Ants in the Pants

Tweet I have always liked that James Brown song, but until this morning I had never lived it. This morning, seconds after pulling on my underwear -- the stinging started. Talk about getting hit below the belt -- have you ever had ants in your underpants?

I'm not sure where they came from -- tiny little ants with a mighty bite -- almost the same color as my burgundy-colored underwear.

Ants seem to be everywhere in the tropics -- marching up the wall, mobilizing under the kitchen table -- heading for that big bunch of red bananas.

Everything into the refrigerator!

Woman Praying at Yeh Pulu, Bali

Tweet The deity that she is praying to is Ganesha --carved into the solid rock. Below, is a story carved into another section of this rock. The story appears to tell about a successful hunt. Directly in front of the wall carving are terraced rice fields.

Fire and Trance Dance

Tweet This was the best performance that I saw in Ubud. It was called the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance. It's a special dance accompanied by the human voice -- about 50 men sitting around a circle -- chanting. The human voice is the only instrument. Before they begin chanting, a priest dressed in white blesses each row of men.

The performance features many characters from the Ramayana -- including Garuda. One of my favorite characters is Hanoman, the Monkey God, below.The performance concludes with a pile of coconuts set on fire in the center of the circle and one of the characters dances in the fire -- kicking the hot coconuts around the stage -- and occasionally into the feet of members of the audience.After the performance, the fire dancer takes a much-deserved break -- check out his feet.

Door at the Ulun Danu Bratan Temple

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The Market at Bedegul

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Water Temple

Tweet The Ulun Danu Bratan Hindu-Buddhist temple at Bedegul sits on two tiny islands. It was founded in the 17th century and is dedicated to the goddess of water. It was actually chilly on this particular June day -- and as you can see -- overcast.

The Rice Workers

Tweet These women near Ubud, Bali are harvesting their rice crop the old fashioned way. Several women use sickles to cut the rice, another bundles it and then the woman on the left beats it over a big basket -- catching the rice. Their work began before sunup. Below is ripened rice.
The photo below is a terraced rice field on the way to Bedegul, Bali.

Monkey with Ice Cream Cone

Tweet This guy was sitting at the entrance to the Monkey Forest in Ubud and was enjoying a vanilla ice cream cone. The shot below was taken just moments before he was given the cone.

Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) Near Ubud, Bali

Tweet These monkeys are carved into the mossy stone at Goa Gajah -- about two kilometers outside of the cultural mecca, Ubud. I remember walking those two kilometers some 13 years ago -- seeing lots of rice farmers tending their crops with water buffalo. Today, that stretch of roadway is lined with shops and houses.

Below is the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles. He is inside the Elephant Cave -- the cave, itself, is believed to date to the 11th century.

Ancient Monuments

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There are about half a kilometer of steps to climb down and then back up, but this trip is worth it. Gunung Kawi near the town of Tampaksiring is one of Bali's oldest and largest ancient monuments. The shrines, carved into the side of a hill of solid rock are about seven meters high. They are believed to have been carved in the 11th century, according to Lonely Planet.

Along the way down, elderly women sell masks, t-shirts and other souvenirs -- the biggest seller is cold water.

Tampaksiring, Bali

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These holy springs at the Tirta Empul Temple in the small town of Tampaksiring are believed to have magical powers. According to Lonely Planet, the springs were discovered in 962 A.D. The cool waters were incredibly refreshing on this particularly warm day in June.

Back to Bali

Tweet It had been 13 years since I last visited Bali. A lot of has changed since then. In Ubud, a lot of the rice fields are now new houses. Sprawl has come to Ubud -- lots and lots of trendy shops. Ubud still has a small town feel to it -- there's plenty to see and do. One of my favorite things is to catch one or two productions from the Mahabarata. This performance was at the Ubud Royal Palace. It's a story from the Ramayana.It features beautiful princesses, a monkey god, two brothers who get turned into deer and a whole cast of colorful characters.

First Mango of the Season

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I stepped outside on Tuesday and right there on the steps was a beautiful ripe mango. It had fallen off the tree next to the steps and fortunately did not splatter on the tiles. The inside was a variety of shades of yellow-orange -- the meat peeled away from the outer skin so easily.

The taste -- heavenly -- so sweet and juicy. I ate slowly, savoring the flavor.

I have two more mangoes ripening on my kitchen table -- they get a lot of morning sunlight.

Hopefully, they'll be ready by Friday -- and become part of my morning mix of fruit -- banana, papaya, tangerine, orange and raisins.

The Balibo Five

Tweet Balibo is a town in western Timor-Leste. In 1975, it was where five journalists working for Australian television were shot and killed by the Indonesian military -- during the invasion of what was then Portuguese Timor. The five reporters had traveled to Balibo -- close to the border with West Timor -- to capture the invasion on film. A sixth reporter, Roger East, played by Anthony LaPaglia, who traveled to Timor-Leste to investigate their deaths, was killed a few days later in Dili -- during the invasion.

No one has ever been charged with the killings.

Australian director Robert Connolly recently finished a movie, titled Balibo, about the killings and two special screenings were held this past weekend in Dili. He shot the film in Timor-Leste last July and August.

Even though the films' primary focus is about the six journalists, it also brings to the mainstream the killings of thousands of Timorese during the invasion and 24-year occupation by Indonesia -- a tragedy that seems to have remained largely under the radar screen.

Balibo will open the Melbourne (Australia) Film Festival in July and will be released in August.

Mouth-watering Papaya

Tweet We're in the middle of papaya season and this one is considered a "normal" sized fruit. I've seen bigger, but no fun toting them around at the market. This guy cost about one dollar. The bananas in the background were 50 cents a bunch.

The inside of the papaya looks like this:I start the day with a bowl of papaya, bananas, fresh tangerines and oranges and raisins mixed with locally-produced honey. Stir it up and enjoy. Delicious!