Sunday, March 25, 2012

some of the flavors....

*javanese kare (curry) with silken tofu at warung igleanca
*nasi campur at bali buddha
*pumpkin curry nasi campur at bar luna
*gado gado at lala & lily's
*veg curry at lala & lily's
*bubur injin(black rice pudding with palm sugar syrup, coconut milk, and bananas--melissa's favorite!) at atman
*gado gado and tempeh penyet, warung igleanca
*our beloved maru's (fresh turmeric juice with lime and honey!) at bubu's warung








ogoh-ogohs!










nyepi week in bali










Tuesday, March 20, 2012

offerings, and blue bird/white heart

carson took a kite making class.
melissa took a balinese offering making class.
here's a glimpse....








Thursday, March 15, 2012

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Saturday, March 3, 2012

three markets in one night!

tomorrow comes quickly, and on that day, we say goodbye to krabi. we've only been here for 4 days, but somehow another home has been found in the world; we seem to have a knack for finding special spots that we grow to love in merely a few days. we love krabi for it's markets; tonight we visited three different night markets, all full of people enjoying food and enjoying life. we sampled delicacies at each of them, starting with the most delicious chewy coconut taro pancake treats we've ever ever EVER had (made by a sweet thai couple at the night market, we say "a-roi maak maak!" which means "very, very delicious!").

since today is friday, there was a big walking street market, and while there, we found a woman who had set up a large tarp with batik fabrics all ready to paint; she had already traced a design in wax, and she had set out watercolor-like paints and brushes and water for anyone to come and fill in the batik image, all for a whopping 65 cents! :) what a deal! carson and i both painted one, and it was so much fun! we were joined by two young thai boys who, i must say, were quite artistic and skilled at batik painting! as we wandered the market, we ducked under an umbrella during a 5 minute rain shower and marveled at the speed of all of the vendors as they quickly covered the entirety of their booth with plastic to protect everything from the rain. when the rain stopped, just as quickly, everything was uncovered and things were back to normal. we noticed a woman cooking phad thai very deliberately, and in that moment, we realized that we had stumbled upon perhaps the most delicious and special phad thai in the world. we were right. the other woman at the booth told us their recipe was based on the original phad thai recipe from Chonburi, east of Bangkok. she started with some oil, and then put in some fresh garlic and shallots. next went some fresh squid, fresh prawns, and dried shrimp. soon after, the chili flakes, and then the rice noodles...followed by the super special tamarind phad thai sauce, and then an orange yolked duck egg....topped with thin green onions, peanuts, fresh lime....every bite was like tasting the depth of history. it was incredible. it was once in a lifetime. the picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see how sweet the woman is just by looking at her face!

we bought a balloon animal from a man with only one arm. we bought the most amazing coconut ice cream from a woman who scooped out the young coconut meat from a halved coconut, and then put the ice cream on top of the coconut meat, and then roasted peanuts on top of that. we went back for seconds. we ate mango sticky rice. we went back for seconds. (it's so nice to go back for seconds when the desserts cost about $1 each).

so krabi, thank you for your thunderstorms and purple clouds lit by lightening. thank you for your kind people, and your market culture. thank you for providing us with a clean bed and AC after sweating it out in the islands with hard beds and biting bugs. thank you for your pilgrimage to the top of the mountain to visit your big golden buddha and look out onto your limestone cliffs and green lands.