Merry Christmas! For us it is nearing the end of the day and for many of you who are reading this it is almost time for you to wake up to see what Santa brought while you were sleeping.
Last night when we arrived home from a full day of touring to the east/southeast, we discovered that a tropical style Christmas tree (complete with decorations) had materialized on our patio. It was such a sweet surprise and made even sweeter by the fact that it had been placed there and lovingly decorated by people who don't celebrate Christmas as part of their culture or faith. However, there is a deep respect for others here and that came through loud and clear with the Xmas tree and then this morning to be intentionally greeted with a handshake and a "Merry Christmas" from everyone who lives and works here on our property. And it wasn't because they were doing it as part of their work....it was because they wanted to. As Birgit (our host who is originally from Germany and who has introduced the concept of Christmas to her extended family here) explained to us....the Balinese look forward to anything that can be celebrated and so even though they don't have Christmas they are happy that others do and excited to be able to join in the songs and any festivities that may be present.
As much as the past 3 weeks here at this beautiful oasis has been our Christmas gift to ourselves we had another unexpected gift present itself to us this morning. I'm not sure if I've mentioned previously or not but there are orchids growing everywhere here. They are in fact, parasites so they attach themselves to trees and plants and pretty much wherever they want to. Anyway.....this morning Lynda said, "What that there yesterday?" As she pointed to the most beautiful orchid that was hanging right over our pool side deck chairs. "No, it wasn't!" What a gorgeous Christmas surprise it was for us to enjoy as we lay in our deck chairs for the rest of our time here in Lovina! The leaves of the plant had been there previously but honestly....there wasn't even a bud showing on Friday when we were last in the pool. We were away all day yesterday so it might have started to show itself then but we didn't get home till dark and so...for us it was like a little Christmas miracle! Again....lucky us!
To recap a little of our adventures yesterday for you I will begin by saying that we had a great day with our driver Ketut. We started out at the central market in Sangaraja which is the main city in the north of Bali. In fact, Sangaraja used to be the capital city of Bali and is where the airport and all the government headquarters were located. It is also where the Dutch originally came to Bali to colonize it a very very long time ago. For many years during colonization the Dutch military base was located on the shores of the Java Sea right at the centre of Sangaraja. It is also where the Chinese first came to Bali. So, as you can see....this bustling little city (that is only about 20 minutes from us in Lovina) plays an important role in Bali's history. About 50 years ago things changed and the airport was moved to Denpasar where there was more flat land, some time before that the Balinese took back control from Holland, and culturally everyone began to live in harmony which continues as a norm today.
The Central Market in Sangaraja was a bustling enterprise. It is huge....not sure just how bit but a couple of city blocks square for sure. It runs 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and you can buy anything from clothing to fruit and veg or from meat to a new pair of shoes! There were people selling refurbished cell phones and other guys making knives to sell. There were bins and bags filled with spices of all kinds and baskets filled with the little purple onions that we call shallots and that are the only onions we've seen since arriving here. There were massive jackfruit and dragon fruit and snake fruit and limes and oranges and red delicious apples that had been imported from the USA! There were vendors with their little offering baskets for sale and others with the materials to make your own. There were women selling sarongs and others who had the cutest little kids traditional Balinese outfits you've ever seen! There were about a billion flip flop shoes for sale and ....well you get the picture.....it was a little bit of everything and everybody - and their brother - was there! It was also HOT on the inside walkways of the market. The ones on the outside perimeter were hot too but at least more air was moving there so maybe the outside (as long as you were out of the sun) wasn't quite as muggy. But I will say here that once again my sweat was sweating and so as much as we're loving it here....it is not all a bed of roses people. Hot is Hot and Humid is Hotter and there are moments during the day when I think about how nice it might be to just see one shovel full of snow....but I only think that for a second and then I give my head a shake and the thought is gone just as quickly as it came! :-)
After leaving the market we made our way to the Arab Spice shop. There is a section of Sangaraja where people from Saudi have called home for many years and there is one shop in that section that is renowned for it's quality spices. It wasn't as big as I thought it might be but boy oh boy....when we walked into that space the aromas were indescribable! It wasn't any one thing...it was the combination of them all that made the fragrance so magical. We stayed there long enough to buy a little bag of locally grown pepper . (white is grown here on Bali and there is black that comes from Java)
From the spice shop we were ready for lunch and so asked Ketut to take us to his favourite lunch spot and were glad we did! We enjoyed a lunch of nasi goreng (pork) with freshly made prawn chips. In fact, as we approached the warung we noticed a basket of thinly sliced something that looked like rectangular crackers sitting in the sun by the front door. Ketut said that it was prawn crackers drying in the sun so they will puff up bigger when they're popped into the hot oil. And I have to say....that was an enormous and a delicious prawn cracker that came with my lunch!
After lunch we headed off to another village called Jingaraja where we were in search of a specific temple that is known for the positive energy that it exudes. It was a fantastic stop! In addition to it being a super zen spot there was an old man (also named Ketut) who lives/works/volunteers there and not only was his english good enough to be able to give us an overwhelming amount of historic info about the place. He was also the spitting image of the Ketut that many of you will be familiar with from the movie Eat Pray Love. Even his teeth were the same and his voice and his accent and his laugh and his facial expressions and his sense of humour. We left wondering if in fact it was the same guy but once we got home and googled photos of the Ketut who was in the movie we could see there were little differences that left us with the knowledge that it was in fact a different Ketut. He was however our wise Ketut and one thing that he pointed out at the temple that resonated for both Lynda and I was that when standing in the inner section looking out through a doorway at the main gate/door into the temple you can see that the main door is offset.....not in the centre of the picture. The reason for this is that nothing in life is perfect and this is a reminder or representation of that fact. Honestly this temple stop was sooo interesting and really felt like a gift!
Next stop was at a gong factory. Now when we saw that there was a gong factory and told Ketut that we wanted to go there we had no idea what we were going to see. All we knew was that neither of us had ever been to a gong factory and we also knew that this village (Jingaraja area) was famous all over Bali for their gongs. These guys were the true artisans of gong making! We were some surprised when we stopped by a very unassuming little "house" with a sign out front and then even more surprised when we walked around the side of the house and onto a skinny little dirt path heading to the back of the property beside the adjacent field. Around the back of the property there was a low roofed little shop where there were 5 men hard at work. There was a fire going in a brick "oven" and all the men were suitably attired in shorts and flip flops as their safety gear. LOL. Safety gear does not exist here! You know I said it was HOT in the market? Well...that was nothing compared to this! Imagine having a roaring fire that you're stoking with more coal and melting pots of bronze in a little low roofed building....got the image? Yep....that little room was HOTTER than HOT! I moved from my sweat sweating to something so far beyond that that I'm not even sure what it was! On the upside....this stop was awesome! It takes the men about 6 months to make one set of cymbals, two brass drums, and one xylophone type instrument. That set sells for at least $1,200 but when you consider that it took 5 guys about 6 months to make it...that isn't very much! One of the men played two different xylophones for us and the sound was beautiful! Each Xylophone is meant for different type of events. One might be for temple or another for the entertainers that we will see tonight and one of the ones that we saw/heard yesterday was for the ceremony that goes along with cremation. That one was my favourite. The sound was so gentle and actually kind of uplifting which is a good thing because the intention is that the sound will help the spirit be uplifted to the heavens.
All in all, it was another great day and having it all topped off by finding a Christmas tree on our patio just made it all the more special. I will sign off for now as our driver should be here soon and I will bring you up to speed when we return from our dinner/entertainment tonight.
Just in from a fantastic Christmas dinner at Warung Bamboo Restaurant in Lovina. Birgit (our host here at Saraswati Holiday House) had recommended we try the ristable (at least I think that is how it is spelled). If we understand correctly the name is actually based in Dutch origins and then maybe switched up a bit to match Balinese language but in the end....it is a selection of several small portions (9 different dishes) served on a raised platform (like a table on your table) as well as white and yellow rice, 2 types of satay (chicken and fish) served on a flaming 'finish cooking it yourself' apparatus that also sits on your table, and a salad of green beans and coconut (among other delicious bits). Bottom line there was plenty of food and it was all delicious. It was one of those authentically authentic meals where every dish has its own unique flavours and all of them together create a party in your mouth. Just enough spice, just enough sweet, and just enough salt to satisfy all parts of the tongue and the belly! Before dinner both Lynda and I also had our first taste of arak, the local whiskey that is made from rice (at least thats what someone told me). We had it in a cocktail with lemon and a little sugar and so it was being used much as we might use vodka. The taste was fine and I certainly was still able to walk with no trouble after having two drinks (over the 3 hours we were there) so it wasn't some kind of moonshine like the stuff we had in Hyder when we were hyderized there last year! I'm pretty sure my liver is still angry with me about that foolish move!
But back to tonight.....when we arrived we were seated at what I think might have been the best table for viewing the entertainment that was to come. Just one more Christmas surprise! Gratitude gratitude gratitude! :-). Our table had been reserved for us so our names were written on a little custom made place card and I am ever so disappointed that I neglected to bring my camera as the place setting was something to remember! Our napkins were folded in such a way that they looked like little people. They had arms and legs and a spoon for the head. In the middle of their bodies they were carrying a basket of fresh flowers. It was the best place setting I've ever seen anywhere!
So the place setting and the seats we had were fantastic, the food was absolutely delicious - could not have been any better, and the entertainment was fantastic and oh so beautiful! Having such a great vantage point didn't hurt either! It was as though she were dancing just for us and we could see every gesture and every facial expression and every eye movement ...it was all so close. Balinese dancers use their hands and their facial expression and their eye movements to tell stories. Certainly they're using the rest of their bodies too but those three things are considered to be the most important (or so we were told). After dinner the husband of the owner of the restaurant joined us at our table and stayed for a visit and some interesting conversation. She is German (and a friend of Birgit) and he is from Bali. They've had this restaurant for 18 years but for the past 2 years have lived in Denpasar because he moved into the political foray. He described his motivation for moving into politics and it seemed like he was very sincere in his hope to make a difference for his island and the country overall. One focus for him is to create a reality where garbage is treated as it should be and not just dumped wherever as is currently a problem. I wish him well on that front....I think he has a herculean task but his attitude and his connection to reality seemed to be on point. Bottom line, it was great stimulating after dinner conversation and a great way to end a great meal!
Now before I sign off for the day I have to give you a couple of funny little things so that I leave you with a chuckle on this Xmas missive (that has turned into a novella!). Remember the other morning I think I told you about all the blood that there was on the floor and on the wall on our patio. It was obvious that it had something to do with the gecko but no one could figure it out. This morning there was another possible clue though! There were two HUGE bats hanging upside down very near the bloodied wall. The bats took flight while we were watching them and based on our Mr Google research (and Birgit's observation too) we think they might have been a type of flying fox (aka fruit bat). These ones weren't as big as some of the flying foxes can be with a wing span of up to more than a meter...these ones had a wing span of maybe about 20-24 inches. Anyway....some of those type of bats actually do go after lizards and frogs and now we're wondering if maybe Gooday was right all along when he said maybe a bat hit the wall! Now I am thinking that maybe a bat hit the lizard that was on the wall and took a chunk out of him and had a fight with him and the lizard was able to get away and make his way to safety back in his rafters but not before there was a lot of blood splattered and dripped on the floor. In fact, I even wonder if the bat might have carried one of the gecko's away with him hence the drops of blood more than a meter from the wall on the floor. Do you think it is time for us to find something new to occupy our time and our minds....when this much energy goes into solving a personal attack on a lizard you gotta know you may have gone a little cabin crazy! LOL
Tomorrow will be Christmas for you all and so as you're reading this know that we're wishing you all a happy Christmas from Bali and it is unlikely there will be much for us to report until after we return to Ubud on the 28th. All we have planned to do between now and then is to make the most of the rest of our time with the pool which is pretty boring for you guys since the only pool you've got to enjoy is the pool of water that is the result os some melting snow (or a puddle of rain if you're at the coast).
OMG! I just had a Karate Kid moment and killed a fly with my bare hands! He's been flying around me bugging me and landing on my iPad and keyboard and just making a nuisance of himself. He landed on the table beside my keyboard and I just smacked him - gads what is happening to me. The other night it was a spider on the wall and tonight it is flies. In fact now that I think about it....last night in the middle of the night when I got up to go to the bathroom there was a massive flying beetle making a nuisance of himself in the bathroom so I just took the wash bucket and turned it upside down on him. It made a lot of sense to me and it certainly contained the little bugger. It was all fine until this morning when Lynda went to do some laundry and I forgot to tell her that I'd used the bucket for alternate purposes during the night. I'll leave it to your imagination as to what she might have said and how high she might have jumped when she flipped over that bucket to put water in it! LOL. Oops! But heh....doesn't an upside down bucket automatically mean there could be something under it? :-)
Till next time,
L & L
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