Rubbing Elbows with Artists

This is our last day in Ubud. Our flight back to Okinawa is a red-eye, departing close to midnight, connecting through Hong Kong, and getting us back to Okinawa in time for lunch. We had to check out of our hotel at noon, but most hotels in this part of the world know that their guests have flights well after check-out time. The hotel held our bags while we lingered around the grounds and make one more tourist stop in Ubud: make your own silver jewelry!

Ryan found this opportunity just before we began our trip and was interested in trying it. I think he is missing his wood shop, being creative, working with his hands,...the type of engagement that only comes with time alone in a studio or shop and ends with something tangible. I was feeling better, and the idea that I could make my own jewelry was appealing, despite the fact that I am not creative.

We made our way to Chez Monique thanks to some help from one of the hotel drivers. The studio was in an area of town that had many studios featuring the work of a variety of artists. Some were open to the public to use the work space to make their own creations. There were also studios that offered final pieces for purchase or commission. A few artists were working on their crafts out where we could see them.

The paths leading through the block where our silversmith was located also had cocks awaiting their next battles:

In addition to the temples and statues everywhere, another generalization I can make about Bali is the popularity of caged wild birds. I could have started my own life list of new species first seen in cages. This list would being with my first Painted Bunting, which I saw in Mexico back in 2002 at a pet store. Wild birds in cages was sad then, and it is still sad now, although absolutely more extensive in Bali than anywhere else I've travelled.  Here is my second Common Myna. I think my first was in a cage on Zamami-jima?

We found our studio and met our team of silversmiths, all of whom were very nice and encouraging. A mother and daughter vacationing in the area from Perth, Australia were also interested in making jewelry. The four of us perused the sample books of the possibilities, which were ample! Our hosts gave us good options and suggestions for what we could accomplish in the time we had. I settled on a ring, bird-themed, for me, and Ryan decided on a necklace, also bird-themed, and also for me (!). We showed our hosts, and then got to work.

My ring was small. Sawing the silver around the outline of my ring was easier than I thought, although I was finished by the time I really got the hang of it. Ryan's charm, on the other hand, had more tight spaces and there were a few saw blade casualties.

That's not a peace sign from Ryan. Rather, that is the number of saw blades lost to our creative ventures. HULK SMASH! I did not break any saw blades. As funny as I thought it was, breaking two blades was nothing compared to our Australian counterparts, one of whom broke four. After sawing the outline of the piece, we used chisels to create details in the charms. I used a buffer to make a shiny ring, while Ryan's charm looked much better raw. He told me later he wanted to use the buffing machine. Next time, ba-beh.

We had a lot of fun working with the silver. This was probably our most memorable experience in Bali, and I got some fabulous souvenirs in the process.

We thanked the good people at Chez Monique and waited outside for our driver. I snapped a few more photos of the area, still irritated that I missed an entire day of sight-seeing. Grrr.

Back at Bebek Tepi Sawah, we found some covered lounge chairs near one of the pools and waited for Mr. Jaga to take us to the airport. We had a couple of hours till we needed to depart from the airport, so we ordered drinks and I wrote some postcards and enjoyed the fresh air while Ryan enjoyed a stogie.

Writing a good postcard is an artform in itself, and I fear I'm getting worse for every postcard I write. I hope I am wrong about this, and prefer to think how fun it is for one to receive something fun in the mail with a cool stamp on it. Bali makes sending postcards easy: every vendor offers stamps with the purchase of each postcard. Armed with several postcards to write and an appropriate complement of stamps, I only had to write them all before Mr. Jaga showed up to retrieve us. However, you can only write so many postcards in a row before the process ceases to be enjoyable. I took one last walk around the grounds for inspiration and a few more pictures on this beautiful day.

Mr. Jaga came and off we went to the airport. I only had two extra requests: one stop for dinner and one stop so I could purchase the maximum number of Djarum Blacks allowed into Japan by customs. Turns out the cigarettes were easy. Dinner, on the other hand, was less than pleasant. Mr. Jaga asked us if we liked seafood, and we both thought this would be a good choice before returning to Japan. The restaurant was in Kuta, a popular place for younger travelers to Bali and also the location of the infamous bombing a few years earlier. It was a Chinese restaurant that was absolutely packed when we arrived, which we took as a good sign. Upon sitting down, we got the feeling that this would be a memorable meal in the way one hopes to avoid when it comes to food. The aquarium had sad occupants...

...and the menu was a study in match the picture with what you *think* you want.

Upon time to pay, we noticed several German cockroaches behind the register, to which Ryan responded, "I thought I smelled something familiar." My stomach lurched with the last throes of Bali Belly, but I figured I'd purchase some gum or grab a coffee to clear it all away. And so with a not-so-great last meal, we closed the door on an otherwise wonderful vacation and adventure in Indonesia. We both agreed that this is the first of multiple trips to Indonesia. There are still many islands and species we have yet to find.