Monkey Business

Guys, I'm dead tired. That's why there was no post yesterday. I fell asleep before I could write it!

Yesterday we spent the morning hanging out before our big move to Brata Inn (A small hotel in the town center).

I tried to scope it out before we left Tegal Sari (our amazing place), to find out what time we could check in.  The streets here are bustling all the time and the sidewalks are sketchy at best.  Not to mention, Ubud itself is full of giant hills.

I searched, to no avail, for our new place.  Most of the guesthouses, and there are many, are down alleys just off of Monkey Forest Road.  Yes, there is a monkey forest. And yes, the name for it is fitting.  There are hundreds of monkeys going mental in there, jumping on tourists that are holding their bananas bought by Balinese women just outside of the main entrance.

Monkeys scare me.  I like them from far away. Or behind a cage. But not right up in my grill in the wild. That's a little different. Also, they're so sneaky!

Monkeying around:

Anyway - I found our new place after my second time going out and looking for it and before we knew it, it was check in time.

We got a driver from Tegal Sari to help us with our luggage and he attempted to drop us off there.  it was impossible for him to do it on the first go because Brata Inn is on a steep and giant hill on a one way, one lane street with no parking.   Since the traffic in Ubud is so horrific on the main streets during the day, it took us literally about half an hour to get back to the entrance (about a 1.5km drive).

Joey did well on the drive, and we had AC in the hot part of the day, so we didn't really mind at all.

Our new Inn looked good to us upon arrival, and even has a large balcony with no hazards for Joey and the perfect size ledge that he can stand up but not fall off.  I thought it would be a good place for us to hang out in the mornings.

Right? WRONG.

First thing this morning, Joey and I went out on the patio and looked at the tin roofs around us and all the telephone wires dangling down when I realized something.... we were smack dab in the middle of a monkey morning paradise! They were everywhere.  When I least suspected it (our balcony has a large blind spot) a giant monkey leaped onto our balcony ledge and was staring right at us! I SCREAMED and ran inside with Joey.  hahaha oh my goodness.  It was crazy/hysterical.

I'm getting ahead of myself though.

After we got situated and had lunch, Joey, Stuart, and I went for a swim.  Our place is new and small and doesn't have a swimming pool, but they share a swimming pool with a hotel that shares a little garden with ours.

It was a nice time and Joey met a baby that was 11 months old, too!

Here's a picture of Joey and mama after the swim:



And Joey and dada just chillin:

I don't know if I mentioned that while we're traveling Joey is sleeping in the bathroom, but he is... and I recommend it to anyone traveling with a small child.  It allows for the room to be dark and allows mom and dad from going nuts tip toeing around and trying not to make a peep.  The only downside is that if you have to go to the bathroom after baby goes to sleep you're pretty much screwed.  It was fine at the last place because the reception area had a 'western' bathroom.  No such luck here.  It's do your business and hose off your butt (likely soaking your entire outfit if you're anything like me...)  Alas, it's still better than the alternative of Joey sleeping in our room and us getting no free time.

Last night the fam went out to Tropical View Restaurant for some famous Ubud Crispy Duck.  It was delish!  Here's a silly picture of mommy feeding a puff to her baby bird.  Oh, at the Tropical View restaurant we got to sit on some  bamboo floor on pillows. It was great for Joey to crawl around and fun for us!

The three of us at the restaurant

 Today we hung out and ate at some internet cafe with AC (nowhere really has AC so it was awesome).  My food of choice these days is Gado Gado .. without the tofu and tempe because I think that's grosss. It's basically just boiled vegetables with peanut sauce and an egg. It's soooo good.
The dude running the internet cafe/restaurant was awesome and held Joey while Stuart and I scarfed down lunch.
The rest of the afternoon was spent attempting to shop with no luck because it's impossible to try on clothes with a baby attached to you... I dont think I'll get a chance to do shopping here, really...
Joey didn't have a nap this afternoon. We tried, but I think he was too overtired by the time we finally plunked him down. We need to be back at the hotel around 2:30 from now on. Lesson learned.

Tonight we walked and walked and walked all the way to a Balinese Dance Show!



At $7.25/person, this is the most expensive thing we've done on our trip.  It was fun! But wayyyy too long for Joey.  We stayed for the first hour and then took off. Maybe I'll write more about the show later, but right now I'm way too tired to write anything properly.

Blah Blah Blah, this blog is over for now.

Good night!