Becoming a Silversmith!

We're back home in America, but I'm behind on my blogging, so this is gonna be backdated a little...

So, the day before we left Ubud, Aaron and I headed to Wayan's house, the owner of Chez Monique, a local jewelry store in the heart of Ubud for a little silver jewelry making class! :)

The silver making classes are actually held at his family compound where he shares land with his parents, uncle, brothers and sisters.

Here he is, Wayan, the man himself (on the left)!  He is an incredibly talented silversmith and his silver making classes are the top attraction in Ubud according to www.tripadvisor.com.  The guy on the right is  Wayan's uncle, who's home / traditional kitchen are right across from Wayan's front patio, where the class takes place.

Aaron decided he wanted to make a silver pendant, as a surprise, for a very special lady in his family.  She loves the outdoors, so when Aaron saw a necklace design with a tree and some mountains he thought it would be perfect for her. The next step was to draw it out, exactly how he wanted it to look. So, he and I sat down and drew different designs, over and over again until we found one we loved. :) 

I can't show you the final product because she'll be reading this and we don't wanna ruin the surprise completely now do we, but you can get a little sneak peak of it on the right!  Aaron didn't stop at the pendant!  He also made me a hammered silver ring (left) that I can wear whenever we're traveling and wanna keep my engagement ring at home in the safe! 

It was so fun to see him getting so crafty!  I helped a little, by holding the silver down while he hammered it.

Oh, and I cut the silver for the design on the pendant. :)  After everything was ready, we handed it over to Wayan's assistant silversmith, who soldered everything together.  

But before we handed it over, Aaron stamped the pendant with a little <3 a="" amp="" i="" j=""> and a <3 a="" i=""> on the inside of my new ring!

Here's my ring, getting all circled up and soldered together!

We had such a fun day becoming silversmiths and getting some one of a kind handmade silver jewelry to take home with us!  If you're ever in Ubud, make sure to look Wayan up and take his class!  It's definitely worth your while!

Ubud Water Palace Dance!

We were on our way home from Sari Organik when we rode past the Ubud Water Palace and I snuck a peak through a tiny passageway between Starbucks and Cafe Lotus and noticed that it was all lit up! 10 seconds later we were parked and heading for a vanilla latte at Starbucks and a view of the Palace at night. Can you believe this place?!

As it would turn out, the Palace was closed for a traditional Legong dance performance, but the side door from Starbucks led right into the Palace courtyard and nobody seemed to mind that we were heading out of it... so, we got to enjoy a traditional dance in the Palace courtyard for FREE with our Starbucks in hand!  Ready for photo overload?!  I was a bit snap happy.  It was mesmerizing, magical, sooo professional, colorful, deeply historical and cultural and different than anything I'd ever seen before. The way they moved their fingers, feet and eyes were pretty incredible... and the live music!  WOW!  Just WOW!

I did a SUPER crop so you could see how their fingers are all funky looking.  These girls start training when they're 5 years old to be this type of dancer, and I'm pretty sure their fingers are broken in order for them to look like this for the dance.  OUCH!

Guess who got to go up on stage and take their picture with them?!  Oh yea!

Tomorrow I'll continue on with some other adventures in Ubud, but between whitewater rafting, Sari Organik, and this, that's enough of a picture overload for today!

Sari Organik Restaurant... a must see in Ubud!

I would never normally do an entire blog post about a restaurant, but holy schmolies... this place NEEDS it's own blog post!  Thanks to Lonely Planet, we navigated through 20 minutes of paths leading through rice fields to this gem of a restaurant, set right smack dab in the middle of rice fields as far as the eye can see in every direction!

So, here's how you get there.  Go west on Jalan Raya Road and look for these signs on the right... It's the last turn in before Jalan Raya Road starts going downhill.  Turn here! 

If you're on a scooter, you can technically scooter down the pathway all the way to Sari Organik, but it's NARROW and drops off on either side into muddy pools of rice, and if you're staying for the sunset you'll also be scootering back in the dark!  So, I'd recommend parking the scooter and walking. Besides, that way you can enjoy these stunning views along your 20 minute walk!

Feel free to stop and take a picture making a heart with your guy/girl in the shadow.  And no need to be embarrassed... There's no one else around! :)  #low season

After walking through the rice fields for about 15 minutes, you'll notice small stands of handicrafts, painting, sarongs, etc... and adorable little kids who hang out there with their parents while they work.  Beware, they'll try and snag your camera to take their own pictures!  #Self photo!  Such a schmooch.

It'll feel like you're walking too far, but keep going.  You'll eventually find it.  Just look for this sign on your left.

Ahhh, we made it!

After stepping over this big fatty first, of course!

Can you believe these views?!

We found our little table for two with a front row seat to watch the sunset...

... while we feasted on delicious $4.00 organik vegetable quiche, soup and salad (all veggies are grown in their garden.  You can actually go out and pick your own veggies if you want to.)...

... and a delicious $4.00 burrito and salad!

Talk about FRESH juice!  They'll chop a coconut for ya if you want some fresh coconut juice!

Speaking of coconuts... As we were walking to the restaurant, I caught this guy climbing to the top of this coconut tree to chop down his own coconuts! 

We could have stayed here forever, but alas, we decided to make the 20 minute trek back to the scooter before the sun went completely down. 

 If you're ever in Ubud, please, please, please treat yourself to this awesome place!  You'll thank me later. :)