Archive for October, 2006
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October 31st, 2006
Today in Tabanan, for a good while at least, I was the only ‘bule‘ in a crowd of Balinese locals. It didn’t matter, and was actually a bonus for me, as I didn’t have to listen to the whole ego routine, of ‘how great I’m doing in Bali’.
Indonesians as a rule, do not display an outward sense of ego. You ask them to tell you about themselves, and they’ll mention their village, their family, their religion. After getting used to this, it feels really strange to hear westerners, talking exclusively about themselves…”Yeah I guess the reason I’m such a great surfer, is that I have a phenomenal sense of balance, not to mention exceptional atheletic ability.” Who needs to listen to that crap?
You’ll never hear a Balinese person, ranting on about themselves in that manner, they are much more down to earth. This afternoon, sitting on a shady edge of a bale, in full view of a crowd of locals, I was concious of the fact that 95% of them, were looking at me. One thing I try to be at times like this, is low-key. Its tempting for some westerners (I’ve seen it happen) to realize they are ‘on stage’ and try to somehow, ’steal the show’. Today’s event was for Wayan and Made, not me. So I endeavoured to sit still, shut up, and be a spectator like everyone else.
After one part of the ceremony was over, I was joined on the bale by a few older Balinese guys (actually not so far away from my own age ). The guy on the left was head of the banjar in Nyitdah, a handy man to know. I asked the fellas which was more powerful here in Nyitdah, the government, or the banjar (community). They said without hesitation, the banjar, meaning We’re the law around these parts’. These guys were all cool and we chatted about marriage, women and stuff in general.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 31st, 2006
It occured to me today, that a Balinese local, is really directed through life, like a river reaching the ocean. Even at a young age, children are present at upacara (ceremonies) and there are many weddings to go to. In a Balinese village, everybody must be invited to a wedding, if you leave one person out, it is considered a major disrespect.
Wayan must of seen hundreds of weddings before actually attending her own. The older ladies sit around in groups, chatting, commenting and occassionally giggling at the goings on. In one part of the ceremony, Wayan and Made sat on the bale I was on before, with the banjar guys, who offered advice for the husband. Wayan’s giggling could be heard from time to time.
I’d say the general tone of a Balinese wedding is one of relaxation, with people eating, drinking and chatting. After moving back to the house with the buffet, I met some people from Finland, who were harder to communicate with than the Balinese. Made’s brother told me an interesting thing. In Balinese tradition, the newly weds move into the house of the man’s parents. Wayan and Made would be moving into her parent’s house. The reason for this is, if a family does not have a son (Wayan only has a sister, the hottie Kadek), then a special agreement is reached whereby the husband, moves over instead of her. This can mean a major lifestyle change if he is from Gilimanuk and she from Amed, but fortunately in this case, they only live a block apart.
Chatting with many locals today, I asked if any ‘bules’ lived in the area. They said no, but many in Canggu (’Campung International’). If Canggu is called that, I wonder how my neighborhood, Seminykak is viewed. Anyway, today I met many lovely people, who were hospitable and had nno other motive for being friendly. One can see how life for a Balinese person can seen fun, when surrounded by smiling people. Of course they have stresses too, with the changing times and costs of ceremonies, but they hide it well.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 31st, 2006
Basa Bali, the language of the Balinese has some similarities with Bahasa Indonesia. It is though, a separate language in its own right. For people coming to Bali, or living in Bali, is learning Basa Bali worth the effort?
A recent thread of the expat forum, asks that exact question. Good point mentioned and it is true that in most areas of the islands nowadays, younger people can speak Bahasa Indonesia and some English. The need to learn Basa Bali, for getting things done, does not exist. My wife Ika does not speak, and does not want to learn Basa Bali. She can get by very well in Indonesian.
A linguist I’m not, but I’d still like to learn some Balinese, as it adds spice to a casual conversation. Whenever I’m in a village and someone asks “Apa kabar?” and I respond “Becik becik kemantan,’ they break into laughter. The idea of a westerner speaking the lcoal language tickles them, and for that reason, it can be rewarding. I have also been in situations in the highlands and also here in Seminyak, where a 60 year old Balinese person cannot understand me, because they can’t speak Indonesian. Being able to pull up to a rice field on my motorbike, and chat with the old guy working in it, would be wonderful.
Anyone have tips of learning Basa Bali?
source : www.baliblog.com
October 31st, 2006
Bali resident Monte Monfore, is a world record breaking distance swimmer, having swum the Bali Strait, between Bali and Java, and the Badung Strait between Nusa Lembongan and the Bali. Monte has added another feather to his cap, by swimming across Lake Batur. Here’s the official account of Monte’s swim.
October 16, 2006 world record ocean swimmer Monte Monfore made the first recorded swim across holy Lake Batur, in the highlands of Bali, Indonesia. The Bali Swim for Peace and Against Poverty supported two major events: Dewa Sraya, a Bali Hindu ceremony conducted at Pura Tuluk Biyu temple overlooking the lake, and the United Nations Stand Up campaign.
Located next to still-active Mount Batur, inside a huge crater at 1050 meters, Lake Batur is considered sacred by the Balinese. Following permission to enter the water the 45-year-old Californian was blessed by a Bali Hindu priest at lakeside Pura Jati temple prior to the historic swim.
Monte’s route connected the two holiest locations on the lake: the isolated village of Trunyan nestled under the eastern rim of the crater wall, and Toyabungkah at the foot of Mount Batur, which last erupted in 1994. In a pre-swim announcement the endurance athlete dedicated his swim to “the beautiful Balinese people”.
Beginning at 3:40pm the marathon swimmer was accompanied by a small boat decorated with Balinese ceremonial adornments, which carried local Hindu priests, community leaders, and a gamelan bronze-gong orchestra. Despite high winds and the frigid mountain water Monte made the three kilometer crossing in just under an hour (58 minutes 25 seconds).
The swim took place prior to the conclusion of the nineteen-day Dewa Sraya purification ritual at Pura Tuluk Biyu temple in Kitamani, one of the oldest and most sacred in Bali. Held once every five years, the Dewa Sraya ceremony attracted thousands of worshippers from across the island, who prayed for the restoration of balance and harmony in Bali and the entire world.
In a post swim announcement Monte sent a message of peace around the world and said, “Here on this beautiful island of Bali, peace is not just a word, it’s a way of life.”
The swim was also part of the global, UN-sponsored Stand Up Against Poverty and Stand Up For the Millennium Development Goals event held on 15 and 16 October. More than 23 million people participated worldwide, including some 300,000 in Indonesia .
Monte concluded speaking about his island home, “Bali is no longer only a place of transience for surfers and holiday makers. It has evolved into a place of substance. More than 20,000 foreigners live here. Many, like me, are planting roots and intending to spend the rest of their lives on the Island of the Gods.
Bali is one of the most spectacular places on the planet. It has one of the richest cultures and most beautiful people in the world. This place is a tropical paradise with incredible scenery, fantastic beaches, and great surf. There’s a reason readers of international travel magazines continually vote Bali the most beautiful island in the world and I encourage everyone to visit this magical place.”
A Bali resident since 2004, the marathon swimmer holds numerous channel crossing records throughout the region. This was his third UN-related event in six months. Earlier this year he contributed to two World Food Program efforts. In May as part of the worldwide Walk the World/Fight Hunger campaign the athlete swam a double crossing of the four-kilometer Bali Strait. In June following the devastating earthquake in central Java Monte’s 12.5-kilometer Yogyakarta Earthquake Relief Swim raised awareness and support for victims and publicized WFP emergency relief efforts.
Bali Swim for Peace and Against Poverty event footage was sent worldwide by Reuters Television and Associated Press Television News.
For more information please search Monte Monfore on the Internet.
Contact Monte at: montemon4@hotmail.com
source : www.baliblog.com
October 31st, 2006
Sunday morning I took off on the motorbike for a cruise in the Bali highlands. My route, Seminyak-Canggu-Beraban-Tabanan-Penebel-Baturiti-Lake Tamblingan-Pupuan-Sanda-Antosari-Tabanan-Canggu-Seminyak.
The main thing here is keeping off of main roads, enjoying the peaceful roads and seeing a bit of Balinese life. The route up to Penebel takes more effort, than just blazing up towards Singaraja, but its worth it. Up in the area of the lakes, I stopped off for one of those tourist buffets. In certain places on the main road, you find large restaurants with a view, serving bus tours. The buffet was 75,000rp, but I made sure I had 4 courses. Looking at the other diners, from Japan and Java, it was obvious the food wasn’t that great. Remind me to avoid these places in future.Today I feel like I drove the Monaco Grand Prix. If I had a nasi goreng, for every hairpin bend I went through, I’d be rolling in nasi. You should see the route dotted on my sat-nav. Its all hairpin bends in the highlands, and 10km in a straight line on the map, takes considerably more time than you calculate.
Of the few photos I took today, a couple were of rice terraces and another couple were of Sanda Butik Villas, south of Pupuan, where I stopped off for a pot of ginger tea. Almost dozing off in the arm chair, the owner prompted me, to not look so tired. Riding a motorbike takes a lot of concentration. Its fun, but is taxing, especially in crazy Bali, where a pothole, dog or local is coming your way every other moment.
I arrived back home at 5.30pm in one piece. My 100cc bike was up to the task of getting around the mountains and back. I would like a Tiger 2000, because of the suspension as well as the extra power. If you are coming to Bali and plan to explore my motorbike, a Tiger is better for the island as a whole, a scooter okay for downtown.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 31st, 2006
Indonesia is predomintantly Muslim but underlying that fact are a strong set of locally held beliefs, pre-dating Islam. The Balinese have made some of therse beliefs a part of their Hindu religion. The Muslims, however, have to run a double line, professing belief in Islam, while quielty going about their other proactices. An article in a guide book written by Bill Dalton talks about this.
‘Indondonesians are preoccupied with mystical and devotional matters, their spritualism eclipsing the basic rationalism of Islam. Even the President believes in a Javanese brand of mysticism and omens. Mysticism is alive and well in east and central Java, where the sultan of Yogya is still looked upon as a god. Ritul meals (selamatan) are attended by neighbors and friends to appease the spirits during important transitional events. Army generals helicopter into the camps of mystics in E.Java (Blitar) for spiritual consultations. Witch doctors (dukun) exorcise evil spirits from granaries, temples, cars, hotels, swimming pools. Thieves use black magic to rob houses.
There are devils, ghosts which steal children (wewe) and lure young men (puntianak). On Ambon, white-magic priests (mawang) work harmoniously alongside the Christian and Muslim religious leaders of a village. The staunchly Islamic Makassarese of S. Sulawesi worship large stones, flags, swords, umbrellas, and plows, presenting regular offerings of food and betelnut, and even on more important occassions, animals are even sacrificed to them. Catholics of Yogya use gamelan music to celebrate mass, and some Christians of Torajaland (Sulawesi), sacrifice bulls to the memory of the dead raja. It’s far easier to learn when religions began in Indonesia, than it is to know when they ended.’
Any time there is a disaster happening, or about to happen (volcano about to erupt etc.) villagers will instantly perform local ceremonies to the gods of the mountain, and lay offerings. I think its cool and provides a mental link between the people and their local environment.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 31st, 2006
In 2001, Brent Blake had an idea: to build the world’s largest Lava Lamp in his home town of Soap Lake, Washington. “I had no ulterior motives,” he said, “other than to help the city and promote tourism and make everybody happy and increase the standard of living here a little bit.”
Brent soon learned that to build a giant lamp would be very expensive. It might also be beyond the scope of human engineering. And the Lava Lamp company wanted nothing to do with it. “They were afraid that if we built a real, giant lava lamp, it might fall over and hurt somebody,” Brent recalled. His counter-argument, “Then you build something that doesn’t fall over,” fell on deaf ears. Things looked bleak.
Then Target, the retail store chain, heard of Brent’s plight. It gave him a $2 million, 24-ton faux-Lava Lamp that it had used as a “spectacular” billboard in New York City’s Times Square. The lamp was only 50 feet tall (Brent had wanted something at least 60 feet tall); it was a mechanical imitation of a Lava Lamp, not a real Lava Lamp; and it lacked the encircling observation deck that Brent originally envisioned. But he was willing to compromise. The lamp was shipped to Soap Lake in January 2005.
Since then, the lamp has languished in a warehouse, in pieces, and little has been done. “I spent four years of my life promoting this project, and then I get this benevolent donation, and the city can’t figure out what the hell to do with it,” Brent said. “This is a $2 million, 48,000-lb object, and some people think that all it takes to put it up is two guys, a shovel, and a pickup truck.”
Problems in recent weeks have once again cast a spotlight on a project that the elected officials of Soap Lake seem unable to manage. New, clear panels have to be cast to complete the “globe” of the lamp, but no one can be found to fabricate them. The electronic “brain” of the lamp, it turns out, was left attached to the parapet in Times Square, and no one knows if it will still work. And on October 10, the city took the design team that had been developing the Lava Lamp site and fired them.
Still, the mayor of Soap Lake insists that the Lamp, which had originally been scheduled to be unveiled in the Fall of 2006, will now be up in the Spring of 2007.
“That’s completely bogus,” says Brent. “These people figure they can do it all themselves. It’s kinda like a Western attitude, ‘I can do anything.’ I don’t mind it, but it only works to a certain degree. Then you get yourself in trouble.”
“So many people had faith in us,” said Brent, referring to the Lamp. “It can’t end up being hauled off to the landfill. We have an obligation to get this thing completed.”
source : www.roadsideamerica.com
October 30th, 2006
By the end of November, San Antonio, Texas’s colony of free-tailed bats will have flown south to Mexico. That’s when the city plans to seal off the roosts under the Houston Street Bridge, leaving the bats homeless when they return in the spring.
Unlike Austin, Texas, just up I-35, which encourages bats to roost under its Congress Avenue Bridge — and which draws tens of thousands of visitors each year to watch their en masse departures at dusk — San Antonio has never really embraced its bats. If it had, the city could have had its own tourist bonanza. Instead, it complains that bat guano and urine are polluting the San Antonio River, even though, opponents argue, the bats in Austin haven’t polluted its Town Lake, and there are 1.5 million of them.
A more plausible explanation for San Antonio’s antipathy is that its bat roost is in the heart of its successful “River Walk” downtown shopping and dining district. The city has expressed concern over the smell — its Parks and Recreation Department deodorizes the bat bridge every morning — and fears that its leathery guests may lessen the spending splurges of its most upscale consumers.
It is unfair to say that San Antonio is anti-bat. The city would probably be happy if the bats relocate next year to another San Antonio bridge, in a part of town with less expendable income. Note: The photo here is a charming section of the Riverwalk, but not of the bridge preferred by the bats.
source : www.roadsideamerica.com
October 30th, 2006
MEMPHIS, TN—Davidson Hotel Company, one of the nation’s largest hotel management companies, today announced that the company was named a “Preferred Management Company” by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. for their upscale and luxury brands, including St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, Sheraton®, Westin®, Four Points® by Sheraton, W®, Le Méridien® and the recently announced aloftSM and ELEMENTSM Hotels. The designation is by invitation only and places Davidson on a short list of elite operators approved to operate its licensed hotels.
“Only a relatively small number of companies have achieved this designation,” said John A. Belden, Davidson’s president and chief executive officer. “This will provide us with additional opportunities for growth, but it also carries with it a strong responsibility to continue to maintain our high levels of quality, guest satisfaction and performance. Davidson’s approach to service and hospitality align perfectly with Starwood’s expectations for its unique brand experiences.”
Davidson’s portfolio currently includes three Starwood-branded hotels, two Westins currently under development and a Sheraton. Currently ranked the 12th largest independent hotel management company with 2005 revenues of nearly $280 million, Davidson is projecting $400 million in annualized revenues in 2006 and targeting over $650 million by 2010.
“Davidson has demonstrated its understanding of Starwood’s strong expectations and exacting standards for its brands,” said Lynne Dougherty, Starwood senior vice president, owners relations and franchise. “We look forward to expanding our relationship as Davidson continues to grow.”
Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., Davidson Hotel Company is an award-winning, full-service hotel owner and third-party management company that provides management development/renovation, acquisition, consulting and accounting expertise for the hospitality industry. The company currently owns and/or manages 27 upscale hotels with nearly 7,800 rooms across the United States, including such brands as Westin, Sheraton, Hilton, Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Marriott, Renaissance and Hyatt. Additional information on Davidson may be found at the company’s Web site, www.davidsonhotels.com.
source : www.baliblog.com
October 30th, 2006
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