Throwback Thursday

 This is a look back on what I wrote about  on January 14th since coming to Japan. (Click on the year to see more photos and the full post.)

2020

I wrote about my new year trip to Kyoto.

2019 

I wrote about that year's temperature quilt and showed the progress to date.

2018

I went to lunch with my friend Ayako.

2017

I wrote about going to the movies with a newly broken arm while on vacation in Okinawa.

2016

I wrote about day 6 of my Kumano Kodo trip.

2015

This post was about starting a new miniature stitching 

project.

2014

I wrote about a driving tour in Bali.

2013

This post was about the UNESCO sites I visited on that year's holiday trip.

2012 

This post was about a trip to the shopping mall on a snowy day.

It's hard to believe I've been in Japan over nine years now! I do enjoy looking back on my posts and remembering from time to time.

Art Musuems in Ubud, Bali

While staying in Ubud, we visited three art museums.

Museum Puri Lukisan

The Puri Lukisan was fairly close to our hotel and was where I took the first batik class. It is the oldest art museum in Ubud, with the mission to preserve, develop and document modern-traditional Balinese art. The museum is made up of three buildings of artworks and beautiful gardens and grounds, plus a restaurant.

Neka Art Museum

The Neka Museum was also made up of several buildings plus some beautiful gardens.  Ted returned to this museum alone, when I was at a batik class, see the special exhibition, Keris in Culture: Traditional Daggers in the Arts.

 

ARMA (Agung Rai Museum of Art)

The ARMA is a museum and a center for visual and performing arts. It was the newest of the three we visited and photographs were not allowed inside.

 

Bali is an area rich in visual art and we were fortunate to get a taste of it at these three musuems.

 

Bali Driving Tour

One day we hired a driver and car and took a trip outside Ubud. Driving in Bali is very dangerous because of the poor roads and too many motor scooters. There doesn’t seem to be any traffic rules and our driver told us as long as you don’t crash everything is okay. We saw some interesting sites, but we also saw more poverty and unclean conditions.

Our first stop was Goa Gajah or the Elephant Cave Temple.  (One must be appropriately attired to visit a temple, but that wasn’t a problem since the cost of admission includes the use of a sarong during the visit.) It was built in the 9^th century and served as a sanctuary. Inside the cave is a worship area devoted to the Hindu god Shiva.

 

Tirta Empul or the Water Temple was our next stop.  This temple is a UNESCO World Heritage site. People get in the water and snake around in a line to get to some water coming out of the stone.  We chose not to get in the water.

 

We stopped for a short time at the coffee plantation, where we were given a tour and a tasting of several kinds of coffee and tea.  We saw a caged civet, the animal that eats the coffee beans made into the luwak copi, and some pineapples. The parking lot was full of people trying to sell us things.  They pushed their faces against the car windows and continued shouting as we were trying to drive away.

 

Our next stop was a spot where we could view the volcano, which is also the highest point on Bali. We were told it last erupted several times in 1963, killing almost 2000 people. We ate lunch a little further down the road from this viewing area.

 

Our final stop of the (long) day was to see the terraced rice fields. They look like works of art.

 

We enjoyed our driving tour and were happy not to be driving!