Who's the real oinker?

Up Monkey Forest Road and around the Ubud Palace is Ubu Oka famous for their roasted pig.  They open at 11 and close at 3, unless they run out of pig before 3.  The place was packed and that's always a good sign.  I got placed at a table with what would turn out as our next generation's lowest common denominator.

I ordered the special, which was a little bit of everything: pork, crispy skin coated in golden fat, rice, long bean saute, sausage, and squiggley bits.  I enjoyed this meal immensely while listening to the most appalling chatter from my companion that was eventually joined by one and then another 18-19 year olds - one recently returned from Venice - it was horrible, laments were had about how hard school is and how fat people with curly hair should be blasted out of the universe.  

I was delighted when another pig (a real pig) arrived on a moped and was hacked up with a cleaver by the lady behind the counter.  This so sickened them that they left - who's the grateful piggy now?

After an afternoon stroll through some of the Ubud shops, it was time to go to the Fire Dance. Oka told me the whole story on the way over, and I swear I almost passed out at the complexity. Oka kept going on and on, and I was like where will this story end - who's the golden deer again?  This dance is the only Balinese Dance that is performed without music; 100 men makes noises that turn into music - as Oka explained this I thought Huh?

But then I saw it and I thought this is really amazing - it really was.  The dancers told the story through mime and I thought this is much better than the word explanation - in Oka's defense, I read the story in the pamphlet they provided and I still didn't understand it, so I think it's safe to say that the problem is me!  I took good video of this and will try posting.

As this was going on, the lights from the performance were attacting bugs - at first a few bugs and then A LOT of bugs.  Big bugs, small bugs - I am not a bug fan.  Suddenly, I noticed that  a GORGEOUS gecko with brown and white spots was eating these bugs. Mouthful after mouthful licking his lips in between.  The German girl beside me was watching a toad perform the same act on the front of the stage.  We showed each other our finds and giggled as each bug disappeared. 

Then I suddenly realized that I had missed the whole second act.  I felt sort of bad, but this gecko was fantastic and funny for some reason.

The performance ended with this guy that came out in a corn husk costume in the shape of a horse.  Then he proceeded to jump in the fire over and over as two guys kept pushing the fire together and squirting it with lighter fluid - seriously.

Back in Ubud, I decided to go out for a beer.  I wasn't really that hungry as I'd had the late lunch and then scarfed down a huge piece of lime pie.  So I went to a cafe and ordered a beer and then before I really knew it, I asked the waitress if I could order Indonesian Rastefel.  She said that is for two and I said I know, but can you do it for one?  She looked at me for a minute and then said - yes with a shrug of the shoulders.

Started with Chicken noodle soup, then an enormous platter came with a pile of rice in the middle, chicken skewers, long beans, cod curry, shredded chicken, chicken curry, duck curry, garlic shrimp, saffron egg, something that tasted like chicken but had the texture of fish, and condiments: pickle, tomato chili and prawn cracker.  I ate this - it was all really good, but somewas better than others.  The duck and the something that tasted like chicken, but had the texture of fish was my favorite.

The waitress came by and asked about dessert and I said, no thank you, and she said okay, not now.  About 20 minutes later, she dropped a plate with fruit and green pancakes with something brown inside (I am guessing coconut).  The pancakes had this strange gummy texture - could not stop eating them.

Ate it all, drank another beer and then rolled myself down the street to my bed and was out like a light.