“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” - The 14th Dalai Lama
How true.
Read that also to focus more properly, we can themed each day of the wk. like build rapport on tuesday, clear emails on thursday, jog and hike on saturday, not sure if disciplined enuff to do that. It is also quite scary to learn that the thots dont matter, it is the action that defines one. What if it doesnt portray one's true self. Or pple misinterpreted the actions or.... Shrugs. Another fact of life.Third day of the dec hol, we had the time to slp in. Even with nothing to do, i find that there is not enough time, not rushing, but still get the feeling of time flies. As usual, got the bfast delivered to the room and had the tv played through the top 20 on the mtv chart. Read abit while waiting for the car at 12pm. The car cost us 350k (private car). Quite ex. Considering airport to seminyak is at 150k (taxi), while we were offered 400k(private car) from ubud back to the airport. In the end on day 5, we took a 6k per pax public bus from ubud to the airport. So much difference in cost! A lady used a scooter to drive us, one by one, a few blocks down the road to the bus stop. The bus didnt have the best air conditioning but it is a mini van, 1-2 hrs ride, enough comfort.
Ubud is very different from seminyak n im really amazed by how their houses/shops are built. Very packed along the road, one shop next to another without gaps, u walk in a door, it goes deep in. U cant see that the shop or restaurant is that big from the front door at all. 另有乾坤 aptly describes the town design. We arrived at umae villa, nice set up and it feels like shinrin yoku, which means forest bathing in japanese. Surrounded by lots of plants around the villa, would be better if the pool is elongated as it would be more practical, otherwise we are jus soaking or trying to move the muscles by threading water which isnt deep to begin with. Lots of insects tho too. cant do much at night as the lights are really too dim, unless read off an electronic device or really jus stare at the ceiling or watch a dvd.
We went for the bebek duck restaurant for lunch on day 3, not bad. Food is quite nice, and we sit at the low seats in a thatched roof hut. Like those low japanese dining tables. Then it rained, cant do much. Their roads are flooded, too narrow for the 2-way traffic too, lucky they cant go faster than 40 km, otherwise the splash will be head high instead of ankle high. Took a nap then come out for dinner again at a nearby cafe, pizza bagus. Ate aglio olio but too oily, the cinnamon tea is nice tho.
Day 4, woke up at 7am, for a tour to the local ubud market, not the tourist one. Im really amazed and impressed by the knowledge of the guide and also one of the australian lady in the group in the culinary area. They can recognise all the spice, vegetables and fruits picked up by the guide. He also explained the various ways of making the dishes. Jus on the word blanching, there are different ways of making it, it is jus soaking the vege in hot salt water for 20 sec, compared to dipping it in hot water then in cold water. The tumeric makes our hands yellow. It is informative, but cant rmb much when he couples the explanation with bahasa indonesian.
Realised when u say terima kasih to someone, he can return with sama sama. Similar to the japanese's kochira koso. Oh ya we have a japanese lady in the tour, a columbian, 2 canadians and 4 aussies.
Then we were sent to the traditional bali home compound where more culture was explained. The home compound cannot be sold, if nobody else is staying there, it will e returned to the community, his community has 720 homes and one home compound ranges up to 70 pple each. His is 21, which he said considered small. Every home has a temple and it has to be built in the direction of the highest mt peak, all beds have to face the same direction as well. The temple is on higher grounds than the rest of the homes, and there are many huts/buildings within the compound, the one closest to the temple will be where the eldest will stay and where household meetings are held. They buried the placentas in front of this building and made offerings to them as well, so you can see how many boys and gals the home has easily. there is a ceremonial building in the east where they hold funerals, weddings, teeth filing etc. the kitchen and toilets are further in, away from the entrance. We had pisang goreng (they say it the other way round) and ginger tea before we start the cooking class.
The cooking class is quite siong. The most impressive part is the preparation of the 5 courses, timed and organised, so that u get the all the dishes hot at the end! Amazing. The rice is most imba. One and a half hr! As compared to the 20min by the rice cooker. They dont use food blenders or processors as well, so all grinded, chopped, sliced, diced etc. chicken curry taste the best and the dessert is my fav kueh dadar. They call it dadar guling i think. So quite tiring to stand for abt 2 hours? N we finally taste the food we make, they mix all the 10 pple 's product, will be better if i can jus retrieve mine. Ended at abt 3 pm.
Went back to the villa before gg for 2 hr massage and scrub and body mask at 6pm, 340k. Really not good, din give a good feedback, the technique prob and no aircon! So kenna bitten by mozzies, another pt deducted. The scrub and mask was u comfy, felt too exposed while she is applying it, and i keep fidgeting when she left me there, either to scratch the mozzie bitten wound or to move the towel away frm my eyes.cant stay still. Then after really tickled me and couldnt stop luffing, where got pple bathe halfway, exposed then still talk abt the flower bath and tea put on the edge of the bathtub leh! Super farnie...it is like can let me finish showering first, dun have enuff limbs to cover myself lo...and lucky she passes the yoghurt to let me apply on my own, damn scary actually. Sighz..went for dinner till 10pm.
Last day, sad that hol is ending. Went to ubud market, saw a ceremony preparation for one tmr, and too many stalls selling the same things. As i loathe bargaining, it really isnt fun for me at all....treked back abt 2km to the villa, before boarding the bus to the airport.
