The Rest of Spring Break

For the remainder of our holiday, we flew to Bali to spend a week at a villa with close friends. We have known the Ferens since they arrived in Manila the same year, yet this was our first major vacation together. Their three kids put up with our one and we all appreciated the opportunity to get outside and experience a bit of culture (culture that we feel Manila lacks, that is).

Ubud has exploded over recent years. What used to be a quaint hippie town with charming shops and eateries is now a clogged artery of tourists. Having read Eat, Pray, Love when it first came out, I had envisioned walking through rice paddies on the way to eat some authentic, organic Indonesian dishes and hiking through the hills in pure solitude. I had pictured getting a massage and my body aura read by a guru in a hut surrounded by palm trees and grass and witnessing Balinese dancers in calm temples. That shows you what media does to the mind and how easily expectations can be dashed, or, shall we say, how easily expectations must be redefined?

Our villa was situated in the heart of Ubud. Luckily, it was also set back from the main road, and built downhill so that the noise didn't reach it. The lush surroundings of the three-bedroom villa seemed to envelope us as we slept peacefully, swam in the pool or lounged in the indoor/outdoor Balinese design of Villa di Abing. The three older kids had a room to themselves and Aiston was a brave boy to sleep away from Mom and Dad for a week. Every morning, the lovely ladies cooked up breakfasts of coconut or banana pancakes, vegetable omelettes or Nasi or Mie Goreng, a traditional (and spicy) rice or noodle dish with egg on top, accompanied by delicious fruit platters. And every afternoon, we took dips in the pool and occasionally napped, with no cares or worries about what had to get done and when.

Before our trip, Kristen had written to the Director of the Green School to share our interest in visiting the campus as potential teaching candidates for the 2015-16 school year. He welcomed our visit and we met up with a friend of a friend here in Manila, who has taught there for the last seven years. Glenn gave us a tour and explained the ins and outs of such a distinct learning environment. The founder definitely has a mission and has built a facility in harmony with nature - think bamboo classrooms without walls, a raw food cafeteria and homecooked meals by local women every day, no a/c, pit toilets, upcycled or repurposed teaching materials and solar energy. Cory and I were curious to check this place out and felt very intimidated by the tenants of the school. But, once we were there, we didn't feel intimidated at all. In fact, we could admire so many of the amazing and inventive ways these people were teaching kids in order to create a more sustainable model. We could see ourselves teaching in a school like this. Just not in Bali where the weather seems hotter and more humid than it does in Manila and stays that way all year long, and where the commute would render us more insane than we already are after commuting back and forth to ISM every day.

In terms of food, there is no place like Ubud for vegetarians. The town caters to foodies and produces some of the most satisfying, fresh and organic food and drink imaginable. Iced mint nut lattes, fruit smoothies, filling salads, veggie burgers and homemade everything else were some of the favorites. Casa Luna, Clear Cafe, Bali Buddha and Kafe spoiled us with their tasty meals, while Warung Sopa's proceeds benefit the least fortunate Indonesians and provide fair and quality access to medical services, and Sari Organik employs only locals and is set in the middle of rice paddies. For one evening, the adults enjoyed dinner at Mozaic, a hyped-up and uber-expensive joint known for its famous chefs and six-course meals in a beautiful setting. Cory and I may be particular about our food choices, but any place that requires purchasing bottled water with their meals is too snobbish for us, especially when in Ubud, an ethically-oriented community working to maintain their sustainability in times of rapidly-expanding demand. While in Ubud, we were able to check off half of the eateries on my list of preferred places to dine at, which isn't bad. To say we were in food heaven would be an understatement. The fact that we had CHOICES was mind-blowing and we were overjoyed to eat so well.

Outdoor recreation was abundant, too. Avoiding the commercial tourist draws, we sought to get out of town and enjoy the peace and quiet of Ubud's surroundings. One day had us hiking through the Jatiluwih Rice Fields, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More expansive and wide in comparison to the rice terraces we have hiked in the Philippines, these were beautiful because they were dotted with small temples honoring Hindu Gods and Goddesses. As 90% of Bali's population is Hindu, it was incredibly common to observe locals creating offerings to leave on footpaths and at entrances to their homes. The hike took us several hours and ended just as a storm rolled in. Another gorgeous hike involved walking along a ridge behind Ubud proper, where we chanced upon a little snack hut with views of rice paddies as far as the eye could see. A visit to Tegalalang Rice Terraces was also in order, and although they were much busier than the previous two hikes due to their short distance from town and relative popularity, they still provided an opportunity for us to be active, take in the methods that Balinese people still use to harvest a staple food crop and appreciate the views (minus the growing bulge of cliffside cafes and trinket shops along the ridge, of course). The Ayung River called out to Cory, Kristen and Hannah and they went rafting one afternoon. Taking in the scenery and being on the water allowed Cory to reconnect with what he loves most and it reminded him a bit of home.

When we were not able to get out of town, we found plenty to do. At Christmas time, the gentlemen kindly gave Kristen, Hannah and I a voucher to attend a silver jewelery-making session with a local craftsman. Not knowing what to expect and after scouring the idea books and being the last to start on a design, I finally settled on a symbol I had been thinking about for a long time that was originally going to be a tattoo. Over time, the tattoo idea faded and I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to create something unique incorporating the initials of the three members of our little family. I chose to make a ring and started to bend the silver into the shapes I needed before I could have the individual pieces soldered together. It ended up being a difficult task as there was a lot of open space and delicate twists to attach to an outer frame. I was really happy with the final result and proud that I had designed it myself. I don't have a photo of it, but I wear the ring on my right hand as a reminder of the special experience I had in creating it in Bali. Another afternoon was spent visiting a massive temple, also known as the Monkey Forest Sanctuary, where monkeys roam freely about, hoping to snatch snacks and cameras from unsuspecting passerby. I was not keen to go as I had heard of people getting bit by the monkeys and worried about Aiston's unpredictability around them. That, and I generally don't like to disturb wild animals because I prefer to respect their space. But, it was a group decision and Aiston ended up giggling and gawking over the monkeys' antics. The kids enjoyed a mini Easter egg hunt at our villa one morning, which I had organized thinking that Easter was actually during our stay (which it was not). No matter, the kids had fun searching for their initialed eggs and discovering what goodies were inside. Finally, Cory was kind enough to give me an afternoon off so I could venture off to two shops I had researched and wanted to have a look at. Seeds sells workout clothes in organic materials and is where I purchased five items to replace articles that are getting worn out. And Threads of Life is an amazing little handicraft shop that works with local Indonesians in remote areas to preserve traditional weaving techniques. They educate, train and pay weavers fair prices to create one-of-a-kind items that atypical tourists such as myself might wish to purchase as tokens of their travels. I picked up a beautiful textile in cream and indigo and learned just how important woven materials are in ceremonies throughout Indonesia.

Ubud was not what we expected. Nor is it a place we will likely return. Not because we didn't enjoy it. We found a multitude of things to do, to eat and to appreciate about Balinese culture. And we loved our time with the Feren Five. Us ladies had brought just enough wine to keep ourselves content for the duration of the trip and the guys bought the Bintang as needed. Going to Singapore and then to Bali was just what we needed to recover from a really, really long stretch of teaching. And to know that now there are only six weeks left to go, makes it even better.