Let’s dive straight into what the title of this entry is all about.
Those of you who have followed the blog since the beginning will know that we like to give people names now and then, based on their character or how we imagine them to be. The last entry Time for a trip featured ‘Covid Colin’ and his incessant coughing. This time we have Slick Rick and the numerous other cool kids that are currently swanning around Ubud as if they are playboys and girls in Monaco, fresh from landing their helicopter on their super yacht.
Seminyak certainly had it’s fair share of pretty boys and girls cruising the streets and Ubud seems to be another level up from that. Or maybe Ubud is just quieter and it stands out more, I’m not sure which.
Slick Rick is a lad I have seen many times now and he can be spotted most days cruising round the pretty little streets of Ubud on his huge Yamaha scooter. With his sharply cut jaw and defined features Rick is certainly a handsome young chap but his lack of helmet and mask and also his lack of upper body attire makes Rick a bit of a slick dick in my book.
Rick is not alone in his craving for all things cool, there are many Rick’s and also many Raquel’s as well that fit the same mould. Now yes I’m being a little bitchy here and stereotyping folks, and in general it’s kind of funny to see these people but at times it’s also annoying to see how they appear to have little respect for where they are.
Having been in a bad accident in Canggu a couple of years back we wear a helmet at all times, even just to pop to the nearby shop. A helmet is a personal choice I guess but it is law here and I find it strange that Rick cares more about his immaculately styled hair being on display than he does about his skull getting smashed like a water melon. Rick has the kind of hair that would fit in effortlessly into the Arsenal back four, you know the look.
Constantly riding around topless Rick also feels the need to display his handsome, well defined, pigeon sized chest at all times. As smooth as a baby seal this lad looks like he hasn’t grown a bodily hair in his entire life, waxed to within an inch of his life is our Rick.
Next pet hate of ours is Ricks lack of mask wearing. I have seen many a Rick and Raquel turn up at the supermarket, pull a mask out of their pocket and then firmly attach it around their ears and under their chin. I mean why bother? If your not going to cover your nose and mouth with it why waste your energy even getting it out of your pocket? The annoying thing to me is that 99% of the locals you see in shops are masked up, where as 99% of tourists are either wearing their mask like a chin hammock or just not wearing a mask at all.
Finally we come to Rick’s style of riding on his over-powered scooter. He weaves his way through traffic like Steve McQueen trying to shake off the Germans in The Great Escape. Your in Bali…long term…what’s the rush dude? where are you going in such a rush? do you have to get to your next meditation class in that much of a hurry? If you do it’s not a very Zen way to go about your day. Slow down Rick, stay calm, all is good here in Ubud, just relax into that slow easy pace of life.
There are many Rick’s around Ubud right now, thinking they are God’s gift, claiming to be ‘content creators’, posting 700 photos a day on Instagram with a sunny washed out filter. Please, don’t be like Rick.
So that’s Rick and Raquel out the way, what have we been up to in our first full month in Ubud?
We’ve enjoyed a lot of great food that’s for sure. In and around Ubud you can find some of the best local Indonesian and Balinese food on the island. It’s amazing. If your ever round this part of the world I highly recommend Sun Sun in the centre of Ubud for Nasi Campur, Warung Bintang out the North for basically everything on their menu and Vanaka, not far up from the Palace for the best homemade noodles we’ve ever had.
We’ve also started walking a lot more since moving to Ubud. Your never very far from a beautiful rice field walk in this part of the world and it’s been great to get out and about every day in the lush greenery meeting the beautiful, happy locals going about their daily business.
With our new place being a lot cheaper than our last in Seminyak we have also been enjoying a weekly night away in some of the fantastic, slightly more up-market resorts that have some amazing deals on right now. It’s sad to see how quiet it is round here right now but at the same time these deals are fantastic for us as well as giving the resorts and more importantly their staff some sort of income while tourism is still off the menu. We mix things up as much as possible between staying in nice places and eating at some of the smaller places that we find. It’s good to try and spread your spending across the community so that as many people as possible can benefit from the small amount of tourist dollars that are around right now.
