Catching Up and Diving (Feb. 18, 19, 2015)

Feb. 18, 2015

Today was a bit of a lazy day and for catching up on my blog and connecting with family. I got up early to do yoga before going to Dewi’s for another cooking lesson. I was expected there at 10 am and was right on time. I took one look at Dewi and knew that she wasn’t feeling very well, so I told her that I would come back another day to do the cooking. I went back to Reza’s and bought a few hours of WiFi. I was happy to talk to my sweet brother and my dearest step mother for a while. Great to catch up with both of you.

Then I just blogged, loaded photos and texted between Reza, and Chris, an English guy that I met at the hostel who wanted to go diving. I thought it would be great if I could get Reza a customer for diving, then accompany them myself as well. It feels like a long time since my last dive and because I am coming near to the end of my traveling time, I just want to dive as much as possible and enjoy the sea. So, I think that Reza did connect with Chris and that we are going diving tomorrow. I will ask Reza to bring his underwater camera again, because Chris has his Advanced Open Water certificate so he will be fine diving without a lot of supervision. That way Reza or I, can take photos of whatever we find under the water. Yeah, I’m so excited to be going diving. 

Other than that I really didn’t do much today. Some laundry, some research as to what other islands I hope to explore before leaving Indonesia, and basically just catching up. It rained really hard in the afternoon just before 4 pm, so I was happy not to be out on the bike at that point. I don’t know if the photos will translate, but you can see how much rain there was.

Raining hard

Another shot of the rain

Feb. 19, 2015

Today was fantastic. I got up early in order to go to with Reza to the Dive Center to meet the car which would take us to Tulamben Dive Site. It’s the site that we went to before, that has that huge ship wreck. An English guy from the hostel I stayed at, joined us, which was good for Reza’s Dive Shop and his reputation for bringing business to the shop. Chris, the English guy, is in his mid twenties, and had just completed his Advanced Open Water certification. He is a big guy, and seemed a little nervous at the beginning. We rode out to Tulamben for the 2.5 hours it takes along the windy roads, to reach the dive site. Once there, it was exciting because the conditions of the water were perfect, it was sunny and clear, and claimed to be a great diving day for visibility and underwater life. 

We suited up, walked into the ocean from the rocky shore, and descended. It was amazingly clear with visibility of at least 20 meters, and a nice warm water temperature. Chris did well, but used up his air incredibly fast, which meant that we had to come up a lot earlier than we would have had to if we were on our own. That was a bit of a drag, but while down there we saw so many wonderful things, that it was all good. I saw another large turtle, a beautiful Eel Garden, Sweet Lips, Titan Trigger Fish, and a huge Puffer Fish. There were many many little colourful fish all around as well, and it was glorious to be down there.

I think we stayed down for 46 minutes which wasn’t too bad, but a lot shorter than usual. It’s interesting to find other diving partners that you know have the same or similar air consumption as you do. If you can find a similar partner, then your dives are nice and long, but if not, they are the ones who dictate the length of diving time. It’s an expensive hobby so it’s of great benefit to find others who are in your category, so that you can get the most out of your diving.

Anyway, it was beautiful and we had a great time. Reza ended up having to share his air with Chris, as Reza and I still had 150 and 170 bar, and Chris was already at 60 bar. Reza made me laugh as he referred to Chris as a ‘diesel’ when diving. There’s really nothing you can do, but to go with it, and share the air to make the dive longer. We had a bit of a longer dive the second dive because Reza shared his air early, leaving Chris enough to ascend and do a Safety Stop. That dive, I saw my first octopus which was really cool. He took off from one place to another, while Reza videoed him, and snuggled up to a rock formation. Then he changed colour to exactly match the rocks and unless you knew he was there, you wouldn’t have seen him. It was so interesting and incredible. These two fish kept swimming around the octopus, and we weren’t sure why, but one of them just sat and waited for the octopus, but neither did anything. The fish wasn’t very big, but looked like it was baiting the octopus. Maybe when they move, they leave some yummy food around or something. It was the most interesting thing to watch. Reza is trying to upload the video onto FB, so when he is successful, I will add the link and you can watch it for yourself.

Parrot Fish

Trumpet Fish

Many beautiful fishes

Octopus

Eel Garden

Butter Fish

More fish friends

Others

Nudy Branch's

When we were done, we came back and before getting to Reza’s place, stopped at the grocery store. I bought some veggies for a stir fry and Reza had some delicious home made ham sausage that a friend gave him. I fried the veggies, cut up the meat, and stir fried the works, topping it off with crushed peanuts. It was awesome and totally healthy without feeling stuffed. Then I got ready and went to bed early as I was pretty tired. 

It was a really fantastic day. My favourite kind…………..diving and enjoying life underwater.

Indonesian Cooking Lesson (Feb. 17, 2015)

Today I finally got my Indonesian cooking lesson. I got up early, showered and was at Dewi’s Warung (restaurant) just before 10 am. We began cooking the Chicken Livers and Friends shortly after I got there. Dewi was much more comfortable with me and spoke such clear, coherent English, that it was really amazing. She is very smart and catches on so quickly. I really enjoy her sense of humour and company.

We started off with the base sauce that you cook the meat in, and blended it all together. There were lime leaves, garlic, hazelnuts, ginger, onions, large Chili peppers, some salt, pepper, sugar and a bit of water. We blended this together, put it into a frying pan with hot oil, and let it cook for a few minutes on it’s own. The smell was amazing and I was busy taking photos and writing the recipe down for later reference. Dewi said to me that today, she was teacher and I was learning. I said ‘Yes’ and we both laughed. After we cooked the sauce for a while, we added just the gizzards, as they are a lot tougher and take a bit longer than the livers and hearts, to cook. Once they were on there way, we threw in the rest, and then covered it for about 7 minutes until it was done. The final touch was a sweet, soy sauce that she added, which she called Soy Ketchup. I will have to find out if I can get this in Canada, but I think I could easily substitute other things for it, if it’s not available. The lesson was so much fun.

The ingredients

The livers and friends

The sauce and lime leaves

The final cooking of the dish

Once we were finished, we moved into the second room, sat at the table and just chatted for a couple of hours. We spoke about English, and Dewi wanted to know about the seasons in Canada, the names of certain things around the restaurant, and generally, just chit chatted about everything. It was very nice. Yulia and Reza were scheduled to show up for lunch, around 1 pm, so we just passed the time talking, until they came. It was such an easy exchange of ideas and thoughts by two friends and a super special encounter. When Yulia and Reza arrived, it was very interesting, because Dewi stopped talking to me in English as she had been all morning, and got quite quiet and a bit shy with Reza and Yulia. I’m not sure why, but she likes to bug Reza and give him a problem in a joking manner, but I’m not so sure it’s totally joking. Reza is also of the Muslim faith, though not very observant, and Dewi is Muslim, so I wonder if that's it? I didn't ask and won't, but it was an interesting thing to observe. It was like two different people. Reza had said he would bring her a flower next time he came to her Warung, so today he showed up with a plastic flower to give her and asked her to kiss his cheek in return. She adamantly said ‘No’ and made a big show of hating this prospect. It was really quite funny. It was all in jest though and I don't believe anyone was particularly uncomfortable. Actually, Reza started to be a little awkward, which was most entertaining for me....lol.

Reza giving Dewi the fake flower

We had a fantastic lunch, including my Chicken Livers and Friends, and I tried some snails she had made, along with a Jackfruit Dish, and Banana Tree sticks of some kind. All were great, but the banana tree dish was pretty tough and not my favourite. Oh, I also tried a bitter vegetable dish she had, called Pahk or something. It was great and reminded me of Rapini a little.

My lunch

Rice paddy snail dish....spicy!

Then Yulia, Reza and I went to the Dive Shop to find some replacement gloves for the ones Yulia had borrowed for picking algae. After we had finished that job, we realized that the algae had eaten through the fingers of the gloves and that we needed to replace them for the friend that Yulia borrowed them from. So with Reza and Yulia on one motorbike, and me on the other, off we went. We found some gloves for a reasonable price, which was great. Then we all went back to Reza’s place for some Air Con and to relax. I got lost on the way home, so they hung out waiting for me for another hour, until I could GPS my way back. I was supposed to follow Reza, but he drives faster than me and zig zags through traffic, so I lost him. I ended up going far out of my way because he had said that if I was to turn, he would stop and wait for me. He didn’t do this though, and turned, and I continued on……lol. Not a huge issue, but it did take me a little while to arrive back home after my adventure. I am getting to know the city from being lost so many times, but thank goodness for the GPS. Even it’s not fail safe though, as it often loses the signal and then I have to wait.

A great day all in all.

Sunrise, Yoga and Sunset on the Beach (Feb. 16, 2015)

Well, I finally made it to the beach for sunrise and yoga, today. It was a lovely day when I woke up, so I grabbed my stuff which was already organized, and took off for the beach. It was about 6:15 am and the sun was rising around 6:30 or so. It was lovely and quiet there, with big waves washing in, and a lovely light coming up. I spread out my towel and began. I wasn’t prepared for all the sand I would have all over me, but didn’t care much. I did my breathing and yoga routines for about an hour or a bit more, then just sat there and watched life on the beach.

Many people go to the beach early to exercise as it’s not too hot yet, and lovely. I watched people with kids, runners, walkers, and a man pulling in a large fishing net and untangling all the sticks he caught with it. I’m not sure what he will use them for, but clearly he was casting the net out there to catch these sticks.

It was an amazing start to my day. The funny thing was that there are a lot of dogs roaming the beach too. As I went to the water to wash off the sand, and left my backpack and plastic bag with my bottle of water in it, this lovely male dog ran up to my stuff, lifted his leg and peed on it. I yelled at him from the water, but of course he didn’t care. As luck would have it, he only got the plastic bag with the water bottle in it, so I just took the bottle out and discarded the plastic bag. Good lesson for tomorrow’s practise……lol.

Look at how lovely the beach is……………….

After showering I decided to draw, and felt like trying to draw my motorbike. So I sat under a shady ledge in front of the hostel, and sketched it out. It turned out not too badly, but needs finishing. I liked drawing it as there are many edges and slants to the bike that are interesting to view in perspective. Then I decided to take off on the bike, to meet Reza and Yulia at 2pm at Reza's place, so we could go to visit an area in the south of Bali, called Jimbaran. I left before 1pm because I wanted to be sure I didn't get lost, and if I did, that I had enough time to find my way. Also, I wanted to drive by Dewi's Warung and see if she might like to make a date for cooking chicken livers, and friends (as she calls the gizzards and hearts). She seemed happy to see me and said that tomorrow at 10am would work well to do the cooking lesson. She was a lot more relaxed today, speaking English, than she was before because I think she is feeling more comfortable with me. I told her I would ask Yulia if she wanted to join us as well, and Dewi said that was fine. I'm excited to meet with her for the cooking lesson........finally. Ralph, I will definitely try this recipe for you when I come to Winnipeg, as I know you are interested in tasting these yummy livers and friends. I happen to know a couple of other loved ones that would join us as well.....lol.

Anyway, then I made my way to Reza's place, without one wrong turn or the GPS, which I'm really happy about. It sure makes life easier when you kind of know where you're going. We all met at the same time, got into the car and took off for our beach adventure. This area, Jimbaran, is known for surfing and beautiful beaches. There are lots of Guest Houses along a windy narrow, pretty road that is surrounded by lots of trees. We finally got to our destination, with Reza driving because he knew where he wanted to take us. It was called Blue Point Beach and required parking the car and walking down many many steep steps, to the beach which is located at the bottom of several cliffs. It is magical to descend to this beach, and once you are down there, you have to walk out into the water, to go around a jutting chunk of rock, to find the area where you hang out, swim and enjoy. It is not groomed yet, and there are many people out a bit further, surfing the big waves that crash onto the shore. It was incredible.

Overlooking the water from car

Yulia coming down the steep steps
with Reza's help

More steps down to the beach

Yulia and Reza at our stop on the beach

View of rock looking up from beach

You had to go through this, between
waves, to get to the swimming spot

Here's our swimming spot

Me coming down the steep steps

After we fininshed swimming, eating the popcorn we brought, and chatting, we decided to go back up the million steps, to a cafe overlooking the water, high up the cliff, to watch the sunset and drink a coconut.

Just as it was going down

Just after it went down

Coconut that I drank and ate

English Lesson and Friends (Feb. 15, 2015)

Today I got up early to go to the beach to watch the sun rise and do yoga, but it was raining, so I went back to bed. Then I got ready to go to meet Dewi and have my cooking lesson. I found my way back to her restaurant, but just as I arrived, Yulia texted me and said she was just arriving near my hostel. I didn’t know that she would just show up before texting to make a time, so I told Dewi and said I would go and pick my friend up, and then return. She was fine with that.

When Yulia and I returned, Dewi, sat with us at her table in the adjoining room to the restaurant, and we chatted in Indonesian and English. It turned out to be perfect that Yulia was there, because she has a great command of the English and Indonesian languages, but sometimes doesn’t pronounce the English words clearly. So Dewi was able to ask questions, get answers, and hear proper pronunciation. We wrote out a list of English phrases for her to use with her guests, questions for her to ask them so she would recommend a dish they might like, and the names of various vegetables and meats. We wrote them in English and Indonesian, along with the phonetic spelling so she could say them properly. It was really fun and Yulia enjoyed meeting Dewi. I know she will return to that restaurant when I’m gone.

I didn’t get to cook today because Dewi was too interested in having the English lesson, but promised me that we would do it another day. I thought that would be fine. By then, Reza and Enya wanted to come and meet us to have some food, so we sent them the location and they joined us at the restaurant. We all ate once they arrived, then we went to Reza’s place to watch a movie in the air conditioning. It was really hot today, and even in the shade, we were all sweating and hot. It was a good choice and a great movie. We made popcorn and just relaxed and literally chilled out.

I left before sunset to return to the hostel, as I had forgotten to bring my regular glasses with me for driving at night. I only had my sunglasses so I didn’t want it to be dark when I drove home. On my way home, the police pulled me over at an intersection. They said that the light had turned red, though it was not red, and many others proceeded through it, as well as me. Anyway, I was prepared, with only a limited amount of cash in my wallet, the rest I always keep in my bra, just in case this happens. I told him my English wasn’t very good and looked at him a bit blankly when he started telling me that I’d have to go to court tomorrow to reclaim my license etc. When he realized that perhaps I didn’t understand, he just said "200,000 Rupia, you must pay now". I nodded some understanding and pulled out my wallet, which did not have that much in it. I keep about 100,000 Rupia in my wallet, which is enough to make them happy, but not enough that it is expensive for me. He kept trying to close the door of the little traffic stop corner, so that people wouldn’t see him getting money. When he realized I didn’t have much on me, he took the 100,000 which is about 10 CAD, and left me 6,000 for myself. I guess even corrupt cops have a conscience……lol.

Anyway, it was all good, and I escaped without any major issues. I know that they just want money and am willing to pay, but not a lot. Who knows how often I will be stopped. I usually see them, but this time, they were well hidden and there were lots of vehicles around me, so I couldn’t circumvent them. My first extortion, and it seemed to go well. He was actually very nice.

I arrived back to the hostel a bit later, hung out, wrote to you guys, and am going to bed early to try and see about yoga and sun rise tomorrow. Also, Yulia, Reza and I will go on an adventure to a place in the south of Bali tomorrow. Enya has to return to Jakarta for work, but enjoyed her stay. 

Here is the hostel for you to see.

Front view of hostel

Entry way where I park

Common area, TV, and desk

Dorm room, my bed is the last one on the right, bottom bunk

Happy Valentine's Day (Feb. 14, 2015)

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are spending time today with people you love. It’s a great Valentine’s Day here in Bali. It was rainy this morning, but has cleared up and is hot and overcast, but lovely.

Last night, Yulia came over and we ended up going out for Cab Cie (pronounced Chab Chai) which is an Indonesian/Chinese style of cooking that Yulia knew about. We took two bikes so that Yulia didn’t have to worry about parking and getting stuck in traffic on the way there or back. It wasn’t that far, so she rode with Reza, and I took my own bike. There was a stir fried vegetable dish, with meat balls, chicken and fish balls in it. The sauce was your typical Chinese style sauce that is amazing. Also, we had a pork dish that claimed all the various different parts of the pig, but since we came late, there was no more crispy pork or pork tongue left. We ordered it anyway and it included the inside pork, ears, cheeks, and some other parts that were yummy, but I don’t remember what they were. To finish our collection off, we had breaded fish in lemon sauce which was great. All of us shared the three dishes, which were just perfect to satisfy all of us.

The restaurant we went to

Three friends waiting for dinner

The pork plate

The Cam Cie

The lemon fish

This morning I did my usual yoga routine on the open air balcony which is always a great way to start the day. Then I made coffee and sat with Reza for a while. I also made us a breakfast salad because we didn’t have anything else and it needed eating. It was actually a fantastic breakfast because it was very fresh and crunchy. It hit the spot and both of us really enjoyed it. I made some mayonnaise and hot sauce dressing to go on top of it, which worked well.

We visited for a while and then I got my backpack together and took off to go to that hostel I told you about earlier. Reza’s partner, Enya, was able to come into the city for the Valentine’s weekend, last minute. A great surprise as her work is very busy and doesn’t allow for many days off as the company manager just changed as well as many of the rules for employees. Anyway, I was really happy for them and also happy to go and stay elsewhere to explore another area and see what’s new and exciting around Seminyak. That is the area that the hostel is located in. It’s called Guess House Hostel and is really nice. The staff are lovely, it’s air conditioned, with free WiFi, and located in a more touristy area, that has many nice restaurants, clubs, beaches and people. I think it’s also the area, other than Ubud, that has a lot of yoga. I will definitely find out!

I did see a Bikram Yoga place just down the street from the hostel, but I also went to the beach, and think that if it’s not raining tomorrow early morning, I will go there and do my own yoga, alone. The Bikram studio is pretty small and looks really hot. It’s also pretty pricy and I really wanted to do another kind of yoga, as I’ve already done so much Birkram in Toronto. I will see tomorrow, but think the beach beckons me the most. It would be really nice to see the sunrise and do yoga on the sand.

As I was walking around this area, I saw some interesting street sights. Here they are for you to have a look at. It was nice to walk around. The only down side to having two friends who live in Bali, is that they don’t venture outside at all when it’s hot out. I don’t really like to be overly hot either, but I stick to the shady side of the street and stop often for water. It’s not really that bad, but I don’t think my two friends would do it……lol. I returned to the hostel, took a bit of a rest, and then went out again.

Funny restaurant ad

Looking down a street

Amazing clouds here

Close up of clouds

Don't know if you can see the
rooster inside, but he was crowing
up a storm.

Billboard for new condos

So of course, the coolest and weirdest thing happened to me when I went out again. I decided to get some gas for the motorbike as I was running low and didn't want to run out. I found the gas station easily enough, and then was headed for a supermarket that I had looked up, to buy some dinner for myself. Well, in the midst of looking for this supermarket, I got lost, and decided to just drive around the area, and then set my GPS for the hostel when I wanted to go back. There were lots of interesting things to see and it was a nice little venture. As I was driving around, I got a bit hungry and decided to keep my eyes open for a Warung (street restaurant) that I could stop and eat at. I didn't want to eat directly around the hostel as it's very touristy, expensive, and not super interesting as far as the food goes. 

So, as I was driving down an alley, then a little street, not too far from the area my hostel was in, I discovered a cute, clean Warung that looked good. It had Nasi Campur which I love because you can choose whatever you want to eat, from the many plates filled with choices. The lady that owned the place greeted me, was a bit shocked that I wanted to eat there, alone, and not have Take Out, but was very friendly and sweet.

As I directed her to serve me my beloved chicken liver and gizzard dish, and add lots of chili, she was a bit surprised, but happy. I sat down, on the floor at a low table without my shoes, to enjoy my dinner. She popped her head around the corner after a little while to see how I was doing. I was the only one in the restaurant, but it looked quite popular, and she had lots of food, so I was probably just a bit early. I started to chat with her a bit about how she cooked the chicken livers and gizzards and that not all the places I had tried, did it well. Sometimes they were tough and chewy and not tender. Hers were fantastic, and perfectly cooked. She explained to me how she did it and joked that I should return to see her cook them. I thought this would be great, but didn't pursue that yet. I also had some greens of some sort, different than I had tried before, some bean sprout mixture with peanut sauce, and of course a little rice. Wow, really delicious! So yummy that I forgot to take a photo. I will be back there, so you will have lots of photos in the next days.

The Campur choices at Dewi's

My favourite chicken liver/gizzard dish

She was very interested in talking to me when I asked her about how she cooked the livers and gizzards, and we ended up talking for over an hour. She wants to speak better English and was thrilled to learn that I was a teacher. We worked on some English questions she had, for a while, and ended up making a plan for me to come to her restaurant, or Warung as it's called, tomorrow at 10 am to see how she cooks the livers and gizzards, and other choices as well. She starts cooking every day at 5 am, but told me to be there for 10 to specifically see how the livers and gizzards are cooked. I readily agreed and said I would be glad to help by chopping, stirring, or whatever. In return, we decided to speak English and do a lesson, based on her needs as a restaurant owner, who wants to speak well, to her 'guests' as she calls them, who come and eat there. I guess she gets quite a few tourists and is thrilled to practice her English, but needs some help with a few basic things. She's very smart, and a super quick study. Her name is Dewi (proncounced Debby, only with a 'w' sound instead of the 'b'). We became fast friends and I sure wish I were staying on a long time, to teach her the language. I think I will meet up with her more times than just tomorrow. She is so sweet and really wants to learn. She is so friendly, and perhaps a little younger than me, but very intelligent and warm. It's no trouble at all to teach her, and she is teaching me some Indonesian as well. We discussed the different ways of addressing people, or using tenses between English and Indonesian, so it was most interesting for me too.

Dewi and me just before I left tonight! So cute, isn't she?

                                 
So, although I didn't have my regular buddies, I have had an excellent day today. I will go to bed in good time as I still want to get up early to go and do yoga at the beach. Now I will need to work out the timing in order to return and shower and be at her place by 10 am. That should be easy enough. What a lucky experience to run into her, eat her delicious food, and get an Indonesian cooking lesson, and friend, from the deal.