Archive for September, 2006
The old saying is true, that visitors to your see more of it than you do. I am a longtern visitor to Bali, and have seen my fair share of it. One part of Bali I have never seen, that is popular
with visitors, is Nusa Lembongan
Looking a map of Bali, you can see 3 islands across the Badung Strait to the south. These are Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida. The tourist island is Nusa Lembongan, famous for its surfing breaks (Shipwrecks, Lacerations, Playgrounds) and for its days trips for snorkeling.
Ika and Jevon are going to Java for most of Ramadan and the week of Idul Fitri. Ika wants him to experience the festive atmosphere and feel the spirit of the occassion, much like being in England for Christmas.
This gives me some extra space with which to explore and a trip to Nusa Lembongan is overdue. Looking at my guide book, the ‘Natural Guide to Bali‘, it tells me there are several ways I could get to Nusa Lembongan. These include: Public boats from Sanur beach, leaving daily at 8am and 10am (90 minute one-way, 35,000rp). Coming back the boats leave at 7.30am from Jungutbatu.
Perama does a shuttle from Sanur, leaving at 10.30am and returning at 8.30am, for 50,000rp. I’ll probably take Perama, as they are most likely be on time, and have a boat with no holes in. It is possible to charter a private boat for 300,000rp.
For people staying in Kuta, Perama has an office about 50 meters before the bottom end of Jl. Legian. Pop in and ask about their latest schedules and rates.
What’s on Nusa Lembongan?
Nusa Lembongan is basically a quiet fishing community located on a dry island. Westeners go there for surfing, staying at the guest houses in front of Lacerations and snorkeling, from day trip boats. There is budget accomodation as well as higher end. I’ll go for the budget and give a rundown of what else is there.
source:www.baliblog.com
September 27th, 2006
Operation Wallacea is a series of biological and social science expedition projects that operate in remote locations across the world. These expeditions are designed with specific wildlife conservation aims in mind - from identifying areas needing protection, through to implementing and assessing conservation management programmes.
What is different about Operation Wallacea is that large teams of university academics who are specialists in various aspects of biodiversity or social and economic studies and are concentrated at the target study sites. Research Assistants joining the surveys therefore have the option of individualising their own itinerary from a range of training and science options at each of the sites. It also provides an excellent environment for students to complete their dissertations or theses and over 60% achieve Firsts for their field studies with Operation Wallacea.
The surveys result in a large number of publications in peer-reviewed journals each year, have resulted in 30 vertebrate species new to science being discovered, 4 ‘extinct’ species being re-discovered and $1.5 million levered from funding agencies to set up best practice management examples at the study sites. These large survey teams of academics and volunteers that are funded independently of normal academic sources have enabled large temporal and spatial biodiversity and socio-economic data sets to be produced, and provide information to help with organising effective conservation management programmes.
source : www.opwall.com
September 27th, 2006
From 1998 to 2004 the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur were the world’s tallest buildings. Stay tuned to hear about a visit to the skybridge connecting the two towers. Welcome to Traveller’s Tales. I’m Yvonne Gomez.
On what used to be the site of Kuala Lumpur’s race track now stands the Petronas Twin Towers.
Constructed mainly of reinforced concrete, with a geometric Islamic floor plan design of two interlocking squares forming an eight-point star, the towers are 88 floors high with 765 flights of stairs.
The towers are currently the world’s tallest twin towers, at a height of 452 metres above ground.
Jeffrey Xavier is a British tourist who travelled from Singapore to Malaysia on a whirlwind 24-hour trip just to visit the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
When he returned to Singapore, I asked him about the trip.
******
There are several timing restrictions for the tours up the Petronas Towers. Was it very difficult for you to get tickets?
JX: No, it wasn’t very difficult. It just took very long. The whole place opens at 8.30am but there were people who were lining up there…it must’ve been from like 6 o’clock in the morning, because when we got there, it was already five rows deep, and they were long queues.
What exactly is involved in a tour up the towers?
JX: Well, after waiting in line, you go into another waiting area, which has loads of information with the history of the building, the design, comparisons with other tall buildings in the world and their structures. Actually, there’s a really interesting one where it measures how tall you are and how much bigger the building is compared to that. I was quite impressed with that. And then there’s another waiting area. That’s another thing…you think you’re finally going on the tour but then there’s another waiting area after that. But this one’s more interesting because there’s a visual focus, with a TV. So you get to see the whole history of the building in a 15-minute video. It was quite interesting because you get to see how it’s all planned out and the construction of it.
When you finally did get to go up the towers, where did you go and what exactly did you see?
JX: When the actual tour started – and it was only for like five minutes – most of it was in the lift, where it took about 90 seconds to get up to the 41st floor. That was onto the skybridge, which is the perpendicular section between the two buildings which connect them. It’s an emergency route or passageway between them, whichever way you want to see it. It’s quite an amazing view, although it’s only from the 41st floor, although there was a lot of smog in the morning. But the views were quite spectacular all around. It was quite impressive. The other thing that was good was that the staff helped to take photographs and told us some interesting facts like, how the building sways about 75 centimetres or 1-metre due to winds, and you can actually see where they’ve designed this into the building. The tour guide also told us that the highest recorded wind speed recorded in Malaysia is sixty kilometres, and that the building had been designed with a safety factor of three, which allows for winds of up to 180 kilometres per hour. So you really feel safe on the bridge. It’s also double-decker – the 41st and 42nd floors – but we only went to the 41st floor.
So did you manage to get to the top of the building?
JX: Well, I thought that as soon as we returned to the lift, we were going up to the 88th or a higher floor but it went straight down. I thought, well here you have a building which is 88 stories high, which you don’t get in many places, and coming from London where we don’t have anything even good enough as that, but we didn’t go up and went all the way back down. I thought “What? We’re not going up?” But that was it. That was the tour. It was a bit of a disappointment. I guess it was all free so you can’t really expect that much. They stated it was because of security reasons but they have x-ray machines and other security measures, so I didn’t see it as too much of a problem.
And after the tour, most of the visitors go down to the souvenir shop, which is located near the ticket counter. Did you go there?
JX: Yeah, I went to the souvenir shop, which was really good. The thing is, it should open earlier because when one of you is waiting in the queue, the rest in the group can visit it. There are quite a lot of ornaments or sourvenirs you can buy and the prices, for me, with my British pounds, was quite cheap, and they accept different currencies, which is even better because I didn’t have that much change in ringgit. I bought some keyrings, pencils, pens, a little glass ornament for my mum which I hope she likes, and some postcards. The staff were really helpful and friendly.
Most people visit the reflecting pool and fountains outside, at the foot of the towers. Did you take the token photographs that every other tourist takes when visiting the Petronas Towers?
JX: Whichever tourist site you go to, you’ve got the take the token photographs. I had a good friend with me who took my photographs and they were quite impressive. Even the area where you take the token photographs is really nice and well done. You’ve got to give it to them – they’ve done a good job of the site.
source : www.rsi.sg
September 26th, 2006
It’s all well and good to wax poetic about beautiful, natural landscapes, but sometimes nature’s beauty comes at a price.
Stay tuned to find out about an adventurer, who had to endure a very cold night indeed, just to enjoy the views at a scenic lake above the tree-line.
Welcome to Traveller’s Tales. I’m Yvonne Gomez.
Half Dome at Yosemite
Yosemite National Park in California is a world heritage site with its spectacular geological features. The park is also home to Half Dome, the largest monolith of exposed granite in the world.
Johan Khor visited Yosemite many years ago to satisfy his twin passions for trekking and nature photography.
Having escaped encounters with hungry Black bears, that roam the park, Johan heeded the advice of park rangers, and managed the enjoy much of what Yosemite had to offer campers.
JK: But there were some incredibly stupid hikers in America. One example was the trek to Half Dome, which is probably the most famous monolith formation there. It’s a five-hour walk one-way, so you have to start very early, and when we were coming down on our way back, we still met hikers climbing up at the half-way point. There was n way they could make their way back without torches and it’s stupid to climb down in half-darkness anyway. But these people were so determined that they didn’t even pause to listen to any warnings. They just had this focused glaze in their eyes and they were sort of storming up the hill and the next morning, we heard all these choppers, and they were bringing people down with open fractures and it was just horrific.
Well, you were lucky to escape the Black bears, but not so lucky when you went above the tree-line.
JK: Well, yes. I went up to a place called May Lake which was beautiful. My friends had recommended that I go there for the scenery. They told me it was above the tree-line and that it could get a little bit cold so I went up there and it was very, very beautiful, with reflective images. But I’ll just fast-forward to the part after dinner. We had a marvellous dinner. I met an English couple there and they were having a campfire and asked me to join them. I thought that was great because I wouldn’t have had to build a fire. So I went over there with my provisions and they said they’d cooked a three-course meal for me with a litre-and-a-half of Californian white wine.
Helps to be a single guy travelling alone doesn’t it?
JK: Absolutely…so I learnt, anyway…Anyway, after dinner, and it was fairly late and it had got quite cold, I went back to my campsite and because tit was cold, I had got rather lazy and tired so I didn’t actually change out of my clothes. I was wearing two layers and I’d decided to have full length thermals and I had on a rugby top and jeans. So I thought I’d be lazy and climbed into my down-filled sleeping bag and thought I’d be pretty alright. But it was too cold to sleep. I thought I would warm up in a few minutes but it was getting colder and colder. And I must say I also had really think socks on, which you normally can’t wear in everyday use. But it got so cold and it was about one o’clock and my teeth were chattering. So I got up and put on another pair of thick woollen socks, a polar fleece top, so I was wearing three layers now. I looked like an Eskimo! I also pulled on a really thick pair of tracksuit pants over my jeans and thermal underwear…and you know what? I still couldn’t sleep. I had only my face exposed, because my sleeping bag was one of those mummy-form structures. I was debating whether or not to drive back down but I knew it was too dark and I could’ve encountered deer on the way back. So I just thrashed around in the sleeping bag but I could never get warm that night. So one night was enough for me…
Were you quite scared that you might have had hypothermia or something?
JK: Well, the thought did cross my mind but I thought I just had to warm myself up somehow. I wasn’t too cold, just uncomfortable enough not to be able to sleep but I wasn’t feeling out of control.
source : www.rsi.sg
September 26th, 2006
When you hear that sound at Yosemite National Park in the United States, you’d better hope that all the food in the vicinity is safely locked up in heavy, cast-iron lockers. Stay tuned for more on the park’s Black bears in Traveller’s Tales this week. Welcome to the programme, I’m Yvonne Gomez.
The Yosemite area in California has been inhabited by native Americans for thousands of years. It became a national park in 1890 and is a wealth of natural beauty, with waterfalls, lush forests and groves of giant sequoia trees.
Yosemite National Park also has its highs and lows, with towering cliffs offering spectacular views of Yosemite valley below.
Johan Khor is Australian and visited Yosemite National Park in California many years ago. He was very nearly stranded for a night because of a mix-up with his booking.
JK: But I was very lucky. I actually made my way from San Francisco where my friends lived, and rented a very small hatchback. I think it was probably the weakest and least powerful car in the whole of the United States. So I packed my provisions and camping gear and went there and I met another three or four groups of American youth. The Americans are incredibly generous. I had rocked up and when I brought out my food, they said they had heaps left over and that I was welcome to finish it, in fact, they said they were going to throw it away if I didn’t have it, and that pattern kept repeating itself. Everywhere I went; people would offer to share their food or other provisions. I thought perhaps it was because I was travelling alone that they thought I couldn’t take care of myself. It was an unusual experience, I must say.
Why did you choose Yosemite National Park to tramp in?
JK: Back in those days, I had a very strong interest in outdoor photography and was quite inspired by the works of Ansel Adams and that was where Ansel Adams did a lot of photography back in the 50s and 60s I believe. I did it for two reasons. One for photography and the other was to do some outdoor trekking, which I’m also very passionate about. We also went to one of the lookouts high above the valley. I think it was about 45 minutes’ drive from the valley floor, up to the vantage point, and there was nothing there and no established buildings apart from some ice-cream shacks that are used in summer. And right bang in the middle of all that beautiful, pristine nature, we saw a solitary Bell telephone outpost. Naturally all the Americans queued up for it to say “Hi Mom, I’m at the vantage point at Yosemite” (laughs)
Tell me about the campsites. There’s obviously a range of accommodations available for campers.
JK: It was quite a reasonable price you pay for the campsites. Obviously you could either rent equipment there or you could bring your own. In America, they really cater for everything. You’ve got powered campsites, shower facilities, and of course in Yosemite, because of the Black bear problem, they have special bear lockers. These are huge, heavy cast iron lockers which are army surplus, I think, and they have a latch and a padlock. Everyone is provided with a padlock when they register at the ranger’s station and you’re instructed to keep all your food in the lockers. The campsites vary in size. Some held 250, and others, up to 500.
You mentioned Black bears…how much of a problem are Black bears at Yosemite?
JK: They are more of a problem now, compared to say, several decades ago. I believe it was because the unknowing public was feeding them scraps. The Black bears usually live in the hills, but in the night-time, they become so accustomed to human interaction that they actually come down and you can hear them at night in your tents.
So they’re not put off by campfire or anything like that?
JK: No, the rangers do give you advice on how to scare them away by banging pans and flashing lights and so forth. They’re also very clear about instructions that all food has to go into the bear-safe containers. In fact, one unfortunate camper missed taking out one of his candy bars from his four-wheel drive. The next morning he woke up to find that not only had a whole panel been ripped off by the bear using its sharp claws, but the ranger actually gave him a very stern lecture and fined him on top of that!
The bear would’ve had to have a very keen sense of smell to have sniffed out a candy bar…
JK: Oh yes…
…presumably sealed as well…
JK: Yes, you’re right.
Did you have any dangerous encounters with Black bears…or did you see any?
JK: No, I didn’t see any myself but certainly heard them at night. (laughs)
So they only approach you for food, or also for companionship?
JK: Oh no, I think they approach solely for food (laughs)
source :www.rsi.sg
September 26th, 2006
The Raja Ampats lie in the heart of the “coral triangle”—an area encompassing reefs of northern Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea.
The Raja Ampat waters may be especially rich in species, the scientists said, because the islands lie at a point where sea currents from surrounding areas converge. That creates a conducive environment for fish, coral, and other organisms from various habitats.
Email to a Friend
Relative to other reefs in the area, the marine biologists found the reefs of Raja Ampats to be in good condition. However, the scientists were particularly concerned by signs of damage from increased illegal fishing by local people and commercial fishing boats from Thailand and the Philippines.
A growing number of fishers use dynamite and cyanide blasts to stun the fish. The fish then float at the surface of the water, making them easy to catch and sell.
The dynamite and cyanide also kill the corals, which biologists liken to rain forests in the uniqueness and importance of their biodiversity.
In some regions of Indonesia, fishing with explosives has reduced coral cover by as much as 80 percent, according to the World Fish Center, based in Penang, Malaysia. In the Raja Ampats’ reefs, damage from dynamite and cyanide was seen at 15 percent of the sites the Conservation International team examined.
The researchers said they were also concerned about siltation of the reefs from illegal logging in adjacent areas. The sedimentation smothers and can eventually kill coral and fish. Waters around the Raja Ampat archipelago and other islands in the area were declared nature reserves in the early 1990s, but illegal logging has been a big problem throughout Indonesia, especially in the aftershocks of the Asian economic crisis.
“The results of our assessment point to the need to work closely with the local communities to better manage and protect this stunning and vital area,” said McKenna.
Conservation Crucial
The survey by the ten-member scientific team included a study of how people in the region use and depend on the region’s marine resources, which has important implications for managing and preserving the reefs. An estimated 7,700 people live in 22 communities scattered across the Raja Ampat cluster of both large and small islands.
The survey indicated that more than 90 percent of the adult population of the Raja Ampats is engaged in subsistence-level fishing.
Because of this dependency, the scientists said, local government officials and village leaders must be included in any national and international planning of how to ensure long-term survival of the region’s marine wealth.
One conservation strategy that could help, the scientific team suggested, is working to have the Raja Ampats designated a World Heritage Site. “The Raja Ampat Islands are certainly deserving of World Heritage status and every effort should be made to conserve them,” said Vernon (see sidebar).
Conservation International is preparing a final report on the results of its survey of the Raja Ampats. Officials of the group said the report will include guidelines on how to ensure community-based protection of the area’s reefs and other marine resources.
Some conservationists have suggested that Palau, an independent group of islands in the Philippine Sea, might provide a good model for strategies to conserve the Raja Ampat Islands. Eager to conserve its reefs and natural beauty to insure the area’s appeal as a tourist destination, the government of Palau protects much of its surrounding seas.
source : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news
September 25th, 2006
Scuba divers, take note: The waters of the Raja Ampat Islands off Indonesia’s province of Irian Jaya may replace heralded Palau as the most species-rich sea in the world.
An international team of marine biologists who visited the Raja Ampats recently to examine the reefs said they found what may be an unparalleled array of species—corals, fishes, and mollusks—including some species never seen before.
Email to a Friend
The reefs of the Raja Ampat Islands had not previously been explored in detail. The islands, which lie off Sorong on the northwest coast of sparsely populated and still largely undisturbed Irian Jaya, are extremely remote. Irian Jaya is the western half of the island of New Guinea.
Gerald Allen from the Western Australia Museum in Perth led the recent scientific expedition, which was organized by Conservation International. Allen, an expert on coral reef fishes, broke his own world record, twice, for the number of species he saw in a one-hour dive—281 on one dive and 283 on another.
During the entire three-week expedition in March and April, Allen recorded seeing 950 different species of fish.
The scientists surveyed an area of about 3,700 square miles (6,000 square kilometers). Their results revealed what they said was an extraordinary wealth of marine biodiversity: 450 species of hard coral, more than 600 mollusk species, and possibly as many as 1,100 fish species.
Damselfish, one of the most abundant inhabitants of coral reefs, totaled more than 108—nearly as many as those recorded for all of the reefs surrounding the entire continent of Australia, according to the team’s coral experts.
Besides conducting an initial inventory of the region’s marine life, the scientists had set out to assess the condition of the Raja Ampats’ reefs to determine what conservation measures might be needed. One significant finding was evidence of damage to the area’s corals from illegal “blast fishing.”
“The Raja Ampats are amazingly rich in marine biodiversity, but the reefs are threatened by illegal fishing and other human activities,” said Sheila McKenna, a marine biologist at Conservation International. She was a member of the expedition team, which also included researchers from the University of Cendrawasih in Irian Jaya’s capital, Jayapura.
Growing Threats
The Raja Ampats survey was preliminary, so whether the islands will surpass Palau as the place regarded as having the world’s richest biodiversity is not yet known. Experts estimate that the Palau archipelago, which lies 600 nautical miles east of the Philippines, has 700 species of coral and 1,400 fish species.
Team member John Vernon, a scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science who is an expert on corals around the world, told Indonesia’s Tempo magazine that the survey suggests Raja Ampats may have a higher density of species than the Palau region.
source :http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news
September 25th, 2006
Scientists said on Monday they found two types of shark, exotic “flasher” fish and corals among 52 new species in seas off Indonesia, confirming the western Pacific as the richest marine habitat on earth.
They urged more protection for seas around the Bird’s Head peninsula at the western end of New Guinea island from threats including mining and dynamite fishing that can smash coral reefs.
“We feel very confident that this is the epicenter of marine biodiversity” in the world, said Mark Erdmann, a U.S. scientist at Conservation International who led two surveys this year. (See the brilliant colors of the new fish)
Erdmann said the area surveyed was the center of a “Coral Triangle” — between Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Around the Bird’s Head peninsula there were 1,223 species of fish and 600 types of corals.
The Great Barrier Reef, covering an area 10 times bigger, has slightly more types of fish — 1,464 species — but just 405 species of coral. And the bigger Caribbean Sea has fewer than 1,000 species of fish and just 58 types of coral.
Source: CNN
September 25th, 2006
Every red blooded man who comes to Bali (plus a few Sheila’s), likes to get hold of a cold Bintang beer. Usually it happen about 5 minutes after checking into the hotel and 10 minutes before jumping into the pool. Bintang is a pilsner (clear, bottom fermented lager beer), which makes it ideal for those steamy Bali afternoons (some Seminyak expats like it on steamy Bali mornings, but that’s another matter).
Bintang means ’star’ in Indonesian, but the origins of Bier Bintang are in Holland. Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony, with the focus of attention being Java. Here’s what the official website says: “The history of PT Multi Bintang Indonesia Tbk. (MBI) dates back to 1929 when the company was founded under the name of NV Nederlandsch Indische Bierbrouwerijen. The first brand of the company was Java Bier.In 1936 Heineken became the major shareholder and the company name changed into Heineken Nederlandsch-Indische Brouwerij Maatschappij. In 1937 the company introduced Heineken beer for the first time on the Indonesian market.During the Second World-war the company ceased the production of Heineken beer. In 1947 Heineken was introduced on the Indonesian market for the 2nd time.
During the years of Indonesia’s Guided Democracy (1957-1965), Heineken stopped being technical advisor and prohibited the use of the Heineken brand-name. Heineken beer was changed in Bir Bintang and the company-name changed into Perusahaan Bir Bintang. The label changed step by step from Heineken to Bintang.
In 1967 Heineken resumed the activities in Indonesia and – thanks to the renewed technical assistance of the Heineken company – the quality of the beer was again brought up to the international standards. Bir Bintang was relaunched under the name Bintang Baru.
In 2006 the latest label change took place to rejuvenate the Bir Bintang brand.”
Can you believe it, when Miguel Covarrubias (Island Of Bali) landed in Bali in 1936, there was cold beer waiting for him! In the last few months, Bintang has shaken the jar once more, introducing a new label. Some of the old fogies here in Bali, the 50 year old, Marlboro smoking, “I was here in 1970″ brigade, almost fell off their bamboo stools. Give me civil war, give me tsunami’s, give me volcanic eruptions, but don’t change the label on my beer bottle!
Can you believe it, when Miguel Covarrubias (Island Of Bali) landed in Bali in 1936, there was cold beer waiting for him! In the last few months, Bintang has shaken the jar once more, introducing a new label. Some of the old fogies here in Bali, the 50 year old, Marlboro smoking, “I was here in 1970″ brigade, almost fell off their bamboo stools. Give me civil war, give me tsunami’s, give me volcanic eruptions, but don’t change the label on my beer bottle!Where can you buy Bintang?
Almost everywhere. Supermarkets, Circle K’s, convenience stores, bars and restaurants, all serve Bintang.
Where can’t you buy Bintang?
In Muslim places like small warungs and Padang food places. The price of Bintang, while cheap for westerners, is still relatively high for locals. In places like Negara, you will find it hard to get a Bintang. Also in villages it will be served warm.
Where can you drink Bintang?
Anywhere you like, except in a temple / mosque / church.
Who can buy Bintang?
Anyone. In Bali the attitude towards drinking / sex / driving, is ‘when you are old enough, you can do it’. There is no drinking age, no ID required.
Where is the best place to drink a Bintang?
That’s arguable, but a few of my favourites include Lanai (formerly Benny’s) on Blue Ocean beach in Seminyak at sunset. Grabbing a cold one in the middle of a steamy afternoon can be refreshing, as can lounging in a hammock in East Bali.
What can you drink with a Bintang?
Bintang isn’t a particularly distinctive beer. Its decent, especially when served ice-cold. You can drink it by itself, with peanuts, as are often served in Bali, with pedas (spicy) Indonesian food, or at a bbq.
How much does a Bintang cost?
A small Bintang cost around 6,000rp at Circle K, a large 12,000rp.
What alcohol content is Bintang?
Bintang is 5%. A light beer.
Selamat minum.
source : www.baliblog.com
September 25th, 2006
My last post talked about the execution of 3 Christian trouble makers in Sulawesi. This happened earlier today and there has been some unrest in Central Sulawesi and Flores, the birth palce of the 3 men.
Yahoo reports that ‘machete-wielding mobs ran through the streets’ in Flores, scattering locals. I hate when machete-wielding mobs run through the street, and am glad to report that so far, there has been no reacton here in Bali.
source : www.baliblog.com
September 22nd, 2006
Next Posts
Previous Posts