BALI UPDATE #313 - 16 September 2002

Award of Excellence for Bali Update

PATA Indonesia Chapter Salutes Bali Update.

On Friday, September 13, 2002, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Indonesia Chapter presented Bali Update and Bali Discovery Tours with an Award of Excellence as the best promotional efforts to publicize Indonesia to the world in 2002.

The award for PATA Best Promotional Activity was presented by the Chapter's Chairman, Alistair Spears at a special award dinner ceremony held at the Le Meridien Hotel in Jakarta.

Inaugurated in March of 1998, Bali Update was started by the then Vice-Chairman of the PATA Bali Chapter, J.M. Daniels to counterbalance the uneven and very biased news coverage on Indonesia and Bali metted out by the international media. Initially circulating simple e-mails to friends and colleagues in the world's travel industry, additional requests to be included in the distribution quickly flooded in giving birth to the Update. Now, four years and over 300 issues later, Bali Update is sent each week to more than 15,000 readers.

Cited by Time Magazine as "Bali's Truth Ministry." the Bali Update is the authoritative voice on Bali tourism, quoted regularly in the region's travel press as well as a leading newspapers and magazines worldwide.

This represents the 3^rd time PATA has acknowledged Bali Update or its Editor, J.M. Daniels.

Mr. Daniels was voted "Travel Personality of the Year" by PATA Indonesia Chapter in 1994 and PATA Bali Chapter in 1999.

Obituary - I Wayan Gandra

Legendary Balinese Musician is Dead.

The death of Bapak I Wayan Gandra on September 11, 2002 leaves the island of Bali minus one of its most talented and extraordinary artists.

The only son of I Made Lebah, the legendary composer and performer spent his formative years in Sayan, sharing the stimulating environment of Colin McPhee's "A House in Bali."

Already an accomplished musician and dancer in his teens, Gandra was chosen to teach the first Indonesian music courses offered in the U.S.A, at UCLA in 1960 - 1962.

Upon his return from the States, he put his energies into performing and composition. Settling into father's gamelan group, the Gunung Sari Peliatan Gong, he created numerous compositions for the gong, including his famous rendition of the Indonesian melody "Gambang Suling."

Drama Gong remained Gandra's favorite genres of performance. Not only an active musician, he would also design stage sets as well as execute paintings, usually depicting scenes from the Wayang.

During the exciting period of the late 60's into the 70's – all the very first western practitioners of Balinese music seemed to gravitate towards Gandra. Sam Scrips, Bob Brown, Andy Toth, Michael Tenzer, Ruby Ornstein and Douglas Myer are a few of the students he profoundly influenced. His extraordinary energy drove the beginnings of Balinese gamelan performance on two continents. The Australian press referred to his performances as "Gandra Magic".

During the mid 70's Gandra's compositional skills developed to their utmost, often in demand by local groups to teach them "kreasi baru." These were new compositions which changed the way in which Balinese musicians saw the boundaries of their music. His compositions were clear cut and perfectly groomed.

With his Peliatan Gong he toured much of the world including the United States, Australia and Europe but it is in Bali, his beloved homeland, that he will be most missed. His contribution to the musical life of Bali continued to the moment of his death.

In the word of one of his former students, Douglas Meyers: "As a man who gave so much to so many, Gandra lives on in so many ways. As his student and friend I can say that what he has given me lives while ever I do. The only thing I can say to my teacher is Thank You."

balidiscovery.com wishes to thank Douglass Meyers of the Yayasan Polosseni and archipelago e-mag for contributing materials for this article.

Wismilak International 2002

Bali Host to Top Women's Tennis Tournament.

75 of the world's top professional female tennis players will gather in Bali September 21-29, 2002, to compete in the Wismilak International Santex WTA Tour at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

WTA ranked players scheduled to appear include top-seeded Tamarine Tanasurgan of Thailand, Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, and Russian Svelta Kuznetsova. World ranked local favorites, Angeligue Widjaya and Wynne Prakusya, will also join the competition.

Prize money awarded over the 9 days of hard court action will total US$ 225,000.

Live, world-class tennis has never been a better bargain for spectators with prices starting from Rp, 15,000 (approximately US$1.58) to Rp. 50,000 (approximately $5.26), depending on location and day-of-play.

Qualifying play will take place September 21 & 22, with main draw competition scheduled for September 23-29.

More information: Wismilak International Website

Art to Keep You in Stitches

'Pieces of Indonesia' - Amazing Quilts by Mary Northmore at Seniwati Gallery.

Now through October 4, 2002, Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women in Ubud is holding an exhibition of hand-made quilts produced by the Gallery's Director, Ms. Mary Northmore.

Mary's quilts run from traditional babies blankets to contemporary themes, including the stylized images of Marilyn Monroe and Ibu Tien Suharto. The exhibition, entitled "Pieces of Indonesia", is open daily from 09:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Seniwati Gallery Showspace, Jalan Raya Ubud.

Mrs. Mary Northmore, wife of the late Indonesian painter Abdul Aziz, established the gallery in 1992 to provide a exhibition area for female artists to promote their work. Prior to the opening of Seniwati few people acknowledged the presence of female artists in Bali.

Through Mary's untiring efforts, a number of important female artists have acquired valuable exposure to the international arts community through her series of exhibitions, permanent collection of female art, and Seniwati's critically acclaimed calendar of women's art.

More information: View Some of Mary Northmore's Quilts

Waterbom Park Temporarily Closed

Technical Problems Cause Park Shut Down.

Bali's popular water sports park and spa has been forced to close due to unexpected technical difficulties with the popular amusement park's power system.

The problems caused Waterbom to close its door to the public on Thursday, September 12, 2002. The Park will remain closed while repairs are underway. Current estimates are that the necessary repairs will be completed sometime early in the week of September 15.

In apologizing to the public for any inconvenience, Harry Tanjung, Waterbom's Assistant Director of Sales said: "(We) are a professional company that prides itself on strict safety and operational standards. We are currently working with 'our partners' to fix the situation."

For more information and the latest information on when the park will reopen stay tuned to balidiscovery.com or contact the Park's Assistant Director of Sales, Harry Tandjung at telephone ++62-361-755676.

Digital Dancing

Jari Menari Celebrates Its 1st Anniversary.

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub ...

Aside for the obvious problem of historical chronology, the Lord Hamlet could have had the Bali massage establishment Jari Menari in mind when he spoke those words.

Jari Menari translates literally into Dancing Fingers and is the most apt name for a place voted one of the 50 Best Things to Do in Bali and home of Bali's Best Male Masseurs in the December 2001 edition of Harper's Bazaar.

Located in the heart of Bali's Seminyak business area, the spa's visionary founder Susan Stein sought to establish a center focused exclusively on massage, featuring male therapists and a minimum 75-minutes session. The team, now supplemented by the addition of female therapists, uses the "long stroke" technique from the Easalen Institute of Big Sur, California.

Equally memorable is the Japanese design focus of the spa engineered by Guy Morgan of GKA Associates which emphasizes simple lines, clean uncluttered spaces, natural light and the sound of falling water.

Bali Discovery Tours offers the full range of Jari Menari treatments via its website where the center's hallmark 90-minute "Perfect Session" treatment costs only US$ 24.00.

A Traveler Between Two Worlds

Works of the Late Sudjana Kerton at The Ganesha Gallery Through October 11.

An exhibition of works by the late Sudjana Kerton entitled A Traveler Between Two Worlds continues at the Ganesha Gallery at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay through October 11, 2002.

Born in Bandung, Kerton was, as a teenager, an amateur portrait painter before joining the Keimin Bunka Sidosho - an art association formed in Bandung, West Java during the Japanese occupation. After the end of WWII, he embarked on a 26 year sojourn to the West, living in Holland, France, Mexico, and the United States. Returning to Indonesia in 1976 until his death in 1994 at the age of 71, Kerton established the studio-gallery Sanggar Luhur in the hills outside his native Bandung.

The current exhibition in Bali covers the work of this important Indonesian artists whose works found a home both in the West and his native Indonesia.

Ganesha Gallery at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay is open daily from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m..

Run For Somebody Else's Life

5 KM Fun Run Sunday, September 29, at Rock 'n Roll Run 2 – The Sequel.

Following the success of Rock 'n Roll Run 2001, which drew over 400 participants, Bali's Hard Rock Hotel is hosting Rock 'n Roll Run 2: The Sequel on Sunday, September 29, 2002.

Registration opens at 7:00 a.m. with the run scheduled to get underway at 8:00 a.m. from the Hard Rock Hotel. The 5 kilometer fun run will follow a course along Kuta Beach, down Jalan Melasti, Jalan Legian, past Bali's landmark Bemo Corner and end back at the hotel.

A registration fee of Rp. 45,000 (approximately US$4.75) will earn each runner a Limited Edition Rock 'n Run T-shirt, together with drinks and snacks provided by the hotel. Best of all, proceeds from the event will be donated to the Ekoturin Foundation, the founders of the East Bali Poverty Project - a successful program aiding traditional villages in the impoverished and remote areas of Eastern Bali.

Remember: Speed Kills

While the emphasis will be on fun, attractive prizes will be awarded to the top 3 finishers in the male, female, and family categories.

For more information contact Pungkie or Deddy at the Hard Rock Hotel, telephone ++62-361-761869 extension 8161.

More information: Book a Stay at the Hard Rock

Pleasant Holiday Takes the Road to Bali

Major U.S. Travel Operator offers Value to Late Bookings.

Pleasant Holidays is featuring value-added travel packages to Bali between Oct. 1 and Dec. 10, 2002.

As part of their Bali's Best Values program, Pleasant is offering the Ritz-Carlton Bali for $1483 per person, double occupancy. Package includes roundtrip air on Cathay Pacific Airways from Los Angeles or San Francisco; 5 nights accommodations; daily breakfast; complimentary Balinese flower bath and sarong; Ultimate Choice^TM sightseeing and more.

Pleasant also features a variety of additional First Class and Deluxe hotels in Bali, with prices ranging from $1057 to $1373 per person, based on double occupancy. Special added values include room upgrades, complimentary meals, cultural performances and spa treatments. Additional room nights and package rates originating from a variety of U.S. domestic cities.

Pleasant Holidays pays full travel agency commissions on its packages, including airfare, and offers a $40 booking bonus, over and above regular commission, for every two reservations that include the appropriate Pleasant Travel protection plan for Hawaii, Mexico, Tahiti, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

For more information and reservations, contact Pleasant Holidays in the U.S.A. at (800) 377-1080.

More information: Pleasant Holiday Website