Skip to main content

Day 6: More Temples

We visited a temple where people go to wash their bodies and cleanse themselves, and pray for prosperity, good fortune and success in their exams (students)
Hello there: guard at the entrance to the temple

SPP crowd before going into the fountain





The spring had many fountains for different things: for success, to heal disease, prevent nightmares etc. there were 2 fountains which are used for cleansing corpses, and are not to be used for normal washing.
We had a good lunch, and I ordered pork ribs and French fries - best pork ribs I have had.

We then visited another temple which had a huge gong that was used in the olden days for celebrations. Origins of it are a part of a moon fell and then someone peed on it or something…
After walking around on the streets in the evening trying to find swimwear for people, we decided to get dinner. Dinner was with the usual crowd (Renuka, Wardah, Jackson, Annisah, Taryn, Andrea and I), at a new place down our street. I had sweet potato, with tempe and brown rice. It was good. I also had a large Carlsberg beer (which reminded me of Malawi days).

I really like Ubud streets at night. They are lively, not too crowded, well lit with stuff happening all around; the restaurants usually have someone outside holding a menu and encouraging people to come in. They also have happy hour offers to attract patrons.
Colorful fishes
I learnt yesterday also about fish feet spa i.e. you dip your feet in water with tiny fishes that then eat the dead skin off your feet! Reminded me of the piranha movies!
Durian! what a fruit!
I also had a taste for the first time, of the durian fruit. Weirdest fruit I have had. It tastes and smells like garlic mixed with onions, but is sweet. I ate two of the fleshy stuff, and after an hour or so, I felt constipated.
Other fruits I had for the first time:

  • Rambutan in the temple: soft white flesh inside with a spiny outer covering, and a pit inside. Great fruit
  • Dragon fruit: spiny on the outside; grows on a plant that looks like cactus. It is pink/purple inside. Delicious fruit
  • Snake fruit/salak: brown outside, and soft white inside. Has a zesty/sweet taste. It helps stop diarrhea i.e. makes poop hard!
Labels:
Location: Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On thinking

Why do I believe what I believe? Why are my values what they are? Where do my thoughts come from? Are my ideals 'mine'? The question of thought, is a complex one, not least because thinking is so difficult. Many of us do not think, we take the thoughts of others and use them as the foundations, walls, or thatching of our mental structures. But we rarely think, and deep enough on important matters anyway. Thinking involves the admission that we do not know, an admission coming from a place of humility that we are ignorant and could do better. It does not, as is usually thought, have to be from a place of knowledge, even though knowledge can inform thoughts. If it was, then we would not necessarily be thinking, but just reorganizing previously known ideas. It begins with asking the question, why. Why do we go to school? Why do we marry and have children? Why do we work to earn money in order to buy things? Why do we elect leaders? Why do we go to places of worship and perfo...
Post a Comment
Read more

How well-meaning parents ruined us

Growing up, it was common for our parents to encourage us and tell us how we could be anything we wanted in life. "You can do anything you set your mind to do!" They would cheer us on. "Even the president?" We'd ask unconvinced. "Yes, you could even become the richest man in the world!" All this fascinated us. We vowed to ourselves that we'd in fact become people of substance who would be recognized in the entire world for our achievements. We'd ride in super-yachts like Abramovich and the rest of the mega-rich. We would produce life changing inventions, innovating our way to stardom. We'd become the next prodigy in music and sports. All this is well and good, meant to lift our spirits. Assessing our lives however, no matter how much effort we have put in to realize our dreams and visions, they have eluded us. We have become adept at doing other things though: commenting on FB posts, retweets, identifying the hottest political issue...
Post a Comment
Read more

Analyzing a carry trade proposal: Short USD, go long on bitcoin

I recently completed an assignment for an International Economics Policy class which entailed designing a carry trade. A carry trade is a financial transaction that involves borrowing (short) in a low interest currency, and lending (go long) in a high interest (yield) currency. For instance from Bloomberg 's rates for bonds, this would involve borrowing in Swiss francs (rate is -0.15 percent) and lend in New Zealand dollars (rate is 2.83 percent). All else remaining equal, the carry trade would yield a rate differential of 2.83+0.15 = 2.98 percent. Note: this is an unusual case where the interest rate we are borrowing from is negative; usually, this would involve subtracting the first interest rate from the second. For instance, borrowing in Japanese yen (0.04 percent) and lending in Kiwi dollars (at 2.83 percent) would yield 2.79 percent as profit. My carry trade in this case involves borrowing in USD at a rate of 2.33 percent, and buying bitcoins. But, what, you may ask, is the...
Post a Comment
Read more