My friend and raw model Anthony told me to find Sari Organics in Ubud. I was ecstatic to finally find it on my 2nd visit to Ubud. I had one of the best medicinal herb salads ever, made with organic herbs from the fields and also gathered from the forest.
We did the tourist route and visited Kintamani Volcano. We were lucky to enjoy this beautiful view because it rained a couple hours later and was socked in with fog. Next, we drove to the bottom of Mt. Batur to hike up the volcano. As soon as we started our hike, it began dumping rain. And I mean torrential downpour! It was no use trying to stay dry, so we chose to keep climbing. Huge blessing that the rain stopped and the sky cleared as we approached the top so we could take in the views. And once we got back down to the bottom, we went and soaked in a mineral hot spring to warm up. I had to put a photo of the back of our jeep in here. Our rain soaked clothes are hung up to dry, and we're stocked up with 2 huge Montong durians. Our jeep smelled of durian from the outside. Good thing Carol and our driver both love durian as much as I do. Check out this pretty bug. Does anyone know what type of insect this is?
I was thrilled to find an amazing vegan and raw food soup on the menu at the St. Regis, a 6 star resort in Nusa Dua. This wasn't just any gazpacho...it was green, and topped with a deliciously refreshing Bloody Mary Sorbet. Nusa Dua is a resort area at the south eastern end of Bali. This beach is full of white sand, and the water is the most amazing turquoise I've ever seen. My photo doesn't even begin to capture the color of the ocean. 2 friends met up with me in Bali. Chris, the surfer, is my best friend from freshman year in college. That was a long time ago! And Carol's my drum and bass dancing ballerina who keeps me up dancing late at night back in LA. The best of friends, sunshine, blue ocean, and hot weather. These are the main ingredients fueling my bliss.
I woke up super early, and it was still dark outside. I quickly threw on clothes and headed to the beach to catch my first sunrise on Bali. This was also my first sunrise of this new decade. I was surprised at how many Balinese and young children were up and about so early in the day. Many were sitting on the water's edge already, waiting for the sun to come up. Soon after sunrise, I came upon this heart shaped tree. I took this as a sign for all good things to come today on this Island of the Gods. Later, I found this tiny shell on the beach. It reminded me of how easily I get caught up in work when I'm back at home, and how easy it is to miss something so beautiful along my path. I have to remember to stop and smell the roses more frequently when I return to America. Another thought that came to mind was that no matter how big something good or bad is, it's all relative. In the grand scheme of life, everything changes and passes away anyways. So there's no need to feel attached to things. I've got to remember to keep my eyes open to find bliss in the tiniest of places in every moment.
I love how the Balinese reuse litter glass bottles to hold petrol. At first I wondered if this could be dangerous. What if someone drank a bottle by accident? I guess that's why they display the bottles on a special stand along with a funnel (you can see it in the photo on the bottom shelf). Growing up in a Korean home in New York, I was taught to use less and to reuse things whenever possible. Like using prepared food containers, instead of buying bright plastic Tupperware, to store our left overs. Korean moms are notorious for saving plastic bags, and reusing them until they fall apart. I think this comes from the fact that Korea wasn't always a 1st world country, and when my folks were growing up, resources and even food were scarce. So, it was important to make the best use of everything available, and never to waste.
My recipes for Cobbler Crumble Topping and also my Fresh Taco Wraps ranked numbers 4 & 5 for Delicious Living Magazine's Top 10 Gluten-free Recipes of 2009. Read more about the 2009 Top 10 at Delicious Living. Read my original article Classy Raw Cuisine with 7 recipes in the July 2009 issue of Delicious Living Magazine.
It's rainy season in Bali, so it downpours buckets of rain for 20 minutes to a couple hours almost every day. It's warm, so I don't mind it. On my first rainy day, I decided to visit a local grocery store, where I found a new fruit called salak. It grows on palm trees. This is salak. It has a brown snakeskin that's really thin. You peel it away to find what looks like garlic cloves inside. These pods of fruit contain a small seed, and taste sweet and tart at the same time. The meat of the salak fruit is not juicy, but rather dry and firm. It has a texture similar to a pear, but not as firm and crisp, smoother in texture, and dry. Interesting texture and delicious flavor. This brightly colored, hairy fruit is a rambutan. I love lychees, and the rambutan is very similar in texture and flavor. Rambutan is very cheap in Bali. I bought a big bag for about 50 cents. The rambutan, even at the grocery store, is always covered in crawling ants. I guess this means there's no pesticides on the fruit, a good thing. Here in hot, muggy Bali, I live off fresh tropical fruits (durian, salak, rambutan, mango, papaya, pineapple, and banana), and enjoy only occasional greens when I find them. Back home in the States, I had been cutting back on my sugar intake over the past several months. I was concerned about eating so much fruit. But, my body is thriving on this raw food fruit diet. Combined with swims in the warm ocean, walking everywhere, and the sunshine, all this fruit is making [...]
I’ll be teaching a 4-hour workshop with 6-7 recipes at Mom Tri’s Villa Royale Resort, Phuket, in Thailand on Jan 24th, Sunday from 1-5pm. If you’re in SE Asia, please come join me for a day of delicious food made with local fresh ingredients at this lovely resort! Here’s the menu so far, subject to change depending on local available ingredients: Garden Pate in Collard Rolls Miso Shitake Soup Fresh Taco Wraps Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake (made with toasted cocoa powder) Mango Cobbler Coconut Kream Pie with Chocolate Fudge Sauce on Almond Pie Crust Mango Goji Lime Smoothie and/or Durian Coconut Smoothie To register, contact Sylive Yaffe, PR Manager 087 888 9089 / 076 333 569 Mom Tri’s Villa Royale, 12 Kata Noi Road, Kata Noi Phuket 83100 pr@villaroaylephuket.com www.villaroyalephuket.com
My raw food cover feature in the UK's raw lifestyle magazine. This article includes several recipes from Ani's Raw Food Desserts, as well as my top 10 daily health practices.
Mayor Gavin Newsom at SF Green Festival last Saturday. It’s the largest green festival in the country. Mayor Newsom is a long time vegetarian. The hall was packed for my talk on raw food desserts, nutrition, and overall well being. I demoed my famous Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake and Spiced Blueberry Cobbler, recipes from “Ani’s Raw Food Desserts”. There was a feeding frenzy over the sample tastes of the desserts, and they were delicious! Read more about the SF Green Fest on VegNews Magazine’s blog.