By Janet De Neefe

For Bali Times

I’m on a mission at the Ubud market to find my favorite breakfast. I enter near the corner of Monkey Forest Road and Jl. Raya, past a row of noisy old ladies dressed in faded sarongs and the long-sleeved lace or printed polyester kebayas, selling fluorescent cakes dyed with pink and green food coloring, soft blue hydrangeas, coconut leaves, green bananas and vegetables of all descriptions bursting out of small bamboo baskets.

As I jalan-jalan round the corner, edging my way past 100 Ubud mums doing their early morning shopping, I’m relieved to find what I’m looking for: mission accomplished.

There lies my breakfast. Ahead of me, shaded from the hot morning sun, is the bubur seller, Memek Leseg, from South Ubud, serving my favorite market treat, rice porridge or bubur. Bubur is soft-boiled rice that is topped with assorted seasonings. In this case, it’s a savory dish.

Meme Leseg’s small foodstall sits beside a community of grandmas at low tables that are set up for the morning’s takeaway trade. These are Ubud’s D.I.Y. walking foodstalls – meals on legs, not wheels, if you know what I mean. Every morning, these diligent grandmas carry cooked rice and assorted seasonings on their heads to the market. Have you seen them? They walk from home, set-up shop and when all is sold, carry the empty pots and pans back again (to their abode), with a somewhat lighter load than when they left.

In the crowded western wing of the market, you can buy sweet or savory rice porridges, bubur or nasi campur from these four grandmas.  They have been selling takeaway rice for as long as I, or anyone in Ubud for that matter, can remember. But it’s more than that. This cozy little corner provides an exciting local gathering of sorts, for it’s here you can catch up on all the village gossip in a matter of minutes. What more could a girl want? You can find out about almost anything, told in the most animated, exaggerated way, while buying provisions for the family. That’s what I call one-stop shopping.

The bubur is my all-time favorite and consists of smooth, boiled rice topped with steamed greens and soy sprouts mixed with shredded coconut, sambal and a gentle coconut sauce. It creates a sublime mix of textures, from soft as a kiss to deliciously chewy, with that salsa-dance punch of hot chilli. But what also makes this dish so seductive, (well, to me anyway) is the flavor of fresh coconut oil and lashings of fried shrimp paste. It adds a mellow, luscious base note that gives it a certain depth, rather like the smooth jazz I heard at As One the other night, My Funny Valentine.

The grandma who sells the bubur has a sweet, round face that somehow matches the gentle quality of the food she sells, rather like owners and their pets. Beside her sit the sticky-rice and nasi campur sellers. Apart from their food, I love the distinguishing feature of the towels on their heads. Perched like turbans, these coils of well-worn cloth have seen better days. They range in faded pastel shades and patterns, in an oddly coordinated way.

If you feel like something sweet, you can dine on sticky rice, flecked with pumpkin and topped with grated coconut. And then there is the ubiquitous nasi campur. At the market, it usually consists of steamed vegetables with roasted coconut, tempeh, ground salted fish, sambal and other seasonal titbits. The meals are all carefully wrapped in banana leaves, or brown paper, to be eaten for breakfast, lunch or as a shared snack amongst friends.

To wash it all down, dalumen, that forest-green, slimy drink smelling of wheat grass, can be purchased nearby from Memek Jarni, a woman whose personality is as intriguing as the tonic she sells. I adore this woman and her dalumen is the undisputed finest in town. Memek Jarni is an unusual mix of elegance, comedy and melancholy, and always has the crowds laughing. Her stall, set with the supporting cast of mysterious green dalumen, creamy, roasted coconut milk, palm-sugar syrup and pink squiggly rice flour bits, is her stage where she delivers her lines, combines all the ingredients and stirs each glass with the drama of a Shakespearian actor. Once her potion is finished for the day, she quietens down and looks a little forlorn. If I see her at the temple, she always hugs me and tells me I’m cantik (beautiful). Otherwise, she asks me to give her the shirt off my back. When all her pots are empty, usually by 10am, the table and all its contents are carried home on the top of the coiled towel turban. A busy day’s work in Bali.

But let’s get back to nasi campur, which happens to be my favorite lunch and dinner. Nasi campur is Bali’s national dish and varies in all shapes and sizes around the island. And Ubud has its own distinct style. I’ve been told that visitors from the ragged coast of southern Bali trek to Ubud to enjoy the simple pleasure of this beloved favorite. And at Indus, our nasi campur includes snake beans in coconut milk, grilled chicken tossed with tomato sambal, Balinese satay, tofu, sambal and steamed rice, with green papaya broth served on the side. It’s one of our most popular dishes. Enak banget!

I’ve included my recipe for the snake beans here; you’ll have to go to Indus to work out the rest.

BUNCIS PELECING

Beans in coconut milk

This creamy, luscious dish is brought to life with lime leaves and subtle spices. It’s a little time-consuming, but if you make all the pastes separately, it can be thrown together in minutes.

Serves 6-8

500gm/1 lb. snake beans

2 lime leaves, shredded

3 tbs. fried shallots

salt to taste

Suna-Cekoh

Garlic and white ginger paste

4 cloves garlic                                                   2 candlenuts

3 tsp. white ginger/kencur                     2 tbs. turmeric

3 tbs. oil for frying

Grind the garlic, aromatic ginger, candlenuts and turmeric in a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, blend in a food processor with ¼ cup water.

Kuah  Suna-cekoh (coconut milk  sauce)

Suna cekoh paste (as above)

½ stick lemongrass, knotted

2 cups coconut milk

2-4 lime leaves

2 tbs. fried shallots

½ tsp. white pepper

1 tbs. vegetable oil

To prepare the kuah, blend the suna-cekoh ingredients: garlic, kencur, candlenuts, white pepper and turmeric in food processor or grind with mortal and pestle until fine. Add a drop of water if necessary.

In a wok, gently sauté the suna-cekoh mixture in vegetable oil, over a medium flame, with the lemongrass, lime leaves and salam leaves, for a minute until the mixture looks separated. This will take at least three minutes. Add coconut milk and fried shallots. Stir constantly over low heat, so the mixture doesn’t separate. It’s just like making custard. It will thicken slightly.

Trim the beans, steam or boil, and chop finely or split in half and leave long. Mix the lime leaves, fried shallots, and kuah thoroughly with the grated coconut. Add the cooked beans. Add salt, extra fried onion and lime leaves if necessary.

As a substitute for candlenut, you can use ground almonds.

Note: Add sambal goreng, to taste, for extra spiciness.

Matur Suksme

The fascinating aspect of this hill station is its people. One of them is I Wayan Darsa, who is married to Ni Nyoman Putri and has three young children, Yanik, Dewi and Aima. Their dog Doo Doo is the self-appointed guardian of Wayan’s home.

This is a Balinese’s New Year’s message to all who arrive from far-off lands to make a nest in the hills.

My family has been living in Ubud for over 100 years. I shifted to this house in Sanggingan in 1982.

Twenty five years ago, Ubud was a quiet and peaceful place. Nowadays, with the many restaurants, hotels and other buildings, a part of this town, near the market, is beginning to look like Kuta. We should be careful about this development as slowly all the ricefields are disappearing. Without ricefields Ubud does not exist.

Even the climate has changed in the last five years. It’s gotten warmer and more humid.

But all is not lost. There is much natural beauty in Ubud and this is thanks to the many people who live here who are conscious about the environment. It has been the royal family in the Ubud Palace that have looked after Ubud, and I hope this continues.

Tourists in Ubud should stay at least one night in a Balinese homestay, as they will get the get a feel of the culture here and can also taste good Balinese home cooking.

Tourism this year has risen, but sales at my furniture and craft shop are more or less at the same as last year.

I have one message for the New Year to all who come to Ubud – please keep it clean and take part in all the wonderful religious ceremonies that we have here. Ubud is a special place in Bali, not only for Balinese but the many creative people from many countries who have made it their home. (MU/BT)

Introducing Tjokorda Raka Swastika of the Ubud royal family, a gamelan master who I met in the palace garden to talk about his art.

Gamelan music has intrinsic religious significance and is an integral part of Balinese culture. This short passage from our conversation does not do justice to the art. But for the sake of brevity, we have confined ourselves to presenting it only as an introductory piece so that anyone not conversant with this religious art will begin to understand the complexities of the music.

“I learned Gamelan from a local guru Dewa Nyoman Sura from Pengosekan village, about 5 kilometers from Ubud. In those days, there were no children playing the gamelan. I hung around the musicians and watched them play.

In the 60s, there were only two gamelan groups in Ubud – one belonged to the Ubud Kaja (North) and the other Ubud Kelod (South).

Gamelan is the traditional music of Indonesia (specifically Bali and Java). Gamelan means the traditional ensemble of instruments. For example, in Bali, Kendang (drum), Reong (kettle gong), Gong Kempur (medium gong) and Kemong (kettle gong).

The materials used in the gamelan are metal and wood. Prior to the use of metal, we had bamboo gamelan, as seen in the Gambang Ensemble.

The metal used for instruments is made of the Panca Datu – 5 elements of tin, copper, iron, silver and gold.

Gamelan is played on religious occasions as it is one part of the rituals:

Dewa Yadnya (God ceremony), Resi Yadnya (Prayer ceremony), Manusa Yadnya (Human being ceremony), Pitra Yadnya (Soul ceremony) and Buta Yadnya (Devil ceremony).

Gamelan in Bali is also performed in temples when sacred dances take place. Of course it is played for the performance arts elsewhere.

I have been performing the gamelan for 30 years and have taught students from Australia, Japan, Holland, Denmark and England.

In 1986 I visited Tokyo along with a gamelan group from Ubud. It was for an International Music and Dance Festival. Since then, many Japanese have visited Ubud to study the art. Many have been my students. Three years later, in 1989, I performed in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Holland and Finland. In 2000 I taught gamelan for three months in Sydney. Today there are two gamelan groups in Sydney, one started by the local Balinese community and another by an Australian. I performed at the Summer Festival in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2003.

Presently, I am concentrating on teaching and the future progress of children’s gamelan. The 1999 Bali Arts Festival held in Denpasar saw my students represent the Gianyar team, which won an award.

In 2005 the children group, Cenik Wayah, who were trained by me, represented Gianyar Regency at the Bali Arts Festival and won an award.

Now I am also training women in the art of the gamelan.

If you want to learn more about gamelan, please call me at 08123980111. (MU/BT)

Remember Mel Gibson in the classic Mad Max series? Well, do away with the violence, the purple prose and weaponry - then add a touch of romance and simmer gently in Ubudian sublimity. When ready, garnish with Balinese smiles. What do you get? I Wayan Ekayana, the charismatic, enigmatic and truly entertaining young man who is the leader of the Dewata Scooter Club of Bali.

I bumped into a young artist from Sumatra who was driving what looked like a scooter designed and built by inmates of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The truth is I bumped into him with my jeep. No one was injured. We sorted things out by sharing a beer at my watering hole. He turned out to be a friend of Wayan, who built the crazy contraptions on two wheels, and he arranged for me to meet him at Lidya Art Gallery the next day.

There are around 152 such bikes in Ubud alone, ranging from original Vespas, to chopper, sport and tricycles. Bikes are modified into trendy pieces of artwork on wheels. The scooters, if this is the apt term, which look like moving garbage, took my fancy and I asked Wayan to bring one into the art gallery so that I could take a picture.

“These scooters are works of art,” he says. “How much do they cost, you ask? Art does not have a price. It is with much love that we build these scooters.

“As we drive along the road, anything that looks aesthetic we put on the vehicle - from scuba divers’ flippers, to rusty mesh, nuts and bolts, used ammunition, horns of a cow and old number plates.

“The police really don’t bother us. I mean, what will they get impounding our scooters?

“I travelled around Indonesia on this scooter for 42 days. My wife didn’t mind. My brothers of the other clubs across Indonesia gave me food and shelter wherever I went.

“And one thing I say to you brother, tell your readers of The Bali Times that whenever they come to Ubud, they should stay in Balinese homestays as they will learn all about culture here.

“I feel sad that the ricefields are being converted to villas and houses. The ricefields are part of our culture. If they go, then we will all go.”

Well you heard it from Wayan. You can call him on 0361-8586660 to get enlightened. (MU/BT)

By Mark Ulyseas

For The Bali Times

In this week’s issue, what should we focus on? The shenanigans at my favorite watering hole, the week that was or about the eclectic mix of people who have visited this haven to partake of the ambrosia of the Gods?

The specials on the menu today are: a vivacious Jewish girl from New York, shades of Toulous Lautrec and Mardi Gras in the form of Fuchong, a Japanese pop star and, for dessert, a masseur of acupressure from Surabaya.

So gird your loins, pour yourselves a chilled banana lassi and take a front row seat on this week’s journey through Ubud with The Bali Times.

*     *     *     *     *

I dropped by Yogabarn, which has recently opened its doors to the yoga and health aficionados of the Ubudian hills, to meet Meghan Beth Pappenheim for a cuppa of herbal tea and Meg’s big salad bowl, a selection of fresh organic vegetables.

Meg said she visited Bali a long time ago, when she was doing her Masters in Art Histories and Museum Studies. Her thesis was on Balinese tribal art. “Ubud has an essence and this essence entices people to come here. Many return year after year and some actually set up shop or home here,” she said.

“My restaurant, Kafe, on Jl. Hanoman was started with the idea of offering fresh organic food that is crisp, full of natural flavors and, more importantly, in a smoke-free environment.”

The signature items are Indian Plate (Dal, Bharta, Aloo Gobi, red rice and a chapatti), Macrobiotic breakfast (a bowl of steamed vegetables and tofu on a bed of steamed brown rice garnished with Tahim sauce), New York Bagels and Hox (Home cured salmon with onion, capers and cream cheese).

Megan told me that part of the profits of her business go to fund yayasans, or foundations, across the island.

After our meeting, I visited Kafe to check out the range of organic foods. Megan’s own brand of Bali Kofi is grown and roasted in Bali. I suppose her marriage to a Balinese and the Hindu ceremonies and lifestyle has helped Meg grow from a student to a mother to a businessperson and to give back to the community that had embraced this New York lass. There are many like her in Ubud who have over the years become one with the Balinese community.

Now let’s hop skip and jump over to my favorite watering hole. From fresh organic food to beer breaths and grilled spare ribs on a cool afternoon. A few days ago I met a young Japanese lady with long black hair and a voice that enthralled the customers in the warung. Curious to know more about her, I slid over to her side of the table, offered her a beer, which was graciously accepted, and began by asking her her name.

“Ray Yamada, aka Ray Charles of Tokyo,” she replied in an accent that defied the English language.

“Ray Charles?”

“I’m a pop singer. My inspiration is Ray Charles, Sade, Lolly Hill, Bob Marley, Rolling Stones, U2 and Sting. I started singing from the age of 10 - gospel, R&B, jazz,” she said, adding that her first public performance was at 15, when she sang Whitney Houston’s Run to Me at Shibuja’s Club in Central Tokyo. Talent scouts, on seeing her performance, wanted to sign her on immediately. But her mother, Mihoko, and father, Koichiro, an architect, dissuaded her as they felt she was too young and needed to finish schooling. Presently she is studying law at Seikei University in Kichijoji, South Tokyo.

A few years later, Ray began singing professionally in well-known nightclubs in Tokyo. like the Ginza, Roppongi and Shibuya.

In Bali for a few days of R&R, she came to Ubud because she had heard a lot about it from her friends in Tokyo. “I like the serenity and more so the gamelan music. It’s so spiritual and moving,” she said.

After a couple of beers, the 22-year-old spoke passionately about her dream to help the less fortunate in the world. “I sing because I want to build a school in Cambodia or Africa for poor children. My family are Christians and therefore we must give a part of our earnings to the poor. A percentage of my earnings is given to NGOs like Medicines Sans Frontiers.”

Ray stood up and sang Sade’s Smooth Operator. When she finished, there was a moment’s silence in the warung; then all the customers clapped and whistled.

We shared a wicked vodka martini and discussed Ray’s favorite Japanese writer, Osamu Dazai, whose book Ningen Shikkaku is a bestseller in the land of the rising sun.

The smooth operator is on the plane back to Tokyo to carry on her studies and singing career. We wish her well and know she will return to Ubud, as planned, early next year.

And now let’s shift from serenading songbirds to salsa and the Mardi Gras with Fuchong (Santosa P. Wijaya), who teaches salsa, modern dance like jazz and the cha cha. His physique resembles that of a ballerina, with a smile that completes the picture of Bali.

Born in Bali, Fuchong had from the time he was in elementary school a “feeling” for art. As a child, he enjoyed drawing, singing and dancing. On completing his secondary education, he joined the well-known Art Academy at Batubulan. After completing his studies there, he enrolled at the Udayana Art and Design School in Denpasar.

In addition to having a passion for art, Fuchong was a cabaret dancer and choreographer at several resort hotels in Bali during the 1990s. He draws his inspiration from renowned choreographer Guru Sukarnoputra.

Fuchong’s desire for colorful headdresses and masks used by cabaret dancers was ignited during a 2001 Rotary International Study Exchange program that sent him to Brazil. There he came face to face with the exotic costumes and sensual gyrating bodies on the streets during the Mardi Gras celebration.

His “cabaret” headpieces are handmade using the finest local and imported fabrics, feathers, beads and imitation rhinestones. Traditional and innovative techniques are used to produce his creations, which to me appear out of the movie Victor Victoria. The sensual colored feathers and sequined pieces have a life of their own.

From 2003 to 2007, Fuchong got an opportunity to work in California, where he learned first-hand about the fashion industry - experiencing both the wholesale and retail sectors of the business.

If you want to know more about this talented Ubudian’s craft or his dancing lessons, call him on 0812 3912103.

Now that the dance lessons are over, let’s get a soothing massage from Samuel Suyoto from Surabaya, who has been living in Ubud since 2000. Married with two children Samuel – known to all as Totok - came to Bali from Surabaya after training under Hernavan, a distinguished Chinese practitioner of acupressure.

“People come to me to relieve aches and pains because they don’t know how to do themselves,” says Totok. “Medicine all the time is not good. One must exercise. Very fat people can’t do this, so with my art of acupressure, I give them relief. Also, tourists travelling long days and carrying heavy bags.

“I am a Christian and my Hindu brothers in Ubud have given me a home here. Ubud has given me a new life.”

You can contact Samuel Suyoto on 0812 4607464 and please speak to him in Indonesian if you want an appointment. He charges Rp70,000 (US$7.50) an hour.

If there is a voice out there in the Ubudian hills that wants to be heard on any subject concerning Ubud, please do write to me at ulyseas@gmail.com or editor@thebalitimes.com.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om

“The red is me … it’s Suradnya. My color I try to get the Bali smile – not Java smile, not Sumatra smile … Bali smile.” – I Nyoman Suradnya speaking to The Australian in October 1975, at the first exhibition of his paintings, at the Aladdin Gallery in Sydney.

The first time I met Nyoman, I took an instant liking to him, because he knew the words of the song Release Me. We both sang it loud and out of tune till the dogs started barking. Later over a cuppa and fried banana fritters, we discussed the state of art in Ubud. His frank and often strikingly honest remarks were a breath of fresh air after encountering many self-proclaimed artists too eager to please any listener. The next day we met at his studio to carry on the dialogue.

I began by asking him the usual question, “Why Ubud?”

“Because Ubud is where every breath is a prayer. Look around you at every nook and corner - someone is making an offering to the Gods. The continuous religious ceremonies inspire this living culture. Ubud breathes life into the arts and many come here to live off this breath of living culture.”

Nyoman is 60 years old. A child of a rice farmer, he worked in the fields helping his family. From a very young age he was intoxicated by the arts and crafts and experimented with whatever materials he had to create images on paper, in wood and stone.

Inspiration came from the Wayan Kulit (Shadow Puppet) and then from his brother. He painted in black and white as in those days color was not available. On finishing high school, he joined the Art School started by Tjokorda Gede Agung Sukawati of the Ubud Palace. Nyoman was the first student. There he learned painting, woodcarving, stone carving and carving for the Bull cremation towers from the masters of each craft. Like in India, the concept of Guru-Sheeksha (Master-Student) was prevalent.

After one year of the three-year course, Nyoman chose the art on traditional lines, learning proportion, perspective with regard to wood carving Ubud-style. He learned the techniques from Balinese and non-Balinese masters. The marketplace was one of his haunts. Nyoman would visit the market to sketch the basic outline of his subjects. Then he would return to the studio and breathe life into the sketch with paint and brush strokes.

Nyoman turned to the technique of batik and went to Yogyakarta in 1973 to learn the art from the Javanese master craftsmen. On his return to Ubud, he began by inventing batik color pigments with some powder so that it could be blended like acrylics. The special batik paint he created was used in his paintings to recreate the batik effect on his canvases. This was a groundbreaking technique that enabled Nyoman to take the craft of batik, which had been confined to fabric, onto another medium.

The resultant effect was a creative leap whereby batik was not limited to fabric but became a medium that Nyoman could use to manifest his perceptions of the real world around him onto canvas. Color exploded on the palette and splattered into shapes, forms and perspectives that immediately made Nyoman’s work recognizable in the numerous countries where he held his exhibitions. He became a pioneer in this field.

Nyoman’s considers the word “artist” as one coined for or by tourists. The apt phrase according to him is unagi, which means wood carver, builder, painter. All the arts and crafts were primarily for the pura (house of God) and the puri (house of the royal family). Later, with the arrival of Walter Spies, who was influenced by Henri Rousseau, the mingling of the two art forms resulted in a metamorphosis of Balinese art forms. The local artist began to paint “daily life” and incorporated perspectives, subtleties of shading etc. The foreign artists and Balinese craftspersons took to each other like bees to flowers.

Asked about his opinion on the numerous art galleries sprouting up all over Ubud, Nyoman said, “The mushrooming art galleries across Ubud are like McDonald’s fast-food outlets. They’ve lost the plot. The kitsch is feeding the tourists because that is what the tourists want to see and buy. I do hope this does not continue, otherwise good taste and discerning customers will fade away along with various art forms.”

And when I enquired as to whether he had reached the zenith in his art form, he looked at me for a moment and then laughed loudly and said he was getting there.

“I believe there is a promise land, a place I can reach nirvana with my artwork. However, I am still travelling and learning and travelling. When will it end, I do not know. But I firmly believe it will be in this lifetime.”

I Nyoman Suradnya has been known to speak his mind and to encourage his fellow villagers to beautify Ubud. Due to his endeavors, Ubud won the Most Beautiful Village in Indonesia in 1982, 1984 and 1986.

Some of his numerous past exhibitions: 1977 Galerie de Geneva, Milan, Italy; 1982 Arts & Crafts Centre, Melbourne, Australia; 1985 ISLA Centre of the Arts, Guam University, US; 1990 Gallery Balance, Osaka, Japan; 2004 Café Fleischli, Zurich, Switzerland.

Today one can learn the craft of batik and batik painting from the master himself at Nirvana Pension & Gallery, on Jl. Gautama, off Jl. Raya. (MU/BT)

I Nyoman Suradnya can be contacted via email, info@nirvanaku.com, or phone +62 361 975415.

By Mark Ulyseas

For The Bali Times

UBUD ~ Another week has gone by in the hills of Camelot. The sporadic rain has freshened the verdant surroundings with the fragrance of frangipani permeating the air.

Now that you get the drift of the weather up here, let’s skip the niceties and get down on our haunches to discuss, review and pontificate about Ubudian life.

The recent Full Moon religious ceremonies in Ubud have been special as it was Tumpek Landep, a day when the Balinese worship their heirlooms and metal objects like kerises, cars, etc. I got an opportunity to photograph Tjok Raka Kerthyasa and his wife Asri on their way to the temple with a retinue of followers. The moon painted Campuhan in gossamer light that made one feel removed from the material world, a hint of Dali lurking in the shadows.

I suppose the closest I’ve come to surrealism is in the artwork of my friend Wolfgang Widmoser, who has just returned from Jakarta after a grand opening of an exhibition of his paintings titled Venus Rising. The show is on at Bentara Budaya from November 21 to the 30. I am sure you have read about this genius in the making in numerous magazines, newspapers and on the web. Therefore, I am not going to bore you with all the intricate details of his life and work. However, I would like to share with you the conversation I had with him over a whisky sour the other day at my favorite watering hole.

When I asked him as to why he had made Bali his home, he replied, “The spirits of the island, especially Ubud, empower me to be my true self. I am not looking for the lost paradise in Bali, like Gauguin did in Tahiti. I came to Ubud when it was a village. I recall only three restaurants, Lilies, Murni’s and Victor Mason’s Beggar’s Bush, that were meeting points for artists, writers and intrepid tourists. This town has always welcomed creative people and has given them a place to work peacefully and undisturbed. The royal family of Ubud has always encouraged people like me to set up home here. The communication between Balinese and Western artists has stimulated and enriched the cultural ethos. Peter Dettmar, Filippos and me are the third generation of Western artists in Ubud. I hope this continues to remain in the future. I am sure it will.”

Wolf, as his close friends affectionately call him, said that he was a European artist influenced by western sensibilities and not by Balinese culture. But the Ubudian magic that dwells in the landscape mesmerizes and stimulates his creative process, which reflects in his artwork.

Behind this man stands Tony Raka, a Balinese who owns a sprawling well-known gallery by the same name in Maas, Ubud. Tony “adopted” Wolf many years ago by offering him the use of a large studio as well as giving him financial help. The pact between a Balinese curator and a European artist seems to have worked in an environment of enlightenment and cross-cultural synergy. It is also the first time that I have heard of a Balinese gallery owner actually supporting a foreign artist in this manner. In fact, Wolf is the only Western artist that Tony has promoted. We hope that this is a fore bearer of international recognition for Wolf and continued success for Tony Raka’s endeavor in bringing the big buyers of art to this town and inadvertently also exposing even the little-known artists to the global art world. Check out his website: www.tonyrakaartgallery.com.

From a brush with art, we move on to the fourth international Ubud Writers & Readers Festival held in September. You probably know the many faces involved in the festival except one – Ni Made Sri Purnami, or Kadek Purnami for short. She is a young, aspiring poetess who is the community development manager. This soft-spoken lady graduated from the University of Atma Jaya Jogyakarta, majoring in communication and specializing in public relations. She had earlier been a volunteer for the festival but now works fulltime. Kadek has been instrumental in organizing children’s programs, Community Panel discussions, a tribute to the Persian poet Rumi and lectures by Anand Krishna.

Kadek, who speaks Balinese, Bahasa and English, expressed consternation at the dwindling number of people on the island who speak Balinese. But she believes that exposure to other cultures is essential to widening one’s horizons and perceptions of a fast-changing world. The festival has brought Kadek into contact with writers and poets from around the world and in particular those from her home country, Indonesia. An aspiring poetess, she has been greatly influenced by Sapardi Djomo Damono, a poet from Jakarta who attended the festival in 2006. I quote a stanza from one of her poems, translated from Bahasa, titled The Station’s Long, Cold Bench.

I do not know

How many poems were born

From the wounded words

From the elated words

Of our interlocked past

As I sit still

On the station’s long, cold bench

Kadek lives with her husband Putu and his family on Jl. Gautama off Jalan Raya. Putu, who is a gifted batik painter, runs a batik workshop close to their home. She is proud to be Balinese and believes that her people have learned a lot by mingling with other cultures. To her, Ubud is a melting pot that churns out endless creative works, which in turn helps to attract even more artists to the place. If you want to know more about this talented young lady here’s a lead: http://galangbulan.blogspot.com.

Ever walked down Jl. Raya and rubbed shoulders with the rural folk who arrive at the daily market in droves carrying fresh produce from the surrounding villages? The other day when passing this market, I was accosted by Crazy Chris (as some affectionately call him, because of his verbal meandering that loses the listener in a haze of his cigarette plumes). He insisted I visit Wayan’s Healing Centre and Warung on Jl. Jembawan No.5, about three doors from the Ubud Post Office, adding that her warung was mentioned in the book Eat Pray Love by the American author Elizabeth Gilbert.

So the other day I ventured into Wayan’s Warung and was greeted with a glass of turmeric honey juice and a lecture by her on how it cleanses the body of toxins.

Herbal potted plants are neatly arrayed at the entrance of the warung. Each plant has a printed label that prominently displays its name and the curative powers in relation to human ailments like kidney stones and blood pressure.

Wayan suggests a hot shower with a mixture of turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, Asteraceace leaves and jujube to prevent rheumatism. This concoction works as it energizes the body, cleanses and softens the skin.

The food on offer is strictly vegetarian. For instance, Wayan’s very own Multivitamin Nasi Campur that I ordered was served with an unsolicited lecture that delved on the various aspects of the recipe: red rice has Vit B; Tomato chutney, Vit C, for healthy gums; grilled coconut with special sauce, for healthy bones; Seaweed Vit E, for hair and nails; Beansprouts Vit E, for heart and fertility; Water spinach Vit K, for healthy blood; Ginseng we all know; Tempe/Tofu Calcium; and finally, a special sauce of cinnamon, sesame seed and nutmeg.

The Multivitamin Nasi Campur was delicious, and cheap. I didn’t taste her version of Multivitamin Nasi Goreng and Multivitamin Mie Goreng. Suffice to say that Wayan has a delightful mix of natural remedies, massages, healthcare, nailcare, skincare and whatever, topped by a sound understanding of age-old Indonesian remedies for various illnesses. If you feel the wrinkles on your face are showing, drop in to Wayan’s. While you sip turmeric honey juice, she will rub cucumbers, Leucaena Glauca leaves, coconut oil and egg yolk into your skin to make it smooth like a baby’s bottom.

Next week we shall visit the Organic Farmer’s weekly Saturday market that is held at Pizza Bagus, to meet Gede, a Balinese farmer who grows a range of organic vegetables.

Ubud is truly enchanting. The many businesses that thrive here help in dispelling the notion that it is only a place for artists, writers and the blah, blah, blah crowd.

If there is a voice out there in the Ubudian hills that wants to be heard on any subject concerning Ubud, please do write to me at ulyseas@gmail.com or editor@thebalitimes.com.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om