Bali May Experience Power Blackouts Until March 31, 2012 while the Gilimanuk Power Station undergoes Repairs.

These concerns are linked to plans to soon shut down for a month or more a gas-generated power station at Gilimanuk, west Bali. When this power station goes off line, Bali will lose 130 megawatts of power generation.

The threat of power shortfalls was confirmed by a State Power Board (PLN) spokesman for Bali, IGN Agung Mastika. He said the Gas-generated power station at the Gilimanuk port would be shut down for repair from February 11 until March 31, 2012. The repairs are routine and mandated after 24,000 hours of continuous operations.

“When the repairs are taking place, the Gimilanuk gas-generated power station cannot contribute any power to the grid. In other word, the Gilimanuk power-generating station will remove 130 megawatts of power from the systems for the entire period of repairs,” explained Mastika.

If Bali is not able to find ways to redistribute and address any power deficit during the repair period, Bali is threatened with rotating blackouts. “If Bali cannot organize its power consumption during the repair period then there will be phased blackouts,” said Mastika.

PLN is asking hotels to turn on their generator sets to reduce electrical demands while consumers are being asked to try to conserve 100 watts per household.

 

The Winsu Foundation is urging the provincial government of Bali to establish cooperative agreements with wood producers nation-wide to ensure a steady flow of raw product for the island’s handicraft makers.

The Winsu Foundation estimates that Bali’s wood-based industries need 50,000 cubic meters of wood per month to meet market demand.

The director of the Wisnu Foundation, Made Suarnatha, said that cooperative agreements with wood suppliers are needed in order to guarantee constant supply of raw materials for wood handicraft workers.

Wood must now be secured from areas outside of Bali as the island has depleted its endemic wood resources. Such agreements would also ensure that the wood used by Bali wood workers would be legal under new international rules requiring exported wood products must be certified as originating from verifiable legal source.

“Areas in the east (of Indonesia) still have large areas of land that could be used to produce quality timber. This is why we need regional cooperation between Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara. In this way we will have a steady supply of wood produced in a sustainable way. Bali can then use the wood for manufacture, while marketing these products to the world by virtue of Bali's international reputation for quality wood products. Bali has to use high quality materials that can be verified as legal,” insisted Suarnatha.

Suarnatha added that such regional cooperation is also important for ensuring the development of wood handicraft projects in Bali. Data from the provincial government says that from 74,000 handicraft enterprises in Bali, 30,000 are involved in the use of wood products.

Post-Yellow Yellow

What is the meaning of color to a visual artist? Does color promise only one meaning, the way it can under an authoritarian regime? In the past, artists in Indonesia went through a prolonged all-yellow period. In that time, color was subdued by a monotony of meaning; even quietly subsumed by a hegemony of meaning through the ideologization of color.
days of ‘yellow-ization’ are gone, and artists who like to use certain colors, including yellow, feel more free to express things. Soni Irawan, for one, believes that yellow does not stand for one kind of human feeling only. He interprets yellow as a mellow mood. His work no longer rehashes the age of ‘yellow-ization’—he seems rather to assume that any kind of violence or ideologization would lead to some sort of a protracted rush of noise.

Soni's yellow-background paintings and drawings in his current exhibition at the Kendara Gallery in Bali generally bring observers to a groundless atmosphere. This does not mean that he wants to overturn the figures in his works, to give an impression of hovering, never touching ground; or to push his fantasies to the extreme, to get out of describing reality. His images are see-through, presenting gaps, or zones that gape like open windows.

But this is no metaphysics of what “is” on the other side. The voids, holes, or translucencies in Soni's works are drawing which ask: where is the background and where is the foreground? Soni strikes through and overwrites the drawings which are to function as backgrounds, like overly long stories in need of editing. But striking through is not the same as total annihilation; all the ‘files’ that don't count are not tossed in the wastebin, but remain on the drawing table. This generates a noisy, dense, and, at the same time, floating atmosphere in Soni's pictures.

His drawing style freely “violates” the surface, reminding at once of the artistic tags used by graffiti “bombers” in urban settings.

Soni does not primarily paint individual figures, but rather their moods, allusions or allegorical circumstances. He says that his works generally depict the discomforts of life around him—in a mellow manner and style. In that way he aims to be gentler and more tolerant towards the situation, without screaming or emitting cries. This is not some kind of abstracted, unempathic style, but a moody sort of subjectivization, following the highs and lows of inner mood. In this exhibition Soni presents his most recent paintings and drawings (2012) along with some everyday object findings he has arranged into installation works.

Aside from being known as a young artist in touch with new trends in the style or fashion subcultures of Yogya, Soni Irawan is also known through the Indie group he co-founded in 1999, Seek Six Sick. The group's first hit was "Antimacho Rockstar." If mellow is defined by ‘anti violence,’ then the management of noise becomes an experiment in sounds, including mellow ones. It is there, in Soni Irawan's artistry and sensibility, that the two domains meet.

In a time when people criticize cultures for being homogeneous or uniform, people want to know what the world of sub-cultures has to show. However, as Dick Hebidge once wrote, “the challenge to hegemony which subcultures represent is not issued directly by them . . .The objections are lodged, the contradictions displayed . . . at the profoundly superficial level of appearances: that is, at the level of signs. For the sign community ... is not a uniform body.”

Soni Irawan was born in Yogyakarta on 15 January 1975 where he has lived ever since. He studied fine art at the Faculty of Graphic Arts at Institut Seni Indonesia (the Indonesian Art Institute).

He was a winner of The Best Five Phillip Morris Indonesian Art Award (2011) and has worked on a number of mural art projects and workshops. This exhibition at Kendra Gallery is his third one-man exhibition. Except when he is actively making art, Soni and Seek Six Sick are frequently invited to perform in cities around Indonesia. 

Mellow Yellow
An exhibition of works by Soni Irawan

Kendra Gallery of Contemporary Art
Jl. Drupadi 88  Basangkasa
Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia

February 18 – March 18, 2012
[www.kendragallery.com]

[email]


 

Ida Bagus Kharisma Wijaya hs been appointed as the Honorary Consul of Norway in Bali.

At a special party presided over recently by the Norwegian Ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Eivind S. Homme, Wijaya was installed, replacing Mira Chandra who formerly held the post.

With appointment of Wijaya, the Royal Norwegian Consulate in Bali relocates to the Hotel Segera Village in Sanur where Wijaya also serves as General Manager.

The Royal Norwegian Consulate Bali
Opening hours: Tuesday 10:00-13:00 and Thursday 10:00-13:00

Consul: Ida Bagus Kharisma Wijaya 

Consular officer: Marie-Louise Olsson

Segara Village Hotel

Jalan Segara Ayu

Sanur, 
Bali

Telephone: (62-361) 282223
Fax: (62-361) 282211

[Email] 

Sometimes less than charitably referred to as “trash art” - Objet Trouvé or “ready art” derives its identity as art due to the importance placed upon otherwise mundane items of daily life by the artists. Controversial in its claim  to be considered as “art,” appreciation of “found art” is unarguably in the eye both of the “holder” as well as the “beholder.”
Putting the Mundane on a Pedestal

“Found Art” is nothing without the “owner” who sees deeper meaning in the otherwise prosaic, giving the “item” a title and a place designated for art – be that an exhibition, gallery or museum.

An ongoing exhibition at Adi’s Gallery in Ubud, Bali features paintings, sculptures and “Ojet trouvé” or found art.

Via his paintings, Adi Bachmann continues his experimentation with basic colors: blue, red and yellow, and black and white. These are used to express the experimental character of this work and are presented on plywood and plastic materials instead of canvas. Some of the resulting colored squares have been dubbed “Talking Man” depicting mirror pieces on a blue background, “Dancing Woman” portraying a metal web on a red background, and “Growing Child” with wooden ledges on a yellow background.

Models made from concrete exemplify Adi’s latest sculpture projects. 6 pieces named: “My friend Sisyphus,” “The Wheel of Life,” “Greed Traps,” “Totems without Taboos” and “What happened to the motor bike?”.

“Dinner for One” is one of the central pieces of the current exhibition. On a small round table are formally arranged china, cutlery, glasses, cotton napkins and a candlestick. All the items, including a Greek tavern table, are covered with a layer of sand and glue. Thus the whole arrangement appears like carefully carved sandstone – a borrowing from the baroque idea that nothing is what it looks like.

The highlights of the exhibition are the items of “Ojet trouvé” – a wide assortment of items collected by Adi Bachmann over the years, many comprised of items pieces still commonly used in Balinese households.

Elevated to “art,” Bachmann displays these items on columns and stands. “A four pointed Trident” used for handling manure; “The Coconut is the Base of All” a scoop constructed from a coconut shell; “Sickle without Hammer” a sickle used to cut grass; “A Coconut Guillotine” used for grating coconut; and “The Axe at Home” – these are just some of the more than 25 Balinese based pieces that Bachmann shares.

The current exhibition also includes “Ojet trouvés” collected from the western hemisphere.
.
Adi, an iconoclast to the core, is not going in the direction of the “Great Masters”  happy merely following with his own thoughtful, witty and often ironic “little art beside the big attitudes”.

Adi’s Art House

Paintings, Sculptures and Ojet trouvés from Adi Bachmann

Through July 29, 2012

Open Daily 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Adi’s Gallery
Jalan Bisma 29
Ubud, Bali
Telephone ++62-(0)361-977104

[Adi’s Gallery Website] 

 

The managers of Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, PT Angkasa Pura I, are targeting that, when current renovations are completed, the Bali air gateway will be capable of handling 25 million domestic and international passengers each year.

Beritabali.com reports that according to data provided by PT Angkasa Pura I, the Bali airport in its current pre-renovation status is overburdened and badly under capacitated for the some 12.7 million tourists who passed throughvthe airport in 2011. The general manager of PT Angkasa Pura at the Bali airport, Purwanto, told a group of tourism leaders on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, that the current carrying capacity of the Bali airport is 12 million passengers.

“It's becoming very difficult for us to operate on the narrow strip of 294 hectares contained within the airport. Ideally, we need two runways and 1,000 hectares. This land is very limited,” explained Purwanto.

Purwanto said the limited space of the Bali Ngurah Rai Airport means it’s time for Bali to build a new airport. Looking to the future, Purwant underlined that Bali expects to double the number of tourists now visiting the island.
 

The National News Agency Antara reports that the national flag carrier PT Merpati Nusantara once again sits poised on the verge of bankruptcy if it is unable to secure Rp. 250 billion cash (US$27.8 million) injection before June 2012.

“Earlier I met with the management of Merpati to discuss the company’s condition. If in June, they do not obtain funds of Rp. 250 billion, the company is certain to collapse,” explained the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Dahlan Iskan.

According to Dahlan, the airline’s management needs the funds to cover the operating costs of the company.

Merpati was the recipient of additional government funds in the amount of Rp. 561 billion (US$62.3 million) in December 2011, six months later than when those funds were actually needed in June. This forced the airline to borrow short-term funds to continue operations, adding to the airline’s overall debt burden.

“This has made the company experience financial problems and impeded the company’s management from implementing its programs,” said Dahlan

Dahlan described Merpati’s current position as one of “life and death.”

Dahlan was quick to add, however, that all the Merpati managers share a firm resolve to make sure that the airline survives and prospers. Adding, “they want Merpari to keep flying and will all endeavor to restore health to the company’s financial position.”

Dahlan said the state-owned carrier had become overly dependent on government funds, and should be able to secure its own sources of capital.

“I can’t guarantee that the government is prepared to inject more cash from the State budget. Because of that, we give full authority to the management to seek its own funding sources. We don’t care from where, banks or anywhere, what’s important is for Marpati to keep operating,” Dahlan emphasized.

CEO Resigns

Dahlan also used the opportunity to inform the public that the CEO of Merpati, Sardjono Tjitrokusumo, had resigned his post.

“This has (now) become an obstacle for the company. His desire to resign is perhaps because he did not believe he could obtain the Rp. 250 billion,” said Dahlan.

Dahlan said members of the senior management of Merpati were unanimous in their desire that Sardjono remain in his lead management role.

Dahlan said he is now thinking where to find a replacement for Sardjono, but there are no candidates in sight who meet the desired criteria.

“I am also of the opinion that Jhonny (Sardjono) must endure as the head of the corporation. I am uncomfortable if we have to replace the leader,’ said the Minister.

Dahlan closed his comments by saying the main point is that all the employees of Merpati maintain their spirit to rebuild the airline and ensure its survival.

The chief of the Bali branch of Bank Indonesia, Jeffrey Kairupan, is optimistic that the economic development of Bali in 2012 will generally outpace the national predicted rate of growth for 2012 of 6.5%.

Quoted by Radar Bali, Kairupan told the media on Monday, February 6, 2012, that policymakers must pay serious attention to the worsening economic crisis in Europe and its possible effect on the national economy.

The Bank Indonesia official said there was cause for optimism in Bali due to the availability of credit to business people in Bali.

In addition, he cited further reasons of optimism in the growing level of investment in Bali supported by steps underway to improve the infrastructure on the island, such as the expansion of Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport.

Such optimism, he said, must be tempered, however, by with a cautious outlook on the global economic crisis, which may eventually also be felt in Bali.

Price wars among villa and hotel operators in Bali – evident even during the high season – is prompting the Bali Chapter of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) to try to intervene to stop potentially destructive price competition.

The executive director of PHRI-Bali, Ida Bagus Purwa Sideman, was quoted by Bisnis Bali, on February 7, 2012, as blaming unhealthy price competition on unlicensed hotels and villas, seen as the driving force behind price-cutting practices.

PHRI-Bali is increasing its efforts to persuade unlicensed hotels and villas to make their operations legal as the first step in toning down the current price war.

He described the many problems encountered by hotel and villa operators in their efforts to obtain permits and licenses. Villa and hotel operators who have building permits for their structures often discover later during the permit process that their area is not zoned for commercial accommodation operations. Due to permit problems, many unlicensed villas are unable to join the Bali Villa Association (BVA), which is a part of the PHRI.

He said the unhealthy price competition is most prevalent in the villa sector. 

Sideman blamed the increasing number of unlicensed hotels and villas as fueling the price war that has become a chief concern of PHRI members. The PHRI executive said those involved in the operation of illegal accommodation enterprises and price undercutting are failing to take a long-term view of what’s good for Bali.

Taking a cynical view of the illegal sub-sector of Bali’s tourism economy, Sideman postulated that the shortsighted villa operators would probably move to other locations in 10-20 year’s time.

Seeking profit only on a day-to-day basis, Sideman said the large number of unlicensed accommodation providers are undermining local hotel operators.

In seeking to encourage illegal operators to become licensed hotels and villas, PHRI hopes to persuade operators to adopt a more long-term business approach, eliminating the unprincipled motivations that are the foundation of price wars.
 

Beritabali.com reports 33 villages in the Bali regency of Buleleng are officially classified as "impoverished." This total earns the large, north Bali regency the undesired ranking as the area with the most number of poor communities on the island.

Bali, as a whole, has 82 impoverished villages where officials counts more than 35% of the resident families as living below the poverty line.

The vice-regent of Buleleng, Made Arga Pynatih, told Beritabali.com on Friday, February 2, 2012 that within the 33 poor communities existing in his regency there are an estimated 45,000 poor households. The overwhelming majority of these families depend on farming for their livelihoods.

“So, it is farming that has to be upgraded. Because of this, Buleleng is building a dam at Titab to improve irrigation in Buleleng. This is the only one, while the breadth of Buleleng east to west is 148 kilometers. Buleleng represents 24.51% of the total land area of Bali,” explained Made Arga Pynatih.

Pynatih admitted that his regency has thus far only managed to eradicate poverty in 3,700 poor households.

He estimates it will take Buleleng 19 years to completely eradicate poverty.

The head of the agency charged with National Roadway Construction for the province (BPJN), Susalit Alius, is calling on Bali to introduce and enforce load and size-limit laws for trucks allowed to travel on the island’s roads.

As reported by Beritabali.com, BJPN is blaming the poor condition of roads in Bali on the operation of large, over-loaded trucks.

Alius called on the provincial government to maximize the use of weighing stations already in place across Bali. He complained that many trucks coming to Bali are carrying loads in excess of 8 tons.

“If we look at the tonnage passing down the roads, it’s clear that they are above 8 tons and many are very long trucks,” explained Susalit.

Alius prays that the Transportation Office in Bali will not only sanction through fines or seize trucks that are overloaded, but will also render punishments to the owners of the vehicles found breaking the law.

“As a tourism destination, Bali needs an infrastructure of roads that are good and adequate,” admonished Alius.

Much of Bali was shocked and shaken by a vicious assault on a local girl capture on Youtube.com.

The attack carried out by 7 teenage members of a female gang in Bali was launched recently upon an acquaintance of the group who left their victim laying wounded on the side of a nearby road largely bereft of clothing.
ts to police  from the victim and the video have assisted police in apprehending 7 members of the “Girl Macho Performance Gang” – 5 of whom have been formally named as suspects in the case.

The girls, now in the legal process, face the threat of up to 3.5 years imprisonment if convicted.

The 2 remaining girls – who recorded the attack on their hand phones – are listed by police as material witnesses in the case.

The five girls charged in the attack, who are all minors, are being held separate from the general population at the Bali police lockdown and will be handled under special procedures established for juveniles detainees charged with a felony.

Managers of the Wanara Wana Monkey Forest in Ubud have taken the definitive step of performing vasectomies on male monkeys in order to control the burgeoning population at the popular tourist site.

On Sunday, February 5, 2012, veterinarians and a team from the Primate Study Center at Bali’s Udayana University arrived at the Monkey Forest. Difficulties in capturing the elusive male monkeys and a limited number of doctors performing the surgical sterilization limited the procedure to an initial group of just eight apes.

The park covers a total of 12 hectares with an estimated monkey population of 600 -  200 of which are sexually productive females assiduously served by a sexually dominant group of 80 males.

Experts estimate 200 new monkeys are added to the population at the forest each year, posing the increasing threat that over-population will outstrip food and space supplies.

During the vasectomies, students from the Animal Husbandry Department at Udayana University surveyed the general health and condition of the sedated primates.

Plans are to carry out vasectomies at the Monkey Forest once every six months. Experts say the positive impact of the program will only really be felt in five years time when the monkey population stabilizes.
 

Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and the Creative Economy, Mari Elka Pangestu, has identified cleanliness as a key factor to developing tourism to any destination.

Quoted in Bisnis Bali, Pangestu said: “There are three factors that must be attended to by provincial governments wishing to develop their tourism. They are clean bathrooms, clean toilets and airports that are clean.”

She said cleanliness in these three areas is an essential task of local governments as deficiencies in these areas are the source of many complaints from tourism visitors.

Speaking during the ASEAN Tourism Fair in Manado, Pangestu said North Sulawesi must maintain cleanliness in these three areas in order to grow tourism arrivals. In addition to issues of cleanliness and hygiene, the Minister said destinations must also work to maintain access via international air connections if they wish to grow the local tourism industry.

Pangestu said accessibility is an important factor that will help drive tourists to visit a destination.

The Jakarta Post reports that Bali’s Governor, Made Mangku Pastika, is asking the Bali police to more vigilant in the supervision of criminal activity by foreign nationals living in Bali.

The Governor is displeased with the manner in which many foreigners in Bali conduct businesses without the required permits and licenses, evading their tax obligations in the process.

Underlining that Bali faces threats to its security from both local and foreign residents, Pastika called on Bali’s Chief of Police, General Totoy Herawan Indra, to be on guard. Said Pastika: “The police have to closely monitor some specific threats on Bali, such as tax fraud involving foreigners and conflicts as well as clashes involving traditional customary institutions.”

Pastika added: “Many foreigners work in Bali, but it is not clear whether they pay taxes. Many of them enter the island on tourist visas, but then they work here.” Pastika said that foreigners working in Bali are costing Balinese job opportunities.

Pastika wants the relevant law enforcement agencies to make sure foreigners pay their fare share of the tax burden and crack down on foreigners operating businesses by “borrowing the names” of local front men.

Delving into the need for business in Bali to be culturally sensitive, Pastika said: “Don’t forget that on Bali, we have two kinds of villages. Besides the 706 administrative villages, Bali also has 1,485 customary villages. A customary village is an autonomous traditional institution that wields powerful influence due to its role as the custodian of local traditions, customs and religious activities.”


Traditional villages often establish rules and regulations specific to that locale that must be respected to maintain public order and balance in a community. In the past, internecine conflicts have erupted in Bali between neighboring villages over issues connected to village borders, cemetery ownership and the adoption of a new, higher caste without the consensus of community members.
 

The Indonesian Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) is recommending an increase in the current Rp. 300,000 (US$33.50) paid to delayed commercial airline passengers.

The chair of BPKN, Suahartini Hadad, said this recommendation includes a request for a revision of Minister of Transportation Regulation No. 77 of 2011 covering the responsibilities of Indonesian air carriers.

“The amount of compensation is small, and not much when compared to the loss suffered by passengers. Delays of three hours or more seldom occur,” said Suahartini.

She went on to explain that under the current regulations airlines are only required to pay passenger compensation when flights are delayed for more than four hours.

She also said further clarification is needed as to whether it is the airline or the airport than declares a flight officially delayed by four hours.

In addition, BKPN has issued a statement declaring rhat the cost of insurance premiums to cover delay and cancellation costs cannot be passed directly to the passengers, but must be included in the official tariff of the airline.

Government regulations dictate levels of compensation to be paid in a wide range of circumstances, including: loss of life, disability, lost luggage, loss of cargo and delayed flights.

BPKN is preparing recommendations on new compensation levels for travelers to be sent soon to the Minister of Transportation.

Speaking on behalf of the flying public, Suahartini said she was very disappointed with the recent discovery of narcotics use among Indonesian cockpit crew working for Lion Air.
 

The Central Statistic Bureau (BPS) in Bali recorded a 6.49% growth in the Regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Bali for 2011.

As reported by Bisnis Indonesia, the head of BPS in Bali, Gede Suarsa said the GDP for Bali in 2011 totaled Rp. 73.47 trillion (US$8.16 million) as measured by current transaction values.

The 2011 figures represent a 10% increase over the GDP for 2010 of Rp. 66.69 trillion (US$7.4 million).

Suarsa said the source of growth in Bali’s 2011 results came from the following sub-sectors of the economy:

• Mining and excavation up 10.51%
• Service industry up 9.97%
• Trading, hotel and restaurants up 8.65%
• Construction up 7.88%
• Electrical, gas and clean water up 7.35%
• Financial services and leasing up 6.22%
• Transportation and communication up 5.97%
• Agriculture up 2.23%

In 2011 Bali exports increased 106% over the previous year. At the same time, Bali’s level of imports from overseas and other areas of Indonesia increased 113.38% in 2011. As a result, the effect of net exports on Bali’s economy was relatively small.

Commencing in March 2012 new regulations come into force, which could have far reaching effects on Bali’s real estate and property sectors.

As reported by NusaBali, all property agents and developers will be soon be required to report every transaction in excess of Rp. 500 million (US$55,500) to the PPATK (Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center/INTRAC).

INTRAC is an independent agency of the government – answerable directly to the President, established to detect and prevent criminal money-laundering transactions.

“On March 20, 2012 property agents and developers must report (transactions) to the PPTAK,” explained the vice-chairman of PPTAK, Agus Santoso.

According to Santoso, the regulation is based on Section 17 of Law Number 8 of 2010 on the Prevention and Elimination of Criminal Money Laundering. Under the rule, the party obliged to report the transaction is not the purchaser of a property, but the developer or the property agent.

“The obligation to report is contained in Section 27 of the Law that requires property transactions in excess of Rp. 500 million; whether paid in cash, non-cash means or paid for in installments,” explained Santoso who former job was as the Deputy-Director of Law at Bank Indonesia. The specific technical requirements of the regulation are set forth in PPATK Rule No. 12 of 2011.

Agus said the enforcement of the new rule is needed to monitor the purchase of land and luxury transactions that are often used to shield funds obtained through criminal activities.

Implicit in the new rule is the assumption that the government will soon require “reverse proof” from purchasers of property and luxury items that demonstrate the legally-earned financial wherewithal to make such purchases.

In Bali, these new rules may complicate the widespread use extra-legal practice of placing a business or a property in the name of a 3rd party, while also putting in place legal instruments  that allow the purchased item to be under the control by the foreign owner who financed the purchase.

Bali-based wine makers Artisan Estates have raised the ante in the increasingly competitive and growing circle of craftsmen producing quality wines on the island.
oduction of Artisan Estate’s latest varietals – the 2011 Artisan Sauvignon Blanc and the 2011 Artisan Shiraz represent yet another rebuttal to those who dismiss the possibility of a that a quality table wine can be produced in Bali.

As with all Artisan Estate wine’s, the two new varieties have been produced from 100% fresh wine grape juice imported from Western Australia. The winemakers at Artisan Estates take pains to point out, “No frozen product, local grapes or grape juice concentrates are used to make our wines.”

2011 Artisan Shiraz
uction of the first red wine by Artisan Estates in Bali comes at the end of 7 years of painstaking research by an award-winning Australian winemaker, Craig Newton.

Using established red winemaking techniques; Craig has devised a remarkable wine incorporating 100% fresh Western Australian Shiraz juice, specially processed in Australia to preserve its great color, body and structure before being lovingly shipped to Bali under strict temperature control where it undergoes fermentation into wine.

The results, sampled at a recent tasting, is an eminently drinkable red wine that possesses striking deep a crimson-purple color and a taste that is rich and smooth with full fruit flavors containing a hint of French Oak used in the maturation process.

2011 Sauvignon Blanc
san Estate Sauvignon Blanc was grown in the cool climate region of Pemberton, Western Australia. This wine displays wonderful varietal characteristics of gooseberries, asparagus and green peas with a clean crisp finish.

The latest additions to the Aritisan Estate range join the well-established and popular 2010 Artisan Chardonnay and 2010 Artisan Classic.

For more information [Artisan Estate’s Website]

Telephone ++62-(0)361-7450791

[Email Artisan Estates]

Related Article

[A Cape of Good Cheer]

Following a recent dress down of Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport from the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Association of Travel Agents (ASITA) [See: An Abuse of Authority], the chairman of that organization has again lambasted the main air gateway for the island as being substandard.

Al Purwa, chairman of ASITA-Bali, said: “Together with the general public, as taxpayers we are very concerned with safety and convenience at the airport. However, at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport there is a great deal of distortion and inconvenience experienced by visiting tourists.”

According to Purwa, safety and convenience should be the prime concern of those who manage the Airport given the facility’s role as the “first impression” for every tourist visitor to Bali.

“In other countries' international airports there are no shadow paid porters like those found at our (Bali) airport. There are trolleys that can be used without payment. The porters (in other airports) only collect trolleys and return them to the terminal,” said Purwa, quoted in Bisnis Bali.

He also bemoaned that there are many shops at the Bali Airport selling the same merchandise, giving a negative impression to passengers that they were standing in an art market and not a modern airport.

“The perception of our airport is not positive with at least 16 money-change counters,” Purwa added. Purwa pointed out that at many international airports two money-changers are sufficient to serve an entire airport.

The inconvenient state of Bali’s airport is exacerbated by the current amount of construction now underway at that facility.

The Bali Livestock and Animal Health Department are targeting that 250,000 dogs will be vaccinated before the end of the first half of 2012 in order to halt the spread of rabies.

The head of the Bali Livestock Service, I Putu Sumantra, confirmed that the third wave of mass vaccinations for dogs in Bali would begin in late March 2012.

Sumantra also said the control of Bali’s canine population was essential to combating disease. This is being achieved in part by combining the vaccine given to the dogs with supplemental hormones that delay ovulation in bitches.

Officials say the rate of new rabies infections among Bali’s dog population is on the decline. While an average 45 cases of rabies were reported each month between October 2010 and April 2011. During the period May 2011 until December 2011 the average number of new rabies cases had declined to 8 dogs.

The current campaign against rabies will commence from Bali’s eastern region of Klungkung and eventually include all areas of the island.

Bali awaits the delivery of 10 new Trans-Sarbagita Buses that will bring to 25 busses the capacity of the increasingly popular mass-transit system in Bali.

As with the initial delivery of the first fleet of busses, Jakarta appears to once again be running behind in the promised delivery of the additional vehicles.

Originally scheduled for delivery in time for the New Year's festivities of 2011/2012, Bali is now told the new busses are still in Semarang, Central Java, getting a paint job and creating a livery that will match the 15 busses already in operation.

The new busses are now expected to arrive in Bali in late February 2012.

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[Missing the Buses]

[Sarbagita Bus System - Quick Reference Guide]

The “Godfather” of Australian Cuisine – Tony Bilson is on an inbound trajectory for the InterContinental Bali Resort and a limited engagement there February 17-19, 2012.
d-winning chef, celebrated author, food consultant and a successful restaurateur has dedicated his life to the pursuit of culinary excellence. He is acknowledged internationally for his instrumental role in the advancement of Australian gastronomy.

Tony has a special affinity with International Hotel Group having worked as the Chef of The Treasury - a prestigious dining venue once located within InterContinental Sydney. For the past 20 years he has conducted food and wine promotions all over the world.

A Bali Homecoming and Reunion 

Tony will be appearing at the Resort for the second time and reuniting with some of his former colleagues.

Shown on balidiscovery.com is a picture from 20 years ago taken at the Treasury of InterContinental Sydney with the then Director of Food & Beverage, Tom Meyer, who is now the General Manager for InterContinental Bali Resort.

During Tony Bilson’s visit there will gourmet wine dinners held over two nights at Bella Singaraja, February 17 & 18, 2012.

Both events commence at 7.00 p.m. with cocktails on the terrace served with a selection of amuse bouche to whet the appetite. A six-course degustation menu created by Tony Bilson follows. Menu highlights include snapper quenelles with a warm salad of mud crab, aiguillette of duck with creamed spinach & baby turnips and slow cooked shank of Wagyu beef with marrow, tendons & chanterelles, sauce Bordelaise.

Price

Dinner is priced at Rp.900.000++ per person (US$121) or Rp.1.400.000++ (US$188) including premium wine pairings.

Cooking Lessons with Tony Bilson

Tony will also be conducting two master cooking classes where he will share some of his favorite recipes. The classes include a visit to the nearby fish market to choose island-fresh seafood and will culminate after class with a private luncheon at Bella Singaraja.

Cooking class costs Rp.450.000++ per person (US$60.50) including white wine and non-alcoholic beverages and lunch.

Space for the dinner and cooking lesson is limited making reservations essential.

For further information [Email]

Or telephone ++62-(0)361-701888

Related Article

[An Offer You Can’t Refuse]

The article [An Abuse of Authority],  detailing complaints on the high prices being charged travel agents by PT Angkasa Pura I – the managers of Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport – brought a number of letters joining the chorus of displeasure with how Bali's airport is managed.

• Helen Jensen wrote to say:

“Yes, Bali is fast becoming a place of 'Money Grabbers.' Tourists must soon get tired of this and wake up. We can travel overseas to other destinations without feeling like we are just there to squeezed for more money. We are not millionaires and work hard to save for our holidays, so wake up because there are plenty of other beautiful islands to spend our holidays.”

• Charlotte Woerner wrote from Indonesia:

“The Ngurah Rai Airport - including customs service - are only a mirror of this whole country!”

• Russell Davies said the following:

“The comment about the over proliferation of money changers at Bali's Airport has been a pet hate of mine for years. Why do we need 15 moneychangers all offering the same rate, hanging out their windows waving at the arriving visitors? What a pathetic site.”

• Another reader from New Zealand who identifies herself only as “Older Traveler” contributed:

“Predatory Porters - My husband and I have been travelling to Bali since 1999 but for the last three years have not visited Bali quite simply because we hate having the porters force themselves on us. If you say NO to the porters you can almost guarantee that you have to turn your bags out for the customs people. It is the most horrible welcome to any country. It has been going on for so long now I doubt very much it will ever be addressed.”

The threat by some Bali travel agents to boycott cultural sites who have dramatically increased admission rates [Delisting Cultural Icons in Bali]  saw one reader speak out in support of the higher admission rates:

• Eileen Scholl said:

“I certainly think all tourists can afford the increase in Temple admissions. Although the percentage increase is high, it is applied to a very humble fee.”

Our coverage of local vigilante committees being formed among community members in Kuta to curb lawlessness in that areas [Taking Back Bali's Streets]  merited some spirited reaction.

• Colleen wrote from Australia:

“Well done to the Kuta community. What has happened to Kuta is a disgrace. I have been coming to Bali for twenty years and am disgusted with what I see. How things change if some sort of law is not implemented. The youth on the streets around the time of Australian School holidays are pathetic. If only they realized what Kuta was once like."

"Yes, I came when I was 20 years old and loved the nightlife, but after what has happened now, I would actually advise people not to come. I once would walk the streets of Kuta and Legian alone at night and feel completely safe. It was an exhilarating feeling of freedom that kept drawing me back. Not now! I still love Bali and the Balinese people."

"Unfortunately, for them, we as Westerners have ruined their paradise. Gain control and at least try to curb the violence and the sleazy behavior of the workers on the streets.”

• Also from Australia, but resident at Bali, Daniel Baker had this to say:

“That would be great! Every night I am in Bali, the relentless bass from the Engine Room wakes me up at about 3 a.m.. As I lie there, I can actually hear them turn it up louder till 4 a.m.! 2 a.m. is a fair time to shut bars and clubs - if you haven't had enough grog or fun by then, well you didn't start early enough or go hard enough. In my experience, people who like to stay out later in Bali are often "pill heads." Good on the local banjars for taking back their streets!”

• David wrote:

“Yes. Yes. Yes. At last! The Balinese must start to realize what is happening here and do something about it.”

[Predators in Paradise] - an article that covered comments by a leading Bali academician and Bank Indonesia official on how Bali’s endemic population is being short-changed by tourism development got a huge number of hits and earned several letters.

• Included among those writing in were Yvonne:

“I agree Bali is killing itself. People are greedy now for money. But it is going ‘kaput.’ In the end, Bali will have too many hotels and too many Russian tourists who don't respect Bali. It is sad!”

One reader of [Playing by Chinese Rules]  wrote to offer a very interesting explanation as to why Chinese officials are making their citizens obtain visas before coming to Bali:

• Barry Acott explained:

“The Chinese bureaucrats are entitled to ensure that their nationals have a valid visa before departure to Indonesia.”

“This is the result of Indonesian Immigration officials mistreating and forcing the Chinese tourists to pay extra and illegal payments on arrival.”
“Indonesian immigration should learn how to conduct themselves more professionally with less corrupt practices.”

[Kintamani Tourism in Danger of Being Left Behind]  bearing warnings from the Regent of Bangli that the people living around Kintamani must improve services and raise their game ,brought a large amount of emails:

• David E wrote:

“After multiple confrontations with sellers several years ago, we will never visit that area again.”

• Murray Leggat added:

“I first went to Kintamani in 1983 and the souvenir sellers where almost climbing in the bus windows. I vowed to never go back again, plus it was a long bus drive just to view a volcano from a distance and then a long drive back home. Many years on and many holidays later, I went back with a local and she took me on a private tour which included driving to the bottom of the mountain and spending the afternoon lazing in the hot spring and enjoying a lunch while being at ground level with the lake. Such a wonderful day and something tour groups will never do. The hot springs are shaped as large baths and one has a pool bar. Kintamani would be a better attraction if they promoted the hot springs and then people can arrange a private tour with local friends. Not a tour group.”

• Mike Edwards from Australia expressed the following:

“Kintamani is indeed one of the most aesthetically pleasing places to visit n Bali. Immediately after you come off the long climb up to the location, there is a sense of awe and amazement at the view across the valley, the volcanoes and of course the glassy lake.”

“First time tourists are generally very excited to be able to get off the bus and take it all in, only to have stuff thrust into their faces with a chorus of 'yes is good prise’ or ‘you buy.' It's kind of like an encounter with the bush flies in central Australia: maddening.”

“My first visit to Kintamani uplifted my spiritual self by witnessing god's majesty; it took my breath away as I am sure it does for many others. We are not so appreciative of how generous God can be to create visions like the view from Kintimani and I personally believe tourists need to be left alone to absorb this creation and have a wonderful and uplifting experience, as I did the first three times I went to Kintamani.”

“The tourists know the hawkers are trying to earn money to feed their families, however, the competition for the rupiah is very aggravating. I know enough Indonesian to sort it for myself. Others are polite and say nothing, until they go home and tell others to give it a miss. That's how ‘bule’s’ react.”

“I can remember when Kuta was the same and walking was like running a gauntlet of hawkers who were persistent and totally ignorant of how it was for the ‘bule.’ It was about coercion and bullying a ‘bule’ into buying something they didn’t want. Kuta isn't like that anymore and those who do commerce in Kuta know about their customers.”

“Sounds like Kintamani needs the same overhaul that Kuta got. Perhaps try keeping the hawkers across the road from the look out and allow the tourists to take it all in and then let them go up to the restaurants where it's fair game.”

• Dennis Malone from Australia had this to say about Kintamani:

“I have been coming to Bali for 35 years. In the early days the trip to Kintamani seemed obligatory. If this beautiful spot were in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong or Thailand it would have a coach car running down to the lake and numerous other amenities. (Its current state) may show the lack of foresight and intent on the part of the Indonesian developers with regards to Bali.”

• David wrote this about roadside toll booths in Kintamani:

“Perhaps the first step should be to close down the corrupt toll booth leading into Kintamani, the last time through there they demanded I pay Rp. 350.000.00 and I was not even going to Kintamani. I was on my way home to Lovina. refused to pay and the attendant kicked my car.

Fan Mail

We also got a lovely piece of fan mail from a Balinese living in the U.S.A.:

• Wayan Pariws kindly wrote:

“I have been living in the United States of America since September of 2000. I just want to say ‘thanks’ to Bali Update for the new and the information that kept me update to what is going on in my lovely island. I am pursuing my bachelor degree in visual art (photography & graphic design) and am planning to graduate this year. Bali Update is a great site and design and I am satisfied with its link and its contents. My wife, Janet, and I are Florida residents and greatly appreciate your info."

Jerome Colson, the Executive Assistant Manager for Food & Beverage at the AYANA Resort and Spa, Bali, describes himself as “an avid runner.”
rhaps “addicted” is a more apropos term for a man who in the course of the past three years has run in half marathons, full marathons and ultra -marathon events along the Great Wall of China, Norway, Shanghai, Monschau in Germany and Belgium, Singapore, Hong Kong and Morocco.

As a member of a serious group of runners callings themselves [Accrorun] he has helped raise Euro 30,000 that has funded an outdoor playground from children suffering from cancer; Euro 10,000 to buy electric bicycles used in physical therapy for polyarthritis victims and, most recently, helped educate 171 schoolchildren at the Seraya Barat Primary School in Karangasem, East Bali.

Jerome is now focused on raising a total of US$20,000 to provide the Seraya Barat Primary School with a whole range of ongoing improvements.

After completing a Herculean 100-kilometer ultra-marathon run in November 2011, Jerome raised US$3,400. This allowed him to begin his exciting plans for the schoo in Balil by officially reopening the library for the primary school at Seraya Barat on January 9, 2012. Those funds purchased 450 books, new shelving, 3 new windows, seating and a modest opening celebration for the 170 children who will use the new library. [Pictures of the new Library at Seraya Barat Primary School]  

Running for Someone Else’s Life

On March 9-10, 2012, Jerome will run from Antasari to Gilmanuk – a distance of 91 kilometers, joining a part of Scott Thompson’s epic 25-day charity run of 1,250 kilometer from Bali to Jakarta in support of two Indonesian charities.

Details of this race and its goal can be found at [www.runningbalitojakarta.com] 

BII Maybank Bali Marathon

Jerome will also be running closer to home when he joins the full-marathon 42-kilometer distance [BII Maybank Bali Marathon]  taking place in Bali on Sunday, April 22, 2012. The first full-marathon event held in Indonesia in more than 20 years, more than 2,500 athletes are expected to join Jerome in an event that offers a full-marathon (42 km), half-marathon (21 km) and a 10 km fun run.

Limiting his charity runs to one event per year, Jerome Colson’s next major event will be a 160-kilometer ultra-marathon, which will take place in late August 2012 in the Pyrenees.