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Ubud: Nyoman Sandi; Pondok Pekak; Three Monkeys; Legong dance

Nyoman Sandi's wife kindly bought us fruit and bread for breakfast. She went to the market for us because she knew that we didn't yet have scooters.

Nyoman Sandi and his family have been extremely hospitable. They've given us food a couple times already and they've told us about a festival. It seems like they genuinely want us to have a memorable stay.

We walked to the market and looked at fruits and souvenirs. Mommy found that a vendor's first price is often three times the price at which they're comfortable selling.

We walked to Pondok Pekak and visited Lori, Kai, Nyoman, Made, and the rest of the family. Lori and Made are married and Kai is their son. Lori is from Montana and she's lived in Ubud for the past 20 years. We got to know the people at Pondok Pekak when we visited seven or eight years ago. The Balinese people don't seem to age! Nyoman and Made look much the same as last time. Only Kai has grown visibly.

Nyoman is married and has a four-year-old son now. He and Made have a clothing store.

Jay and I practiced tingklik(a bamboo xylophone) at Pondok Pekak. Nyoman and Kai re-taught us a song that we learned seven years ago. Two tingkliks playing harmony sound great.

Nyoman helped us find three scooters to rent. We paid 80,000 rupiah ($8) per bike for two and a half days. Daddy tried out the bikes to make sure that the brakes and gears work. Mommy will ride with him, and Jay and I will have our own bikes.

We had masakan padang for lunch. It's kind of the Balinese equivalent of Malaysian economy rice: one covers a plate of rice with a selection of pre-made dishes like egg, beef or fish or chicken curry, and vegetables.

We visited Denise at her restaurant. Denise is a Chinese doctor who used to work with Daddy in Seattle. Denise now runs the Three Monkeys restaurant in Ubud. Her husband, an architect, designed the restaurant beautifully. It's set in lush rice paddy fields and has lots of shade.

Gas is cheap here: about $1 a gallon. We filled up our scooters on our way home.

We loved the traditional Balinese dance that we saw this evening. The Pondok Pekak put on the Legong dance and others. The dancers were children ranging in age from 7 to 13. They are talented! I thoroughly enjoyed their eye-flitting, shoulder-shaking, finger-twitching, stamping, and twirling. I loved the music, too. I especially liked it when the dancer's movements matched the music. The female dancers sometimes shook their hips in time with the clang of the gamelan. The male warrior dancer danced with increased urgency as the music got louder.

posted by Li at 4:09 AM