Food tastes better when you help to make it.

Sorry to the vegetarians/vegans ahead of time…😬 I actually thought it was kind of cool to see how such raw ingredients (REALLY raw) turn into such a beautiful meal (well I guess the chicken bodies were a little much 😂). Picking the fruits, vegetables, spices, meats, and trying out samples of food.

Each floor was separated by type of food and it had 3 floors! The fish were still alive when they were gutted and one even jumped out of the bowl onto the floor. Didn’t seem like the cleanest but I trusted the lady we were with (we were doing a local cooking class in her home and she was very nice).

Her house was in a back corner of a street in a hidden garden, super tropical. It was so fun to lay out all of the ingredients on the table before cooking it, just seeing how it will transform is so cool. She gave us tea and snacks before we started. We also got to try some rambutan (similar to lychee) that she shook from her tree.

I helped with peeling the ginger and turmeric, grinding sambal sauce, and mixing the corn fritters. My hands are still stained yellow from the turmeric root (I swear they’re clean 🥲). As the dishes were cooking she taught us an Indonesian dance which was pretty fun but it seems that what I learned most is that dancing is not my strong suit…

We laid the food out all nicely, took pictures of course, and then dug in to enjoy our hard work (we had help of course). Food tastes better when you help to make it. It was one of the most fun days I’ve had here and I think a lot of others agree.

I had a craving for something sweet afterwards though and luckily I wasn’t alone. Went to get boba sundaes🧋🍦 and it was SO good and SO cheap (under $1 😱).

Then took a bus ride (smushed in the back row, in the middle 😀). We got to the hostel and the room was so nice, big beds, a tv, storage, tea/coffee pot, a working AC, and our own bathroom. However, we should’ve known there was a catch… our toilet… doesn’t flush.

ps: don’t even ask about the last video 😭