Archive for February, 2009
Tourists who have visited this South East Asian island will tell you that Bali exudes a certain magical charm and that is why, some people call Bali, the Island of Gods. After all, gods live in paradise don’t they?
You will be pleasantly impressed by the many stunningly beautiful tourist attractions and the charming local people. If you are a scuba diver, you will be pleased to know that Bali is one of the top scuba diving destinations in the world.
Bali presents itself as a modern paradox because its ancient and traditional culture is still very much alive amidst modern living. While the basic of the Balinese people has enabled them to preserve many of their ancient customs, culture and religion, it has never hindered the acceptance of the new and innovative modern technological advancement.
The island is indeed a feast for the eye for tourists on holiday vacation in Indonesia. As the island is situated near the it has almost equal amount of time for rain and sunshine making its environment very suitable for human inhabitation and as a result, Bali has been inhabited and civilized since ancient times.
Bali is also the only island in “middle Indonesia” that has more or less uninterrupted cultural continuity for hundreds of years. It is of this reason, Bali is the only part of Indonesia that remains “Hindu” is still retaining elements of fusion of ethnic and Hindu cultures of more than a thousand years of cultural tradition.
When the island was colonized by the Dutch at the beginning of last century, the Dutch colonial masters were so impressed by the traditions of the Balinese that a concerted effort was made to preserve the island’s mystical culture.
The Balinese society is a strong and cohesive one because the local people promote communal and family values. Feelings of alienation from parents and friends which are common in the western world are almost unheard of in Bali.
Children are carried everywhere or strapped to their mother’s back until they are at least three months old. Religious rituals are regularly to keep the children safe, healthy and to protect them from harmful spirits. Every aspect of village life is organized in such detail that the individual’s responsibilities and rights are meticulously defined by the Balinese tradition.
Source: www.msokorea.com/destinations
February 9th, 2009
Trisha Sertori, Contributor, Gianyar
A second stone sarcophagus was found Saturday just 7 meters from an earlier sarcophagus discovered less than three weeks ago at a Keramas brickmaking site.
This second sarcophagus has led some archeologists to suggest the site may once have been the burial ground of ancient chieftains. A human skull and leg bones were also discovered, and may form part of a chieftain’s burial retinue.
The small egg-shaped sarcophagus found Saturday by brickmaker Muksin Riadi may be the coffin of a child. The stone coffin is believed to be between 2,000 and 2,500 years old.
Ironically, the head of the Bali Archeology Agency, Wayan Suantika, says this latest find increases his agency’s belief that the Keramas site is of low archeological significance.
“The site at this stage is not considered of high significance. We have only uncovered two sarcophagi to date and there is little material, such as prehistoric pottery and ceramics, when compared to sites such as Gilimanuk. There we see meter-thick strata of pottery,” Suantika says.
The two sarcophagi were unearthed by brickmakers within 20 days of each other.
Suantika adds there is at this stage little evidence of long-term habitation at the site, known in ancient times as Abang, according to local villagers.
“People may have settled here for only a short time and then moved on,” Suantika says.
However, without funded research, how long the area was used by ancient peoples remains unknown.
The ground is littered with prehistoric pottery, 11th-century Song Dynasty ceramic shards and later shards from the Ming Dynasty.
Some archeologists suggest these shards represent more than 35 centuries of human activity.
The pottery and ceramics are unearthed daily by brickmakers at Keramas, broken by hoes used to carve out clay. Song Dynasty bowls sell today for between US$5,000 and $10,000. Bricks sell for 10 cents.
Hundreds of simple stone sarcophagi have been unearthed across Bali, and only a handful bear intricate carvings - it is the sheer volume of unadorned sarcophagi that render them of low significance.
That viewpoint and lack of funding may be to blame for the shattering of the earlier sarcophagus at the Keramas site, which, while slightly damaged on discovery, was all but destroyed during removal and transportation.
Transporters attempted to open the sarcophagus with an iron crowbar, causing the sarcophagus to shatter into several pieces. Due to the workers’ lack of archeological knowledge, the site was not examined for bones or other artifacts that may have given a clue as to how the ancient ruler lived and died. A skull and leg bones were unearthed a few days later by a brickmaker and set aside in a bucket for safety.
Substantially more care was taken the second time around, with archeologists from a conservation team excavating the new sarcophagus site almost grain by grain to safely extract the intact coffin.
Ngurah, from the Bali Conservation Museum, explains that the earlier sarcophagus was removed by local people without training in handling priceless artifacts. He blames a shortage of funding for the way the earlier sarcophagus had been removed to the conservation museum.
“The first sarcophagus was removed by local people. Now we have taken over the site to safely remove this second sarcophagus,” he says.
The Bali Antiquities Museum, headed by I Made Suantra, has more than 200 staff across Bali and the East Nusa Tenggara.
Udayana University archeologist Agung Rochtri disagrees with Suantika’s take on the significance of the Keramas site, pointing to the volume of pottery and ceramics potentially dating across more than 3500 years.
“I feel the pottery and ceramics are good evidence of long-term human habitation at this site. From the quantity and quality of pottery here, I believe this is a quality archeological site. There is a greater volume of pottery and ceramics at the Gilimanuk site; however, that site has fewer sarcophagi than here,” Rochtri says.
“I certainly believe the site should be protected and research undertaken. From the placement of this graveyard on high ground I believe this was an important burial site. Heads of villages were buried on high ground so this gives us an indication of their role.”
He adds it is most likely the sarcophagi were buried at the Keramas site.
Other archeologists have suggested the sarcophagi may have been washed to the site during landslides, further adding to the site’s low-significance status.
“Looking at the terrain here, I feel this is the original burial site,” Rochtri says.
Discussing the discovery of the skull and bones, Rochtri is adamant.
“This is not right. Everything found on the site needs to be documented and protected,” he says, stressing the urgent need for the Keramas site to be secured for archeological investigation.
However, Rochtri’s hands are tied through a lack of funding, as are those of the Bali Archeology Agency.
“Udayana University has no government funding for research. If funding comes up, it will be too late,” he says.
Without research, no one will ever know how old these sarcophagi are, how large the ancient village was and for how many centuries people lived and worked in this area. This knowledge will instead be baked into bricks sold at 10 cents apiece.
Source: The Jakarta Post
February 6th, 2009
Article from:Â
The AustralianWITH the lead bombers executed, Australians are partying harder than ever in Kuta. But as well as hedonism, Jakarta correspondent Stephen Fitzpatrick finds guilt, heroism, honour and tenderness twisted into the ties that bind Australia and its northern neighbour. Here is an extract from his story in tomorrow’s Weekend Australian Magazine:
BALI is again full of Australians: surfing, drinking, taking drugs, falling off motorbikes, meditating, practising yoga. Each one living, in their own way, the Bali experience.
Kerobokan jail, on the fringe of the action-packed Kuta-Legian-Seminyak tourist strip, plays a key part in the Australia-Bali story.
AUDIO: Stephen Fitzpatrick on Aussie-Bali tourism Ever since the arrests that followed the Paddy’s Bar and Sari Club bombings, through to Schapelle Corby’s 2004 arrest for marijuana smuggling, underwear model Michelle Leslie’s a little while later for ecstasy possession, the Bali Nine’s for their ill-conceived smuggling attempt, the second bombing in 2005 and even the recent execution of Bali bombers Imam Samudra and co, its importance has steadily grown in the Australian imagination.
But there are other obvious loci of the relationship: the still-empty land on the site of the old Sari Club; the nearby monument to the lives lost in the bombing, which has become such a magnet for visitors that it arguably fulfi ls some of the same mythmaking and national identity role that places such as Gallipoli and the Kokoda Track perform for Australians elsewhere; even the pumping nightclub scene on this strip, which is busier now than it was before the bombing, a post-2002 tourist slump well and truly over.
There are many reasons for Australians to visit Bali, but the traditional sun-sand-and-sex tour to Kuta has, since the early ’70s at least, undeniably been higher on the list than any notion of nurturing a bilateral connection. A night out in this zone of hedonism is everything it ever was and then some: drugs, drink and picking up. Party until you drop – which is exactly the scene the bombers wanted to strike because they knew it would have the biggest impact.
Australian tourist arrivals are well above pre-2002 levels, according to figures from the Bali Tourism Board. Slightly fewer than 240,000 visited Bali in 2001. Last year the number topped 300,000. The big difference between pre and post-bombing tourism is that a trip to the Island of the Gods, whether on the good-time trail or with more sedate aims, now invariably includes a stop at the bombing memorial.
Ground Zero, as the locals call it, is just a hop down the road from the jail. The bomb site and memorial there reminds the Balinese – who believe deeply in karma and therefore blame themselves, rather than the bombers, for the tragedy – of their vulnerability to hatred.
For Australians the emotional cues vary, but strong in the mix is a surprisingly familiar theme of fallen comrades and of drunken bravado. Of war heroes, in fact.
Outsiders might scoff, and traditionalists recoil, but there is something of the Anzac myth being perpetuated daily at this intersection of two Balinese roads, at the precise point on Jalan Legian where Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club once faced each other.
“It really is a bit like Gallipoli in the ways it has meaning for Aussies,” offers I Nyoman Darma Putra, a lecturer in Indonesian literature at Bali’s Udayana University, with a PhD from the University of Queensland.
Read Stephen Fitzpatrick’s full story - including his his game of tennis with one of the bombers and his interview with Bali’s new governor - in The Weekend Australian Magazine.
Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au
February 6th, 2009
Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Gianyar
The Denpasar Archeology Office is opposed to converting Keramas village, Gianyar regency, into a tourist attraction following the discovery of scores of sarcophagi that experts say could shed light on Bali’s ancient fore bearers.
“We should not make this area a tourist site. People can just visit the Heritage Preservation Office (BP3) to see the sarcophagi,” Wayan Suantika, head of the archeology office, which oversees Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara, said Tuesday.
A local brick layer on Sunday stumbled across a 12th sarcophagi uncovered in the village, bringing the total number found in the surrounding area to 33. The brick layer found the ancient artifact two meters below the ground approximately 7 meters away from where another had earlier been found. An ensuing excavation effort was to continue Wednesday.
Ayu Kusumawati, a researcher at the archeology office, said the sarcophagus dated from the Megalithic era, which predates the Bronze Age. She estimated the artifact was around 2,500 years old. It is believed the coffins belong to the ancestors of the Balinese.
The office said 126 sarcophagi had been found on the island.
Suantika said archeological sites had become historic points of fascination and tourist attractions.
He said there should be a thorough study to determine the financial benefits of the regional or provincial administration buying the land and converting it into a tourism site.
Previously, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism proposed that areas along Tukad Pakerisan, Campuhan River and Ayung River in Gianyar regency should be preserved as national heritage sites as they were the first known settlements of the ancient Balinese.
Other brick layers in the area said they had come across fragments of bone and ceramic.
“I found this skull and small bones here yesterday,” Gusti Putu Kramas, a 58-year-old digger, said Tuesday, pointing at an area 10 meters away from where the 12th sarcophagus was discovered.
Ayu said the skull might date from the same era as the sarcophagi. She said ordinary people 2,500 years ago had been buried as they were, but village chiefs or important people had been placed in sarcophagi.
“But sometimes a village chief was buried first because the sarcophagus was not finished yet. The body was later placed into the sarcophagus,” she said.
When asked whether the office would claim the area to conduct a thorough search for more possible artifacts, Suantika said his office did not have enough funds, and that it would continue to rely on incidental discoveries.
He said he hoped brick layers working in the area would report all findings.
Source: The Jakarta Post
February 5th, 2009
Dessy Sagita
A sarcophagus, or stone coffin, estimated to be up to 2,500 years old has been found in Bali’s Gianyar district, a local archaeologist said on Monday.
Wayan Suantika, the head of the Denpasar Archeology Agency, told the Jakarta Globe that the sarcophagus had been found on Saturday in Keramas village by Muksin Riadi, a brick maker, while he was digging for brick-making material. It was found 1.5 meters below the surface.
Muksin had immediately stopped digging and reported the finding to the Blahbatuh Police.
Wayan said the size of the sarcophagus suggests that it was most likely used to inter a child, and he made a preliminary estimate that it dated back about 2,300 to 2,500 years. Bones and teeth were also found.
The sarcophagus had a width of 60 centimeters and a height of 49 centimeters.
Wayan said he would lead a team of experts to further examine it today.
“We haven’t opened it yet, so we don’t know what is inside of it,” he said.
It was the second discovery of a sarcophagus within a month, after the first was found on Jan. 13 less than 10 meters away.
Now that two had been found, the agency had assumed the location had been a residential area of people from a Mongoloid race.
Wayan said it was likely that the people buried inside the sarcophagi were from important families.
“Not everybody could be buried in a sarcophagus, only important people or a tribe leader,” Wayan said.
He said the agency would secure the sarcophagus if the landowners did not want to take care of it. They had declined an offer to keep last month’s find and it had been removed to the agency’s office.
The latest finding was the thirteenth sarcophagus in the Gianyar district.
Hundreds have been found across Bali Island.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reports that Malaysian archaeologists have announced the discovery of stone tools they believe are more than 1.8 million years old and the earliest evidence of human activity in Southeast Asia.
The stone hand-axes were found at Lenggong in Perak state, in a type of rock formed by meteorites, and were sent to a Japanese lab to be dated.
Team leader Mokhtar Saidin said “this is the earliest evidence of Paleolithic culture in the Southeast Asian region.”
Mokhtar, from Malaysia’s University of Science, said he believed the hand-axes were used by homo erectus, an extinct early human.
He said the previous oldest homo erectus fossil discovered in Southeast Asia was from Java and dated at 1.7 million years.
Source: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news
February 4th, 2009
Andra Wisnu , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar
Experts continue to claim that Bali’s tourism industry is on the decline and that the island may become marginalized when the ASEAN charter takes effect in 2015 and makes travel to other regional tourist attractions more affordable for Indonesians.
Daradjatun Kuntjoro Jakti, former coordinating minister for the economy, said Friday that Bali’s tourism industry had reached a saturation point that could endanger public livelihood if the administration did not act.
His data shows that Bali’s income from foreign tourist has continually dropped to $4.44 billion in 2006 from US$5.74 billion in 2000, despite the rapid development of tourism-related infrastructure projects within the six-year period.
He further cited a continual reduction in foreign tourist’s length of stay, from 12.26 days per visit in 2000 to 9.05 days per visit in 2005.
Foreign tourist expenditure per visit also reveals a downturn to $904 in 2005 from $1,135.18 in 2000.
“In other words, looking at the Bali tourism industry is like a person running really fast yet doesn’t get anywhere, which looks like he’s having a really bad dream,” he said.
He cited as reasons for the downturn, a deteriorating environment, deceitful taxi drivers and currency exchangers, an increasing prominence of Western-style buildings and diminishing Balinese culture in Bali.
He said Bali’s tourism industry would not survive if nothing was done to address the problems given increasing competition from other ASEAN countries.
“Especially considering that ASEAN will sign the ASEAN charter in 2015, effectively making travel between ASEAN countries cheaper,” he said.
“At this rate, Bali will become a tourism destination of yesterday and not of tomorrow. It may not even last 10 years.”
His prediction was somewhat in line with a previous statement by Dr. Nyoman Erawan, a noted Balinese economist, who said that Bali’s tourism industry could no longer contribute significantly to the island’s economic growth.
Erawan urged the island’s administration to allocate a greater portion of the budget to other economic sectors, such as agriculture.
Daradjatun, on the other hand, said Bali’s tourism industry could still take off if the administration focused its efforts on revitalizing Balinese cultural-based tourism and organizing larger meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibition related-activities.
Dr. I Wayan Ardika, an archeology professor at Udayana University, agreed with Daradjatun that a revitalization of Balinese culture could boost tourism.
Source: The Jakarta Post
February 3rd, 2009
The Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali takes great pleasure to announce the appointment of Mr. Douglas Ariza-Giammaria as Hotel Manager effective as of 15th December 2008. Â Douglas arrives at The Laguna Resort & Spa after spending two and a half years as Director of Rooms for The Regent Singapore, A Four Seasons Hotel, managed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts Group.
A seasoned hotelier, Douglas brings a wealth of hospitality and management experience to the resort. Douglas started his hotel career in 1995 in Banquets at the UH Hilton in Houston, Texas. During his tenure with the Starwood Company, he has held senior capacities in Rooms, Revenue Management, Food and Beverage and Sales and Marketing. During his career he embraced the challenge of relocating to distinct destinations around the globe. Senior roles have taken him to the St. Regis Houston of North America, The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Greece, The Great Wall Sheraton, Beijing-China and The Regent Singapore, A Four Seasons Hotel.
Douglas has a Bachelor’s degree from the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management University of Houston, where he also pursued his Masters in Hospitality Management at the same institution. Douglas is known for his hands-on management style within the work place that is based on approachability and open communications. He is passionate about motivating his team and recognising their achievements. Fluent in Spanish and English, Douglas also speaks Greek and Italian. He is looking forward to experiencing the island’s art and culture during his time in Bali.
In his capacity as Hotel Manager, Douglas will assume overall responsibility for the Security, Housekeeping, Front Office and Recreation Departments as well as the Fitness Centre and Laguna Spa. He will report directly to Mr. David Cuddon, the General Manager of The Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali.
Source: www.etravelblackboardasia.com
February 2nd, 2009
Round Up of Recent Senior Appointments at Bali Hotels.
(1/31/2009) The following Bali hotels have recently made key appointments to their management team.
Douglas Ariza-Giammaria, Hotel Manager, The Laguna
Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali have appointed Douglas Ariza-Giammaria as Hotel Manager effective December 15, 2008. Douglas arrives at his new post in Bali after spending two and a half years as Director of Rooms for The Regent Singapore, part of the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts Group.
A veteran hotelier, he began his hotel career in 1995 working in banqueting division of the UH Hilton in Houston, Texas. While working with Starwood, he held senior roles in rooms, revenue management, food and beverage, and the sales and marketing divisions. Along the way he has worked in a wide range of cultural settings including the St. Regis Houston of North America, The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Greece, The Great Wall Sheraton, Beijing-China and The Regent Singapore, A Four Seasons Hotel.
Holding a Bachelor’s Degree from the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management University of Houston,, Douglas also pursued a Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management at the same institution. A hard working hotelier known for his hands-on management style, approachability and open communications, Douglas speaks Spanish, English, Greek and Italian.
In his new Bali role as Hotel Manager, Douglas has overall responsibility for the security, housekeeping, front office and recreation departments as well as the fitness centre and Laguna Spa. He will report directly to David Cuddon, the General Manager of The Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali.
Yani Wongsowinoto – Director of Sales, Four Seasons Resorts Bali
Four Seasons Resorts Bali have announced the appointment of Yani Wongsowinoto as Director of Sales for their Bali Resorts in Jimbaran and Sayan.
Yani joins Four Seasons Bali from The Nam Hai, Hoi An, Vietnam, and is well known to the island’s hospitality industry via his earlier role as Director of Sales at The Legian Bali and its sister-hotel The Chedi Club at Tanah Gajah, Ubud.
Hailing from Surabaya, Yani graduated from the University of New South Wales and Billy Blue Hotel School in Sydney, before attending Institut Hotelier ‘Cesar Ritz’, Le Bouveret, Switzerland from where he obtained a diploma in Hotel Management. His first professional assignment was as Corporate Sales Executive at Malang’s Regent’s Park Hotel in East Java. He later moved to Bali, where he was employed as Sales & Marketing Manager at the Grand Mirage Resort at Tanjung Benoa. In 1997 he was appointed Sales Manager at The Legian Bali, and in 2002 promoted to Director of Sales responsible for both of the Island’s GHM Resorts. In 2006 Yani was transferred by GHM to The Nam Hai, Hoi An, as a member of the pre-opening management team in the capacity of Director of Sales & Marketing.
Juan Pedro Lemes Duarte, Resident Manager, Melia Bali Villas & Spa
Meliá Bali Villas & Spa Resort have announced the appointment of Juan Pedro Lemes Duarte as Residnet Manager.
Juan Pedro Duarte brings wide-ranging hospitality experience to Meliá Bali and a degree from Manchester Southern New Hampshire University (USA) in hotel management. He has worked as an Assistant Director Food & Beverage Sales Manager at the Morgan Run Club Resort in San Diego USA and with Barcelo Hotel Club as an Assistant Director and General Manager in their Spanish properties until 2008. He has also held positions with Hotel Siete Islas, Gran Meliá, Sol Meliá Vacation Club and Hotel Meliá Gorriones Salinas.
Aurora Brahami, Spa Director, Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa
Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa have appointed Aurora Brahami as their new Spa Director.
A French national, Aurora Brahami brings an impressive background in spa and wellness management to the Nusa Dua Spa where she will oversee all spa treatments, masseuse training, guest consultations and day-to-day supervision of their extensive spa facility.
Prior to her Bali assignment, Aurora worked as the Spa Manager at the Spa Cinq Mondes in Le MĂ©ridien Barbarons.
Aswin Pranoto, Public Relations Manager. Nikko Bali Resort and Spa
Nikko Bali Resort & Spa have appointed Aswin Pranoto as the property’s Public Relations Manager.
Aswin is a graduate of the Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata Bandung in Bali majoring Hotel Administration.
He began his career in the hospitality industry in 2002 as Assistant Manager at De Palma Hotel Ampang, Malaysia. Returning to Indonesia, he joined the pre-opening team of Harris Resort Kuta in 2004 working as Duty Manager and later as Front Office Manager before eventually being appointed to a public relations role.
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Source: www.balidiscovery.com
February 2nd, 2009
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