On Valentine’s Day we took a car to Ubud, located an hour north into the mountains. Home to rice paddies, yoga, and traditional arts and crafts, Ubud was a nice change of pace simply because there was more to do there. On our second day, we visited the Agung Rai Museum of Art, just one of the many museums in the area. ARMA’s mix of traditional and modern Balinese art was housed in two buildings on an extensive — and beautiful — garden. The whole experience was lovely.
In general, Ubud had many more things to do, from restaurants and shops to monkey forests, elephant temples, and various dance shows. I, of course, didn’t do any of these things, as my main goal was to visit the Bali Bird Park, which I did on a sunny Friday afternoon — the only wholly sunny day we had.
I didn’t even know about the bird park until we drove by it on the way up from Canggu, and immediately made it my singular goal. There was a zoo nearby too, and an adjoining reptile park but I skipped both of those to focus on birds. And what an experience it was!
Bali Bird Park was amazing as there were hundreds/thousands of birds on display — many of them just out in the open and wandering the grounds. I’ve been to my share of bird parks but this one outdid them all. The space itself was the perfect size for a long afternoon and it wasn’t crowded so I could spend a lot of time just staring at all the animals.
And here’s the best part: There was a Komodo dragon there! I got in just in time for a scheduled feeding but afterwards the crowd dispersed and you could just hang around alone, not ten feet away from the Komodo — separated by a wide ditch — and just watch it. An American lady had waited 70+ years to see a Komodo live and she was in rapturous happiness. I swung around to check out the dragon a few times on my loops of the park, and even just laying there and not moving, the Komodo was impressive.
Neither the museum nor the zoo had much staff lingering around, which felt both freeing and wildly fantastical. If you wanted to deface a painting or jump into the Komodo pen, it would have been a little too easy. I guess when you’re used to docents watching your every move, the lack of oversight is glaringly uncomfortable.
The next day, I chanced a meal at a local fried chicken chain and then disaster struck: diarrhea. Oh yes, the last couple of days of Ubud was taken over by me sitting close to a toilet and trying not to go anywhere. Thankfully I had already decided to pull the plug on Bali after two weeks — I was originally planning to go for four — and had a flight scheduled for a few days later.
It wasn’t the boredom or the environment that drove me from Bali, but literally the food. I just couldn’t deal with the lack of food options, and while we finished up with a bang, I just couldn’t deal with the food we were sucking down for two weeks. Nobody had told me that food in Bali could be like this! I was dying for some decent eats and looking forward to the easy delicious meals back in Taipei.
But before that, K and I had a “bang-bang-bang” dinner — “bang bang” means back-to-back meals? — at Melting Wok Warung, Naughty Nuri's, and then Room 4 Dessert. We’d walked by Melting Wok on our first night in Ubud, and intrigued by the reservation-only policy, we went back. Turns out the food was pretty good, and was definitely the best curry we’d had all trip.
Afterwards we jetted to Naughty Nuri’s, reputed to have the best ribs in Bali — if not beyond — as Anthony Bourdain had came and lauded both their ribs and their martinis. Review: Decent but not like mind blowing. Maybe a seven out of ten. (Btw, a “seven” grade was spectacular for our trip so far.) Avoid the onion rings though, which were lauded to be great but were basically inedible. After Nuri's it was on to the big show, which was Room 4 Dessert, the place where my friend got her culinary start.
More than a decade ago, the original Room 4 Dessert was located in Nolita, and we’d go and visit Pam and try all the molecular gastronomy things they dished up. Now Room 4 Dessert had moved to Ubud — follow the link below to read about Chef Goldfarb's journey — and I couldn’t not go. Pam had just been in Ubud a few months earlier but she was gone by the time I got there. Still we got to chat up her friends and co-workers, and they were very welcoming and hospitable. Going for a full nine course dessert menu might have been a bit much but we sucked it up and spooned it up. Schmancy!
And so that was Bali, plus one extra day where I lay in bed and tried not to go anywhere because well, 🚽. I was very excited to go back to Taipei, as I guess I’m just ebullient when exiting?
In general, Ubud had many more things to do, from restaurants and shops to monkey forests, elephant temples, and various dance shows. I, of course, didn’t do any of these things, as my main goal was to visit the Bali Bird Park, which I did on a sunny Friday afternoon — the only wholly sunny day we had.
Bali Bird Park was amazing as there were hundreds/thousands of birds on display — many of them just out in the open and wandering the grounds. I’ve been to my share of bird parks but this one outdid them all. The space itself was the perfect size for a long afternoon and it wasn’t crowded so I could spend a lot of time just staring at all the animals.
And here’s the best part: There was a Komodo dragon there! I got in just in time for a scheduled feeding but afterwards the crowd dispersed and you could just hang around alone, not ten feet away from the Komodo — separated by a wide ditch — and just watch it. An American lady had waited 70+ years to see a Komodo live and she was in rapturous happiness. I swung around to check out the dragon a few times on my loops of the park, and even just laying there and not moving, the Komodo was impressive.
Neither the museum nor the zoo had much staff lingering around, which felt both freeing and wildly fantastical. If you wanted to deface a painting or jump into the Komodo pen, it would have been a little too easy. I guess when you’re used to docents watching your every move, the lack of oversight is glaringly uncomfortable.
The next day, I chanced a meal at a local fried chicken chain and then disaster struck: diarrhea. Oh yes, the last couple of days of Ubud was taken over by me sitting close to a toilet and trying not to go anywhere. Thankfully I had already decided to pull the plug on Bali after two weeks — I was originally planning to go for four — and had a flight scheduled for a few days later.
It wasn’t the boredom or the environment that drove me from Bali, but literally the food. I just couldn’t deal with the lack of food options, and while we finished up with a bang, I just couldn’t deal with the food we were sucking down for two weeks. Nobody had told me that food in Bali could be like this! I was dying for some decent eats and looking forward to the easy delicious meals back in Taipei.
But before that, K and I had a “bang-bang-bang” dinner — “bang bang” means back-to-back meals? — at Melting Wok Warung, Naughty Nuri's, and then Room 4 Dessert. We’d walked by Melting Wok on our first night in Ubud, and intrigued by the reservation-only policy, we went back. Turns out the food was pretty good, and was definitely the best curry we’d had all trip.
More than a decade ago, the original Room 4 Dessert was located in Nolita, and we’d go and visit Pam and try all the molecular gastronomy things they dished up. Now Room 4 Dessert had moved to Ubud — follow the link below to read about Chef Goldfarb's journey — and I couldn’t not go. Pam had just been in Ubud a few months earlier but she was gone by the time I got there. Still we got to chat up her friends and co-workers, and they were very welcoming and hospitable. Going for a full nine course dessert menu might have been a bit much but we sucked it up and spooned it up. Schmancy!
And so that was Bali, plus one extra day where I lay in bed and tried not to go anywhere because well, 🚽. I was very excited to go back to Taipei, as I guess I’m just ebullient when exiting?