Ubud is a town in the middle of the island of Bali. The area is around two to three hundred meters above sea level and surrounded by rice fields, which makes it much cooler than then other tourist places of Bali. For more than a century, it has been the island for fine arts, music and dance. Ubud is a stunningly beautiful place.
In Ubud there are no loud night clubs, no naughty bars and most restaurants and pubs close by 11 pm. There are not any clubs or discos for partying and dancing and there are hardly any bars. You will be able to get some drinks at cafes or restaurants, and if you are staying in a big hotel there will probably be a bar in the lobby.
Ubud has incredible places to eat. Those on a budget can find the local warungs, although they are fast being replaced by more upscale restaurants.
Ubud Market is a two story warren of stalls bursting at the seams with wood carvings, sarongs, batik shirts, and anything else a tourist could possibly want. The merchants here haggle with tourists for a living. The Ubud Market is strategically located where two of the citys main roads cross. It is a multileveled market with lots of stairs with stalls and boutiques overlapping each other. It felt like a large maze.
The Elephant Cave, discovered by a farmer in 1923, is now a temple that dates back to the 11th century. Worshippers likely purified themselves in the rectangular bathing pools in front, where water spouts from jars held by six stone nymphs. Visitors enter through the mouth of a menacing demon face. Inside, you will see a statue of Ganesha, the elephant headed god, as well as three lingams and three yoni. The cave is in a valley outside Ubud and near the town of Bedulu.
Most of the Bali museums and galleries are centred in Ubud, but culture and history rich Bali is peppered with museums and galleries. These museums and galleries offer paintings, woodcarvings, textiles and all kinds of souvenirs for viewing and also purchase. Puri Lukisan Museum in centre of Ubud. Is a small town that is famous for its many cultural activities including numerous and music and dance shows and shops for traditional handicrafts and art galleries.
Throughout the area, you can pick up inexpensive small paintings. Other crafts in the surrounding towns include weaving Gianyar area, stone carving Batubulan, basket making Bona.
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Shops and stalls carrying batik items are too numerous to mention but they can be found along the Batu Ferringhi tourist belt, Penang Road, Campbell Street and KOMTAR to name a few. Most souvenir and clothing shops will stock at least several batik items.One of the most popular batik retailers in George Town is Sam's Batik House, located on Penang Road. Founded in 1982 by Shamdas Bhaktani, the business has since been taken over by his two sons Monohar and Prem. Monohar's wife Rachel manages the store and is a source of information on batik items.
It goes without saying that batik has long been part of the Malaysian national culture. Its versatile nature and esthetically pleasing designs make it the ideal material for a variety of things, men's shirts, sarongs, women's kaftans, aprons, slippers, picture frames, gift boxes, paintings, bed spreads and even wall and furniture coverings. As a fashion item, batik will not look out-of-place in any casual, formal or high fashion wear. In fact, most official functions in Malaysia allow the wearing of batik in place of the more somber coat and tie. The cabin-crew staff of Malaysia's national carrier have always worn batik as their uniforms, even from the days when it was known as MSA (Malaysia-Singapore Airlines). Although batik has never gone out of fashion in Malaysia, it has seen a recent upswing in popularity, due largely to the efforts of the country's First Lady, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood.
Her passion for all things batik took shape in a campaign called "Batik, Crafted for the World" which aims to spotlight Malaysian produced batik products via promotions and activities.
Batik has come to be used as a generic term which refers to the process of dyeing fabric by making use of a resist technique; covering areas of cloth with a dye-resistant substance to prevent them absorbing colors. The technique is thought to be over a thousand years old and historical evidence demonstrates that cloth decorated with this resist technique was in use in the early centuries AD in Africa, the Middle East and in several places in Asia.
Although most batik fabric is now decorated and tailored by machine, there still remains a considerable market for high-quality, hand-made batik.
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