Seven days in Ubud, Bali.
It’s been a couple of troubled weeks in paradise. I’m still digesting a lot of impressions, not all of them good. I came to Bali to find my own little cloud in heaven on earth, but like Mick Jagger (still) likes to sing: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you might find you get what you need.” I guess I got what I needed: a slice of reality… and it hurt - it literally did.
Only two days after my birthday, a surfboard hit me on the head and I spend my birthday money on a horrible visit in the Emergency Room and five painful stiches without narcosis. It was a dreadful day for me, I had never been to hospital before and never did I picture my first visit getting there on the back of a scooter, driving the chaotic streets of Indonesia; no helmet, but a bleeding wound on my head.
But if this sounds like a Western standard nightmare to you, let me tell you this: In the last weeks I’ve heard stories that are ten times worse.
So, to recover from my surf’n’turf, I left the coast in fibres of rain this morning and headed up to the Monkey Forest in Ubud. Some say it’s a place to find yourself, others say it’s “hippie-town”, and still others say it’s not what it used to be.
But honestly? I. Don’t. Care.
I am not planning on doing any Yoga or pulling an Elisabeth Gilbert, hiring a bike and cycling through rice paddies. I’m not planning on batik dyeing my clothes or meditating to make my organs smile. The only organ that deserves a big, fat smile, however, is my tummy.
And I found the perfect place to make it happy: The Art Kafe Bar on Monkey Forest Road - a charming little coffee place that looks just like it’s cut out of my Berlin neighbourhood (minus the Macbooks…).
I know I should go explore, mingle with the locals, have yet another adventure. But screw that. I just can’t be asked. Instead, I will sit here on these comfy couches every day for the next seven days and try as many different treats from the menu as I possibly can whilst reading a book, surfing the internet or listening to music. Today I had a Club Sandwich, an Apple-Ginger-Carrot-Juice and an Iced Latté.
And it tasted just like home.
