Mental Meanderings: Ubud, Bali

Meanderings

Oct 10

MENTAL MEANDERINGS IS OUR ONGOING SERIES FOR ALL OF US WHO PROBABLY CAN’T HOP ON A PROPELLER PLANE TO BORNEO THIS WEEKEND BUT STILL NEEDS TO SATISFY OUR CHRONIC WANDERLUST.

We highlight a city somewhere around the world and give you all of the pieces you need to close your eyes and have a little 10-minute vacation. We hope you’ll be inspired to watch a movie, listen to a new song, pick up a book by a new author, or try cooking a new dish for dinner that brings a far-off corner of the world into your living room for a bit.

Happy daydreams!

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN GET A TASTE OF THE CITY, AND BRING IT INTO YOUR HOME…

LISTEN

The traditional musical style of Indonesia is called Gamelan, which is traditionally made by large assemblies of percussion in what can seem like improvised jam sessions but are actually very deliberately composed rhythmic pieces. It’s beautiful to watch performed live, and a tradition that’s definitely worth learning more about. Recently though, I read a Pitchfork article about how this musical tradition has informed, inspired, and been interpreted into a new wave of electronic music in a way that I think is pretty exciting. Here’s a track by the EDM artist Four Tet that will definitely transport you to a daybed by the water.

READ

There are so many different kinds of reading experiences set on this magical island, it’s hard to know how to even narrow down the field for you. We’ve gone with a pretty big smattering of options, from a historical look at the originally Dutch colony, a memoir of a traveler making a life for themselves in 1970s Ubud, a rollicky chic-lit story of a post-Elizabeth Gilbert attempt at finding yourself in Bali, and a good-old-fashioned mystery, just to round things out. Happy reading!

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WATCH

So, let’s be honest. Certain places bring one film up in your brain so quickly that it’s kind of hard to think beyond it. If you are anything like me, when you start daydreaming of strolling rice fields in Bali, you start itching to pop in Eat, Pray, Love and pretend that running into Javier Bardem on a jungle road is a totally realistic thing that could 100% happen to you if you hopped on a plane to Ubud right now.

There are also some really fantastic and evocative films about and in Bali that are highly worth checking out if you want to push your horizons out a bit. A stand-out is the lovely and rolling 2006 French film Toute La Beaute Du Monde (All The Beauty In The World) which was shot all around Bali and it’s next door neighbor, Lombok. I say, however, if you want to learn a bit more about the island in a really accessible (and free) format, watch the 26 min documentary, The More Things Change. It’s about a pro-surfer’s ocean clean up project of one of Bali’s beloved beaches. It’s a quick and concise window into where things are currently at and what can be done.

EAT
Nasi Gorang is such a staple in Bali that it’s literally eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s also really delicious, simple to whip up comfort food that makes fried rice just a tad more elevated. Really, it’s a fast and yummy weeknight meal that you probably have most of the things on-hand for already. Give it a go!