Kecak Dance - Ubud, Bali

This performance i will never forget! Kecak dance tells a story of Hindu Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita who was kidnapped by the evil king of Lanka.  I had never seen anything like it. It was hard to follow the story at times since there was no translation.  About 50 men are chanting, clapping, hitting their chests, thighs and shouting. The performance was very dramatic, the dancers were full of energy and costumes were amazing!

Fire dance

Pura Tirta Empul

This Hindu temple is also known as the Temple of the Holy Water. People from all over Bali travel to this temple. They come to bathe in the holy water and also collect the water to take home for ceremonies. Anyone can cleanse in the holy water but you have to wear a sarong to cover your legs.

Pura Desa (Temple)

Bali - "the island of a thousand temples". Pura Desa temple is surrounded by a beautiful garden right in the middle of Ubud.  Mom and Dad's friend took us inside the temple and explained to us about Balinese Hinduism.  We had to dress up appropriately for the ceremony otherwise entrance is prohibited. Both men and women are required to wear sarong and sashes. See my dad and I below:

Payuk Bali Cooking Class

Daddy was meeting some friends while mommy and I decided to take a cooking class.  We met our friend Tina at the market and bought Balinese spices, local fruits,  fish and vegetables to use during class. Chef Ketut was ready and waiting for us with the kitchen nicely prepared. We started by making offerings for the Gods, we were taught how to make organic coconut oil which is the best for Balinese cooking.  It was time to move to the kitchen where we made this amazingly delicious soup, followed by vegetable salad with peanut sauce.  The main course was yellow rice with minced spices of fish skewers, balinese fried chicken and grilled fish in banana leaf.  To top it off we made this deliciiiousss Balinese dessert called Kolak Pisang.

Chef Ketut

Offering for the Gods

I'm working hard...

I'm holding Grilled Fish in Banana leaf (Pepes Ikan)

Kolak Pisang

Ubud, Indonesia

The road from Padangbai to Ubud is very narrow and I kept asking my mom if she was scared. It turns out she was.  At least it was not a long ride (1 hour).  I think Ubud is a very beautiful town with rice paddies, interesting buildings, good food, beautiful arts and crafts, small villages and the culture is very unique and alive.

We met up with mom and dad's friend Robert and Kiki. The market in Ubud is very busy especially in the morning because that's where fresh fish and vegetables get delivered to sell to the public. My mom bought fabric and spices to take back with us.

Padangbai, Scuba Dive and Snorkeling

Blue Lagoon is a delightful place to spend a whole day relaxing, swimming and snorkeling or diving in the turquoise water.  We left the guest house early in the morning and took a boat that took us to Blue Lagoon. There were people diving while others were snorkeling.  There is a nice amount of hard and soft coral.  The marine life is very interesting from sand-dwellers, pipefish, sea-horses, puffer fish and oh the cuttle fish.  My dad told me that some people see white tip reef sharks in this area.

Padangbai, Bali (Indonesia)

From Ho Chi Minh City we stopped in Singapore then connected to Bali.  When we arrived in Denpasar it was total chaos.  The driver was waiting for us to drive us to Padangbai. It was a longer drive than I expected and took us more than an hour.  The guest house was beautiful and nicely decorated in Balinese style - the only thing i missed there were no kids to play with. The next morning we decided to take a short hike.

As we were hiking my dad saw two local people and thought we should follow them - as we followed the trail right in the thick of the bushes we discovered this beautiful beach sitting in the middle of nowhere with few shacks on site.  The beach was empty with few locals hanging out and selling local food.  We hung out with the locals, ate,  swam, until late evening.