A Matter Of Taste

The thing about hippies is that they make good juice drinks. No one tells you this and it’s not in the literature – but at least in Bali it’s true.

Within the world of Bali visitors and expats, there are several groups and subcultures. Although they’re rather benign and nothing if not nice, I’ve never been fond of or very connected to the new age hippie set.

I’m not against them. I like yoga – in fact I did my first ever yoga class at the fantastic yoga studio Emily now likes so much. I buy a fair amount of organic produce. I recycle. I shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. I even like using natural cleaning products right down to eco-friendly laundry detergent.

There’s just something about the hippie crowd I don’t dig.

Despite that, Emily and I have had recent hippie encounters and spent an unusual amount of time observing their Bali colony in their natural habitat.

It all started when we met a nice Californian girl about our age at a cafe we frequent. I wouldn’t classify her as a hippie, but being born and raised in Santa Cruz, she’s hippie friendly. However, that day she was ordering up a giant hamburger – non-organic – and chowing down.

In our discussions of travels, Ubud, lifestyles and cafes, the girl mentioned a relatively new cafe in town called Clear that has great food and equally good WiFi. We decided to give it a try.

Little did we know that Clear is one of the centers of the Ubud hippie world. Ubud hippies are generally Whole Foods hippies – they like yoga, organic, but gourmet and upscale. It was clear that Clear met all their criteria – Asian contemporary decor, pescatarian menu, organic foods, raw foods, fantastic juice drinks. And some of the best high-speed WiFi in town.

Emily and I immediately liked Clear. Despite the somewhat unnecessary use of spirulina and protein powder in a few of their many juice concoctions, they had some amazing fresh juice blends, flavored waters (rose, lavender, mint and cucumber), and an entire line of smoothies and blended drinks made with Nut Milk brand cashew milk. It’s incredible stuff especially when mixed with things like matcha and vanilla; mango, vanilla and honey; or cocoa, peanut butter, honey and vanilla.

The food is equally interesting and gourmet with heavy emphasis on tempeh and tofu where chicken and beef might normally be. However, it’s done so artfully that even the non-vegetarian crowd is unlikely to notice they aren’t eating meat.

In the slick, clean, stone, water and bamboo environment, Clear could easily pass for the latest Hollywood hot spot. Only it’s a hippie den in Bali.

The Clear crowd sports dreadlocks, tattoos, piercings, flowy shirts and outfits sold at Sonny and Cher’s 1972 yard sale. Then there are those who don’t believe in much clothing at all – and not in a sexy way.

We overheard meetings about environmental activism, jewelry dealing, benefit concerts, yoga and the last thing people remembered from the night before.

Despite the seating all being surprisingly uncomfortable and the owner being somewhat eccentric, we’ve been back twice more. The menu – and particularly the drinks – are great. Each time I’ve been weirded out enough that I consider not coming back and yet, when I think about their green tea-cashew milk cocktail, I find myself thinking I might be able to tolerate sitting next to a loud, obnoxious, shirtless, 50 year-old white dude from Hawaii who organizes international trade on Skype and then tells Indonesians how “in America, the dollar is everything.”

Because of Emily’s yoga-going, she’s been dying to go to another hippie-haven – Kafe. Kafe has a snack bar at the Yoga Barn where Emily goes and their main restaurant under Bali Spirit Yoga’s original location further up the same street. Because Kafe shuts off its WiFi from noon to 3:00 during their prime lunch hours, we never go during the work week.

Today with no work and just a few things around Ubud we wanted to do, we decided to try Kafe. Loaded with hippies. Loaded with fantastic juices and blended drinks. Hippies know how to mix coconut, papaya and carrot juice with a little turmeric to cleanse livers, balance electrolytes and cure cancer. It tastes good too.

Kafe accommodates meat-eating hippies and has a fantastic, creative menu with everything from organic stir-fry to Mexican to Balinese-Italian fusion. Of course, they wouldn’t be the original hippie-mecca if they didn’t have a fantastic, gourmet selection of raw foods including “Raw Nasi Goreng” (Balinese fried rice) using finely ground cashew powder pressed into rice-shaped “grains” to create “raw rice.” Hippie magic.

Again, at Kafe it was dreadlocks, tattoos, piercings, yoga mats and John Lennon hand-me-downs.

Although I greatly admired the creativity of the menu and the quality of the food, I found myself again somewhat repelled by the crowd. I realize it makes me stuffy and conservative – but I’m grossed out by guys who get their ears pieces and insert rings designed to create giant holes in their earlobes. I don’t even get the point.

I also don’t understand having entire arms and legs covered in tattoos. I can’t help but look at a 22 year-old who has chosen to identify with a subculture and make a statement and think that he or she probably won’t be so happy about that decision at 45 or 65. Heck, I have trouble choosing a coffee table because I’m worried if I’ll still like it in five years.

In fact, that’s exactly what Emily and I spent the rest of our day doing – struggling over coffee and dining tables. Just like there are many subcultures in Bali with different tastes and purposes, there are also many arts in Bali – many of which result in practical, functional products.

The beautiful teak, hibiscus and mahogany furniture of Bali has always been one of my favorites. When it comes to beautiful lines, craftsmanship and cool functionality – the Balinese have it made.

Since we arrived, Emily has been taken with the gorgeous solid teak dining tables in back of our house. The tabletops are solid, 6 inch thick blocks of wood with some natural curves that match the lines of the tree trunk. Naturally stained and oiled to a shine, these tables are gems we could never afford at home.

Here, we can get one for $400. And other items are even cheaper. Anyone who knows teak – like a guy who grew up in a home with mostly handmade Danish teak furniture – knows how incredible this is.

Emily and I have been shopping the wood carving village of Mas, visiting workshops and showrooms – contemplating our budget, our future and most importantly, our taste. I come from a land of clean lines, glass tables, contemporary furnishings. With her love of heavy, dark wood and Indian-style ornate carving, Emily’s taste in furniture is as different from mine as a Clear-going hippie. She also likes reds, yellows and oranges compared to the grays, blacks and blues I used in my apartment.

However, here in Bali we seem to have hit a rare spot where our tastes merge, or at least overlap. We’ve hit hippie juice – although we’ve replaced ginger and lemongrass with heavy natural-stained teak tables and chairs.

We’re not sure we want to move ahead with anything. It may not be the time. We don’t even have a place of our own when we go home. But we will – as sure as Karen Carpenter wore bell bottoms.

So we ponder. What’s a table worth? What’s our taste? Where do we belong in the Bali subculture spectrum? When did the lady at the next table last take a bath? And who would have thought to mix beets, spinach, ginger and cumin?

It’s all a matter of taste.

Sent from my iPad