biking were absolutely easy, beautiful scenery and I wish we could of stop to take pictures of these woods carvers. An entire village is busy every day carving doors, with intricate flowers and animals. The massive doors are carved so beautiful, there is not one inches of wood left uncarved! Than with the doors, the matching overhead. Than the mini van pick us up, gave us some fresh cold towel and water. The guide had everything possible for any illness in his little bag, so he gave me something for headache, I don’t recognize the name but the Australian girl said yes it is like Tylenol. I never take pills but at this point I must try something. In our $36 excursion is also included a really nice lunch. Actually I believe it is the best lunch I have had so far! In a very nice setting, in the middle of the rice fields. I wanted to take a picture of the buffet, again my chip is full. I had ask for vegetarian, and what we had was fantastic. Conversation around the table were great, every one talking to each other. The group that went up hill, arrive last and soaked! It was one of my best days along with the rafting. I am really lucky everytime, I am with a great group, we are a great group. I was looking at the other group from another company eating their lunch, no one was talking to each other. Also, this tour keeps their groups small, 6-8 maximum. The 7 of us, had a great time, we all exchange e-mails and as we drop everyone of, we had a good laugh, as the Dutch guy said, now I can go try my avocado face mask? In the shop at the coffee place, you didn’t hold your shopping basket, someone follows you everywhere with the basket. He had ask the girl what would be good for him and she had suggested avocado facial mask for his beautiful face! We had a great time, I am ready to go nap, my headache still there but I don’t feel as bad, everyone looks like they are heading for a nap, we all agree it is a good thing it is a really easy bike ride, as it is really hard to bike in this kind of heat. I must say the cute little villages we cycled through were fun, kids returning from school, would be so happy to say hi, stand on the side of the road with their hand out, so we can give them a high five! I don’t know how many hands I clap but made a lot of kids happy. For them we were the entertainment of the day! What was touching was, they were so genuinely happy to see us!All the girls in this groups are going to Seminyak, and me too, too funny! I am heading for the white sand beaches, I was promess a sea breeze there. I only have a few days left, as the last days will be hard working days sitting all days, I really need some fresh breeze on my sticky body. It gets so hot, my keypad does not recognise my skin!I wish I had brought a nice!

Silent day in Bali

Nyepi day is celebrated March 16th 2010. The Balinese calendar has 35 days instead of 30. Nyepi is the day of silence for Hindu followers. Its starts from down on Tuesday, to sunrise on the following day. The entire island is closed down, the airport, the ports and harbor are all closed down as well. No one is allowed on the street or even to turn on the lights for a full 24 hours. No fires are allowed either. Balinese cooked with fires. To enforce these restrictions, Bali traditional police called Pecalang will control the streets. The only exception are hospitals, hotels and public safety facilities. No one is allowed to work except the staff of those institutions. Around 1:00am I heard an airplane taking off, we never hear any planes here, the runaways must have been busy till that time. After that still a few fire crackers and the usual concerto of insects and amphibians! It is funny, I was wondering why the roosters here, are even signing in the middle of the night, and today I read in a book, they get confused by the sounds of frogs and insects and often think it is the morning again!
My big deception was that we weren’t allowed on the streets. I would off love walking in this profound silence. Our hotel even had the doors of the hotel shuts, I didn’t even know we had doors! Our hotel as given us a flashlight for when the authorities shut down the power, but I was told it will be somewhere in the middle of the night, while everyone is asleep. They also organised a nice buffet, usually here everything is a la carte.We must attend between 5 till 6:30pm. The cost is around $18. They didn't abuse of the situation too bad!I don’t know what is going on but the hotel is completely full. I woke up to the phone call of my husband and felt like I was disobeying. I was keeping my voice down. You couldn’t hear a sound coming from the street, it was like we were suspended in time. Only the diner felt different. The restaurant is never full, and I have never seen the hotel fully book, I was wondering how they would seat everyone. Sure enough everyone was seating to whatever chair was available. I was seatted with two gilrs from Switzerland and I felt rude, interrupting their diner as they were eating. So I went to the buffet right away. They spoke a good English and we had some really interesting conversation, and the diner turned out to be pretty good and fun. They have been to different parts of Bali, there is just so much here to see. They spoke highly of Gillie Island, and they stayed on a small island near by, that is usually not visited by tourist. They said they never seen so many crazy people like this in their entire life, apparently they have magic mushroom growing on the island, and everyone is on it! They loved the island and probably had a good time! It sure didn’t sound like Nyepi in the restaurant as matching people with other tables turn out to make everyone having conversations. It was quite loud. Those girls are leaving tomorrow and most of the guest. They couldn’t find a hotel anywhere, so they kept driving till they got to our hotel, many people did the same thing. Starting from one end of the town to the other end, we are at the other end of town, people had to wait last night for the parade to finish before they could cross the town. Can you imagine how peaceful it is, strangely even the birds have quiet down.
The hotel has kept the spa open. I didn’t bother going as I am sure everybody is going to do just that, as there is nothing else to do. I kept working all day in this wonderful silence. You can’t have a better green day, if the airport is shut down, it means thousands of carbon fuel saved. No pollution either as no one is allowed to drive. It is a huge energy saving. The next day is said to be a cleaned and new world, where humans have exhibited their control over themselves and forces of the world. The elderly Balinese usually fast.But fasting is not mandatory, more a personal choice. I tried to fast lunch and couldn’t I was too weak! My hypoglycemia is really starting to bother me, I have to figure out what I am doing differently, I think it is the humidity. It seems like it is also getting hotter and more humid.
I don’t think I will ever get to experience this again, unless I come back to Bali, but I think it is a great idea, we could do the same, without religious belief, simply to show the world Ontario is committed to be green and so are its habitants. And many provinces could follow. We have a green day, but it does not have the impact the silent day here as. Everyone would cry it is not possible, they have made it possible here, and they have more tourist than Toronto could ever dream of, so it is possible. Again, my only disappointment, I would like to feel that silence and walk outside. Next time I will have to be staying somewhere that has a view on the busy streets!

Pengerukan day in Ubud

I had to leave Lovina at 6:00am, and again I didn’t sleep. The German neighbor is gone, but there is a loud noise waking me up in the middle of the night. Sounds like, some animal is in my room. After making sure I wasn’t dreaming, I got up and look for the culprit. I was somewhere in the outdoor bathroom, couldn’t find anything, so I shut the door, but could still hearing it for the rest of the night. We had to leave early because today is Pengerupukan, and at each and every village intersection, they will be brocades. Because, the entire country of Bali is getting ready to celebrate the New Year.
The driver is the owner of Bayu Mantra, he is not too happy he is driving me back, but he’s the one that offer to taxi me. He even asked me for the money two nights before. I didn’t like that, so I told him I didn’t have money, I was going to change money at diner, when Made picks me up. He said no problem I drive you right now at no charge to the exchange shop. At least, he showed up this morning and the drive back is even more beautiful than coming here. The sun rising between the two mountain peak and the beautiful valley, full of garden, the scenery made up for my speechless driver. I can’t ask him too many questions either, often I would ask, what is the name of this town? and he would mumble something in Balinese without answering me! We are coming the same way I came in, except for the end, we seem to have taken a short cut. I think I drove by the town that Sang Made has been telling me about, where it is where the real artisans are, not the commercial stuff in the shops of Ubud. The kind of place, if you shop there, you’ll need a container to go back home, as everything is so beautifully handcraft with rare wood, paintings that are true with their colors and originality. Most of the art in Ubud is now commercial and the same painting over and over. I saw furniture and hand carve head boards for bed, beautiful doors. If ever, my wish comes true and I have a house in Bali one day, this is where I come to furnish the house. I arrived at Tjampuhan at 8:30am, they have kept me the same room as before, I very happy about this, why change if you are happy with something. So I went for breakfast in town and had my first real scramble eggs with cream, they were fluffy and perfect. With the most amazing bacon I ever tasted. I normally don’t eat bacon, as I have remove bacon from my diet, ages ago, even if I love it. The bacon we have at home is full of nitrate, salt and chemicals. The bacon I am tasting today is so succulent, I can’t recall having bacon this good. You can tell, it is smoked naturally and not overly smokes, barely any fat, and cook to perfection. I had to try the tiny sausage in my plate as well. I have remove sausage from my diet as well.This one has no chunky fat, that gets cut between the teeth, the texture is almost creamy, it almost looks like it is made of chicken but pork would be the logical choice, the taste was quite good and quite different. I could taste the Balinese spices in the sausage as well, I have never had a sausage that taste like ginger, it is actually tasty but I bit too fragrant for the first meal of the day. I feel my stomach might need a clean-up from eating in Lovina and order a Turmeric ginger and lime juice. If you’re not awake that wakes you up better than any coffee. My very first latte is very tasty, but I believe it’s a cappuccino I was served, as there is barely any milk. I did a few things in town and return to my room, still too early but they gave me my room before noon. That was nice they broke the rule of check-in after noon, most places are after 2pm. I wanted a shower so bad and I felt dirty from being in Lovina. Althought, there was a hot water tank on the wall of the bathroom, I don’t think it was working. The shower was so cold, and the shower head was spitting more than pouring, I never ever felt completely clean after my shower. I returned to town after having a good shower and a change of clothes. My hair is a mess, and in a pitiful state, my brush won’t even go through it. The salt water is not good for long thick hair. Back in Lovina I couldn’t rinse my hair because of the shower head, I would off been rinsing for hours before I complete the task. I went back to my usual place (Milano), I knew they had something called cream shampoo. I was just praying they are still open, because tomorrow nothing is open, not even the front door of our hotel. I was so happy they were open, and the woman I had was amazing. She does a good wash of the hair in that sick that is such a pleasure to have your head wash, I can’t believe with all the modern and fancy salons we have back home, no one as this comfortable sink. And the bottom of your feet, as a section you pull out and it makes you feel like you are in a lazy-boy or a bed! She applies the cream, which is mostly only avocados, and essential oils and your hair goes under a blow dryer, that sends out steam, not hot air. Before she applies the cream she does a nice massage of the head and the shoulder. After the steam, she does another massage of the head, neck and up to mid back. She also does both arm and heads. I just wish I was in a bed, I can’t hold my head I am so much relax, specially with only a few hours sleep, I could crash right here and never wake up! The hair dresser comes to trim my bangs. I was so hungry they gave me a nice cup of ginger tea with cookies. Total of my bill $12! After I walk to Clear’s café for a nice lunch I better hurry it is close to 4pm, and most of the shops are already close. I was the last customer in. I also order take out for tonight, I am not sure if anything will be open tonight. After a nice lunch I walk to the cross road of the center and still have a bit of time to kill before the OGOH-OGOH starts. It makes no sense to take the shuttle back, by the time I get there, it will be time to come back. So I sat in a very nice Contemporary lounge and order a long Island Ice Tea. When my drinks arrive I understand why it cost $9. They also brought along a nice healthy snack, which I can not even say it is made with, contains peanuts and herb, but I have no clue what the cracker is made of. A fresh cold towel infused with essential oils, which is quite nice after walking all this way under the scorching sun. The towel is so cold, it is so refreshing. I am very comfortable in the cough and I didn’t know but there is already some action and we have the best seat in the house! I recognized the Australian couple that was at the hotel before I leave and they were very nice, they were happy I offer them to seat in the comfortable cough, instead of the bar stool they were sitting in. We had a good time, they are a really nice couple, I think they have been here 8 or 9 times. This time he insisted to spend New Year here (Nyepi) as he feels he has some demons too and needs to start fresh. We all do, and here it really feels like tomorrow is a day, we truly start fresh and a New Year. My drink is so strong and gigantic, after I had to take an iced cappuccino to keep me grounded, I don’t have much alcohol here,, when you do, you always feel its too strong for your little head! I am mostly on water and lime, and if I find a cucumber I sneak some in my bottle, that’s my fuel for the day. I don’t see many people that have drank too much, is a matter of fact, you see none here, even the tourist are pretty low key. Everybody loves the fruit juices here. All the couples around me had ordered either beer of fresh juice. I didn’t feel like a juice because at Clear café, I drank a raw juice, that I knew I would dislike, but that it could help my stomach that is hurting. This place as a few cool designer elements as well, very Japanese. When you are in the bathroom beside the toilet bowl there is a mini water pool filled with colorful Koi fish, the pool is along four stall that are all line up beside the water. The kitchen is high tech. We had a good time, now it is time to walk and go watch the procession. The OGOH-OGOH are giant monsters, and they have been working on these since I have been here. They cover the structure with tarp and use bamboo as scaffold. The core is made with wire than the wire is covered with something that is like rice paper, it probably is, than the paint it and décor it with as much natural things they have. The hairs are from the coconut trees, etc..They are true artwork. As we drove back this morning, I saw some really awesome one, but I couldn’t ask him to stop so I can take a picture. Each town as a procession of them, the further we were from Ubud the smaller the OGOH-OGOH were, when we were close, I knew just by looking at those monsters. So at Pengerupukan all the villages perform an exorcism at the main road cross, which is considered the meeting place of the demons. A Siwa priest (the one that blesses me), addressing the gods, a Buddha priest, addressing the middle world and a Sengguhu priest propitiating the nether world are all in attendance and at night all the demons of Bali are let loose on the roads in a carnival of fantastic monster, the OGOH-OGOH. The OGOH_OGOH of the demons is as relaxed as Nyepi is serious. It took on its present shape some fifteen years ago, when Nyepi was emerging as display of religious power it has become today. Since there had to be demons the Balinese made them, ever more monstrous to be used once during the OGOH-OGOH procession and burned immediately after. To start the year fresh and without demons. Thus on Nyepi day, the world is cleaned and everything start new, human having exhibited their control over themselves and force of the world.
I had a pretty good spot, but somehow, we end up 8 in a small that could barely contained myself. I had my lunch and purse to carry and my backpack. People were pushing because the sea of people in the streets were pushing too, as the OGOH-OGOH were processing, moving forward, than back than sideways, and I might add, this was no easy task, carry by at least 20 or so men, that needed it to coordinate their movement each one, stuck in a square between the bamboo and lifting the weight of the huge monsters, with sometime 3 or so people on it as well. They was even a small monster made by the 5-6 year old going to the Rainbow school, which is a school for foreigners kids, living in Bali, they were also carrying their monster, help by a few parents, but the kids were also wearing the traditional costume of the Balinese. They were so cute all in white and no higher than my suitcase! I saw Rio Helmi who was there to photograph the procession (the man that signed my book) and I hope he puts together a book of these celebration, the monster are truly beautiful and most of the time, made by the teenagers in each town, it requires a high level of imagination and skills. Many have to make a monster with almost nothing, for Ubud sometimes, they have too much money, has tourist were donating money, and you could have your name on the board. One of my favorite one, was Avatar, sitting in the same hunting position as the movie. This reminds me, that I don’t see James Cameron as a complete genius anymore. I had thought he invented the story, which was around beautiful fundamentals of life and respect of our environment. I can’t take away that James Cameron did a wonderful job bringing the story to life and in the theaters, but he did not create the story. Avatar has been a cartoon in Indonesia and I think Japan as well, for a long time. The cartoon also respects the animals, the life and the trees. Also, the tree of Life, Banyan, who is the tree in the movie, is the same sacred tree Indonesia as. I learn from Sang Made it is called the tree of life because the tree never dies. The main trunk might die one day but the tree is still alive as it as all these branches that keeps growing. If you read the blog who I talk about this tree, which I was unable to be capture in one single photo, due o its size and I wasn’t sure if the branch grew from the top down or down to the top. It is actually from the top down. Once the branches reaches the ground, the branch become another trunk and it keeps getting bigger and bigger.
It was nice to see the enthusiast of the Balinese, and very different to see people having such a good time, and no one is drinking no one as even a bottle in their hands. After a procession of at least a dozen of them, I am so hot in the human sea, my feet are killing me from standing on the edge of my spot, I decided to walk back. I actually did it at right time, made my way to the street and after the roads were clear with no one in site. Just before I left, I almost caught a white dove, as it was release from the belly of one of the devil, this one did not fly away. The light structure in front of me made the bird land on a tourist hands, he kindly look after the entire time. Many foreigner were dress for the occasion just like the Balinese, so were so handsome and some looked ridiculous, I guess it’s a matter of doing well or doing with without taste. One man had nice white shirt and an ok Sarung, but he had socks in his sandals, not ankle socks, half sock! Brown sock on very tall legs, black sandals, taupe and green Sarung that were too short as he is so tall, with the scarf that ties the Sarung yellow, and white shirt! He had some kind of scarf on the head but not the real thing. I think if you will wear the traditional Balinese clothes you must also honor it, and respect every single aspect and dress code. For instance, the Sarung look ridiculous in him, because he was so tall, here Sarung have one size, he should off have his custom made, you are not supposed to see so much legs! Another guy, over did it, I had to take a picture because it was quite something, he reminded me, of a cult guru and a cross between a man and a woman! On the other side, there was this beautiful woman wearing the true Balinese clothes, her husband didn’t but it looked good and matched hers well. I wish I was more of a tabloid reader, I would know how she was, she is definitely a model or maybe an actress. With a true beauty, she did not have make up on, her hair were a Barbie blonde but natural, she had a glow of an happy person with a really nice smile. Rarely you see a woman that shines like that. Many shine artificially, not her. Many Balinese were talking to them, so they are known. I also think I saw Julia Roberts, she look at me and I looked at her, we both walked to fast, I could not take a second look, but I am pretty sure it was her. If I am wrong than its her Susie, but why a Susie would try to hide? And I must say not too many people have her lips. As I walk back in the desert streets, firecrackers are starting to crack all over. I am pretty tired, quite the day, quite the week! When I arrive at the room, they have given us a beautiful plate of fruits, not cheap fruits either, Rambutan, Snake skin fruit, which I know how to open now, since Sang Made show me on the trekking, it easy once you know how, otherwise you need a knife. We also have nice oranges. I am just sad Bamboo is not at my door anymore. I really feel like this is a New Year celebration, must be the atmosphere getting to everyone, I wish I had a demon to burn. They do this because they believe and they are right about this, that we all have demons and goods, that we need a balance of both, they strongly believe about Balance in life. We all have negative thoughts, negative feelings, negative energy etc and the positive balances everything. I think I had my demon in my sleep I threw someone over a cliff, it’s just as good as a demon, it was a pass relationship, that was horrible and long time ago, but I guess it represented a demon! I would like to thank the management of Tjampuhan who did all the hard work to explain Pengerupukan and Nyepi in flawless English.