Ubud, Bali Day 1: Gunung Kawi, Tirta Empul, Tegalalang Rice Terraces, & Sacred Monkey Forest

Monday, 12 March 2018

We woke up to this amazing view from the kitchen.  I can't believe we are getting to have this adventure and experience together!  It seems like a dream.

This is the front yard view from the house.  Similar to Singapore, everything is so green and tropical.

We read that it is easiest to hire a driver for the day in Ubud since the temples and sites we'd like to visit are not walking distance from each other.  They drive on the left side of the road here, and there are lots of scooters.  Many scooters have 3-4 people riding on them, and it was not unusual to see a kid standing or siting in front or between parents.

Our driver, Nick, was a local Balinese man from Ubud.  He had grown up in a neighboring village, and got involved in the tourism industry though the Australia family that built the house we are renting.  He was so kind and told us lots of history and information about the temples and places he recommended we visit (many of which were on the list we had made together).  Our first stop was Gunung Kawi.  Gunung Kawi is an 11th-century temple and funerary complex in Tampksiring north east of Ubud in Bali, Indonesia, that is spread across either side of the Pakerisan river.  It comprises 10 rock-cut candi (shrines) that are carved into 23 foot sheltered niches of the sheer cliff face.  These funeral monuments are thought to be dedicated to King Anak Wungsu of the Udayana dynasty and his favorite queens.  On the north shrine (east side) a legible inscription reads "Haji Lumahing Jalu" meaning "the king made a temple here."  In the temples, men and women were required to wear a sarong to cover their legs when wearing shorts.  To reach the temple we went down over 300 steps into the valley and the views were incredible!

All over Bali we these beautiful offerings:

It is called "canang sari" and it is one of the daily offerings made by Balinese Hindus to thank Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa in praise and prayer.  Canang sari is seen in the Balinese temples, on small shrines in houses, and on the ground.  The phrase canang sari is derived from the Balinese words sari (essence) and canang (a small palm-leaf basket as the tray).  Canang itself consists of two syllables from the Kawi language:  ca (beautiful) and nang (purpose).  Canang sari is offered every day as a form of thanking for the peace given to the world.  The philosophy behind the offering is self-sacrifice in that they take time and effort to prepare.  Needless to say, I love this idea, symbolism, and meaning.

Next we visited the Tirta Empul temple which is a Hindu Balinese water temple located near the town of Tampaksiring.  The temple compound consists of a pertirtaan or bathing structure famous for its holy spring water, where Balinese Hindus go to for ritual purification.  The temple pond has a spring which gives out fresh water regularly, which Balinese Hindus consider to be holy or amritha.  Tirta Empul means Holy Spring in Balinese.  It was founded around a large water spring in 962 A.D.  The spring is the source of the Pakerisan river.  On a hill overlooking the temple, a modern villa was built for President Sukarno's visit in 1954.  The villa is currently a rest house for important guest.

Outside the temple were lots of shops with handmade items, and lots of food and fruit stands as well.

Next we ventured to the Tegalalang Rice Terrace located in Tegalalang Village.  The village is located 600 meters above sea level, and most of the villagers are farmers on in the rice cliff terraces.

We got a snack and juices at a cafe overlooking the rice terraces.  As if the view was not already enough, the food and drink presentation was so pretty as well.

 






Our final site to visit today was the Ubud Monkey Forest which lies within the village of Padangtegal, which owns it.  The Ubud Monkey Forest is a nature reserve and Hindu temple complex.  There are around 700 monkeys and 186 species of trees in the 12.5 hectares of forest.  Its official name is the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary (Mandala Suci Wenara Wana).  The park is heavily forested and hilly.  A deep ravine runs through the park grounds, at the bottom of which flows a rocky stream.  The Monkey Forest grounds are home to three Hindu temples all constructed around 1350.  The temples play an important role in the spiritual life of the local community and are not open to the public.  Finally, the monkey and its mythology are important in the Balinese art tradition.  We were all excited to visit the monkey forest, but Shane was definitely the most excited!  Bren and I see monkeys often when we run through the MacRitchie Reservoir in Singapore, but here we were allowed to feed the monkeys banana's which they jumped on our shoulder to eat!  Check out Bren's face when the monkey grab a hold of his hair haha.

From the Sacred Monkey Forest we walked into the town square area of Ubud to get dinner where there were more shops and restaurants. The monkeys seemed to live all over around the Sacred Monkey Forest area though, including this guy posing on a scooter:

We got a delicious, cheap dinner at a small street cafe called Warung Pondok Madu, and saw some beautiful temples, and some more sleepy (possibly stray) dogs.

Today was such an incredible day exploring Ubud, Bali with Bren, Daris, and Shane.  Shane planned a lot of the details of this trip which has been great so far!  Sometimes I can't believe I get to live the life I live and today was one of those days.  Here's a closing view of the sunset over the jungle at our pool.

Daris and Shane Arrive! Haw Par Villa and Korean BBQ

Saturday/Sunday, 10-11 March

It's officially Spring Break (or March holiday as they say here) in Singapore!  Daris (Bren's brother) and Shane are visiting from New York and the four of us are going to explore Singapore and take a trip to Bali, Indonesia!  Their flight from New York to Singapore initially had a layover in Abu Dhabi, but that flight got delayed and delayed and delayed and then eventually canceled.  Fortunately they got rescheduled on a flight NYC > London > Singapore, and finally made it here!  Bren was so excited to see his brother (and I was too) that as soon as we heard they landed, he was eagerly looking out the window in anticipation--so cute. They made it!

On Sunday morning we took them to Haw Par Villa (Bren's favorite place in Singapore that I have wrote about and posted photos from before) and the korean bbq restaurant across the street.  It is so fun having them visit!

We walked from our apartment to the MRT.  Time to get a train and then plane, from Singapore to Bali!

The first half of our trip we are spending in Ubud.  Bali is an Indonesian Island and is quite unique compared to other surrounding island.  Islam is the most adhered religion in Indonesia, with 87.2% of the Indonesian population identifying themselves as Muslim.  Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, with approximately 225 million Muslims.  On Bali though, Balinese Hinduism (a form of monotheistic Hinduism) is practiced by the majority of the population.  Ubud is fairly centrally located on the island of Bali.  It is located among rice paddies, dense forest, and steep ravines in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency.  The Airbnb we are renting arranged for a local driver to pick us up from the airport and take us to the house in Ubud.  It was a wild ride--in Bali tons of people drive scooters and the traffic patterns and driving habits are quite different than what we are used to.  We made it safely though and arrived at our jungle villa!  It is so dark and I can see tons of stars that aren't usually visible.  This is my first time being south of the equator!  Also, check out this sweet towel art...

Can't wait to see the view from the pool deck tomorrow morning! 

Dinner with Edwin and friends & Tess' Birthday

Saturday-Thursday, 3-8 March 2018

Saturday, 3 March
Bren and I went to brunch at Pacamara Boutique Coffe on the corner of the street we live off of.  When we moved to Singapore, I was not a fan of the very sugary, milky, weak coffee that was sold at most hawker stands.  You can get good coffee (like the type of coffee I am used to), but it's expensive ($6) and not as common to find.  Pacamara is not a cheap breakfast, but if you want to feel like you're in a Brooklyn cafe drinking fancy coffee and eating avocado toast and poached eggs, it does the trick.

It was rainy for most of the afternoon so I caught up on some work (reading, researching, writing), emails from school, and postcards to friends and family.  Ready to send off the next batch of postcards.  Let me know if you want one!

Saturday evening I went and met Katie, Carrie, and Edwin (Singaporean who did the Fulbright DAT program in the USA Fall of 2017), his wife Kelly, and two of their friends.  I finally tried the famous Singaporean spicy chili crab dish.  It was good, but I'm not sure I feel the need to order it again.  It was a good dish to share with others though because the crab was pretty big.  It was fun to see Edwin, meet his wife and friends, and hear about their experiences in the USA this past fall.  

Sunday, 4 March

Last month at the Julie Byrne concert, I met an American girl named Tess who moved to Singapore with her boyfriend Luca about 9 months ago.  We exchanged phone numbers though and had texted about meeting up again.  She kindly invited Katie and I to her birthday, pool party cook-out at their apartment.  I didn't know anyone but Tess and Katie, but it was fun meeting new people.  Many of the friends she has made here were from other countries (Germany, Australia, USA, the Philippines) as well so it was interesting to talk with people about their experiences moving to Singapore.  

Tuesday - Thursday, 6-8 March
Tuesday morning and afternoon I spent at school, and then headed straight from school to my grad school class from 6-9pm.  Today was Tess' actual 29th birthday though so I met up with her, her friend Laura (German girl who I met Saturday at the cook-out) and Laura's roommate who was from London.  We had such a nice time at a rooftop bar in a neighborhood I had not previously explored.

I checked the mailbox when I got home and had a note card and coloring pictures from Marjorie!  Getting snail mail is the best!  I have all the letters from when I lived in England and New York and love looking back and reading them.

On Wednesday evening, we did some laundry (see hang dry picture below) and I got to FaceTime with Anna and Danielle for a long time and it was the best--I sure do miss our friends and family!

At my first school I learned about a problem-solving course they offered their first year express students and was interested in learning more to inform my inquiry project.  On Thursday, at my second attachment school, I got to observe the same problem-solving course (with the same problem being worked on by students) so it was a great comparison observation to my first school.

On my walk from school to the MRT, I took a picture of this vine growing through the fencing.  Singapore is known as the "city within a garden" and Bren and I have a theory that if the government landscaping jobs were done away with this city would turn into a jungle within a matter of weeks.  Like Jumanji style.  And I feel like this is proof.

School 5K and Meeting with HeyMath!

Thursday & Friday, 1-2 March 2018

Singapore schools seem to have a lot of events, field trips, and opporutnities for students and teachers to enteract outside of the classroom.  Today was one of them!  Physical Education is an emphasized part of the curriculum in Singapore.  Rather than just needing one semester of PE throughout high school like in the USA, PE is a class that students take every year throughout secondary school.  Today was a school-wide 5K at the Bedok reservior (which I had not yet ran at).  Instead of having classes, the entire school met at the park and by grade level ran the 5K loop around the lake by grade level.  All the FT (advisory) sections made flags and spirit wear to cheer on their class.  In addition to race awards, there were also spirit awards.  I ran the 5K loop and then was asked to help hand out the prizes to the various groups which was a neat way to include me in the school activities. 

After the school-wde 5K, all the students and teachers have the remainder of the day off.  So I went home to work on my inquiry project and catching up on Atlanta school emails for the afternoon.  We took the bus over to AMK hub for dinner becuase I'm obsessed with eating kung pow chicken and rice from this one food stall on the top floor of the mall.  It's so delicious!  Also, we went to Fairprice (kind of like Walmart with grocceries and household things), and I turned the isle to Bren weighing himself hah.  He has been running a lot here.  I keep saying we are the healthiest versions of ourselves while we are living here.  Running a lot, not drinking much beer because it's so expensive, and eating fairly healthy. 

 I got to FaceTime with Amanda this evening and it was really nice to catch up and see her face!  She and Kait are going to come visit Singapore in the middle of April.  I still can't believe how many of our loved ones are willing to make the long trek over to Singapore--but I sure am thankful!  On my way out the door, I snapped a picture of this elderly lady (who I really think maybe over a 100 years old) that sits on our corner and sells fruit each morning.  She doesn't seem to speak any English, but I smile and wave at her each morning when I leave.

On Friday I didn't go into school because I had a meeting set up with HeyMath.  Earlier in February, dad sent me this email:

Hey Emily,

While clearing out some clutter a few weeks ago, Mom and I came across an editorial (attached) I had cut out of the AJC back in 2005.  Interesting that I cut it out and saved.  It has to do with a math program (HeyMath) created by folks in Singapore.  Per the editorial, the program was to change the world, but failed to mention that the change wouldn't start until you got to Singapore.  

I love you..  

I have always appreciated how encouraging dad has been my whole life.  He told us once that he intentionally never said he was "proud" of us because he always wanted us to build more internal motivation (or something like that :) ).  But he has always made me believe I could do anything that I wanted to if I worked hard and took risks.  In addition to making me feel great about the fact I chose apply and earn the Fulbright grant and the opportunity to work in Singapore, he also gave me a good connection in Singapore.  I immediately googled HeyMath! and realized they were still based in Singapore.  I emailed them, quickly received a response and set up a meeting for today.  I met with two community "Relation Managers" from HeyMath! at a beautiful hotel lounge about their online product and how it is used in schools in Singapore.  It was interesting to see how curriculum products are specialized to a specific country and culture and how it is utilized by teachers and students.  I gained a lot of insight and think much of it will be helpful in informing my inquiry project.  

After the meeting, I headed to United Square to meet Bren at this bahn mi lunch spot that we like.  On the way there, I came across the only spray paint I've seen in Singapore.  I think it is a skate park that has authorized certain graffiti artist to paint.  Graffiti is on the list of illegal things in Singapore.

Outside the mall that the bahn mi stall is at, is a Starbucks that has these awesome plant walls that I want to replicate once we build a porch at our house in Atlanta.  The bahn mi was delicious and it was nice to have a Friday afternoon off with Bren.