If you have been following me previously you will have learned that one of my favorite things to do when traveling is to take a cooking class of the local cuisine. I still have a couple months of travel left but I believe Ketut’s Bali Cooking Class is the last time I attend a cooking class during my travels.
Like most programs this one begins with a trip to a local market after a pickup at my hotel.
I am always fascinated by local food items. It is always so much better to wander around a market with a guide who can answer all your questions.
Religious offerings for sale
After our market visit we go to our kitchen and gather all the ingredients….
For the fried noodle
more ingredients
banana leaves
They put me to work doing some mashing and grinding.
My arms are getting pretty tired. Making these sauces are hard work. Each one is used for seasoning distinct dishes.
Sate Ayam Sauce Kacang (Chicken Satay with peanut sauce)Final outcome of all the dishesKolak Pisang (Banana in palm sugar gravy)
For my cooking I am paired up with another solo traveler from the United States. She is a delight to chat with. She is on her own sabbatical journey. It is great to see others following similar paths as myself. I don’t approach too many people during my travels so it is always nice to be paired up once in a while.
My hotel in Ubud is very close to the Monkey Forest down the street.
If I am being honest I am not a big fan of monkeys. I can watch them at a distance but really have no desire to get close to one. I know they can be mean and nasty. Later in my Ubud visit I learn to dislike them even more (more on that later). Because it is such a big attraction in the area and so close I decide to go ahead and visit the Ubud Monkey Forest.
Upon entering the park there are some fun statues.
Candi Terbelah – owl
From what I understand the monkeys (Macaca fascicularis or Balinese long-tailed macaque) are free to come and go from the park but stay because they are fed and feel safe within the park.
This guy below is not one I would like to get into an altercation with.
I got to see lots of grooming, eating, and other tender moments.
But I also saw some jungle territorial action and some obviously bored animals. Definitely an interesting day visit but can’t say I’ll be back again.
Later in the evening I stop for a cocktail. I let the server talk me into an arak cocktail before I am fully aware of the dangers of that liquor. The drink is called Arak Attack that tastes what I believe like cat pee would taste like. Note: I get sick a day later. This drink could have been the cause of that illness.
It is ten months later and I am still alive so the drink obviously did not kill me but still not one of my brightest choices……
My fancy hotel in Ubud (Adiwana Monkey Forest) has breakfast included at the fancy cafe next door Watercress Cafe. It is a limited menu for the free breakfast but as you can see the choices are not your average free breakfast items.
The following is a post of all my posh breakfast dishes.
I am now in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. I picked a week in Ubud because I knew I would be a travel break and from what I read this is just the place to do that. Ubud has a reputation for being easy going and relaxing if not restorative. I book a comfortable hotel here to spend a couple days. Good timing since I end up getting sick (post on that later). It is so much better to get sick in a high end hotel then it is in a discount hotel (Truth!).
It is time again for a hair trim. With all the traveling, poor water and cheap shampoos my usually nice hair becomes unmanageable again. I find a salon down the street that can take me in for a last minute appointment. Their instagram photos show Chrissy Teigen as a former client so it can’t be too terrible? Once again not loving my cut (oh how I miss my hairstylist back home) but it will do for traveling.
It is time to chill and get a snack to finish off my first day.
The next day I take it easy and get a massage. Prior to the massage I fill out a questionnaire that determines my Dosha. The massage is catered to my primary Dosha. In the past I have learned about Ayurvedic stuff but it always great to get a refresher course.
The massage and pool time and a nice dinner rounds out my day -> I did say I wanted to take it easy.
This is a fun sign
My dinner out.
Grilled chicken, green beans, spinach mashed potatoes
I have some amazing breakfasts during my stay (so much I’ll dedicate a post to that later).
Also a cultural thing I learned about Bali first names is that they are given based on birth order. You will notice a ton of businesses with seemingly the same names. I discovered the reason why.
After 3 nights sweating it out at the yoga retreat all I want is A/C and coffee.
My car arrives to pick me up from my three night silent retreat and we stop for coffee (canned coffee from convenience store but good enough). I arrive at The Pineapple House in Bali after about an hour’s drive and I am happily greeted by the staff. I am shown to my room and given my schedule: surf lessons at 6:30 am tomorrow and massage at 10 am. I settle into my room to do some travel planning because I am way behind on my bookings (I still have Australia and New Zealand to fully book).
First room assigned. Beautiful!
I come out of my room to do laundry since I failed to get any done the past couple days. I also decide on a dip in the pool. Somewhere during my pool time the A/C unit in my room stops working. I play with all the options and it will not come on. The internet also keeps going down so it presents a challenge for using WhatsApp to communicate with the resort staff. I finally get a hold of the staff and they will come fix the A/C. Due to skipping lunch I am very hungry so I head out to walk to get dinner believing the A/C will be fixed while I am out. ~ As a side note I am unable to get money out of the ATM once again~. I need to find a restaurant that accepts credit cards. Indonesia is the only country that has given me ATM problems so far (besides one rogue Cairo atm).
Scenery along my walk.Cocktail at Trattoria Canggu
Warning: First world whining alert!!!!
I come back to a hot room again. I am dripping sweat and miserable. I want to cry. I just spent three days sweating at the silent retreat I absolutely cannot do this one more night. I try to contact the staff again but it is late and thus no response. I am so determined to have A/C that I check my Marriott and Hilton apps for nearby hotels because I know that they will have A/C. I find a Sheraton Four Points in the next town over. It is a little more than I want to pay but I don’t care. So I pack it all up, wet laundry and all. I try to call a taxi but they require an Indonesian phone number to order a taxi. I ask how do I get a taxi if I don’t have a local phone and they hang up on me. So I gather all my things and walk out to the street to flag down a taxi. It is 110k Indonesia cab ride. Let’s do this!
I am so wound up so takes me a while to get to sleep but I eventually do and I don’t know what my plans are for the next few days but I’ll figure it out later…..
The next morning I get a message from the retreat owner. They are very sorry for the miscommunication and are asking to remedy the issue. They even offer to refund for the night. It is a beautiful place to stay, besides the A/C mishap the night before, and they do a great job trying to make sure I am happy. I pack up and return.
I am given a new room on the bottom floor. I don’t have the same view as the other one but my room is bigger, as is the bathroom. Plus the AC works in the new room !!! (I feel like such a prima donna as I write this now but at the time it seemed really important to have that A/C. I believe that if I didn’t just come from a silent retreat I probably would have just dealt with the heat as a normal travel inconvenience for the night).
I missed my surf lesson for the day but I am back in time for my massage. The retreat includes a yoga class but I choose to hang out at the pool instead and later walk to dinner.
Mie goreng at MyWarung Bistro dinner
What is a sidewalk? Dodging traffic while walking to restaurant.
The next morning I get up early for my surf lesson. I grew up in central Florida and spent a good amount of childhood at the beach. For some reason I never thought I had the skills to be a surfer and thus never tried (have boogie boarded though and tried wind surfing a time or two). In Canggu Bali I am going to learn to surf. My instructor picks me up on his motorbike to drive me to the beach. Side note: This is the first time I rode a motorbike during my travels. I have been avoiding it due to fear. Rides on motorbikes are so much cheaper than in taxis. I figure today is good as any other time so I hopped on back. It is scary at first but I didn’t die so I guess everything is fine.
I am given a wetsuit shirt to wear and a board. My instructor give me a beach lesson first. He is great and very patient with me. I can tell surfing will be a challenge for me due to being 1. out of shape and 2. my shoulders are torn up for incorrectly carrying my backpack around for months. Eventually he gets me out on the water. The waves seem to be perfect for learning but I am a mess. I catch a couple waves but lose my confidence and lose the wave or I just flat out wipe out. My shoulders are exhausted for the effort. By the time my lesson is over I caught about two to three waves about at a standing position (the first time super shaky, second time basically surfing on my knees, and third time I purposely wipe out because I believe I am going to take out another surfer). I am worn out. I could come back tomorrow and probably actually surf but I know my body will reject it due to fatigue. I wish I would have booked more days so I could have a recovery day. I vow I am going to pick up my lessons again when I return home (Note: It is 9 months out from that trip and I still haven’t.)
I return to my retreat where an amazing smoothie bowl is awaiting me, plus coffee. Oh how I love coffee!
Mango smoothie bowl
My arms are beat from my morning surf lesson so I skip yoga again. Oh how I wish I was in better shape in preparation for my retreats! I spend the rest of the day hanging by the pool and catching up with travel bookings.
I go out and get another great meal at the highly rated Ulekan.
GADO GADO – STEAMED VEGETABLES, ORGANIC EGG, TEMPEH, PEANUT SAUCE, PRAWN CRACKERAYAM LALAPAN – FRIED CHICKEN MARINATED IN LEMONGRASS & GARLIC WITH TRIO OF SAMBAL
I sleep well that night and wake up for one more delicious breakfast.
Crepe pancake breakfast
I am heading to Ubud today to really work on relaxing!
Growing With Leala 