Full Moon and Pura's Birthday

On Saturday (10/7), according to the Balinese lunar calendar, was full moon. For some reason this meant that it's an extra auspicious day. It was also the pura's birthday so we had a big ceremony for it. From what I gathered, the ceremony was a lot like our wedding ceremony, but the chants and the offerings were different. I couldn't participate this time, so I ended up taking pictures of Wid's newphew and niece.

After the ceremony, we had suckling pig (babi guling) for lunch. Too bad this time they didn't bring the whole pig so I didn't get a nice picture of it. According to Anthony Bourdain (on the Indonesia episode of No Reservations), the Balinese makes THE best roasted pig in he world. If I remember correctly, the meat inside of the pig is taken out and cooked separately and flavored with lots of spices. Then, the meat is shoved back into the pig, and the pig is roasted slowly over a fire for hours. The pig is bathed with coconut water regularly. The end result is super crispy skin and the meat is soft and flavorful.