Boo Ubud

The saddest art gallery ever.

I remember learning as a little kid that if you do not have a lot of nice things to say, it is best not to say them at all. Thus, today’s blog post will be short.

Ubud sucks.

I felt it obligatory that we go, even after having been forewarned about just how touristy it is, but it was actually worse than expected. We set off this morning to go to Sidemen road and do some early morning trekking in the rice terraces. Unfortunately, it was difficult to locate a guide and it was pouring down ride. We took a beautiful ride, but, in the end, had to leave the Sidemen area without doing any trekking.

The start of the trek was a paved path, which we complained about until it turned into a busy road!

As a plan B, I figured we could go to Ubud early and do one of the treks around there. Trek is, I suppose, a loosely used word. Is it trekking if it is done on a road!?!?! We did an 8km loop around what is supposed to be some of the more beautiful scenery around Ubud and, especially compared to yesterday, were very unimpressed.

Okay, so there were a few spots that looked lovely.

We stopped in some temples and went to some outlying villages, but it was not even that it was too touristy as much as it simple wasn’t as nice. We longed to get out of there. So, we booked it back down to Ubud, visited the palace (where we were still fairly unimpressed) and then started to make our way out of there.

Ibu Oka warung.

Pig, pig and more pig.

However, there was one final stuff. Back to our sheer love of food and of Anthony Bourdain, we had to stop at Ibu Oka Babi Guleng. Babi Guleng is whole spit-roasted pig stuffed with ginger and several other Balinese spices. We indulged ourselves in delicious crispy flesh, fried face, blood sausage and some fantastic roast meat. It actually redeemed the rest of Ubud.

On the way back to our section of East Bali we actually stopped for seconds of Babi Guleng at a warung in Gianyar famous for some of the best Babi Guleng in Bali. Making the comparison, Ibu Oka was better, but only marginally so.

Stuffed with enough pig fat for a life time, it was to the antique shop again to pick up our wares and then to the villa. Looking out at the ocean now in our tranquil spot, I wonder why we ever ventured out. 

Rice terraces

Rice terraces.

S and I were supposed to wake up at 1am this morning to go trek to the summit of Gunung Agung, Bali’s highest and holiest volcano. Fortunately, we thought better of that and canceled last night.

Overnight, it poured. It poured so badly that some of the other villas affiliated with ours flooded. Had we been trying to summit, well, let’s just say it would have been uncomfortable. We were so tired the night before that we decided to sleep in and do some more mild trekking later in the morning.

After a great night’s sleep, we woke up refreshed and ready for a day out. We were up early and went out to enjoy the fresh air and the beach. S and L went snorkeling and though Ms. Cupcake and I tried, I am just not a great snorkeler.

Tenganan

From there, we were off to trek between Tenganan and Tirta Gangga. It was supposed to be one of the most beautiful treks in Bali and it certainly proved to be. Tenganan was a pretty, traditional village still seemingly clinging to some of its old ways despite the modernity of Bali. Though somewhat of a tourist attraction, it was still desserted. We walked through peacefully as the artisans (Tenganan is one of the more famous Bali craft villages) went about their business weaving double ikat, baskets, etc. From there, it was into the jungle. It was steamy, but more than anything, it was really, really wet. Most of the trail was essentially a stream (which was actually quite pleasant in the heat).

The trail through the jungle.

We arrived out of the jungle after about 30 minutes to an almost blinding green. The rice terraces went off at every angle into the ocean. Hiking along an irrigation channel, we continued in the rice terraces for well over an hour. At every turn the views were breathtaking. Ms. Cupcake commented over and over again that we were taking far too many pictures, but they were irresistible.

Terraces under Gunung Agung.

Views of the ocean.

We arrived in Tirta Gangga after just under two hours where we then took a quick swim in the water palace to cool off in a bit of history. The bottom of the pool was slick with algae but the water was super refreshing.

The water palace.

By that point, we were starving. We had booked lunch at Seraya Shores at our villa owners recommendation. It was down below Mt. Seraya, right on the coast along a pristine black sand beach. The waves pounded the shores just below our table. As soon as we arrived, nearly a dozen dishes showed up at the table – grilled calamari, grilled fish, grilled prawns, potato curry, mango salad – and many others. All were outstanding and we stuffed our faces silly for the next two hours. We finished our meal letting the soft, black sand massage the bottoms of our feet.

Black sand beach.i

Our table for lunch.

Mango salad.

On our way back, we noticed a small antique store off the road to Tanganan. The shop owner was not there, but she came down from Tenganan to show us around her shop. It was a veritable treasure trove of antique and quasi-antique Indonesian wares. We relished in sorting through the old wooden statues, bronze figures and double ikat’s. We felt as if we were in an undiscovered land.

Again, I know that Bali is one of the most touristed places on the planet, but, I am telling you, in East Bali, you wouldn’t know it. 

A day of gluttony in East Bali

East Bali from the water.

The truth is that we debated whether or not even to go to Bali. We had dinner several months ago with some friends that had just returned from their honeymoon there. They are also rather intrepid travelers so we were shocked that it was where they had chosen to go. They stayed for two weeks (combined with Lombok) and though they had a positively amazing time, were very clear to warn us that there would be a lot (A LOT) of other tourists. The romantic notion of having a far off tropical asian island to yourself would certainly, certainly not be the case. They told us that if we stood any chance of avoiding the throngs, we best head to East Bali.

So we did, and we thank them now.

In East Bali you actually do feel like you have this paradise to yourself. There are very few tourists over here because there is not a lot fancy in this part of Bali. Most people come to Bali and stay in Ubud or in the South where tons of bars and restaurants keep things interesting while the scenery is still beautiful. That is not what we were looking for. We were hoping beyond hope to find something a bit more authentic (understanding that many, many people also look for that), though understanding, after all, that Bali is like a tourist mecca.

We are staying a beautiful private villa with our pool, beautiful beach and incredible views. The only thing that you can hear at almost any time of day if the sound of the waves breaking on the shore.

We awoke to that noise at 5:30am this morning. Despite our later arrival, we had booked the day at Alila Manggis’s cooking class. I hated myself for making that booking when the alarm went off, but my view quickly changed.

Our fishing boat

After the quick 5 minute drive to Alila Manggis (one of two 5-star resorts in East Bali, the other being the Amankila), we quickly set off in the Alila fishing boat, looking back at the shore and the peak of Gunung Agung. We had to catch our lunch. We went about 30 minutes into the ocean before we dropped the line and hoped. Fortunately, fishing in these waters, as Ms. Cupcake likes to say, is like fishing in a rich man’s aquarium. You literally catch something about every 5 minutes – red snapper, trigger fish, crocodile fish, parrotfish, jackfish and others. The only problem, for us unfortunate novices, is that all we caught for the most part was little versions of the above – so little they had to be thrown back. Our stomachs lucked out, however, because the two fisherman with us caught two very large jackfish. Yay – LUNCH!

After fishing, we had a lovely breakfast on Alila’s terrace looking out over the ocean. It was the perfect proper welcome to Bali now that we had woken up a bit. Alila’s property exuded a simple, understated elegance that is the essence of what I think people look for when they come to Bali. Our food, especially the banana juice, was just delicious.

An assortment of rice, beans and bird seed.

Mangosteen - my new favorite fruit.

Flowers for sale.

We went to Klung Kung market after breakfast. About 20 minutes away, it was teeming with vendors despite the fact that we already missed the peak period. Every imaginable spice, produce item, type of egg, flower, livestock, etc. was available. We tried all sorts of delicious market food, including Laklak, rice flour pancakes with palm sugar and coconut, daluman, a leaf gel drink, and several indigenous fruits. We bought 4 kilos of mangosteens – after which Manggis is named – and some bananas.

LakLak

After our thorough tour of the market, we set back towards to the hotel but took a turn before we arrived. We started up into the hills, towards the Alila organic garden. Alila grows almost all (or at least as much as they can) of the spices and produce they need for their restaurant at their organic garden set in beautiful rice terraces overlooking the ocean. The setting is surreal.

The view from the garden.

We received a tour of the garden, including explanations of the many local items that we couldn’t even attempt to grow at home. One of the great Alila staff up in the garden, a very nice older gentleman, offered to come to our villa to sell us his home grown vanilla beans and coffee. Alila’s head chef, Santika, was to be our teacher for the rest of the morning. For the next two hours, he took us through making 8 different dishes. We started with bumbu bali, the fundamental sauce that is the key element of Balinese cuisine. From there, we moved on to marinate our huge jackfish, make chicken satay, make a Balinese version of a tamale (ground chicken with coconut milk, bumbu bali, and other spices steamed in a banana leaf, nasi goreng and some excellent veggie accompaniments.

Ingredients used - rice, beans, nuts, spices, veg, etc.

Jackfish marinated in Bumbu Bali

I don't know what this is but it tasted good.

The class was great because it was not a cooking demonstration – it was an actual interactive class. We chopped and stir-fried and stirred. It was great. Santika was a fantastic teacher and a pleasure to be around. He explained things slowly and made sure we got the Balinese mortar and pestle technique down. He joined us for lunch once we were done. We ate in a beautiful hut set in the garden that overlooked the terraces and the ocean. With enough food for a village set in front of us, an excellent morning behind us and a view fit for the gods we felt like we were in heaven.

Balinese Nasi Goreng

Eggplant salsa for the fish.

Laklak and sweet potato in coconut and palm sugar.

Conversations with Santika shifted to real estate. Not too unreasonable, especially in East Bali. Of course it was just our first day, but all we could talk about with S and L when we returned to the villa was how great the day was. We finished the day sipping some Bintang in our gazebo next to the ocean. It was as close to a perfect vacation day as you can imagine.

Thanks again for the advice, JP and A. 

Temples...

It is hard to imagine a more stereotypical place for me to be writing this blog entry. I am currently sitting poolside at the Yogyakarta Sheraton, watching Ms. Cupcake and S who are sound asleep and L who is reading a book. We ate our lunch on those nifty seats in the pool that are next to the pool bar and are now lounging poolside for the rest of the day until our evening flight to Bali. The hotel was nice enough to let us keep the suite until 7pm, so we have plenty of time to enjoy the amenities all day.

We woke early today to arrive at Borobodur before sunrise. We watched the sun come up over Mt. Merapi, Java’s infamous volcano, from the top of the 1300 year old Buddhist temple. The views were wonderful, despite the cloudy day, and we enjoyed walking around and around the huge and beautiful temple. Our morning continued with tours of the surrounding temples, Prawan and Mundut, and then a journey through all of the nearby villages, where rice paddies and views of Mt. Merapi abound, to the Prambanan Hindu temple sights. Each of the temples was beautiful in its own special way. Borobodur had many tourists (relatively), but the other temples had almost none. They were peaceful and set for the most part in idyllic settings. Mundut had a Buddhist monastery adjoining the temple with the large original Buddha statue that typified the quiet, rural and agricultural life of this corner of Java.

Through the whole day (and for that matter whole night last night), the prayer calls from the Mosques have been sounding. The singing and chanting have certainly added to the mystique of certain sights we’ve visited, though it is incredible that the loudspeakers have been calling with such frequency. At dinner last night, all were sounding at once, to the point that it was almost impossible to hear any individual voice, but really just a muffled cacophony of piety. The day certainly had its irony in that we spent the whole morning in Buddhist and Hindu sights in the world’s most populous Muslim country.

Borobodur was the main reason that we came to Yogyakarata and Java on this particular visit to Indonesia and we are very glad that we did. The temple itself and its beautiful surrounds were the perfect (early) start to what has been a solid day of vacation.

The pool at the Sheraton.

Nothing too exciting is going to happen for the rest of the day, other than perhaps a few more games of “net ball” that S and I have created in the hotel pool, so I think I’ll leave the blog here for the day.

Entries to continue from East Bali…

Partaking in Ramadan (almost)

Neighborhood around the water palace.

In the blazing sun, we followed Supri through the maze. At that point, we did not know his name, but for some reason he seemed quite intent on helping us. As we bobbed and weaved through the narrow alleyways consisting of people’s colorful and beautifully landscaped homes, we were literally melting in the heat. This now residential neighborhood used to be the sultan’s personal water palace about 300 years ago and we longed for a return to that age as we sweat straight through out clothes. It was 96 degrees, about 1:30pm and the sun was beating down. We had almost no idea where we were.

Where the sultan kept his harems.

Tunnel underneath the water palace.

We arrived in Yogyakarta , Indonesia, on the island of Java, a couple of hours before. We checked in to the magnificent Sheraton here that is just out town and then headed in to town to explore. Our first stop was the sultan’s neighborhood, including the Kraton, Water Palace (Taman Sari) and the network of roads in that area. Yogyakarta is known as the culture capital of Java – home of the famous puppet makers,  dancers, batik painters, etc. It is a pretty town, but extremely difficult to navigate. The hotel had given us a map that made the town (and its outskirts) look like a postage stamp – it is not. In fact, town is quite large, and what looked like it was a hop, skip and a jump away, usually ended up about 2 kilometers away under the scorching sun.

Nothing out of the ordinary - just kids playing with fire in the street.

Nonetheless, we braved the elements and with Supri’s gracious assistance (he literally started guiding us on the street and then we could not shake him), we ploughed through the important sights in the town. After exploring the sultan’s area, we made our way up to Marlioboro St., the major thoroughfare, on a horse drawn buggy (yes, that’s right), where we parted ways with Supri for a small tip. We explored some furniture and batik stores and then went over to Kota Gede, the silver-making village, to look for some silver and eat some dinner.

Yogyakarta was full of people – everywhere – who moved seeming unmolested by the rapacious heat. Indonesia’s now skyrocketing middle class was certainly apparent here. Though poverty was visible, most people looked to be going about their business quite comfortably. Prices were cheap, with a 10 mile taxi ride only costing about US$ 3.50, but am sure that it is that low cost of living that is providing these Javanese with an excellent platform to grow their wealth. In speaking with some of the locals, like Supri and some of those at the Sheraton, they take a huge amount of pride in their town and the opportunities that are availed to them here. Indonesia, or, at the least, this part of Java, appears to definitely be on the way up.

The back gardens of the restaurant.

Nonetheless, the day seemed incredibly long. By the time we arrived at Oman Dhumur restaurant for dinner that evening, we thought we’d been gone for about 10 hours. It was only 4:55pm. The heat had been oppressive, we had no maps to guide us, and, most importantly of all, we were lied to over and over again all day. Every shopkeeper said the next shop was closed or that all of Kota Gede (yes, a town!) closed at 4pm due to Ramadan. It was extremely annoying and consequently exhausting. By the time we sat down in the old restored colonial that is the restaurant for dinner, we really needed a break.

Food... finally.

Oman Dhumer, Yogyakarta’s best restaurant, delivered. The setting was beautiful and though we ate dinner alongside about 40 geckos, the food was delicious. The mishap of the fact that both Ms. Cupcake and L were served completely raw chicken was almost fully overlooked since we were so relieved to be in such a nice setting. Moreover, none of us had eaten since an early breakfast. We had meant to get a small snack for lunch, but due to the terrible maps never quite managed to find anywhere. We ate before dawn and didn’t eat dinner till dusk so apart from drinking water, had actually complied with the Ramadan fasting for the day! Fortunately, the local fare for dinner, including delicious lamb and chicken fried rice, satay and red snapper in curry with steamed rice, hit the spot – and all, including several delicious spice infused coll beverages – for about US$ 10 per person!

After our early dinner, we headed back to the sancutuary of our hotel. We have an early morning tomorrow (3am!) to catch sunrise at Borobodur, so we’re off to bed now after a brief and freezing cold dip in the indoor pool and beer at the club lounge. 

Singapore food safari

Succulent. Juicy. Spicy. Messy.

Oh, how the chili crab has changed my life. As I plunged my moist fingers deeper into the carcass of the 1.2 and 1.3 kilo crabs, respectively, I smiled at the fact we were in Singapore once more. Tonight was the night of our food safari of Singapore. Unfortunately, due to a bit of a late departure (my fault) and the fact that the chili crab process took longer than expected, there were only two stops, but they were delicious ones.

We met our friends S and L tonight at the St. Regis. They flew in from LA the night before and will be accompanying us on the rest of our trip. We have looked forward to their arrival all along after many great experiences traveling with them in the past, though the only sad part is that their arrival indicates the last 25% of our trip. Sad.

We said a sad goodbye to Danum Valley this morning. We woke up bright and early to watch the animals awake along the river and were rewarded with yet more Red Leaf monkeys. After breakfast we said goodbye to the wonderful staff and headed out on the 2 hour journey to the airport through the jungle. Even leaving, we saw wildlife – the bearded pig (along with about half a dozen piglets), monitor lizards and some tropical birds all crossed our path.

We headed straight to get Ms. Cupcake’s sari refit after arrival. I was obviously bored while this was getting done, but the owner of the sari shop, sensing both my boredom and hunger (as I was preparing for the food safari), ran out to Ananda Bhavan Vegitarian, on Selegie Road, to get me some samosas. Ms. Cupcake, utterly shocked at this, decided that the store policy must be buy a sari, get a samosa (or two in my case). These were indeed unlike any other samosas I had ever had. They were large, about the size of a person’s hand, and chock full of potatoes and peas in a delicious curry. It was both moister and crispier than any prior samosa experience.

After thanking the gracious owner of Memsaab tailoring for both the samosas and the sari, we headed off to meet our friends and start the food safari. Andy, our absolute favorite St. Regis staff member, gave us some additional food tips before we set out.

First stop, Bok Chor Mee at Hill Street Pork Noodles. The four of us are all huge Anthony Bourdain fans, so this was a must stop. He went here on his last Singapore episode and Bok Chor Mee sounded like a great dish anyway. It was. Fishballs, pork, dumplings, noodles, cooked in a spicy sauce and broth – it was delicious, even in the 90 degree heat. From there, we moved on to East Coast Park Seafood Center’s famous Long Beach Seafood – the creators (so they say) of Black Pepper Crab. S and I went and chose the victims – two medium sized suckers from their tanks, and sent them away for preparation as chili crab and black pepper crab, respectively.

Delicious. Despite the relatively terrible service at the restaurant, the crab was so good that it overshadowed all else. Washed down with some Tiger Beer, the crab was heavenly. The chili sauce was then mopped up diligently with the accompanying fried buns.

We’re off again tomorrow to yet another new place, but it is funny that Singapore is really beginning to feel homey – a comfortable place with great food.