The Yak #55

Volume 55 JUN/JUL/AUG 2017

inka Farah quinn savage canggu d*FACE om ryan clift Baduy project •• iii

HUSNI RIDHWAN Photo TOM HAWKINS

Surprisingly different...

COASTAL DINING WITH A FRESH BUZZ Excitement is on the horizon… Seasalt opens its doors at Alila Seminyak, the must-go seafood destination whilst strolling around the Seminyak area. A tantalising new seascape dining experience offering selections of fresh seafood with a dash of Japanese cuisine.

With by-the-sea restaurant, comfor table spa, and the ‘it’ sunset beach bar along this stretch of coast, Alila Seminyak provides sophisticated spots for relaxing, lounging and unwinding under the sun and stars.

For more information Email hello@seasaltseminyak.com or call +62 361 3021 888 @seasaltseminyak www.seasaltseminyak.com

ALILA MANGGIS . BALI

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ALILA UBUD . BALI

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AYS AT ALILA EGES

Be an Alila Discovery member and reap the mix of relaxation andSELF-STYLED HOLIDAYS AT ALILA benefits : www.alilahotels.com/alila-discovery ture, age-old traditionsBEST RATES + PRIVILEGES many unique sides in one your Alila Moments from your instagram and Alila. Style your travelsBali offersShare Be an Alila Discovery member and reap the a spellbinding mix of relaxation the Alila hotels to be featured and on ssing a stay in any or alladventure,hashtag benefits : www.alilahotels.com/alila-discovery history and culture, age-old traditions www.alilamoments.com and modernity. Discover its many unique sides in one Share your Alila Moments from your instagram and complete experience with Alila. Style your travels hashtag the Alila hotels to be featured on complimentary airpor any t way you want, encompassing a stay in any or all www.alilamoments.com ween proper ties, daily of our four hotels in Bali.... of two proper ties for a . Enjoy more pampering Your package includes complimentary airpor t hts and above. transfers and transfer between proper ties, daily breakfast. Stay at a minimum of two proper ties for a minimum of 4 nights in total. Enjoy more pampering benefits when you stay 5 nights and above.

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Volume fifty five june/july/august 2017

The Yak Magazine Sophie Digby, Agustina Ardie, Nigel Simmonds Creative Director Stuart Sullivan Sales & Marketing Peta Johnston, Amik Suhartin Production Manager Evi Sri Rezeki Graphic Designers Irawan Zuhri, Ida Bagus Adi Accounting Julia Rulianti Distribution Made Marjana, Putu Widi Susanto, Gede Swastika, Kadek Eri Publisher PT. L.I.P Licence AHU/47558/AH/01/01/2011 inka williams, shot by reo palmer.

Advertising Enquiries Tel: (+62 361) 766 539, 085100431804, 085100431805, 085100431796

OK you know the drill. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced electronically or otherwise without prior permission from the Publisher.

Opinions expressed are those of the authors not the Publisher. The Publisher

e: info@theyakmag.com, sales@theyakmag.com

reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not comply with the magazine's design criteria. The Yak will not be held responsible for copyright

The Yak Magazine, Kompleks Perkantoran Simpang Siur Square, Jl. Setia Budi, Kuta, Bali 80361, Indonesia

infringements on images supplied directly by advertisers and/or contributors.

Check us out online, we’re awesome (if we do say so ourselves). Peace.

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Archives, additional content and more at www.theyakmag.com

The Yak App - Bali's best listings guide - is available from the App Store and Google Play.

In Selection has arrived Discover now on www.warisan.com

CONTEMPO | CLASSICO | TROPO

contents 26

Mix Up

28

Fridge Magnet Candy

Yakety yak

dates with destiny

32

Charity First

34

New and Noted

44

The Stuff Of Us

48

Balancing The Waters

50

D*Face

one world

new in the hood

out of the box

green scene

culture vulture

102 20

54

Project ..III

56

Jyoti Parenco

sounds around

members of the cloth

58

Sai Ropp

62

Amanda Lestari

64

Farah Quinn

66

Reo Palmer

70

Anton Clark

members of the cloth

members of the cloth

people

passions

people

58

72

Sacha Stone

74

Richard Winkler

people

artsake

80

Munduk Mystique

90

Safe Travels

98

Sundays With James

yak fashion

feature

oral pleasures

102

Butcher’s Club

106

Ryan Clift

66

oral pleasures

oral pleasures

154

contents page 92, Omnibus: identity crisis

110

oral pleasures

Canggu Savage

114

Hatten Wines

118

Brothers In Arms

120

Kunyit

122

Cooking Classes

124

oral pleasures

duoview

oral pleasures

Big Six

constant wining

Spanish Invasion

64 24

126

venting in a villa

Hu’u Villas

128

The Samaya

130

Rumah Luwih

132

The Shanti Residence

134

On The Edge

138

Client Clobber

venting in a villa

venting in a villa

venting in a villa

150

travel

Sumba’s Jewel

154

Fore!

156

What’s What

158

Future Worlds

yak events

ad directory

astro yak

feature

fashion freestyle

56

106

74

yakback Yes, we are fully in it. We are in the gig economy, we are being wrapped up in gender fluidity, we are sharing co-working spaces with agile workers, where words bounce around like Kombucha bubbles filled with probiotics, enzymes and some of the healthy Vit. Bs. Are you yoga, pole or Zumba? Vegan, vegetarian or gluten free? It is a very open-minded and permissive world, these times we live in.

And just like Bob Dylan and the lyrics of his 1964 hit song “for the times they are a-changin’”.

And whilst they do indeed change, we at The Yak adeptly, (in our role as a “window to all things Bali sensitive”), will continue to do what we do best. We are here to introduce to you the people, the fashion, the events and the venues that are indeed changing the world and of course, the face of Bali.

First up, let’s see how our quarterly nod to charities in our One World can change lives. So please if you like one, dig deep and help out, small intentions can have a pretty large ripple effect.

Heading over to New In The Hood, this is where we try to keep up with what’s going on in the island. Over that and into our Out Of The Box we head into an ideal future world with ‘I am not Plastic’ straws by Avani and an electric cycle by Mute Garage, amongst others.

Then we come to the people. The people that are changing the face of the world as we know it. And in no particular order, please welcome Dean Stockton and his penchant for wall painting! Music men are next and we have a totally new groovement with Project 23. These faceless tunesters will be keeping fame anonymous and will make those anonymous, famous. Next in the running is Jyoti, Farah, Sai and Reo, four Amazonian women who are walking the talk, and talking the walk. Garden plantscapes, spiritual landscapes and shapely misformed visions enter our vision with Anton, Sacha Stone and artist Richard Winkler.

Yak Fashion brings us to Munduk Mystique before we gather we have an Identity Crises in our favoured, free-thinking Omnibus section.

In Travel we head into the time-warp that is Sumba and Nihiwatu, before going to into one of the most changeling industries of all – food – in Oral Pleasures.

Meet globally recognized chefs and venues who have innovation at the fore of their minds and aprons – James Viles, Butcher’s Club, Ryan Clift, Canggu’s Savage Kitchen and the Good Food Brotherhood – shouldn’t they be musicians with names like that?

Constantly Wining we introduce you to our favorite bubbles, Segura Viudas, and the award-winning winery Hatten; and in our Big Six section we take you to six cooking classes whereby you yourself can bring on the best change known to man – transforming basic ingredients from farm ... to table.

Venting in a Villa (from Presidential to Honeymoons and Immersions – they are all mind and circumstance-changing events) takes us to where the winds of change blow – clifftop – at four of Bali’s best vertigo inspiring venues. Finally, we get pulled back into the ever-changing worlds of fashion, before being transported into the world of Astroyak, where Dr Deepak predicts where the changes will come from next.

As ever, and especially with all this change, May The Yak Be With You. 28

Dear Yak, I hope you still remember us.

We’re returning to Bali in early June and we would love to pick up some recent issues of your wonderful magazine! We still use our issue from the past with Sebastiano’s work in it – it has brought us a lot of success whenever we show it. Sebastiano is currently showing in Singapore, where we are now staying. Thank you Yak magazine for the interview, it really has been an enormous help to us. With a lot of respect and affection.

Catharina and Sebastiano Navarra, Singapore.

Dear Yak, Whatever happened to Inka Williams, the model you promoted in the long lost (and fondly remembered) Kuban magazine in that epic skate shoot?

Chris Leonard Sanur

Dear Yak, I’ve just returned to London after a glorious month in Bali and I have to say I admire your magazine and its global ideas (while keeping Bali-based) and I applaud you for continuing to excellently present print in magazine-form in a world that now seems overrun with digital media.

Just thought I’d give you a pat on the back!

Bruce Fisher, London Thank you Bruce, that’s nice to hear. We are online too of course – check us out on Facebook or direct to our website www.theyakmag.com. And next time you’re here download The Yak App available at The App Store and Google Play!

Dear Yak, What’s with you guys? Almost every article in the last issue was anti-Trump!

Anonymous.

She’s hit the bigtime bro! Nearly a million followers on Instagram and Justin Bieber can’t even get a date with her. Luckily though she still remembers us and has agreed to let us put her on the cover this issue. Thanks for the prompt and we hope you like the issue, our 55th.

Fake news. Never happened. Never gonna happen. Not good.

In The Lap Of: Kylie Jenner American royalty Kylie Jenner could be on her way to this famed isle after she reached out to one of our friends on his Instagram feed to decide where she should stay and what she should do while here.

We have a few answers of course. Anyway, curious to know how he replied, he said: “Replied? I haven’t replied. I’ve been far too busy for that!” Be sure to let us know when she does front up – we will of course be pressing a copy of our organ into her manicured hands [that’s enough - Ed].

DA MARIA LATE NIGHT PIZZA + DISCO + 528HZ DJS EVERY NIGHT IN THE COURTYARD FROM 7PM HANDCRAFTED FOOD + DRINKS + SOUNDS

calendar

fridge magnet fodder for the peripatetic.

RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL There aren’t too many music festivals in the world where you can be part of ethnomusical lectures and interactive world music workshops by day, then catch live acts by indigenous musicians from nearly every continent at night, and all in the middle of a lush rainforest. Welcome to the Rainforest World Music Festival at the Sarawak Cultural Village, which is nestled at the foot of Mount Santubong just outside of Kuching in Borneo. The festival runs for three days from July 14 to July 16, and over 200,000 people are expected to attend, so advanced reservations are recommended. www.rwmf.net BALI ARTS FESTIVAL Now in its 39th year, the Bali Arts Festival is the island’s biggest celebration of traditional and contemporary dance, music and art from Bali and around the Indonesian archipelago. The festival will kick off on the first Saturday in June and run for an entire month with spectacular parades, performances and exhibitions taking place mainly at the Taman Werdhi Budaya Arts Centre in Denpasar. Visitors can join cultural workshops, watch dance competitions and musical performances, shop at artisan stalls and sample authentic Balinese and Indonesian fare at the many food stalls set up nearby. www.baliartsfestival.com

IF YOU’RE IN SINGAPORE… July 14 to July 16 Baybeats: Baybeats began in 2002 as a platform to showcase talented indie artists in Asia, and it has since become a major musical event that attracts about 70,000 people every year. The festival takes place over three days at the Esplanade with three different stages including the outdoor Baybeats Arena overlooking the bay, the Powerhouse Stage and the Chillout Stage. The lineup includes local and international indie musicians playing everything from glam rock to electro to powerhouse pop, and admission is free for all.

July 14 to July 30 Singapore Food Festival: Singaporeans are proud of their rich culinary heritage, which is why the Singapore Food Festival is such a big deal in the Lion City.

This two-week gourmet smorgasbord celebrates traditional dishes like chicken rice, chilli crab and bak kut teh, as well as Mod-Sin creations like laksagne and char siew chilli fries.

Throughout the festival there will be culinary happenings all over the city, but the main event is STREAT where you can hit up the food stalls for hawker classics and contemporary creations by some of Singapore’s most lauded chefs.

IF YOU’RE IN THE UK… July 8 Pride in London Parade: Last year over 40,000 people marched in the Pride in London Parade and over a million people took to the streets to celebrate love in all forms, and this year the parade is set to be even larger and more vibrant. The theme for 2017 is ‘Love Happens Here’, which brings with it a message of hope, acceptance, activism and love. Catch the parade as it makes its way along Regent Street and past Trafalgar Square to Whitehall, and then join one of the many after parties taking place in the streets. There will also be pre-parade Pride events going on around the city from June 24 onwards.

30

WE THE FEST Brought to us by Ismaya Live, We The Fest is Jakarta’s biggest annual festival of music, arts, fashion and food. The festival is back for their fourth instalment from August 11 to August 13, this time at a new location in the Jakarta International Expo. Just like in previous years, the line-up will include musicians from all genres including hip-hop, rock, indie and electronic dance music. Headliners include Phoenix, Big Sean and The Kooks, as well as local luminaries like Danilla, Stars & Rabbit and Silampukau. www.wethefest.com BURNING MAN Everyone should experience Burning Man at least once in their life, as this massive gathering in the middle of the Black Rock Desert is a mind-expanding experiment in community and creativity. On August 27 more than 70,000 people will erect a temporary city built with the principles of radical inclusion and self-expression, decommodification, and communal effort in mind. Throughout the week visitors can explore the city to experience themed camps and villages, awesome art installations, musical performances and the namesake event – the burning of the effigy on the evening of Saturday September 2. www.burningman.org

August 9 to August 13 Boardmasters Festival (Newquay, Cornwall): Come early August, the laid-back town of Newquay transforms from a sleepy seaside spot into a bustling hive of activity during the Boardmasters Festival, a spectacular surf and music festival on the Cornish coast. The centre of all the action takes place at Fistral Beach with pro surf competitions, a specially built skateboard and BMX park, beach barbecues and sunset jam sessions. There will also be multiple stages set up featuring live bands and DJs with headliners including Jamiroquai, The Flaming Lips and Two Door Cinema Club.

IF YOU’RE IN CROATIA… June 19 to June 21 INmusic Festival (Zagreb): Croatia’s biggest open-air music festival takes place every summer in the capital of Zagreb on Youth Island in the middle of Lake Juran with multiple stages where world-renowned artists throw down everything from garage punk to metal and electronic dance music. The lineup this year includes rockers Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Danko Jones, HAUS, St. Tropez and Kasabian to name just a few. Party-goers who purchase three-day tickets will also have the option to go CampIN’ at INmusic’s special campsite with a skate park, separate music stage, and mod cons like Wi-Fi, hot water and device charging areas.

August 30 to September 3 Dimensions Festival (Pula): Tired of the same old parties in deserts and fields? Dimensions Festival offers underground music in an ancient Roman amphitheatre, an abandoned fort, and on boats plying the Adriatic Coast. This five-day music fest kicks off with an opening concert featuring Grace Jones, Moderat, Moses Boyd and Yussef Kamaal, and then keeps the beats going strong with rocking beach and boat parties by day and after-dark performances by musical talents like Nina Kraviz, Daphni, Gilles Peterson and Doc Scott.

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giving back

charity begins at home.

SENSATIA BOTANICALS’ 1% FOR INDONESIA PLEDGE If you’re familiar with Sensatia Botanicals, then you probably already know that this Bali-based company produces luxurious all-natural body care products that are made with local ingredients like Bali cinnamon, lemongrass and sea salt, which are good for your skin and the environment. But what you may not know is that the company was created primarily to benefit local communities, and it still sticks to that mission to this day.

In 2000, San Francisco native Michael R. Lorenti Jr. created Sensatia Botanicals as a profit-sharing cooperation that could bring a little bit of affluence into his adopted village of Jasri, Karangasem. He started the company with just three employees, and now 17 years later the company has stores all over the island and devoted fans all over the world, not to mention a solid crew of over 70 Balinese employees who share in its success.

Yet despite the brand’s impressive achievements, Michael still believes that Sensatia is so much more than just a moneymaking venture. For the last 10 years, Sensatia Inc. has been involved in the 1% for the Planet organisation, a global network of businesses that donate one per cent of their total annual sales to environmental programmes. Recently Michael began to think about how he could apply this concept specifically to Indonesia.

He says, “This year Sensatia will be developing 1% For Indonesia, a non-profit organisation that will focus on helping to fulfil basic human needs, then moving into education and eventually health and fitness. Even if Sensatia is the only company to make the 1% For Indonesia pledge, that will make me very happy, but if we can get some other big companies on board giving a bit back, then I will be as happy as a clam.”

Be sure to check in at www.onepercentforindo.org in the coming months for more details.

MUNTIGUNUNG COMMUNITY SOCIAL ENTERPRISE When former Swiss banker Daniel Elber came to Ubud 14 years ago, he was deeply affected by the number of women and children begging in the streets, many of whom came from Muntigunung, an impoverished area on the northern slopes of the Batur caldera where water was scarce and employment opportunities were few and far between. After visiting the region, Daniel decided to devote his time and energy to improving the quality of life for the people of Muntigunung.

Daniel’s first course of action was to create Future for Children, a Swiss organisation committed to helping disadvantaged people in Southeast Asia, with a focus on sustainable development projects in Muntigunung. He also began to search for reputable Indonesian non-profit organisations that could help implement those projects. Soon the Muntigunung Community Social Enterprise (MCSE) was born with support from Yayasan Dian Desa and Future for Children.

From the beginning, MCSE had four main goals: to provide the people of Muntigunung with 25 litres of water per person, per day; to create one job per family with a minimum income of $100 USD per month; to reduce the child mortality rate by half; and to ensure adequate education for every child. To start, MCSE began organizing income-generating activities like harvesting, producing and distributing local products and training local women to guide trekking tours 34

in the area.

Since its inception, MCSE has created jobs for multitudes of families in the Muntigunung area, with many villagers working in the production of high-quality food products like lontar palm sugar, cashews and rosella tea, as well as gorgeous hammocks, bags made with local textiles, and hand-woven baskets. The villagers are paid fair market prices and net revenues from sales are invested back into income-generating projects in the area.

Moreover, 36 villages in Muntigunung now have access to clean water, health services and education, and there are on-going projects to build toilets, educate villagers about hygiene, and provide workshops to empower villagers to approach their local government about infrastructure.

You can support the people of Muntigunung by joining one of their trekking tours, purchasing their products at Bali Buda, Pepitos or Bintang Supermarket, or visiting www.muntigunung.com.

BALI CHOCOLATE FACTORY Hidden away in a quaint coconut grove along a peaceful beach in Jasri, Karangasem is a special place where bamboo structures resembling a mix between hobbit houses and tee-pees function as a quirky chocolate and soap factory. Here the founder – named Charlie – runs the operation out of a wooden pirate ship and encourages guests to have hot chocolate with the resident goose, Agus, and try the giant swing in the palm trees after a tour of the factory.

At first glance the Bali Chocolate Factory may seem like an offbeat amusement park straight out of one of Willy Wonka’s dreams, but this is no ordinary tourist attraction.

When Charlie Esposito arrived in Jasri nearly 20 years ago, he saw how difficult it was for the local people to earn a living, so he decided to help in any way that he could. Charlie noticed how rich the area was in natural resources, so he began teaching the villagers how to make organic products like coconut syrup, soap and body oil. Together they set up a profit-sharing venture called Island Mystik, which soon began generating money for the community.

It wasn’t long before Charlie started hearing about cacao plantations in the mountains nearby. After doing a bit of research, he discovered that most of the local cacao beans were being sold and shipped off to Java and other islands, so he decided to create another venture that would create more jobs for the local community. Charlie and the villagers began experimenting with organic coldpressed chocolate, and in 2009 Bali Chocolate Factory was born.

Today visitors are welcome to stop by the factory and see the local crew in action creating heavenly scented soaps, roasting cacao beans, pouring chocolate into moulds along with local ingredients like peanuts and goji berries, and packaging products while bouncing babies on their knees. A tour of the factory is just IDR10,000 and includes a bar of coconut oil soap. You can also buy Bali Chocolate Factory products at Bali Buda, Sari Organik, Kafe and Zula, and Island Mystik soaps at Delta and Bintang supermarkets. www.facebook.com/balichocolat

BASK GILI MENO It may be the smallest of the three Gilis off Lombok’s northwest coast, but Gili Meno has been seeing quite a bit of action as of late, especially with the recent ground breaking ceremony for Bask Gili Meno. This much anticipated property will be Gili Meno’s first contemporary resort combining sophisticated design and decor with ecological consciousness and tropical island vibes. Slated to open in 2018, the resort will feature 87 luxury villas, a 43-metre beach club pool and bar, a private speedboat for Lombok transfers, and environmentally-friendly features like renewable energy sources, a zeroplastic policy, and on-going reef rejuvenation efforts. www.baskgilimeno.com

CLIFFTOP HAPPENINGS Renowned global hospitality company Hakkasan Group recently announced that they will soon be opening two spectacular new venues at The Cliff at Alila Villas Uluwatu. Sake No Hana is a fine-dining Japanese restaurant modelled after its flagship venue by the same name in London’s West End. Here guests can sip on premium sakes and indulge in fresh sushi, sashimi and other Japanese delicacies while soaking up sweeping views of the Indian Ocean from the cliff top locale. The resort will also host the world’s first OMNIA Dayclub perched on a limestone ledge 100 metres above the ocean. www.hakkasangroup.com

BEACHFRONT ROYALTY When the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay decided to do a dramatic overhaul of all their villas about two years ago, they left the best until last. Just completed this year, the Imperial and Royal Villas are the most palatial on the property, and were rebuilt from the ground up based on designs by the late Jaya Ibrahim. In typical Four Seasons fashion, the villas exude understated elegance with features like floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors, a mix of tranquil indoor and outdoor living and dining areas, and sparkling ocean views from every vantage point.

Tel: +62 361 701 010 www.fourseasons.com/jimbaranbay

SAY HELLO TO SEASALT Seasalt is Seminyak’s brand new must-go seafood destination located just steps from the sea at Alila Seminyak. Paying homage to its spectacular oceanfront setting, the restaurant sports soothing ocean hues and a menu created by Chef Vivian Vitalis, who uses fresh seafood and organic produce procured from local fishermen and farmers to create down-to-earth dishes with touches of Japanese flair. Try the White Snapper, his signature sea salt baked fish or the Niçoise salad with Katsuobushi and two-yearold black miso. Diners will also be presented with an artisanal sea salt centrepiece to accompany the delish ocean cuisine.

Tel: +62 361 3021 888 www.seasaltseminyak.com 36

WEARABLE ART You would think that photographer and interior designer Stephane Sensey would have his hands full managing his own gallery and showroom, producing furniture, lighting and home accessories and snapping shots for exhibitions, books and the rag you’re reading right now, but this inexhaustible artist has also recently come out with his own line of limited edition T-shirts. The vintage-style shirts are made by hand with the finest cotton and feature striking portraits of people Stephane has met and photographed throughout his travels. You can pick up his artistic threads at his showroom on Jalan Raya Kerobokan or via his website. www.stephanesensey.com

SURF NAKED Finally an all-natural sunscreen that can withstand the rays of the hot tropical sun, yet still manages to be good for your skin and the environment. Sensatia Botanicals’ Surf Naked sunscreen is made with just three all-natural ingredients: organic virgin coconut oil produced by local farmers in Bali, candelia wax from Northern Mexico and the Southwest United States, and zinc oxide. The result is a moisturising, water-resistant balm that protects against UV rays and won’t harm your body or the marine environment.

Tel: +62 363 23260 www.sensatia.com

ABOVE ELEVEN Jetsetters may be familiar with Above Eleven as Bangkok’s stunning rooftop restaurant and lounge that was the first to offer Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine in Southeast Asia.

Well now you can find the first international expansion of the brand right here in Bali at the lively Samasta lifestyle village in Jimbaran. Just like its sister venue, Above Eleven Bali will offer an exciting menu that fuses Peruvian and Japanese flavours with dishes like ceviche, sushi rolls and grilled meats and grains, plus an enticing array of creative cocktails.

Tel: +62 811 386 0402 www.aboveeleven.com/bali

DIVA TIGHT Just for the ladies, Cocoon Medical Spa’s DIVA Tight Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation therapy is a non-surgical, “walk in walk out” treatment that helps to repair and rejuvenate vaginal tissues that may have been damaged by childbirth or affected by vaginal atrophy, which most commonly occurs after menopause. The treatment can be beneficial for women of all ages, and it is almost painless, low risk, and requires no downtime. The benefits include tissue repair, increased tightening, and increased lubrication to make sex more enjoyable. To find out more, stop by Cocoon Medical Spa in Legian or Ubud for a free consultation.

Tel: +62 811 388 2240 www.cocoonmedicalspa.com 38

BAMBOO BLONDE AT BATU BOLONG The Batu Bolong hood is one of our favourite Canggu hangouts, and even more so now that Bamboo Blonde has opened up a new concept store just five minutes from the beach. Located next door to KOI restaurant, this sweet little boutique offers everything you need to pimp out your tropical wardrobe from feminine floral printed dresses to flirty jumpsuits, wraparound skirts and strappy sandals. Take a break from the Bali heat, step inside and check out their newly released collections and their sales corner with great deals of up to 70 per cent off. www.bambooblonde.com

EWABI BAMBOO BIKE CLUB Minimise your negative impact on the Earth and ride around town in style with an electric bamboo bicycle from the EWABI Bamboo Bike Club. EWABI is an Earth Corporation (E-Corp) business that aims to protect the environment with their Mobility As a Service model that provides regular bamboo bicycles or electric bamboo bicycles to members on a monthly basis. To join you pay a security deposit and a low monthly fee and you get a bicycle to tour around town as well as a helmet. When you no longer need your bike, return it to EWABI and they will give you a refund of the security deposit and any extra months you may have paid for but not used. www.ewabi.co 40

SUNDAY PERANAKAN BRUNCH Escape to the tranquil shores of Pantai Lebih for a Sunday feast at Rumah Luwih, a grand colonial-style estate bordered by working rice paddies and fronted by a black sand beach with views across the Badung Strait all the way to Nusa Penida. The resort’s restaurant specialises in Peranakan cuisine, which is a blend of Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian flavours, and every Sunday they offer a decadent brunch featuring vibrant Peranakan dishes like Ikan Acar Kuning with shredded fish, vegetables and pickled turmeric, Prawn Curry in a rich coconut gravy, and Crispy Duck marinated in a Nyona spice blend and fried until golden. www.rumahluwih.com

SUPERLATIVE SAILING Already making waves on the sailing scene, Rascal is the first and only Indonesian superyacht with five above-water cabins. Built using centuries-old techniques and local materials like ironwood and teak, the ship has the soul of a traditional Phinisi schooner, but with the addition of cutting edge modern technology. The cabins are spread out over two decks and each has a private terrace, ensuite bathroom and sweeping views of the seascapes unfolding outside. Available for private charters only, Rascal offers her guests complete control to design their own dream voyages across the Indonesian archipelago. www.rascal-charters.com

BLOW BAR Imagine dropping a hair salon into your favourite upmarket bar and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s going down at Blow Bar. Hidden away down a laneway off Jalan Oberoi (look for the wall mural that says, “I Want Your Hair”) or through the Bamboo Blonde boutique, this chic, blowdry bar offers craft cocktails and cold beers, cutting edge hair styles (but no cuts, colour or chemicals), and a convivial space to chill out to good tunes whilst getting all spiffed up. They’ve got special options for both the ladies and blokes like their Scotch & Shave deal for the guys and manis, pedis, braids and beach waves for the gals.

Tel: +62 816 574 554 www.blowbarbali.com

Balifu Sarongs Balifu has been offering us new designs inspired by the latest trends mixed with traditional batik designs with their team of artists for over 15 years. It is all handmade in Bali by their dedicated and talented employees. Balifu make sophisticated sarongs in spectacular colours with matching accessories, and fashionable day wear that can take you from the beach to dinner. They also have a beautiful range of dresses, tops, scarves, batik fabrics, beach towels, matching accessories and unique linen for your home. If you are looking for great quality batik inspired fabric and dyes that last, Balifu is the place to go. They can do wholesale for your business. Visit their shop on Jl Double Six or you can also buy online.

Tel: +6285 953784088 www.balifusarongs.com

The start of a journey One of Bali’s most popular airlines has just reopened their offices in Sanur. Operating daily, non-stop flights between Denpasar and Bangkok, the Thai Airways office at the Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel not only just underwent a total refurb, but also welcomed a new General Manager, Narongrat Sitthi, who has spent over 17 years taking care of loyalty marketing, global corporate sales, partnership marketing and digital sales amongst other areas. This year sees Thai Airways celebrating their 57th Anniversary and for over twentyfive of those years they have been flying to Bali, providing one of the best connections to and from Europe available. One of the plusses when travelling Thai Airways? The 30kgs baggage allowance when travelling economy! Pop into their office to find out the latest Promo Dates and cheaper than you think airfares to Bangkok and beyond!

The Thai Airways office is open Monday – Friday from 8am – 5pm. www.thaiairways.com +623617270099

SEAFOLLY POP-UP Looking for a stylish little swimwear number to take away with you on your next holiday escape or weekend beach outing? Stop by the Seafolly Pop-Up shop on Jalan Kayu Aya for all your summer essentials like bikinis and one pieces in bold prints and patterns, flowing kaftans to throw on over your swimmers, and bright tops and bottoms in contrasting textures. They’re constantly bringing in new pieces from the latest seasonal collections, so be sure to check back often to get an eyeful of the latest looks. www.universoresort.com

THE JOGLO The Joglo is Canggu’s newest community space that appeals to all ages from the barely walking to the older and wiser, but still young at heart. This multi-purpose venue is home to Bali’s biggest and most secure playground for little ones, a chic Mediterranean cafe offering pizza, love bowls and juices, a Pilates studio overlooking lush greenery, and a market offering whole foods and organic products. They also host a fab Hangover Brunch every Saturday and offer events packages for birthdays, anniversaries and more.

Tel: +62 361 934 7778 www.thejoglo.com 42

FRESH FASHION AT THE W RETREAT Fashionistas may already be familiar with Rococo Resort in Seminyak Square, but what you might not know is that this high-end fashion purveyor just opened two chic new boutiques at W Bali - Seminyak. Now fashion forward jetsetters and Seminyak scenesters in the Petitenget hood can stop by Rococo Resort and Vilebrequin at the W to pick up stylish swimwear by Eberjey and Agua de Alma, shoes by Giuseppe Zanotti and Manolo Blahnik, and ready-to-wear pieces for men, women and children by designers like rag & bone, House of Harlow, Kenzo, and Cole Haan. www.wbaliretreat.com

HILTON GARDEN INN TURNS ONE It’s been one year since the Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport opened their doors, and to celebrate their anniversary, the hotel is offering double the Honor points for their Hilton Honors members. Book in before or after your next flight for comfortable, quiet rooms with modern amenities, a beautiful outdoor landscaped pool, and a 24-hour convenience store for all your travel needs. And of course Hilton Honors members will already be familiar with the brand’s award-winning hospitality. This offer is exclusive to Hilton Honors Members who book via www.balingurahraiairport.hgi.com and it is valid for stays up to July 21, 2017.

Tel: +62 361 897 6100 www.balingurahraiairport.hgi.com

TENTED ROOFTOP LUXURY Escape Nomade are pioneers in the luxury tent movement in Bali, offering a diverse range of gorgeous tented living spaces and luxe experiences where guests can enjoy the finer things in life all the while living without walls. They recently launched the world’s first rooftop luxury tent, a pioneering concept that allows you to add a tented sanctuary to the rooftop of your house or villa. Simply send them info about your existing or planned building and they will design a bespoke 3D drawing to your specifications, then deliver and install the finished tent for you. They also invite guests to experience their very own luxury rooftop tent recently opened in Umalas.

Tel: +62 361 898 9416 www.escapenomade.com BALI: THE FOOD OF MY ISLAND Janet de Neefe arrived in Bali nearly 30 years ago and fell in love with the people, culture and cuisine. Since then she has been collecting Balinese and Indonesian recipes, teaching local cooking methods and running the annual Ubud Food Festival.

Bali: The Food of My Island Home is Janet’s collection of authentic local recipes running the gamut from sambals to sweets. The book also contains an extensive glossary of local ingredients and insights into local culture with stunning photographs of people who make up the Bali foodscape. The cookbook is now available at Casa Luna and Ganesha Bookstores. www.janetdeneefe.com

IN THE RAW BEACHGARDEN In The Raw, Bali’s favourite juice company, finally opened its new flagship venue in the Batu Bolong hood after moving from its original La Dunia space. Named ITR Beachgarden, the new space features a beautiful joglo juice bar and a large lounge-y garden cafe just a hop, skip and a jump from the beach. The menu here consists of a good mix of globally inspired dishes for all tastes and budgets, including a good selection of raw and vegan options. Founder Mark Baker says, “We’re really excited to expand the brand and showcase a whole range of new juices, kefirs, and delicious new dishes that appeal to the naughty and nice in all of us.” www.facebook/intherawbali 44

KU DE TA PERTH Bali’s iconic KU DE TA recently opened its first international outpost in Perth along the shores of the Swan River, and it is already making waves for its cutting edge design, contemporary menus and chic atmosphere that has the spirit of its Balinese sister venue with a modern Australian bent. The space is divided into three distinct areas with different drinking and dining offerings available in each. The modern cuisines served in each space focus on Australian produce with ingredients sourced from local WA producers and suppliers. Drinks include craft beers, wines, and spirits and an exciting, extensive cocktail selection.

Tel: +61 8 6324 1100 www.kudeta.com.au

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draft 8 brass camel 330k; ford pant navy 700k; deus morty belt natural 750k; deus credit card holder 350k; deus ola tee off white 395k; daniel wellington classic st mawes 2.850k www.deuscustoms.com

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green scene

Waterbom’s Sayan Gulino shines a light on the island’s increasing water problems with a documentary aimed at increasing environmental awareness.

Sayan’s way.

It’s no secret that Bali has some pretty serious environmental issues, many of which are obvious to anyone who spends more than a few hours on the island. Rubbish is rampant, the Suwung landfill is nearly maxed out and rice paddies are vanishing to make way for new development projects. Not unrelated is the rapid disappearance of fresh water, which poses the biggest threat to the island, yet is arguably the least understood environmental issue.

According to research by IDEP Foundation, the water table in Bali has dropped over 50 metres in less than 10 years. Lake Buyan, Bali’s second largest natural freshwater reserve, has dropped five meters since 2012. And what freshwater Bali does have left is being heavily polluted and degraded by saltwater intrusion. Now more than ever, Bali needs people to wake up and make some serious changes.

Sayan Gulino, general manager of Waterbom Bali, was born and raised in Bali and is all too aware of these alarming statistics. He says, “I was fortunate enough to grow up in Bali as a first generation expat kid. I saw Bali at its best; the mystery, the charm, the culture and the incredible garden that it was.

“Despite going abroad for my studies, I always considered Bali my home and had an attachment to the island. I was also fortunate enough to grow up in the world of Waterbom Bali, from being a naughty customer to working in almost every department within the company.

“Over the years I have seen the island change; more people, more greed, more negligence and pollution. I knew that we were also somewhat part of the problem, so I wanted to change so that Waterbom would limit its environmental damage and be a role model within the community, to show the world that it is possible to run a business and also do it in a prudent way.”

Since its inception, Waterbom Bali has worked hard to minimise its impact on the environment by maintaining green spaces and reducing water wastage. Over the past year, Sayan and his team have been working closely with Mantra Environmental Consulting to build on the environmental efforts the park already had in place and to create a comprehensive plan to further conserve water and reduce waste, all while improving the long term sustainability of business practices.

Current water saving efforts include maintaining more than half the park as green space, the use of timed, low-flow taps, recycling grey water for garden use, and establishing drainage systems to channel water into the ground rather than lose it 50

as run-off. The park is also an official fundraising partner of the Bali Water Protection Program (BWP), which is currently working to construct 136 rainwater-fed wells to help recharge the water table in 13 of Bali’s worst affected areas.

In addition to working hard to offset the park’s water use, Sayan also recently embarked on a project that aims to shine a light on the impending water crisis Bali is facing if government and businesses don’t place some urgency on the adoption of sustainable business practices.

Balancing the Waters is a documentary that focuses on Bali’s water issues and the challenges surrounding water conservation in our modern world. The film also shines the spotlight on Waterbom as an example of steps businesses can take to reduce their environmental impact and is a model of how sustainable business practices can actually result in returns.

Sayan says, “We wanted to reach out to Bali and the world and show them that there is an issue and is a that we as the community have to wake up and do something about it.

“Something can only be done when one understands the roots of Bali, where it was, where it is and where it is going. There is more to Bali than Eat, Pray Love. We also needed to show the way forward, the solutions that we can take on ourselves (businesses) without relying on others.”

Sayan hopes that the film will prompt other businesses and individuals to realise that they too can take positive actions to make a difference. As a fan of the Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, which promotes harmony and respect between people, the environment and the culture, he believes that it is only by working with nature instead of against it that we can come out on top.

He says, “Waterbom is proud of its achievements, however it realises there is a long way to go. What we have done thus far is something that should be shared.

Replicating and respecting nature will not only allow Bali to live in a healthy way, it will allow companies to cut costs on electricity, water and waste. It is a ‘win-win’ and many don’t realize this, hence the film is a message to the world.” www.idepfoundation.org/en www.waterbom-bali.com

culture vulture

Keep your eyes peeled for some killer street art as mr Dean Stockton aka D*Face visits the island to spice up the walls of Peruvian restaurant and gallery space Aya. Tony stanton caught up with him in London.

mr stockton and friend.

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Mr Dean Stockton aka D*Face. How the devil are you?

Aghhh the devil makes work for idle hands ... so I’m really busy! In truth I’ve been better, I broke my foot racing my flat track motorbike a few weeks ago, so I’m hobbling around on crutches feeling sorry for myself. It’s been a moment of reflection; realising how lucky one is to be of healthy mind and body, how fragile the strands of life are and can be, also how much you take for granted the ability to get around with ease and do as you wish.

Other than that and the side effects of hurting myself, I’m good!

What’s the story? How did you become one of the best and most sought after graffiti/wall artists out there? Were you born that way?

Oh I don’t know about any of that, I’m just doing me, that’s very kind of you to think that. I’m lucky that what I do is appreciated and enjoyed by so many, I mean ultimately it’s a selfish act. It’s been a very long path to get here, which I guess started as a child disillusioned at school and the traditional education system and trying to find my own interests, which took me to the discovery of graffiti and skateboarding, which led me down a very non-traditional path, much to my parents’ frustration. Let me expand. You see I grew up as a kid in London, sometime between the ’70s and ’80s, in a quite staid and strict environment. The school I was at was very boring, I didn’t really enjoy it and the art they taught me was very dull and traditional. I got into skateboarding from watching the film Back To The Future, still my favourite film. Some older kids at school had skateboards so they gave me Thrasher magazine, which was eye-candy to this visually starved kid. I thought ‘Wow this is amazing’ and that got me interested in skategraphics. I was already interested in animation, cartoons and things like that. I started to spend as much time as possible skateboarding and that led me to graffiti because the areas I was going to also had graffiti all around them. A lot of guys I skated with also did graffiti. So the two things went hand-in-hand and became one.

Skate-graphics and the Punk album cover art that I was into was really inspirational, I didn’t really know how or who did this artwork. I thought it was the band members and that you have to be pro skateboarder to draw your own graphics. So in my head, I wanted to be a pro skater, then I could draw my own graphics. So I was just skateboarding with this idea that if I got really good I’d get to do some board graphics.

It’s a really strange situation because nobody took time to explain what I was into or direct me. I left school and I failed all my exams because I was skateboarding, doing graffiti. I managed to convince a college to let me in to study photography, so I did that for two years and I just got stoned, skated and did graffiti then left. I was like, I am not going to be a photographer, I haven’t really taken much decent photography. So I managed with the collection of bits and pieces I had: my drawings, a few photos, and illustrations to get into a course to study animation and illustration. And when I got onto that course, it was the first time anybody explained to me what I was into – ‘Oh this guy, he draws skate-graphics, his name is Jim Philips’. I never knew, I thought he was a skateboarder, so at that point everything kind of came together. I knew that there is something I could do from my interests, my passion. So that was the catalyst for me, finally I was studying and learning something I really cared about, I was no longer trying to seek that path; I was on it. That college led me into a degree in animation, illustrations and design, finally at the end of that I passed and was offered a job working in design.

Lichtenstein is clearly an influence, do you ever get accused of over-sampling his

work, and how do you deal with those implications?

Of course he’s an influence, but so is Jim Philips, so is James Turrell, so are the unknown graffiti artists I saw on the trackside as a kid, just fewer people know of their work, so it’s never cross referenced. For me I’m more influenced by the comic book artist that Roy Lichtenstein was inspired by, I’ve actually only remixed a few of Lichtenstein’s own actual samplings and even then that’s more looking through his work into the work he referenced. I always saw Pop Art as a critique of consumerism that ended up looking like a celebration of consumerism, an embrace of it, whereas my work is very distinctly a darker twist on that. Also when you put the two side by side there’s very noticeable differences in content and execution, but I’m never annoyed or upset by those implications. To have that comparison is a huge compliment, I almost see it as if I’m carrying the torch from where Roy left off, keeping the style alight and evolving. I also know that his foundation is behind what I do, from the remixes to the murals and more.

What’s with the cloud/wings? Are they clouds? Are they wings?

Those are wings, I’ve not heard clouds before, ears I hear a lot, I’ve even heard croissants!

But those are wings, they originate from the character that I developed nearly 20 years ago, the D*Dog. I put that and still do put that character up everywhere I travel, stickers, posters, even relief casts for the street. I slowly realised that I could break the character down into individual components and it would still remain identifiable, even down to the silhouette shape. It was when I was reworking and painting and printing on top of real bank notes and putting them into public circulation, that’s when I took the wings and stuck them coming out of the Queen’s head, like she had been taken over, both visually and metaphorically defaced, sabotaged . . . it was then that I discovered this visual device, the visual language and body of work. I use the character, the wings as a thread to connect it all.

Has Hollywood called yet?

Not yet! I’m not sure it ever will! I mean of course I’d make a great film, ha ha, but I’m not sure that I, or even this movement, is much on their radar. That said I have always received a brilliant reception in LA whenever I’ve shown there and my audience is strongly American heavy, which is great as I love California.

What do you do to keep your brain and your work different and next level? Does it keep you awake at night?

Mmmm, tricky to answer that because I really don’t know. There’s some inbuilt desire to create, to break grounds, to keep pushing myself and my work. I realised a little while back that I’m never not thinking about my work, ideas and new concepts. I got into building motorbikes to escape my art and mind and ended up turning that into an artbikes business, so I’m my own worst enemy. I keep thinking I’ll simplify my life and then do the complete opposite. I’ve been reliably told I’m a workaholic, narcissist, egotist . . . all things I guess I have to be in order to have succeeded doing something I truly love and am passionate about. Sleep? What’s that? Ask anyone who knows me well enough and they’ll tell you I sleep about six hours a night, so when I finally do hit the pillow, I’m normally straight out like a light, although I find the time between being awake and asleep – hypnagogia – a really creative time and I’ve had many a great idea in this mind state, often only to forget it the next morning. I sleep with a pen and paper next to my bed to scribble ideas down as and when.

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culture vulture

mash-up, wall hugger and above, D*Tail.

Down the pub, are you Dean or are you like, yo, I’m D*Face.

Noooo I’m NEVER ‘Yo I’m D*Face’. I’m the exact opposite, I’m very shy about my work and sooner shy away than announce it. In fact for years I refused to attend my own show openings and still feel awkward at them. I’d sooner chill with a few close friends who don’t give two shits about who I am than try and ride off the back of that and show boat. I’m totally not that person.

Can you tell us what you’ve been up to in Bali, and how the met the epic Miss Helen Milne?

I’m going to be painting a really chill nice mural in what I’ve heard is an amazing part of Bali, in what I’m told is an amazing restaurant and bar! Other than that I’m going to be resting my foot, travelling around to see the beautiful sights and no doubt dreaming about what I can have made in Bali while I’m there! I met the epic Miss Milne many moons ago when she arranged for me to paint a small mural in Notting Hill, damn that must have been at least 10 years ago, so it’s been a while since I saw her.

Where can we expect to find you of an evening, if you’re here, and what would you be drinking?

I want to be chilling with some good food, a few nice drinks and taking it easy! I want to continue to exercise, hopefully find a spot I can lift some weights, which I’m really into right now, it’s really helped focus my mind. I’m not overly fussy when it comes to drinking, a chilled beer from a bottle, a good glass of wine, so long as it gets me nicely lean, I’m happy!

I’d like to sample something that reflects the island . . . I’m all about experiencing local culture, drinks, food and more.

Talk us through the technical details of how you work… because some of it is ENORMOUS! There’s not really one technique I use, I use whatever is suitable for the media. I try not to be held to any one technique. For me people get hung up on how something is produced. It shouldn’t be about that, it should be about the end result. To me it’s like asking what brand of paint I use, who cares, it’s not relevant. That said I do appreciate the intrigue in how the huge walls are painted, but it’s really simple, the walls are measured and gridded out, a reference to each square of the grid is made, it’s just large colouring in! In the studio I use screen printing, hand painting, collage . . . literally any and everything, but all my work starts with an idea, a reference and then I draw it up using Illustrator, then output in accordance with how I wish to produce the piece. It’s really basic and certainly not rocket science, I just hone techniques that work for me.

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How big is the team?

The team is a bit of a mix, obviously there’s a team that run my gallery – StolenSpace – that’s five people, then there’s a team that run the motorcycle/coffee shop, that’s really one full-time member, which is Jappa and a few part time drifters, then there’s my studio team which is really just me and Boots. There’s Louis who helps out on murals and moral support, like a hype man, and a few people I call upon if the work gets on top. Truth be told we’re massively understaffed and looking to change that. I really need someone to handle production full time, so CV’s in the post please!

Where do you spend most of your time, geographically?

That’s firmly dependent on my schedule, but to a large part it’s East London or Los Angeles then anywhere in between. I try to escape London in the winter and be in London in the summer, it’s the best place to be in summer and autumn and the worst place to be in winter, so if someone offers a project in January or February and so long as it’s warm, I’m pretty easy to persuaded to be involved! I’m pretty weather affected so I like to wake up in the sun. I’m privileged to get to have travelled so far and wide with my work, as a child I didn’t have that opportunity as my parents weren’t financially able to afford us holidays abroad and as soon as I left college I had rent to pay and loans to pay back so the opportunity to spend a year travelling was never there.

What does your father think about what you do?

He’s really into it, he’s proud, slightly confused with how I’ve managed to achieve what I have seeing as at 15 he’d pretty much given up on me. But very proud. My mum on the other hand just doesn’t get it, she’s from the school of having to be a lawyer, doctor, work in a bank etc.

How would you like to be remembered?

I’d just like to be remembered, that’s enough. My legacy I hope will be told in the history of art and I’d love my daughters to carry that on with and after me.

Legend, thanks so much. www.dface.co.uk Instagram: @dface_official Twitter: @dfaceofficial

sounds around

The Yak caught up with some of the key players behind the mysterious underground collective, Project ··|||, a new movement of Indonesian Djs, performers and visual artists looking to make their mark on the electronic alternative scene both here and abroad. photo: nikisa,z

What is Project ••|||?

TG: Project ••||| is a series of alternative art and music events taking place in non purpose built venues in and around the island of Bali and also a place for young Indonesian creatives to call home and use as a platform to experiment and express themselves.

N: Project ••||| is the missing puzzle piece in what was supposed to be the Indonesian dance music scene. So far, ever since dance music & rave culture came to Indonesia, subjectively saying, it began to lose a purpose. What started as an underground movement has been taken over by big business as merely entertainment value, no depth, no differentiating character, and is dictated to by ‘global’ culture.

S: The event will be one night where all of our differences can melt into one giant vibration, without worrying about what genre we’re dancing to.

A: Project ••||| is essentially an idea, a movement, an organic ecosystem of likeminded souls gathering, conversing, exchanging ideas and supporting each other while using music as the medium and putting on some ground breaking events Why are you keeping your identities concealed?

TG: We thought this would come up! There are several reasons and all will become clear in the coming weeks and months but this is one, and is crucial… Last year one of our own played at a well known venue after the big international headline act. During his set most of the crowd left, except the headline DJ, who then posted on social media that this Indonesian DJ had played the best set he had heard in over ten years. Why did people leave then???? We are not saying people here are racist but they don’t trust the DJ if he is local. So we are going to make a mockery of that in how we present ourselves through Project ••|||, all will become clear. It also gives us the freedom to speak our minds without fear of repercussions. We’re all about love, but also about truth. And if we have to disguise ourselves to do that … so be it! We’re not messing about, we love what we do, we love what we are about to do … EVERYONE is invited to join us, but this is our country, and this is our time to shine, and we want to do this our way.

When does it kick off?

TG: When we are ready and we are sure no stone has been left unturned. Currently we are looking at the back end of high season… Although having said that it has already started really, by the time the first show comes round it would have been four months in the making, that’s how serious we are!

How many of you are there?

TG: More every day! This is about creating a movement, a scene, a collective, but the core group is about eight in total from all round Indonesia.

What is the aim of the project?

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TG: The aim of the project is to prove that Indonesians can run with the best of their western counterparts when it comes to every aspect of the music, the art and the production and putting on really cutting edge events. Plus we are already planning several collaborations with some really cool Indonesian artists and fashion designers.

N: We aim to bring back the angst, the movement part of the scene. We’re here to truly claim the scene as ours, as Indonesian. We’re not saying that what has been done so far is wrong, it’s just incomplete and unfinished. Furthermore, aesthetically speaking, we also aim to bring you an immersive audio-visual experience, breaking the boundaries between performers and spectators.

S: We want to remind all the party goers what underground music really is, not just by listening to music from Berlin, but the feeling where we can blast music no one ever played before through a proper sound system, with music made by us, we want to encourage musicians from our community to produce more music and experiment, so we all can experience it and grow together as a collective.

How did it come about?

TG: It was borne from a frustration with the current status quo both here and abroad, and rather than wait for the change we thought we would be the change.

I: Back in ‘oldskool’ Jakarta, the capital city, there was a famous discotheque (Tanamur), that’s my inspiration for this, we want to do it with a simple and happy style, we love to share the vibe and respect each other.

S: By thinking outside the box, we want to collectively bring something unexpected, with our own identity on to it. If you come with an open mind, body soul and we will do the rest!

What’s the music policy on the project?

TG: Anything goes really as long as its electronic, exciting or experimental. So expect loads of disco, EDM and tech house – only kidding! Joking aside, expect the best of electronic, lots of live performances, some experimental stuff as well.

I: Basically we have no real rules, but we are in love with music that speaks a universal language, we’re not playing for some people’s ears but we play for our trip. Spreading the love and good vibes is our job.

S: Body Music! Just to make everybody move through the night and put a smile on their face.

A: Lowbrow and highbrow at the same time Where will the first event take place?

All will be revealed in due course. But it’s somewhere very special that took us weeks to find!

local heroes.

57

members of the cloth

artist Jyoti Parenco talks to stephanie mee about her life, loves and collaboration with fashion brand biasa as they launch their art to wear project of numbered kaftans, scarves and sarongs.

jyoti: natural beauty,

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Hi Jyoti, can you tell us a little bit about your background?

I’m the youngest of four, and I grew up in a heavenly piece of nature in the middle of the city. I was surrounded by boys and we spent our days climbing trees and making tree houses. I was a real tomboy then and still am now. I also come from a very artistic family of musicians, couturiers, architects, jewellers, and diamond cutters. My mother was and still is an amazing couturier, and she taught me how to make my own clothes at the age of 13. At the age of 22 I decided I wanted to experience different cultures, so I travelled through Europe, Africa and Asia. Later I drew on those experiences to design accessories for luxury homes. There has never been a dull moment in my life, and I’ve never stopped creating.

At what point did you realise that you had a passion and talent for art?

Never really, because it was just so normal and natural to be passionate about all beautiful things. I suppose the passion for art and beauty is part of my genetic heritage.

Can you describe your artistic style to us in one or two sentences?

Organic fantasy, magical, bold, and full of feelings.

How about your own personal style?

I love boots and jeans combined with original big bold pieces from my personal jewellery collection. I’d call myself a sophisticated and eccentric rock and roll girl.

What is a typical day like for you?

Every day starts with me opening my eyes to the rising sun and smiling at nature. To me nature is art, and every day that art piece changes in front of me. After greeting Mademoiselle Soleil, I have my coffee and then I grab a canvas or start designing some jewellery.

In your opinion, what is it about Bali that attracts so many amazing artists from around the word?

Bali has an amazing energy, and the combination of spirituality and art just keeps your fantasies going. Then of course there are the smiling people and the unique culture. I mean just walk down the street in any small village and you only see beauty and smiles. What more could you want as an artist?

How did your partnership with the BIASA fashion brand come about?

I met Susanna at one of my exhibitions in Europe, and we started talking about the possibility of combining my art with the lightness of BIASA fabrics so that we could create limited edition artworks to wear and not just to hang on the wall.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the Art to Wear project?

Each piece begins with organic materials on canvas. I make my own natural paints from roots and leaves and I finish off each canvas with 22-karat gold. Then I use a digital printer to transfer the images to silk.

What do you hope people take away of your artwork?

A light blessed feeling and warm loving energy.

Do you have any advice for other aspiring artists?

Just be yourself, love nature and embrace the unknown.

Where do you hope to be 10 years from now?

Today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow!

Any last words of wisdom?

Life has its ups and downs, heavens and hells. The trick is not to run away from anything, but instead to find a healthy balance and grow.

We only grow by encountering, accepting, and dealing with obstacles.

Ignoring them or raging over them will keep you at a standstill. www. biasagroup.com from canvas to catwalk ... art to wear.

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members of the cloth

scion sayang ropp has stepped into the Paul Ropp fashion empire. Tony Stanton spoke to her about her hopes and dreams. portraits saskia koerner. styling MaiKhanh Bertrand. hair/make up: rosario, balistarz

Now then Miss Ropp, can you tell us how and where you grew up and who were your inspirations?

A third cultured kid like me knows that the “where did you grow up” question is a tough one. But, in a nutshell, I was born and raised in Bali from an Italian mother and a New York father. I was privileged to have been able to further grow up in boarding schools in places such as India and Switzerland; then later on to places such as Rome and British Columbia. The diversity of culture I have experienced has definitely been a point of inspiration for me. However, my two biggest inspirations are my parents, by far. Seeing the lives they have been able to create for themselves, their determination, perseverance, their wisdom and their compassion has helped define the woman I strive to be. I couldn’t have asked for better role models.

What do you do precisely at PR, and what’s your future there?

I came to join the company in the capacity of Operations Manager. The scope of my job revolves around administrative functions and implementing strategic systems. Although I am slowly trying to add a new flare to the company from a different perspective than it has previously received. I think that in this technological age we are living in, having a fresh set of eyes looking at things in a different, and sometimes opposing, light can truly be an asset. I definitely don’t want to change what isn’t broken, but I do believe we have the potential to become so much more as a company. I believe, should I prove myself worthy, that one day I would be able to take a position which would allow my hard working father to finally be able to live in retirement the way he truly deserves. I came here to help, and that’s my main focus for both now and for the future. I hope to be able to ensure a prosperous future for my father’s legacy that isn’t limited by temporal concepts such as age, or social dynamics.

What’s it been like stepping into father’s famous shoes?

This has definitely been a challenge as they are incredibly large shoes.

However, I hope more than anything that when the time comes I will be able to wear them and make him proud. He has done incredibly well, all on his own. The last thing I would want is to put on his shoes before the time is right.

But it is quite a view from where I am standing. As my father says, my whole academic life my parents have paid for me to go to “school”, but this is where the real schooling starts.

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What’s the most important part of your day?

Any time I get to eat is a pretty important part of my day as food is my favourite activity! On a more serious note, the parts of my day that are most vital are when I encounter a situation where I can provide a solution for efficiency or progress. I really like seeing the outcome of things I am able make a change in, or improve. Finding obstacles and a great way to overcome them is a pretty important thing in general, and it helps me improve my strategic thinking.

Do you want to take the brand into new directions and new markets, or will it always be clothing for people who prefer to be naked?

The most identifiable aspect of the brand is the fabrics we use. There is nothing out there like it and my father has an uncanny knack for finding the most beautiful textiles and creating the perfect clothes for people who prefer to be naked. So, I would never want to take that away. However, I am interested in creating an avenue for the brand that lends itself to certain missing demographics. I believe that there are so many people out there who would, given the chance, become Paul Ropp enthusiasts. Unfortunately, I believe these demographics are sheltered to their possibilities for several different reasons. One of my main hopes for the future is to bridge the gap and find a way to create a product that is steadfast with the Paul Ropp vision, but more easily translatable towards demographics who may not yet get it.

We’re all so familiar with the brand but can you just let us know how it started and from where it takes inspiration?

The brand started with my father himself – in his childhood, his adolescence, through times of hardship, and happiness. This brand IS my father, and that is what makes it so hard to step into his shoes. The brand is everything my father stands for, in his business life as well in his personal life. Through his trials and tribulations of growing up, to his successes and elations of creating his own path – the brand represents it all. It is a statement, a philosophy, a culture, and a lifestyle choice. Paul Ropp, the brand, represents and exudes a derived confidence and acceptance of self; it provokes reactions and turns heads; it stands out in a room filled with people. Just like Paul Ropp, the person. I think this is the focus of his inspiration: every place he has been, every high, every low, every hurdle he has overcome and every success he has celebrated. His inspiration is the world around him and how it has influenced his perceptions.

sayang wears paul ropp.

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How will you keep the company relevant for today’s internet generation?

I am currently on a mission to better establish and enhance our online presence. I think that the field of digital marketing is one that is ever changing, and will never stay stagnant for any moment in time. I think it is most vital to link ourselves to this powerful and fast driving train if we wish to prosper in times to come. I think any company, in any industry, needs to understand how the times are changing and whether they want to sit back and watch, be a part of the trend, or completely shatter what is expected and create new avenues for future growth and opportunities. I want to see this company break boundaries and defy expectations in the internet generation in the same way it has done in our current successful generations up to the point we are now. As a company, I think it’s imperative we evolve with our consumers, adjacent with the times we live in; becoming stagnant in a time of such economic and cultural flux would render us on the side lines – which is not a place I want to be. I’d rather see us spearheading trends, customs and generational cultures in the future the way the Paul Ropp brand has been a noted trailblazer in the past.

Where do you see PR the brand in 10 years?

Hmm. I would like to see this company as a completely self-serving mechanism that is constantly evolving, with highly efficient feed back loops, people who believe in what they are doing, and who love what they do as much their founder did. I’d like to see the company only filled with people who believe in its vision, and strive to reinforce it; of course, while standing strong on the foundation my father has built. What this brand represents is our most powerful tool, I would like to see that translated into the leading cultures of society. We are far more than just another fashion label and I hope to see that education widespread. Given the fast pace our times are changing, I don’t know what this would look like externally, I only know what I could hope for in terms of the internal mechanism that is this machine of the Paul Ropp franchise.

Is there a perfect PR customer?

The perfect Paul Ropp customer is someone who is comfortable in their own skin. They are someone who knows what they want and goes for it regardless of trends, hearsay, social pressures or expectations. Someone who would rather spend their time feeling the breeze in their hair and the sun on their cheeks than listening to the click clack sound of a keyboard under their fingers or a recurrent pay check in their pocket. I think that absolutely anyone could be the perfect Paul Ropp customer if we they are able to break free from their self inflicted shackles that they blame on external sources. To me, Paul Ropp = freedom.

Is there one thing that your father told you as a youngster that has stuck

in your brain, or guided you in troubled times?

Is there one? There are plenty! My dad is my source of witty and wise mantras that play in my head on repeat like a pleasantly broken record. “I can, it’s done, what’s next”. “Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today, better and better in every way”. “Resolve and Dissolve”. And the list goes on and on and on. The question is how often I allow myself to zip the annoying little voice in my head and just agree and follow his wisdom. I wish it were more often than I could ever admit.

If you weren’t doing this what would you be doing?

If I wasn’t doing this I would be trying to get my Permanent Residency in British Columbia, trying to create a life for myself that wasn’t in the shadow of either of my parents. However, it also would mean that I would never have taken the step that really allowed me to reconnect with my family, to help my father, and to grow my own wings and drive my own path by his side.

However, one day, I would like to go back to school to do a Masters in something that has nothing to do with fashion – like criminal justice, forensic psychology, or a mix of the both.

Ok. Money or art?

Definitely art. I wish money never existed. Although, money can give me the life I want, art is so much more important. Life is art, and physical, emotional, and impermanent art is all around us we just have to choose to see it. Plus, dance was my first passion and when I was pursuing dance in Switzerland, it was another time I was ecstatically happy. Art is emotional, and it speaks to levels of consciousness far beyond monetary influence.

Rebel or conformist?

Rebel! Without a doubt, and without a cause :) I’m basically an anti-conformist.

Married or single?

Single. I think “marriage” is a piece of paper. Having a partner is far more important and valuable. This partner can be either platonic or romantic, but it’s having someone you can count on no matter what – isn’t that what a marriage is?

How would you like all your tomorrows to be?

I would like my tomorrows to be different each and every day because routine would be the death of me. I would like some to be better than others, because we would not know happiness without sadness, or success without struggle, or advantage without adversity. I want all my tomorrows to be a surprise and to, in the long run, bring fulfilment, diversity, and spontaneity to myself and those I love. Cheesy I know :) Furthermore, I would also like to see our COLLECTIVE tomorrows be led by our humanity rather than our individual greed or personal satisfaction. I’d like our collective tomorrows to be one that is less driven by fear than the one I expect to see in continuing with the current path we are on. I’d like to see a changed society, for the betterment of all, not a few. www.paulropp.com

members of the cloth

amanda Lestari’s star is rising, writes Ondy Sweeting.

Baduy is a remote place, strangely, it is just a few hours out of Jakarta in Banten province and is home of a protected indigenous Sudanese ethnic group that likes to weave. They live a traditional life and shun much of the outside world, westerners and technology. In Baduy Luar foreigners are not allowed to enter.

The inner villages of Baduy Dalam are protected from the greater world by the embracing ring of Baduy Luar. There is no phone signal and no electricity. Instead the inhabitants weave by hand in the silence. They weave their ancient culture, stories and right of passage lessons into geometrical shapes.

Fashion powerhouse Amanda Indah Lestari is the curator of a uniquely chic Indonesian style synthesized from the extraordinary woven fabric of Baduy. She has tailored it exquisitely into high fashion and London Fashion Week did not fail to grasp the otherness of LEKAT Di Hati’s apparel in April.

As a major fashion force, Amanda Lestari has her eye on the international prize and is once again preparing to take this local label global.

“I’m preparing for Paris Fashion Week’s showroom and then we will take LEKAT to New York Fashion Week. It’s my biggest challenge to organize every look for a collection. And I am doing that right now,” she said.

The traditional weavers that have inspired Amanda for so long relentlessly spin their magic over the designer who continues in her push to bring these rare textiles to the wider fashion world.

“There is a real urgency to enable traditional weavers in Indonesia to continue with their work but they must be connected to marketing pathways that give their work wider scope.

“LEKAT has significant support from key players in the global market to expand and develop the collections. This creates much greater impact when it comes to offering support to the people behind the products: the traditional weavers,” she said.

In fact, Lestari and LEKAT have worked closely with the Baduy tribe for the past three years and expect to spend at least another half decade with these unique and talented people.

“Working with the weavers from Baduy is such a pleasure.

Sheltered from outside influences, the tribe pours their appreciation of beauty and respect for culture through weaving their own textiles and to preserve the local traditions and cultures.

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The geometrical motifs also symbolize stages of life where an individual is formed through a series of ups and downs’, where endurance and passion will yield beautiful results.”

Over several collections Amanda Lestari has produced edgy fashion that integrates traditional textiles into contemporary designs that are practical while being statement making head spinners. LEKAT is fun and irreverent but its signature style is like Indonesia itself; all epic colours, ancient stories and legends, diverse cultures and oneness.

“My role here is to translate the tradition through my design innovations. How to make people feel more comfortable and look chic and iconic when they are wearing LEKAT, and to truly appreciate our own cultural heritage here in Indonesia,” she said.

Amanda Lestari has already moved offshore and explored other remote and unique destinations in pursuit of inspiration and collections include odes to the Mongolian tribes on the Central Asian Steppe and to the indigenous Peruvian people.

“I’m currently in the process of researching the style native to Jhodpur in India. I try to exercise my ability to look at the world around us and decode its meaning and relationship in order to communicate and narrate the value behind each LEKAT design,” said Amanda from her Jakarta studio.

Amanda started her LEKAT career in the accessories design room. In fact, while pouring over LEKAT’s online collection it is impossible not to notice the repeated appearance of a series of wonderfully chunky beaded neckpieces that accessorize regularly in different forms and colours throughout every collection.

“I think it is one of my favorite items after the apparel. It is something that is unique, edgy and of course it is comfortable when people wear it, and it can be useful in any occasion. The experiment was worth it,” she said.

Lovers of LEKAT Di Hati can look forward to seeing a ‘LEKAT home’ series that will transpose its fashion ideals onto domestic décor with accent and decorative stories for interiors.

There are no plans at present to develop more retail boutiques outside of the Jakarta flagship in the Kemang area.

However, LEKAT pieces are available online at www.lekatdihati. com

baduy bound.

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passion project.

66 photo: stephane sensey styling: MaiKhanh Bertrand hair/make up: Juno Silk shirt MKH Watch by Cartier Earrings EPA jewelry

people

farah quinn’s appeal reaches beyond her celebrated cooking shows as she works with the un to improve nutrition in indonesia. sarah douglas met with her as she tangoed in the kitchen with bali’s chris salans.

Ask yourself what do you really know about regional Indonesian food? The food of Sumatra? It’s likely that Padang food comes to mind. Indonesia’s homegrown celebrity chef, Farah Quinn, wants to change that, and judging from her past record she probably will.

Farah Quinn grew up in Sumatra. Her mother and grandmother were passionate cooks and it is here that she first learned. Although she travelled to America to study finance, before long she enrolled in a pastry course at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. In her early 20s she set up her own restaurant in Phoenix Arizona, which earned four stars, before returning to Indonesia, where she began working on TV. Quinn is now a celebrated chef and presenter in Indonesia and increasingly beyond. As well as her own products, a successful TV series and regular guest appearances, she is also the creator of the Indonesian menus for KLM and has worked with Air Asia. Her rise to fame is not so surprising when you meet her.

Aside from being a beauty, she is both charismatic and charming.

Her passions for the food she grew up with and raising the nutrition levels of local children is currently her focus. Tackling her first goal brings her to Spice kitchen in Ubud to share her local knowledge with Chris Salans, another celebrated chef, well known for his love of local ingredients.

“The Ubud Food Festival has given us a chance to work together on an event.

He’s interested in the dishes from Palembang and he will then add his own twists.

We’ve been friends a long time but haven’t worked together much, so I’m very excited about this event,” explains Farah from her Ubud villa.

“No one really knows much about the food of Palembang and there is a lot to know. Each of the areas of Sumatra has different influences in their cooking. In Aceh, the food is almost like Sri Lankan, and the food from Padang is already well known. In Palembang the influences range from Arab, Chinese and Malay. There is a lot of variety and depth that most people know very little about. I love having the chance to show people what it’s all about.”

Thus the scene is set for a kitchen tango with Chris Salans, the master chef who pioneered the use of local ingredients in European cooking. With Mozaic first, followed by his Spice restaurants, Chris Salans remains the most awarded chef in Bali. He is also increasingly well known for his work on Top Chef Indonesia as a judge and more recently on Ironchef where he took the top honours.

Farah Quinn is surprisingly approachable. She greets people warmly, remembers their names, speaks passionately about what she loves and looks fabulous pretty much all the time. You’d almost like to dislike her but she doesn’t make it easy, she’s friendly and genuine.

Nutrition is another concern of hers and her next project will be looking at educating families and schools about hygiene and nutrition. As a mother, her concerns are personal but she sees the current state of nutrition for children in this country getting worse not better.

“When I came back to Indonesia and started visiting schools and local communities, my impression is that things are getting worse. Processed food

is everywhere; artificially coloured and flavoured and loaded with MSG, and children aren’t growing up with a taste for good food. There’s very little focus on nutrition or hygiene and as a mother that concerns me personally and as an Indonesian I would like to help to improve the situation,” she explains.

“Like the Jamie Oliver of Indonesia, I ask?’

“Well kind of,” she says. “From babies, the kids are given this instant porridge that is loaded with MSG, sugar and flavours. They are addicted from a young age.

I was no different really, I loved instant mie as a kid, and sometimes still do, but I was lucky that my mother and grandmother cooked using natural ingredients and subtle flavours,” she explains.

One thing she isn’t shy about is her love of baking. This is where her career really began and she hasn’t lost the taste for sweets or her passion. After our interview we were attending dinner at Room4Dessert and after hearing about it she showed up at the event and ate through the whole menu of desserts, staying until long after the event was over.

The following day media and Ubud Food Festival guests were packed into Spice Restaurant for a lunch that introduced many of us to the food of Palembang for the first time.

A classic fishcake made from mackerel stuffed with tofu served in a broth is one of the region’s more famous dishes. This was served alongside a kari ayam, a classic Palembang curry with crispy potatoes and a curry espuma, courtesy of our residing chef Chris, I suspect.

A malbi daging was an earthy beef curry with a deep, dark sauce created with tamarind, kaffir lime and coriander. Slow cooked, the beef used was a local wagyu, so the meat was tender and tasty. Alongside a rice dish called nasi minyak Palembang, fried rice studded with raisins and cardamom, was served with a fiery pineapple sambal on the side.

For the uninitiated it was interesting, while the Indonesians at the table raved about it and dish after dish disappeared. The whole team at Spice got involved while the chefs, Salans and Quinn, served and cleared the tables, happily working together, chatting about the food and serving up a specially created cocktail flavoured with curry, it was different and refreshing.

Dessert was met with great applause. A classic sweet from the area, it featured a duck egg custard with sticky rice, fresh jackfruit and pandan ice cream.

Farah explains that despite her sweet tooth, she avoids processed sugar, opting instead for palm or coconut sugar. The dish is likely served very sweet normally but in this case the sweetness was restrained and the unique flavours were highlighted.

Quinn and Salans work well together. They are clearly friends and both have been instrumental in promoting the food of Indonesia and sharing their ideas and skills. It seems they have a lot to share with each other as well.

Moving forward with her next project to highlight the need to improve local nutrition education through schools has seen her meeting with UN officials and big business to get behind the move. Her high profile will no doubt help to get funding for what she sees as a priority to get children eating healthier and appreciating real food. It’s a heartfelt need to give back that is part of her appeal and enlisting the help of other high profile chefs like Chris Salans can only help.

Spice was opened by Chris Salans in Ubud in 2015. Spice Sanur opened last year and a new Spice in Seminyak will open this June on Jl Batu Belig. www.farahquinn.com www.spicebali.com

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passions

photographer and green school student reo palmer thrives on bali’s ability to activate true passion.

Reo, can you tell us a little about how you grew up, and what’s important to you?

The first years of my life were spent growing up in a small beach town in Australia. I moved here to Bali when I was seven and this is where I have lived most of my life. I feel my heart belongs to this island. What’s important to me is that my parents took this opportunity to move to Bali as it’s really shaped who I am as a person – If I wasn’t here I just wouldn’t have such huge international connections with friends and people, or speak different languages, and most importantly I wouldn’t have such an understanding of Bali.

It’s pretty clear from your photography that you have a tight group of friends in Bali, did you all grow up together?

I have a huge group of friends from all ages and nationalities. We call ourselves “Bali Kids” and that’s what people call us too. A lot of us come and go. We all share the same interests and have our own take on creativity and activism movements here.

What values do you think you share as a generation of Bali kids?

We are very conscious about respecting race, cultures and the environment. I and a group of friends have become activists and we use our social media to raise awareness. And a lot of us take on projects – for instance I have created a recycled silver line, with funds going to the HAKA Sumatran rainforest conservation NGO. When I took a trip to Borneo and witnessed the devastation of our rainforests I knew I had to do something. Please take a look! www. silverfortheforest.com I think values come from the respect we have for our nature and lands and that living in Indonesia we are constantly confronted with environmental issues, from plastic, to rainforest, to water, to infrastructure.

How much have those values and beliefs been shaped by the Green School?

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Moving to the Green School has been the best decision I have made in my life. The way they have grown and taught me to be the conscious and creative person that I am, and allowing me to take control of my high school education.

I would say it has been a great combination of self-motivation and compassion, and the Green School has been the best supporter and provider of information and resources.

When did you first pick up a camera and why?

I was 12 years old and I remember the day so clearly. My dad brought a new camera, so I tested it out and really enjoyed playing with it and got the hang of it pretty quickly. I walked around my kampung in Berawa taking pictures and when my dad scrolled through the photos he was really impressed with what he saw. He created a page on his Facebook account and named it “Eyes through a 12 year old” and I got some impressive comments. I remember how much enjoyment I got that day and I have kept it up ever since.

It seems that almost everyone is a photographer these days, what makes your work stand out do you think?

Photography is forever growing, but for me it is passion and authenticity that makes the difference. I like to shoot raw and rare moments. If I am doing travel and people photography I like to use my eye to either create awareness or capture true ways of life/living. If it’s fashion then I like to bring out the creativity on sets, designs and the way models work with me.

You’re a vegan – is that a reflection of your view of the world, or is it driven by a desire for better health … please share with us your reasons.

Veganism for me was is about limiting the suffering of animals. I started by researching and discovering the environmental issues and ethics behind the industries. I gained and fulfilled a true and deeper level of love in my heart for all injustices and knowing that I am not a contributor to any of that.

seeing the wood from the trees.

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passions

reo’s world.

Good health is also a big reason! Since becoming vegan I have learnt a lot of values through the self and the world we live in.

Bali has obviously had a powerful and positive effect on you, but do you think there are also dangers involved in growing up on this island?

I think wherever you live you need to make the right choices, and I think it really depends on the individual. As you know Bali, being a more care-free island . . . there’s a lot that slips through your fingers. But no matter where you are you need to be smart and respect the law and its people.

You’ve just been accepted to Raleigh International Trust to work with indigenous people in Borneo, can you tell us a little about that and what it means to you?

Raleigh International was a trip encouraged by Green School to explore the diversity of tribes and wildlife in Indonesia/Asia. I jumped on a plane solo to Borneo and lived in the jungle with just a knife, a backpack, no telephone, computers, just a camera, for five weeks and that was it. Living and working getting in touch with the indigenous lifestyle really. I helped build gravity fed water systems and trekked through the forest for 10 days, where we made home with our rucksacks and a hammock for sleeping. It was amazing.

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Learning how to survive and thrive on just the surroundings of nature and learning how important the rainforest is to these people and our planet fuels a strong fight for protection. I was so in touch with nature and was blown away by the living traditions and knowledge of the orang asli.

You’ve also just returned from a silent retreat we understand … can you tell us about that?

WOW! It was intense. I highly recommend a silent meditation to anyone.

Especially to reconnect with your true self.

Social media … a force for good or an ego-fuelling black hole? Discuss.

Oh, good question. It really depends how you use it. I would say personally it’s more of a force for good. I simply wouldn’t be where i am today without my social media. I truly believe that through social media I have inspired younger and older generations to become more conscious consumers and really have created awareness for sharing environmental issues. Same for my photography.

I get a lot of work through social media and connect with a lot of like-minded people too. But there’s definitely another side to it, and it can be like any sort of media, manipulating and fake. Be careful how you use it. www.reopfilm.com

outstanding in his field.

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landscape designer and horticulturalist anton clark brings balance and feeling to gardens all over the island. he spoke to stephanie mee. photo: arno santosa

people

Hi Anton, can you tell us a little bit about where you’re from and how you ended up in Bali?

I grew up in Perth, Western Australia, but I’m a farmer’s son, so I suppose the land and horticulture are in my genes. I was living in Margaret River landscaping winery gardens when the 2004 tsunami hit, so I left on a two-year volunteering stint to Aceh to help with rebuilding efforts. This led to other projects in Indonesia including building 650 houses in Jogya after the 2006 earthquake. Two years quickly led to three years, and before I knew it I had forgotten to go home. In 2008 I landed in Bali to start landscaping and the rest is Instagram history.

Did you always have a green thumb and an eye for design?

I wanted to be a chef, but then I realised the hours were anti-social and I would be stuck inside. My hobby and passion was gardening, so I chose to study horticulture and this naturally led to design. I love an ordered chaos, I love a random garden that has a hidden balance and position to it and I love the placement of all the plants that make a garden.

What’s special about your work here?

I love that fact that the “Bali landscape dream” is an ideal so many people all over the world want for their garden. I’m part of a creative and inspired team of Indonesian landscape architects and designers and it makes me proud that our ideas and designs are sought after.

What I’ve learned is that the main challenge is not climate related as you might expect, because a Bali concept garden can be created nearly anywhere. Rather it’s the challenge of working with landscapers and trades in other countries. I was in Sri Lanka recently trying to explain that Javanese Sukabumi stone can in fact stick to the walls of a pool and it has been done before and it is possible! We are lucky to have so many amazingly skilled people in Bali who can work with so many different materials.

How did the Bali Landscape Company (BLC) come about?

BLC started from my passion for landscape architecture. Prior to BLC I was in a partnership with a friend – the famous landscape designer Anto Kusnanto – and I wanted to move more into landscape design rather than only landscape construction. The detail of gardens and the ideas that begin in the sketch and drawing stage of the design have a special place in my heart, so this is why I founded BLC. We’ve been to some of the properties you’ve worked on and they’re pretty impressive. It must take a small army to create what you do. Can you tell us a bit about your team and how you work?

We are a team of 50 including nursery people, landscape constructors, landscape architects and support staff. Most of my team have been with me for over eight years, so I think they like what they do. Currently we have teams in Batam making a spa garden, in Bintan working on a site nursery on an island resort, in Lombok clearing an island for a new island landscape and additional teams in Uluwatu, Bedugul, Canggu and Seminyak. The design team is also working on projects in Malaysia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Bali and Lombok.

Where does your inspiration come from?

The land speaks to me in terms of contour, natural features, or elements that can be exploited to make the landscape interesting. Speaking with the client and what they want from the garden also inspires me.

One idea and a creative discussion can lead to a snowball of ideas that grows to form a new concept.

In your opinion, what makes for great landscape design?

Landscape to me is about plants and trees; the perfect form of an old frangipani trunk, a perfectly cut lawn, the smell of fresh compost.

Designers often forget plants and replace them with structure. A great landscape has balance, form and aesthetic, and it invites the user to want to enter and see the green. If a garden has balance and feeling, it will be great, even if it’s a small garden.

Are there any properties on Bali that you think stand out for their exceptional design?

I love big old gardens like at The Oberoi and The Legian with their spacious lawns, trees and botanicals. One favourite that’s new on the list is Suarga, in Padang Padang. I love the philosophy of the resort.

Every part – not only the garden – is environmentally focused from water harvesting to the waste water gardens, recycled wood and of course the garden, which only uses drought tolerant plants and species sympathetic to the resort philosophy.

What are some of the biggest mistakes people make when designing properties here?

I’m a horticulturist before a landscape designer, so the mistake I see regularly is the wrong plant in the wrong place. For example, plants that will not grow in shade, trees that will be too big in the position they are planted or unsuitable plants by the coast. The other big mistake is proportion. If the scale of the garden is wrong then the whole feel of the garden is not right. Even in ordered chaos the garden still must have harmony and scale.

Are you working on any exciting projects at the moment?

That’s a hard one as each and every project is exciting. Currently we’re working on a new cliff side resort in Nusa Penida. This will be the first major resort on the island, which means we have the opportunity to bring big landscape design to the island and hopefully play a part in the development of the tourism industry there, albeit with our garden touch. Maybe one day people will look back at the Nusa Penida Beach Resort landscape in the same way as they do The Oberoi and the Hyatt Sanur as one of the grand old gardens of the island.

When you’re not working, where would we most likely find you?

In a restaurant, eating. I love living in Seminyak with its many and varied restaurants, so I eat out every night. If I have a craving for Indonesian food I go to Ibu Kiris at Sukro in Denpasar for crabs, and I also love watching the sunset at Tandjung Sari and having dinner under the old trees. Otherwise I’m working or driving from project to project checking how the gardens are coming together and making small changes to the design. It is hard to be anywhere else when your job is your hobby.

Where do you hope to find yourself in 20 years?

Still in a Bali garden, I hope, between a few grand old trees. www.balilandscapecompany.com

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people sacha stone and friends have created NewEarth Haven BALI to explore creativity and self realisation in the hopes of improving our world, writes Stephanie Mee. photo: gaelin miriam larick.

For the past year, Ubudians of a certain mind-set have been whispering about NewEarth Haven Bali, an experiential space in the rice fields of Keliki where free-spirited people gather for ecstatic dance sessions, holistic healing workshops and short or longterm getaways in bio architecture eco domes designed specifically to increase vibrational energy.

Designed by former rock musician Sacha Stone, NewEarth Haven Bali aims to be more than just a gathering spot and accommodation option, but rather what Sacha calls, “a source code for a new kind of civilizational model”.

When Sacha first came across the NewEarth Haven Bali site 11 years ago, he knew that this was where he wanted to build a retreat.

However, being deeply committed to conscious living, he didn’t want to create just another cookie-cutter retreat, but rather a special space that would integrate with the natural environment, promote physical and mental well being, and be a community hub for his NewEarth Nation movement.

To bring his vision to life, Sacha teamed up with bio architect Juan Schlosser, and together they used principles of sacred geometry, feng shui and the patterns and systems that exist in nature to create harmonious living spaces that allow air, light and energy to flow freely.

Sacha says, “Bio architecture by definition feeds your DNA and life with affirmation. When you sleep in a bio resonant dwelling overnight and wake up in the morning, there’s a special fractality that comes in, as opposed to shitty little concrete bunkers with flickering mercury light bulbs that poison and calcify our pineal glands, entrap psychic energy, and make us sleep badly. I mean it’s insane the way we build places these days.

“If you want to engage in a blissful reality then you need to start with taking responsibility for your built environment. You need to look around you and say, ‘How do I want to live? Do I want to live in a fluid, feminised, affirmative environment that is lush and green and fractal and energised or do I want to go and buy some tin can and live that way but make a good saving on the side?”

Eschewing the tin can model, Sacha and Juan built Villa Akasha, the main dwelling with a separate geodesic dome, Akasha Restaurant with a shisha lounge, juice bar and pizza oven, the bio domes surrounded by working rice fields, and an organic

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permaculture garden to supply the restaurant with fresh ingredients for healthy plantbased cuisine.

With this infrastructure in place, NewEarth Haven Bali was officially born as the first ‘on-the-ground’ community hub for the NewEarth Project, an open platform that Sacha hopes will unite humanity in the shared goal of in ushering in a new era of planetary wellbeing, peace and prosperity.

He says, “In 2013 I began NewEarth Nation, which is a movement of sovereign, conscious people from all around the world who decide to step outside of the fiction of being a registered citizen to the state or the crown. Government by definition delivers war, disease and poverty. If you don’t want that as a reality, then change it by reverse engineering government and bringing it back to serve people and not to serve corporations. That’s what this is here – the first flagship experiment.

“NewEarth Haven Bali is a social ecology blueprint for the NewEarth metric and vision which we are seeding and proving in multiple locations around the world including Sweden, Ecuador, Sierra Leone and India. In the spirit of unity, the vision for this project is to create the space to bring like minds and hearts together to create tangible, sustainable and actionable solutions to the greatest challenges facing humanity.”

Sacha and his team at NewEarth Haven Bali hope that the space will be a grass roots hub where people sacha stone. can explore their creativity and self-realisation in a loving community environment.

“It was not set up as a commercial resort, but more as a place that has all the beauty and all the excellence that you would expect at a five-star resort, but it’s organic and connected more to people and community,” says Sacha. “If people out there wish to lean their flame in toward sovereignty, consciousness and creative expansion then you’ll find a very welcome family here.”

For those who wish to join the NewEarth Haven Bali community, they host a number of events every month including celebrations of music, dance and art, workshops with wisdom keepers and healers, discussion panels about science, arts, architecture and politics, yoga classes and more. The eco domes are also available as nightly bookings and timeshares, and Villa Akasha can be rented by the night. www.newearthhaven.com

artsake

Richard Wi n kleR

botero meets spies in richard winkler’s extraordinary vision of the balinese.

W o r d s: R i ch a r d H o r st m a n

this page: balinese man with a rooster, 2005. right: artist richard winkler.

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Although Swedish artist Richard Winkler’s creative development charts a course that isn’t unlike other artists who settle in Bali, he has, however, succeeded in doing what few foreigners in this country can do. Winkler’s paintings have created a niche within the large, yet competitive and nationalistic, Indonesian art world.

Within his sensual paintings Winkler creates a utopian Bali landscape. Set within fantastic tropical scenarios, his compositions feature figures, bulbous and distorted, that reflect the diverse nature of the human DNA that manifests in countless different body forms and sizes, from obese to beautiful, the vigorous to the unwell. They contain the extraordinary story of his own body, and the personal experience of having to cope with a rare bone disorder. From an early age painful boney growths continued to reappear on Winkler’s limbs, and he had to undergo regular surgery to have them removed.

The passage of time, however, granted him the wisdom to transcend the challenges faced in his formative years. “These experiences taught me to love and honour the physical vehicle in which I was born,” Winkler says. “They have inspired me, and have helped develop a resilient character. Because of this I have an enormously positive outlook on life,” and he continues, “I resonate with the abstract nature of my figures. Subconsciously a part of me springs forth, and in the studio my own unique creative process comes to life.”

The natural environment, both here in Bali, and where he grew up in Sweden, have left an eternal impression upon the artist. In 1995 Winkler first encountered the splendors of the equatorial zone. “While in Sri Lanka I discovered another world – the tropics. It was so beautiful, and unusual from anything else I had seen. The light and the colours were all so different, and amazing. I was stunned.”

In 1997 he relocated from Europe to Ubud, following his heart to be with his Indonesian love, Regine, who was his pen pal since their secondary school years. They rented a house overlooking the lush ravines of Campuhan, and in his studio Winkler set to work. Consequently his oeuvre began to evolve.

Icons of the local culture were depicted along with the figurative form, yet the new highlight was his interpretations of the rich tropical landscape.

Born in 1969 in Norrköping, Sweden, Winkler’s formal art education was at the Nyckelviken School of Art. He then studied graphic design and illustration at the Beckman’s School of Design in Stockholm, and for some years he worked as an illustrator for advertising and magazines. Life-model drawing classes were an essential for honing his sketching skills.

At a glance Winkler’s paintings are a fusion of subtle arcs, appearing as a ‘sea of curves’. His exaggerated human shapes with bulging backsides, torsos and limbs insight humour.

The opulent scenes pulse tranquil frequencies, as colour psychology nourishes the senses and mind. As metaphors for the omnipotent fertility of the universe, they are celebrations of the beauty of Bali.

“Art is a personal expression, emotional and instinctive, that I love to share. I believe you have to have a story in some form

to tell, whether it is something you are aware of, or from your subconscious mind. The audience does not necessarily need to know your story, but they do need to feel it, and connect with its emotions.”

“My artistic career has always been about expressing my private passions and experiences. I have always been searching for the beauty and harmony in the world, in nature, between man and nature, and in life itself. Art is all about truth and honesty,” Winkler says.

About 12 years ago Winkler decided to modify his concepts into three dimensional forms and initiated the process of experimentation and learning how to create sculptures. First he was to construct and “play” simplistic models, and from there his process grew. Soon he was forging impressive sculptures in bronze.

These are monumental reclining figures, some more than two meters in height. To achieve the perfect symmetries in his works requires patience and skill, so during the process he must continuously run his hands over the extremities of the models to identify and correct any imperfections he finds.

The models are then dismantled and transferred to a foundry, and reassembled for the liquid casting process, and next the finishing is done. Finally these characters are set in position, often appearing as if they have grown up and out through the earth, grounded and strong.

“My paintings were already very sculptural in a way, so it was a natural progression for me to transform my ideas into sculpture. I wanted to see how my figures would turn out in the three dimensional world.”

Reflecting upon artistic growth and maturity after living on Bali for 20 years Winkler says, “I believe that it is always the hunger to improve and achieve that drives you forward. The day when you feel completely satisfied and fulfilled, the game is over.

Patience and dedication are equally important in art, and in life.

Skills, knowledge and personality are not created overnight.”

Imagination is an extraordinary faculty when applied to a painting’s descriptions. It presents us freedoms from our experiential worlds, and openings to alternative realms close at hand. What we engage with when we ponder Winkler’s paintings is ‘distance’ – a sense of space, far from the here and now.

“My paintings offer reverence to the cycles of life, and life itself. To those who work hard without question, and accept their fate as it is, life and death, planting and harvesting. I pay homage to the humble ones. Yet I strive to create a window to dream away to a world which does not really exist, more than in our hearts, and minds.”

I often imagine an environment, or state of things in which everything is perfect, not too dissimilar to what Winkler creates.

What I wish for however, I wish for everyone else. For those who hold their own global vision of harmony, images of utopia are essential during these increasingly chaotic times.

artist richard.

www.richardwinkler.com

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artsake

above: pregnant woman, 2005. right: moonbathing, 2004.

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yak fashion Orange dress by The Prisoners of St Petersburg Headpiece by The Prisoners of St Petersburg Jewelry throughout by Farron Shoes worn throughout stylist’s own

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Photography: Lukas Vrtilek / luvr.cz Styling: The Ă– Hair: Steve Gibbs, Essensuals Hairdressing Bali Model: Rochana Johnson-May, Balistarz Make Up: Rosario Belmonte, Balistarz Special thanks for the location to Mexicola / Pande, & Ketut Sudiarta

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yak fashion White dress by Chloe Hat stylist’s own Sashes by The prisoners of St Petersburg

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Top and skirt stylist’s own Headwrap and bags by The Prisoners of St Petersburg.

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yak fashion Pants, shoes, hat, shirt stylist’s own.

Bag by The Prisoners of St Petersburg

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All clothing by The Prisoners of St Petersburg.

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yak fashion

Jumpsuit by The prisoners of St Petersburg. Headpiece by The Prisoners of St Petersburg.

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Hat by Vivienne westwood Dress by The prisoners of St petersburg

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yak fashion

shirt by Jared MelL“surfabily” headpiece stylists own scarf by The prisoners of St petersburg

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dress and head wraps by The prisoners of St petersburg

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feature

Big surf, crystal clear seas, fabulous retirement and roaring around on custom bikes lure people to Bali like bees to honey. But what happens when the sweet spot sours? Ondy Sweeting gets the heads up on a new health insurance solution that cuts through the double-dealing insurance fine print.

Health insurance may possibly be the least inspiring of all travel talk, but for those living in Bali it’s a hot topic.

The stream of social media posts begging money for the hapless, harmed and uninsured chronically fatigues expats and locals in Indonesia.

URGENT: Well known Canggu surfer Sage Longbottom had a horrific bike accident last Sunday. He is on life support at Siloam Hospital with serious head injuries. He needs get to Australia fast. We all know and love Sage and respect his work helping the beach dogs of Brawa. Please donate now so we can medi-vac him to Perth. Sage has no health insurance and his parents have no assets to sell. His partner Rizki and baby Jet are struggling. Please help.

Try to find a health insurance policy that is aligned to life in Indonesia and you’ll drown in the flotsam.

However, a team of long time expats and unofficial first responders to medical emergencies have developed a bespoke health insurance cover written for residents across the Indonesian archipelago but with global reach, apart from the medically mad USA. Meet the International Global Health (IGH), which is now approved for sale in Indonesia, worldwide and backed by Australia’s largest insurer QBE. According to IGH founder, Richard Flax, all policyholders can be treated in Australia and Singapore.

“We have established partnerships with more than 200 hospitals in Australia, more than a dozen in Singapore and over 500 hospitals across Indonesia. We have created a pathway through the usual restrictions of Australia’s healthcare system for policy-holders who are not Australian nationals,” Richard said.

That means if non-Australians get hurt, say canyoning in Java, diving in Raja Empat, hiking in Borneo or even having a heart attack over some fine wine at dinner in Ubud, you can choose to be evacuated to Australia for cash-free treatment in one of 235 partner hospitals. This is pretty awesome because this solution has no exemption for wild activities usually branded as ‘extreme sports’.

IGH has four plans that deliver different levels of cover internationally from the ‘bare bones’ Garnet policy designed for the young through to a five-star plan that includes pregnancy and stem cell therapy. All but the Garnet policy has US$ 1.75 million worth of medi-vac. However, the low-cost Garnet policy is capped at $200,000, which includes medi-vac. This is a mother-pleaser exclusively for the 18 to 29 year olds.

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“We also look after intrepid elders who want more than suburban leisure years. People up to 70 years old can join and once they have been accepted there is no cut off point at a certain age. Chronic care issues are covered,” Richard said.

Many insurance companies are infamous for exclusions, which are conditions and treatments that they won’t pay for. This includes refusal to pay for illnesses that existed before you bought the plan.

It’s the weasel word of ‘pre-existing conditions’. Older people usually have a lot. Kids even have them.

Say, you’ve been treated for migraine in Munich or Madrid some years ago and it looks like it may not come back. IGH is often prepared to cover it with the addition of a loading. After a certain period of time lapses without any problem – the length of time depends on the condition – the loading will be dropped.

“If a client pays the loading they are guaranteed cover even if the health issue returns. This is attractive because once you have been accepted the cover lasts for as long as the premiums are paid. Otherwise you are out in the cold,” said Richard.

While these policies cover the best medical essentials they also include alternative therapies. If you want your migraine treated with acupuncture, go ahead. IGH encourages the use of alternative therapies because the founders have a total of 100 years of experience in the medical industry here and understand that health care decisions are not always mainstream.

“We have written our own policy to suit our environment. I have never seen the same situation twice. A bike accident in Lovina is very different to a bike accident in Labuan Bajo. Basically, we just want to make everybody safer,” Richard said.

Already talk of a fit-for-purpose worldwide health insurance policy being launched in Bali has gained momentum and the company is being approached by businesses and expats.

Every jet set nomad – grey or green – should understand that disaster could quickly turn to catastrophe when accidents happen in foreign lands. The only way to reduce such devastating blows is to insure against them. www.internationalglobalhealth.com

just messing about, right?

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omnibus

Andrew E. Hall wanders off the beaten path and onto paths that won't be beaten. aliens on board. illustrations based on the photography of bruce Gilden www.brucegilden.com

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Where you from?

A ubiquitous identity question that some people answer without thinking about terribly much, except Southern Californians; who then presume you have several spare hours to listen to their entire life stories.

Once, during such an encounter at a notorious inn in Ubud I experimented with punching myself in the head to find out which was more torturous . . .

“Where you from?” is like “How’re things?” “How are you?” or “Wassup?”

People expect succinct responses such as “Okay,” “All good,” “Well, thanks,” or in the case of your average hipster, “Dope”.

What they don’t expect is: “I’ve just been diagnosed with antibioticresistant tuberculosis, so watch out if I sneeze or cough”.

SoCal re-joiner: “My great grandfather came from Earp in San Bernardino County and he had tuberculosis for 20 years and he used to trap beavers and make hats and . . .”

You’d be amazed how difficult it is to knock yourself unconscious.

Therapy anyone?

In these dark days of reinvigorated ultra-nationalism, unless you are speaking with someone from the village/town/city of your birth DO NOT answer the “Where you from?” question with Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Somalia, Syria or Yemen.

Lest you be leapt upon, shackled, and detained . . . if not worse.

You are all simply illegal “economic migrants” who want to take jobs and livelihoods away from the “good folk” of (insert your own bright, shiny, wealthy, “tolerant” western democracy in this space).

And please, please forget that, in most cases, the conflicts that you are fleeing were confected by the fiscally irresponsible, neo-colonialist, pseudo-ideologues who are building walls and concentration camps designed to keep you out.

Your identities are indelibly stamped with “terrorist”, while the captains of the arms industries (we’re not talking prosthetics here) and their economic and political backers are graced with the epithets of “citizen” and “employer” and “patriot”.

Apologies to Angela Merkel – you rock! Sorry, too, to the Greek and Italian people: your profound humanity for refugees and asylumseekers condemned to uncertain escapes on deadly seagoing craft is truly humbling.

National identities are shrinking into a peculiar deluded certainty.

Brexit; the Golden Guttersnipe’s grandiose North American ghetto; “Australia First!”

Marin Le Penn – and the Francophile über-nationalist movement – whose vainglory required (because the French popular majority wasn’t duped) that she relinquish the presidency of her National Front Party and run as an independent fascist French presidential candidate.

Best of luck to newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron and the people of France.

The Scots want to stay in the European Union and secede from the United Kingdom (read, England). I hope they do; they’ve already got a wall to keep the senile Sassenachs’ soporific somnambulance out – built by the minions of Roman emperor Hadrian about 1900 years ago.

And they’ve got bagpipes – a most fearsome weapon against anyone who would try to breach the barrier.

One I quite like, “Make America Great Britain Again” is a bit cheeky.

But, then again, the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants from Britain were the ones who enslaved African nations and exported their peoples to America and other imperial backwaters because: “It’s all about commerce and living the life that God intended for us, isn’t it old chap . . .”

To be honest, Britain isn’t really that “Great” these days. A bit frayed at the edges and desperate in its revisionist rhetoric, as personified by world-class wanker Nigel Farage, his loopy lackey Boris Johnson, and latterly, prime minister Theresa May. What we have in almost every case of democratic degradation is a hostile takeover by the doppelgangers of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, and the ghastly wraith of Ayn Rand.

It is all very well if you are a wealthy British citizen of Pakistani, Indian, Sikh ethnicity but for fuck’s sake don’t be a poor one because you are immediately suspect, and probably cheat at cricket.

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omnibus

On the plus side of the ledger, though, part of the national identity in the UK, Scandinavian countries, Canada and Australia and some European nations is a national health safety net accessible to all.

My niece and her boyfriend recently returned home to Australia, after travelling for some months in the USA, with a salutary tale that is both timely and frightening for the elderly, the ill, and those who cannot spend up to half of their income on insurance, now that US Congressional Republicans rejoice about repealing the most humanitarian health care legislation in America’s history.

The Jazz-man has dodgy tonsils and ended up in hospital there unable to speak or swallow. The medical staff scanned him a bit, bunged him on an antibiotic drip, looked after him in an entirely appropriate fashion, and upon discharging him after less than 24 hours in the facility, presented him with a bill for US$15,000!

That is a one, a five, a comma and three zeroes for those of you who question my numeracy and keyboard skills.

Lucky they had travel insurance. And lucky the insurance company in Australia is considering honouring Jazz-man’s claim.

I suggested my niece frame the bill. And look at it every time she considers voting in a federal election in which slashing funding of the Medicare system is mentioned by sycophants of the upwardly mobile.

A more gentle US identity is inscribed on a plaque inside the pedestal upon which the Statue of Liberty stands: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

The much-missed Lou Reed rewrote Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, New Colossus, slightly in Dirty Boulevard: “Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor I’ll piss on them, that’s what the Statue of Bigotry says . . .”

A sentiment echoed with smug enthusiasm, as a mantra, by far right governments in London’s Westminster and Australia’s capital, Canberra.

Indeed, in case you are one of those who would like to emigrate to Australia, I feel obliged to warn you that the par less pillock of a prime minister and his jailer-in-chief immigration minister have concocted a new test for you – the Australian Values Test.

Seriously!

With the luck of the Irish, I have purloined most of the answers you need to provide that will promote you to the next level of extreme vetting: I am a hypocrite I favour a fawning subservience to The Market and its corporatist hegemony I can rewrite history, including my own

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I will happily reject my cultural heritage and report anyone who looks suspicious The poor are an unbearable burden on honest taxpayers and should be consigned to the purgatory they so richly deserve I have unbridled enthusiasm for eating charred sausages in White Bread with tomato sauce (that would be “ketchup” for you Septics) A one-size-fits-all identity and nationality . . .

Where you from?

Are you draped in a flag?

Is it liberating?

At this point, with your permission, it might be pertinent to relate a personal story.

I was adopted by my mother (a school teacher) and father (a geologist and mining engineer) at the age of 10 days in the early 1960s in Western Australia. A fact that I was availed of in my earliest memories – not that I understood the concept at the time.

I do remember numerous references to the notion of “love”, which grew into a comprehension of the nature of love, and its borderless, bloodtie-less implications – not without a complex calculus as happens in any human relationship project.

My early years were spent with a motley crew of nationalities in Australian outback mining towns; with the people of Australia’s First Peoples – who at that time were not recognised as citizens of a country in which they laid rightful claim to an unbroken 60,000-year lineage. That recognition came when I was nearly seven.

I was pretty feral and colourblind.

We bounced around a lot – as was the lot of families in the mining industry in those days.

Ended up in England for a while . . . and then (for the longest period in “family home” terms while my sister and I were growing up) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Through the convolutions of cosmic connection and synchronicity I ended up spending considerable time – and remain the youngest foreigner to do so – with the Bedouin of the Asir district near the Yemen border. Cared for by the son of the last Palestinian mayor of Jerusalem and his German wife.

The Bedouin adopted me (again!) as their son, their brother. My name was Ibn Tony – the son of my father. And when my mother came to visit she was known as “Um Andrew” – the mother of Andrew . . . which really

identify crisis.

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pissed her off because she was brought up to exist in her own right.

Estate (and still do) began dismantling it brick by brick in the 1990s.

There were Sheikh Ali, Sheikh Zaid, Muhammad and his son Salem, the women Wathha, Northha, and the younger Bakhita and Noosha. Crazy Darfr and old Gublan.

Time to hit the road again.

My other family.

They were fierce, fiercely loyal, gentle and protective.

I was maybe 15.

I spoke their language and remember (some years later), while sitting under an infinite star-filled desert sky outside the camel-hair tent-home of whichever family was hosting the communal evening feast, trying to explain the moon – because it appeared massive on that evening – landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Their only comment was, “laish?” . . . “why?” “ ‫“ –” فرعأ ال‬I don’t know”, says I, not quite knowing how to try to explain a dick-measuring contest between the USA and USSR. After finishing my final school exams in Australia I headed straight back to the desert in Saudi and, at 17, started my first real job, on a drilling rig with a mining exploration company; in the heart of the country roamed by my desert people.

I stayed with them for a number of years, off and on, while exploring the Middle East with its extraordinary histories and cultures, and wonderful, welcoming peoples – in times when those peoples were untroubled by the horrors that awaited them in the decades to come.

The UK and Europe and on and on; I was a citizen of the world.

The Skinheads of the National Front infected the streets of London and we jeered them from behind police barriers as they marched and saluted through Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly. The emptiness of their grotesquely twisted rhetoric revealed in the only thing they really had to offer: wanton violence.

My first brush with the darkness of extreme nationalism was not to be my last.

After being scattered across the globe my little family – the four of us – reunited back in Australia. We all had many stories to tell and I decided that a career with the Fourth Estate – story-telling with intent – was a good way to fight back against the kind of bully I had encountered in England.

Indeed bombastic bullies of all stripes.

Worked well for a while until the corporate bullies who owned the Fourth

Bali was supposed to be a stopover with some think-music.

It turned into 18 years of crazy cool, with requisite forays and fascinations throughout the region.

Eighteen years in a village not far from where you sit . . . nothing on the island is; it’s just that the traffic’s crap.

More brothers and sisters gained and lost.

And an increasing subsuming of the unique Balinese identity (that I have been blessed to witness for more than 30 years) into an insidious commercialism that risks making it a pale parody of itself; existing only as an entertainment brand for the edification of those enamored of the selfie culture.

Sad. In concert with a growing religious nationalism, exemplified by the events surrounding the decision to incarcerate a former Jakarta governor, it is gut wrenching to ponder the possibility of the Republic retreating into an isolationist bubble run by ranters . . . who would promulgate a breeding programme for the ilk of the Bali bombers.

I’m back in Australia as we speak – sustained by the words that have always been my friends. And the music and mateship and love, which is as comforting as it gets in a world that is spinning on a wonky axis.

My little loving family has shrunk because we have a man down in a field.

But we have some young’uns who keep us on our toes, and the requisite familial extensions who are categorised by terms like aunty, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, that are spoken with the same gravitas and affection by those who are genetically similar and those who are not.

If you meet me on the road of life you can use the full extent of my first name or its contractions: Andy, Drew, Roo. I even answer to Jackson and Tiger, but that’s a war story as yet untold.

Some Balinese people call me Macan.

It doesn’t really matter, I know who I am.

Beware, though, if you are moved to ask me, “where you from?” because I might well be inclined to channel my inner Californian. * In memory of my father, H.I.E. (Tony) Hall – with every crystalline clink in a tumbler of spanking single malt, vivid memories return of us sitting on our tree stumps swapping yarns.

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oral pleasures Sundays were made for this.

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sundays with james The Yak sits down with Chef James Viles – he of Australia’s top eatery, Biota Dining – to talk peeves, Marco Pierre White and his link-up with Sunday’s Beach Club at The Ungasan Clifftop Resort.

Let’s cut to the basics of name, birthplace and errr… shoe size.

James Viles, born in Paddington (Sydney) and shoe size is 10. However, my right foot can go to a 10.5 … my mom tells me that’s normal!

First time to Bali was when? And who with?

It was on my own when I was a younger chef, I came for a job interview. I can remember it being so diverse and vibrant.

Irreplaceable memory of that first visit?

I think it was eating in a warung for the first time. A very real experience.

It was tasty though, I also remember the beautiful place that is Ubud.

What were you up to in life in general at that time?

I was a young chef, no commitments, no family and no wife. And definitely no business. I was eager for new things and to cement myself around another culture.

Cities you’ve lived-in and why?

They have all been for work. I have been cooking since I was 14 (so only 10 years, I wish). I’ve lived in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, Oman, Melbourne and Sydney. So many wonderful and cultural experiences that I believe have given me the tools I have today. I enjoy new experiences, we learn and develop every day with them.

When, who and what made you decide to expand the “James Viles” brand here on the island?

I holiday here every year with my family. I enjoy the dining scene and enjoy the people (it doesn’t have much to do with the weather at all). I met Steve [Cain, owner of The Ungasan] through my photographer. It was a natural fit that didn’t seem forced or contrived. This is important in business.

I’m sure I heard somewhere that men cannot multi task. Please breakdown for us what it is you are currently creating and / or involved with?

I’m sure I heard you need a hearing aid! We are currently developing the entire food and beverage offering at The Ungusan and Sundays.

We are also working on locating ingredients native to the lands in Bali and will work closely in order to showcase these on the menus. We have some special guest chef dinners coming up at The Ungusan, that also include a beach brunch the next morning.

Challenges of sourcing ingredients in Bali?

This is everything in life that’s worthwhile, if you want epic SH*&% you need epic people. I think we have some of the best people around us at The Ungusan, from Steve, the owner to Melissa, the GM. Their support is amazing. Ryan and Marthada, the guys that run the operation for me, are the real deal. They work with growers and suppliers on a daily basis. At Biota we have a zero import rule and zero waste management system that we work with. These two things are very important if we as a society would like longevity.

Name your top pet peeves.

My pet peeves are the word ‘can’t’ . . . find a way . . . and waste.

Don’t waste anything. It’s lazy, selfish and greedy.

What do you like about the products that you can get here?

I love the fruit, the leaves, the wild turmeric, the torch ginger growing wild on the side of the mountain road, the raw cacao pods, the bananas, the jackfruit . . . I’m not sure about the avocados, I’m still hunting those down, they are a must. I love the tuna. Like all ingredients, it’s about the supply chain logistics, how they are handled and kept before they arrive. This is what we are focussing on now.

Name your favourite herb.

Shiso. I love shiso, fresh and fried.

Whose dish do you love to recreate and what is it?

It’s winter now at home. I used to work for Marco Pierre White, and he used to make Pierre Hoffman’s pigs trotters stuffed with morels and truffles. So bloody good.

Shirtmaker, shoemaker, watchmaker. Name your chosen ones in that order…

I’m a pretty casual kind of guy. Assembly linen, Nike, Oris.

James, thanks for your time. We’ll be checking back with you to see what other plans are in the pipeline for you and Sundays and The Ungasan Clifftop Resort in Uluwatu. www.theungasan.com www.sundaysbeachclub.com

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oral pleasures

butcher’s club bali uses australian black angus beef to make the island’s most succulent burger ... sarah douglas sampled the goods – and then some. photos: lucky eight. is it lunchtime yet?

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I have a guilty secret; I love meat. One of my favourite stories was being ejected from a supermarket in North Carolina, for staring at the meat so long the security guard thought I was on drugs.

“Who looks at meat, that long? Y’all must be on drugs,” he said.

“I’m not on drugs, I’m from Australia,” I responded to the biggest, blackest man I have ever seen. I may as well have been speaking in Swahili, he was having none of it.

I’m fascinated with it. I can stare at it, check the marbling, the fat and endlessly create recipes in my head. As my children have moved out and have turned vegan, of all things, lingering memories of the smell of a fired up steak, lead me to seek one out every now and then.

So I came to be here, standing on the threshold of The Butcher’s Club in Bali. Lured by the knowledge that something I wanted lay within.

It may not surprise you to know, this is not my first visit. I’d eaten their burgers, which are fabulous if you like your meat juicy, dripping down your arm, piled high, almost too big to bite into and loaded with flavour. If not, you can stop reading now, you won’t like it.

I wasn’t here for the burgers this time, although it killed me not to eat one, but rather for their dry-aged steaks, a new feature to the menu, and a bit of a star in residence. Here’s where it gets interesting, for me anyway. Who’d be a vegan?

Master Butcher, of sorts, Gareth, realizes that the source of full on flavour and tenderness is in the aging process. Much of the meat we eat isn’t properly aged, for reasons of storage, time, economy etc. So this guy had the idea of buying a container, equipping it with a humidifier, loading it up with charcoal and putting it out back where he could dry age his own meat at an ideal 2 degrees. Genius.

I got to inspect his ingredients for the burgers, a mix of chuck, brisket and rump, which is ground daily, seasoned and packed into patties for the day. The meat for the burgers is aged a mere 7-10 days, but it’s enough. And it’s on display. I’m liking this a lot.

The menu has plenty of options for those who really don’t understand. There are seafood dishes, chicken burgers, salads, including a Caesar with kale (enough said about that). They have a seafood supplier who brings fresh barramundi, they have a keen way with sauces and dips and dressings. They have a kids menu, which might appeal to those who eat less, which some days is me. It offers mini burgers, fish and chips and spaghetti meatballs.

However, I’m not here for that.

The menu reads like a steakhouse player. There are four regular attractions, all are sourced from Australian Black Angus beef, dry-aged for a minimum of 30 days. There’s a 300g Angus

Ribeye, a striploin also at 300g, a rump weighing in at a mere 400 grams, and a heavenly-looking Rib chop, cooked on the bone and weighing in at 1kg. This is recommended for two people but some have been known to eat it all themselves.

They are blackened on a wood-fired grill, with a lick of salt and pepper, finished in the oven if required, served with fries and salad and a choice of sauces. These range from peppercorn jus, horseradish cream, beer mustard sauce and chimichhurri.

Being a modest eater I chose the ribeye and I thought I’d never eat it but hey, there was suddenly nothing left, bar a little bit of fat I’d ceded for the sake of my health. It was, as promised, perfectly seasoned and absolutely medium rare as I had ordered. The salad was simple and crisp, the jus tasted home-made, no packet mix here, and I can smell it a mile away, and the fries were chunky and crunchy – though I didn’t eat them, health and all to consider!

The Butchers Club got off to a shaky start. With four successful burger bars in Hong Kong under their belt, the initial prices were a little beyond the market. They brought them down, they included the fries and salad and they set out to offer great quality and consistency at the best price. I give them kudos for working hard to get this absolutely right.

Gareth came for a few months to set it up, that was 18 months ago and he doesn’t look like going anywhere.

Four more Butcher’s Clubs are planned to open in China in the next 12 months and they are looking at a site in Jakarta as well. I guess they figure if you can get it right in Bali, you can do it anywhere.

I’m a little impatient though as I haven’t got to the best part yet. After watching a man demolish their biggest burger, the Double Happiness; double patties, double cheese, double bacon and salad jammed between two grilled cheese sandwiches (or their signature buns in this case), I congratulated him and then went to tour the container.

Truth be told it isn’t quite the same as staring in the window of a Butcher Shop – there’s a lot of distractions in there, but nevertheless the beasts looked dark, red, dry and ready for a little heat.

Satisfied that I’d found a kind of personal nirvana, I could move on, well slowly – that steak was big enough for two. The Butchers Club has worked it out. They deliver flavor, delicious flavor, it’s consistent, the price is right and there’s a little novelty for those who take their meat seriously.

That would be me, meat-loving Australian, not on drugs! www.thebutchers.club

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oral pleasures sarah douglas meets the chef behind restaurant grow, offering Modern Gastronomy without the airs and graces. portrait: saskia koerner.

private ryan.

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Ryan Clift is a chef with very definite ideas. He’s also a force to be reckoned with, transforming, recreating and transforming and recreating the dining experience into an immersion in flavour, texture, scents . . . creating dining experiences without whimsy that are serious fun.

Clift has eaten with some of the best, and cooked with many of them as well. Having the chance to open his own restaurant in Singapore, The Tippling Club, brought all his experiences into sharp focus and now the man is unstoppable.

Picture a bar where there is no menu, instead a collection of scented sticks are presented, each with a flavour that sparks a memory. You choose your cocktail based on the scent that gives you the greatest joy. This is not a science fiction movie, this is Sensorium, part of the bar experience at Tippling Club.

With a research and development kitchen above the restaurant that allows him and his team of chefs to create intense flavours that begin with a single ingredient, months of work go into every element. In the case of Sensorium, even longer . . . but this is only the beginning.

His latest venture, Grow, in Bali, is a culmination of all that he has learned, pared down to a simpler dining experience that uses only local ingredients and aims to make fine dining more accessible with realistic prices.

A conversation with Clift is like sitting in a windstorm, you emerge exhilarated and exhausted but far wiser and often hungry for more.

So Ryan, how did it begin for you?

I worked with some amazing chefs, many of them using modern techniques.

Then I got to dine at El Bulli. My first dinner there left me sleepless and floating.

I could not believe what had just happened. By the third time I ate there, they knew who I was and where I worked, so I got an invitation to the chef’s table in the kitchen. Here you get an extra 10 courses, added to the 40+ courses served in the dining room. I started to realize how genius it was; essentially simple dishes, much of it prepared in advance; the way they kept up the momentum and the build up of flavours, the tiny plates that kept coming, it was incredible.

Three hours passes in no time at all, and all you know is that you have been on an incredible journey that begins and ends with flavour. Great ingredients that have been intensified and perfectly balanced, one after the other, and I thought, I can do this. You don’t get full, everything is calculated and it seems so simple on the plate.

What do you call your cooking style?

At Tippling Club the food is really Modern European but I use a lot of Japanese ingredients and techniques. I love their attention to detail; how they farm, grow and handle the ingredients. I get a box of tomatoes from Japan and they are wrapped in tissue and marked with the farmer’s name. They are outrageously expensive but careful handling can raise the taste of a single wedge of tomato to intense flavour proportions and you only need a little.

I serve it with wagyu that is simply prepared (also from a specific region of Japan), and the dish is perfect. The diner has no idea of what takes place or the months of planning involved, they get a fairly simple plate with fantastic flavour.

Your Tippling Club logo has a very specific meaning?

The logo is based on the train of thought and the process each ingredient goes through. The team has three months to create 18 new dishes. I will give them a list of ingredients: milk, beef, foie gras, carrot etc and then they start to list all the possible flavour combinations. Then the different techniques we can

use on each ingredient: poach, dehydrate, sous vide, caramelize. Three chefs will read, test, experiment, and then I come in and we test the possible flavour combinations and complimentary textures and play with the plating of the final dish. Those three chefs then go back to the kitchen and it’s their job to teach the staff to prepare it, while another three chefs go into the lab to begin the process with another list of ingredients. The process is reflected in the logo and is an important part of our research and development for each dish.

Where does GROW fit in?

I love being in Bali, I’m much more creative here. Grow is a lot more like my other restaurant in Singapore (he has four), Open Farm Community, where all the ingredients are local. Here the ingredients are different and I am loving the discovery part, finding new ingredients, working with farmers and fishermen.

Similar to Tippling Club, each item on the menu starts with a single ingredient, or flavour. Then we build. The kitchen, run by Italian, Daniele Taddeo has picked up the techniques really quickly, so now we can start to add new equipment, start to play more with the flavour profiles and the techniques. At Grow I call our style Bistronomy, it’s fine dining without the price tag.

What’s new on your menu?

There are a few things I’m playing with. Once I believed that a sweet course in the middle of the meal gave the palette a break. Now I am using a lot more vegetables. Cooked to accentuate their sweetness, so the mind says I’m eating vegetables but there’s a sweetness that is completely natural, just intensified.

I am also cutting back on salt, instead I have discovered an ancient Japanese ingredient called shiokoji, which grows on rice. It is almost like a natural MSG, it is so intense, you don’t need salt, it’s genius. I’ve also discovered an ingredient I call white truffle, it grows in young coconuts that have fallen off the tree. It’s local to Bali but most locals have never heard of it. I get excited about this kind of stuff. It’s nature and it’s next level.

You have a book coming out?

It is actually two books. The art of food and drink. They go together and the Tippling Club logo is part of how it works, matching the drinks to the food.

Chefs, and especially young chefs, will buy it. They can learn a lot from it, about building flavours, about matching flavours, what works with what. About different techniques you can use. It’s almost 10 years in the making and we’re finally ready to go. There are also stories about me, about the process, about how we run the research and development. There is a timeline in there for chefs to create their own recipes. They can load it up to my website with their name recorded and it will be theirs forever. I do a lot of lectures and interviews, I think chefs should share, it’s the best way for the industry to grow. I hate plagiarism though, so I want to give credit where it’s due and have original recipes signed and recorded.

How do you see Bali’s restaurant scene, with so many new openings, is there room for everyone?

Bali is becoming a food destination, with so many great chefs coming to Bali to open new restaurants, there is a big push on Bali becoming a food destination.

Not all will survive but the environment now is very exciting and it’s also working for local farmers and fishermen, who are working with chefs to create a supply of amazing ingredients that are local, sustainable and affordable. The food scene here is really creative right now and that’s inspiring us all to do it better.

www. growbali.com 109

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oral pleasures

Savage Kitchen is a gourmet café by day . . . but by night it has all the light and shade of fine dining without the price tag, or the fussiness. bravo, says sarah douglas.

michelin standard goodness.

Don’t you love it when life throws you a curve ball, especially if it turns out to be a fabulous surprise? Turn a corner and come across a street party, look left and find some amazing graffiti, happiness is really about a series of small things.

This is what happened when I went to visit Savage Kitchen in Canggu and came across a delightful Frenchman who has been transplanted from one of the most famous Paris kitchens to take over Savage Kitchen’s bistro, located behind the well known Savage Kitchen. Who knew it was there? I didn’t.

Antoine Ferrier is the chef. He oversees the Savage House, so both arms of the restaurant. Savage Kitchen at the front is bright and breezy, famous for their self-styled combos of protein + salad + sides and a delicious café menu, it’s healthy, delicious and popular.

At the back is a different story. A sleek restaurant space, decked out with long tables, low sofas, with a cowhide wall, wood, cement and bamboo pendant lights, it’s a beautiful air-conditioned dining room.

Chef Antoine was called to work here from Guy Martin’s 2-Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Grand Vefour. Having spent a lot of time in Bali, a good friend of the owners of Savage, he decided it was time.

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If Savage Kitchen is a gourmet café by day, by night it has all the light and shade of fine dining without the price tag, or the fussiness. There are some tempting sharing options on the menu that include a 3kg leg of lamb, a rib of beef, an organic chicken flavoured with lemongrass and a whole roasted fish.

“We aren’t in Seminyak so we have to be more conscious of the price. I want to keep the dishes affordable when I can,” explains the Frenchman. He’s not holding back on flavour though, there were a lot of things on the one page menu I wanted to try.

As it was late afternoon and I hadn’t really come to eat, I was convinced to sample one dish; a smoked butterfish with lotus chips, a citrus caramel and an avocado puree, I could see why he had suggested it.

Butterfish is a very fatty fish, which is why it is so full of flavour. The fish had been smoked and then warmed with a torch. The lotus chips provided a beautiful textural element and the bright green avocado puree together with the citrus caramel was sublime and yet intense. The plate was a picture in the making. Instagram here I come.

Striving to maintain a clear identity in a market where new restaurants open so frequently is uppermost in Chef Antoine’s mind.

“You must have a very clear identity to stand out when new restaurants are

oral pleasures

chef antoine.

opening all the time. I have to ensure that my diners are happy as well. I have to include some vegan dishes, even though I am not a vegan. It is my job to be creative with those dishes, to make sure my vegan customers have a great experience.”

His menu features a tofu steak flavoured with sesame that he says is delicious.

I’ll take his word for it. I’m not a vegan either, (see The Butcher’s Club review in this edition).

He’s launching a new menu that will have a risotto for vegans that really does sound delicious. Made with arborio rice, asparagus three ways, vegan stock, cashews and capers, vegans will no doubt find this a winning dish. A vegan main course is also always on the menu, both out front and in the back.

With that out of the way, we go on to discuss the finer things in life. There is an absolute French pedigree running through this menu and currently he is working on a new entrée that comes straight off the pages of Le Grand Vefour’s menu; a raviole with foie gras. Now you’re talking my language.

“I don’t want to pretend this is my dish, it is absolutely not. I give credit where it belongs,” he explains.

He is amazingly humble for someone who has come from an haute cuisine background. Clearly the man takes a lot of time over his sauces, his technique and his ingredients, all of which makes for something a little different for Canggu, where smashed avo and smoothies reign. Luckily they have all that and more at the front.

Antoine has been based here for eight months, although he has a home in Bali and has been visiting for years. That this restaurant is still not well known is surprising considering the quality of cooking. I could have stayed hours talking

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about food. The passion in the menu and on the plate is clearly there.

Being creative is part of his process, and part of steering the identity of Savage Kitchen’s homage to bistronomy to claim its place as a destination for lovers of French food. “I don’t follow the rules but as a chef it is my job to find creative ways to express the menu and create an identity for the restaurant.”

Despite it being late afternoon, the terrace outside is still busy with people pulling up on bikes to enjoy afternoon tea, a late lunch or early dinner. Savage Kitchen does a wild food concept by day, with a focus on healthy offerings, that also offers meat options, like the pulled pork burger, steak, fish and chicken alongside their vegetarian and vegan options. Delicious home-made desserts feature as well; some raw, some vegan, some just good. It’s a creative take on café food. Out back is a different story.

The long table in the restaurant space is made for sharing some of the larger dishes on his menu and I can’t wait to go back and try the lamb, the chicken with the twice-cooked bone broth that is injected into the roasted bird at the table, and definitely the raviole foie gras.

I will also have to try his crème brulee that he flavours with tonka beans, a bean which has a subtle flavour with notes of vanilla and almond, that he has delivered to him from France.

Running a day and night concept can be a challenge for some, but with the experience Chef Antoine brings to the table, I feel it is a mission accomplished. www.thesavagekitchen.com

constant wining

HATTEN ’ S HEA R T When two worlds collide and time honoured European traditions take root in Indonesia, interesting things emerge. Hatten Wines is Bali’s native viticulture pioneer and major player in the Asian world.

Ondy Sweeting observes the bloom of a Bali trailblazer.

The Asian Wine Review has awarded Hatten Wines its highest and most coveted honour of Winery of the Year 2017. This is no small achievement given the competition from eight other Asian nations, 100 wineries offering 300 wines.

This Bali born-business has come a long way from its inception in 1968 when the island could not have been more laid-back and beautiful. Stunning sandy beaches ringed island and Sanur was the go-to holiday destination for Sophia Loren and the glamour pusses of the time. Only a clutch of rarified surf adventurers and the locals knew Kuta. In 1968 President Suharto was formally elected and brought peace to the islands that had been in a disastrous state of chaos.

If ever there was a time when a person needed a drink, it was then. The Budarsa family of Sanur started making rice wine – or brem – and the iconic anise-flavoured spirit, arak. It was a move from which the family has never looked back.

“I never thought we would become this big,” said scion of path maker of Hatten Wines, Ida Bagus Rai Budarsa (Rai).

And big it has become with a strong presence in Indonesia’s tourist hot spots from Canggu to Labuan Bajo in Flores. Foreign Embassies and international trade delegations regularly dine in the bespoke private restaurant of the company’s stunning head office in Sanur.

“It is a big business and a big responsibility but there is no way to go but forward,” says Rai, who worked in the family company from when it was a single shed that was the rice wine factory, sales office, storage unit and office adjoining the family home in Sanur.

As a pioneer, Rai Budarsa came up with the brilliant idea of bringing quality grape juice from the vineyards of South Australia to create a locally made wine that became Two Islands in 2007.

“We actually started the brand for the Jakarta market because people there love to drink imported wine.

“At the time a team went to Australia and started trials in South Australia using the Balinese methods of wine making but in very small quantities and we immediately bought it.

“We sold the Two Islands brand to Jakarta and it was very successful. It grew organically and now Bali is our biggest market for the Chardonnay. We provide wine to the Bali, Lombok and Flores tourist markets and the local market in Jakarta. More and more Indonesians are drinking wine and we have a lot of people from Badung in East Java and from Jakarta coming to buy from our cellar door,” he said.

Two Islands Reserve: superb.

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constant wining

the sanur hq is a destination in itself.

In Bali alone, Hatten and Two Islands brands can be found in 1,800 resorts, hotels and restaurants plus 125 retail outlets.

Hatten is a well-known sponsor of important cultural events including the Ubud Writers’ Festival and The Sanur Festival and it is a big player among food and wine exhibitions throughout Asia.

“We collaborate with many suppliers of fine foods. We will do lunch with food and wine pairing at our private restaurant. We brought in an expert chef in Chinese dining, which we paired with our wines and invited hotels who have Chinese guests to join us,” Rai said.

The group has a well-established education program operating out of The Wine Room where classes range from amateur wine appreciation through to wine list efficiency management, sommelier classes, plus cooking and wine pairing training.

Grapes and their processing into quaffable wine is a serious business at Hatten.

While Two Islands is made from the juice of South Australian grapes, nothing is left to chance from the farming stages.

“We are involved in quality control from the beginning with our team

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going to our farmers in South Australia before the harvest to ensure that the grapes are what we want,” said Rai. Hatten winemakers are all Indonesian born but European educated.

“Research and development is important to us so we are constantly improving the quality of our grapes that grow at our Singaraja farms. We are not about simply maintaining the quality but rather improving it,” he said.

The brand is planning to expand into tourism and start offering wine experiences that begin in the Hatten vineyards in northern Bali and end at the dining table in the private dining room at the Sanur HQ. The Sanur HQ is an interesting destination in its own right with its wine palette inspired architect – the interiors and furniture are largely hewn from the wood of old palettes – through to the lifestyle boutique that is full of goodies for the wine buff, and The Wine Room school. But most intriguingly is the ancient museum piece press that is a relic from the original factory shed in Sanur nearly five decades ago. What a long way they have come. www.hattenwines.com

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brothers in arms

sarah douglas meets jordie and pablo of the good food brotherhood to talk family, food and having fun in business. photo: saskia koerner.

all for one.

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The past, present and future melted together with the opening of Watercress Café in 2012.

Jordie Strybos and Pablo Fourcard grew up together in Byron Bay. Both from families that embraced food, professionally and at home, they went to school together, wooed the girls as teenagers with their cooking skills and eventually made Bali their home. The Good Food Brotherhood is the result.

“We basically put a name to something that was there forever,” explains Pablo as we sit together in their Berawa Café, the gorgeous Milk and Madu.

Pablo spent a lot of time in Bali growing up, his mother created some of the earliest restaurants on the island including the famous Krakatoa Café, a lifeline for early expats.

“I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and suddenly everything came together, it was the perfect time to do Watercress. Jordie had just sold his business in Byron Bay and came to visit Bali. After some deliberating we decided to go ahead with it and it’s continued to grow since then. “

can be a good thing,” they explain.

They’re also avid foodies themselves. Both cook and when they start a new venture, they research it first. This, they explain, is the fun part.

“When we decided to add pizzas to the Milk and Madu menu, we went to Italy.

When we decided to open Bangkok Hustle, Pablo and Josh went to study Thai cooking in Bangkok for a week. We get to do what we love and call it business, “ laughs Jordie.

Jordie is also involved with an eco-retreat in the Solomon Islands, Driftwood Lodge.

On their last trip they toured the local markets looking at fresh ingredients for the menus of the resort.

The Good Food Brotherhood is now crossing borders and having the time of their lives. Providing meals and consulting on the menus for the luxury charter yacht, Rascal, is another venture that sprang from the kitchens of Watercress and undoubtedly more will come. Also on the books is the Better Juice lab, which will be an extension of their cafes.

Watercress Café, with their famous lunch showcase, opened in 2012. Almost every year since the ‘brothers’ have opened something new. Milk and Madu opened in 2014 followed by Watercress Ubud in 2015. Another Milk and Madu is due to open in Ubud in July. 2016 saw three new openings; the pop ups Bangkok Hustle and Schmurger Burger at Berawa Kitchen, along with Ulekan, their homage to the food of Indonesia.

“If we can think of it, we can do it,” they laugh. “Our lives are all about what we love to do, food is in our blood. We also give our staff great autonomy and they respond really well to that, which gives us time to focus on what we enjoy.”

“We are lucky that we never felt boxed in, we did it our way. Everything we’ve done is an expression of the food we love, the culture we grew up with, the hospitality that has always been a part of our lives,” Pablo continues.

“There’s a bit of a stigma around Indonesian food. There’s a perception that many local restaurants lack proper hygiene or it’s loaded with MSG. We wanted to elevate the experience for people with better quality ingredients in a nice setting, yet still based on authentic recipes,” they explain.

Another Byron boy joined the Brotherhood in 2015 when Josh Job took on the role of Executive Chef. All in their mid 30s, married with kids, they form a community of their own and the businesses are a natural extension of that sense of family.

“We’re at a place where if we want to do something, we just do it. We love the creativity, the challenges, and we have a lot of fun,” Pablo laughs.

Being conscientious in their business extends to their staff, who now number around 250, as well as the food they serve and their business philosophy.

“We introduced a five-day week for our team, yet we still pay them for six. As people, we value time with our families and time off and we’ve noticed a significant change in attitude and productivity. There’s no plastic used in any of our businesses, we don’t use palm oil or msg, our deliveries come in crates not plastic. We’re conscious in what we do. They’re small things which matter to us and we hope we can be an example to others,” they explain.

Being together much of the time could be a challenge but these two spend a lot of time with each other, clearly enjoy each other’s company and they celebrate their differences.

“We are different people, our personalities are quite different but we understand each other so well. We sometimes come from two directions on something but that

Ulekan grew out of their shared passion for local food, as they often find themselves craving it when they’re on the road.

Close as brothers, with a shared history and love of food, these guys are enjoying life.

Both Jordie and Pablo’s wives are involved in the business and their children are a natural part of the community they have created.

“We work, eat and play in our business. We’re a young team and we’re having a great time. Our wives play a huge part in this and in realizing our dreams. Without Candice and Paz and their support, it wouldn’t be possible. Having them involved is a big part of the success we enjoy,” says Jordie.

Their philosophy is simple. Firstly, the food has to be delicious. The culture of each of their cafes comes naturally. It has to be fun, excellent quality, healthy and a place they themselves would love to hang out in.

They are their own target audience. They’re riding the wave right now and changing the game in their own small way. Right now the Brotherhood has never been stronger and in a sense they are repeating history, as their own children grow up together, share experiences, enjoy generous hospitality and celebrate food. Perhaps the Good Food Brotherhood may well extend to generations.

www.goodfoodbrotherhood.com

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oral pleasures

Ondy Sweeting heads to the anvaya beach resort to sample true local fare at restaurant kunyit. photos: lucky 8.

try the megibung. RIGHT, laksa-like heaven.

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Tuban is blessed with an exquisite beach, a village atmosphere and a sensational restaurant when getting down and delving into the world of Balinese cuisine.

Placed at the street front of the beautifully renovated Anvaya Beach Resort, Kunyit restaurant is the place to explore the wonderful world of Indonesian – Balinese specifically – cuisine.

As an open-air choice, Kunyit has a mellow vibe, a central sunken bar and many tables with a premium position for people watching, perched just enough above the street to remain anonymous. Candles twinkle in the nightlight and the tropical breeze flows through the lush gardens.

There are no chilled hand towels on arrival. Rather, Kunyit delivers a hand washing ritual usually found only in a day spa. Fragrant lemon grass oil infused water is poured from a hand-crafted earthenware kettle over your hands and into a perfectly placed wooden bowl, then towel dried. The perfume is heady and divine and a clear sign of what is set to come.

Opulent traditional dining is the theme of Kunyit beginning with the Bali Aga – the island’s indigenous people – moving on to the Hindu Bali and more contemporary cooking that reflects the fusion of global Indonesia.

Expect a sensory experience that starts with a herbal ‘welcome’ drink that is loloh cemcem – blended of Cemcem leaves, palm sugar, tamarind.

It actually feels like it is good for you.

Expert staff talk through the menu and explain the dishes that will pique your interest. The advice was singing for the megibung – a chef’s speciality.

In fact, it descended from Eastern Bali where less than a century ago the royal family of Karangasem would trot out their very best dining choices for visiting dignitaries from Europe, Java and Lombok.

And what a stroll through history this amazing feast of many dishes is, beginning with Balinese rice crackers and sambals from the fiery to the lusciously simple. Then comes a large platter bearing culinary treats from across the island in true royal form. This is no upscaled version of the daily delicacy of nasi campur where a mound of rice is surrounded by a spoonful or two of meat dishes, curries, tofu and veggies.

This is the bomb when it comes to sampling true Balinese flavours.

Skewered succulent prawns with a hint of clove, organic chicken satay in a rich peanut sauce, the spectacular chicken betutu and a traditional fish curry plus the crunchy lawar – a mix of green beans and sprouts plus seasonal vegetables lightly dressed with shaved coconut and chili – lead the way.

There will be white local fish minced with secret spices and wrapped around a stick of sugar cane then fired, to add flavor, or wrapped and cooked in banana leaves.

Slow cooked crispy duck stuffed with local vegetables and spices are a sumptuous addition and the sensuous flavours of the wonderful water spinach – or kang kung – that is paired with garlic, eschallot and chili coupled with its opiate-like quality that will relax any diner down. Then there is the pork belly.

The Balinese have a way with pork that commands an audience. Either stuffed with exotic spices and herbs like the traditional roast pork dish of ‘Babi Guling’ or slow cooked pig with crackling skin and succulent meat. This small but outlandish part of the megibung was reordered. Twice.

The royal feast continues with sacred rice – both are local, organic, red and white from the Bali hills – through to desserts of fresh tropical fruit and traditional jellies that are slightly sweet and sprinkled with fine, fresh coconut.

Megibung is demonstrably connected to seasonal availabilities – which is why it’s so good. So expect what is at its finest and most delicious.

The wait staff is clearly up to speed with the kitchen and will happily guide the novice or expert through this unique menu. It can be a fabulous learning experience or simply a great dining moment. The options are there.

Kunyit has a well thought out series of handcrafted cocktails that take their inspiration from local Balinese flavours to honour the rare seasoning of the dishes that are delicacies for the 4.2 million Balinese worldwide plus its wide following of unique cuisine hunters. But not without a cool cocktail.

Kunyit has six signature cocktails curated to match the menu.

A meeting of bumbu Bali – or local spices – is a collision with a classic martini plus wild spice that compliments the many dishes.

Another wonder is the match of ancient additives like nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and lemon grass with top shelf spirits to create a contemporary cocktail that is light and incredibly fragrant.

Kunyit is a chic contemporary space that brings ancient dining traditions to join with conclusively modern mores without missing a beat. www.santika.com/id/indonesia/kuta/anvaya-beach-resorts-bali

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big six

sarah douglas visits six of bali’s best cooking classes.

Bumbu Bali First he taught himself to cook the authentic Balinese dishes his local chefs ate at home and then he went on to teach others. Heinz von Holzen was Executive Chef at Grand Hyatt Bali when he realized that there were no local dishes on the menu. His chefs were surprised by his interest and many said they never cooked themselves at home. He went on a journey of discovery, which led to publishing cookbooks, adding Balinese dishes to hotel and resort menus and eventually to Bumbu Cooking School, which opened in 1997. Classes are held three times a week and start early in the morning at Jimbaran markets. Learning about the local ingredients is key to mastering Balinese cooking. Then to the famous seafood markets in Jimbaran, before heading back to the classroom for a traditional breakfast. Bumbu Bali’s kitchen is as close to authentic as you will find, even the utensils are the same. Guests don black and white aprons and learn hands-on how to create the classic dishes of Bali. The classes end with lunch, when participants get to taste the food they have created, with a little help from the local chefs. For 10 years, Heinz and his cooks have been running these classes and tours, it’s a fabulous way to learn about the culture as well as the food. Special classes can be arranged in advance and often Heinz himself will be your guide.

Tel: 0361 774 502 www.balifoods.com Yak Map. N.5 Casa Luna Cooking School Here is another cook and writer who immersed herself in the food of Bali. Janet De Neefe lives the life; married to a Balinese, a part of the local community, owner of numerous restaurants and guesthouses, she is also an author, pioneer of Ubud Writer’s and Reader’s Festival and the Ubud Food Festival. She still finds time to share her passion for Bali and its food. The Casa Luna Cooking School is a fascinating insight into much more than the food. Participants learn about the culture, Balinese life, the beliefs, the culinary myths and the benefits of the ingredients. Classes are held in the spacious grounds of the Honeymoon Guest House in Ubud. The popular classes give guests a chance to prepare and cook traditional food, while also being introduced to the exotic herbs and spices used in ceremonial and every day dishes. It’s a fascinating way to learn about the island’s culture through its food. Classes end with a Balinese feast accompanied by local rice wine or hibiscus tea.

Tel: 0361 973 282 www.casalunabali.com Bali Asli Penny Williams has cooked in some amazing restaurants and resorts and when she decided she wanted to immerse herself in both the food and the culture of the island, Bali Asli was born. High in the mountains above Candi Dasa, Bali Asli is both a restaurant and a cooking school. Daily the staff prepare local dishes using traditional techniques. With a traditional Balinese kitchen, including wood-fired mud brick ovens, this is a cooking class that rings with adventure. Each class includes a tour, sometimes it is off to watch the rice harvest, steer Balinese cows, catch fish with the local fishermen or forage for local ingredients. Penny’s personality and love for East Bali infuses each class with insight, fun and a love of local Balinese food. It’s very local. Each class is aimed at involving the guests in the life, the traditions and the culture of food in this area of Bali. In the shadow of the majestic Mt Agung, all the classes finish with a traditional lunch served in the open-air restaurant, where discussions turn to the deeper magic of life on the land and the sea. Home-made cashew milk cocktails are a bonus.

Tel: +62 822 3690 9215 www.baliasli.com.au 124

Villa Coco For something very hands on and within easy reach of Seminyak, Villa Coco asked their staff to share their own recipes with guests and it’s been a great success. The classes are compact so everyone has a chance to prepare and cook. A chef is on hand to do the final preparation and numbers are kept small, a maximum of ten guests, so that everyone has a chance to participate. The menus are also simple yet authentic. Firstly guests are introduced to the local spices and herbs and the benefits that go beyond spicing up your menu. Each guest receives a cookbook and an apron and then class begins. The menu includes favourites such as nasi kuning (yellow rice), Bumbu sate (peanut sauce), black rice pudding, mie and nasi goreng, pepes ikan (fish cooked in banana leaf ), spicy sambal matah, chicken sate, kangkung pelecing (a local spinach dish) and a traditional Balinese chicken curry. Classes are held by the pool and guests relax after the class to enjoy what they have cooked. Classes are 2-3 hours and are designed to introduce the flavours and techniques involved in cooking Balinese food and to have a little fun as well.

Tel: 0361 730 736 www.villacoco.com Yak Map. S.13 Four Seasons Cooking Classes at jimbaran bay You just know this is going to be brilliant the moment you arrive. Four Seasons at Jimbaran set up a dedicated cooking school over a decade ago. With a beautiful glossy cookbook, created by their various chefs around South East Asia, the Academy offers a chance to learn how to cook a choice of menus from around the archipelago, including Bali. The Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy has a full time head chef, Anak Agung Kristy Yudha, or Kris as he is known. He personally takes guests on a tour of the Jimbaran markets – just ten minutes away – to see how locals shop and also to provide some insights into the traditional heritage of the village. Back at the resort, a dedicated garden allows guests to pick fresh ingredients before getting down to the art of cooking in the modern, air-conditioned kitchen. Yes, this one is slightly more expensive, but you do walk away with hands on knowledge of how to create these recipes, as each guest has a dedicated station. You also learn to make local drinks including the famous health sensation, jamu, made with fresh turmeric. Following the class guests enjoy their creations at the communal dining table.

Tel: 0361 701 010 www.FourSeasons.com/Bali

Mozaic Both professional chefs and novices attend classes at Mozaic’s dedicated cooking school, which also features a garden growing local herbs and spices. The state-of-theart kitchen is run by Mozaic’s head chefs who take you through a variety of menus from French-based menus using local ingredients to Asian dishes inspired by the archipelago. Specialty classes are also offered for cooks who want to increase their skills in the kitchen or expand their menus. Each guest is met with coffee and breakfast before being handed their apron and cookbook and then class begins. Refreshments are offered throughout and then the meal is served at the long table in the beautiful private dining room. For those who want to go beyond Balinese cooking to produce spectacular menus, this is the perfect class. Learn some professional techniques that are achievable at home and enjoy a fantastic meal at one of Bali’s best restaurants as well. Cheers to that.

Tel: 0361 975 768 www.mozaic-bali.com

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constant wining

SPANISH INVASION cava has arrived. let the good times roll.

Cava, which originates from Catalonia in Spain, has in a very short period of time become one of the most important sparkling wines in the world and now represents about 21% of the global sparkling wine market.

While most people habitually use ‘cava’ generically to refer to Spanish sparkling wines (the way spumante can refer to most Italian ones), the name is in fact an official designation (DO).

Unusually, though, it comes with no geographical requirement. By law, it can be produced pretty much all over Spain, though for all practical purposes, since its inception in the 1850s, most of it (about 95%) comes from the Catalonian region of Penedès, in the province of Barcelona, an easy 40-minute drive west of the city.

Traditional sparkling winemaking is the most complex, labour-intensive and timeconsuming winemaking process of all.

It begins with careful, selective harvesting and immediate, gentle pressing so white juice from dark-skinned grapes can be extracted.

To create a truly fine sparkling wine, the pressed juice is allowed to settle prior to fermentation to allow any solids and impurities to fall to the bottom, thus allowing only clear juice to be drawn off the top.

Following the first fermentation, sparkling wine is blended and given a period of ageing on its lees or in tanks or barrels.

The wine is then bottled and a combination of sugar, wine and yeast is added to induce a secondary fermentation in the bottle, which produces carbon dioxide, creating sparkling wine.

This fermentation creates sediment of lees which need to be removed without losing the bubbles. Riddling is the process of moving this sediment into the neck of the bottle, traditionally achieved by someone giving each bottle a quarter-rotation every day and slowly tilting it from a horizontal position to upside down. However, riddling by hand is a dying art form. Today, it has been taken over by gyropalettes, giant robotic arms that slowly rotate large cages of bottles.

After riddling, the sediment settles in the neck of the bottle, the neck is then frozen and the plug of sediment is shot out. This process is called disgorgement.

The volume lost through disgorgement is then topped up with sweetened wine and then aged for a designated amount of time.

Cava, at the very least, must spend nine months in the bottle. If the desired result is a Reserva, it must have 15 months and for a Gran Reserva must have at least 30 months in the bottle.

Sparkling rosé is made the same way as white sparkling, with colour achieved by the addition of a tiny amount of Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier table wine. With Cava, it is 126

usually achieved by the addition of Garnacha (Grenache).

Cava, by law must be produced in this traditional fashion known as methode champenoise. While the traditional grape varieties of Catalonia of Parrelada (white), Macabeo (white) and Xarel-lo (white) are still the mainstays of Cava, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are creeping in to some house blends.

In Champagne, there are only three grape varieties by law that can be blended: Chardonnay (white), Pinot Noir (red) and Pinot Meunier (red).

Back in Spain, in particular Penedès, quality is king and many of the bodegas prove they have the goods to deliver delectable sparklers at a fraction of the cost of good Champagne — and they do it with passion, love and dedication.

One such producer is Segura Viudas. Rich in history, the bodega began its journey as a Catalan masía (country house) built by the Bishop of Sant Cugat del Vallès in the 11th century.

The armed forces converted it to an outpost but its masía roots regained footing after the tower lost its military importance in the 13th century. Six centuries later, specifically in 1959, this winemaking property came into its own. The Segura Viudas name was solidified through marketing efforts which emerged a decade later.

In the early 1980s, the Ferrer family of Barcelona, the world’s largest producer of sparkling wine, purchased Segura Viudas.

Since then, the estate has retained its competitive edge and produces quality sparklers at reasonable prices.

So, what’s available to us in Indonesia: Segura Viudas Brut Reserva D.O. Cava – aged for 15 months Complex and full of flavour this is an elegant wine with persistent mousse (bubble) with notes of lime and pineapple. Ideal to start a meal or a great complement to seafood, soft milk cheeses or a mild Brie.

Segura Viudas Brut Rosado D.O. Cava – aged for 12 months Bright, light strawberry pink and a fine, abundant and consistent mousse with a soft finish and light acidity. Fabulous with fish or vegetable dishes but just as delicious as a mid-afternoon drink.

Segura Viudas Semi Seco Reserva D.O. Cava – aged for 15 months Great intensity on the nose, fine, long lasting mousse, fruity and elegant with sufficient sweetness, freshness and acidity to make it the ideal companion to many desserts.

Our penchant for sparklers is well met. KV. www.seguraviudas.es

venting in a villa

PRESIDENT HU’U stephanie mee becomes penthouse royalty at the hu’u villas premier offering.

head in the clouds.

You’ve got to love luxe pads that are right in the middle of all the action but still manage to feel like tranquil boltholes miles away from any hustle or hassle. Such is the case at Hu’u Villas, a serene enclave of 10 contemporary villas tucked away just off Jalan Petitenget. We recently had the privilege of staying and playing in their Penthouse, a plush and very private space where your stay can be as peaceful or as party-filled as you like.

The Penthouse at Hu’u Villas is set in the back of the property up a flight of stone stairs that are not shared with any of the other villas, which already gives it an exclusive edge. Huge wooden doors at the top of the stairs open up to a rooftop garden living area with a 32-metre pool flanked by tropical greenery on one side and a long teak wood deck with plenty of seating options on the other.

There are three spacious bedrooms to choose from here, and we suggest snagging the master bedroom if you can, as it has a roomy king-sized bed, a customdesigned dressing room with scads of shelving and a beautiful bathroom with a rain shower and terrazzo bathtub. However, the other two bedrooms aren’t too shabby either with comfy queen beds and ensuite bathrooms decked out in natural stone.

Each room also has modern must-haves like air-conditioning and double-glazed windows that keep the rooms cool and quiet.

For mingling spaces you can chill out on the deck in the oversized rattan loungers, gather for drinks and al fresco meals at the poolside tables, or open the sliding glass doors that lead to the indoor living area where you’ll find soft sofas and armchairs, a 40-inch LCD TV, a long bar with wooden bar stools and a great selection of wine, snacks and premium spirits, and a kitchen with a full-sized refrigerator, oven and espresso machine.

The Penthouse Villa definitely excels in style and space, but what also stood out for us out for us were the extra touches. Take for example the bookshelves in the

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living room filled with eclectic art, design books and retro robot toys, the electric guitar and amp set-up replete with an extra package of guitar strings for impromptu jamming sessions, and the house tablet already loaded up with menus from Sea Vu Play and other restaurants nearby.

Speaking of Sea Vu Play, if you haven’t experienced this nautical-themed, rumjungle-like spot yet, do give it a go. Colourful cabanas, palm trees and fairy lights set the scene, and the kitchen and bars put out pitchers of tropical drinks, cold beers, seafood platters, pizzas and Mediterranean tapas. Guests of Hu’u Villas who book directly on their website also get added perks at Sea Vu Play like a complimentary cocktail and discounts on food.

Of course, Hu’u Villas’ enviable location means you’re also just steps from Seminyak Beach and some of the best shopping, dining and drinking venues on the island. Stroll along Jalan Petitenget in either direction and you’ll hit boutique shops selling fashion by internationally renowned designers, chic cafes and restos serving all types of cuisine, and hip clubs where DJs spin beats until the early hours of the morning.

Whether you decide to head out and hit up the hood or stay in and soak up the private penthouse luxury, the staff at Hu’u are on hand around the clock to offer five-star service. Need a taxi to pick you up from the club? Perhaps some ice for your Grey Goose or some more of that complimentary TWG tea? Or maybe you want to place a special order for breakfast and have it served poolside at your villa? No matter the request, the Hu’u team will be there to help you out and make you feel like penthouse royalty. www.huuvillasbali.com

venting in a villa

honeymoon bliss at the samaya - in ubud or seminyak?

two’s company at the samaya seminyak.

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Wedding season is here, and with weddings come honeymoons to exotic locales. Bali has its fair share of amazing honeymoon hideaways scattered around the island, but right now The Samaya Ubud is topping the list for its stunning and secluded location, exceptional service, and exclusive honeymoon package designed to spoil newlyweds with romantic indulgences like spa treatments, candlelit dinners, and a two-night stay in a five-star private pool villa.

Your honeymoon at The Samaya Ubud begins when your personal chauffeur picks you up at the airport in an air-conditioned luxury car and whisks you away to the resort passing traditional artisan villages, Hindu temples, and vast swathes of green rice paddies along the way.

Upon arrival at The Samaya, the first things you notice are the serenity, the lush grounds and the sublime views of rice terraces, jungle and volcanoes in the distance.

The Honeymoon in Royal Paradise package includes two nights in a spacious and contemporary onebedroom villa tucked away either on the hillside or next to the Ayung River. Each villa is set in its own private garden with a lap pool and a wooden cabana decked out in soft cushions, and inside you will find dark wood accents, a plush king-sized bed, a sitting area with a sofa, and mod cons like an iPod dock and LCD TVs in the bedroom and bathroom.

After a night spent enjoying the peace and solitude of the villa, you can wake up to a sumptuous picnic breakfast including house-baked breads, fresh fruit and eggs the way you like them, all served next to your pool by your personal villa butler. In fact, your butler is available around the clock should you need anything from light bites to multi-course meals, sunset cocktails and midnight snacks.

Depending on your mood you could spend your day chilling out on a sun lounger next to your pool, taking off on a cycling or trekking adventure in the Balinese countryside, indulging in gourmet bites at Afternoon Tea, and sipping on sunset cocktails either in your villa or on the patio at Scene Bar. The resort also offers free shuttles into Ubud, so you can explore eclectic art galleries, boutique shops, and world-class restaurants and cafes.

Your honeymoon package also includes a couple’s spa treatment either in the comfort and privacy of your villa or in the resort’s riverside spa. The two-hour

treatment includes a rejuvenating foot wash, a warm oil massage with rose petals, a green tea body scrub and mask, and a relaxing tea ceremony while you soak in a Jacuzzi filled with milk and rose petals. The treatment ends with moisturizing Samaya lotion to leave your skin feeling soft and supple.

Another perk of the honeymoon package is the Romantic Candlelit Dinner. Prior to the dinner, the chef will visit you to put together a list of your favourite foods so he can create a bespoke four-course menu catered to your tastes. You have your choice of dining poolside at your villa or at a private table at Swept Away restaurant next to the Ayung River. No matter where you decide to dine, the Samaya staff will set up a seductive spread with candles, rose petals and divine dishes.

If it’s a romantic sojourn in the midst of lush green environs you’re after, then the Honeymoon in Royal Paradise package is the perfect post-wedding escape.

And if you want to extend your first getaway as a married couple and see another side of Bali, we highly recommend combining your Ubud experience with the Honeymoon Escape in Paradise package from The Samaya Seminyak.

Set directly on the golden sands of Seminyak beach and just steps away from trendy shops, restaurants and nightclubs, The Samaya Seminyak offers private pool villas next to the beach and in a quiet courtyard setting. Their indulgent honeymoon package includes perks like a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine and cake on arrival, luxurious spa treatments and romantic gourmet meals.

The teams at both The Samaya locations understand that no two couples are alike, which is why they make it easy for you to book honeymoon packages that suit your time frame and preferences. You can opt for two nights and three days at The Samaya Ubud, and two nights and three days or three nights and four days at The Samaya Seminyak. Plus there is always the option to add as many extra nights as you need. You can also get in touch with them to arrange customised itineraries, meals and any other special requests you may have. www.ubud.thesamayabali.com www.thesamayabali.com

venting in a villa

rumah luwih on bali’s east coast oozes splendour, writes stephanie mee.

Bali’s East Coast is often overlooked in favour of the busier tourist centres in the south, however, that is exactly what makes the East such an appealing destination. You won’t find crowded beaches or traffic jams here; only rice paddies and coconut groves spilling down to empty black sand beaches. This is the setting for Rumah Luwih, a unique luxury resort set on the shores of Pantai Lebih.

Colonial grandeur is the first thing that comes to mind when you drive up to Rumah Luwih. Designed by renowned Indonesian architect Hadiprana, the resort takes its inspiration from the Ujung Water Palace in Karangasem, blending Dutch colonial architecture with Chinese and Balinese influences. In fact the entire resort resembles a beautiful beachfront mansion where a royal or noble family might spend their summers relaxing and unwinding.

Step through the bright white facade into the lobby and you find polished stone floors, huge potted palms, a stained glass ceiling, and a sweeping curved staircase with teak wood banisters. Sea breezes flow in from the veranda, and if you follow their source, you find an infinity pool running the entire length of the veranda and overlooking a large lotus pond with a resident flock of geese, lawns dotted with frangipani trees, and the resort’s striking white wedding chapel set against the background of the ocean.

Just as impressive are the resort’s spacious rooms and suites, which feature gorgeous wooden writing desks and cabinets, silk and lace bed runners, and Dutch era tiles in the ensuite bathrooms. The Prabanggana Rooms ring in at 40 square metres and have private balconies overlooking either the gardens, ocean or distant mountains, while the Arnawakanta Rooms are a bit larger at 50 square metres and all offer ocean views.

Families or groups might prefer the Segara, Giri or Aruna Suites, which offer up to 200 metres of space plus separate sitting and dining areas, huge balconies overlooking the ocean, and elegant bathrooms with marble accents and deep bathtubs. And just like the Prabanggana and Arnawakanta Rooms, the suites also have contemporary conveniences like complimentary WiFi and minibars and LED TVs with premium international channels.

In keeping with the heritage conscious theme, Rumah Luwih also offers Peranakan cuisine in addition to their classic Western dishes. Peranakan cuisine (also called 132

Nyonya cuisine) originated when Chinese migrants settled in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and adapted their traditional Chinese dishes to include local ingredients and cooking techniques. Over the centuries these recipes have evolved into bold, vibrant dishes that are uniquely Southeast Asian.

Popular Peranakan dishes at Rumah Luwih include the Laksa with prawns, mussels, tofu and rice noodles in a spicy coconut broth, the Ikan Acar Kuning, a mixture of shredded fish, vegetables and pickled turmeric, and the Crispy Duck deep fried until crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside and served with green beans in a savoury coconut dressing, rice and fiery sambal matah.

Guests have the option to dine in the charming air-conditioned dining room at Andrawina Restaurant, on the veranda next to the pool, or in The Living Room, a cosy space with inviting arm chairs, curated antiques, and French doors that open to the veranda and gardens. There is also a private dining room for special events, and The Beach Pavilion for barbecues and sunset drinks. And much like you would expect at a luxury boutique resort, room service is available around the clock.

Rumah Luwih’s enviable location means there is also plenty to see and do outside the resort. Follow the jogging trail up to the chapel and you can access the sparkling black sand beach in front of the resort. Beginner surfers can tear up the gentle surf breaks offshore, and more advanced surfers can head to Cucukan or Keramas nearby. You can also grab one of the resort bicycles to tour the rural landscape of Pantai Lebih.

The helpful staff at Rumah Luwih can also arrange trips to the Bali Safari & Marine Park just up the road, the arts and culture centre of Ubud, the laid-back beachside town of Sanur, or any other destination around the island that piques your interest.

For those who want to experience Rumah Luwih’s relaxing ambiance just for the day, they are currently offering an exclusive package that includes access to the infinity pool and a voucher for food and drinks. They also have a divine Peranakan Brunch every Sunday where you can sample various dishes from their menu as well as special Southeast Asian creations. www.rumahluwih.com

colonial grandeur at Rumah Luwih. images this page: lucky 8.

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venting in a villa

as smart as they come.

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the yak decided on a mental tune up with smartminds . . . so we took ourselves off to The shanti residence, luxe bolthole to the stars. sophie digby checked in.

I am sure we are pretty aware of the existence of the multi-million dollar wedding industry in Bali. Countless resorts, villas, dedicated event spaces supported by wedding specialists, hairdressers, fashionistas and floral wizards lead the chosen ones from singledom into coupledom with the resounding crash of waves, glorious sunsets, fabulously scented by frangipanis and glowing smiles.

One such location that fulfills this true to life fantasy is The Shanti Residence, tucked up in the hills of Nusa Dua in an area lovingly referred to as Millionaire’s Mile, and we gather that more than one hedge fund manager has indeed tied the knot along these very cliffs.

But we’re not here to get hitched. We at The Yak are here for another fabulous use for many of these spacious villas that offer luxury, privacy and intimacy. A small mind gathering is about to take place. A curated immersion, which is set to take our energy, and our business into the next decade and beyond. Our small team chatter excitedly as we arrive. Cold towels, welcome drinks, and a wander around the spacious property with views of the ocean on the not too distant horizon.

Two thousand and sixteen saw a transformative renovation of the property by the late and celebrated designer Jaya Ibrahim, whilst the original 2007 retreat was designed by the award-winning architect Popo Danes. Both giants in the design world of this great country.

Speaking with brand-curator Adeline Quek: “The Shanti Residence lends itself to celebrations of the heart. Whether you prefer an intimate blessing in the garden or a more formal ceremony conducted on our elegant wedding platform, this is the perfect venue to embark on your journey of shared destiny” She adds: “The Shanti Residence is furnished with designer amenities, a bespoke wine cellar, dedicated spa, gym and spectacular chapel. Each space is functionally brought to life to provide a sense of Indonesia’s rich heritage and cultural diversity.”

We love the venue, the fact that there is a gym, a spa, designer-amenities and of course that bespoke wine cellar. Chapel and wedding platforms are really not why we are here – all the same they are impressive and that platform has a fantastic view for a romantic dinner a deux.

Ambhara, Aruna, Abian, Akhansa, Ananta Aastha and Arian are the five sleeping options for guests. The website states “As the master suite, Ambhara is an adult sanctuary that commands its own separate wing. It is the jewel in The Shanti Residence’s accommodation-crown where a romantic canopied bed lends itself to nights of restful slumber.” Sadly, not one we will be checking in to as our

seminar is about teamwork, communication and camaraderie, but it is highly romantic and bridal.

So to the other rooms we go, to drop our bags, express our satisfaction with our sleeping quarters, take note of the very upmarket designer amenities and marvel at the amount of space each room affords. Space is luxury and we at The Yak know a bit about that!

Time to gather the team and make our way to the media room. Perfectly decked out for what we were here to do, white board, massive screen, black-out curtains with tea and coffee on tap – with nibbles.

Smart Minds, led by the enigmatic Mark Copeland and his team, are here to guide us on ‘a personal transformation journey, where you will gain clarity into your business through our diverse tailored techniques to develop self-awareness and a growth mindset, both individually and on a professional level.’ As a team we are less connected than we could be, we share less than we should – thoughts, feelings, beliefs and more importantly values – we are here to “get on the same page”, to listen to each other, and raise the energy of the team. Smart Minds have been organizing a number of seminars, in Bali and internationally, with great success so we thought we would like to delve deeper into the ‘growth mindset’ and bring a change into our business, team and brand.

I won’t go into detail, but even the first afternoon we had shifted a lot, connected a lot and felt pretty good about ourselves. And so to a delightful evening swim, a lovely Balinese dinner spread around a massive dining room table and a couple bottles of wine. (I can totally see how this residence is ideally equipped for weddings).

Day Two, after a vigorous swim in the immense pool, it leads to breakfast served by the charming staff and another mind shifting experience in the large media room.

Our time is coming to a close – our minds have shifted (this is an ongoing project and one that needs regular upkeep just like one’s hair, nails and body) and The Shanti Residences have been part of this great experience, and whether it is for that very special moment of life when one promises to share a life with another, or for a positive and impactful mind-shifting session, these ‘wedding venues’ can be beautifully versatile – and we should all keep an open mind about that. shantiresidence.com smartminds.io

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feature Katie Truman checks out four of the best clifftop pool clubs on planet bali.

left: la joya biu biu. above: dugong.

La Joya II Biu-Biu For those seeking more affordable chilling, with a laid-back clifftop playground bordering on the horizontal, hotfoot it over to French-owned La Joya II Biu-Biu, just off Balangan Beach and suspended on clifftops above Biu-Biu cove and crashing waves.

Although this Eco-Village Resort gem has loitered under the radar for years with a dozen or so cute accommodations, its pool club scene is the “new kid on the cliff” amongst Balangan’s revved-up developments.

Aptly named, The View presents a rustic-inclined, semi-open restaurant and bar with a Mexican ranch, Wild West feel. But sensational views are the star ingredient, best enjoyed out on the expansive white stone terrace hugging the cliff edge where you’ll find shaded dining terrace and eclectic seating facing the sea, sunken stone Jacuzzi and “half-moon” infinity pool set amid lawns. Take root here for good value, Indonesian and Mediterranean home cooking; house-baked breads and pastries for breakfast, sunshine-filled lunches like Quinoa roasted pumpkin and halloumi cheese salads and sunset finger foods washed down with fine imported wines.

Just off here, La Joya’s stunning three-tier infinity edge pool, shaped like a honeycomb, blurs ad infinitum into the ocean, surrounded by a cliff-edge sun deck and Jacuzzi a deux, and “Ship Wreck Bar,” disgorging a steady supply of poolside cocktails.

Outside guests can join the bliss for a mere IDR200,000 F&B consumption. Coincide your sojourns with La Joya’s Wednesday Pool Chillin’ (3pm to 7pm) and Sunday Sunset and BBQ night (from 3pm), showcasing live musicians like Jimmy Rougerie on sax.

Both sessions feature Happy Hours and resident Brazilian DJ. Rafael Lambert, whose smooth Balearic and house beats add a distinctively cool vibe. www.joya-biubiu.com Dugong Named after the “duyung” (sea cow) that lurks in the waters below, magnificent Dugong Restaurant, Lounge & Bar stands at the very heart, literally, of Suarga Padang Padang, Bali’s most environmentally-committed and minimal impact resort, resting 136

on cliff-top grounds above Padang Padang Beach. All the resort action happens at Dugong, a social epicentre elevated just above the striking infinity pool and split-level deck (outside guests pay IDR600,000++ for pool use, with a IDR400,000 F&B credit) and best vantage point for jaw-dropping bay views stretching from Java right through to Canggu, and Padang Padang’s epic surf breaks and the surfers riding them – grab one of the pool decks’ wall seats.

If nothing else, Dugong’s cathedral-like, semi-open structure is an architectural masterpiece, designed like the rest of Suarga with sustainable materials sourced across the archipelago and Balinese craftsmanship balanced with must-have modern comforts. Covering a whopping 1,200-square-metres and 12-metres tall, besides ironwood beams and cool, centrestage circular bar crafted from petrified woods, Dugong comes entirely constructed from bamboo, with a vaulted roof assembled with a million-plus bamboo shingles.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Dugong Restaurant is a welcome relaxed fine-dining addition to the Bukit’s western coast, previously lacking in such. Suarga’s sustainable living and low carbon footprint ethos extends to the menus, inspired by the surrounding nature, traditional recipes and locally-grown organic produce, practically all sourced within a 60-kilometre radius. With kitchens helmed by Danish Executive Chef, Martin Ceccarelli Soerensen (formerly of world-acclaimed Noma), expect dishes with Nordic culinary influences and innovative flavour fusions, like signature dishes Tuna carpaccio, accentuated with ginger flower and soy bouillon and Broccoli edamame. Dugong’s Bar & Lounge starts buzzing after 5pm, when folk ritually congregate for sunset watching, additionally lured by Sunset Happy Hour & Gastro Bites with Signature Cocktails and live performances from Jazz singers and saxophonists thrice weekly. With a more relaxed dining vibe compared to the adjoining dining space and plenty of comfy rattan couches, get stuck into several shared small plates like Barramundi Ceviche, drenched in citrus and liquorice and curated cocktails, like Uluwatu Coffee Punch; a few of those and you may well spot that elusive “duyung”. www.suargapadangpadang.com

An oasis is not always a mirage‌

Jalan Pantai Cemongkak, Pecatu, Bali 80361 | T: 0851 0080 3416 | info@elkabron.com | www.elkabron.com

feature karma cool. right: el kabron.

Karma Beach Bali One of Bali’s pioneering cliff haunts since 2008, super-chic Karma Beach Bali doesn’t boast a pool per se, but makes-up for this minor inconvenience with a Colgate-white sand cove fringed by emerald-hued pristine waters and a Robinson-Crusoe-style, all-bamboo restaurant-bar. All easily accessed by private hill tram from Karma Kandara Resort, tottering high above on Uluwatu’s rugged clifftops.

This former Nammos Beach Club, inspired by its hedonistic Aegean counterparts, rebranded as Karma Group’s flagship beach club four years ago the embodiment of flipflop island life meets Karma’s jet-setter luxe. Outside guests pay a day pass of IDR500,000, a small price to pay for paradise and with so many goodies thrown-in – including IDR300,000 F&B credit – excellent value for fun-filled days.

Inclusive pursuits cover sea kayaking, snorkeling in the reefs, volleyball, kid’s activities and sunbaking on cabanas, sun beds and double-sized pod daybeds. Karma Spa’s beachfront cabana (from Martini & Manicures to Ice-cream Foot Massages for “Young Travelers”) and SUP’s offer more frolics, albeit at extra cost.

Cuisine here is Mediterranean and Greek islands-inspired, highlighting freshest, locally sourced produce, fish and seafood – complete with a Raw Bar – and big plate, small bite servings for shared, family-style dining, either on the extensive bamboo dining platform, or come dusk, at romantic tables down on the sand. Signature dishes include Sea salt crusted whole Jimbaran fish, baked, like the scrumptious pizzas, in the wood-fired oven. Karma’s cocktails, curated by the Belvedere Hotel Mykonos’ mixologist, transforms natural ingredients into wonders like vodka-based Drunken Watermelon, served in ice-stacked jugs.

Additionally, get your groove on with daily DJ Sunset Sessions during the week (3pm to 7pm), or weekend Karma Days with split day and sunset sessions from international DJs and live musicians – Sunday ends-up a bigger party and dancing scene. Karma Beach regularly hosts a stellar line-up of top-ranking International DJ’s, music curators and live performers throughout the year and some of the island’s hottest parties (so good, it’s a challenge remembering what happened), like mega popular Glow Parties. More sedate daily themes cover Monday Movie Nights under the stars and Friday’s Karma Curries.

No wonder Karma Beach ranks as CNN Travel’s “World’s 50 Best Beach Bars,” but like all savvy legends, keeps abreast of the competition, with plans for a stylish circular floating bar, extra seating and more, and with a new Argentinean-born chef installed, menus promising succulent grilled fish and meats. Keep updated on Karma’s social media – or 138

better still, come down for the day. www.karmagroup.com/karma-beach El Kabron Spanish Restaurant and Cliff Club Celebrating their sixth anniversary this June (my, how time flies) El Kabron has matured like a fine wine – or rather, Champagne – from a Spanish-run, Chiringuito-style joint mobbed by Europeans, to one of the Bukit’s most sophisticated dining venues, adapting to a high-end patronage with discerning tastes; no selfie sticks or drones allowed here!

Despite the winding back road drive, El Kabron gets pretty packed (book ahead for sunsets and high season), mainly for the spectacular (albeit narrow) setting, 50-metres high on Pecatu’s cliff-top with 180-degree Indian Ocean views, plus the well-regarded Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine, with signature paellas, tapas and more; rustic home cooking but superior stuff thanks to premium imports and a Catalan native Executive Chef, from previous stints in Spanish Michelin-starred kitchens.

With “the soul of Santorini and Ibiza meets Balinese sunsets,” El Kabron has increasingly evolved to self-proclaimed exclusivity, personalized service from slick staff and focus on gourmet dining – now Indonesia’s official venue for Moët & Chandon Champagne.

Three distinct sections, along with minimum pre-booking and access conditions, guarantees a controlled, intimate environment: a sleek dining room with glam long bar and semi-open terrace, a Cliff Club, still wowing with that infamous turquoise-hued pool, but the sandy floor and bean bags replaced with a timbered deck and waveshaped sun loungers and lower-level VIP Balcony Lounges with exclusive bar, literally dangling off the cliffs and one of the island’s most unobstructed sunset perches and Instagram one-upmanship. A bottle of bubbly and glow-in-the-dark glass Shishas are suitable distractions.

Each year, El Kabron reinvents itself and 2017 is no exception: plans include a Gastro Tapas & Cocktails menu and international gastronomic dining experiences, while facility additions cover a tiered terrace with an overhead dining deck. Expect High season shenanigans featuring “Legendary Sunsets Sessions,” weekend concerts with live musicians and late, late bar, and Champagne Shower parties, illuminating Pecatu’s ‘hood with fashion shows, lighting extravaganzas and fireworks. We’d expect nothing less. www.elkabron.com

fashion freestyle

www.religionclothing.com

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www.bambooblonde.com

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fashion freestyle

www.deuscustoms.com

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www.atlaspearls.com.au

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fashion freestyle

www.universoresort.com

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www.biasagroup.com

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fashion freestyle

www.tssuites.com

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www.paulropp.com

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fashion freestyle

www.balifusarongs.com

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www.shoplovechild.com

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travel

sophie digby heads east to experience the acclaimed resort nihiwatu. photos: tony roseman.

“SUMBA, an exotic island shrouded in mystery. Modern ways of living are not apparent and people live very close to nature. Bearing witness to a variety of the incredible places and unique celebrations is the only way to truly experience Sumba” - Sumba Forgotten Island by Robert Ramone.

‘Forgotten island of mystery’ quite piques our curiosity and, having lived on Bali for over two decades it was about time to explore another island’s mystery and unique celebrations. So to the Pasola we have come.

Imagine two competing tribes on horseback, carrying blunt spears, “… furious galloping, awesome falls and grisly spearing are all part of a normal Pasola experience”. Well for those taking part it is, luckily we are behind our camera lenses and thankfully peripheral to the mad dashing and hurling. We are in the Wanukaka regency, it is the third week of March and we deserve a few days out of the office, so to Nihiwatu we have come.

Nihiwatu, a crescent shaped beach, once known only to brave, pioneering surfers because of a famous surf break that goes by the name of ‘Occy’s Left’, is also home to Nihiwatu, the now globally famous resort that was recently awarded #1 Hotel in the World by Travel&Leisure magazine and we know they know a thing or two about travel, luxury and lifestyle!

Initially built by one of Bali’s true pioneering couples, Claude and Petra Graves, Nihiwatu is now owned and operated by Nihi Resorts by Chris Burch. An outpost of luxury in nature’s revered surroundings, a sliding door of privilege in this ‘living megalith culture’. Ten types of villa (ranging from the two storey, one–bed, ocean view 80sqm, to the opulent Raja Mendaka, ocean view, two-bedroom villa measuring a mere 972 sqm) make up a total of 32 suites, so the experience is shared with the blessed few.

And for those blessed few, the resort and staff pull out all the stops. If we were to start at sunset (which is where The Yak undoubtedly starts any experience worthy of that name) then the obvious choice is to head down to the Boathouse for cocktails, and an introduction to one of the world’s most exclusive waves – there is an intended limit of 10 surfers at any one time so booking your slot on Occy’s Left is a must!

After a couple of the generously poured Boathouse cocktails, browse through their surfboards, marine maps and check out their fishing rods, the Water Crew will ably assist in all things marine. Rent a boat, choose a rod and head out the next morning for some deep sea fishing – some of the best in the world – enabling you to land marlin, wahoo, sail fish, yellow fin and big eye tuna, mahi mahi, monster rainbow runner, sharks and triple tail.

Remember it’s best to catch and release folks, please.

Should the rest of your party not be fisherfolk then how about encouraging them to enjoy some SUP (Stand Up Paddle) along the Wanukaka River? A tour of Nihiwatu’s organic chocolate factory? Horse

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whispering at dawn, with a ride along the beach and into the back paths and hills to relish the Sumba countryside? Each to their own at this juncture.

Something for all guests, and this definitely needs to be booked well in advance, is the Nihi Oka Spa Safari. Off-property, and possibly following a unique village tour of Sumba’s traditional houses and megalithic tombs, arrive at an expanse of coconut groves, rushing springs and cliff-top views.

(These last two experiences are definitely part of the reason that Nihiwatu garnered the top spot with the readers of Travel&Leisure this year.)

Crashing waves overlooked by cliff-edge balconies, breezy open-sided, split-level bamboo structures house treatment areas and dining terraces.

Massage then lunch? Or lunch then massage? The choice is yours, both lunch and the treatments are out of this world, the location is subliminally unique – even for us Bali-philes who are, we realize, extremely hard to impress!

I suppose that the sum of all its parts is way greater than the whole, in Sumba and at Nihiwatu. One does not have to go in ‘Pasola season’ as yearround there are a number of amazing cultural adventures to be had.

Sumba, lying towards the eastern end of the Nusa Tenggara island chain, whilst relatively small in size (210km from east to west and 50km from north to south), is remarkably rich in culture. The people are mainly of the Marapu religion – animistic, spiritual who balance universal life.

Their traditional houses are set up on four pillars, representing points of a compass, and are a nod to the sexual aspects of life and fertility. The tall high-peaked roofs, where they store their valuables and precious heirlooms, are a nod to the harmonious relationship between humankind and the Marapu spirits.

This limestone island, where water buffalo still wander and wild horses still roam, is a land of totems, sacrifices, divinations, weaving, maize planting and stone pulling (or Tingu Watu which is akin to Stonehenge stone transportation). And its people look to live in harmony with the ecosystem by caring for their environment. Around the Marapu totems, when tribes gather together as one, they find reconciliation, friendship, harmony and communion.

So it was a unique privilege to look into the past, to visit this Land of Mystery, this Forgotten Island, and when combined with a Nihiwatu experience, we definitely found reconciliation, friendship, harmony and communion.

Many thanks Nihiwatu-ites - The Yak were mightily impressed! www.nihiwatu.com

sensational sumba.

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El Merkat is the newest addition to the Bukit neighborhood showcasing the best imported and local products creating mouthwatering experiences in South Bali.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, our chef will delight you with a fabulous range of Mediterranean food, with a focus of Spanish cuisine, and with the backdrop of the Barcelona skyline and the Sagrada Familia cathedral you could almost believe that you are dining in the heart of that historic city.

Opening a Gourmet Deli in June, El Merkat will also be the place to go to stock up on ďŹ ne wines by Freixenet and local and imported groceries at market prices.

Visit us!

RESTO BOUTIQUE CAFÉ GOURMET DELI Jalan Raya Uluwatu Km. 9 Ungasan, Badung, Bali 80361 | RSV : 0811 3976 300

yak events

The Yak Magazine Golf Community Cup at Bali National Golf Course. What a day!

One hundred and thirty two players – a course record for a single tournament – 18 sponsors and one helicopter marked the third annual golf day by The Yak at Bali National Golf Course on April 29.

The event started with players arriving for registration (some supremely decked out in full costume) and congregating on the club house terrace for a chipping competition onto the 18th green (sponsored by Freixenet and Rip Curl School Of Surf ) before the Sky Tours helicopter arrived on the fairway with our guest of honour Miss Indonesia 2017, Achintya Nielsen, who was presented with a Jyoti Scarf from Biasa and a pair of pearl earrings from Atlas South Sea Pearls. A little selfie action later and players gathered for the official event photograph and a rules briefing by BNGC GM Mark Holland.

The action then moved to the car park where waiting caddies and carts were led out onto the course by a black Ferrari and latest model Jaguar courtesy of Nadia Graha Auto. On the tees, the golf started in earnest.

BNGC is a tricky course with beautiful fairway turf leading to some devilishly difficult greens, although fortunately the groundsman had been kind with the tee placements for our event. There was also plenty of other action on the course, with Albens Cider providing chilled bottles at the halfway house along with King Kebab, who supported with delicious fare.

Three holes boasted prizes for nearest to the pin, with prizes for both men and women. Hole 4 for the ladies was backed by Da Maria with a Rp1 million voucher and Motel Mexicola, also with a similarly sized voucher. The men’s prize was sponsored by Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort with a two night stay in a deluxe ocean room.

Nearest the Pin on Hole 6 for the ladies was sponsored by Karma Reef Gili Meno with a three night stay and for the men by The Sintesa Jimbaran with a two night stay. Hole 17 was sponsored by The Ungasan Clifftop Resort and Sunday’s Beach Club, with a two night stay in a one bedroom villa. Hole in One here was sponsored by Emirates Airlines. All on course banners were fabulously sponsored by Supaprint.

Longest drive – again sponsored ably by Oakley, with the prize of a set of hi-tech golf glasses for both men and women – took place on Hole 7, with players donning the glasses first before taking a swing.

With the golf complete, players moved once again to the terrace for the awards ceremony, where they were greeted by Bali’s best burgers, courtesy of The Butcher’s Club Bali, an amazing live paella cooking event by El Kabron and El Merkat (together with some incredible tapas); more Albens Cider, Plaga Wine, and fantastic goodie bags from BASK on Gili Meno, a new frontier for tropical escapes.

Further love was given to our winners by Freixenet Cava from Spain, Deus Ex Machina, RipCurl, and Pesamuan Ceramics, who designed and produced our trophies and the Leadbetter Golf Academy. After a great dinner and party, with

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the final Community Shield award going to the boys from Team King Kebab, players were on their way with a Yak goodie bag containing our magazine – of course – as well as a towel by Balifus, some Sensatia lip balm and discount vouchers for gold lessons at the Leadbetter Academy.

“It was such a pleasure to see so many smiling faces on the course, and such a privilege to enjoy great sponsorship from so many people. We look forward to our next event at Bali Handara later in the year and to further events in the years to come,” said The Yak Magazine representative Sophie Digby. www.theyakmag.com/golf And the winners were: Best Dressed Team: The Scots (winning Freixenet Cava and Deus T-Shirts).

Chipping Competition Runner Up: Peter Manz (77cm from the pin and winning a bottle of Freixenet Cava).

Chipping Competition Winner: Luke Metcalf (7cm from the pin and winning Rip Curl Kite Surfing Vouchers and a Rip Curl T-shirt).

Nearest To The Pin Hole 4 Ladies: Chelsea Guy (66cm from the pin and winning vouchers from Da Maria and Motel Mexicola).

Nearest To The Pin Hole 4 Men’s: Casper (340cm winning two nights at Wyndham Tamansari Jivva Resort).

Nearest To The Pin Hole 6 Ladies’: Yulia Tori (500cm winning three nights at Karma Reef ).

Nearest to the Pin Hole 6 Men’s: Jim McIntosh (252cm winning two nights at The Sintesa Jimbaran).

Nearest The Pin Hole 17: David Jones (150cm winning two nights at The Ungasan Clifftop Resort).

Longest Drive Hole 7 Ladies’: Yulia Tori (195 yards) and for the Men’s Goson S. (280 yards). Both won Oakley glasses.

Best Junior Player: Luke Metcalf (RipCurl School of Surf Wake Lessons, Hat and T-shirt.

Best Lady Player: Julia Tori.

Best Male Player: Steve Cain (Freixenet Cava, RipCurl watch).

Best Flight Gross (334 Stableford points): Nyoman Susila, Gede Mahendra, Sonny Triharyono, Ngurah Suartika (Freixenet Cava, Deus T-Shirts).

Best Flight (average 37 Stableford points): Team Candaan: Iwan Sugiharjo, Sunny Samuel, Iwan Siregar,. Nanda Sendiawan (Freixenet Champagne) and Deus T-Shirts.

Best Communty and Overall Winners (average Stableford points of 43): Team King Kebab, (winning a heli-golf Sky Tours trip by Bali Adventure Tours to Bali Handara, Freixenet Cava and Deus T-Shirts). The winning team will also have their names engraved on The Yak Magazine Community Shield!

a record turnout.

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advertiser's directory

EVENT ORGANISER Pro Motion Events Tel: +623614725190 www.pro-motion-events.com Page 153

HEALTH, SPAS & SALONS Body Lab Tel: +62361737052 Page 43 Yak Map U.9 Cocoon Medical Spa Tel: +628113882240/41 www.cocoonmedicalspa.com Page 149 Yak Map E.7 Glo Day Spa Tel: +62361738689/ 282 826/ 934 8844/ 701 5600 www.glospabali.com Page 108 Yak Map L.1 Kayu Manis Tel: +62361705 777 www.kayumanis.com Page 117 Manik Salon Tel: +6287861814761/+6285100821611 www.manikcanggu.com www.manikhairandbeauty.com Page 7 Yak Directory Yak Map P.1 Soham Tel: +62361739090 www.sohamwellnesscenter.com Page 30 Yak Map R.5 Spoiled Tel: +623618475141/+6281999288555 www.spoiledhairdressers.com page 8 Yak Directory Yak Map G.1 HOTELS & VILLAS Alila Manggis www.alilahotels.com/manggis Page 4-5 Alila Seminyak www.alilahotels.com/seminyak Page 4-5 Yak Map. N.5 Alila Ubud http://www.alilahotels.com/ubud Page 4-5 Alila Villas Uluwatu www.alilahotels.com/uluwatu Page 4-5 Bali Handara Golf Tel: +62361288944 www.handaragolfresort.com Page 157 Bask Tel: +6285333797979 www.baskgilimeno.com Page 37 Yak Map G.12 Fairmont Tel: +623613011888 www.fairmont.com/sanur-bali.com Page 73 Yak Map G.12 Four Seasons Resort Jimbaran Tel: +62361701010 www.fourseasons.com/jimbaranbay/ Page BIC Yak Map F.16 Karma Beach Gili Meno Tel: +62370630982/+62361848 2202 www.karmaclub.com www.karmabeach.com Page 113 Yak Map F.16, G.16

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Rumah Luwih Beach Resort Tel: +6236120058 88/99 www.rumahluwih.com Page 101 Yak Map G.14 Sofitel Hotel & Resort Tel: +623618492888 www.sofitel.com Page 104 Yak Map F.16 The Trans Resort Bali Tel: +623618981234butcher www.transresortbali.com Page 111 Yak Map V.7 Tugu Hotel Bali Tel: +623614731701 www.tuguhotels.com Page 35 Yak Map C.1 The Anvaya Beach Resort Bali Tel: +62361759991 www.theanvayabali.com Page 79 Yak Map C.13 The Gangsa www.thegangsa.com Page 117 Yak Map F.15 W Hotel Tel: +62363000106 www.wretreatbali.com Page 109 Yak Map K.4 MEDIA/PRINTING Supa Print Tel: +623618475740 www.supa-print.com Page 153

Yak Map C.7

MISCELLANEOUS Bali Landscape Tel: +6281805661227 www.balilandscapecompany.com Page 6 Yak Directory Yak Map P.1 Bali Photo Booth www.baliphotobooth.com Page 2 Yak Directory Bali National Golf Club Tel: +62361771791 www.balinational.com Page 20-21 Blow Bar Bali Tel: +6287860595969 www.blowbarbali.com Page 23 Yak Map R.8 El Merkat – Segura Viudas Tel: +628113976300 Page 152 Hatten Wines Tel: +623614721377 www.hattenwines.com Page 129 Yak Map G.12 Indowines/Plaga Wine www.plagawine.com Page 61 Yak Map F.9 International Global Health Tel +62361737317 www.internationalglobalhealth.com Page 49 Yak Map Z.1 Mahallati Interior Design Tel: +62817551414 www.mhllt.com Page 31 Yak Map Y.11 OMNIA Dayclub Bali www.omniabali.com Page 6-7 Waterbom Bali Tel +62361755676

www.waterbom-bali.com Page 137 Yak Map C.12 PROPERTY Elite Havens www.elitehavens.com Page 1 Yak Map P.8 Nagisa Bali Tel: +62361370 5279/+62361490 165 www.nagisa-bali.com Page 24-25 Yak Map Y.14 RESTAURANTS & BARS Akua Bali Tel: +62361709071 www.akuabali.com Page 127 Yak Map G.16 Azul Beach Club Bali Tel: +62361765759 www.azulbali.com Page 53 Yak Map.C.9 Da Maria Bali Tel: +623619348523 www.damariabali.com Page 27 Yak Map U.3 El Kabron Tel: +6285100803416 www.elkabron.com Page 135 Good Food Brotherhood (Watercress/ Milk & Madu Café/Ulekan Bali) www.goodfoodbrotherhood.com Page 100 Yak Map N.1, N.3, O.1 Motel Mexicola Tel: +62361736688 Page 96

Yak Map N.6 Mozaic Restaurant Tel: +62361975768 www.mozaic-bali.com Page 78

Naughty Nuri’s Tel: +623618476783 www.naughtynurisseminyak.com Page 125 Yak Map W.5 Queen’s Tandoor Tel: +62361732770/765988 www.bali.queenstandoor.com Page 115 Yak Map B.13/T.10 Sardine www.sardinebali.com Page 10-11 Yak Map U.3 Starfish Bloo Tel: +623614738106 www.starfishbloorestaurant.com Page 109 Yak Map K.4 Seasalt Tel: +623613021888 www.seasaltseminyak.com Page 4-5 Yak Map S.8 Sea Vu Play Tel: +623614736579 www.seavuplaybali.com Page 123 Yak Map S.8 Spice www.spicebali.com Page 78

Yak Map N.6 Sundara Bali Tel: +62361708333 www.sundarabali.com Page BIC Yak Map F.16 Sunday Beach Club Tel: +628118330162 www.sundaysbeachclub.com

Page 33 Yak Map G.16 The Bistrot Tel: +62361738308/7162325 www.bistrot-bali.com Page 13 Yak Map S.8 The Butchers Club Tel: +623618974004 www.thebutchers.club/steakhouse-bali Page 153 Yak Map Q.3 The Joglo Tel: +623619347778 www.thejoglo.com Page 115 Yak Map K.1 The Lawn Canggu Tel: +623613351055 www.thelawncanggu.com Page FIC Yak Map N.1 The Savage Kitchen Tel: +6281916414541 www.thesavagekitchen.com Page 105 Yak Map L.1 SHOPS Atlas www.atlaspearls.com.au Page 15 Yak Map J.4 Bamboo Blonde www.bambooblonde.com Page 12 Yak Map S.8, U.11 Balifu Sarongs Tel: +6285953784088 www.balifusarongs.com Page 19 Yak Map S.13 Biasa www.biasagroup.com Page 8-9 Yak Map V.12 Deus Ex Machina www.deuscustoms.com Page 2-3 Yak Map O.8 Franksland www.thefranksland.com Page 14 Paul Ropp Tel: +62361701202/735613/730212/ 730023/974369 www.paulropp.com Page BC Yak Map T.8, W.3 Religion www.religionclothing.com Page 39 Yak Map S.8/T.7 Restomart Tel: +62246580573 www.restomart.com Page 117 Sensatia Botanicals Tel: +6236323260 www.sensatia.com Page 69 Yak Map P.7 Sunbrella www.sunbrella.com Page 29 TStore @TS Suite Bali Tel: +623618469222 www.tssuites.com Page 148 Yak Map V.14 Universo Resort www.universoresort.com Page 41 Yak Map O.5 Warisan Furniture Tel: +62361730048 www.warisan.com Page 17 Yak Map U.7

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moodofthemoment

By Dr Deepak | astro-deepak@usa.net | www.astronlp.com | Skype: drdeepakvidmar

At the same time more and more individuals are claiming their rights to be free, the tighter and more controlling conservative governments will be. Anger deep down underneath will be covered by smiles and social graces. So much energy invested in fighting with each other that problems of infrastructure and economy will find no solution.

aries The challenge and intensity continues for those born the week of the 10th. The restlessness and need for something new continues for those born the week of the 16th. For all Aries some fresh and charming energy comes into play this whole period of time. Use your power to create harmony and beauty in the world and people will like you just the way you are.

libra This is absolutely the most significant time in your life for powerful karmachanging happenings in relationships. Either you meet the soul mate you have been yearning for or you finally reach the divine depths of the soul mate you have been with all these years. For some of you, the feeling is wonderful. For others, it happens the hard way. Both ways, the results are the same.

taurus

scorpio

gemini Mars transit in Gemini last month gave you a lot of impulse and energy to put some zest into life. If you invested this energy into positive channels of activity and achievement, then the time is right to reap the fruits of your labor and to spend the money you have made. There is a time to spend and a time to save.

This is not a time to save. The best spending you can do now is anything which is an investment in your future.

sagittarius It is a question of who is critical of you most, yourself or the other. This two-year Saturn transit might have been wearing down your individuality and self-respect. Now this Mars transit opposite Sagittarius brings some ego-driven conflict from the other in your life. Good to be active and busy together instead of fighting, like mountain climbing without using ropes or something.

Everything is absolutely ok for you now except your beliefs. Beauty, love and affection come into your life now and the only thing which will interfere with it is some stubborn, obstinate belief that you feel you have to defend or argue or reject others about. Better to relate to the world and others on the basis of your feelings and essence than the phantoms of the mind.

cancer

What to say. That Pluto transit opposite your sign continues to bring deep challenges and profound changes in your life. Thankfully, it is off and on and is not continuous in your life. There is always space and time to enjoy the life also. The juice for you at this time is your home and sense of security and old things you never threw away and give you good sweet memories.

leo

This is a time of year, every year if you look back in your history, when you shine and your light is seen. Best to be with friends together in a foreign land. Or taking a class or group together would do. This is a time of being with the kinds of friends you can communicate and share ideas with and travel with. This is not a time to accomplish anything, so maybe drop that idea!

virgo

Neptune transit opposite your sign continues until 2025. It is strongest now for those born the week of September 4th. It may at first be confusing; Neptune rules Pisces which is on the other side of the wheel from your sign. But opposites are not bad; they are complementary, the other side of the coin. Logical, analytical thinking does not give you the bigger picture that can only be felt with intuition. This transit does.

160

There is something to be learned that has no answer, but is so deep inside of you that it is the experience of your essence. It is like remembering something you have always known but could only vaguely express. When you focus long enough to go deep with this, your life is going to change for the positive in very new ways. Your 3rd eye begins to glow.

capricorn

Maybe you become so obsessed to get the job done that you work yourself 25 hours day doing two things at once until your goal is achieved. Maybe obstacles have been getting in the way of completion and it is here the lesson is learned. What matters so much is not the achievement or success, but the struggle to get there. It is the totality of your effort that is the success, not the result.

aquarius The paradox is that you need to make the long journey to discover the power and truth is deep inside you the whole time. Knowing it is already inside you always, it is tempting to do the logical thing and sit and contemplate your navel. At this time, it is not the best approach. When you are in foreign circumstances, the movie screen changes and you can better see the movie. pisces

The Ruler of Pisces is Neptune and when Neptune is in Pisces during its 165 year cycle, you are quadruple sensitive more than usual during this 14 year transit.

Be gentle with yourself beloved. Be as nice to yourself as you are to others. Any judgement you are putting on yourself at this time is about you being a good worker bee. You are not. You are a beautiful flower.