Day three for us -we have been happily hiding out in our villa, slowly, slowly acclimating to the time, the food, the villa with its luxuries and limitations, the weather (sunny, 80’s – perfect), with no desire to explore beyond our villa walls yet.\u00a0 Agung took us grocery shopping (the big market where, as you’d expect, the local goods are inexpensive and the imported luxuries will be a splurge for us) the first day and I’ve been trying to make most of our meals here.\u00a0 With a small 2-burner countertop stove as our only cooking device, it takes a bit of ramp-up time.\u00a0 No coffee maker, just a coffee press.\u00a0 No microwave to warm up food.\u00a0 No oven.\u00a0 No toaster.\u00a0 So I grilled toast in our one frying pan.\u00a0 Fried eggs in the same pan.\u00a0 Fresh papaya, pineapple, bananas.\u00a0 Mangos, come to find out, aren’t in season.\u00a0 Pout.\u00a0 I’ve managed to make a vegetable stir-fry with rice and spaghetti for dinner so far…I am confident that in time meals will become more vibrant as I learn about the local vegetables, the spices…<\/p>\n
Mornings have been like this:\u00a0 I wake up at 5:30, try to stay in bed, in the dark, as long as possible so I can shift (says my sleep-scientist wife).\u00a0 I ignore her advice because the morning is calling out to me and I take my laptop to The Porch (I’ve decided it has earned the Capital Letters distinction) to get a little writing done before everyone wakes up.\u00a0 I’ve mastered the coffee press, so I sip and write, utter bliss.<\/p>\n
Kai wakes up next, around 7am.\u00a0 She discovered a gazebo-like structure in the corner of the garden our first day here, and she promptly dubbed it her castle.\u00a0 It’s actually called a Bali bale, a place for meditation or small ceremony.\u00a0 It’s the first thing she visits in the morning.\u00a0 Megan wakes up and we hold down our daughter long enough to get some grub in her before she’s off to jump into the pool.\u00a0 She’s a water bug just like her mommy, so Megan is the next one in the pool and they spend all morning there.\u00a0 Eventually I join them to do my set of aqua therapy exercises.\u00a0 The pool is the most perfect pool we’ve ever swam in.\u00a0 Komar, the young man who takes care of the grounds, cleans the pool every morning so it needs very little chlorine.\u00a0 And that’s been our mornings, so far.<\/p>\n
Included in the cost of our stay, Agung will drive us into Ubud twice a day.\u00a0 Today, while we were swimming in the morning, I said, “I think it’s time.”<\/p>\n
“Casa Luna for lunch?” Megan asked.<\/p>\n
“You read my mind.”<\/p>\n
Casa Luna opened right around the first time I came to Bali.\u00a0 Janet, an Australian, married a Ketut, a Balinese, and they opened one of Ubud’s first (if not the<\/em> first) bakery and cafe.\u00a0 It was very unique.\u00a0 You could get incredible baked goods and a good capucino, as well as Indonesian food AND pizza and pasta there.\u00a0 At night they showed movies in a big room with couches and pillows.\u00a0 It was a traveler’s home away from home and both Megan and I spent quite a bit of time there.\u00a0 Today, Agung drove us there for lunch.\u00a0 Getting our first glimpse of Ubud was thrilling and crazy (the changes) at the same time.\u00a0 Gratefully, Casa Luna looked practically the same.\u00a0 Ketut, the owner, was there.\u00a0 He said I looked familiar and I told him that I met him and his wife twenty years ago.\u00a0 He said, “Back then we were crowded every night.\u00a0 Now, there are so many other dining options.”\u00a0 He told that the movie room is gone.\u00a0 “People can watch videos from their rooms now.”\u00a0 But the ambviance – open air seating area with comfy chairs surrounded by gardens – was the same.\u00a0 Our nasi campur (rice with mini sides of meat, veggies) was sublime.\u00a0 The croissants….to die for.<\/p>\n It was our first peek at Ubud.\u00a0 We went home so Kai could get a nap, craving for more of Ubud.\u00a0 In time…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Day three for us -we have been happily hiding out in our villa, slowly, slowly acclimating to the time, the food, the villa with its luxuries and limitations, the weather (sunny, 80’s – perfect), with no desire to explore beyond … Continue reading