Ubud, Bali with Karri

I LOVE UBUD! LOVE LOVE LOVE! I don't know what it is, but I loved it.  I spent about 8 days there, 3 with Karri, 5 on my own.  


I wanted an adventure and this trip I really got it.  Firstly, we rented a car for Ubud and drove there from Kuta.  It was an adventure because we got lost.  Turns out this hotel that advertised as "in Ubud" was nowhere in Ubud.  In fact, it was 45 mins drive out of Ubud.  We were so lost.  Long story short, it took us about 4 hours to finally find the hotel.  The hotel was really swanky though, so that makes it better and the service was awesome, but I'll write about that in another entry.  It was an adventure because we were in our tiny rattling car, and the roads were filled with potholes!  The car was a Suzuki something, can't remember again, but it has a wheel at the back.. The car would also stall suddenly while we're driving!

Our trip started with a cooking class with this restaurant called Bumbu Bali.  First they took us to the local market, Pasar Ubud, to look at the ingredients we would be using.  It was a great experience the market, partly also because I had to shun dogs.  Dogs were everywhere! Living in SEA I already knew the spices they were using, they were just in a different name, but it was fun watching the other tourists guess.  

 I was so happy when I finally saww saffron because it's so expensive in Singapore.  I bought a huge packet so my brother could make paella for us.. but it turns out, I  got it wrong AGAIN.  -_- Somehow this was too fine.  I have no idea how on earth correct saffron should look like.

 And here we're back at the table learning the dishes!  It was a 4 hour course and we learnt about 6 dishes, quite a lot, I think. 

 That's me!  The chef will invite us to go up to help him.  I helped him to blanche the vegetables.

 Those were the ingredients, all pre-chopped.

 Our chef!  He's very spiritual about his cooking.

 And that's Karri making sate lilit.  It's really yummy!

 Oh, this mosquito bit me and Karri twice each.  We became a bit worried, but thankfully nothing happened to us.  Notice the black and white stripes?

 The dessert they served.  The crepe had gula melaka and coconut wrapped in it.  It was so yummy. The fruits were, you know, fruits.  Though the other "students" were fascinated by the rambutan.  It's really not my favourite fruit to begin with so I just ate it with a knife and fork very reluctantly.  A trivia: it was the first thing Raffes ate when he first arrived in Singapore! 

 The padi fields.  Tranquil, ya?

 This cafe we went to with weird steps.

 And the drive back to our hotel.  We have to leave before the sun sets so that we don't get lost in the dark. 

 Ah, we drove to this volcano, Kintamani but we didn't get to see anything!  It was too foggy, and it was pretty cold.  Like Genting!

 Monkey Forest Sanctuary.  It's not my favourite place.  Kit and animals in the open just don't go together. 

 Some temples..  We paid for a tour to take us to some temples.  After Angkor Wat, everything else just isn't that fascinating.. But these are the two places we bought tickets for, if you understand the language..

 Oh!  Very fascinated by how the Balinese transport things.  You should have seen how the humble motorcycle can be used to transport twice it's weight!  It's the motorised ant.   And here you have a lorry transporting cows.  I was so fascinated. 

 Below is the reason why we took the package: Pura Tanah Lot.  It's a temple that's surrounded by the sea.  It was pretty, but I must say, I was really disappointed because it was sooo crowded that the beauty was marred.  But just notice how blue the sky was!  We didn't even use any fancy camera equipment to make it more blue.

 Strange English.  No idea what they were saying other than 2 rooms available for rent.  Karri and I were looking for another place after the first day in Ubud because our place was simply too far, but we didn't in the end because of credit card issues.

And this, sums my post about Ubud while with Karri.  Coincidentally, my pictures about Bali also dwindled when Karri was not there.  He kept making fun of how I'm Asian and I should do my Asian thing and take pictures, haha but turns out he's the "Asian" one!  :-P  

Next I'll be writing about the hotels, the food, and life in Ubud on my own!