My last post was so full I did not have the chance to tell you about the lovely lunch we had that day. It’s hard to believe we packed more wonderfulness into that day, but we did!
First, I’ve been remiss in not introducing you to our fantastic driver, Wayan. Say hello!
That’s Wayan with his lovely wife. He drove us all around Ubud while we were there and was a fantastic guide.
After we played with the elephants, Wayan took us to a lovely restaurant overlooking this breathtaking valley.
The food was fantastic, too! Look how pretty this is.
Bonnie finished off her lunch by a swing over the valley. She is much braver than I!
Seriously, Bonnie is the best sport ever. She will pretty much go anywhere and do anything. If you need a travel buddy, give her a buzz!
Wayan took us to see Balinese dancers which, it turns out, was in the form of a play. A temple served as the backdrop. Take a look at the beginning. I got a kick out of this dragon snapping its jaws.
Musical accompaniment was courtesy of this group of musicians. They played like this the entire time and I swear none of them ever looked at either their instrument or at any sheet music.
Here are the Balinese Dancers.
Random: here’s another beautiful river gorge.
On my last day in Bali, Bonnie treated me to a gourmet lunch at Restaurant Locavore. Listed among the top 50 restaurants in Asia, and I am sure the recipient of many other awards, Restaurant Locavore has a prixe fixe menu. We had a tough time finding the place. In a lovely stroke of serendipity, we ran into and were personally escorted there by Chef Eelke Plasmeijer.
Our luck continued when we were seated at the chef’s table. We spent the entire lunch watching the chefs create these dishes and marveling over the attention they paid to every little artistic detail. Bonnie and I both chose the vegetarian menu. In a brilliant move, Restaurant Locavore offers pairings of mini cocktails with each course rather than wine, since good wine is hard to find in that part of the world.
I could not possibly do this place justice by trying to describe the dishes. As we finished each one, we would say “That is the best thing I’ve ever had!” There were quite a few “freebie” courses thrown in as well. Feast your eyes on these photos:
Every single one was amazing!
The finale was this “boat” of goodies, with accompanying cheat sheet. So, unlike Forrest Gump, we knew what we were going to get!
Are you hungry now? Bonnie, thank you again for an amazing experience!
Lynn Padgett Beard 