It’s 32C and the humidity is 65%. Holy cow it is hot. 32C mid summer in Edmonton is hot but not like this. With the sun directly over head and very little shade on the street I am swimming is sweat. Heat does not bother me too much but still, today every ½ hour or so I have to sit down in the shade on the step of some shop and guzzle a few gulps of water. Coke, my drink of choice is readily available for about 50 Canadian cents. Even on a relatively short morning jaunt I will drink at least one bottle of that. When I get back to the cottage I have to peal my shirt off my back. Debbie is not here to help and it is a bit of a struggle.
Yesterday we were a bit impulsive and bought tickets to a dance performance for this evening. We have been to Ubud before and missed the shadow puppets show and it is something that interests me. When we got back to the hotel we looked up when the puppet show takes place and it is tonight. While Debbie and B are at a class to further their batik skills my task is to see if I could exchange the dance tickets for tomorrow evening and if successful to purchase puppet show tickets for this evening. Thus the long walk in the heat. Partially successful we will attend the shadow puppets tonight and the dance tomorrow. Being every bit accommodating, the fellow at the dance venue exchanged our tickets with a smile. When I went to purchase the tickets to see the puppets I looked into my wallet and had nowhere near enough money. Not used to carrying cash anymore I did not check my wallet when I left this morning. I managed to purchase one and put two on reserve. We will pay for the others this evening. B, Debbie and I will attend the show tonight.
The purchase of one ticket left me in rather a precarious position money wise when it came to lunch. When we were in Sumberkima, the lady at the desk of the hotel told me I must try empal jugung. Corn fritters in English speak. I have been on the look out for them. She mentioned I would not be able to find them in a ‘tourist’ place I would have to go to an Indonesian Warung. Today, being on my own, I thought I might be able to find them. I tried at a couple of traditional warungs, of which there are not many in Ubud, but to no avail. I started to ask at more upscale warungs, the ones that advertised ‘authentic Indonesian food.’ Bingo, about the third one I asked said yes they have them. It cost me 20,000 rupiah for two. I did not check my wallet when I ordered two fritters and a can of Coke. I went to pay and I just have enough cash. All done I had 7000 IDR left, about 70 cents CAD. Luck, sometimes is on your side and today I had some.
I think my expectations were too high. I am glad I went to see the shadow puppets but I am a little disappointed. We got a chance to see some of the puppets before the show. They are hand done and quite beautiful. My disappointment came from the fact that behind the screen as the show went on, the top half of the puppets was in focus but the bottom part was too far away from the screen and was blurred. I thought the entire work of art was worth the vision from the audience’s side. The second thing I found odd was the show did not match the story on the program we were handed when we entered. We thought it was the story of what was going to be presented. The show started and the actions and dialog had absolutely nothing to do with what we had read. From what I could make out it was kind of a comedy/slapstick routine. To bad, because the story is some historical Balinese folklore.
I guess we will see how the dancing goes tomorrow.