Bali: Ubud

Entrance into each villa at Amandari

Watching the fish in the pond swim

In Bali we stayed at a hotel called Amandari.
Everyone called my Mom "Ibu" and my Dad "Bapak" which I found out means "Mrs" and "Mr". The driver who picked us up from the airport to take us to the hotel taught us to say "Selamat Pagi' which means good morning as I had already known how to say good afternoon which is "Selamat Siang". I liked the driver from the airport and the car that picked us up because they brought us cookies, peanuts and water for the drive. He also smiled a lot.

Our hotel looked like a Balinese village and each room was a villa. Our villa had two floors and I slept in a bed on the ground floor while my parents had to climb up a spiral stairway to get to their room. The first night Julia slept in a cot by me but when the light the next morning woke her up too early my parents moved her upstairs since that was the only room with shades. I loved walking up and down the stairs. I especially loved opening the doors to see the pond in the back of our villa. It had fish and frogs in it. Geckos also came by very often.

When we arrived at the hotel they gave us some delicious juice. We had juice everyday. Our favorite was the avocado and mango smoothies for breakfast. We tried Nasi Goreng for breakfast which is Indonesian fried rice. My Mom liked it but I still like cereal the best.

The pool at the hotel looked over rice fields and a valley below which was pretty. I had a great time swimming in the pool. In the afternoons a young girl would have dance lessons and they would play gamelan music. The teacher let Julia and I take a turn. They would bring my Dad and Mom Balinese coffee which they said was strong. We had banana fritters.

At night the hotel car would take us into Ubud. We toured the market and had dinner at a warung. A warung means restaurant or cafe. We ate at a warung called Melting Wok and I liked my rice and chicken dish. It wasn't too spicy. My mom and dad had food that was spicy. A lot of Indonesian food is spicy to me. It is nice to have the coconuts to drink from to cool us.

I liked seeing all of the motorbikes and the people in Ubud. It made my parents a bit nervous though, especially with Julia because there were not good sidewalks to walk on and there was a lot of traffic and construction. We had to watch out for cracks and holes and loose cement. We also had to watch where we would step because there would be small boxes filled with flowers on the street. I asked what these were and was told that they are the offerings that are created and put out each day in front of shops, homes and the many Hindu temples by the Balinese Hindus. Most of Indonesia is Muslim but Bali is primarily a Hindu island.

One night my Dad decided to have a fish spa so we could see the fish on his feet. He said it was ticklish. The many tiny fish are called Doctor fish because they eat away the dead skin cells on your feet. However, since having the fish spa we did some research and learned it is not a good idea because it can be unclean.

One afternoon we visited the Kesayan Ikang Papa Orphanage. It is a home that opened in 1986 for physically and mentally handicapped children. The hotel we were staying in, Amandari, supports them which is how my parents found out about it. We had a driver from the hotel take us there. On the way we purchased rice and some school supplies as this is what we were told they needed most.

I was shy when we first arrived to the school. They brought us cookies and then we started to play with the spider man ball I brought for them. Some of the kids can't hear or talk but we still played ball together. I have learned that it is always a good idea to bring something when visiting someone else. They were happy to keep the ball.

I liked Bali and hope to come back one day.

Here are some words I learned in their language of Bahasa:

How are you...Apa Kabar?

My name is… Nama Saya

Excuse me... permisi

Some Facts about Ubud and Bali:

1. Ubud is known as the art and culture center of Bali

2. The main street in Ubud is Jalan Raya Ubud

3. The word Ubud (Ubad) means medicine. The town used to be an important place for medicinal plants and herbs.