The Medicine Man in Bali: Ketut Liyer

Nope, we didn't search far and wide to find Ketut Liyer of the 'Eat, Pray, Love' fame. The author, Elizabeth Gilbert, has made him so famous that almost everyone in Ubud knows him.
His place in Pengosekan is a short drive from our hotel in Monkey Forest Road. There is a sign on the road that says "Ketut Liyer, painter, woord carvings, medicine man." The structure of his home reminded me of a 'hutong' - a quadrangled enclosure, with high stone walls and an entrance gate. Its so deceiving because when you step in, the place is huge. The difference is, it's teemed with several shingled-roof pavillons with small, open terraces and courtyards. We were asked to wait in the second pavillon where across it, is another pavillon where Ketut's and his son's paintings are hanging.
There was already a line when we got to his place. The american girl who was next, brought the book for him to sign. Instead of waiting, we decided to visit the nearby elephant temple called "Goa Gajah".
When we got back, the american girl was seated with Ketut on the terrace of his pavillon. There were two locals patiently waiting. He would first see the tourists and then attend to the locals. After an hour (or maybe less), we were next - first me, then Bettina, last Raeanna. Ketut (man in photo wearing headcloth) read our palms, our nape, and legs. What we found odd was that he gave all three of us the same reading - "you're a traveler, would live to a hundred years old, very smart, heart good, liver good, etc. and very good in bed." I guess he can only go so far with his limited English or maybe he figured out what tourists would like to hear. But he kept saying "I cannot lie, if I lie its bad karma to me." We left amused but a bit skeptical and donated the minimum 200,000 rupiah each (or US$20).
The friend of Raeanna, who is the GM of Amandari recommended another healer called "Pok Chok" (not sure of the spelling) from Negiri Village. So, the next morning, we drove 40 minutes to see him. His home is similar to Ketut's, except that on the left of the entrance gate is an intricately carved door with gold leaf detail and two dressed stone sculptures at the footsteps. There is no sign saying "medicine man" outside his home.
A woman was lying on the floor and the man standing next to her said they're French and have been coming to Bali in the last 30 years. His wife is being treated for depression and swelling of the legs. When they left, I volunteered to be first. He asked me sit infront of him with legs extended outward. He started poking my head, face, neck, and then applied pressure in my collar bone where I screamed with pain and tears started flowing - then he worked down towards my arms and back, finding more unbearable, painful points.
I told him that my left heel hurts (heel spur caused by over training). He used a Y-shaped stick to poke my feet with (right photo) and again, found unbearable, painful points. This time, he kept the pressure much longer, 3-5 minutes per point. He claimed "to remove toxins." Then after the poking, I told him that I've been coughing for more than a week. He stepped out and when he came back, he had a handful of herbs on his hands. He chopped the herbs, then grinded with a mortar and pestle and after, popped everything in his mouth and started chewing the mixture. Afer a few minutes, he told me to close my eyes. I heard him clear his throat and then -pssssshat-! Yes, he spat the mixture on my chest. It felt cold and looked like pesto sauce. He covered my chest with clear saran wrap.
When it was Raeanna's turn he looked at her and said "nothing wrong" and she quickly pointed to her heel (plantar fasciatis). Again, with the Y-stick, he poked her feet and said that the cause is lymph node in her lower back which left a pool of sweat in the area. He gave her a handful of herbs to apply regularly on her back. When it was Bettina's turn, she didn't say a thing. He told her to sit and then, started poking her head down to her arms. His diagnosis was neck and lower back problem. He then asked her to lie down and started working on her feet and solar plexus area. At this time, a crowd was building up - a group of five japanese seated themselves at the end of the mat and four caucasians scattered around the courtyard. I don't think he expects any donation because he didn't even check the amount that we put in the envelope. When we left, he was already talking to the japanese group.
Back in Ubud, the locals knew I've been to a medicine man. They would point to my chest and say 'medicine'. Yes, Pok Chok's healing seemed to work. The cough subsided and I'm now back to running again. Lets see about Ketut's reading... (photo shows me and the girls, note chest-splat covered with saran wrap, enjoying the Babi Guling in Ibu Oka).

First Triathlon in Bali

I've been training for ths event ever since Euan Marshall (second from left in photo) announced last December that he was getting married to Margaret Hernandez in Bali. He actually set the date for September but moved it to July perhaps to coincide with the Annual MRA Bali International Triathlon event? Nevertheless, we - the groom, Raeanna and Glen Cranberry - decided why not join the race?
Jet lag and all, I found myself driving around Nusa Dua and Uluwatu with Euan and Glen at 3pm on June 28 (Saturday), surveying the bike route. We then proceeded to pick up our race packet at the Four Seasons' Coconut Grove and joined the briefing. Raeanna was there already and her bike was being assembled at the mechanic's tent. I was getting nervous because I didn't train while I was in New York (that's one week off); after driving through the steep hills, Euan repeatedly kept saying like a mantra that he didn't train enough and will do the relay instead; and lastly, my bike was arriving (c/o Bettina) at 8pm and I don't remember what Rene of Bike King said while he was packing my bike. Luckily, I was able to convince one of the mechanics to come to the hotel at 8:30pm to assemble my bike.

The next day, we were at Four Season's around 6am. The transition area was divided into two rows- left for men and right for women, and further divided into age groups with the 16-20 year olds in front. There were 185 participants and everybody seemed to be excited, stretching - they looked prepared and ready. By 6:45am and after downing two Gu-gels, we were herded to the beach. More than half were already in the water, braving the 1-2 ft waves.
When the horn sounded off, I let the gung-ho pros swim first lest I get run over. The swim was longer than 1.5km, it was a 2.2-km in ice cold murky, jelly fish infested Jimbaran Bay. There were paddle boarders deployed which made it easy to spot the swim course. It took me an 1:16 to swim (the fastest was Australian Pro Luke McKenzie at 27 mins).
The bike ride was tougher than hills of Subic Bay. It was a scenic 40-km ride but through 2-lane traffic and mostly all uphills until the University area which was a short downhill ride to Jimbaran. Biking is my waterloo. It took me 2:28 to ride (vs 1:03 of McKenzie). I’m glad I changed my bike’s crankset to a ‘compact’ one before leaving so managed the steep uphill assaults.
When I got to the transition area, I met Robin, a 56-year old silver-haired athlete from Darwin who just finished the race in 3-hours. I guess I looked knackered because she said in her sweet voice "honey, you don't have to finish the race. it was a difficult swim and bike. you've done enough." Found out later on, that she qualified for Kona ironman and Bali was a 'warm up' for an iron man event the following Sunday.
I acutally followed her advise and started taking photos, talking, and eating. My polar watch indicated a time lap of 20 minutes. As I was about to cross the street to the banquet area. I saw Raeanna coming in from the bike, she forced me to finish the race. Actually, she yelled at me for not running. I was flip flopping and quit twice. It took me 1:14 to run the flats of Jimbaran (vs McKenzie's 37 mins) and I think I was one of the last few who crossed the finished line. Euan, tbe one who didn't train enough, finished in 3:31 and Glen in 3:52. But its not their first time. Raeanna, the one who forced me to finish, missed the turn and didn't complete 10km. Well, I'm glad I listened to her and finished because believe it or not, I won in my age group! I won a trophy and a dinner for two. Not bad for a first timer. Next on the list is the New York marathon this November 2... Hmmm... that's four months from now, 42-km distance and in cold weather...

celeb sighting in New Yawk

My first day in New York last June 19 found me walking up to the Lulu Lemon outlet in the upper west side. I'm a fan of this Canadian-wear especially for yoga. As I was queueing to pay, I was intrigued by the guy behind me. First, he was the only guy in the store (note: for me Lulu Lemon, is a female store --well, I guess in Manila). Second he was wearing a leather jacket and it was quite hot outside. I gazed down to check his merchandise - he had in his arms several boxes of boxers shorts stacked together (mental note that Lulu Lemon carried boxers).. then looked up again at his face and stared since he really looked familiar... then, the boxes that he was trying to balance fell on the floor. That's when I realized it was Lawrence Fishburne! Hello! Gosh, didn't even help him collect his boxes. I was more like hyperventillating; more star struck. Dumb. Should have gathered up the courage to talk to him or at least have a picture taken with him. I'm sure that he wouldn't mind since he spent some time in the Philippines filming Apocalypse Now. He played the 17-year old boy Clear Miller in the movie. I could also say that am a fan of Morpheus, etc. He's the star in the one-man broadway show called "Thurgod" (photo taken on West 45th St.).

Other celeb sightings but onstage were Marisa Tomei in "Top Girls"; but missed Tony winner Deanna Dunagan in "August: Osage County".