Ubud1

Elaine,

Ubud is magical. That's what they say about Ubud. My last visit to Ubud confirmed that image in my mind.

I left Sanur around three, dead tired - having spent only a few hours on sleep the night earlier. I was half asleep in the hired car when I smelled something and sat right up. We reached the southern part of Ubud. It is really interesting how my body tuned in to Ubud's ambiance without all of my senses being awake. How could I tell it was Ubud? Well, for one thing, it became cooler. The street became windier. There would be dense groups of large stemmed bamboes at most turnings of that winding streets. And after a while you would spot a serial of handicraft shops, one after another. More often than not they would sell exactly the same type of goods for about half a kilometer, and then the next half offer a different type of range etc.

Here in Ubud the spell was immediately felt. It was something familiar to me. I felt home. I started to roll down the window, letting the fresh breeze filled in the car. Ubud seemed more prosperous than the last time I was here, a year ago. I suspect the annual Ubud Writers' festival make this big "village" more famous, therefore more tourists spent their dollars here.

I was planning to stay at my usual and favorite inn, Sania Bungalow. Apparently the Sita Dewi street nearby Sania, was in a different one-way direction than what I knew from last year. Instead of going from Hanuman towards Monkey forest, now it is exactly the oposite. I became disoriented. I noticed that the upper part of Monkey forest was now becoming trendier, the shops looked appealing, the cafes sophisticated. And I reckoned I did not have much energy nor time to carry myself around the streets of Ubud. Pertiwi Resort seemed to be the perfect choice. It was situated between cafes, shops, grocery stores etc. I took a room at one bungalow on second floor overlooking the courtyard. I spent the first two hours in Ubud sleeping like a dead log with all the windows and the door towards balcony open. The bed was located next to the window. So the last thing I remembered before drifting into a glorious deep sleep was "Gosh, how blue the Ubud sky was seen from this window and how those leaves made a beautiful frame of this beautiful sight".

When I woke up, it was already dark. I changed, drew some cash out of an ATM machine across the hotel and went up and down the street trying to choose which restaurant to have my dinner in. I did not feel well, and the weather was cool so I put on a crocheted sort of poncho on me. Very soon I realised how I dressed was so out of place. Everyone was wearing thin cotton summer frocks or shirts and here I was, a middle aged woman wrapped up to the neck, ready to fight away threats of colds and drafts. But I did not care. This is my country, my time and I was not going to dress in compliance to anyone's norm and expectation.

The Wayan's, which is only next door, despite all those new cafes sprang up nearby, still was my number one choice. First because it was an old - respected landmark of Ubud's cuisine game. Secondly, because when I first learned about Wayan, I did not have much money. Those days I had to save even to buy a piece of those delicious looking pastries and cakes of Wayan. It was small then. I always chose to sit at the garden, a bit further down from the main entrance. Looking at the garden seats, the feeling of "out of this world" that I used to feel whenever I had my breakfast in the old Wayan's came back. I remember feeling so sophisticated, sitting with a book and savouring the sunny side up on a toast, a bowl of fresh fruit salad and black coffee.

Now Wayan's has polished it's main lobby. The restaurant manager - a friendly man looking so humble but dignified - greeted regulars by their names. I chose Thai curry with rice. Did I like it? Well, I don't know whether this was the authentic one. I suspect that it had been tailored to suit foreign palate. To me it tasted like Javanese vegetable dish, cooked in coconut milk, "lodeh", with an addition of a few drops of lime squeeze.

A glass of beautiful looking tall glass, with lemon grass stalk propped as a stirrer, came to my desk. The Manager was kind enough to give me (free!!) ginger drink with honey and lemon. Hot! Well, earlier he chatted with me and found out that I was a bit under the weather.

I went back to the hotel happy and soon dreamt of swimming in the lake of Batoer.

My flight the next day was on 12.55, meaning that I had to leave Ubud at 11. Well, plenty of time, so I thought.

I took my leasure time at the "GreenHouse", Pertiwi's sidewalk restaurant, where breakfast was served. There was this slogan of a website on hotels all over the world- it says : wake up happy. That was exactly the words in buzzing around my head while I was attacking the food. How could not I? I was presented with a choice to sit on one of those little cute tables lined up against several panels of glass french windows overlooking the street. In fact you could step out of the window onto the freshly swept street. Sun rays came through those panels and made a cute pattern on a platter of freshly cut tropical fruit. The usual and commonly found fresh fruit salad took a new twist here. Mango, pineapple, watermelon, honeydew were cut in bigger pieces and arranged artistically.

I was hoping for the crispy banana pancake I ordered to be the one I used to have at more modest inns around Ubud. Not here. It turned out to be the Balinese authentic pandan-flavored thin crepe filled with banana and garnished with shredded coconut. Nice.

I thought I had plenty of time before leaving for the airport. I was wrong. I barely had time to snatch up a few gifts to bring home at the Ubud Market. But it was alright. Just to be there, in the market, amongst the ladies and a few men who were getting ready to have their merchandise displayed was enough for me. I find that this was the best time to shop in Balinese market, when they just open the shops. They are more willing to sell at a lower price as they believe it would bring good luck for the rest of the day.

Ah .... Ubud !!!!