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Ubud: Scooter ride through rice paddies; tingklik man's family

We rode our scooters through some beautiful rice paddy fields this morning. The farmers were just starting to plough and weed the fields. The terraces filled with water are a sight. It takes a lot of farming to keep them so pretty.

We visited the Amandari resort on our ride. The Amandari is something like a Four Seasons resort. It's built on one side of a steep valley and looks out on beautiful rice paddy terraces. We took some pictures by the immaculate, overflowing outdoor pool. Ayu showed us the Valley Suite, which costs $800 a night.

We watched a woman painting a batik cloth. The batik makers outline the design in pencil on a white cloth, then they paint, and then they smudge the paint with water to create lighter shades. The woman we saw was at the smudging stage.

We bought some bakso (soup noodle), chicken sate with kutupat (a type of rice), bread, and fruits at the market in downtown Ubud. We brought the groceries back to our bungalow and had lunch.

We spent the afternoon at the tingklik man's place. He re-taught me the "polos" (melody) and "sangsih" (harmony) to two songs that I learned seven years ago. He also taught me to play a simple song on the angklung. It looks kind of like a mini-gamelan.

We might buy a couple tingkliks to take home. They cost US$35 each. We took a set home seven years ago but the bamboo changed pitch in the relatively dry SF Bay Area climate. We'll ask the tingklik man how we can protect the bamboo from a dry climate.

The tingklik man's sons, Wayan and Made, showed my dad and me the rice paddy that the family farms. They own four terraces among many. They just burned the dry remnants of the last crop of rice and they're planting a new crop that they'll harvest in six months.

We spent an hour or so on Wayan's computer, looking at photos and videos. I uploaded yesterday's photos of the family onto computer. Wayan showed us a video of his seven-year-old daughter performing a traditional Balinese dance. The tingklik maker was playing in the musical ensemble. It seems like learning to dance or play an instrument is part of growing up in Bali. The girls tend to dance while the boys tend to play instruments.

The tingklik man's business card is below:

Prawan
Wood Carver and Special Bambu Musik
Made to Order

Wayan Betra and Son
Owner

Address: Br. Bilukan, Sebatu, Tegallalang, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia

Telp. (0361) 901137
Hp. 081 657 4606, 081 657 5567
E-mail: "prawanshop" followed by "@telkom.net"

We had masakan padang for dinner back in Ubud and then used the internet for an hour or two. Internet access in Ubud costs 200 rupiah (about five cents) a minute.

posted by Li at 4:13 AM