The Antonio Blanco Museum - Bali

Breakfast time!

When Allan and I decided to visit Bali for our honeymoon, one of the first places I wanted to see was the Antonio Blanco Museum.  Not that we know that much about art but, for some reason, this museum struck a chord with me.  Here was a man that loved Bali so much that he left the Philippines to pursue a career in art, travelled the world before settling on Ubud, Bali.  In fact, the King of Ubud gave him a plot of land to set up his studio and home.  The same plot of land is actually the museum currently AND where his son and family still live.  His son is also a painter and also uses the same studio that his father, Antonio, created his masterpieces.  Talk about special genes, hey?

Crossing the bridge to the Blanco Museum

The amazing gate

The walk up to the museum was incredible.  The driveway is immaculate and the gate is massive, impressively etched with cursive writing.  After walking up the drive, you enter a small room to pay your entrance fee, are handed a map of the grounds and you're on your way to discover a different world, it seems.  The large steps leading up to the museum area are old but the buildings surrounding the stairwell are so well kept you wouldn't know they're 50 years old.  After arriving at the museum area, you're met with parrots, cockatoos and lovebirds in every color.  The grounds the birds live on are beautiful and they aren't even restricted to cages!!!  The birds all have their own trees to perch on and are given free range to fly around the treetops.  The Blanco family still lives on the grounds, so certain areas were blocked off but that didn't stop us from peeking in the windows and visiting the family temple.  After the ground walk was done, we entered the museum.

Stumbling on the open grounds and the birds

The immaculate grounds

The museum entrance

We weren't allowed to take any pictures in the museum but the inside of the building was so rich that I wish I could.  There were spiral staircases on every side of the building and each wall was painted a different color.  (The turquoise wall was, of course, my favorite.)  I should mention that Antonio Blanco was a very flamboyant man and known for being fascinated with the female form.  The majority of all his paintings were of naked women and he actually created the frame of the picture for each painting.  In fact, the frames became as well known as his paintings.  Allan and I were awestruck by all the paintings.  Each one seemed to have a life of their own.

I can't wait to visit it again next year.  Seriously, I've never enjoyed a museum more than this one.

My new ring!

After the museum, Allan surprised me by buying a gorgeous silver garnet ring.  I have yet to take it off.  I'm a very lucky girl....

 

Cooking With Gas

So today,  Christina booked us an all day cooking class in Ubud. Great idea as good Indonesian food can be scarce with the abundance of tourist restaurants catering to the variety of imported palettes. To be honest I did not have high expectations,  but looking forward to the experience none the less.

The class started with a pick up and meet at the Ubud market,  the same one we wandered through earlier. The guide gave us some pretty cool information about the fruit,  vegetables,  meat, and utensils all specific to Indonesian cooking. Our previous venture through the market was pretty fast as the choices and structure seemed overwhelming. It was nice to casually walk through the market and focus on soaking up information,  rather than just being careful where we were walking. Also we were told that if properly washed us outsiders could probably handle the market food,  save the meat. All meet for outsiders has to be handled under the guidelines we take for granted,  or we risk a case of Bali Belly. Though if you grow up eating the local meat your stomach becomes super human and immune.

Market food

And the fruit section. 

After the market tour we (15 or so participants) were shuttled to a nearby village, whose primary focus is rice production.  Once there Wayan explained to us how the typical Bali village and family was organized. How the one large fresh water stream at the top of the rice terrace was split to service the rice fields of the different families.

Wayan and his teaching. 

Parting of the stream. 

As a side note Bali had been under some form of Dutch control since 1846 all the way up until the early 1900's.  The wars with the Dutch did have a high cost for the Balinese. Without the Dutch though,  the Balinese people would not have learnt about proper irrigation, as well as structured government. Apparently the Balinese would fight amongst themselves for water prior to the occupation. Wayan was very thankful to the Dutch for this,  despite all the negative press that came with these benefits. Goes to show the character of the Balinese I guess.

Back in the rice fields more info was passed onto us specific to growing rice. About 68% of Bali was rice fields 10 years ago but has now been reduced to 58%. Because of this the government has protected most rice producing land from development. The Balinese eat rice at all 3 meals and rely on the sale of any surplus for their livelihood. A good portion of the rice fields are also privately owned. Passed down through the generations so each family has a reliable food source. Also interesting to mention is that the rice can be harvested 3 times a year,  with a 3 month break every 2 years.

Moving on from the rice fields we finally made it to the family compound where our class would be taking place. Each family lives together in their compound until the women are married off to go live with another family,  or you die. Wayan only had 4 members of his family,  but his next door neighbour had 55 people in their compound. 55 family members living and working under one roof,  some details of their culture are always going to be a mystery to me :)  Wayan went onto explain how all the different buildings in the compound are arranged and a bunch of other details that are a separate post on their own. One thing that did come across is that Wayan and his wife are very happy despite being married by accident (or as they called it a Balinese MBA). Having a kid out of wedlock is a big no-no in Bali if the woman is not married if the kid is born before the marriage is complete she will essentially be kicked out of the community - pretty harsh.  To be clear there are solutions that help keep the mother and child in the community,  this is just an extreme case. The Balinese are very family oriented and feel a strong responsibility for everyone in the community.

Welcome music. 

Puspa,  showing us the ropes. 

When we finally got our hands dirty with the cooking the group of us was responsible for the majority of the work. Wayan's wife,  Puspa,  was the ring leader and she had about 5 helpers running around guiding us,  cleaning up,  and taking care of the general details.

The cooking was well organized and fun to work through. It went on for a few hours with each member of the group taking on new and different tasks throughout the preparation of each dish. I started off deep frying,  and Christina was on knife duty.  I moved onto to chopping once the frying was done and after a hard few minutes Christina took a powder ;-)

All participants then had to take a go at the Bali Blender.  As the name suggests this process turned the chopped veggies and spices into our yellow curry sauce. Some say I was the best, but bragging about my skills with a giant wooden stick just doesn't seem right.

Right at home in the kitchen :-D 

Amazing skills

The intoxicating laugh. 

Lots of chopping and lots of mixing through out the class. We were able to take a small break with the clear mushroom soup before we finished with our mains. There were two separate tables in the compound to accommodate the class size.  Christina and I had a great time talking with the couples from NYC,  France,  and Australia. Though we particularly did not like the Aussies for the sole reason it was a cheap 2 hour flight to Bali for them at anytime of the year.  Bottled water was free the entire time and Bintang was a cheap 15,000 ($1.50).

After the mushroom soup more chopping and cooking followed to complete our mains.  Just shy of another hour we all sat down to reap the rewards of our labour.

The food did not last long as we we were all very hungry. A lot of the class enjoyed the deep fried tempeh coated in sweet soy sauce,  Christina included. Where as my favorite was the chicken with yellow curry and potatoes. No one really likes vegetables in any country,   but I heard no complaints :-P

The view from the table. 

The spread,  and a poacher. 

The class finished off with dessert - boiled bananas with jack fruit and coconut cream sauce.  Jack fruit is like crossing a mango with a pineapple,  sweet and tasty. Where boiled bananas tastes exactly how it sounds.

We paid upon leaving and collected a little pamphlet and the recipes for the class. We owed $70 for the two of us - great bargain by our standards - but Puspa was gracious enough to not charge us for the 4 Bintangs we drank. Free beer!  What a hostess!

We were then carted back to our hotel (pickup and drop off are all included in the price) where we found the pool quickly and lounged like beached whales with our well developed food babies.

All in all a great experience that I would recommend to anyone going to Bali to put on their list.  The only downside is finding Indonesian food of similar quality at any restaurant.  Most westerners know that is it usually the hole- in- the- wall restaurants that do home style cooking the best. Though searching for one of those in Bali is a challenge my normal human stomach will definitely start a mutiny over.

Bali Fish Spa

Breakfast at the hotel

After spending the day looking at temples, Allan and I were more than happy to have no plans the next day. After breakfast, we left the hotel and started walking.  After we'd been walking for about 20 minutes, we were by Monkey Forest.  And since it was early the monkeys are really on the hunt for food.  I noticed a monkey circling me and before I knew what was happening, it was running at me full-steam and started to climb my leg.  I realized after this that he was trying to steal what I'd been swinging in my hands (a water bottle) so I gladly gave it to him before he infected me with rabies.... Ha.

The monkey who stole my water bottle

Walking we did.   In fact before we noticed,  we'd walked circles around Ubud.  And, man, our feet were sore.  What better thing to do than try a fish spa.  Yes, you definitely heard me right.  We decided to have little fish nibble our feet to remove all the calluses we got from walking around.

Allan's feet and legs in the tank first

I've joined in on the fish action

Check out the fish nibbling off my spray tan! 

The nibbling complete, Allan and I continued our hike to find Naughty Nuri's Warung.  For those that know me well, you're well aware of my obsession with pork ribs and BBQ sauce.  Naughty Nuri's is an infamous rib shack in Ubud.  I've been dreaming of these ribs for months and we HAD to find it while out trekking.

Nuri manning the rib grill outside the warung

Find it we did.  Outside the warung, Nuri was operating the famous grill.  I don't think I've ever been more excited to see smoking meat.  Allan and I grabbed a seat and promptly ordered our ribs.

Inside Naughty Nuri's

Lunch time.... Look at those ribs

The ribs were amazing!  Oh what succulent sauce.... And for only $8.  You really can't go wrong.  After eating, we made our way back to the hotel for a swim and some beers.  We then got ready and made our way to a mexican place for dinner called Taco Casa.  Cheap, fast and awesome.  We ordered nacho grande, tacos with chicken, a large Bintang and a margarita for under $16.  God I love Bali.

Check out these nachoes

Stay tuned as Allan is going to blog about our Balinese cooking class.

 

Temple Love #2

Water ritual going on behind us

Group prayer at the water palace

Holy water spring that flows through the temple

Alright, back to concluding our temple tour. The water palace was honestly one of the most stunning things I've ever seen.   Seeing how villages and families can come together for beautiful ritual really puts things into perspective for me.  Especially with all the prep the Balinese are doing for this Sunday's full moon festival... Everyone works together for the good of the community.   It's truly remarkable.

Grumpy little mongoose

Left: poo coffee beans.  Right: normal coffee beans

Tasting all the coffee delights

The view at Oka Agriculture

From the water palace we went to a place called Oka Agriculture.  This place was perhaps the highlight of my day BECAUSE we finally got to try poo coffee.  Poo coffee,  aka Kopi Luwak, is created from the droppings of the mongoose.  Of course the mongoose has to eat a coffee bean for this to happen but since that's the main item they eat, it works well.  The farm is perched on the side of a mountain and there we tried everything from Luwak coffee to ginseng and even some real tobacco.  Such an amazing experience.

Mount Batur and the lava fields

Eating lunch, enjoying the hazy view

From Oka we went to see the panoramic volcano view.  Yes, Bali has an active volcano.  It last erupted in the 70s but the lava fields are still visible.  Our guide, Wayan, drove us to the fabulous buffet lunch that literally sits perched above the jungle and lava fields.  Needless to say the view was incredible.

By the time we got home, Allan and I were bagged.  We had enough energy to swim, eat the afternoon dessert and have a quick dinner.  The next day was a free day so we were going to attempt to sleep in.... Ha.

Tired at dinner

THINGS TO NOTE:  I have been losing weight while being here, cigarettes only cost $1.20 and you can smoke inside... everywhere, we are finally used to the humidity, we get our laundry done by the people across the street as the only charge us $4 for a basket full, martinis here are stronger than anything I've had in Vancouver, after it rains the air smells like poo, the wasps are the size of Allan's thumb, i still can't seem to get a tan despite being in the sun all day, they don' t carry any makeup in Ubud and, last but not least, I've never been more relaxed in my life.

 

Temple Love

Eating breakfast while waiting for our temple guide

There are over 1000 temples in Bali alone.  Seriously, over 1000.  Now I should mention that most of these 1000 are not open to the public as they are family temples, but this is still a whopping amount all the same.   Given the vast amount of them we've only visited about 7.

Family compound kitchen

Family compound bedroom

Before I show you some gorgeous temple love and panoramic volcano views, I wanted to explain how the Balinese live.  The above photos show a typical compound.   Basically this is a group of separate buildings in one area where a family lives.   This family can range from a family of 4 to a family of 55.  All family lives together, takes care of each other and provides for one another.   Since most (about 90% of the Balinese) are hindu, each family also has their own family temple on site.

Standing in front of the family temple

Since most families are hindu, they must also make offerings to the gods twice a day. These offerings are made in front of doorways, pathways and of course by the temple.

Trekking to the waterfall

The amazing waterfall

After the compound we trekked out to the waterfall which we never knew existed.   (Thanks to the best travel guide, Wayan, for taking us there.)  The waterfall was so gorgeous but the hike back up was not.   Think of walking down to wreck beach in a temperature of 35 degrees... Stairs and heat do not mix...

People bathing at the water palace

This was such an amazing sight to see.  Because it was Sunday, the Balinese came to the water palace to bathe themselves in the holy water is classified as holy because the natural spring flows out of the ground underneath the temple.  It's supposedly good luck to bathe and soak in the spring.

So this post was to be much longer but typing on the tablet is really hard plus the wifi shuts off every couple minutes.  I'll post more later..... Xo

 

Bali Day 3 and 4: In Pictures

Allan drinking fresh coconut water.... Yummy

Thought I'd do a quick picture heavy post to fill you in on some of the things we've been doing in the past couple days. Ubud is really turning out to be one of our favorite places. Why, you ask? Despite it being the most touristy place we've ever been to before, the people are sooooooo friendly. Honestly, I would come back here for this fact alone. The balinese remember your name, your favorite food and are more than willing to stop and chat. Another thing I am loving is the coffee: it's fantastic. I go out of my way everyday to have a cappucino made for me from down the street....it's that good.

The chaos that is a Denpasar street.   Motorbikes everywhere! 

Gorgeous view from our hotel patio

Sitting for dinner at Lotus Lane

Forever drinking Bintang, Indonesian-made beer that costs about $2

Watching a Balinese dancing performance.   Gorgeous! 

At the Pura Desa temple,  which contains classic Balinese architecture

Ceremony doors of Pura Desa

Allan looking very fashionable in a red sarong eating potato chips

Entrance to Goa Gajah, the elephant cave. 

The elephant cave

The oldest tree in the elephant cave... And Allan in another sarong

They weren't Naughty Nuri's but these ribs were good. 

Ubud Public Market... I'm shopping for sarongs 

Bintang time!!  It's only 930 am on Saturday

Impromptu ceremony that passed by while drinking Bintang

About to devour Bubi Galing, aka suckling pig, a big reason for me
Wanting to come to Bali.   It was delicious! 

Ahhhh... Busy Ubud street

Entrance to Monkey Forest.... I was starting to get scared by this point

Seriously the macaques are everywhere... Up close and personal

While I was running away, Allan stayed to get better acquainted 

Ubud is absolutely breathtaking.   The views are fabulous, the food is amazing and the people are so friendly.   Can't wait to see what today brings.  (we've hired a driver for the day to take us off the beaten track.   Hopefully I don't encounter any more monkeys!!)