Bali

This month is my one year anniversary of my blog and I am finally doing the Bali post.  Bali is one of those magical places.  The landscape is so intensely colorful, it is hard to believe what you are seeing. I fell in love with the people and the culture.  Oh, and the food!   This was my first trip to exotic Southeast Asia.   Here are some images from the beaches of Seminyak and the cultural center of Bali, Ubud.

In Seminyak, we stayed at the Legian and when I went back some months later I stayed at the Chedi Club in Ubud.

The Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal | Ubud, Bali

I have been meaning to post on Bali since I started this blog, so here you go.......In Ubud, there is a monkey forest that is also a sacred Balinese Hindu site.  Hinduism in Bali is a little different than Hinduism practiced in other parts because it combines Animism, Ancestor Worship, Buddhism, and Hinduism.  Animism is the belief that non humans, being animals and plants, have a spirit and/or soul.  And these spirits can help us humans or create havoc.

These long tailed Macaques can create a little havoc themselves.  Whatever you do, don't walk into the forest with a bunch of bananas.  One of us did just that and one of the monkeys came flying off a tree branch onto her shoulder and you have not heard a scream like that before.  Of course I was doubled over in hysterical laughter.  That same person fell off her bike in the middle of the rice paddies and landed in the water with the leeches.  Another great moment for me to observe.   Ah!  Good times!!!!!

Purple Basil and the Tanah Gajah

When I stayed at the Chedi Club in Ubud, Bali, they served a cocktail called the Tanah Gajah.  It is the perfect summer cocktail with purple basil, which you can usually find this time of the year.  Here is my recreation.

• 2 1/2 ounces Vodka
• 1 ounce lime juice
• 1 ounce sugar syrup
• 10 purple basil leaves, some mottled 
• Shake

My first post and Bali

Ever since I was introduced to my very first camera, a Vivitar, I've always loved photography.  I took a backpacking trip through Europe upon graduation and shot a picture of an old man in Paris sitting on a bench.  I still have that picture hanging in my home.

This is a picture of a couple outside of Ubud, Bali.  I love Bali and the people of Bali.  And I have never seen a country so intensely colorful before.  More on Bali later.

I love to travel and I love food and wine.  And that will be the content on "At First Sight."