JUNE

08/16/2009
Two weeks ago, we arrived back in San Francisco. Our 5 months on Bali/Lombok almost seem like a dream. Or at the most a short trip we took a while ago. Good thing I'm still sorting through the pictures to update this website, so I'm reminded of our wonderful time on the islands...

IN AND AROUND THE HOUSE
In June we're entering the third month in the house in Mas. It truly feels like home now. We got used to our 'outdoor living room' on the porch with the 180 degrees view of rice paddies and We're enjoying the pool together with my brother, who comes to stay with us for a couple of weeks.

UBUD - MONKEY FOREST
Of course we take my brother to the Monkey Forest in Ubud. He seems to be a monkey magnet! They comfortably hang out against his leg, or jump on his head to play with his hair.

UBUD
Too many wonderful hang-outs, to0 little time. We often just go to "down town" Ubud just to hang out with a nice drink. At Bali Buddha they serve all kinds of tropical fruit shakes, organic of course, and one even healthier than the other. I love their banana-date-almond shake. Their iced-latte's are also yummy.

Roda is the internet place on Jalan Bisma. The connection is a little faster than via the mobile network, but still takes a long time to upload photo's. Part of the reason I'm finishing up this website at home...

Every Monday, after 'class' on Jalan Bisma, with teacher (and well-know Bali artist) Kerry Pendergrast, we have lunch at Casa Luna. The boys actually got in the habbit of having just cake for lunch on Mondays, because they're the best on the menu. And their food is great, so imagine how delicious their cakes must be!
Steyn used to order the lime-tart, but now sometimes alternates it with the lemon-cheese cake. Quinten ALWAYS goes for the chocolate cake.

CYCLE TOUR FROM KINTAMANI TO UBUD
It's my brother's first time on Bali, so I thought this cycling tour would be a great way to see Bali outside of the tourist areas.
Well, we started out at Kintamani, which is actually totally touristy, but still breath-taking. It is on the slopes of Gunung Batur in the north-east mountains. Bali’s most sacred mountain, it stands 1,800 metres above sea-level and is still an active volcano. The black areas in the photo is dried lava (not shade).

From Kintamani we continue (by car!) to a coffee plantation, where we are guided through the coffee making process and of course have a cup of coffee as well.

Now we're ready to finally get onto our bicycles. Through beautiful backroads we pass small villages and endless rice fields. We visit a family who lives in a typical Balinese family compound and produces bamboo mats. I always find it hard to believe that their delicious food is actually prepared in the very basic kitchens like the one we see today in this compound...

We stop for a bit to see women harvest rice and we end the tour with a wonderful Balinese lunch.

Throughout the day, our guide, Ketut, explains all about the different fruits and beans at the plantation and the traditional life in Balinese family compounds. He talked very quickly and many weeks later I find it hard to repeat his story. But I found a women who blogged the same tour en every detail. So if you're interested... here's her blog:
http://sevenmonths.com/2008/09/13/bali-countryside-eco-tour/

BALI BIRD PARK
The boys liked it so much, we decide to visit the Bird Park again. After chasing the kids through the park, we cool off in the little movie theatre where they show a 3-D bird movie.

LAKE BRATAN
On our way to Lovina, we take a break at Bedugul. Together with mainly local tourists, mostly Muslims from Java, we visit the Ulun Danu Bratan temple. The setting of the temple is magnificent, and worth to take the touristy boat ride to see it from the lake. Of course the boys enjoy the high speed of the boat te best.
Although they are also very happy at the little playground on the nicely landscaped grounds near the temple.

LOVINA
From Bedugul, we continue to Munduk and on to Lovina, the nice black sand beaches on Bali's north coast. We stay here for a couple of days and enjoy sunsets at the beach, while Steyn & Quinten play in the sand and we have a nasi campur for dinner.

PELANGI SCHOOL
Now three days (mornings actually, class ends at noon) a week, the boys go to the Pelangi School in Mas. It is not too far from where we live, so we sometimes go by bicycle. Steyn is very proud he can bike on the street and we all get a lot of friendly 'hello's' on the way. There are not so many Balinese on 'push bikes' these days, unless they can not afford a motor bike. (Somehow most of them can) It's probably pretty funny to see us go by car one day and by bicycle on the next day.

SCHOOL @ JALAN BISMA
On Mondays we still take the boys to 'art class' on Jalan Bisma. I can't say 'we' anymore, because Spek has become Kerry's most loyal student. So I usually end up taking those two hours to 'run errands'.
How many errands can one have on vacation? Well, Casa Luna has nice latte's and is around the corner... On the way, I can pick up the essentials at a local mini-market, buy plane tickets to Lombok, get todays news paper, or try on some new clothes.

SANUR
Always nice to spend a day at the beach. This time we take my brother there and meet our friends who seem to have dinner on the beach almost every day.

UBUD LIBRARY
In the hours that Steyn & Quinten are at school, Spek and I take some classes at the local library. Spek decided to do wood carving and is creating a Hanuman mask.
I try to learn some 'traditional painting', which is actually a lot of sketching and drawing first. I like it a lot. Just the fact of concentration on something for 3 hours in a row without any interuptions by Steyn/Quinten. Nice! ;-)

SARI ORGANIC
It's become one of our favorite hang-outs. The setting is so great, and the fact that you need to take a 20 minute walk to get there, makes it such a pleasant outing.
One day we go there for early dinner and find Kerry (of the Monday class) working on a painting. Well, actually it's a drawing, done with pastels on sand-paper!

JIMBARAN
Our 5th time on Bali and never been to Jimbaran. We try it out together with my brother. Since we arrive early, the beach is still empty. The restaurants are just starting to set up the tables and chairs. It doesn't take long though, before the whole beach is filled with tourists, who enjoy the sunset while eating fish for dinner.

Recent pictures

In and Around the House

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Ubud - Gosling @ Monkey Forest

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Ubud - Bali Buddha, Roda Internet, Casa Luna

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Kintamani to Ubud, by Bicycle

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Bali Bird Park

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Lake Bratan

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Lovina (North Bali)

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Ubud - Pelangi School

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Ubud - At School @ Jalan Bisma

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Sanur

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Ubud - Library (reading, wood carving, drawing)

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Ubud - Sari Organic

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Jimbaran - Dinner on the Beach

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