I woke up at 11:00 in the morning. I really wish I had woken up earlier, but it was the first time in a long time that I had a free double bed in a hotel, so I felt very comfortable and stayed up late.

Today, I decided to go to the area above Ubud to drink Kopi Luwak.

Have lunch at a nearby restaurant

I decided to have lunch at an Indonesian restaurant near the hotel where I was staying. I decided to order nasi goreng, a special Indonesian dish made with sausage, and a dessert of azuki-like black rice and coconut, which looks like Japanese zenzai.

Lately, I really don’t mind ordering a lot of things. However, I think it is very important to eat what you want to eat, and I think it leads to happiness. Although it is not good to eat too much.

The taste is very delicious. I still think Indonesian food is the best food in Southeast Asia. While waiting for my meal, I read “Good vibes, good life” that I bought yesterday.

Take a motorcycle cab to Bali Prina

After finishing my meal, I decided to call a motorcycle cab near there. At first, I was wondering about whether I should rent a motorcycle and go freely deep into the mountains or call a motorcycle cab and take the risk of not being able to come back on the way home. Because the facility that handles coffee is deep in the mountains, where, by all means, there is no signal. So it would be difficult to call a cab, and I don’t think there are any cab men there. So I think it would be better to go by motorcycle. But I also feel a bit scared to ride a motorcycle.

So I decided to go to a place where I could walk home, which is about 20 kilometers away.

Fortunately, the guy in the motorcycle cab was very kind and knew a lot about coffee facilities, and he told me about a different place that was better than Bali Prina. But when I looked it up, it only had 5 ratings, so I made that choice because 4000 ratings Bali Prina was more credible or safer. I guess that’s how people are.

What I learned from Sufi when I was in Malaysia was that it is good to listen to people who you feel safe or who you think are good people, if you listen to them honestly.

This time I decided to go to Bali Prina, even though the guy who took me to there was very kind and seemed like a nice human being. He seemed very sad. I felt sorry that I didn’t go to the place he recommended. But it was okay. It was my choice.

But he was so kind that he went out of his way to wait for me when I was in Bali Prina and said he would wait outside for an hour or so. I wonder how kind he is.

As we rode the motorcycle, we passed through so many villages, small forests, and rice fields on the way, and there were a few tourists there. But most of the people were driving motorcycles, so I thought it would be better to rent a motorcycle next time I come here.

Then we arrived at Bali Prina after a long 20 km drive.

Bali Prina was a place like Kopi Luwak production plant

The place where Kopi Luwak is made is located in a corner of a rich natural area. The place gave the impression of a “small village in the forest”.

I was given a piece of paper by the receptionist as soon as I arrived, and that was the entrance ticket. I was told that there was no entrance fee, and that I would have to pay for the food and souvenirs I ate inside with the paper.

Outside, I tried to exchange what’s apps with the taxi driver, but apparently there was no signal and I could not exchange. So I entered my phone number anyway and we exchanged contact information. If he disappeared, it would be very difficult for me to return home.I felt that he was really kind.

On the way to Bali Prina, there were many swings, so he said, “If you want to swing on the way back, I’ll stop by.” But the swings were quite expensive, costing 200,000 rupiah. Besides, I like to share this emotions with my friends and lovers. So I felt kind of lonely to do it alone. Next time, I would like to go with someone.

After that, I finally made an appointment with him to meet him in an hour, and I went inside.

As soon as I passed through the large stone gate, I saw a lot of trees growing inside, just like a forest. There were many coffee beans and cacao beans.

First time in my life I saw a cacao tree.

A woman nearby, who seemed to be a guide, took me on a tour of the area. She explained in detail how coffee beans are produced and the structure and taste of coffee beans. I thought Bali Prina was a café, but it turned out to be a coffee bean production place, and after the tour, there is a place in the back where I could drink coffee. It was really like a forest, and I was lost as to where it was.

Explanation of coffee beans

First, the lady explained about coffee beans.

The one in the middle is the coffee beans served from the Luwak cat. I heard that they come out in an undigested state.

When they are washed with water, they look like the coffee bean on the right, and the leftmost coffee bean is the one that is ready to be roasted after being skinned. It is very interesting.

Difference between Kopi Luwak and regular coffee

Kopi Luwak is made by having luwak cats eat coffee berries, and the undigested coffee beans in their stomachs come out as feces, which is then cleaned and roasted.

So, basically, they don’t roast it for a long time, so the color is brown. But regular coffee, which is roasted a lot, is said to be almost black in color.

The guide went to the trouble of turning the beans around to show me that coffee beans have a three-layer structure. The normal coffee beans have the black ones on the outside, but in the case of Kopi Luwak, they don’t have that and are made up of two layers.

Lecture on acidity and bitterness

Next, a lecture on the taste of coffee beans. The more they are roasted, the more bitter they taste and the less acidic they become. At the same time, the amount of caffeine also decreases.

But the shorter the roast is done, the more sour it tastes and the more caffeine it has in it. He told me such a thing. That was something I didn’t know, so it was new knowledge.

Finally, about roast and grind

When the coffee beans for Kopi Luwak are ready to roast, they first put them in a pot-like place and roast them for 45 minutes. Then they grind them with a mortar and pestle. I could not believe it.

I had thought that they grind by machine, but apparently that is not the case. I was really impressed that they grind each piece by hand like this. I can understand why Kopi Luwak is called “high quality.

Finally, time to drink Kopi Luwak!

The tour was over and I was taken to a cafe. I decided to have a Kopi Luwak there. Actually, there was a set of five different kinds of coffee that I was really interested in, but since I had come all this way, I wanted to drink Kopi Luwak, so I decided to have Kopi Luwak.

Kopi Luwak

Then I also ordered a sweet treat, a banana dumpling with a coconut crust. It was very expensive, but of course I understood that since this place is located deep in the mountains. Besides, I think it is incredibly cheap to drink Kopi Luwak for 500 yen.

As I was having it, I was thinking about the motorcycle cab man. I was feeling pressed for time, wondering how many more minutes I had to be back. Of course, I respect him and think it is very important to be on time like that. But again, I thought that I should be more courageous and of course it would be better to rent a bike and have it at my disposal, although I have never driven without a license. In Bali, you can rent a motorcycle without a license, you know.

The taste of Kopi Luwak is indescribable, a bit sour, but unique and fruity. I thought it was very tasty. But I still prefer Yamaguchi-san’s coffee, which he made for me every day when I worked at 7-Eleven.

But I also felt that this coffee deep in the forest was very beautiful. At the same time, it was great to drink coffee while imagining the story of the coffee beans that went into the Luwak’s mouth, fermented there, came out as poop, and were roasted, ground, and brewed.

But even as I was slowly drinking the coffee, I had the mindset in my head that I shouldn’t keep the cab guy waiting, and I knew that was still a problem and ruined. Lesson learned. Next time, drive a motorcycle. After all the courageous things, good things are waiting for me. That’s for sure.

Finished my coffee and headed to the gift shop

After finishing my coffee, they apparently wanted me to pay the bill at the gift shop, so I took the paper they gave me and went to the gift shop. A man even went out of his way to show me around and say, “Welcome to the souvenir shop.” I really think the branding is amazing. I think Bali Purina must be a very successful branded coffee factory.

In fact, when I looked at the souvenirs, most of them were “Kopi Luwak”. There were also chocolates made from cacao produced in Bali Purina and tea. But the main one is Kopi Luwak.

The large ones were 10,000 yen, the medium size were 6,900 yen, and the small ones were 2,800 yen. Certainly, from the local market price, they were ridiculously expensive. But I decided to buy one for Mr. Yamaguchi, Mr. Chiru, who has been a great help to me in the programming community, and my family. I didn’t want to have any regrets! So I decided to buy some cacao chocolate, which is only available there. What a surprise, it cost 2,800 yen. That was crazy expensive! But better than no regrets, I guess.

So I was able to buy it, and at the end of the day, I had my picture taken with the Luwak cat.

I returned to the entrance and went back to cab man! And then back to Ubud

When I returned to the entrance, I found him. I was relieved. I wondered what would have happened to me if he had not been there. Even if I could connect to the Internet, I couldn’t touch the motorcycle symbol when I opened the cab app. In other words, there were no motorcycles. So it was really thanks to him.

I somehow had the feeling that I was traveling with cab man, not someone I had met in Bali. For some reason, I felt strange. I really wanted to make friends with a beautiful European girl or a friend I met there and travel together, but it seems that I was not so lucky this time.

Such is life at times. But on a positive note, I think it is very valuable to be able to come to Indonesia like this and be involved with “Indonesians”. He looked like President Joko, so I felt a little affinity with him lol. I was imagining what I would do if he is President Joko’s younger brother when I was riding my motorcycle.

His helmet was so wet and smelly that I had to wash my head as soon as I got home. But I was impressed by his easy-going personality.

I said, “I want to go back to Ubud,” and I ask him, “How much do I have to pay you?” and he answered “It’s up to you.” You’re free to do whatever you want. So I was wondering, and he said, “100,000 rupiah?” I thought that was a little too expensive, so I asked him if he wanted 50,000 rupiah. He said yes. So we went back to Ubud.

When we were going back, I kept thinking about him. I thought he is a very nice guy, very warm-hearted and friendly. But he is shabby and his jersey was very dirty. So, I couldn’t help but want to “cheer” him up. Sure, 100,000 rupiah is expensive. But he took the time to wait for me and spend his precious life for me. And he was very warm. So I thought, if I didn’t have a 50,000 rupiah bill in my wallet, I would give him 100,000 rupiah. So I decided to give him 100,000 rupiah since I didn’t have any in my wallet.

But still, 1,370 yen is cheap for a total of 40 kilometers, isn’t it? In fact, it would have been 740 yen if I had called a normal motorcycle. But he is a very nice man, so I insisted on paying him 100,000 rupiah.

If you spend money on people, you will get it back in some form. This is true, and I have experienced it a lot, too many times to count.

So I think this is a good thing.

On the way to Rice Field, I stopped my bike to take some pictures.

Then I even asked a guy in a motorcycle cab to take my picture. It was a real pleasure to have him do so much for me. I was happy that the cab man was so friendly. We also took a picture together.

Then we arrive safely at Ubud and I pay 100000 rupiah. Uncle wanted to give me back 50,000 rupiah in change but I refused. He seemed very happy. But I was actually very happy too. I asked him if 50,000 rupiah was enough and then later I changed my mind and let him surprised. I was also very happy to give something of mine to someone and make them happy, regardless of the price. So I was very happy too.

We exchanged what’s apps and sent pictures. Then I said, “Thank you so much for being so nice to me.” We shook hands and I left him.

Back at the hotel, I took a short rest and then went on a tour of cosmetic stores

I wanted to go to a famous cosmetic store in Bali, Indonesia. I had just run out of hair oil and wanted to buy some, and I love organic skin care products, so I decided to go there because there are many stores in Ubud.

The Hindu ones you often see when you walk down the street. What is this?

Dog sleeping on the ground floor of the hotel

The first place I headed to was Nadis Herbal, located in the center of Ubud, and there were no customers there when I got there, so I stayed there for about 30 minutes. So I decided to buy some hand and face creams for my friends and mom. I am a smell geek, so I really enjoyed many different smells with a lot of particularity.

I feel like I really enjoyed that time. So I ended up buying a lip balm, two perfumes, a face cream, two hand creams, and a hair tonic.

Then, I went to the second store, Sensatia Botanicals. It was a rather pricey place and a real organic skin care store. It seems to be a long-established brand and a pioneer of natural cosmetic brands in Bali. It was very expensive, too. At first, I was going to buy “Osmium,” an eau de cologne with interesting elemental symbols, but it was a bit expensive, so I decided not to buy it.

However, I was very interested in the toothpaste that costs 1,000 yen for 120 ml.

The third place I went was to “UTAMA SPICE”. It was also very close to my hostel, about a two-minute walk. The moment I entered the restaurant, the waiter was watching me. Of course, she was not watching me, but she was acting like a clerk and explaining things to me in a friendly manner.

But I didn’t like that. But I got used to it and told her I was looking for hair oil. To my surprise, they had coconut oil and recommended it to me. And when I smelled it… I loved it so much I shivered. I was like, “This is what I’ve been looking for!” I decided to buy it right away. It smells like coconut, which I love, and I really, really love it.

So I bought some coconut oil and decided to try it on my hair tonight.

It lasted longer than any other hair oil I’ve ever tried, didn’t crunch, didn’t dry out over time, and didn’t make my hair explode. And it smells amazing. I’m already in love. I’m buying three bottles tomorrow.

For dinner, I went to a nearby Indonesian restaurant.

Today, I went to a nearby Indonesian restaurant for dinner. I have recently become addicted to a dish called Nasi Camper, which consists of rice in the center with various ingredients placed around it. I’m particularly fond of the peanut and coconut fries, which are incredibly tasty, and the satay, which I love.

So I ordered Nasi Camper again. It was great.

While I was eating it, there was a Russian woman eating alone in front of me. She was just a normal person, but when she smiled, I thought she was very nice. She was probably about 25 years old? I think she probably lives here because she had a motorcycle helmet.

But I wonder if she doesn’t make many friends since she eats alone at night. But I’m thinking about that now, and I couldn’t think about that at the time. If that was the mindset, I would go talk to her. Even if it’s a risk, even if I’m humiliated, even if I’m rejected. That’s right. You have to be rejected. Through repeated experiences like that, people grow. That’s why it’s really important.

I decided to find a cafe to write my diary

This is how much I spend every day! I’ve been eating so much lately that I’ve been thinking, “I’ve been eating a lot of food and dessert. Perhaps it’s because that’s all I have to do? They say that a lot of single people are fat, I guess I can understand that. But is that not because they don’t have a partner, but because they don’t have a “goal”? I wonder.

Of course, it is not the only way to be complete, but I have not had many encounters lately either, so maybe this is how I have been eating so much. I need to take a good look at myself and make some changes.

After drinking that, I was hungry again, so I decided to order Nasi Goreng Ayam (Chicken Nasi Goreng) at the restaurant I went to yesterday.

Then I go home, write in my journal, read a book, and end the day.