At around noon today, it started to pour jungle rain here. And pour it did for about 1.5 hours straight. The skies haven’t really recovered since. The village is damp and humid and I feel like we’re in a moist bio dome that smells of banana leaves and incense.
To shelter from the storm, I decided to go for a massage. AND OH MY GOSH, I want to hire this woman full time. Wade (I think that’s her name) did a real number on my shoulders and feet, at a place called Wiwadi Spa, in an open air massage room with a stone shower and tub. Just divine! And then halfway through, the power went out in the ENTIRE VILLAGE. So, under candlelight and a thunderstorm, I soaked in pure luxury massaged in orchid and coconut oils. What spoilage!
Ubud under candlelight is really something to behold. It is already so sweet in its own right but walking down the streets in pitch black with only candles to light your way past the restaurants and boutique shops is something magical. Just SO beautiful. The crickets sing their songs and couples and tourists, sticky under the heat and damp, share their meals in the glow of fire light. Soooooo romantic! I feel like I’m on their honeymoons with them! SERIOUSLY!
Dinner tonight was divine – nasi goreng (rice and prawns and chicken and so much garlic I am embarrassed to be sleeping with myself), avocado juice and fried banana fritters with grated coconut and crunchy chunks of brown sugar, all for the WHOPPING price of 7 USD! And all this in one of the best cafes in town (Cafe Wayan). Imagine how far a dollar could stretch at a local warung (food stall)?
I COULD LIVE HERE. Seriously. At least for a few months. I’d learn to cook, study Hinduism, do batik crafts and then when I’m feeling hedonistic, I’ll head over to Kuta to surf the waves and bump with the foreigners and locals in some crazy club on the beach. I’ll try my hand in the spa and hospitality business, marketing luxury vacations to high-end clientele from Europe and North America until I get bored. GAH!
And on another tangent, I’m a millionnaire here. I’ve got 1.5 million rupias in cash. Ha. Pretty funny. And apparently I am an Indonesian millionaire because EVERYONE assumes I’m Indonesian. Just like everyone thought I was Thai in Thailand. I’m just the chama-chama-chama-chama-chama-chameleon giiiiiiirl.
Now, must go find some candles for my room. Like my mother always said, when in Rome, do the Romans!
