The light was really harsh today at Seminyak (above) and Legian Double Six beaches, beating down on the boiling hot sand, bouncing off the waves all glarey… the sand was so scalding hot you could definitely fry an egg on it, leaving me with little inspiration to wander past the shady fringes and down to the surf. Despite thankfully skirting pink skin, the SPF 50+ wasn’t enough to keep my freckles at bay and I am now completely splotched, marked with the same dots that have always reappeared whenever I spend too long under the rays, their appearance able to be traced back to childhood swimming lessons and summer school sports carnivals.
But the brutal light meant I had to play a bit with these pics to make them palatable. Which is always a little bit fun, right?
More pics after the jump…
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And on the sabbath day, the Sexy Dancers rest.
Spotted this outside a sports bar in the relatively upscale area of Seminyak in Bali.
A few points:
1. Do you think I can get a research grant from a major university to conduct a study of which bar actually has the coldest Bintang in Bali? It’s clearly an untested claim with many rival theories… in other words, every bar is claiming the title.
2. The fact that you can advertise on a huge banner that you have sexy dancers in Bali, yet in Bandung, West Java, you can be arrested for sexy dancing just goes to show the huge gaps in law enforcement and justice in this country. Firstly, sexy dancing should not be illegal, because, seriously, where do you draw the line? I get pretty steamy on the dancefloor if someone drops JT’s ’sexyback,’ but whether its criminal is a matter of taste. But secondly, Bali clearly doesn’t face the same restrictions as many other parts of the country, largely due to its Hinduism and tourist industry. But in a secular country, shouldn’t the standards on this stuff be universal?
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Door to my bungalow at the guesthouse we stayed at in Ubud.
It was on Jalan Kajeng, that street of cheap guesthouses just behind Ubud Palace. The place we stayed, Gusti’s Garden Bungalows, had gorgeous gardens (as the name would imply) with ponds and butterflies and little sculptures everywhere, really lovely laid back staff (so laid back I never actually checked in), a swimming pool, yummy banana pancakes for breakfast and clean, basic rooms, all with balconies with chairs perfect for reading. A decent price as well, a little more expensive than some of the other basic guesthouses on the street, but worth it for the pool and garden.
It’s a Lonely Planet stalwart though, so it’s probably best to book ahead.
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THIS IS THE BEST PORK EVER. (Sorry Mum, your Christmas roasts are pretty good too. But not quite in this league.)
Babi guling, or Balinese suckling pig, from Ibu Oka’s warung just behind Ubud Palace.
AMAZING.
For Rp 30,000 you can get the special with a drink.
It’s a mix of crackling, the most tender pork, greens, Balinese sausage, other bits of pig that tasted good but I’m not sure what they were, all coated in Balinese spices served on white rice. It has a bit of a chili kick to it, but not too much.
Apparently they cook up about four of these babis (babi is the Indonesian word for pig) a day and when they have run out, that’s it. No pig for you. So don’t leave it too late, there’s never any pig left by dinnertime. The place is buzzing. Some regular tables out the front, and out the back, low tables with mats to sit on the floor. You kick your shoes off in to the bulging pile before plonking down on a mat to share tables with locals and tourists from all over. The topic of conversation primarily revolves around just HOW AWESOME the babi guling is. There were a few other Jakarta expats there as well, who, like me, were just relishing being able to eat pork, which is not that readily available in the more Muslim parts of Indonesia.
If you go to Ubud, you have to eat this. As long as you are not Muslim or vegetarian or vegan. (Sorry… but there’s other good stuff to eat in Bali too for you guys…)
Did I mention that it is absolutely delicious?
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One of the attractions in Ubud, Bali, is the sacred monkey forest, home to temples surrounded by greenery, and tons and tons of tourists. Oh, and tons of monkeys running around everywhere too.
The presence of tourists has meant that the monkeys are pretty darn cheeky though. I saw one run up to a man, pull open the pocket of his cargo pants and run off with a packet of Wurther’s Originals he had in there. No joke!
So, there are a lengthy list of rules when you go in about how you shouldn’t hide food from the monkeys because they will find it, you should be respectful, not tease them, etc.
Rule No. 5 was my favourite though:
I just love the turn of phrase “if a monkey gets on you”. It sounds like they might attack. I also love the confusing advice to “stand still AND walk away slowly”, and the idea that it might be some sort of monkey hold up, and you should drop your weapons (and by weapons, I mean bananas) and retreat slowly, so you don’t piss off the monkey.
I also love that they “trust your visit will be a memorable one”. It almost sounds like a threat from the Godfather Monkey or something….
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