6.19.2008
Air Asia to Give Compensation for Delayed Flights
Any Air Asia passenger who has to wait for more than three hours due to a flight delay, will be given an Air Asia E-gift voucher worth Rp500,000.
This compensation voucher is valid for three months and can be used as a payment for another Air Asia flight, product, or on-line service.
It can only be used for a one-time payment and should be the same value as greater than the voucher.
“However, compensation will not be given when a delay is caused factors outside the control of Air Asia management like bad weather, air route arrangement, or airport closing,” said CEO Indonesian Air Asia Dharmadi told reporters today (17/6).
He said the compensation was to stimulate on time flight schedules.
During May this year, 79 percent of Air Asia flights were on time.
According to Tony Fernandes, Group CEO for Air Asia Berhad, Air Asia works 10 minutes faster than the flight industry standard and arrives earlier than scheduled.
Harun Mahbub
Indonesia Asks Developed Countries to Obey Bali Roadmap
Rachmat, who is also President of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), saying that developed countries seemed reluctant to adhere to the agreement.
As regards developing countries, they are obliged to be environmentally friendly in their activities.
However, during the two meetings in Bangkok and Bonn in March and June to discuss the follow up to the Bali conference, developed countries displayed reluctance.
The Bali Roadmap allows for the next conference to be held in 2009 and it is hoped that a new climate change protocol can be made to replace the Kyoto protocol that will end in 2012.
Rachmat explained that in informal meetings it has been agreed to use the Bali Roadmap as a foundation for the work framework process for after 2012.
He said that developed countries were also reluctant to determine 25-year mid-term goals.
They have only decided on 50-year long-term goals in reducing emission.
“A target should be realistic. In 50 years, these people will be no longer here,” said Racmat.
AQIDA SWAMURTI
6.18.2008
Transportation Operators Ready for Holidays
The National Train Company (PT KAI) has predicted that the number of passengers will increase by 20 percent or 34,000 passengers per day so have increased the number of coaches on trains.
“Most of them will go to Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Malang, and Semarang,” said PT KAI's head of public relations for regional operations, Akhmad Sujadi in Jakarta yesterday.
Demand for tickets will peak between June 20 and June 22.
In air transportation, Garuda Indonesia and Mandala Airline have announced increased capacities.
Garuda will operate larger planes and add more flights.
Between June 20 and July 19, they will prepare 69,244 more seats for 11 destinations: Ampenan (880 seats); Denpasar (7,370 seats); Balikpapan (2,198 seats); Yogyakarta (8,040 seats); Medan (13,400 seats); Palangkaraya (6,600 seats); Semarang (11,692 seats); Surabaya (1,072 seats); Makassar (312 seats); Banjarmasin (13,400 seats); and Jeddah (4,280 seats).
“Usually people go on the Umroh pilgrimage during the holiday season,” said Garuda Corporate Secretary Pujobroto.
Mandala's Communication Manager, Trisia Megawati, said that Mandala will add flights on the Jakarta-Surabaya, Jakarta-Yogyakarta, and Jakarta-Semarang routes.
However, the Indonesian State Shipping Company (PT Pelni) has said it will not increase capacity.
“The increase in passengers will not be as much as during Idul Fitri, said Pelni's head of public relations, Edi Haryadi.
Reza M | Harun Mahbub Billah
Bali`s cultural development needs government support
The support is needed to develop arts and culture through holistic research on various cultural aspects which needs adequate amounts of funds, the chairman of the congress`s formulating team Prof Dr Wayan Dibia said here Tuesday.
He said the support was needed in an effort to make arts and culture factors attracting tourists to Bali.
The support should be followed by sustainable conservation of Bali`s arts and culture in an effort to soon materialize them (the province`s arts and culture) as a world cultural heritage, he said.
The effort should also be accompanied by collective and individual guidance on intellectual property rights including copy rights in an effort to protect the regional culture, he said.
Dibia who is a lecturer at the Indonesian Arts Institute in Denpasar said Bali`s arts and culture needed "diplommats" at national and internnational levels.
Another effort needed to develop the province`s arts and culture was the holding of the Balinese Culture Congress once in five years to prepare a strategy to develop and maintain the resort island`s arts and culture.
Bali has a local philosophy known as Tri Hita Karana meaning harmonious relations among human beings, between man and environment and God as a foundation of the province`s development programs, he said. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
When Neighbours Become Good Friends
The former star of the Australian TV series "Neighbours" and London West End musical star, Donovan, surprised friends and family who joined him in Bali ostensibly to celebrate his 40th birthday party when he "tied the knot" with his housemate of nearly a decade with whom he has fathered two children, Jenna, eight, and seven-year-old Zac.
Donovan was once linked romantically to his "Neighbours" co-star, Kylie Minogue who has gone on to pursue a successful musical career.
The choice of Bali by Donovan for his wedding to Malloch must have been something of a bittersweet choice for Donovan, who made headlines many years ago when photographers caught Donovan and Minogue frollicking in Bali's surf. Donovan's wedding in Bali has beaten his co-star and friend to the Altar as Minogue remains single.
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian soap opera shown five days a week that has been in continuous production since 1985. The story line follows the intrigues, petty squabbles and romances of several families living on Ramsay Street in the fictional Australian suburb of Erinsborough.
Reruns and rebroadcasts of the show are seen around the world, including the U.K., where the program is broadcast twice each day. Perhaps because the English don't believe it the first time?
Source: www.balidiscovery.com
Royal Cremation Ceremony to be held in Ubud, Bali on July 15th, 2008
The Ubud Royal Family will hold this ceremony for the bodies of two prominent elders of the family:
TJOKORDA GDE AGUNG SUYASA, who was head of the Ubud Royal Family and the leader of the traditional community in Ubud since 1976, and
- TJOKORDA GEDE RAKA, who was a senior office in the police force in Denpasar until his retirement in 1992
The effigy of GUNG NIANG RAKA, whose body was cremated in a smaller ceremony in December soon after she died, will also now be given a full cremation ceremony.
The cremation procession and associated ceremonies are important rituals in the Hindu rites of passage. The bodies of the deceased will be carried through the streets of Ubud by thousands of local people on top of a nine-tiered tower called ‘bade’. The procession will be accompanied by an elaborately decorated and venerated bull effigy (Lembu) and a mythical dragon-like creature (Naga Banda), with a five meter-long tail. The naga is reserved for only the elders of the Royal family and is thus seldom seen in cremation ceremonies.
Ngaben is the principle funeral rite in Bali's Hindu society which aims to return the remains of the deceased to the elements from which all living things are created and to release the soul from all ties to this life.
Ngaben is comprised of many rituals, culminating in the burning of the corpse in an animal-shaped sarcophagus, as well as the burning of the cremation tower (bade) whose sole purpose is to transport the corpse from home to the cremation grounds.
The Ngaben is not a sad event, it can even be happy, it is a way to make the spirit of the dead happy, and to avoid disturbing him by crying. However it requires an enormous amount of time, energy, and money! All of the relatives and friends share the cost but often months, or even years, will be required to gather enough money and to make the mountains of offerings involved. One solution is for ordinary community members to join the funerals of wealthier individuals of high caste, or to organize ngaben massal (mass cremation) among the villagers, to reduce the costs.
In Ubud, such ‘mass’ cremations are held only every 3-5 years. On 15 July, 2oo8 three members of the Royal Family of Ubud will be cremated along with approximately 70 other deceased from the local community.
This ceremony is very much a public one and visitors are welcome but everyone is reminded to dress appropriately, with legs and arms covered, and to abide by any instructions and announcements.
*****
Background information for Ngaben: cremation ceremony in Bali
The Ngaben is the Hindu cremation ceremony necessary for the transition of the soul from its body recipient to heaven when the body is dead.
Introduction
In the Balinese Hindu tradition, the body is merely a microcosm recipient for the soul. When a person dies, the spirit (atman) remains around the body. The 5 elements that constitute the body (fire, air, water, earth and void/ether) have to return to the macrocosm and the soul released to find its way to heaven and God. This is the purpose of the ceremonies held during the Ngaben. The soul may go to hell (neraka) or heaven (surga). The pengabenan represents the long process of ceremonies held before and during the cremation.
Preparations before the cremation
The Balinese calendar always rules over when events may be held and a proper date is chosen by the pedanda (high priest). Waiting for the ceremonies to be performed, the body is sometimes kept lying in state in the deceased’s household, but in most cases the body is buried in the cemetery. Daily offerings are made and symbolic meals given to the corpse. Coffee and tea is also prepared, and comb, mirror and toothbrush are left nearby. The numerous offerings made of colorful fruits and vegetables keep evil spirits away from the body’s spirit, give pleasure to the deified ancestors, and please the gods, especially Siwa, the God of Death.
Dozens of women, for several days, are required to prepare the offerings. Men prepare notably the cremation tower (bade or wadah). The tower represents the Balinese universe. First the lower world (Bhur) with the world turtle (Badawang Nala) at its base and the two dragon-snakes around it. Above is the world of man (Bwah) and at the top is heaven (Swah) built of little roofs like the tiers on the temple’s towers (meru).
The cremation
In the day of the cremation, the body is placed between heaven and earth in the tower. A Bhoma (fierce-looking mask) is placed behind the tower to scare evil spirits away. A mass of men carry the tower and the long procession begins. The tower is turned around and around (3x) in all directions to disorient the spirit of the dead so that it can't find its way back home to haunt the family.
The procession proceeds towards the local pura dalem, temple dedicated to Siwa and the dead. It is accompanied, like with all Balinese ceremonies, by a balanganjur, traditional gamelans, that will offer this repetitive music all along the way and during the ceremonies. The body is placed in a sarcophagus in the shape of animal.
Offerings and holy water are poured on top of it. Then begins the cremation itself, burning the body (and also the tower in a different place). Nowadays, help is given from fuel or gas to sustain a good fire. By the end, the pedanda rings his bell and chants mantras to aid in the soul’s release and to help it reach heaven.
After cremation
Later on, the ashes, impurities of the body, are drawn to the sea. The final series of ceremonies or Nyekah are held to return the soul to heaven, a few days after the cremation day, and pacify the soul at the family temples.
New offerings are given to thank God and the family visits all the participants to thank them as well. As a note, it is also believed that the now released soul, after a time in heaven where it might reach oneness with God (moksa), will return and reincarnate (samsara) in a different life.
*****
New ferry service connects PD to Sumatra
A NEW ferry service from Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan to the Indonesian town of Bagan Siapi-Api was launched recently aimed at promoting the tourism and health industries.
Situated in the province of Rokan Hilir, Sumatra, Bagan Siapi-Api is a less than four-hour boat ride across the Malacca Straits.
Once a bustling fishing port, the township is home to a majority ethnic Chinese population who settled in the area in the late 1800s.
Ferry operator PD Marine Services Sdn Bhd chairman Yaacob Hussin said the new route would attract more visitors to the state.
“We also want to promote our medical industry as Port Dickson has been declared a wellness zone. They can also study here as there are several institutions of higher learning in Negri Sembilan.
“Some 30 visitors from Bagan Siapi-Api accompanied us back after our maiden trip there. They were quite happy with the reception they received after visiting some hospitals and colleges here.
“Those who can afford better quality medical treatment often make the trip down to Singapore. Why not come here instead?” he said.
Yaacob also said that the opening of the new route would allow locals to visit this little Indonesian town that has quaint traditions.
“The Chinese community there have at least four annual festivals, the largest being the Go Cap Lak or bakar tongkang festival where a specially constructed fishing vessel is set on fire.
“The symbolic ritual attracts visitors from as far as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada and Australia,” he said.
Residents heading to Jakarta, who used to travel long hours to Pekan Baru to catch a flight, have an option to travel via Port Dickson and vice-versa for international tourists headed to Bagan Siapi-Api.
Bagan Siapi-Api mayor H. Annas Maamum said the authorities there would also intensify efforts to upgrade the town’s facilities and infrastructure available to accommodate more tourists.
“We have also embarked on projects to preserve the history of the area,” he said.
The town, which won an award for being one of the cleanest in the country, has an estimated population of about 40,000.
Neat low-rises that line the streets are not only home to the townsfolk but also to swallows, highly-prized for their nests.
Currently, the ferry service to Bagan Siapi-Api runs thrice weekly costing RM125 for a one-way trip and RM230 for a return journey.
source : www.thestar.com.my
Bird flu cases in Indonesia down, health minister says
In the beginning of the second semester of 2008 the number of the bir dflu cases on human beings had dropped, and the number has even reached the lowest compared to those in 2005, 2006 and 2007, she said in the company of Head of the North Sumatra Health Agency dr Chandra Syafei Sp.OG and member of the North Sumatra Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Parlindungan Purba upon arrival at Medan`s Polonia airport on Wednesday.
The minister said that the main cause of the decline in the bird flu cases on human beings is the fact that people have now become increasingly aware that one should do something as soon as he or she found out that he or she had the symptoms of being affected with this fatal virus.
At present each regional administration has a guidebook on bird flu for distribution to all layers of the society.
"Thank God we already have a handbook on bird flu, and we also have the support from some other countries, including Australia, Germany, India, and China," she said.
The minister also said that as the result of foreign media reports in 2006 that bird flu in Indonesia had already been transmitted from people to people after a whole family in Karo Regency, North Sumatra, had been affected by the bird flu virus, Indonesia had been avoided by the international community.
At that time seven of a family of eight died of the disease, but the only survivor, Jones Ginting, was cured and checked out of hospital, she added. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
6.12.2008
Alone on dragon island ... How Britons swept away during dive survived their terrifying ordeal
The group were threatened by the 10ft beast as they awaited rescue on a remote Indonesian island.
They escaped its razor-sharp teeth and poisonous saliva, which it spits at victims, by throwing stones until the predatory animal slunk away.
In a graphic account of their 45-hour ordeal, dive instructor Kathleen Mitchinson described how they survived on nothing more than raw shellfish.
She said the scraps of food - and the knowledge that her partner of 20 years was searching for her - were the only things that kept her alive.
Sitting up in her hospital bed, Ms Mitchinson hugged Ernest Lewandowski and told him tearfully: ‘I didn’t give up hope. I’m so happy to be home and that we are all safe and sound.’
Ms Mitchinson had been in charge of a group of tourists who had gone to Komodo Island, the giant lizards’ natural habitat, last Thursday before setting out in a small wooden boat for what was supposed to be an hour-long dive.
With her were a British couple, former Royal Marine James Manning, 30, and his girlfriend Charlotte Allin, 24, and a Frenchman and a Swede.
Meanwhile Mr Lewandowski was diving with another group of visitors at the same spot. When his party surfaced, they were picked up first by the dive boat team.
But by the time the boat returned for Ms Mitchinson’s group they had been carried away by a strong current.
After a huge search involving the Indonesian navy and dozens of local fishermen, a rescue boat spotted the missing divers’ inflated orange and red ‘safety sausages’ - brightly coloured flotation devices designed to attract the attention of rescuers.
They were laid out in the shape of a cross on the rocks of Rinca Island, about 20 miles from where they had gone missing.
The divers are believed to have been in the water for around ten hours before being
washed on to the rocks.
They were taken to hospital - dehydrated, exhausted and sunburnt, but with no serious injuries.
One Indonesian rescuer said: ‘We saw them at the beach. They said they had found a Komodo dragon on the island which was ready to eat them. They had to throw stones to keep it away.’
Mr Lewandowski, 53, who runs a diving school with Ms Mitchinson on the nearby island of Flores, said the stranded divers had spent a terrifying night being buffeted by huge waves.
He added: ‘They are very tired and hungry. The hospital has done a great job. Kath’s just really glad to be home - and grateful to be alive with the whole team.’
Asked about the terror of shark attacks, he replied: ‘They talked about what happened above them, not the creatures below.
‘It has been quite an ordeal, but they are all safe. That’s the most important thing.
‘They had a miraculous escape, but the fact is, they are all experienced divers. This was an absolute freak accident. There was nobody at fault.
'They did all the right things: They stayed afloat in the surf and kept together as a group.
‘They grabbed hold of flotsam and jetsam and kept hold of that in huge waves out in the Indian Ocean, which were crashing over their heads.
'They were in dangerous open ocean, the next stop to Antarctica. Most of the time they were totally covered in water.
‘Kath was the team leader and coordinated things, but they all took turns in keeping each other going. They worked as a team, which is one of the things that is vitally important.
‘Eventually, when shallow water was available, they swam towards the shore. They were all supporting each other. Anybody who became a weak link was made to have strength. That’s how they survived.
‘They went with the current, which was the only thing they could do. They kept as close to land as possible and when they could make it to land, they did.’
Ms Mitchinson and Mr Lewandowski, who met while diving in the north of England, have lived in Indonesia for 15 years, the past seven on the island of Flores, where they run a dive centre and turtle nursery.
Both are originally from Carlisle. Mr Lewandowski, 53, spent most of his life in Scotland before moving to the Far East.
He said: ‘Kath knows the area very well and they managed to survive by eating shellfish off the rocks, like little abalone, and utilising what they had around them - the sort of food you eat in posh restaurants.
‘They were eating them raw, which gave them energy and moisture.’
When rescue came, the large dive boat which spotted the castaways was unable to enter the inlet and a smaller craft was dispatched to pick up them up.
Mr Lewandowski said: ‘When I received news over the radio, I was ecstatic. I just wanted to hear Kath’s voice again.’
When they did get their tearful reunion later yesterday back on dry land at Labuan Bajo, Miss Mitchinson’s throat was so dry from swallowing salt water that she could hardly speak.
Mr Lewandowski said: ‘She just said, “I’m home safe and sound. I knew you wouldn’t give up on me...”
‘She had no doubt I would be doing everything in my power to find her. And she knew, no matter what, I wouldn’t stop.’
Mr Manning, from Devon, trained as a Royal Marine engineer and has his paratrooper’s wings.
Speaking at the family home near Cullompton, his brother Ollie said: ‘It’s been an anxious wait and we feared the worst when we were initially contacted and told he was missing.
‘James is a tough lad. He can look after himself. He was in the Army for ten years and I knew that if he could get everybody out of the water and on to a reef or beach then he’d be able to use the survival techniques he’d been taught.’
His mother Sally-Ann said: ‘He is physically shattered but otherwise OK.’
Ms Allin’s sister Sarah-Jane, 26, said at her home in Bideford, Devon: ‘We had a call from the Foreign Office at 5am and then Charlotte herself got through at 7am. She sounded tired and shocked but said she was all right.’
10ft long with a poisonous bite - and always angry
Komodo dragons are vicious and unpredictable predators that have attacked and killed humans.
In Komodo National Park, where the three Britons were diving and where most of the creatures live, there have been eight serious incidents since 1980.
In the most recent - the first fatal attack on a human in 33 years - an eight-year-old boy died after he was mauled by a 10ft long, 15st dragon in 2007.
He was tossed around like a rag doll and savaged by the lizard’s razor-sharp teeth as it tried to snap his neck just as it would other prey.
Even if the boy had survived the attack, he would have died of blood poisoning from the 50 virulently toxic species of bacteria contained in the dragon’s saliva.
Probably the best-known victim of the dragons’ dangerous unpredictability is Basic Instinct actress Sharon Stone’s ex-husband Phil Bronstein.
He was on a tour of Los Angeles Zoo in 2001 and was in the dragon’s cage when the creature clamped its serrated teeth down on his foot.
After prising its jaw open and escaping, he had to have surgery to reattach severed tendons and rebuild a crushed big toe and was given massive doses of antibiotics to combat the poisonous saliva.
Attacks on humans are rare and the creatures, which are notoriously bad-tempered, mainly feed on monkeys, pigs, wild deer and even water buffalo.
A skilled and savage hunter, it is the only lizard species that hunts and kills prey larger than itself, and larger than it can swallow whole.
It can sprint at 15mph and has a keen sense of smell. But instead of chasing its prey, it prefers to lie still and camouflaged before lunging and sinking its teeth into its victim.
Experts say that even if its prey escapes, it will die within hours from septicaemia.
But despite its awesome strength, the komodo dragon is on endangered species lists and is under threat from tourism, poaching and volcanic activity.
About 3,000 live on Komodo Island and other islands 300 miles east of Bali, and there are some in captivity - a clutch of four was born at London Zoo in 2006
Source : www.abc.net
Luxury Bali many never see
THINK Bali, think cheap holidays? Not exactly. World-class resorts have made quiet inroads into Bali and are on the expansion trail.
Rarely promoted yet tantalising in its exclusivity, the resort of Amankila – one of three of the prestigious Aman sites on Bali – is arguably the island's finest.
And with room rates to match: from $800 a night, even off-peak.
This is a side of Bali most visitors don't expect and, because of its cost, may never experience.
To reach Amankila we took a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz limousine ride from Denpasar Airport. An hour later we were in a luxurious cliffside villa overlooking the Lombok Strait.
It's a different type of Bali, more international in its flavour and with the accent on cosseting the guest. This often means the walls of the Amankila resort are only breached upon arrival and departure.
Don't expect cheap restaurants and lean-to clothes shops gathered around the front doors, and there is no need to prepare to fend off hawkers who insist you are Mel Gibson's twin brother and your wife is Elle Macpherson, and that coincidence guarantees you'll get the best deal.
Amankila, near the village of Manggis and close to the port of Padangbai, was never lost – it's been there for 16 years – but was nevertheless "found" by my wife, who scoured southeast Asian websites for a luxury break with which to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
Talk about finding a plum.
Amankila is secure and exclusive, on a hillside backing Mount Agung and overlooking the ocean to Lombok and Nusa Penida.
It consists of 26 walled villas, many – like ours – with a pool and views of the ocean. Service is 24 hours, dining is extraordinarily diverse and immensely satisfying, the facilities are among the world's best and yet it's all delivered with genuine Balinese friendliness.
Sadly, such amity is evaporating from the more popular centres of Kuta and Legion.
Despite its serenity, this part of east Bali has a tumultuous past. First, the district of Karangasem was conquered by the Dutch in 1850 and, second, in 1963 the volcano Mount Agung savagely and fatally blew its top.
But from our private villa, high on the hill surrounded by palm trees and invisible to the neighbouring chalets, it was a serene vista over the sea to the islands and the leisurely sight of the occasional ship.
The villas are arranged and fitted out according to your needs and wallet.
Ours came with a 15m swimming pool, courtyard sprinkled with umbrellas and decked with a day bed for curling up with a drink and a book, and a thatch-roofed house that could sleep up to four.
It had a vast twin bathroom, shower area that opened to the courtyard, iPod sound and airconditioning.
Security guards slowly paced the extensive walkways – which, being tiered, up the hillside also served as an exercise track – as gardeners cultivated beautiful plants that thrived in the humidity and kitchen staff, piled high with bamboo and raffia baskets, delivered meals to walled villas.
Suites, such as ours, rate from $1225 a night plus service charges and government tax. You then add on for additional guests – in my case, two daughters – and ancillaries such as most food, all drinks and entertainment.
The bill can be a shocker but there are benefits. The charge includes an a la carte breakfast which allows selection from dozens of items ranging from Japanese to English to Indonesian to healthier options.
Entry to Amankila gives you access to a string of activities. With the right deal you can have one free activity a day, including mountain biking, sailing, scuba diving or spa treatments.
Amankila's Beach Club is at the foot of the hill on which the resort stands. Beachside lounges fringe a stunning 41m swimming pool set beneath coconut palms and a huge frangipani. Swimming in the pool, often deserted by guests in favour of the three tiered pools close to the bar above, was one of my most relaxing moments.
Staff will organise water sports – boogie board, kayak, windsurfer or the Hobie cat – and there's even a lifeguard on duty.
There's also the option of cruising farther from shore in two substantial boats – one is 15m long with a sun deck and is available for morning and afternoon sojourns, and the other is an 11m vessel which can be chartered for cruises across the bay.
The Sunday Telegraph
Jerry sells dress she wore to her Bali nuptials with Mick Jagger
to "move on and let go" of the Anthony Price gown, and is to auction it in aid of a homeless charity.
"It's really odd to think that some other woman might wear it at her wedding," muses Jerry, who still maintains a friendship with Sir Mick, the father of her four children. "I just hope whoever she is has more luck than I did."
The wedding dress, which is expected to fetch £400 when goes under the hammer in London on Tuesday, is one of the 60 designer outfits Jerry is parting with. Other highlights of the collection – which she hopes will raise up to £25,000 – include a Dolce & Gabbana cocktail dress and a ballgown by British designer Vivienne Westwood.
"For me, this is a time of letting go, simplifying and getting my priorities right," says Jerry of the clearout. "I love it that my dresses can have a new lease of life in someone else's wardrobe."
Bali to hold int’l triathlon
The triathlon commences with a 1.5-kilometer swim at Jimbaran Beach, followed by a 40-kilometer cycling race passing the Nusa Dua resort complex, and finishes with a 10-kilometer run that ends at Jimbaran.
Jointly organized by the Bali Triathlon LLC, the Los Angeles-based Generic Events and Bali Discovery Tours, the Bali International Triathlon aims to promote the island as an international venue for world-class leisure and sporting activities.
“We plan to set up the Bali Triathlon as an annual sports event and we are working hard to get on the international sports agenda,” said M. Fathur Rozy of Bali Discovery Tours.
As of Wednesday, the organizing committee had registered 160 participants, 12 of which are corporate teams.
“We actually set a low target of attracting 100 participants. It is above the target now,” Rozy said. — JP
Where to stay in Bali ?
Bali is an enormous island, and is just one of the 17,071 Islands or is it 17,072 (?!) that presently make up the mystical country Indonesia. Bali is famous for its surfing and beaches, and is very popular with Australians, being so close. Kuta, Sanur, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua and Benoa are the most famous beaches and where you will find all the major hotels and resorts located.We strongly recommend that you think very carefully about what it is you need from your holiday in Bali. The beach that you choose will affect your experience.
If you are looking for a quieter holiday and beach then one of the other choices above would be a wise choice. Our personal favourite is Jimbaran and Benoa.
Jimbaran is where you will find some of the best hotels in Bali, such as the Four Seasons, the Villa Hanini and Pansea Hotel among others. Jimbaran also boasts some of the best seafood restaurants in the world, with ridiculously low rates and sand between your toes.
Benoa is just after Nusa Dua, again some very good hotels can be found here such as the Novotel Benoa, Grand Mirage and others. Benoa is a very natural area.
Nusa Dua on the other hand may boast some big name hotels such as Sheraton, Hyatt, etc. but to be perfectly honest it is all very man made and a little false. Most hotel rooms do not offer you a sea view, instead offering rooms that look out onto lavish and very beautiful gardens. The food also tends to be expensive by Indonesian standards and more often than not is quoted in US$, which means that you always have to be aware of the exchange rate before you even know how much you are actually paying. Having said this the hotels may be big but the area is secluded and does offer a beautiful beach.
There are other areas where very good hotels can be found such as the Aman hotels who boast three in Bali alone, one just outside Nusa Dua. The Nikko is also a little way away from Nusa Dua and is a very good hotel.
Bali also offers some idyllic areas that still remain as they have been for centuries. If you are looking to see a little of Indonesian culture and life, and can do without a beach for a few days then do try to escape from the main areas that we have described above. Instead go to Ubud and experience a relaxed holiday set among stunning scenery of rice fields and hills. There are hotels that range from US$ 5 all the way to US$ 10,000 an night so there is something for everyone.
Lovina is also an idyllic area and very good for diving. The beaches are natural and consequently black, Bali is a volcanic island.
The Alila Manggis in Bali has launched a “Grand Panoramic Trek” promotion
The adventure begins at the small village of Sidemen, surrounded by magnificent sweeping views of the largest rice paddy and farm area in East Bali. From there guests trek up to a secluded Hindu temple located at the top of Sangkan Mountain, where guests are treated to a spectacular 360-degree panorama of the valley below.
Those with an adventurous spirit can opt for a challenging walk along the mountain ridge, where the views are better still. For those who don’t have the legs or the stomach for this, an easier alternative route is available.
Journey across narrow and unspoilt walkways, invisible to most, but seen by the expert eye of the local guide and Alila's leisure concierge, who eagerly share with you their vast knowledge of the area’s natural resources, local insects and flowers.
Throughout the trek guests will experience moments of adrenaline, excitement and solitude, but overall, an appreciation for the luxury of time and space. What a joy to hear no sound of cars, electronic devices or people. In this meditative quiet, soak in the magical sight of Mount Agung which dominates the horizon, ruling the landscape of fresh vetiver grass, alang alang, coffee, cloves, gentle flowing rivers and abundant bird life.
Along the way, learn about the various types of local rice, including the rare ‘Bali rice’ grown in this region. During the rice planting season, guests can even refresh themselves in the cool mountain waters that navigate through the farms.
Walking along the irrigation channels, guests pass by small hamlets, waving farmers and smiling children, and arrive at a sacred banyan tree. Beneath its shade, enjoy the cool breeze that whispers through the valley. Tune in to the splendorous sounds of nature. Savour the purity of the moment.
The final leg of the trek takes guests to the private villa of Italian-born author Ms. Idanna Pucci and her team for some real local hospitality. Enjoy the mountain and valley views from her beautiful home in complete relaxation. Be sure to bring swim gear in case you feel like a dip in the villa’s freshwater pool. And feast on a wholesome traditional Balinese lunch before being driven back to the hotel, with heart and mind filled with memories of your unforgettable East Bali adventure.
6.11.2008
Indonesia launches tsunami alert buoys: US embassy
JAKARTA - INDONESIA launched two tsunami alert buoys with US help on Wednesday to boost an early warning system for the country worst hit by the 2004 killer wave, the US embassy said. The devices are part of a 22-buoy system planned for the Indian Ocean, an embassy statement said. 'This work is extremely important for ordinary Indonesians who live and work in tsunami-prone areas,' US Ambassador Cameron Hume said in the statement. The Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) system uses a sensor on the seabed to send signals to a buoy on the surface, which in turn transmits the information to authorities on land. The first buoy was deployed off the Thai resort area of Phuket in December 2005, while Indonesia launched its first in September last year and now has five. A sixth went missing in January when the cable attaching it to the sea floor was severed. Indonesia and Thailand were among a dozen nations lashed by the catastrophic December 2004 tsunami. More than 168,000 people were killed in Indonesia's Aceh province and Nias island. Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates collide, meaning earthquakes are a regular and often deadly occurrence. Offshore, shallow quakes can trigger tsunamis, which occur far less frequently, but can hit coastal areas quickly and claim a large number of lives. -- AFP | ||
Australian Prime Minister to Visit Indonesia
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Michael Rudd, will visit Indonesia between June 12 and June 14.
He is scheduled to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss the G-8 high level conference in Hokkaido this coming July.
“The President will focus on food security matter s,” said Indonesian presidential spokesperson, Dino Patti Djalal, in a press release yesterday (10/6).
Rudd will also meet with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, head of the House of Representatives Agung Laksono, and Secretary General of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN).
He will also travel to Aceh to attend the inauguration of the Ulee Lhue Islamic elementary school and the Aceh Aquaculture Development Centre.
The Bali Art Festival 2008
It is a month long revelry that perhaps no other place in the world can put up on such a low budget as the Balinese. Not only is their traditional culture alive and well, but they have a tremendous pride in it.
It begins in the villages, where the seka or cultural groups are selected and organized at the regency level, vie with each other to perform the Arts Festival and thus display in front of a large audience the uniqueness of their village of birth and resting place of their ancestors.
The Bali Arts Festival is the Denpasar cultural event of the year, perhaps it would no be too far fetched to suggest that it is the cultural event of Indonesia. The festival is thus a unique opportunity to see local village culture both "live" and at first hand. Tourists are warmly welcomed.
The History of the Bali Arts Festival
When tourism took off after 1965, the Balinese insisted that it followed cultural guidelines: if tourism was to be accepted, it was to be a cultural tourism, or "pariwisata budaya".
As the Balinese put it: "Tourism should be for Bali instead of Bali for tourism." In time, this idea become national policy, as part of a larger revping of regional cultures for national purposes. The policy owes much to the former Director General of Culture (1968-1978) and Governor of Bali (1978-1988), Ida Bagus Mantra, an Indian-educed Balinese. It led, on the one side, to the creation of enclave resorts such as Nusa Dua to limit the direct impact of tourism, and on the other, to a long haul cultural policy aimed at nurturing and preserving the traditional agrarian culture while adapting it to the demands of modernity, and in particular of "cultural tourism".
At the village level, local music groups, dances and other cultural events were inventoried, then supported by a series of contests at the district and regency level. The ensuing competition energized the cultural life of villages, whose "young blood" was already being drained to the city by the process of economic change and urbanization.
Schools of dance and art were created, in particular the Kokar conservatory and the STSI School of Dance and Music. Beside research, these schools replaced the traditional master/disciple relationship by modern methods of teaching; standardized the dance movements, produced new types of Balinese dances for tourism and modern village entertainment. Most important, it enabled former students to return to the villages as teachers, where they diffused, beside the creed of cultural resilience and renewal, new dances and standardized versions of old ones.
Many of the performances are held at the amphitheater which can hold up to 6,000 spectators, in a temple-like stage.
Each year, the Bali Arts Festival, beside the fed classical dances of the island, such as the legong, gambuh, kecak, barong, baris, mask dances and the like, is based on the theme around which new "dance choreography" is produced and old village dances and activities revived. Over the years, the whole range of classical Balinese stories - Ramayana, Mahabharata, Sutasoma, Panji - have thus been turned into "colossal" Sendratari Ballets.
The main challenge to the Arts Festival is obviously economic in nature. As village life is increasingly feeling the strains of monetary considerations, dancers, musicians and others cannot be expected to continue participating simply for the sake and the pleasure of it. As costs soar, new sources of financing have to be found. The obvious answer is the private sector and in particular the tourism industry. The greater task then is to convince the hotels, travel agencies and tourist guides to be more participatory in the Arts Festival rather than to their own sponsored events.
Considering the pride the Balinese have in their culture, and the adaptability and dynism they have always demonstrated, this little hurdle can be overcome. Trust the Balinese. They will eventually succeed to transform their tradition into a modern, Balinese culture of their
own.
2008 Program - Layout of Art Centre
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