Indonesian Cooking Class

We asked Wita, the owner here, the other day about Indonesian cooking classes (have read about them in the tourist book) and she said that the chef here at the resort could show me some cooking if I was interested....so off I went today into the kitchen in the restaurant here for a little 'Indonesian cooking 101' class. Well, mostly just watched how they make a few dishes that they decided to prepare special for me so I could see. I was most interested in seeing what kinds of ingredients they used, and see if it's stuff I can buy back in Canada (perhaps in Chinatown) or what I might want/need to take back with me. The kitchen crew was great - showed me how they make a beef dish called beef rendang and soto ayam (chicken noodle soup). I also asked about the peanut sauce that they make (I am in love with it - much better than the stuff I've made), so we whipped up a batch of that too. Very easy to make and soooooo good. The chef and I talked about what I could get and probably not get in Canada, and he offered to get me a whole bunch of the ingredients to take home with me. And tonight, I ran into Wita, who asked how the 'cooking class' went and offered too to get me some of the spices. I searched online this evening and it sounds like I likely will be able to get most of it in a Chinatown specialty grocery store, but will probably take a few things home with me from here - as Wita said, probably much cheaper!! I checked online to make sure I can bring spices back to Canada, and it looks to be ok.

Kevin is feeling a lot better today. Yesterday, he was on and off, and by evening, had a fever again, so finally gave in, and we called a doctor to come and check him out (hotel had a doctor that they use that comes right to the hotel). We were a little nervous about how much it would cost, and kept trying to call our health insurance co. to find out what we are covered for but couldn't get thru, but in the end, doctor visit and drugs (antibiotics, and a few other things) only came to about $80 US. The diagnosis - "Bali-belly" as they call it; some gastro-intestinal bacteria thing that is apparently common for tourists to get. So the hope is that the antibiotics will kick in and he'll be good as new in another day or so...but feeling much better already today.

So after my cooking class, a dip in the pool and an afternoon snack, we called our driver to take us into Seminyak for a little shopping. Looked around for a couple of hours - I ended up buying a few things, one being a really cute black dress for about $17 CDN (luv the prices down here), and then went back to Mings restaurant for dinner. I was craving the good black rice pudding that they have that we had last time. So far, nobody else has made it as good...and we've had it at a few places!!

We are going sailing tomorrow for a couple of hours with Nyomin, the guy that took us out snorkeling, and then maybe a massage - Kevin's massage was so good the other day that he will be requesting the same girl to come back, and will do it for 2 hours this time instead of 1 (can't beat $10 per hour). I might head up to the hotel spa for a facial, or have a massage after Kevin. Ahhhhhhh, paradise!!