Indonesia - the Grub

No Complaints
The good food started on the plane in this simple snack: kacang telur.  Otherwise called "egg coated peanuts."  I'd never had them before but now I cannot get enough.  It's a whole peanut coated in a sweet crackly glaze.  No trace of egg to my tongue, just sweet and salty.

At the famous suckling pig shack I felt a bit let down.  The meat was tough and the fat lacking.  Clearly they let their pigs exercise too much.  I prefer a pig whose been raised on the couch, watching television and knocking back Pepsi big gulps.  The Bintang beer at two dollars a pop eased the pain a bit.

The best meal by far was a ten dollar cab ride away from town, to the southern suburbs.  We sat outside in the shade next to rice fields.

I am not much of a fish fan but I think, even after reflecting on it for a week, that this was the tastiest, juiciest fish I've ever eaten.   It was barbecued with a zesty sauce that made us ponder selling the condo and relocating to Bali.

Ditto the ribs.

On one of our more strenous outings, we hiked three kilometers uphill to take in the view.  We sat at a hotel terrace sipping elaborately fruity ice tees and peered out on pure jungle.  A thousand feet down, two rivers rolled along in deep ravines. 

Ubud has a nice mix of small town charm, quiet rice paddies, hilly jungle and rivers.  It's a beautiful countryside.

So as not to appear too greedy, we waited until 4:05 every afternoon to join the 4pm tea session at the villas.

Indonesia is known as much for tea as it is for coffee and we usually chose a black variety to go along with the homemade snacks: cookies and deep-fried bananas.

The approval was obvious.

As was the sleepiness soon afterwards.