Geo: -8.51927, 115.263Wyan, who works in the Pradha cafe is an amateur woodcarver on the side, and offered to take me to see some 'Master Woodcarvers' in Ubud. This town is known for its art, and I'm not really into paintings so much, but when he mentioned wood carving I really wanted to see. We stopped by a few shops, and I kept gravitating to the same figure, the Rice Goddess. There are a bunch of different instances of her, in all sorts of situations. And it was funny, every time I liked one and pointed to it, it was always the Rice Goddess! So that's the carving I ended up with. I don't have a picture of it. Huh? Not sure why, probably because I was stressing about all the price bargaining going on. Even ... read more

Geo: -8.47781, 115.609So my new friend Jenny (originally from NY, but she's been here in Bali since 2002) invited me to go to the beach with her family this weekend. Her husband Harris (pronounced more like Tyrese), her gorgeous 4 year-old son Gabriel, and surprise guest their friend Tony (also Balinese) came along.We met at Jenny's house on Saturday morning and had a nice road trip through Gianyar, and Klungkung, to Candi Dasa. (They got lost last time they entered Candi Dasa and couldn't find the resort, and though Jenny kindly asked that we pull over this time and call for directions when we weren't sure we eventually found it with only one U-turn needed. Some things are universal =)We arrived before lunch, threw our bags into our rooms (since Tony came along and we only ... read more

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263So today Made and Ketut (The Guest House's Official Driver) and I took off after brunch for a day out. (I now have brunch everyday, I'm getting so lazy here in Ubud!) We headed up to Bali Bird Park and the Reptile park adjacent to it. I've uploaded a few of the highlights here. The bird park had lots of birds just loose, flying/walking around the grounds. They were all fascinating to me, so many I'd never even heard of before (and I'm not even really a bird lover). Most all of them were from the Southeast Asia area, so if you were a local visiting the park you probably wouldn't be that impressed, but I don't think too many locals visit there. I was impressed. Except for the bats, they had huge 2 ... read more

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263...I guess I'm getting onto local time. =) Which is really unmeasured.On Sunday night there was a big fair type thing in the main soccer field here in Ubud. Apparently the Governor was giving a big party to thank everyone for his re-election. There was free food, and a couple Gamalan Orchestras and even fireworks. I went and enjoyed the scene and felt right back at home as if I was in New York City. I hadn't realized how quiet Ubud was until I was back in a big crowd again. This is definitely small town living here, everyone is approachable (and always approaching!) to know everyone business. Privacy? What's that?I met a girl from The States at the fair (she found me actually) and we went for lassies* after the fair and swapped ... read more

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263It's only noon so I really don't have much to report on doing yet, but I'm actively trying to slow down and not gage the success of my day by how many activities I put into it. I've been reading in my Vagabonding book about the new trend of 'slow travel', instead of hitting the town each day with a list of sights, it's about living in the town/village and being with the people who live there; Experiencing the culture and really letting it affect you, rather than hitting the hot photo ops. I'm trying to get the hang of it, but I confess I still did make a little list of things I wanted to do when here at the Internet cafe today. It's a process, right? LOLI met a really great lady ... read more