It’s cat-poop coffee and monkeys looking for hair lice in humans as my daughter Jackie and son Andy continue reporting on their Southeast Asian adventure.
In his latest video clip, Andy has produced what feels like a 10-minute TV show on Bali, ranging from Kuta Beach to the capital of Balinese culture — Ubud. Travel with Andy and Jackie as they explore a world where cars have no “heat” option on air-conditioner knobs, where parking lots are designed for two-wheeled traffic, and where the finest coffee is “cat-poo-chino” with beans eaten first by kittens. And watch as an aggressive monkey crosses a ravine with one mission: to pick lice out of Jackie’s hair.
In Jackie’s journal entry called “A Crash Course in Balinese Culture,” she reports on her adventures on that amazing island. Here are a few random bits:
“Nyoman, our trusty guide, was truly trustworthy. He let us in on all the secrets of what things should really cost, what is expected of visitors, the proper thing to say, the down-low on all things Balinese, and so on. Here are a few tidbits we learned from Nyoman:
“In Bali, for your firstborn child, you have just three choices of names: Wayan, Gede, or Putu. The second-born is named Made or Kadek, the third is Nyoman or Komang, and the fourth is Ketut. The name selection for your fifth child is the same as for your first, for your sixth child the same as your second, and so forth.
“While Indonesia as a whole is predominantly Muslim, most Balinese are Hindu, sometimes blended with Buddhism. The way he explained Buddhism neatly stacking on top of Hinduism in history reminded me of Christianity offshooting from Judaism with the addition of a Messiah and New Testament.”
Read more on Jackie’s blog!
