Discovering Ubud in One Day

How Desa Panglipuran is seen from higher point

Even though I went to Bali frequently, I have to admit that parts of Bali other than its southern sides stand as a closed book to me. The closest approach I made to get there was only by seeing its beaut through refined snaps on the screen of these instagram darlings. I have never been to Ubud as I found it was kind of .. overrated. What's so special this place would be compared to other places with rice terrace? We have plenty of greens here in Bandung so why bother to fly across the islands only to see paddy fields? Until a twist happened. On the day I read an article about this pretty village in the deep of Ubud, I did nothing but putting Ubud on the top notch of Bali's go-to list.

1. Warung Nasi Bali Men Weti

Nasi Ayam Men Weti (Men Weti's Chicken Rice)

Before going forth for Ubud, we decided to have a quick breakfast fix at Warung Nasi Bali Men Weti in Segara Ayu, Sanur. Mbak Rina told me it's a sin to skip this one, so there we were trying out this famous nasi ayam. The warung is located not too far from Sanur's coastline. It was only 8 in the morning but the queue was already long and seats were almost full. At first I thought we had to get in the line to get our meal but fortunately some Bli(s) were ready to distribute it right to where we're seated. A plate of nasi ayam consists of steamed white rice, chunks of betutu chicken, half slice of pindang egg with special red sambal, fried peanuts, sambal matah, and crispy chicken skin as a major kick to the dish. That's a plate of festivity, I would say. And then how was it? Just try it by yourself and thank me later. (hint: It was so good I assume this meal was a drop of heaven)

Quick stop at Sanur Beach on Sunday. No time is too early to indulge your vitamin sea

2. The Blanco Renaissance Museum
Within one and half hours, we drove our rented motorbike into what seems to be a more serene and peaceful side of Bali. As someone who is familiar with greens and chilled weather, I expected the trip would be bland and boring for the road we took would be far and endless. Yes it was long and endless but the atmosphere was 180 degrees contradicted to glitz and glam at Seminyak's seasides. It felt more tranquil, relaxed, and comforting here. Along the way, art and craft shops lined up on both sides of the road offering us charming scenery and retail therapy at once. Our first stop at Ubud was an art museum called The Blanco Renaissance Museum.

The museum is located on the top of the hill next to Campuhan River. Uniquely, you wouldn't find any museum-like building from the parking lot but soon as we climbed up the stairs and walked down the alleyway of lush of greens, a vast field with huge building came as a surprise to us. Don't forget to take pictures with its collection of beautiful birds as they'd welcome you at the end of the alleyway.

The big house at the side of the field presented collections of Antonio Blanco's best artworks from a wide span of time. He's famous with his paintings on portraying the beauty of Balinese women and its culture. Some find it erotic as most of his paintings involved the presence of topless Balinese women, some even featured nudity. The museum not only spotlighted his personal paintings but also his son's and couple of local artists'. You could also visit his studio and took a look at the collections as couple of them were available for sale and auctions. Unfortunately I didn't manage to take a lot of pictures especially because they didn't allow us to do such thing inside the gallery.

3. Bali Pulina Coffee Plantation

I'm not a coffee drinker myself but whenever someone pointed me a good coffee place, I would visit it certainly. This time is Bali Pulina's turn. Bali Pulina stands prominently as a distinctive coffee heaven for coffee junkies. As Ubud is very famous with its agrotourism, Bali Pulina is one of dozens coffee destinations you could try around. What makes Pulina different to others was because they didn't only offer us coffee drinking experience but also coffee making and event planting experience. To start the journey there, we have to buy ticket  that could be exchanged to 2 large cups of your preferred beverages (you can go for their luwak coffee (real one, of course)), 10 kinds of small cups of coffee and tea plus sweet and savory snacks.

Once we enter the plantation, a local guide greeted us warmly and showed us luwaks in a cage. Inside, I saw they're sleeping next to a basket full of coffee cherries. The guide explained us how coffee cherries fermented by the luwaks. From what I heard, they assured us no harm was done to the luwaks (well I hope so!) but still I refuse to agree with the idea of interrupting luwak's natural digesting process only to produce one cup of coffee. Anyway, we were then being escorted by another guide to get closer to know the next process such as drying, roasting, and brewing the beans. At the end of the journey, we were redirected to a seating area facing a very beautiful rice terraces with cups coffee and tea to complete our laid back moment. This place is both educating and entertaining at the same time. To my personal preference, I would completely recommend this place as a part of your next Ubud's must visit. It's worth every of your penny.

4. Desa Panglipuran

A visit to Bali Pulina successfully recharged our energy bar to a proper level. Never knew that motorbike ride from Seminyak to Sanur then to Ubud would absorb our remaining power *this* much. After making couple of considerations, we decided to continue our journey visiting a beautiful village, a cultural village, in the deep of Ubud. At first I was hesitate to get there considering its long distance, not to mention how much time and energy we should commit to the journey. But we did it anyway.

It was a long, really really long road to get to Desa Panglipuran. Our only compass was google maps attached on my phone which unfortunately didn't quite helpful on showing the correct direction. We got lost in the middle of Ubud's jungle for multiple times lol. I would blame my phone's inability to deliver accurate information about our location but truthfully (confession) I am *also* so poor when it comes to reading maps let alone navigating the street I've never been before. We roamed and roamed the road and relied upon our remaining memory about the village location. It was extremely quiet on the road for the only sound I heard was our conversation, our motorbike's, and the hushes between the trees. I have never been feeling this disturbed by the absence of people nor sound around us. Things were getting a tad creepy. The day was getting older but we were nowhere near the village until we saw a bamboo forest which I completely sure represented the sign of the village. Suddenly we saw a couple sitting on a motorbike that was parked at the corner of the forest (don't ask me what they were doing in this remote place). We were so lucky that they're actually humans not ghosts kind enough to give us the fastest route to reach the entrance gate of the village. I felt like rolling on the ground the time we saw humans and buildings (hahahaha please bear with me!). It was nerve-wrecking to get lost in the middle of nowhere like that).

The village is extremely neat and clean. It has this unique layout that is said following old Bali spatial and architecture rules. From above, you could see similar-shaped traditional houses lined up on the left and right side of stone-made pavements. The people of Desa Panglipuran are so friendly and welcoming. Thus, do not hesitate to walk around and send them your warmest greetings. If you happen to be around of their houses, they would happily greet you with smiles and explain you a bit about the village.

Some of these houses also sell gifts, art stuff, and foods and drinks. On the top of this village stands a remarkable Pura where people pray. I managed to try on Balinese's traditional outfit I rented from local booth at the upper side of the village. Pictures of me wearing the outfit with the Pura standing as the background was one of the best snaps I got during the whole Bali trip. I felt very comfortable inside the pretty outfit as if the outfit was made personally for me. I felt so pretty no wonder one of the booth owner mistaken me for a TV star hahahaha!
As the night came closer, we decided to go back to Seminyak (this time we didn't get lost, yay). Ubud is hell of a ride. It's tremendeously tiring and challenging to go there but it's a perfect place to indulge the authentic experience of Bali. Ubud stands as if it wasn't bothered by modernization and  fabrication. It demands us nothing but paying respect to nature. Suksma, Ubud. I had my zen moment there.

Voyage to Suluban Beach

A (not so) sunset session by the beach

Last time I went to Bali was in 2017 when my office sent me to a workshop program somewhere in the middle of Legian's hassle. Going there again was never an option since the fares of domestic flight have increased up to the top limit and we're charged for checked baggages. For someone who would fly mostly for leisure, I wouldn't pay such amount to fly let alone for the baggages. But it's been two years and I have never missed Bali this much, thus I decided to book a return flight there two weeks ago.

Bali was unusually chilly at that time. Australia's winter apparently brought cold weather to the surface of Bali. This is new but this is ... perfect. I swear there's nothing more lovely than being here on sunny days when the temperature dropped below normal. It reminds me much about spring in Holland (without the canals of course).

This narrow gap below the cavern leads our way to the coast

SULUBAN BEACH
After having a late lunch in Nasi Ayam Bu Mangku, we made a trip to the seaside to watch the sun sets. Torn between going to Seminyak or Suluban, I chose the latter because: 1) By weekend  Seminyak would be too crowded, I don't like crowds; 2) I have never been to Suluban before, so Suluban it is.

No angry tides here at the coastline as the reefs broke the waves from afar, I guess this makes Suluban a children-friendly beach

Suluban beach is located near Uluwatu, South Kuta. Taking the same route heading to the famous Uluwatu Temple, it took us an hour and couple minutes bike-ride from Seminyak to reach the beach. This place is --how do I say this?-- magically, peacefully, hidden behind its neighboring cramped tourist spots such as Uluwatu Temple and defeaning fancy bars standing on the top of the rock. No ticket required here for as long as I can remember, I only paid 5000 Rupiah for parking fee. Bad news: the beach is located quite far below the parking ground. Good news: they have stairs there. We need to go down the cliff by the stairs for about 10 minutes walk. Going down is easy, but if you have some breathing issues, going up is something you need to think deliberately because it'll be a wee bit more challenging than it seems to be. No pain, no gain, huh?

Limestone formations along the coast

Suluban beach sits like a surprise to us who's willing to 'unfold' the cliff face. At the edge of the stairs lies narrow gap where I could snoop the beautiful sky and overhear sound of the waves. As we reached bottom level of the cavern, I noticed that this shady spot is a perfect shelter to those who didn't want their skin be exposed by Bali's scorching heat (Sun can be pretty intimidating here!).

The coastline wasn't as long as beaches in Seminyak's but it's more quiet here and that made a good deal to me. From far I enjoyed the view of pro surfers cruising giant waves back and forth. It made me jealous to see how easy it seemed to them ripping curled stream as if they're dancing on the floor. Girl, I can't even dance properly. But I can walk on the shore with a sight of wonderful sunset scenes on a reasonably warm afternoon with person I love to be around with.

After a short (but quite challenging) walk, we agreed to pay a visit to a place on the top side of the cavern. I insisted on going to Single Fin because I've been there before and I thought it's a good choice. But someone spared me a better option. Up and up we hiked the cliff then roamed the alleyway packed with cafes and shops owned by locals. It's bitter to see how empty and deserted the shops and cafes were but I guess it was natural when Instagram-friendly places like Single Fin started to flourish the market. Not too long after the alleyway walk, we reached the end of the cliff. There it was, a cafe named 'Edge'.

The view we got from above

The place is literally on the edge of the cliff where best view of vast South Bali's sea served. The bartender (except he didn't quite formulate drinks behind the bar, but still ...) sold cheap beers and soft drinks and chips (Happytos! because we bought one! it's the only snack they had there hahaha), he also was loud and basically talked to everyone. His voice and laughter raced with intense upbeating sound came from EDM playlist he set in the cafe. Eventhough it's weekend, the cafe wasn't so stuffed thus we were lucky enough to secured hot seats facing directly to the sea. I'm not gonna lie, the view was 95% better from where I sat at that time. From above, I could see clear water became teal, turqoise-y and gradually sunk in cobalt blue. To be honest, I enjoyed this combination of staring scenic view, chugging cheap drink, and listening to white noise behind at once. It's sweet and serene at the same time.

What a time to be alive. I'll be back for shore! :D

TV Series Recommendation: Chernobyl (2019)

I wasn't actually planning to write this as a 2019's kick-off post (ok I know it's halfway through 2019 already, beg your pardon! haha) but I can't stand not to share this for the thing I'm gonna tell you about is simply fascinating and irresistible.

So yeah, did I tell you I'm kinda fan of TV series? Not that devoted one actually but I know some of them which is really good and binge-worthy: Modern Family, Lie To Me, Black Mirror, Stranger Things, Midnight Diner, Chefs Table, Our Planet, and a couple of K-drama series. Family-themed, slow-paced shows were my favorite ones but I wouldn't deny to try something novel. This time I'm gonna highlight few of them.

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First, on the top notch: Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones played a huge part in my TV series career (ok this sounds exaggerating, but reality check: it was) as I've been following them for quite a long while. Long enough to say that it's the only series I've put a commitment to hahaha! I mean this show has made us wait for another season in months even years voluntarily. But frankly speaking, I (plus half of the world, I bet) was not satisfied with its closing episode considering the storyline failed to address the proper way to terminate its casts' stark characters. We had our expectation sky-rocketed then submerged into deep sea. Though it ended not in a way we had expected before, I'd always consider Game of Thrones as hell of a work. Even the word 'exceptional' is an understatement to expose how much the show made us feel. Well done, GoT. To those of you who haven't tried GoT yet, I suggest you to watch it soon as possible. Note that the first 9 episodes were the most boring one (lol), please bear with that because only by passing through it, you can understand the  remarkable journey that follows.

Now let's move on to what possibly be the creme de la creme of this post. After a not so pleasant/satisfyintg finale of Game of Thrones last month, I dug into a number of TV series recommendations to find GoT substitute. I thought it would take me long to move on from GoT but instead it's an easy job (man I'm just too good at goodbyes #jk). Blame the technology as its vast and immensely rapid development served me outstretched choices of good TV shows. In less than a month after GoT ended, I discovered another TV series which I think is on par to GoT as they scored 9.7 out of 10 on IMDB and got 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is, by far, the top rated TV show of all time. Nuts, isn't it?

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It's Chernobyl. An original miniseries created by HBO which was aired for the first time in May 6, 2019. The series contains only 5 episodes and by the time I write this, the finale episode has just aired on TV (sorry we got a situation here *as expected, delayed post*, the show ends few days ago). Some of you might find the title quite familar because it comes from the same Chernobyl as the nuclear accident happened back in Ukraine on 1986. Let's take a glimpse on given explanation by HBO on its website:

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Belarus, Russia and Ukraine and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe.

Jared Harris portrays Valery Legasov, a leading Soviet nuclear physicist. As part of the response team, he was one of the first to grasp the scope of the unparalleled disaster that occurred. Stellan Skarsgård plays Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina, who is assigned by the Kremlin to lead the government commission on Chernobyl in the hours immediately following the accident. Emily Watson portrays Ulana Khomyuk, a Soviet nuclear physicist committed to solving the mystery of what led to the Chernobyl disaster.

The pilot episode begins with its lead character's, Valery Legasov, monologue over a recording device. He questioned something that in some way hit me (and you too, maybe) in certain notes: "What is the cost of lies? What is the cost of truth?" The questions then became key point of what this series is about. Spoiler (but not so spoiler): the show ended with the same questions.

The show narrated the story of world's worst civilian nuclear disaster happened at Chernobyl's reactor number 4 in Pripyat, Ukraine decades ago. This is based on true story, I repeat, this is based on true story. All this time I only knew Chernobyl tragedy was about the power plant having some technical issues that it blown up, produced ashes containing radioactive, and spreaded fatal radiation nationwide that citizens living close to the zone were found dead or alive but suffered cancer. Today I'm so glad I watched this because the show depicts something beyond the tragedy. Not only it displays how sickening corruption and greed can be, but also how confusing it is to stand in between reality and morality. Speaking of the roles, oh, it just can't get any better. We watchers are privileged to get to know each of the character deeply eventhough in a short time. Each of them seems super-realistic with their human, vurnerable, and flawed sides. In the other hand, they also showed up their heroic side so that we can easily symphatize on what they did. The same goes with Dyatlov character that exposed evilish attitude even by the look (sorry for judging but ..). He mustered all the bad stuff that can possibly grow in a single human being. Legasov, Khomyuk, Shcherbina, and the plant workers who were on shift that night stood out as true heroes to the tragedy, of course with a price to pay. From there we can see how dilemmatic the situation was for the lead roles especially because they lived under the strict governing system of USSR at that time.

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Thanks to Comrade Legasov, I'm sorta getting my nuclear-physics PhD in only 3 days. *lel*

Final verdict: the plot is very very well-tailored. They keep me under great suspense as if I, like other 3 lead roles, was subjected to find the explanation upon why and how the tragedy happened. While in fact, I'm just someone on the other side of the screen (Fortunately, I am. Of course with no desire to stand in the real scene *getok meja*). These five episodes reminds me so much of five stages of grief introduced by Kubler-Ross: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance which is exposed in each episode respectively. This is just outrageously good and truly terrifying at the same time. Although there's been polemic as Russia government said the show didn't even close to showing up the real situation (which I strongly oppose), I urge you guys to watch this one. You just won't regret it.

Reac