Last day in Ubud

The monkey colony arrived early this morning; there was a young one on our balcony first thing when we opened the curtains.

We left a small pump bottle of Aeroguard on our balcony table on our first day here and wondered why it ended up tipped over, minus its pump lid by the next morning (!!!!)! I think it must have been the monkeys - we've been hoping they didn't take a swig. While they're a bloody nuisance I'd hate to see one of them have a painful Aeroguard related death.

They run along the edge of the pool, scooping out water to drink with their hands!

It has been quite entertaining watching the hotel staff spring into action herding the monkeys off the property the last few mornings, but I'm sure it's not entertaining for them considering the damage the monkeys do. 

Our housekeeping crew has reached the absolute pinnacle of towel art today .......

We enjoyed a very self-indulgent last day in Ubud: breakfast and a swim then a leisurely walk down Jl Hanoman to Pengosekan the village to the south of Ubud and home to our fave ARMA.

The shops along Jl Hanoman are more upmarket than in Monkey Forest Road - I was thrilled to be able to buy some matching table mats to the ones I bought 20 years ago in East Bali - finely woven in naturally smoked and dried grass and bamboo, not the much cheaper coarse woven coloured versions that are much more prevalent in the local markets now. 

I also like checking out the architecture and gardens of the upmarket hotels along Jl Hanoman and Raya Pengosekan. Rob took this pic of me outside the very elegant Alaya Resort.

We ended up back at ARMA's Warung Kopi to enjoy a long cool drink, a long chat with one of the knowledgeable ARMA staff members and a chance to check out the wonderful collection of art books available for guests - and then a light lunch afterwards around the fish pond.

I have got very interested in the Dutch-Indonesian painter Arie Smit after having visited Penestanan yesterday where he'd lived until his death at age 100 years in 2016. I want to learn more about him. Apparently in his youth he was most inspired by the 3 Pauls (Signac, Gauguin and Cezanne) and it shows!

We caught up with all the ARMA news from our chat with the IT Manager. The newly upscale Warung Kopi was built during the pandemic (during the time that Bali was able to "breathe" according to the IT Manager!). At the same time the beautiful ARMA restaurant at the front of the resort was demolished (as I had suspected) and in its place Agung Rai's daughter has built a modern (but quite ordinary looking) contemporary restaurant - not a good change in our view!!

We were rewarded with a passing greeting from Agung Rai and his wife at the end of our visit to ARMA. They were dressed to the nines in ceremonial clothes (it was time for the "home temple ceremony" apparently). Agung Rai has been appointed chair of the Bali Museums Authority in recognition of his leadership in this area so he's an even more busy and important man these days with broader responsibilities outside ARMA.

Our second last indulgence in Ubud today was a repeat of our Aryuvedic massage from Ubud Bodyworks ------ aaaaaah!

..... and our final indulgence tonight was dining at the buzzy Hujan Locale in Jl Sri Wedari off Jl Raya Ubud.

Hujan Locale is the brainchild of Will Meyrick, a Bali-based Australian chef, committed to pushing a "farmer to diner menu", utilising the ingredients of the Indonesian archipelago - and inspired by his love of Balinese street food. Our grouper and garlic chive dumplings, our tuna gohu (raw tuna with pomelo, watermelon, peanuts, chili etc + cassava chips) and our Acehnese chargrilled octopus were all just wonderful and absolute flavour sensations!!!   

Hujan Locale has a vintage vibe with Javanese colonial era furniture and decor. We were just "walk ins" so got seated downstairs in the bar area - upstairs is where the diners in the know (who booked) get seated.