Archive for January, 2008
Janet DeNeefe
As we approach the bamboo-fringed festive season of Galungan, a Balinese Christmas of sorts, I decided the time is ripe to honor the doyen of warung food, Gung Niang Guling. Gung Niang Guling is the revered grandma who put babi guling, or suckling pig, on the Ubud gastronomic map, and elevated this home-grown treat into something divine. You could call it Food for the Gods because it truly is! Suckling pig is the preferred offering for special family ceremonies, if the budget permits.
Gung Niang Guling was the mother of the lovely Oka Wati. Remember her? I told you her tale a few moons ago. Ibu Oka who now runs the legendary Ibu Oka’s warung, is the daughter-in-law of the late Gung Niang Guling. At the expense of sounding like the cast of the Mahabharata, I will leave it at that.
Ibu Oka, of course, needs no introduction in Ubud and has become an Indonesian household name, selling ever-so-tender suckling pig next to the Wantilan or town hall on Jalan Suweta. She is a bit like the Colonel Sanders of the tropics without the franchises (and whiskers).
The story of Gung Niang Guling is similar to Nini Munir’s, who I wrote about last week. These two Ubud grannies were around the same age and grew up in the days when Ubud was just a leafy dirt-road village, a mere shadow of what it is now. Their food careers began at around the same time too, approximately 1945.
The compound of Gung Niang Guling and now Ibu Oka, is in an area known as Tegal Sari, a cozy part of Ubud that lies beyond the Ubud Palace. You know, in all these years I have never known Ibu Oka. Let’s face it, there are quite a few mums in our village with the same name and somehow I always thought she was someone else.
I first visited the family home in 1985, in the early days when I was diligently collecting Balinese recipes. I remember watching an old grandpa slowly rolling a pig on the spit, clove cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth. All the action took place under a simple bamboo thatched-roof construction in the southern corner of the compound. Nowadays the operation has expanded and occupies a sizable amount of land on the edge of the small ravine that borders their settlement.
The moment you enter this massive property, there is an air of order and prosperity. The shrines in the family temple glisten proudly under a layer of gold leaf, the various carved pavilions are spotless and patterned stone tiles edged by small, neat plants that wink at the sun, lead the way to all corners of the compound.
Ibu Oka greeted me at the entrance. Tall and gracious, she commands a certain respect, rather like a head mistress. I followed her obediently along the long path to the open-air kitchen where all the cooking takes place and chatted about her late mother-in-law. Members of the family gathered around. Under the shade of frangipani trees, stretched an ocean of roosters in their open-weave baskets. There must have been more than twenty of them, a chorus of captives amidst all the action.
“How long ago did Gung Niang Guling pass away,” I asked, wondering if she had lived a long life like Nini Munir. “She died about 36 years ago,” replied Ibu Oka stoically. “She was not really that old. She passed away after my daughter’s third oton (a ceremony at about one and a half years)” she added, gazing at her grandchild nearby.
“When Gung Niang started making Babi Guling, there were just a few family members who helped. I moved here about 45 years ago when I married her son and worked alongside her every day. My family home was in Jalan Kajeng (next to Caf‚ Lotus).”
Gung Niang Guling would wake at four in the morning to start the day’s cooking, when the sky was still black and the air was crisp. You can imagine the sound of a simple bamboo broom sweeping the ground while a yawn of a sun crept slowly through the tall trees. I love the early hours of dawn in Bali.
“And what about the recipe,” I asked. “Is it still the same as it was all those years ago.” “Yes,” replied Ibu Oka. ” We haven’t really changed anything.”
Why fix it if it’s not broken, I thought to myself.
“But what about the firewood, did you use coffee wood back then?”
“Well, we used whatever we could find. But we always used fresh, pure coconut oil, just as we do now.”
Only a few months ago, I was watching a pig being roasted at Ibu Oka’s house when a tiny Grandma wandered in from the mountains carrying a jerry-can of fresh coconut oil.
She looked like she had walked from the Himalayas with her tired, sun-beaten looks, faded sarong and worn-out jumper. “We order our coconut oil from this old woman” one of the workers had said. “She makes the finest we can find.”
“Most of the time in the early days”, Ibu Oka explained, “we only cooked one pig. Nowadays in the busy season, we cook up to ten. And the pigs were delivered to our house, just as they are now.”
I asked Ketut about portion control. “The servings must surely have been smaller than they are now?” “Yes” he reminisced, “You received about three slices but they were just thin, tiny pieces then.”
“What was Gung Niang Guling like” I continued to ask Ketut. ” Was she pretty, fat, slim?
“She was small and kind of attractive. No, she wasn’t fat.”
But what about her character, I persisted, “Was she chatty or funny?”
“She was quiet really. Most of the old folk didn’t say much then because they didn’t want to make a mistake,” he smiled and added, “For between the full moon and dark moon there were fifteen things you could not do.” (If I manage to find out what they are, I promise to let you know.)
By eleven in the morning, Gung Niang would be ready to sell her freshly roasted pork. The cooked piglet, sambal, rice and other trimmings were loaded onto her faithful table, perched on top of a well-worn towel on her head and carried to the market.
Picture the village scene, of Gung Niang Guling slowly sauntering down Jalan Suweta, under the shade of the tall trees that lined the road, with her days culinary efforts balanced on her head. Like Nini Munir, she sold her goods wherever there was a bit of local action: a temple ceremony, a spot of frenzied cock-fighting or a village meeting.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the difference between Nini Munir and Gung Niang Guling. Gung Niang Guling’s legacy continues with each generation. Her grand-children are involved in the preparation and selling of her food. It is a family-run business in the purest sense of the word.
In the busy season, up to ten suckling pig are roasted and carried down to the warung ready for a day of frantic trading. Up to 120 kilos of rice are steamed to be served alongside. There is nothing half-baked about this operation. In fact, Ibu Oka’s is almost as popular as the Monkey Forest, with bus-loads of tourists pouring in to this crowded space to sample this celebrated treat. In Nini Munir’s case, her recipe has been lost and she remains but a faded memory in Ubud.
“Not everyone’s story is the same” said Ketut wisely (because he says everything wisely). Some of the Nini Munir’s sons moved out of home or even exiled themselves in the rice fields.” The key is clearly the presence of a daughter-in-law, who, in this case, happened to be the smart and very capable Ibu Oka.
But what is it that makes Suckling Pig so delectable? In fact, I recently had lunch with a friend from Australia who said he dreams about Ibu Oka’s suckling pig when he is away from Bali.
Imagine that. Here we were, sitting in my restaurant, Casa Luna and eating take-away suckling pig, drooling over its many virtues. There’s something dreadfully wrong with that picture.
Suckling pig is a multi-leveled taste sensation. First you have the tender mother-loved meat and a pile of fresh Balinese spices. And then you have the pure coconut oil that undoubtedly makes a huge difference when cooking Balinese food. Without it, the spices would not sing, or rather hum like Annie Lennox, because it is the oil base that kick-starts the wild fragrance of all those earth-bound ingredients into something heavenly.
Beyond the fresh oil and the spices are cassava leaves that are tucked into the tummy with a rock or two to generate the heat. While the pig is slowly turning, a mix of coconut oil and turmeric is used to baste the skin, adding a golden glow and a crispy finish.
At Ibu Oka’s you can order the regular-sized portion, or for gluttons like me, you can load up on the deluxe serve, topped with a huge slab of crispy pork crackling. If you are going to indulge, you might as well do it properly.
But next time you are overdosing on Ibu Oka’s suckling pig, spare a thought for Gung Niang Guling, that pioneer of the Ubud culinary scene who single-handedly brought local cuisine into the laps of the world traveler. Ubud would not have been the same without her!
I also want to add a tender farewell note to the lovely Kylah Brown, the editor of Sunday’s Jakarta Post, who leaves next week. I have enjoyed every minute working with her and will miss our chats. Kylah leaves the shores of Indonesia to follow the man of her dreams and I wish her all the best. I did the same but landed up in Bali!
Matur Suksme
Janet DeNeefe is the owner of Casa Luna and Indus Restaurants, author of Fragrant Rice, and founder and director of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. She also runs the Casa Luna Cooking School.
Source: The Jakarta Post
January 21st, 2008
SUDHA MAHALINGAM
Being in Bali is like being in a malfunctioning time machine, where past and present coexist without any hints of contradiction. Bali is 80 per cent Hindu, but their rituals seem to be a world away from those we see in India.
For those of us who’ve glimpsed the cavernous, dust-filled and eerie crater of Mt.Vesuvius, Bali’s volcanoes come as a delightful surprise. They are as green as they come, their slopes, once overrun by molten lava, are now robed in cheque red emerald rice paddies swaying gently in the breeze. The green is leavened by blotches of magenta, purple and orange bougainvillea clusters. A serene blue lake with nary a ripple hugs the volcano and goes around it. A plume of mist, not smoke, wafts languidly out of the crown of the volcano that belched pyroclastic fury and swallowed entire villages not too long ago. In fact, Bali’s legendary tropical fecundity is largely due to its volcanic soil.I am standing on the rim of the crater atop Gunung Batur, an active volcano a mere two-hour drive from Bali’s capital Denpasar. Gunung last erupted in 1963 and there are many survivors who still remember that fateful day. Yet, seeing how touristy it has become now, you realise that for Balinese and Javanese, volcanoes form very much a part of their home turf. Flying from Singapore to Denpasar in Bali, you can spot at least three live volcanoes in an ocean studded with islands and hills. From my window seat I could see plumes of dense smoke emanating from the crater of a massive hill which seemed detached from the other islands surrounding it. Later I learnt that it was Krakatau, the celebrity volcano that exploded with a bang in 1883, unleashing giant tsunamis against the shores of Java and Sumatra. The entire island had disappeared in the explosion, along with its inhabitants, leaving only a flattened crater which now seems to be growing once again. I was mesmerised by the raw power of the volcano as it sent out a streak of lava smoke across the clear blue sky.
Sunrise from atop Gunung is a truly terrific sight. But then, you need to wake up at 3 a.m. and join the other members of the group. After an hour-long drive, the gentle climb begins in velvety darkness. It takes about two hours to reach the top. Huffing and puffing, and stumbling over rocks and pebbles, you finally reach the peak for a glimpse of glowing sun emerging from behind a peak and sprinkling a shade of gold on the sapphire-hued lake. The agate pagodas rise gently skywards. Time seems to stand still, letting you commune with nature. After what seems eons, you reluctantly pick your way down and head for a cafeteria on the adjacent hill for a hefty breakfast.
Pagodas and speed boats
Being in Bali is like being on a malfunctioning time-machine. You’re suspended in a timeless past, but one in which a gorgeously Balinese stone and thatch pagoda perched on a steep cliff indulgently gazes at speedboats and scuba-divers in Nusa Dua beach. Bali seems to manage contradictions with consummate ease. All construction, whether it is a McDonalds outlet or a Sogo mall or the numerous hotels and resorts that dot its beaches, make a concession to traditional Balinese architectural styles. Thus you have glass and chrome fronted stores sporting sloping red-tiled roofs which, surprisingly, don’t seem comical or discordant! And in Bali, no one is allowed to build anything taller than a coconut tree — only God’s abodes have that privilege. What a relief to be in an island where the clutter of steel and chrome spires don’t mar the skyline!
After a visit to the Besakih temple which miraculously survived the destruction of 1963 volcanic eruption, I head to delightful Ubud, the crafts village, an hour’s drive from Denpasar. Along the way, you see countless family shrines enclosed within the compound of most houses along the way. These are little shrines, mimicking the architecture of big temples, their crowns usually made of weathered thatch, a quintessentially Balinese feature. There is evidence of daily worship at these shrines. Bali is 80 per cent Hindu, but their rituals seem to be a world away from the Hindu rituals we see in India. Prayer is an integral part of Balinese life. All over Bali you can spot little leaf donas sporting offerings to the Gods. Arjun, my driver, tells me the donas contain three Fs. Flower, fire and food. While Frangipani is the ubiquitous floral offering, fire often takes the form of a lit cigarette, left there to propitiate the Gods! And food almost invariably is a biscuit offering! And every Balinese, whether shopkeeper or hotelier, makes these offerings everyday with such touching earnestness!
Plenty of statues
Ubud is a feast for the eyes. Batubulan, the stone carving village has virtual parades of statues — hundreds of them lining the streets. Row upon row of Buddhas, elephants, horses, dragons and assorted gods and goddesses make up the parade. Many statues are massive. I wonder who could be the customers for these since Bali is an isolated island in the middle of the Indian Ocean and it would cost a bomb to transport these anywhere! Balinese just seem to like making statues which adorn shops, restaurants, houses, schools and virtually everywhere. Yet, many more are being carved as if to line the streets of this beautiful island.
The next village has silver jewellery shops, each of them looking like an art museum in a spacious compound. This is followed by traditional Balinese painting studios, wood carvers, basket weavers, sundry handicraft makers, ikat weavers, and of course, the famous batik printers. Even the poshest looking shops don’t bat an eyelid as you haggle the price down to a third of what they quote.
I wrap up my week-long trip to Bali with a most disappointing experience. At Nusa Dua beach, I pay a whopping fee to hire a glass-bottomed boat in the hope of spotting colourful corals and frisky turtles. After an hour of sailing, all I find are murky waters and some very dead corals. My boatman offers to take me to an island with a turtle farm for which he demanded a further extortionate fee. When I queried how many turtles were there in the farm, he replied non-chalantly, “eight”.
Source: http://www.hindu.com/mag
January 21st, 2008
The Bali climate change meeting was a success because it provided the world with a guide for future negotiations on binding emissions targets, the Federal Government said. “What we have come together and agreed (on) is a road map to help us on our way,” Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told ABC radio on Monday (17/12).
Senator Wong led the last-minute negotiations between the US and European nations in Bali three weeks after being sworn in as the minister following Labor’s November 24 election win.
“We have always had the situation where developed countries had various commitments under the Kyoto protocol and developing countries sat outside that. “What we now have is a process where we have synchronised, parallel negotiations in relation to both developed and developing countries and their contribution to climate change.
“This is a global challenge that will not be met unless all the countries of the globe do their bit.” Senator Wong admitted there continues to be “divergent views” between the US and Europe.
“Obviously this was a very hard-won consensus. “This is a good agreement, it is a strong agreement. It lays the groundwork for the next two years of negotiations so that we can find a way through to a comprehensive agreement in 2009.” (BTN/AAP)
Source: http://www.bali-travelnews.com/
January 18th, 2008
Denpasar, 17 Jan. (AKI) - Australian tourists are returning to the Indonesian island of Bali after the fatal bomb attacks on the island in 2002 and 2005 and several drug cases apparently drove them away.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Indonesia jumped to fourth place on the list of the most popular overseas destinations for Australians in 2007.
The ABS said the total number of Australian travellers increased by nearly 65 percent to a total of roughly half a million.
In 2006, Indonesia was the ninth choice for Australian travellers. Other top destinations for Australian tourists are New Zealand, the United States, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Competitive international airfares are said to be one reason for Australians taking more overseas holidays.
The number of international arrivals to the archipelago’s main tourist location, Bali, fell dramatically after the October 2002 and October 2005 Bali bombings, as travellers feared further attacks.
The highly publicised drug trial of Australian Schapelle Corby also deterred tourists. Corby is currently serving a 20-year sentence for drug smuggling in Bali but many Australians still believe she is innocent.
The so-called “Bali nine” case involving a nine members of a drug ring caught trying to smuggle 8.2 kg of heroin from Bali into Australia in April 2005 has also created fierce debate. Six of them are currently awaiting execution in Bali.
The Indonesian government has a goal to attract seven million tourist arrivals during this year’s Visit Indonesia programme and expects to make some 6.7 billion dollars in foreign exchange revenue from tourism this year.
Last year, Indonesia received around 5.5 million international visitors, which was half a million short of official targets, but still generated around 5.3 billion dollars in foreign exchange income.
Source: http://www.adnkronos.com/
January 18th, 2008
National carriers Garuda Indonesia and Air India to be ideal options
Chetan Kapoor - Mumbai
The Bali Government Tourism Office recently held its third Indian road show that attracted buyers and sellers from both countries. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Nyoman Wardawan, its head of tourism promotion division, said, “India and China are growing markets and people from these countries are travelling more. The Indian youth, like the Japanese, are travelling by themselves to new destinations and Bali could be a good choice.”
The road show which featured delegates from Balanese hotels, resorts, the tourism board and the Indonesian consulate visited the key metro cities of Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and Hyderabad. Wardawan believes that the show will add to the increasing number of Indian visitors to Bali. “The Japanese inbound has been driving our tourism growth, being closely followed by Taiwan, Australia, South Korea and Malaysia. Indians started travelling to Bali in large numbers only from 2003, but by 2005 we had 6,792 visitors which rose to 12,792 in 2006 - a growth 88.34 per cent. With this increase in the number of Indian travellers to Bali, we are hoping for direct connections between India and Bali, through the national carriers of Air India and Garuda Indonesia, subject to approval of both governments.”
Bali, about an hour and half away from Jakarta, offers visa on arrival from the Indonesia international airport for as little as INR 500, with a return ticket being the only documentation required. Also present at the road show was I Ketut Ardana, SH, vice chairman, Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (ASITA) and managing director, Bali Sunshine Tours & Travel. According to him, “Out of the total six million tourists to Indonesia, we expect about 1.1 million tourists to visit Bali this year, and as a stakeholder in Bali Tourism, this road show will try its best to tap the Indian market. With such promotions, it is hoped that more Indians will visit the island of Bali, which is just a few hours’ flight from Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.”
Source: http://www.expresstravelworld.com/
January 17th, 2008
JAKARTA: Bali’s reviving tourism industry has experienced a rise in the number of visitors from South Korea, who have long been considered the “non-traditional” tourist market for Indonesia.
Based on a figure from Bali’s tourism agency, as reported by Antara on Monday, the number of South Korean tourists rose by 54.1 percent to 121,858 last year from 79,072 in 2006. The agency forecasts the rising trend to continue this year.
The figure ranked Korea fourth after Japan, Australia and Taiwan as the countries that contributed the most foreign visitors to Bali last year. – JP
Source: The Jakarta Post
January 16th, 2008
Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Bali`s textile and garment imports in the first nine months of 2007 rose to US$5.9 million from US$5.4 million a year earlier, a report said.
Textile and garment imports stood at US$1.9 million in 2004 and climbed to US$9.3 million in 2005 but declined to US$9.2 million in 2006, Bank Indonesia (the central bank)`s office in Bali said in a report on Friday.
It is still unclear whether the imported textiles and garments are intended to meet local needs or re-exported as Bali has so far been known as a textile and garment exporter though its textile and garment industry has been growing at slow pace since 2005.
The significant increase in textile and garment imports comes as a major surprise as local garment producers are gearing up for exports.
“The Balinese garment producers have very bad luck,” garment producer Made Kariana said in commenting on the textile and garment imports.
Bali`s garment exports plunged after the World Trade Organization (WTO) lifted the province`s quotas to export textiles and garments to a number of countries on January 1, 2005.(*)
Source: Antara News
January 15th, 2008
According to Antara News, Garuda Indonesia has plans to open a Nagoya - Bali route, flying three times a week between the two cities.
“The air transportation business has been greatly affected by the soaring oil price but our management is predicting that the route will be profitable,” said Arif Wibowo, Garuda district manager for Japan, China and the United States.
In addition to support from Centrair, the airport authority in Chubu, Garuda has the backing of the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Expected to open in June this year, the route will further the carrier’s business expansion in Japan. Garuda currently operates five weekly flights on the Osaka-Bali-Jakarta route and daily flights on the Tokyo-Bali-Jakarta route.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
January 14th, 2008
I hope you all had an enlightening Christmas break and are invigorated and refreshed to face the challenges of another year as opposed to trudging around the office like a brokenhearted zombie, as I am.
I did have an enjoyable holiday however. Java and Bali were under a constant deluge over the festive season which evidently seemed to culminate in all the usual death, destruction and landslides.
Bali holiday makers had a slightly damp time of things and a friend of mine in Kuta texted me to inform me that the beach was temporarily closed and that he actually saw a dead pig washed up on the sands. A message from Allah, no doubt, inveighing against the evils of the two-piece bathing suit.
I opted for Lombok however, which turned out to have been a lucky choice as things were rather sunnier over there. It didn’t start out so well though. I landed at Mataram in the middle of a huge downpour and, despite being provided with a handsome Lion Air umbrella, got soaked on way from the plane into the terminal building.
Christmas Day also proved to be pretty dire as the rain kept coming down. I hadn’t yet hooked up with my friends and — the icing on the cake — I had to negotiate the rude and aggressive hustlers at Bangsal port as I attempted to catch a public boat to Gili Trawangan.
“Ha ha Mr, may be no more public boat today, you can sleep in the street here until tomorrow, ha ha.” Charming fellows indeed.
Things picked up in the Gilis though. The three tiny islands off Lombok’s north-west coast are a popular draw for tourists with their desert island beaches, coral reef diving, evening parties and lack of motor vehicles.
On the main island of Trawangan, horses and carts trot gently along the main strip of restaurants, bars and hotels next to the stunning views of Gunung Rinjani on the mainland which are afforded from Trawangan’s beaches.
My chums and I managed to spend five dreamy days, snorkeling, eating, walking, watching the Christmas football fixtures and indulging in oneiric mushroom trips. Paradise. It’s like a mini Bali without the Aussie surfers assaulting one’s senses. I’ll certainly be back again in the future.
After the Gilis, we headed back to the mainland, scored some funds from the ATMs of Mataram and headed into the south of Lombok, the territory of the indigenous Sasak people.
After rocking up at Kuta Beach, I was immediately struck by the contrast with its more illustrious namesake across the water in Bali.
Whereas Kuta-Bali is densely jammed with humanity and as overdeveloped as Jakarta, Kuta-Lombok is a meditative paradise of spectacular scenery, deserted white sandy beaches and….. well, that’s about it. What more do you want for pity’s sake? Boorish happy hours? Ludicrously expensive surf clothing outlets? A Circle K every 10 yards?
Lombok’s south coast is blissfully free of all this extraneous flotsam and is the real natural paradise that the slightly tarnished island across the water claims to be. The only potential spoiler is the possibility of having your stuff pinched from the beach whilst you go for a paddle, which has apparently proved problematic here in the past. I guess that’s the price you pay for the relatively small amount of tourist development in Lombok, so keep an eye on that backpack.
Once again though, Kuta-Lombok threw my nagging feeling of ambivalence towards tourist development into sharp relief. Tourism is a fantastic potential source of revenue for a relatively impoverished local economy such as the one in South Lombok.
On the other hand, sitting watching a spectacular sunset in an equally spectacular bay in the Kuta area, I couldn’t help wishing that the inevitable tide of noisy beachside cafes and the accompanying hordes of good-time tourists could somehow be held back from spoiling the idyll I was enjoying. A completely untenable, hypocritical position may be. I mean what was I if not a good-time tourist?
On the other hand though, Western tourists perhaps expect too much these days. Who needs every resort to be an identical mishmash of neon lit bars and satellite TV availability? Whatever happened to the thrill of being a dog-eared traveler washing up somewhere seldom frequented by Uncle Whitey?
Alas, that On the Road/Dharma Bums Jack Kerouac quest for a natural Nirvana seems to be dying and backpacks are being swapped for suitcases by the current younger generation of lifestyle choice package tourists. Will the great spirit of adventure recover from this onslaught of indiscriminate, media fueled hedonism? Or are those days, inevitably, over forever?
The peace and tranquility of Lombok afforded me a genuine chance to unwind and de-stress. Two weeks in Kuta, Bali and I’d need another holiday just to get over my holiday.
After my inner chakras had been re-harmonized, returning to Jakarta came as a somewhat rude awakening and, on top of that, the roads have been pockmarked with lunar craters by the recent heavy rains.
I’ll be back to my old self with more neurotic tales from Pertaminaville next week folks. Stay dry everyone.
http://metromad.blogspot.com/ — Simon Pitchforth
Source: The Jakarta Post
January 14th, 2008
The Bali Dynasty Resort is preparing itself for a main lobby makeover in February, which will transform the feel of the reception area but still retain the lofty teak central ceiling.In their January Newsletter, the hotel said, “There is no need to get alarmed, since these improvements are being carried out at the front of the hotel in the main lobby.
“Therefore we anticipate very little disruption to our guests (apart from on arrival and departure) since the room blocks and pool areas are located well away from the lobby.”
The new lobby will introduce white plastered ceilings at the lower level, white Jogja Stone walls and incorporate a more minimalistic interior design along with a new modern central feature.
A new lobby lounge and bar will also be created, so that guests can enjoy a drink in the lobby.
Recently the other bar in the resort, the Gracie Kelly’s Irish Pub, along with the on-site restaurant the Golden Lotus Restaurant were awarded the Best Bar & Restaurant accolades in the 2007 Hello Bali Magazine awards.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/
January 11th, 2008
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