I LOVE LOVE LOVE UBUD!!!

I absolutely love this place!  Our room has a panoramic view of the wonderful tree filled hills - it's amazing to wake up to this lush loveliness.  (Can't get used to all the bugs and geckos though ...apparently geckos are good luck but they still creep me out a little bit.)  I am still waking up before everyone else so I went out to the common area and had a leisurely breakfast (fab service) of omelette, fruit, croissant and coffee.  Everyone here is so sweet and gentle - I feel like a horribly brash person compared to them.  And, fortunately they have laundry service because I am down to my last pair of underwear!  hee hee! 

There are lovely little offerings of flowers and incense everywhere in Bali - at our hotel, every restaurant and every shop.

  I actually saw one of the ladies at Alam Indah laying them all out and doing a blessing for each one.  Beautiful ritual.

During breakfast the waiter explained to me how children are named in Bali - I recall this from the book Eat Pray Love - but essentially their are specific names for each first born, second born, third born and fourth born children.  I asked what happens with the fifth kid, and he said you start over, but you are the "second Wayung" etc.  What an interesting tradition.  I wonder how it originated?

As an aside - I'm so glad J agreed to join us at the last minute in Ubud.  I miss having him around - he's the bestest guy friend in the world - perfect manners, fun, smart and just plain fabulous.  Now I just need to find a straight version of J.   :)

The bathrooms here are much more modern than our villas previously so it was nice taking a proper shower.  Afterwards A and I hung out by the pool writing in our journals and just enjoying the nature around us (while avoiding the ginormous ants circling around)... quite a feat really.

Then J and A convinced me to go through the Monkey Forest... I'm quite fearful of monkeys because we had one as a pet when I was very little, and its favorite activity was pulling my hair and terrorizing me, much to the delight of my cousins and other relatives (big meanies)!  Anyways, so I have a great fear of these creatures and the thought of having to walk through a forest where they are believed to be sacred did not bring joy to my heart - but I did it.   Of course, when we made it through, the only person accosted by a monkey was - guess who? - me of course!  one little monkey grabbed at my ankle and I deftly escaped!  We later discovered there's a motorcycle path around the forest where you can avoid the monkeys and not pay the fare to return through the forest to the hotel.

We walked through the main shopping area (Monkey Forest Road) and discovered J's master negotiation skills.  He essentially told A and me to shut up so he could do his thing.  We ended up with beautiful scarfs and sarongs for bargain prices!  We also explored an outdoor bazaar (more jewelry, woodwork, sarongs, etc.).

For lunch we were meeting up with V, C and C for suckling pig at the world famous Ibu Oka Babi Guling -  a roadside shack featured by Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern and touted as the best suckling pig in the world.

  I was very excited to try my $3 meal - succulent pieces of pork with crackling on top and served atop steamed rice and spicy veggies.  mmmmm...  it was the juciest suckling pig I've ever had.  Yum!  Didn't like the weird cigar looking thing - V said it was a type of veggie, I think it was some innard...

After lunch, J, A and I strolled back towards our hotel but got caught in the rain so we stopped for foot massages!  yeah!  my swollen foot needed the break - the poor guy essentially had to massage around all my booboos and there were lots.  I think my foot massage was about $7.  Then we topped off that luxury with cocktails in one of the inviting open bars along the way.  (Such beautiful cafes and great bathrooms!  One of the cafe bathrooms had a koi pond!)

When we returned, A and I enjoyed tea and cake at the hotel (no, the eating never stops) .

. and then we inquired about the "medicine man" from the novel "Eat Pray Love".  The server said he could drive us there since the man only lived about 7 minutes away.  We asked if many guests went to visit the medicine man and the server very diplomatically said, "no, not really ... some ... mostly americans..."  I had to laugh.  I knew A totally wanted to go so we gathered up our energy and headed out to the medicine (Ketut Liyer).  He really was just a few minutes away - he was already holding court in his courtyard and I think he refused to see us at first but our driver talked him into it.  He invited us over to his prayer area and read A's palm.  In his broken english and slightly impish manner, he coyly told A that she was a "good girl" "very smart" "good karma" etc.   She joked that he probably said that about everyone - he insisted that was not the case, and had just seen a big australian who had bad karma, and anyways, he couldn't lie or would go to hell.  Then he said A had to get married and have 3 kids before 40 - which she better hop to it soon! - also she will find true love at 60 and live to 100 (which of course implied her husband won't be her true love.  :)  The only time I doubted his words was when he analyzed her legs and declared that she was a very good driver....I almost burst out laughing.   At the end, A asked how much she should donate for the reading and he coyly said "some people give 150,000 RP some 200,000 RP ... 200,000 is better.  You have to give him credit for his bluntness.

When we got back to the hotel, J and C were so intrigued that they also wanted to go the next day.  Crazy americans!  :)

For dinner V suggested we try Bebek Bengil - the original crispy duck place.  It was quite good - half a duck served with rice and pickly vegetables.  We've been so spoiled with good food ... I hope I don't return 200 pounds heavier!