pic of the day

yoga, legong dance, and massage under a full moon

I am a bit behind on my postings, but here is the continuation of my last entry.  

After leaving Café Wayan I continued to have an amazing day in Ubud.  I wandered back to my hotel where I checked in and happily discovered that my room overlooked a sparkling pool and beautiful rice fields in the distance.  Nice view ey?  

I spent the afternoon walking up and down the streets of Ubud in search of the Yoga Barn. After turning left based on the recommendation of an almost nonexistent, faded street sign I followed the tiny street and walked into the first of many buildings in time to join the 4 pm vinyasa flow class.  The facility took my breath away and upon stepping inside the complex I felt immediately right with life- no exaggeration. The whole area, much like the rest of Bali, is surrounded by lush tropical plants.  The first building (below) was one of 12 or so on the grounds. I followed the stairs down into an area facing a 2 story outdoor pavilion.  

I paid the fee for the class ($10) and walked upstairs into the main pavilion which overlooked rice paddies and more lush foliage. There was incense burning and yoga devotees walking around in their shanti shirts and dreadlocks with their green juices in hand. I was in heaven. There was a Buddha altar at the front of the room with a fresh marigold garland, tea candles, and more incense. After the hour and a half class I walked to a vegan café where I enjoyed raw jicama and cucumber slices and vegan nut butter with a glass of kombucha. 

As if my day could have gotten any better, it did.  I walked up to a traditional Bailanese dance show and enjoyed it for about 20 minutes.  An hour and a half of yoga was great, but this dance wasn’t able to captivate my attention in the same way.  But I did enjoy the technical movements and orchestrated live music.  

I loved this guys feet.  His toes curled up when he walked.  Obviously he needed Stabilizing Orthotics.

No idea what was going on here but lots of flower petal tossing and kneeling and bowing.

The beats of the music were hard for me to follow initially, but  I eventually got to anticipate the rhythm and enjoyed it a bit more (though not much).  Like anything, it’s harder to connect with something in the beginning when it is so foreign.  Commitment prevailed.

After the show I walked back towards my hotel and before I turned in for the night I stopped off for a nightcap massage.  Though only 30 minutes, Kayman Spa impressed me with the flower footbath, followed by a 30 minute tension relief massage focused on the upper back.  The citrus oil was soothing and refreshing. The cost of this luxury treatment was $6.50, which included a chilled tropical fruit plate and fresh ginger tea at the end.  

I got back to my hotel and laid out a few of the trinkets I purchased that day.  Under the full moon the paddy water was shiny and glassy- enough to see my reflection.  The sky was bright and I reflected how grateful I was for each experience I enjoyed that day.  When I made my plans to travel by myself it was exciting because I didn’t plan anything- no agenda.  The experience of traveling brings me such great joy it is often difficult to articulate it to people.  I live to travel.  I work to travel.  The people I meet, the warmth, and connections I have with others feed that part of me that otherwise feels unattended to.  I am most alive and myself when wandering the world. 

temples of ubud and cafe wayan

Parliamentary elections are taking place right now in Dili.  I am so excited for Timorese to participate in this democratic privilege, and though I am sorry to be missing it, I am happy to report that all is well here in Bali.


Today I am in Ubud, located centrally on island of Bali, in the Indonesian archipelago.  


I left Seminyak this morning and on the way here I passed this temple- one of many like it.  So gorgeous and intricately carved stone, statues and walls.

This little guy welcomed me.

I arrived in Ubud around 11.30 am.  I wandered around Monkey Forest Road (named after the adjacent Monkey Forest) and into Cafe Wayan.  This is my first live post while traveling (they have wi-fi!) and I am excited to say that at this very moment I am on a raised wooden platform sitting on a cushion at a Bailenese carved teak wood table overlooking a beautiful fountain and pond.  The cafe spans the entire alley of a (village) block and though it is long, it feels homey and intimate because of the way each of the raised patios have been secluded from the next with beautiful tropical plants and fountains.  They are all hidden like little secret gardens and you feel like a king.  My waiter, Ketut (no.4), asked me my name and what number I was.  When I told him I was only the first person in my family to have my name he looked a bit disappointed but told me that being the first of my name was good luck. People here are so friendly and lovely.  Everyone smiles at you and makes you feel welcome and as though they are genuinely glad to see you.  

Frangipani flowers fell into the gurgling fountain as I ate my Nasi Campur- a sampling of tempeh, tofu, saffron eggs, sautéed coconut, green beans, vegetarian curry, and corn fritters- served with fruit crackers. Out. Of. This. World. And for only $3.80.

I will unabashedly wax poetic so consider yourself warned.  The sun glinted off the scales of the orange and white carp in the fountain's pool and the algae and tiny leaves that form the blanket of green over the water moved gracefully with the breeze.  

Life really is beautiful here.

Next activity: yoga.

dare memorial

A few weeks ago I had a visit from a chiropractor friend from Australia.  He and his sister were traveling through Timor and he happened to see my previous blog post about missing my chiropractor.  

The miracles of technology are amazing, I tell you.  After our first breakfast meeting, we decided to head about 5km south of Dili to the Dare Memorial.  The Memorial is private and dedicated to the people of East Timor, built by Australian Forces that fought in Timor during WWII.

During the war, “Sparrow Force”, 2/2nd and later 2/4th Independent Companies conducted guerrilla warfare against advancing Japanese forces across Timor.  The success of the guerrillas in East Timor was only made possible by the support they received from the local Timorese. In 1969 the 2/2nd Commando Association established a memorial at Dare to help the people and show them that the diggers had not forgotten their help.

A spectacular view of Atauro Island across the Wetar Straight, and Dili at a distance.

The memorial was refurbished in 2008, thanks to Australia's Department of Veterans Affairs, to honor the veterans and their helpers. Additional school facilities were erected on the site using local/NGO funding to help the people of East Timor.

i'm down with M-S-G

Shopping for food in Timor is kind of a fun experience.  If you have the right attitude.  I have certainly learned to appreciate what it means to eat seasonally and locally, that's for sure.  

As part of the expat community I will admit that my heart beats a bit faster when I go to the refrigerated section, across from the hot pink meat to the drippy, poorly lit cooler and I see a crushed wedge of Indonesian stilton or a tub of nearly expired Saudi yogurt.  

Among the expat community it has become a common joke to phone tree your inner circle of friends upon hearing the news of the arrival of these malai (foreigner) delicacies.  The first few months I was here there was no yogurt and then 2 weeks ago out of nowhere 2 of the 3 stores had a surplus of this lactose goodness. People took off work early to buy cases. 

Though there are some things you can't get enough of and are always out of stock, I have taken photos of things that are always in stock- whether I want them or not.

1.  Kaya jam.  You want kaya jam.  This is actually the only thing out of the list that is worth purchasing so listen up.  Kaya (coconut) jam is one of the best things about Timor even though it likely originated from Indonesia or Malaysia.  It is a golden brown egg jam made from coconut, curd, pandan leaf and caramelizing the sugar until it becomes a beautiful golden color. Schmearing kaya jam on hot buttered toast with a cup of coffee is a perfect Saturday morning treat.    

2.  Kewpie Mayonnaise.  I don't eat mayonnaise.  Especially Kewpie mayonnaise out of a bag.  

3.  Canned meat. Brand name Narcissus- of the rib(?) variety.  No explanation needed.

4.  Essence of Chicken.  A couple of things about this product alarm me.  For one, I have no idea what this is for- usually the name of the product is telling.  It wasn't next to the chicken stock- it was in the baby formula aisle.  

Any idea what they were going for in the illustration?

Several of the words on the back also caught my attention: 

• "extract of fine chicken"

• "hygienically processed under high temperature"

• "take it daily, anytime, anywhere"
 

5.  Fiesta 1-2-3 Float. In the dessert aisle, canned fruit with (free!) graham(s) crackers is a popular treat.   

6.  100-year old eggs.  These lovely black gelatinous treats are a specialty item just in from mainland China.  They are made by preserving eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing.  Through the process, the yolk becomes a dark green to grey color, with a creamy consistency and an odor of sulphur and ammonia, while the white becomes a dark brown, translucent jelly with little flavor.  Mmmmmmm.

7.  Dried fish skeletons with skin.  Also in the refrigerated section.

8. MSG.  The pièce de résistance.  Monosodium glutimate (MSG) is available in 1 kg bags for everyone's enjoyment.

last sunset in april

Enough said.  Bring on May.

Hanging out in traffic

There is an ambiguous, yet definite correlation between the way dogs and people gravitate towards laying in the middle of the road here in Timor.

Let me set the stage.  It's a bright, starry Tuesday night around 11 pm.  You are driving home from a farewell party somewhere on the beach.  The sky is painted with an impressive display of blazing white stars.  The air is so clear you can see the variations in color on the speck that someone once identified as Mars, and you can even see a twinkle in the otherwise dull, faint light from the 3 stars comprising Orion's belt.  It's hot and everyone knows heat makes one lethargic and slow moving- sometimes even bored.  What better way to celebrate such a wondrous night sky than to bring your entire family into traffic and lay down and look up, right? That's what I'm talking about.

It is quite common to see families and large groups of people seek the solace of a wide strip of pavement in the middle of the road to check out this wonderment.  This star viewing platform isn't necessarily on a side street either.  In fact, more often than not it is on the nicer newly paved road (since there is only one, we all know I am talking about the Beach Road) which inevitably has more traffic.  I can't blame them- I wouldn't want to lay across a pothole either. Entire families of more than a dozen people, ranging from a pregnant mother with a suckling babe accompanied by her 8 other children, husband, some extended family and friends and perhaps an estranged "pet" in tow, lay down in the middle of the street to get a good look.  

As interesting as that practice is, what I find even more amusing is that it's not just the Timorese who lay in the middle of the street.  Of course dogs anywhere might be in the road, especially those without homes, but here they seem to gravitate to the exact middle of the road finding the perfect spot on a strip of highly trafficked pavement.  And they do. not. move.  Hot spots: Comoro Road, the streets near Pantai Kelapa, across the street from Little Pattaya next to the trash pile where the pig just had her piglets where the deer is always tied up, just to name a few.  These are usual high traffic spots for dogs.  Street gangs of these half-cared for, half-abused, underfed, pitiful creatures lay idly in the exact middle of the damn road- not to the side but in the perfect center, without so much as a second (or first) thought.  Are they not conditioned by the multiple cars all day long, that this might not be the best place to nap? Dangerous, even?  

Each has their own way of acknowledging the passing driver.  At the sight of an oncoming vehicle the families will remain in the road and give a smile and a friendly wave as it is understood that the driver won't be running anyone over.  This is why it is important to drive a Mini Pajero.  When faced with an oncoming car, a dog will also remain sprawled across the road giving the driver a look that taunts "you think you are actually going to hit me?" to which the driver swerves around the dog only to drive straight into an uncovered pothole 2 feet deep cursing the underwhelmed animal who is still resting it's head peacefully on its neck abscess unmoved, glaring back at the driver smirking "yeah I didn't think so."  Again, important to drive a Mini Pajero.  In both cases, neither the dog nor the family moves.

Given that this happens at least a few times a week, I have to wonder- who is actually mimicking the behavior of the other?  How did this start?  Is it purely coincidental that neither the people nor the dogs feel obligated, or frightened, or even out of courtesy, the need to move out of the middle of the road when faced with an oncoming car?  Or, over the evolution of this odd practice did one observe the other and decide yes- laying in the center of the street is in fact a good idea- I'm going to start doing that.

I will never know, but I will continue to be amused by this phenomenon.  And let's face it- astronomy is important.  It's quite a display and I am in love with what I see every time I look up too.  The transit of Venus is coming up June 6th- who knows what kind of turnout we could have.