What an AMAZING day!

Oh man we had such an amazing day today..I have to say I think I am falling in love with Bali! So this morning we woke up and headed to our friend Mr. Patra's house. His house is unbelievable and it was so cool to be able to experience a Balinese home. Balinese Hindu homes are typically walled in and have a small temple so that the family members can pray each day without having to travel to a temple. Mr. Patra's home is huge and immaculate, the detail of the carved stone and teke wood was unlike anything I have ever seen before. He has 1 main home that was 2 stories and very Balinese from the outside and modern on the inside. There are 3 other smaller homes that were also made of carve sandstone, teke wood and marble. The homes are part indoor/part outdoor and most of the carvings tell a story of some sort. They also have a temple in their home that was made from lava stone (from the Mt. Agung eruption in 1963) and the temple was huge and beautiful. When we arrive we had to dress in a sarong and have a ribbon type belt (very traditional) we then sat around and visited with Mr. Patra, Madra (his wife) and their adorable 5 year old daughter, Putri. She is so cute and speaks English better than I do : ) She sang Baa Baa Black Sheep, Edelweiss and some Balinese songs for us (don't worry I joined in) and then her and I colored for awhile, until she decided to show us her ballet and modeling moves.

After about 2 hours, we left with Mr. Patra to go out "hunting" aka shopping. But first we stopped to have some traditional Balinese food. We went to this small restaurant and started our meal with fresh coconut juice (I mean the whole coconut). Then lunch was a red snapper fish (with the eyes and teeth still), the fish was seasoned with lemongrass, red sugar and some other traditional spices and then wrapped in banana leave and grilled for a couple of hours. It was served with red rice and some steamed vegetables and red chili sauce. I have to say both Linda and I were a little gun shy about how to eat this meal so we patiently waited until Mr. Patra started. And well they eat with their hands here as well, Mr. Patra said that this is to help find the bones, but I have to say 1) I couldn't use my left hand and 2) I am not very coordinated with my right hand so I think more of my meal ended up on the floor/my shirt then in my mouth. But, after I got over the fact that the little guy was staring at me it was actually quite delicious and definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

From there we continued on our shopping adventure and drove past several of the towns in Bali. We stopped in Ubud to check out the hotel where we will be staying next. It was so cool, we have an outdoor shower/bathroom and a little garden area in the front. I can't wait to get there..

So off to bed for me, we have 7:30am date with the rice paddies tomorrow.