Who’d have thought that having scent and sound healing outdoors would have made it all that much the better?! The magic of having the frogs keep time with the musicians was really unique and brought a whole new level of musicality to the event. There were a couple people working the performance and their job was to spritz scents around the outdoor space so in addition to natures misty aroma we also traveled from rose gardens to citrus groves and spice fields. The musicians played everything from guitar to crystal bowls to bunches of seeds to drums for rhythm. There was a didgeridoo and a primitive airy whistle in some of the pieces too. All in all....it was a great night. For the last half of the performance we were all invited to make ourselves comfortable on the cushions on the floor (ie: lay down), close our eyes, and let ourselves be taken away on a journey with the sounds and scents of the night. Yep....another typical Ubudian experience. :-)
The scent and sound performance was held at ARMA (Agung Rai Museum of Art) which is a massive piece of property right on the edge of the city. It is an impressive place that was born in the dreams of it’s founder who continues to show up in person every day to work in the gardens and greet guests. ARMA is also home to some high end accommodation, two excellent restaurants, and a couple more relaxing coffee shops. It boasts several buildings that are home to works of art from ancient to modern and is home to space for current artists to work and for local children to come each day after school to learn the traditional dances of Bali for free. The Scent and Sound performance was in one of the large outdoor buildings (ie: just a roof) in the water gardens. There is another large outdoor stage that is used for cultural performances each night as well. It is the same part of the property that was home to the Bali Spirit Festival final night last year when we went to see Xavier Rudd in concert. That outdoor stage is also where the Kecak cultural show takes place each full moon. The Kecak is just one of the cultural performances that take place here at a number of venues here in Ubud. There is a different one to choose from each night. Which reminds me.....we haven’t seen one yet this trip so are almost due to fit one of those in soon too.
After we left ARMA and the Scent and Sound we (Julie, Barb, and I) were off and in search of a place to get a nightcap. Eventually we found the perfect spot....Gin 1717 a very new venue (like about 2 weeks old only!) that is also home to a gin lab. Yes....a gin lab. :-). Not that they make gin there but they infuse it with an amazing variety of flavours. The drink I ordered was called a breakfast martini and it was delicious! In fact, it was so delicious that I’m certain I will be making it once I get home.....a great excuse to have friends over for brunch. :-). To make it you dip the rim of the martini glass into a loose sweet marmalade and then you fill the glass with a concoction of gin, lime juice and palm sugar. If you want to know the ratios....you’ll have to come over for brunch. LOL. :-). Once we’d enjoyed our drinks and the cool breeze that was drifting in over the half walls with an occasional splash of rain that was being blown in with it we made our way into the gin lab where we further imbibed in a wonderfully diverse tasting of flavours. Each of us was given a spoon to taste from. That spoon was large enough to get much more than a ‘wet your lips only’ sip! We made our way through a spicy blend of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom (which tasted like Christmas) and then moved on to coconut (which was not as good as we thought it would be). From there we were into coffee, vanilla, and then chocolate, and then....well....in truth....I think it was about that point that they all began to blur together (perhaps as a result of several “tastes” further complicated by the fact that I had to “taste” both Barb and Julie’s share of the coconut gin as neither of them could get it down!). In the end, the consensus was that our absolute favourite was a brand new blend the gin maker had just come up with. It was coffee and orange with a bit of palm sugar. He still didn’t have a name for it and so we worked on coming up with something for him. In the end...he was rather taken with either orange bean or mandarin bean as options. I wonder if we’ll get a cut of the profits if they decide to use either of our names. LOL. Highly unlikely! By the time we left Gin 1717 the rain was falling once again and so we called for Jati to pick us up and met him at CoCo’s for a ride home.
The next day was to be the full moon ceremony and sound healing at the Pyramids of Chi. We arrived there for the 5:30 pm start and were met with welcome drinks once we’d paid our $30/person. As the sun set and the moon rose over the pyramids the entire place took on an ethereal kind of glow....the colour of the pyramids seemed to change to some kind of amber hue as they were bathed in the light from that time of day. Honestly, the colour there that night was like none of us had ever seen before....it really was beautiful and magical. By the time we were scheduled to head into the Pyramid of the Moon for the fire ceremony that was to precede the sound healing the rain had started to fall again and so we dodged the drops (it was not yet a downpour) and made our way into the smaller of the two pyramids where we were asked to make a large circle. There were 70 of us - a record for the number of people ever to be inside either of the pyramids at one time! It was crowded! We strategically placed ourselves as near to the door as possible in an attempt to catch whatever breath of air might make its way inside as we knew it wouldn’t be long before the heat from that many bodies would make the place pretty darn toasty! The fire ceremony was based on North American/Central American native traditional practices and so prayers to each of the four directions were made and an offering of cornmeal into the fire concluded the almost hour long portion of the night. None of the three of us (Julie, Barb and I) really enjoyed the fire ceremony as we all felt it was a bit out of place given that we were in Bali and that there was no one present who represented any of the peoples who’s traditions we were following. In spite of that it was an interesting experience and once it was over we all moved into the Pyramid of the Sun where all 70 of us took a mat on the floor and relaxed into an hour of blissful sound healing as the downpour continued outside with flashes of lightening coming in through the crack in the door that had been left open for a little fresh air. I had managed to secure a bed right next to the door and was grateful for it as I really enjoyed being able to see the lightening and rainstorm that, for me, complemented the sound healing. An hour later we emerged from the pyramid to just a light drizzle of rain and made our way across the lagoon that surrounds the pyramids to the main restaurant where we were met with a delicious buffet dinner of Thai style curry, rice, a little bread and veg, and a couple of decadent options for dessert. It was a perfect end to our full moon extravaganza! We had taken a new taxi to the pyramids and then made arrangements for that driver to pick us up afterward as there are no taxis to be had anywhere around the pyramids. Unfortunately our driver was called away to an emergency but fortunately he took the time to call the Pyramids to get a message to us to that effect so we could make other arrangements. In the end, the staff at the pyramids took it upon themselves to make alternate arrangements for us and so in no time we had another driver there at the ready to take us home. Gotta love Bali and the people who call it home!
Once home we all felt pretty charged up even though it was already 10 pm so we decided another night cap was in order. This time we went to a tiny little place in an alley right beside ours. The place is called Bali Taco and it is so inviting with pink lights strung over the entire length of the alley. It is so tiny that everyone pretty much sits with everyone else and as luck would have it....their were a couple of people who’d agreed to take out their instruments in place of the band that hadn’t shown up as planned. The impromptu entertainment are in fact a band and a very good one at that! Their music was fun and upbeat and their singer was excellent so....as you can imagine....we all had a great time....and the Bintang beers we were enjoying didn’t hurt the mood either. :-)
The next day we decided it was time for a rest. As much as we don’t seem to be busy...we are and heh....we’re here to practice intentional self-care so....a lay low kind of day it would be. We haven’t seen any TV at all since our arrival and if we were going to stay in for a day we thought it might be time to find something to watch online. (it was raining all day again by the way so the idea of staying inside was reinforced by that fact). In the end, we decided on the series, Ray Donovan and once we found a site that worked (for the most part) we were off to the races. In fact after that first day we only had three hours left to watch in season one! Yes....it was a pyjama kind of day. In fact, we only snuck out long enough to refuel our bodies and to give my iPad a chance to recharge. We made our way back to Bali Taco (the place we’d gone for drinks the night before) and this time we decided on Frozen Dragons to drink and enchiladas for dinner. Yummy! The Frozen Dragon is a blender drink of dragon fruit, lime juice, palm sugar, and Arak (local rum). It is a rich purple colour and goes down really easy! :-). Afterward it was back to the room for a couple more episodes of Ray Donovan and then to clean up my iPad because there are so many porn pop ups that come with watching it for free online that I feel like I need some kind of a condom for my iPad!
Yesterday we’d thought about hitting a pool and a spa but instead decided to walk down to Goddess on the Go to pick up a couple of dresses Barb was getting hemmed. It was hot and so along the way we stopped at a little bakery for iced coffee and a treat since I was literally melting. I actually think I might be melting when it is hot here....the sweat runs off me like I’ve just come out of a shower. Sometimes even the beggars on the street ask me if I’d like them to get me a water! Well, I may be exaggerating about that a little but honestly, I don’t see any other people sweating that much. I will just go with the belief that it’s healthy to sweat and embrace it as I carry my ever present sweat rag around with me to continually wipe off the worst of it. Eventually we reached the Goddess and since we were there and while they were getting Barb’s dresses from the back I decided to order a couple of tops too. They’re the same design as one I got there last year and loved so heh....why not?! :-). They will be ready next week and they’ll deliver them to me so how could I say no to that? LOL! From Goddess we continued on to the Salt Room where we enjoyed an hour of quiet relaxation in cool temperatures with salt misting into the room and going to work on us from the inside out. I love the salt room and will make it a point to go there again a few times before heading home in March. The cost is $22/person/hour and relaxing in the cool temperature alone is worth it. The added bonus of breathing salt mist deeply into your lungs for the full hour is like the icing on the cake. :-)
Our walking wasn’t yet over for this day though and so from the Salt Room we started back in the general direction of our home. Along the way we decided dinner at a little Italian place we’d enjoyed last year was in order. It didn’t disappoint and we enjoyed the views we had sitting on the edge of yet another rice field. We even topped off our dinner tonight with a chocolate lava cake and ice cream for dessert!
This morning was sunny and warm so we decided today would be pool and massage. Initially we’d planned on Kampung as the pool is free if you have a massage but sadly we arrived there to learn that they don’t have massages there any longer. This really threw a monkey wrench into our plans and so we went in search of another pool/spa combo. We ended up at a place just a couple properties further up the street and the pool was beautiful and we had it all to ourselves. We made appointments for massages (and yes, the pool was free because we were having a massage). It was all going so well....we ordered a light lunch to have at poolside and it was just as our meal arrived that the first drops began to fall. Within moments those drops had turned to downpour. Getting wet wasn’t really an issue as I was already plenty wet from having been in for a swim but our stuff getting wet wasn’t anything we wanted to have happen (phones etc). As well, our lunch wasn’t meant to be rained on and so up went the umbrellas and in the end we each sat under our umbrellas guarding our “stuff” and our lunch plates as we munched away on our food. Since the rain wasn’t letting up at all we decided to change our massage appointments to “now” and were glad we did as the rain only got harder for the entire time we were there. By the time we were walking home (a couple hours later) we were wading through puddles up to our ankles! During the rainy season the ground is so saturated and the water table so high that the water really has no where left to go. Afterward it was back to the room to finish off season one of Ray Donovan.
Till next time,
Lorrie and Barb
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