I spent today saying goodbye to Ubud. That meant taking some much-needed time to myself and exploring new things (mostly shopping) + saying goodbye to favorites. First up was breakfast with Fenny (the community manager I've befriended) at Elephant. We walked down the crazy footpath with the ravine on one side, which I won't miss, and then I had an iced coffee frappe, which I will miss.
We also had a long, very interesting discussion about religion and politics and culture - she grew up in Java and Sumatra and is Muslim (like the majority of Indonesia, although Bali is predominantly Hindu), but even though her mom just made the pilgrimage to Mecca, she is not strict in her own beliefs (yes to alcohol, no to veils). And she doesn't have a lot of patience for the way some of the hardline Muslims are using religion to rile up their constituents against certain politicians who are predominantly ethnic Chinese, and whom there is a lot of jealousy against because some of the Chinese descendents (who have been in Indonesia for a long time) have become quite rich - there's an issue going on right now with the mayor of Jakarta, who is Chinese/non-Muslim, and a hardline Muslim group who is trying to bring him down by accusing him of blasphemy.
And here, again, it feels like more of a divide between rural and urban than it actually does between religion or morality, and Indonesia's democracy, with its melting pot of multiple religions and ethnicities and languages, seems to face very similar challenges to America's. And in a lot of cases, I think political parties pay lip service to a specific set of beliefs (whether it's the evangelical movement or progressive politics) in a cynical attempt to gain votes and stay in power - they can rile up the base during the election, and then ignore them until it's time to go back to the ballot box.
sssanyway. That wasn't the most coherent couple of paragraphs I've ever written, but I need to go to bed asap - I haven't been sleeping well because I've got too much on my mind, and I have to upload my book in seventeen days and I'm not done, and I have to go to London this weekend. So moving on from Fenny (whom I adore), I spent part of the afternoon shopping for souvenir-type things that I hadn't bothered to buy the rest of the time I was here (a great leather purse, a couple of figurines, etc.). I also went to Seniman and wrote for a bit. I got an impromptu foot/hand reflexology massage, which I adored.
And I ended up at Night Rooster by myself - it's the bar associated with Locavore (home of the incredible meal I had a couple of weeks ago), and it's very nearly as good as Locavore itself. Both of my cocktails were great (I preferred one, called Ashes, way more; the other one was a bit of an ordering mistake on my part since it was too sweet, but Ashes had rye whisky and a burning pinecone next to it, and you'll just have to trust me when I say it was perfection in a glass). I also had shepherd's pie, which I realized in retrospect was a weird dish to transition between Indonesia and London...and then I had the 'd.i.y. indo mie', which was a noodle dish with a duck egg and some duck, to which you added your own mix of chili sauce/soy/peanuts. It was also incredible - I ate every single bite of both dishes, and tried to scrape every last bit of flavor off the bowls.
Then I came back to Roam, did a load of laundry, and talked to Lisa, Tess, and Fenny while I waited for it to be done. And now I am going to bed - goodnight!
We also had a long, very interesting discussion about religion and politics and culture - she grew up in Java and Sumatra and is Muslim (like the majority of Indonesia, although Bali is predominantly Hindu), but even though her mom just made the pilgrimage to Mecca, she is not strict in her own beliefs (yes to alcohol, no to veils). And she doesn't have a lot of patience for the way some of the hardline Muslims are using religion to rile up their constituents against certain politicians who are predominantly ethnic Chinese, and whom there is a lot of jealousy against because some of the Chinese descendents (who have been in Indonesia for a long time) have become quite rich - there's an issue going on right now with the mayor of Jakarta, who is Chinese/non-Muslim, and a hardline Muslim group who is trying to bring him down by accusing him of blasphemy.
And here, again, it feels like more of a divide between rural and urban than it actually does between religion or morality, and Indonesia's democracy, with its melting pot of multiple religions and ethnicities and languages, seems to face very similar challenges to America's. And in a lot of cases, I think political parties pay lip service to a specific set of beliefs (whether it's the evangelical movement or progressive politics) in a cynical attempt to gain votes and stay in power - they can rile up the base during the election, and then ignore them until it's time to go back to the ballot box.
sssanyway. That wasn't the most coherent couple of paragraphs I've ever written, but I need to go to bed asap - I haven't been sleeping well because I've got too much on my mind, and I have to upload my book in seventeen days and I'm not done, and I have to go to London this weekend. So moving on from Fenny (whom I adore), I spent part of the afternoon shopping for souvenir-type things that I hadn't bothered to buy the rest of the time I was here (a great leather purse, a couple of figurines, etc.). I also went to Seniman and wrote for a bit. I got an impromptu foot/hand reflexology massage, which I adored.
And I ended up at Night Rooster by myself - it's the bar associated with Locavore (home of the incredible meal I had a couple of weeks ago), and it's very nearly as good as Locavore itself. Both of my cocktails were great (I preferred one, called Ashes, way more; the other one was a bit of an ordering mistake on my part since it was too sweet, but Ashes had rye whisky and a burning pinecone next to it, and you'll just have to trust me when I say it was perfection in a glass). I also had shepherd's pie, which I realized in retrospect was a weird dish to transition between Indonesia and London...and then I had the 'd.i.y. indo mie', which was a noodle dish with a duck egg and some duck, to which you added your own mix of chili sauce/soy/peanuts. It was also incredible - I ate every single bite of both dishes, and tried to scrape every last bit of flavor off the bowls.
Then I came back to Roam, did a load of laundry, and talked to Lisa, Tess, and Fenny while I waited for it to be done. And now I am going to bed - goodnight!
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