Two New Chefs in InterContinental Bali Resort

Setyo Widjonanto & Egidio Latoracca

The InterContinental Bali Resort is really committed to providing specialty cuisines to all its guests with the appointment of its two newest chefs—Italian chef, Egidio Latorraca and Chef Setyo Widjonanto.

Chef Latorraca has been assigned at the Kitchen of Bella Cucina while Chef Widjonanto has 20 years of experience in Japanese culinary.

Chef Latorraca has worked in Australia, Europe, and Asia and owes his knowledge and expertise to the Instituto Amerigo Vespucci. He is also a Certified Master Chef of Italian cuisine. He strongly believes in the power of good food to unite people, regardless if it is fine dining or just in the traditional market.

Chef Widjonanto is actually Indonesia but has observed and worked under Japanese fine chefs. He has devoted his culinary skills at the renowned Nobu restaurant chain, which serves modern Japanese cuisine, since 2005. He has mastered the art of making sushi, sashimi, and omakase. He is very particular and gives much attention to detail in the foods that are being served from his kitchen. He has a belief that a feast to the senses is what Japanese cuisine really is.

“The arrival of Chef Egidio and Chef Setyo marks a new era in culinary services at the Resort as we now have the most diverse Food & Beverage team ever. It makes me extremely proud that our guests can choose between several restaurants serving cuisine that traverses different cultural boundaries. Both chefs have unlimited access to our highly productive fruit and vegetable garden to source fresh ingredients grown with integrity. The garden complements our vision to promote local produce and I am sure that we will soon be seeing some very innovative dishes,” says Tom Meyer, General Manager of the InterContinental Bali Resort.

Definitely, luxury villas in Bali, as well as the private villas in Bali, will have to expect more tourists to come and stay in these accommodations to try out the cuisine of these new chefs.

Chinese vacationers head in Bali Island

As Australian tourists top the most number of visitors to Bali Island, Chinese people are coming in as the second.

Ida Bagus Subhiksu, a conduct of a Bali Tourism Agency, said that there has been a noticeable rise in the Chinese tourists that has caused a more heterogeneous group of tourists in the Bali soil.

There has been a 20.32 percent increase in the influx of Chinese tourists to the island of Bali, making up about 236,868 from a previous number of 196,863 back in 2010. From this, 77 percent are actually newcomers.

“They [Chinese] have started to perspective Bali as a traveler end value visiting,” said Subhiksu.

About 31 million Chinese people travel to several countries, mostly to Asia Pacific countries, during any year. This is according to the World Tourism Organization.

“Bali has to boost promotional activities to turn some-more artistic and innovative in a Chinese marketplace since it has outrageous potential,” added Subhiksu.

Additional information also states that some of these Chinese tourists travel from Singapore and Malaysia as business people.

While the normal length of stay for Chinese tourists in the villas in Seminyak Bali is about 6 days, they also spend an average of $174 per day, per person.

It is said that Chinese people travel overseas which includes Bali, Indonesia, and end in Bali for the Chinese lunar holiday.

“As of final year, they have been entrance here in each holiday season. There is a flourishing series of Chinese tourists entrance here and we would like to see more. We also wish to acquire Indonesian tourists to a country,” said Hartono, an authority of Bali Liang-an Association of Travel Agencies for Chinese markets.

This is good news for Balinese people as more people will be occupying their luxury villas in Bali, Bali villas resort, as well as private villas in Bali.

Fremantle to Bali Race & Rally 2013

Fremantle to Bali Race & Rally 2013

Just recently, the Indonesian Government’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism ‘Welcome Indonesia’ promotion in conjunction with the Fremantle Sailing Club has announced the biennial Wonderful Indonesia Fremantle to Bali 2013 Ocean Race and Rally.

This Fremantle to Bali 2013 Ocean Race and Rally is the second of a series of five mega events that were designed to see Bali and Indonesia continue the push to be Asia’s premier sailing destination.

There is nothing like it anywhere else in Asia. The Fremantle to Bali Race and Rally will set sail on May 4, 2013 and will consist of a 1440-nautical mile Ocean Race and Rally starting from Fremantle Sailing Club at Fremantle Western Australia and ending in Bali.

The race would typically take around 11 days but in 2011, Limit set a record of six days.

Preparations are now underway for the next year’s Fremantle to Bali 2013 Ocean Race and Rally as the Fremantle Sailing Club (FSC) has not been wasting time in starting them.

Bernie Kaaks, Media Contact for Fremantle Sailing Club, is hoping for a bigger turnout in 2013, saying, “We did most things well in 2011 but hope to do a lot better in 2013. We are bending over backwards and concentrating our efforts to lift the numbers in 2013.”

Even though it is still days early, there is already a FSC Bali Race Committee that has been established.

On the Committee are some of the FSC’s most experienced ocean sailors, who are hell bent on making next year’s event even better than the highly successful 2011 Race and Rally. 

With over 1440 nautical miles, the race is going to be long one, and is going to be very competitive as there are  some very high tech Western Australian yachts competing.

The event is aiming to attract a fleet of 50 or more ocean-going yachts and is Western Australia’s only international yacht race.

Illawarra students in Bali

The famous island paradise known for its spectacular landscape and Bali villas resort have recently received in its soil the Illawarra Sports High School Year 8 students.

Just recently, the Illawarra Sports High School Year 8 students have been transported to Bali as they tried to learn performing a kecak dance and music drama and listened to a traditional gamelan band, just like what some of the many private villas in Bali guests have also experienced.

A designated specialist sports high school, Illawarra Sports High School has a broadly based comprehensive curriculum from Years 7 - 12. The school is known to provide a strong comprehensive education and the integrated opportunity for talented sports students to reach elite sporting levels in a wide range of sports, with emphasis on the need to pursue excellence in the academic development of each student through the encouragement of the sporting, visual and creative arts, student leadership and social interests.

Illawarra students have also learnt how to play the angklung, which is an instrument, made of two bamboo tubes on a bamboo frame. They also watched a sila martial arts demonstration by performers from the Australian Indonesian Arts Alliance.

This latest workshop is part of the school’s efforts in preparing students for living and working in what Federal Education Minister Peter Garrett has called ‘‘the Asian century’’.

According to Language and Geography teacher Jennifer Jurman-Hilton, the children starting school this year would be expected to begin work in 2030, which is when many Asian countries are likely to emerge as major world economies.

Jurman-Hilton said, ‘‘Students will need to able to speak Asian languages and understand how to work across different cultures.’’

‘‘Australia tends to see Indonesia through a kaleidoscope of negative images, so I just think [this] serves to break down those stereotypes.’’

Meanwhile, Illawarra Sports High has been recognized by the Federal Government as an Access Asia School and the Year 8 students have been learning the Indonesian national language, Bahasa, since the beginning of the year.

Bamboo construction to boost in Bali Indonesia

Bamboos have always been known to be sturdy and have the ability to sustain much strain and pressure. It has now become a popular material in Bali structures. It is now replacing buildings made of concrete and steel.

Among the latest structures that are rising out of the sturdiness of the Bamboo are a school, luxury Bali villas, and a chocolate factory as well.

The chocolate factory is located in the village of Sibang Kaja which is between Denpasar and the forest of Ubud. It may well be the biggest commercial bamboo building in the world, with an area of 2,550 square meters, as claimed by Big Tree Farms which operates the factory.

"Bamboo is unmatched as a sustainable building material. What it can do is remarkable. It grows far more quickly than timber and doesn't destroy the land it's grown on,” said Big Tree Farms co-founder, Ben Ripple.

"Our factory can be packed up and moved in days, so if we decided to shut it down one day, we're not going to damage the rice paddies we sit on,” he added.

The factory, school, and luxury villas in Bali are sitting on a “bamboo triangle” within a 100-hectare paddy.

This move is initiated by the eco-conscious foreigners of Bali who believe that something has to be done about the construction industry being the least sustainable industry.

While bamboo is said to be the “poor man’s timber” in many parts of Asia, it is not entirely true since in Sibang, bamboo villas are sold between $350,000 to $700,000 each.

Amazingly, a 5,000-kilogram elephant can be supported with one short bamboo stud with a surface area of only 10 square centimeters.

If this is going to be sustained, then more Bali villas resorts, villas for rent in Bali, and private villas in Bali will be environment friendly.

Bali’s tourism industry urged to diversify market

Bali, the famous island of the gods, is a big name as a top international tourist destination. Each year, people from all walks of life who come from different nations come to see the beauty of Bali including its luxury Bali villas, Bali villas resort, and private villas in Bali. However, even with its current popularity, the tourism industry of this island paradise has a need to penetrate other markets in preparation for the impact of the global economic crisis.

There is a need to diversify the tourist markets in order for Bali to keep its position at the top among the different tourist sites. This is according to Ketut Ardana, Deputy Chairman of the Bali chapter of the Association of the Indonesian Tour and Travel.

“There are some hotels, as well as tour and travel agencies that keep focusing on a single market — Japan, for instance,” he said.

Over the years, Australians continue to rank number one in terms of the number of people who visit the island with many of them considering Bali their second home. This is followed by Japan which has remained at this position for already a long time until 2011 when China snatched the position.

The decrease that happened in 2011 was not the first. Prior to that, the number of tourists dropped from 354,817 Japanese people in 2008 to 319,417 in 2009. In 2010, there were only 246,465 Japanese people on the island.

The economic crisis has much to do with the decreasing number of Japanese nationals visiting Bali, according to Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu, head of Bali Tourism Office. He also added that it is necessary for Bali to open up to new markets such as Canada, India, and Russia.

“It is high time for us all to explore new markets,” he added.

It is also added that Bali must make its packages and projects more palatable for other sorts of tourists aside from those that already flock the island. Also, it needs to advertise more its luxury villas in Bali to attract more markets.

One Island Under Law

Monday, May 7, 2012 was the day of demolition. Despite long periods of debates and legal discussions, five restaurants on Batubelig Beach in Kerobokan, North Kuta have been demolished. The demolition was carried out because the said 5 restaurants do not have building permits as well as did not comply with the minimum set back requirements from the high water mark.

The said beaches include La Barca, Karma, Cantina Beach, Warung Pantai, and Cozy Beach.

Information from the Radar Bar has it that because of a threat of forced demolition from the Badung regency officials, it was the owners/operators of the restaurants themselves who dismantled the area.

The demolition was witnessed by several officials including Wayan Puspa Negara who is a member of Badung’s House of Representatives; A.A. Putu Yuyun Hanura Eny, District Head of North Kuta; as well as representatives from the local citizens groups and village officials.

The Badung Enforcement Agency supervised the demolition activity headed by Ketut Martha. According to Martha, the demolition was supposed to have taken place last February 8, 2012. However, due to a written appeal from the owners and operators of the said restaurants, along with the traditional Kerobokan Chief, the demolition was moved up to May 8, 2012.

Traditional Kerobokan Chief witnessed the demolition and felt sorry for the operators and owners of the five restaurants. He also asked forgiveness for the violations done. However, he is also hopeful that the Badung regency will still be open to allowing the owners to reopen the said restaurants in the Batubelig area when these have already complied with the requirements. The restaurants were a source of income for 250 people.

However, the demolition of the restaurants will not change the interest of people to visit Bali with its Bali villas resort and villas for rent in Bali. Even private villas in Bali also have their own restaurants that serve delectable local and international cuisines.

Anantara Seminyak Resort and Spa Bali recertified by Green Globe

Anantara Seminyak Resort and Spa Bali

Anantara Seminyak villas Resort & Spa Bali, Indonesia was recently recertified by Green Globe.

One of the leading luxury Bali resorts and villas in Seminyak Bali coast, Anantara Seminyak Bali is an all-suite Bali resort, located in a prime Seminyak beach front location, just a 30-minute drive from Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Anantara offers a distinctly contemporary design approach blended with Balinese and Indonesian culture, ocean views, expansive balconies, and Anantara’s inimitable Jacuzzi terrazzo bath tubs big enough for two. It also provides a range of resort amenities, from the glorious rooftop lounge SOS Supper Club and the rooftop Anantara Spa to an infinity-edge swimming pool with views to the Indian Ocean.

As announced, Green Globe has recently approved the Green Globe recertification of Anantara Seminyak resort & Spa, one of the many famous hotel and luxury Bali villas accommodations in Bali.

The global travel and tourism industries' certification program for sustainable tourism, Green Globe Certification is the worldwide sustainability system based on internationally-accepted criteria for sustainable operation and management of travel and tourism businesses.

Based in California, USA, operating under a worldwide license, Green Globe Certification is represented in over 83 countries, offering opportunities for recognition and certification in the design, construction, and/or operation of commercial buildings.

With the resort’s Green Globe dedicated committee constantly monitoring sustainable procedures, which have been implemented with great commitment, and therefore continuously improves its performance, the resort has won the Gold Medal at the Tri Hita Karana Tourism Awards of the Governor of Bali.

An important Balinese accreditation for hotel practices, these awards honor “harmony in human relationships and with the natural and spiritual environment.”

Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa had also been certified as “Tsunami Ready,” being the first hotel and villas in Bali to proactively involve the community and provide tsunami shelter to as many people as possible, in December 2011.

Beachwalk Gentrifies Kuta Beach

A Sahid Kuta Lifestyle Resort, Beachwalk is said to have gentrified popular Kuta Beach.

Coming to life on Kuta’s popular beachfront, Beachwalk will be built on 3.7 hectares of land along a 250-meter stretch of beach-facing Jalan Pantai Kuta. There are now many shops and restaurants that are currently opening on what is destined to become a Mecca for shopping, dining and entertainment in Bali.

According to its developers, Beachwalk is said to be an inspiring open-air retail and lifestyle centered complex, architecturally inspired by the gentle contours of the rice terraces.

Destined to bring a touch of sophistication to Kuta's wining, dining and shopping scene, Beachwalk showcases an eco-friendly, low-rise design that is characterized by a traditional alang-alang thatched roof, recycled hardwoods, and an open-air walkway, which are all cooled by natural sea breezes.

Beachwalk features an exclusive lifestyle concept, designed to harmonize with the surrounding Kuta Beach environment and offers a one-of-a-kind experience that personifies style in a tropical ambience.

Designed to honor Bali's cultural and artistic heritage, Beachwalk showcases an exclusive lifestyle concept that reflects a new era in eco-friendly development.

Conceived to anticipate the evolving leisure needs of seasoned travelers and affluent locals alike, Beachwalk showcases the concept of inviting the outdoors inside, showcasing energy saving integration of open spaces filled with tropical plants, a musical fountain and refreshing waterways accented by glass retail pods that blend with the environment. There are also manicured gardens that border alfresco dining decks, while a central stage provides an exciting venue for live performances and special events.

Beachwalk visitors are given a choice of almost 200 sophisticated retail stores and eateries, ranging from world-renowned designer brands to the trendy local labels, which are offering merchandise ranging from luxury clothing and accessories, to bohemian beach wear, and a number of stores presenting Balinese arts, crafts and souvenirs.

There are also anchor tenants at the mall that include XXI Cineplex, which is a nationally known theatre chain and SATU, a multi-brand boutique that houses the creations of Bali-based designers.

Beachwalk also provides its visitors a drop-off entrance and a convenient basement parking for up to 1000 vehicles.

There is also an Eat & Eat Food Court that serves Indonesian classic dishes such as bebek betutu, nasi goreng babat and mie kepiting. Other branded food and beverage outlets include Bali Deli; Kitchenette offering galettes, crêpes and salads; Luna Negra with a menu of delicious Italian cuisine; and Sienna Café operated by Bali’s iconic Ku De Ta.

Additionally, there is also dedicated Kids’ Area: Miniapolis Bali, with its own Play Zone, Amazing Walk, Water Play, and Cheeky Monkey Day Care facility.

Getting to know I Made Sidja “The Maestro”

I Made Sidja “The Maestro”

Shadow puppet plays, known as wayang kulit has always been popular not only in Bali but throughout Indonesia.

Shadow puppet plays have been one of the many cultural attractions enjoyed by the many Bali luxury villas guests.

One of its well-known puppet masters, considered the most knowledgeable living exponent of wayang parwa, the shadow theatre of Bali in Indonesia is I Made Sidja from the village of Bona.

Dalang I Made Sidja is considered to be the creator of Wayang Arja, which essentially means puppet opera that integrates the aesthetic elements of the wayang puppets and the Arja (“opera”) dance-drama, along with his teacher, the late masked-dancer and puppeteer Ketut Rindha.

First performed in 1976 at the Gianyar Palace by Dalang I Made Sidja, the Wayang arja was invented after the dramatari arja became less popular because of the presence of drama gong, a contemporary performing art that combined elements of modern theater with Balinese traditional theater. 

Dalang I Made Sidja is also versed in all the traditional Balinese performing arts, including mask dance (topeng) and opera (arja). He is also popular as he leads Paripurna Arts Group and is in demand for performances that are religiously motivated.

In the late 1990s, Dalang I Made Sidja, in collaboration with Shadowlight Theatre in San Francisco had made an experimental production titled Sida Karya.

Nowadays, Dalang I Made Sidja is not so familiar with the modern generation.

So let’s get to him.

Dalang I Made Sidja is an eccentric puppeteer from Bona village in Gianyar regency used to be a very famous artist, one of the Balinese traditional arts maestros.

Born in 1933, Sidja also created wayang topeng (masked puppet show) and wayang suling, a puppet show accompanied by suling (flute) music, aside from Wayang arja.

A father of six, Sidja also founded the Sanggar Seni Paripurna, an art studio for neglected school drop-outs and unemployed graduates. The studio is known to provide many books, musical instruments, puppets and materials for the art creations, such as cow leather to make puppets as well as teaching all children to perform and also how to make the art equipment.

Sidja is not merely a puppeteer, he is also multi-talented artist. Sidja is also a dancer, a wood carver, a stone carver, a builder of bade (the tower used in Balinese ngaben cremation rituals), a puppet maker and many other things.

For him, arts are his life and believe that a real artist must have all-round artistic abilities.

Having dropped out of elementary school, without any skill in English, or any other foreign languages in his younger days, Sidja, now 79, however, still traveled around the world to perform.

Sidja had already visited many countries, including Australia, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden.

The Bali governor’s Dharma Kusuma Madya arts award, the Wija Kusuma award from the Gianyar regency and the traditional arts maestro award from the President of Indonesia in 2008, as well as an award from the California-based gamelan group Sekar Jaya, and one from the government of Sweden are among his numerous awards for dedication in preserving Balinese traditional arts.

When asked during an interview with Bali Daily’s Ni Komang Erviani about the difference between wayang performances past and present.

Sidja answered, “Nowadays, people don’t have as much interest in watching puppet shows like the older generations used to. Young people prefer pop and rock music. I understand, maybe it is because of the use of the ancient Kawi language during performances, which makes the show difficult to understand for common people, especially the youngsters. Amid this modernity, nowadays, people prefer everything that’s instant in nature. There’s a lack of depth. That is a pity. They don’t understand the deep philosophy of life that a puppet performance can give to its audience.”

West Australian shares boom with Bali

With Western Australia's cashed-up fly-in, fly-out workers, sea changers and retirees driving demand, Bali’s economy and tourism is booming nowadays.

Not seen since before the terrorist bombings in 2002, according to hotel and resort operators, there are new restaurants and resorts opening almost daily that will cater to the ever growing appetite of the thousands of tourists that come to Bali for luxury accommodation and world-class dining.

It is believed that there are five properties from international hotel group Starwood that are in the pipeline. These include the new Sheraton Hotel in Kuta, a high-end Westin Hotel resort in Ubud and one of its premium brand Luxury Collections resorts in Jimbaran.

Having just celebrated its first year of business in March, W Hotel in Seminyak, one of Starwood's luxury hotels and resorts, is said to have been sold out for most of the past 12 months.

Hotel executive Marcus Willson commented that the current direct flights to Denpasar from most of Australia's capital cities and in particular, the nine flights a day from Perth, having had the biggest impact on the island, have contributed to unprecedented growth in Bali’s economic and tourism boom.

Mr. Willson explained that, "it's a combination of people".

Those flights equate to 40,000-50,000 passengers a month, including surfers and adventurers as well as other tourists who not only stay on the many hotels and resorts in Seminyak but also in the array of Seminyak Bali villas.

According to Mr. Willson, “a lot of Australians are doing the sea change thing, the fly-in, fly-out crowd are increasingly hopping on a plane for Bali on their leave rotation and there's a strong West Australian contingent buying holiday homes on the island.”

Successful Bali hotel consultant in Perth Michael Burchett, formerly a Conrad Hotel executive, said that WA visitors are considerably impacting Bali’s economic and tourism boom.

Gone were the days when you had to buy a package holiday, like those that are offered in Seminyak villas, to come to Bali, Mr. Burchett added.

Now, with increased flights, cheaper fares and the strong Australian dollar have all contributed in creating a massive influx of tourists and lifestylers.

Mr. Burchett also stated, "Security concerns after the 2002 bombings have largely gone away, too. People are very relaxed coming here now."

And with this massive influx of tourists, they usually stay in the many hotels, resorts and villas that are spread throughout Bali like the villas in Seminyak Bali.

Australian Tourism Industry likely to hit $100 Billion in 2012

According to research, the tourism industry in relation to Australia’s economy is seen to reach $100 billion for this year.

While overseas visitor rate will lower slightly, the domestic travel is seen to grow.

There has been an estimate by the Tourism Forecasting Committee, the independent group that is being funded by the government, that there will be a likely increase of 1 percent instead of 1.3 percent in the overseas visitor numbers this year.

Furthermore, in their forecast on the number of visitors next year, they have cut estimate from 3.3 percent to only 3 percent. According to the group, the eurozone debt crisis, political trouble in the Middle East, and uncertainty in the economy contribute to the threats. Despite this, it is expected that there will be about 6 million visitors to come here this year and 6.1 million next year.

There will also be more Australians who will be going offshore than inbound visitors. There will be an increase of 7.8 percent to 8 million this year while there will also be an increase of 6.6 percent to 8.6 million next year.

Australians are currently trading domestic travels for travels abroad like to Thailand, Bali, and Hawaii.

"Melburnians, Victorians, holiday differently, with short breaks and long weekends where they enjoy themselves with fine dining, and the holiday industry is starting to adapt,” said Mr. Bernard Salt, Committee Head and Demographer.

He also said that Asia is firing up the tourism industry of Australia wherein arrivals from Asian countries is seen to grow to 45 percent by 2021.

"China and Indonesia are the markets forecast to perform most strongly in 2011-12 and 2012-13 and that growth from Asia more broadly is expected to offset continued softness in travel ... from European markets," he added.