October 22, 2016
We started the day by attending one of Bali’s dance dramas, Kris Barong dance. There are many versions held in different places, but the one we watched was in Kesiman, Denpasar. The Barong play represents an eternal fight between a good and evil spirit. Barong ( a mythological animal) represents the good spirit, and Rangda ( a mythological monster) represents the evil one.
The dance drama also included a monkey, a tiger, male servants/village men and female dancers who wore vibrant and colourful costumes. No one was narrating through the scenes so I felt kind of lost most parts despite having a copy of the program. I wish the performance had dialogues– it would’ve been easier to follow through what was going on in each scene. The background music sounded beautiful though, created by natural musical instruments used by the locals. Overall, it was a great performance and some parts amused me, but I’m not sure if it’s something I’d see again.
Barong, a lion-like creature which is the mythological animal that represents good spirit.
Next stop for the day– we visited a coffee/tea plantation. We got to see the process of making the famous Luwak coffee (civet coffee). The coffee beans are first eaten by the Asian palm civets, then the coffee beans are defecated and washed. It’s apparently the most expensive coffee in the world.
Unwashed Kopi luwak
Washed Kopi luwak
After washing the coffee beans, they are pounded then roasted for an hour.
Luwak coffee
I’m admittedly not a huge coffee-person, but I was happy to give the Luwak coffee a try. It had a unique exotic taste to it– I’m not quite sure if I liked it or not. But to those coffee-lovers who happen to be in Bali, you guys should give it a go.
We tried 13 different teas/coffees : herbal tea, mangosteen peel, lemongrass tea, ginger tea, lemon tea, Rosella tea, red ginger tea, Ginseng coffee, Bali coffee, cocoa spices, Vanilla coffee, Bali cocoa, coconut coffee
Out of all the coffees/teas that I tried, I really loved the Mangosteen peel because the flavour and scent was nice and subtle. I also liked their Bali cocoa. The lemon tea and cocoa spices were a bit too strong for me.
Kuta Beach and Centro Mall was next. When we arrived at the beach, it was very gloomy. It appeared like it was going to rain. The beach wasn’t the cleanest either, so my friend and I decided to just hang at the mall just opposite the beach. The mall reminded me of SM city North Edsa’s Sky Garden in the Philippines. It had a park feel with the dangling trees, flowers and a pond, which was calming.
While looking through the stalls and shops inside, I couldn’t help myself and not stop by the Balinese sweets stall. I tried the ‘Jaja Batun bedil’ (glutinous rice with sugar sauce) and ‘Pisang Rai’ (steamed banana).
I’m guilty for having a sweet tooth
I bought a few of these
My friend took me to this nice restaurant called Kafe Betawi where the food was cheap and just as delicious. I had ‘Nasi Uduk Ayam Kuning’ (Coconut-infused fragrant rice with traditional friend turmeric-infused chicken). For dessert, I had ‘Es Kacang Hijau’ (green lentil dessert drink), which reminded me of the Filipino dessert ‘Halo-Halo’.
This was our last day out together before the wedding day. I’m definitely going to miss her!
