Eat and Walk in Balance

Saturday, August 11

My first morning with a guest at home. I had to mind my movement, I have wooden floor. I walked and moved things slowly. When I had activities downstairs, I checked every now and then if Rad was still asleep. She hardly moved although I opened my ‘hard’ door. I lighted an aromatherapy in a table next to her to ensure her even deeper sleep. I was safe till I got my morning drink :-) It was fun.

When she got up, we didn’t stop talking. We made late breakfast (eggs and wheat bread) and had fight in kitchen. We had different mode to do things and both wanted to make other comfortable. Like a couple :-) And we continued talking talking talking. I sat on window sill, she sat on my studio table. It was raining on-off outside, we could not decide what to do for the day. It was close to 13:30 when we decided to just walk in the rain. Hm.

I really enjoyed our walk with umbrellas. Our pants were damp before too long. We walked to downtown Ubud where Rad stopped every here and there to take picture. She had a serious camera with her. I adore her passion that she doesn't mind to carry such heavy bag (for me) to make sure she won’t miss nice shots wherever she goes. Well, we walked quite far to have lunch in Nomad. I had promoted a-bit-of-everything Balinese dish in the restaurant. It’s a perfect guide to introduce Balinese kitchen in one lunch. No wonder the restaurant was super full like 99% occupation when we got there.

We starved. It took an hour before we got our lunch but Rad said it’s worth waiting. She finished most of the set-of-9 Balinese tapas with gusto. I have an issue of eating too much good food when I stay in Ubud, so I had to forward my problem to my guest too. I’m hosting and I don’t want to gain too much especially after entertaining three guests in a week. It was still raining when we continued walking to Balai Banjar Ubud. I'm helping out Amir to set up panels for his painting auction next week. I felt I had to see the field although I know Agung, my good staff, has taken good care of everything.

And of course Agung had handled it well so we didn’t have to stay long. We walked to Pasar Ubud to get Rad silver earrings. Pasar Ubud is nice to view from different angle and time, like Tegallalang area, there’s always something new to see or observe. I observed the silver work this time as Rad concentrated her shopping on those. Lots of trays full of Balinese silver work in reasonable price (after haggling a bit of course). I was just mesmerized by the variety and quantity. The craftsmen must have a good business selling things in pasar rather than in shops. We had longed for coffee by then. It was still drizzling and we had our feet wet. It’s good I was wearing rubber thong-sandals so I could dry my toes. Rad had completely damp textile shoes that made her feet cold. Things to consider when walking in wet places.

Rad didn’t want to walk home that early when I asked her at 18:00. It was still bright with dimmed sunlight. I understood what she had in mind but I told her that it would take hours before we get home: too many shops on the way :-) And it’s true. Crowd stopped us near Puri Ubud. Hundreds of people walked wearing white and cream Balinese outfit carrying Barong and offering to Campuhan bridge. Later I knew, it’s Odalan (anniversary) of a pura near the puri. Rad had her camera out and since then she was very much into taking pictures. I followed her with our umbrellas. It made me goose bumps to be among hundreds of people in such thick tradition. They looked so calm and divine in giving their time and soul to the community. Desa kala patra has nice philosophy. It’s about sparing time for community to achieve balance in life. Yes, we need that after we do our business. Share.

We waited for the crowd to walk back to Ubud downtown near the bridge. It was fun to observing the people. They looked so good in their outfit, the girls looked sexy in tight and sheer kebayas, the boys looked handsome in their white shirts and headbands. What a luxury to be able to enjoy such view. Nowhere else.

It was close to 21:30 when we walked home. I took Rad to have light dinner (spaghetti bolognaise is light?) at Murni's Warung, long time favorite for many. It was another good meal we had for the day. And when we stopped by the little gift shop, I ended up home wearing nice old silver ring from Thailand. It's been long I didn't splurge on big ring. I'm happy though. It gives touch to our day trip.

Photo of us in Campuhan Bridge.