UbudLife NO. 23 • JUNE - AUGUST 2015
guide to ubud & beyond, bali lifestyle, people, arts, yoga, spirit, culture and cuisine
free
WAYAN KARJA BAMBOO CHARCOAL CHOCOLATE FRIEND OR FOE TENGANAN SECRET VILLAGE SLEEPOVER AMED HIDEAWAY
Ibu Rai, as she was well known to many travelers in the 60’s, was born 1925. She sold food and her “Warung” became quite famous, even travel books recommended it as place to find safe and good quality food for foreigners. Her son, Dewa Gede, opened a restaurant in 1986 at family land and as a tribute to his mother courage and enterprise, called it Ibu Rai Restaurant. He carries on his mother’s. Our restaurant is specially selected for nutrition and natural flavors using the best and freshest ingredients. All are carefully presented and with friendly service. “Hope you enjoy our food with taste of Asian Spices”.
72 Monkey Forest Street Ubud Bali | +62 361 973472 restaurant@iburai.com | www.iburai.com
BALI’S 37TH ARTS FESTIVAL
by ayu sekar • images windia
or a full month the BALI ARTS FESTIVAL takes Faround centre stage in the streets of Denpasar. Centred the historic Puputan Square it will host people from all over Bali, and other islands to perform their own special cultural specialities.
Trance dances from remote mountain villages, recently revived ancient dances, classic palace dances, stars of Balinese stage, odd musical performances, "kreasi baru" (new creations) from the dance schools of Denpasar, as well as contemporary choreography and dance companies from other islands and from abroad will all be performing in this huge cultural celebration. It is a month long revelry like no other. It celebrates the fact that the traditional culture is alive and well and the people perform with pride. The festival starts in the villages where the seka or cultural groups are selected and organized at the regency level. They vie with each other to be chosen to perform the Arts Festival and thus display in front of a large audience the uniqueness of their village of birth and resting place of their ancestors. In addition there will be food and offering contests. Tourists and everyone is warmly welcomed. If you are in Bali between 13th June and 11th July 2015, be sure to drop by for at least one day. It is simply fabulous. More information can be obtained from the website: www.baliartsfestival.com
FESTIVAL
EDITOR’S NOTE
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UbudLife MAG Om Swastiastu, Welcome to our lovely new edition of Ubud life. The magazine has grown and developed over the past four years yet there is always some new and exciting thing to discover and write about whether it be a new destination or place to stay or a new aspect of a place we have visited before. It is like life, we need to look at everything form many angles to get a true picture – as true in photography as it is in everyday living. It is only then, when we lose the tunnel vision that we can gain a perspective. Even when we see something from the other persons viewpoint, rather than insist that everyone look from our own perspective. This issue we visit a delightful new retreat in East Bali, close to Amed. We examine the wonderful handloomed Gerinsing cloth from Tenganan – a textile that is admired and coveted around the world by collectors in the know. We try some new restaurants and revisit some old ones. Most interestingly, we visit the man behind the Bambooku - an enthralling foray in to the world of bamboo and the incredible power of bamboo charcoal. Known as takesumi, it is an ancient tradition in Japan and Korea and hopefully will become a new tradition in Bali. No need to read it here, just turn the pages to the story. There is always plenty to read in this cute little publication and we hope you enjoy it immensely! Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om
THE EDITOR
Cover photo by Ayu Sekar Golden salad at the Elephant in Campuhan makes a refreshing lunch.
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editor ubudlife-gsb team creative graphic designer dedito ssn. photographer i gusti ketut windia sales and marketing ketut muliartani finance yukmang susilawati distribution ubudlife-gsb team publisher GSB (gemini studio bali) jalan gunung tangkuban perahu III/4, denpasar barat - bali 80361 p: 0361 8495479, 0361 8447982 e: sales@geministudio-bali.com w: www.ubudlife.com director putu santosa views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor’s and publisher’s. all material copyright ©2010 (gsb) gemini studio bali. the publisher will not be held responsible for copyright infringerment on images supplied by advertiser and, or contributors.
contents 6
BALI’S 37TH ARTS FESTIVAL
54
UBUD TOP 10
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22
WAYAN KARJA
28
BAMBOO POWER
64
GERINGSING - THE SACRED CLOTH OF TENGANAN
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SLEEPOVER AMED HIDEAWAY
happenings around ubud Ubud Food Festival In early June, from the 5th til the 7th, Ubud comes alive with “ a three day culinary adventure” which will include food seminars, cooking demonstrations, specially hosted feasts at various venues around town and a luscious night market or pasar malam which promises to be filled with delicious surprises. . Janet De Neefe sees the Festival as a way to promote Indonesian food, far beyond the usual “nasi goreng” or even “babi Guling”. Food featured will range from Sumatra to Ambon and highlight regional differences, with a wide range of textures, spicing and with workshops and cooking demos and lots of fine food and words. In addition, the team from Alchemy, Slow Food, Pod Chocolate, food bloggers will all be here! Destined to become a popular annual event, the festival will spread over three days. It will be a celebration of food, especially Indonesian food though several celebrated foreign chefs will be coming to the party, adding their own ingredients and coming up with some western specialities as well. Western superchefs based in Bali such as the very well known Will Meyrick of Sarong, Mamasan and now, Hujan Locale fame, Elke Plasmeijer of Locavore fame, Penny Williams of Bali Asli and Will Goldfarb of Room for Dessert as well as the Godfather of fancy food (sorry fine dining) in Ubud – Chris Salaans of Mozaic, will all be contributing 14 UbudLife
The festival celebrates food and there are plenty of learning opportunities as well. Issues like seed sovereignity and food as medicine, food blogging, food photography (often using the ubiquitous iphone)wil be demonstrated. Films and workshops will play an integral part in the Festival which promises to be well rounded, stimulating, enlivening and delicious! Something for everyone!
The Bali Wake Park Not everyone who comes to Ubud stays there exclusively and those who visit other parts of the island may be thrilled to learn of the brand new Wakeboard Park just close to the airport. Wakeboarders are always looking for the place to catch a good wave and now they can find it at the recently opened Bali Wake Park. This purpose built Park opened its doors in April, 2015 and is an exciting addition to Bali’s already impressive array of water sports. State-of-the-art full size cable systems are built around a 5 hectare lake, and it is suitable for every level of board rider – from beginner to pro. Located just 15 minutes away from the popular tourist destinations of Kuta, Sanur, Jimbaran and Nusa Dua and 10 minutes from the Airport, it is a great location with plenty of easy access. Experienced riders can also enjoy the challenge of several well placed obstacles that can be attempted or avoided depending on the skill. The cables can regulate speeds, and are suitable from raw beginners to polished pros. Learners will find it the ideal place to get up on that board which can be rented right there or even purchased at the Pro shop that operates in the grounds. Those who don’t care for wakeboarding may like to lie buy the pool or try out the Glo Spa – where a range of tempting and relaxing treatments are available. The wake Park is also the perfect place to try the weird science style NINEBOT. Fuelled by gravity and probably some kind of power battery you just lean forward and it propels you along with as much speed as you wish. Takes just a minute or two to get the hang of it – and then off you go! 16 UbudLife
The food, of course, is excellent, courtesy of the team from the famous Made’s Warung. While the menu is still small, it is going to be expanded very soon to include western favourites like fish and chips and good burgers as well as the Indonesian specialties now on offer! Several international competitions are in the pipeline so keep a watch out for their soon to be up website or check on Facebook - www. facebook.com/baliwakepark Jl. Pelabuhan Benoa, Denpasar South, Tel: (0361) 8468866
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The Bars® at Taksu Spa Consciousness, Awareness, and Bodies Practitioners of Access Consciousness, The Bars, Foundation, and Level 1, facilitate and share tools for awakening you to your sensing to generate more conscious awareness in every aspect of life by using a light touch on 32 points on the head. Each time the Bars® are run, you clear 5-10,000 years of conclusions, judgment, and limiting belief systems implanted from the reality around us over the last four trillion years. When receiving the work, the least you may feel is like you had the best massage! Or, oh yes! Your whole life can change for the better. How does it get even better than that?! Taksu continues to come up with innovative ways for people to heal themselves and the Bars is one of the newer ways to do it! Lela Thomas takes people at that spa and shows them a new way to be. What if your Body is more conscious than you, and, holds the secrets to your Universe? How many thoughts, feelings, emotions, sadness, trauma, grief, pain, suffering, wrongness, rightness, and not good enough feelings, not receiving, longing, wanting, needing, and lacking have you been picking up from the world around you that is, or, is not yours? Your body is a sensorial Being. With over 700 sensors you are sensing way more than the room you are sitting in. Your sensing ability extends into the Earth and the entire Universe. If you could learn a way to ‘let go’ and transmute all of your multi-dimensional psyche that would change all realities and non-realities and dimensions, and open the space for you to BE and live in resonance with the Infinite Being that you are…. would you say yes?
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See what a neuroscientist has to say about The Bars, https://youtu.be/ DgGbFRjqQPk Find Classes with Lela Thomas Lela@Taksu.info, Lela@AcousticalBEing.com, www.TaksuHealingHaven.com
PILAR BATU GALLERY
Presenting fine art quality of painting and as a painting studio of I Wayan Suarmadi ADDRESS: JALAN PENGOSEKAN, UBUD, GIANYAR, BALI PHONE: 62 361 978197 MOBILE 62 81 23980044 EMAIL: PILARBATUGALLERY@GMAIL.COM WWW.PILARBATU.COM
Wayan Karja
by richard horstman • images jill alexander
Within every Balinese village there is a tale or two to be told.
T
he association between the master and pupil has played a vital role in the development of Balinese traditional art. The bonds amid teacher and student, father and son, or amongst relatives have enabled the sharing of ideas, support and tuition. Such relationships helped categorize Balinese art by village styles or ‘schools’. In the late1920’s – 30’s, Balinese art was being revolutionized and adapted for foreign tastes. The two-dimensional Hindu narratives, Kamasan or Wayang paintings met head on with western aesthetics and the results were dramatic. The development of tourism created large markets for these new paintings, and localized schools of art, such as the Ubud, Sanur and Batuan schools, came to the fore. Fast forward to 1959 when Arie Smit, an accomplished Dutch artist living in Penestanan began sharing art materials with and teaching young boys in the village. This was the beginning of the “Young Artists” style and at its height there was about 300 village practitioners. Colorful and fresh, it was very popular in the 1970 as tourism was enjoying a revival. And so Penestanan has a distinctive artistic history of its own. This tale however, is about a painter, art educator and administrator from the village who has succeeded in creating a unique artistic voice within the framework of Balinese modern art. Wayan Karja’s earliest memories are of sitting in his father’s lap with a paintbrush in hand. 24 UbudLife
“My father often guided my hand through sketches or marked areas within a composition that I would fill in with color,” Karja says. “I was very lucky to grow up in a thriving art environment, every member of my family within the compound was painting, even the women too. This intense activity was an inspiration for me.”
WHO’S WHO
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Born in Penestanan in 1965 Karja’s natural ability and birthright automatically sealed his fate. Determined to learn more about art he received a wealth of local and international art education. Karja studied in Switzerland in 2008-11 painting abstract landscapes, while in 1997-99 he undertook an art scholarship at the University of South Florida, USA. At the School of Fine Arts, Denpasar, 1981-85 he broadened his knowledge of art theory and international art, and then at the Udayana University in Denpasar, 1985-1990 delved into Impressionism and abstraction and was inspired by Monet, Van Gogh and Matisse. From 1978-81 Karja studied the Ubud style learning about light, shade and the anatomy. As a child he was introduced to the master pupil association and trained for many years under the watchful eye of his father, Ketut Santra, who gave him his indoctrination into the “Young Artist” style. “There were no galleries at that time so the buyers came direct to the artists home. At the age of 10 I sold my first painting,” Karja recalls. In 1994 upon visiting a museum in Switzerland Karja had his most profound art experience, one that began his love affair with modern art. He observed a pure red composition by the American abstract painter Mark Rothko. “Is this what they call art?” Was Karja’s cynical response. Yet by the time Karja had completed his tour of the museum the significance of the work was understood. Rothko’s work leapt out from the walls and “spoke” to him unlike any other artist had previously done. Rarely had an Indonesian artists adopted color as their sole message, least of all the Balinese. 26 UbudLife
“Balinese art is about tight configurations of patterns, details and narratives yet I was always driven to search into its philosophies.” Karja’s journey eventually led him to a deep exploration of cross-cultural thinking and he began combining the philosophy of the Balinese Hindu Mandala colors with modern western techniques. Karja’s initial response to the colors and movement of his environment (landscape and culture) had been based on emotion, yet the impact of Rothko and other western painters demanded from him a new sense of self- expression. “Balinese abstraction developed in the 1970’s yet it was different to the western model. Most of our creations are deeply rooted in traditions including icons, symbolic and non-symbolic elements as well as philosophical and spiritual aspects of the Balinese way of life.” Karja’s direction evolved through intellectual endeavor, “Allowing my work to become simpler and more spiritual,” Karja says. Karja’s technique involves building layers of color, often in drips and with the use of watered down medium often creating swirling and dynamic organic forms. The works may be subtle and shimmering or powerfully vibrant.
They are always inviting, meditative and mysterious creating aesthetic contrasts between the landscape and the cosmos. “There is no separation between art and life,” Karja says. “Life is color and my physical and spiritual journey is to become an accomplished colorist painter.” His contribution, via teaching to the development of Balinese art has been substantial. Karja began in 1990 at the School of Fine Arts in Ubud and then at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) in Denpasar where he continues teaching to this day. Over the years he has taught locally and abroad holding various positions, from 2002-04 as head of the Fine Arts Dept., Indonesian College of the Arts (STSI), Denpasar and from 2004-08 as the Dean of the Visual Arts Department at ISI. “I enjoyed and benefited from this experience,” he says.
“However being an administrator took me away from my artistic dreams.” Karja has exhibited in many international countries and frequently travels locally and abroad giving lectures, speeches and engaging in collaborative projects. At his family’s guesthouse, Santra Putra in Penestanan is his gallery and studio along with a space open to the public for workshops and events where he teaches tourists and often hosts exhibitions by young local artists. “Journey to the Unknown” Karja’s March 2015 exhibition in Jakarta showcased 42 paintings created between 2010-15 was an outstanding success. “The audience’s response was excellent, nonetheless I experienced an unexpected sense of liberation. I realized to complete a procession from childhood through to adulthood, my transition from a world of freedom to one dominated by mental activity, in order to sustain my creative journey I have to return to a childlike state.” “I have now opened a new door with the motto – play, flow and free. I am invigorated and my works reflect a new joy,” Karja says. “Now I am learning how to play again.”
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BAMBOO POWER by ayu sekar • images jill alexander
W
ho knew that bamboo had so many fabulous properties. Not only is it beautiful in its natural state, it is also a light, easily sustainable building material, and a delightful decorative addition when it is processed a little. It is a resource for manufacturing a beautiful fabric, (even better than rayon), yet when it is processed in another way, it has many beneficial health properties. It is indeed an amazing natural gift to us all. Through processes long known to the Japanese and Koreans, bamboo can be baked at very high temperatures 1000’ C then cooled slowly for a month until it emerges from the dragon kiln as a hard and durable black charcoal that is ready to be used.
Several years ago, Frenchman Georges Beurnier became involved with bamboo and its amazing healing properties. He came to discover a little village near Kintamani that had been devastated in an earlier earthquake and had started to produce bamboo charcoal as a means to make ends meet. At that time they were unaware of its medicinal properties and were selling the charcoal for cooking fires.
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WWW.BAMBOOKU.COM
He became involved and as his interest grew, he discovered that Bamboo charcoal known as Takesumi has a long tradition of over 1,000 years in Japan and Korea. After much study and searching of information, he conspired to bring over some ancient Takesumi masters from Japan – National treasures in their own country (Why does Indonesia not have this tradition of National Treasures one wonders?) The masters arrived and saw that the bamboo surrounding the village was good. They advised the villagers on how to build a long kiln known as a Dragon Kiln – to bake the bamboo. The Masters are very precise in their techniques and knowledge and worked to ensure the techniques were perfected. Georges became totally involved and works with the villagers as a co-operative to produce the
Takesumi and to share the profits. Soon a second kiln will be built and there is also a plan to open a laboratory by the bamboo village. Now the two Bambuku shops in Kerebokan and Ubud sell all the products and a collection of clothing and bed sheets all made from the soft drapey bamboo fabric.. The products and benefits derived from Takesumi are many -
Takesumi Sticks Most important are the kiln dried bamboo Takesumi sticks which you can wear as a pendant touching your chest around your Thymus gland – to absorb radiation and electro magnetic smog, and to improve your general health. UbudLife 31
The Powdered bamboo charcoal has myriad uses. Drink some mixed with water each day to absorb toxins in the body, take it in a case of food poisoning, brush your teeth with it to whiten and brighten and remove plaque. Other Takesumi Products -
Bamboo vinegar which has a delightful smokey fragrance has anti fungal and deodorant properties. You don’t imbibe it, but spray it on your body, on an infection, on any fungal growth. Takesumi salt is made from organic seasalt which is packed into bamboo containers and baked in the same kiln as the Takesumi. It becomes black and alkaline and imparts a delicious flavor to food while helping to alkalinize the body, which is the preferred state to keep healthy.
Takesumi shampoo, conditioner, body wash and soap all have a grand deodorising effect and play havoc with bacteria. You can also keep a set of sticks by your computer to absorb the radiation and harmful rays. They will also help to prevent fungus if you store in your clothes cupboard. Place a stick or two of Takesumi in your water filter to remove chlorine and other chemicals from the water. INTERESTINGLY you can turn a bad wine into a Bordeaux, by stirring the wine with your Takesumi stick before drinking. The change in taste is palpable. Place a pot of Takesumi sticks in your fridge to remove odours and keep food fresh! 32 UbudLife
Not only are all the products gorgeous, but they all come in authentic Japanese style packaging making them the things you want to have in your life.
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• Bambooku - Takesumi Shop Jl. Hanoman No. 32 Ubud • Bambooku - Takesumi Shop Jl. Merthanadi No. 90, Krobokan
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UBUDSTREETFOOD DECODED by stephanie
What do you do when hunger sets in, but you’re short on time and even shorter on cash? While Ubud is blissfully free of cheap international fast food chains, we do have a broad selection of quick and easy street food on offer at all times of day and night. From the roaming kaki lima carts to the more stationary food stalls and stands, it is easy to find great eats here that are fast, cheap, and authentically local. BAKSO Bakso is one of the most ubiquitous and popular forms of street food in Indonesia. In fact, rumour has it that this was one of President Obama’s favourite dishes as a child growing up in Jakarta. Although there are countless variations of bakso, it almost always consists of a clear broth, noodles, meatballs made from chicken, beef or fish, and garnishes like bok choy and fried shallots. Season it to taste with lashings of chilli sauce and kecap manis. Where to find it: Come lunchtime and late afternoon, there are kaki lima bakso vendors plying nearly every street in Ubud. Simply flag down the vendor, grab a bowl and find a seat on the nearest wall or doorstep to slurp down your soup. For all-day bakso, head to the stand across from the petrol station in Pengosekan in the Delta parking lot. Ask for the bakso mie ayam and you will get a heaping bowl of bakso laden with egg noodles, shredded chicken, bok choy, and one massive bakso ball. 34 UbudLife
STREET EATS
GORENGAN / BATAGOR Although not the healthiest of street foods, gorengan makes for a delicious in-betweenmeals snack. The name basically means ‘fried’, which is exactly how they prepare these battered crispy golden bites. There are many different types of gorengan including tahu goreng (fried tofu), ubi goreng (fried sweet potato), utik-utik (dough balls filled with shredded herbs and bean sprouts), and pisang goreng (fried banana). Gorengan also goes by the name Batagor if it is made in the Bandung style, which includes crunchy deep fried tempe and crispy wontons. Where to find it: If you want to try a bit of everything, head to the gorengan stall on Jalan Raya Ubud at the bottom of Jalan Tirta Tawar. The husband and wife team here starts frying up batches of bite-sized gorengan from about 4pm onwards, and you can get a whole bag of fried tofu, sweet potato, banana, and more for about Rp 10,000. For great batagor, head to the stall outside Delta Dewata supermarket in the early evening.
SATAY So simple, yet so tasty, these grilled meat skewers come in all different flavours including ayam (chicken), babi (pork), sapi (beef ), ikan (fish), and kambing (goat). Besides the regular chunks of marinated grilled meat on a stick, in Bali you can also find satay lilit, which is made with minced spiced meat wrapped around lemongrass or bamboo skewers. And of course, satay just wouldn’t be satay without the accompaniment of a rich and slightly spicy peanut sauce. Where to get it: Some popular street food satay spots in Ubud include the satay babi vendor outside of Pura Dalem at the top of Jalan Sukma and the satay ikan vendor next to the Minimart in Campuhan, both of whom sell their goods in the evening. And although not technically a street food stall, the Sate Kambing Madura warung on Jalan Raya Ubud does goat satay and soup that is simply to die for. UbudLife 35
Where to find it: Martabak vendors generally set up shop in the evening, and you can find a few on Jalan Raya Ubud at the end closest to the Arjuna statue. However, many locals and expats alike swear by the stall in front of the MG Pet Shop and the martabak stalls at the Pasar Malam (night market) in Payangan.
TERANG BULAN NASI JINGGO Nasi Jinggo consists of little banana leaf packets filled with a white or saffron rice and a mix of tasty shredded meat, noodles, abon (pork or beef floss), peanuts and sambal, although the contents will vary depending on the vendor. Portions are quite small, so you can grab one or two for a quick snack or stock up with many to make a full meal. Where to get it: Throughout the day and night you can find takeaway nasi jinggo at numerous small warungs and from vendors selling it at small stands on the side of the road. One of the most famous places to get nasi jinggo after dark is in front Nur Salon on Jalan Hanoman, but be warned that the sambal here is not for the light-hearted.
MARTABAK Basically a savoury pancake or crepe fried on an iron griddle, martabak has its origins in Yemen, but can now be found in India, Malaysia, Singapore, and all across Indonesia. In Ubud you can find a few different variations of martabak including martabak stuffed with minced spiced meat, and a vegetarian version with egg. Both versions usually have sliced green onions and herbs in the mix, and they are often served with pickled vegetables on the side. 36 UbudLife
For those with a sweet tooth, terang bulan is hard to resist. The name means ‘moonlight’, which may be an allusion to the round shape of this golden cake. Sandwiched between the cake you will find either chocolate, cheese or sweetened condensed milk, and some versions also include peanuts or bananas. Terang bulan also goes by the name of martabak manis or martabak bangka. Where to get it: Terang bulan is usually only available in the evenings. Popular spots to get it include the stall across from the Pengosekan petrol station (in front of the Delta), the stall on Jalan Raya Andong just up from the Delta Dewata supermarket, and for a special green cake version, the martabak stall in front of the MG Pet Shop.
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words • image by ayu sekar
The selfie spirit is everywhere. This group of traditionally dressed girls in a remote  village succumb to the spirit of the selfie as easily as they fall into trance in a traditional dance performance....
Dark and Delicious Bali’s Artisanal
Chocolate by ibu kat • image ayu sekar
It’s not just a virtue to support Bali’s farmers, it can be a real pleasure. In Ubud we can easily source world-class Arabica coffee, artisanal sea salt, red palm sugar and now the richest, darkest, most delicious of ethical chocolate. Several artisanal chocolate makers now make their delectable products right here in Bali, using cocoa beans grown without chemicals and purchased at a fair price from the smallholders that grow it. There are no big plantations of any kind in Bali. Cocoa beans, like from coffee and other crops, are cultivated on small mixed farms by families who have held the same land for many generations. Big Tree Farms, Charlie’s Chocolate Factory, POD Chocolate and Primo Raw Chocolate all produce excellent, sustainable chocolate with fair return to local farmers. Primo’s Giuseppe (Pepe) Verdacchi was trained as an architect in Italy, but has always had a passion for chocolate. Married to a Balinese, he’s devoted the past eight years of his life to learning the arcane art of chocolatemaking. It began quite accidentally. The quality of local chocolate was initially poor, but several foreign foundations trained Balinese farmers how to grow organically and process the beans properly for a better 42 UbudLife
product. Out of this collective effort the quality improved significantly, and Pepe tried to help Balinese smallholders who grew some cocoa trees to make chocolate with simple equipment for local sale. When this project foundered, Pepe decided to learn to make chocolate himself in the traditional way. “Anything to do with food processing has to be slow,” he explains. “Fast food is meaningless. Food is a great pleasure, why accelerate it? This is madness, like a 3 second orgasm. I come from central Italy where we take food very seriously. If you want high quality preserved fruit, for example, you have to work slowly, use low temperatures, respect the fruit from beginning to end. It’s the same with cocoa.” It took Pepe over a year to source, design and build the equipment he wanted to use. Then he started to experiment, working with farmers on six small plantations in Negara and Tabanan. It took years to develop the relationships, build confidence and improve the quality of the raw ingredient. Pepe’s philosophy of ‘farmers first’, ensures that the relationship is based on respect and dignity. He feels that it’s very important to pay them well and reward the extra effort needed for good cultivation. Making high quality, cold-pressed chocolate is not a simple process. Inside the cocoa pod are 20 to 30 beans coated in a soft white flesh which is fermented off. The fermentation process creates heat, which sterilises the beans so they won’t germinate and concentrates the energy in the seed to enhance the flavour. After that the beans are sun-dried and roasted at a very low temperature to develop the full spectrum of flavour. Then the beans are crushed by hand with a stone, broken into nibs and the skin removed. The nibs are the main component
ARTISANS of the cocoa mass which is the basis of the chocolate, and contain almost 50 % fat. They’re placed in a grinding machine designed and made by Pepe which crushes the nibs with heavy granite rollers. Between 75 and 80 hours of slow, non-stop grinding raises the temperature and the nibs release the fat. The result is a paste called cocoa liquor or mass which looks and smells like chocolate but is very bitter. This is the pure chocolate used by chocolatiers to work their magic in creating fine desserts. Cocoa mass is the foundation of real chocolate making. Commercial processes basically melt the mass, add other ingredients and then temper it. Cocoa powder is made by separating out the fat and drying the beans. Like wine grapes and coffee, cocoa has a terroir, so the location, soil, elevation, rainfall and many other factors will influence the flavour. “Artisanal chocolate will have variations in flavour from batch to batch over the seasons. Cocoa from Negara is spicier than that from Tabanan. The wide spectrum of aroma and flavour can be killed by overheating, but large brands must do this to ensure consistency in the product which inevitably loses some subtlety,” Pepe explained.
figures estimate that 10,000 children in the Ivory Coast are victims of slavery or human trafficking. According to the International Labour Rights Forum, 60% of children working on cocoa farms are younger than 14. High quotas mean that inexperienced workers, including children, are doing the harvesting. Recently 30% the cocoa beans from Ivory Coast were rejected by the international market because the untrained labour force using inappropriate tools caused much of the crop to be spoiled. See ‘The Dark Side of Chocolate’, a 2010 BBC documentary on the exploitation and slave trading of West African children to serve the cocoa industry. Yes, even the exclusive chocolate producers in Europe use cocoa beans from this source. “The cocoa produced in Bali is ethical, sustainable and some of it is excellent quality,” Pepe points out. “We as consumers can do a lot to support small, sustainable businesses which train, upgrade and support Bali’s cocoa farmers.” So go ahead and buy some artisanal Bali chocolate. Sometimes doing the right thing can be downright delicious.
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The story of chocolate is not always sweet. The huge demand for inexpensive chocolate products in the developed world has led to a competitive market between cocoa farmers which forces down labour costs. In West Africa, which produces about 70% of the world’s cocoa beans, children are routinely trafficked and sold into slavery to meet the huge quotas of international chocolate producers. United States State Department UbudLife 43
ubud palace-open stage padang tegal kaja-open stage ubud main road-oka kartini arma-open stage ubud water palace-open stage bentuyung village batu karu temple-open stage
7.30 pm 7.00 pm 8.00 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.00 pm 7.30 pm
legong dances barong & keris dance kecak ramayana & fire dance legong telek women performance
ubud palace-open stage wantilan padang tegal kelod pura dalem ubud-open stage arma-open stage bale banjar ubud kelod
7.30 pm 7.00 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm
tue
ramayana ballet kecak fire & trance dance wayang kulit [shadow puppet] legong dance trance culture
ubud palace-open stage jaba pura taman sari-padang tegal kelod kertha accommodation-monkey forest st pura dalem ubud-open stage bale banjar ubud kelod
7.30 pm 7.30 pm 8.00 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm
wed
legong & barong dance mask dance [topeng jimat] wayang kulit [shadow puppet] legong dance kecak fire & trance dance jegog [bamboo gamelan]
ubud palace-open stage arma-open stage ubud main road-oka kartini yamasari stage-peliatan open stage padang tegal kaja-open stage pura dalem ubud-open stage
7.30 pm 7.00 pm 8.00 pm 7.30 pm 7.00 pm 7.00 pm
thu
kecak [monkey chant dance] legong dance the barong & keris dance kecak fire & trance dance wayang wong dance wayang kulit [shadow puppet]
puri agung peliatan jaba pura desa kutuh pura dalem ubud-open stage pura taman sari-padang tegal kelod bale banjar ubud kelod pondok bambu-monkey forest st
7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm
fri
barong dance legong dance kecak and fire dance wayang kulit [shadow puppet] jegog [bamboo gamelan] barong & keris dance
ubud palace-open stage balerung stage peliatan pura padang kertha-padang tegal kelod ubud main road-oka kartini bentuyung village arma-open stage
7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.00 pm 8.00 pm 7.00 pm 5.30 pm
legong dance legong dance frog dance legong dance kecak fire & trance dance wayang wong
ubud palace-open stage ubud water palace bale banjar ubud kelod pura dalem ubud-open stage pura dalem taman kaja-open stage arma-open stage
7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.00 pm 7.30 pm 7.30 pm 7.00 pm
every 1st and 15th: gambuh dance
pura desa batuan-open stage
7.00 pm
mon sun
legong of mahabrata kecak fire & trance dance wayang kulit [shadow puppet] legong dance janger dance jegog [bamboo gamelan] kecak fire & trance dance
sat
ubud cultural dance performances
46 UbudLife
TIPS
pura protocol
Tips for how to visit one of Bali’s fabulous temples As visitors to Bali we like to know how to visit a temple graciously. Here are a few guidelines to help make a visit more enjoyable. Enjoy! The Balinese are quite open and generally welcome visitors. You can enter most temples freely. Wear a sash around the waist and preferably a sarong. Big temples can hire a sarong at the front gate but it is nice to have your own. You can buy a sash and sarong at Ubud market or Sukawati where the choice is limitless. When there is a ceremony on, the Balinese believe the gods have descended to the temple for the duration. All prayer and dance is performed for the benefit of the gods rather than the tourists. Be respectful. Women who are menstruating must wait outside. Priests (Pedanda) are well respected and the most important person at the ceremony. They occupy the highest position. Show respect and don’t try to climb on scaffolding or steps higher than the officiating priest to get a better view or photo. If you visit a holy spring like Pura Tirtha Empul and decide to try bathing, keep your clothes on and leave the shampoo behind. It is not a bath, but an immersion in holy water, for a spiritual cleansing. Expect to pay a small donation before entering a temple. These donations are put to good use, and help with the upkeep of the grounds and the temple itself.... UbudLife 47
CP Lounge
The place with Two Faces by franceska • images ayu sekar
CP Lounge by the football field in the heart of Ubud is a place with two faces. Why? Daytime and early evening it is a quiet kind of place with open air dining and tree shaded nooks to relax in. A place to lunch, or a quiet cocktail. After nine the music starts and it becomes a club. This is the place where you can eat good food, drink, dance, chill, relax, chat, play pool without chasing all around town. It is easy to get to and hard to leave!
AROUND TOWN CP Lounge is one of Ubud’s nighttime surprises. Ubud is not know for its nightlife and there are plenty of reasons why. The emphasis is still on culture and there are all kinds of bans on loud music. Somehow CP has managed to work around all these things. Daytime offers comfy lounge areas where you can enjoy a quiet lunch or coffee and wifi under the spreading branches. As sunset approaches, it is time for an early cocktail where could be better. A game of pool? Anytime. With their beautiful pool tables – three at the last count you can enjoy a quiet game with a beer throughout the day. Inside, a real live bar awaits, complete with great bar stools and a wall of mirrors and shiny bottles behind the savvy bartenders. A bar is a bar but a cosy bar can be hard to find and a bar with live music every night from 9 til 12 makes a lot of sense. Dinner and dance? Great! Reasonably priced drinks? Shooters, shots, Rainbow Pours – all genuine brands. “We don’t want to risk anything with fake alcohol” says the smiling manager. ”We don’t take that risk!” Signature specials are the chocolate and espresso martinis – and most definitely worth a try. One of their most intriguing special drinks is the “buy I get 12”! It’s is a kind of miracle. Out of one pour comes twelve shots, in all colours of the rainbow! Red, yellow, blue, green, gold. How do they DO that! It’s a house secret and they are not divulging! Even if you are not a party person, CP is worth a visit for their food alone. Tapas, snacks, pizzas, Thai, Italian and Greek inspired dishes are all available til midnight when the kitchen winds down a little to provide pizzas, tapas and other snack foods until the early hours! Try a steak – they are almost legendary.
CP is also a great party venue and they are happy to arrange you any kind of party from a kid’s birthday, to a wedding or fancy dress fun. The space is there and the right atmosphere to have a great time!...
CP Lounge Jl. Wenara Wana No.15, entrance from Monkey Forest Rd, or across the football field.
The Balinese Swastika by jean couteau • image ayu sekar • illustration putu
T
o people ill conversant with past history or who are overly sensitive, the Swastika signs found virtually everywhere in Bali, on lintels, reliefs, decorations and others, come as a surprise and even, to some, as a shock. The Swastika is indeed, in the eyes of many Westerners, the symbol of incarnated evil, that of Hitler and his Nazi killers. But a closer look should dispel that initial impression: the Swastika one sees in Bali –and in other Indianized societies - is not indeed the Nazi Swastika. First, its representation is different: the wings of its cross are oriented in the opposite direction, and are not inclined. Secondly, and much more importantly, its symbolic meaning is also different: the Balinese Hindu Swastika is a symbol of life instead of being a symbol of death. But to know more about it, let us give a look at the origins of the Swastika and at its meaning in Bali. It all starts with the cross, not the Christian cross, indeed, with the related Christian concept of salvation through Jesus’sacrifice, but the cross as an ancient cosmic symbol and a means of ousting evil influences. (Notabene: there remains to be seen whether the Christian cross does not retain a similar function, the crucifixion coming on top of an older tradition). Anyway, the exorcising Balinese cross is called the tampak dara, which originates from the words tampak, foot-print, and dara, turtle dove. According to Balinese mythology, the turtle dove was Siwa’s messenger to earth, entrusted by the god, at the origin of the world, with carrying the four types of paddy to earth: yellow, red, white and black. Those colors are that of the four directions of the compass. The turtle dove footprint, thus, calls to mind the power of Siwa over the directions of the compass, hence over the world. The tampak dara appears in numerous places and on many occasions. One finds it usually on both the outer sides of the Balinese entrance walls (angkul-angkul), drawn in white, the color of god Iswara. These two tampak dara crosses ward off 52 UbudLife
erring buta spirits and other evil influences from wrecking havoc inside the compound. Another frequent use of the tampak darah is the api takep “offering” made on the “strong” days of the Balinese calendar, especially the Kajeng Kliwon day, which falls every 15 days--on the meeting of the day Kliwon of the 5 day week and the kajeng day of the 3 day week. On Kajeng Kliwon, people cut two long slices of dried coconuts which they cross on the ground at the front of the entrance of their compound before setting fire to it and presenting a small offering. A third example of the tampak dara cross is given during the ngulapin ceremony, when one tries to restore to equilibrium a person’s soul disturbed by a shock or accident, who
CULTURE is deemed to have literally “lost” his/her soul. At a given moment of the ceremony, one uses the round extremity of a coconut leaf on which one draws a tampak dara. Striking the leaf three times on the ground, on then says in low Balinese:” Da dini ci ngoyong, pang mulih atman ci ke awak ci-e”, which means: “ Eh, you, soul, don’t stay (where you don’t belong); come back to the body where you belong.” After taking some earth on the ground and rubbing it on the forehead, the chest and on the nearby provisional bamboo shrine, everything should return to normal. The soul is back in its erstwhile place. The Swastika proper can be seen as a sophisticated version of the basic tampak dara. But it also embeds a complex symbolic meaning of Indian origins. The first meaning of the word swastika, symbolized by its vertical and horizontal elements, is that of the opposition-cum-complementariness of the Pradana (female/matter) and Purusa (male/ spirit), expressed in the Balinese theory of Rwa Bhinneda, which states that all reality issues from opposite, yet complementary elements.
By turning, it also merges its components into one another and into its center, where dwell the Supreme, Lord Siwa, the beginning and end of everything, whom one should endeavour to rejoin in moksa or deliverance. The swastika thus refers to the concept of a pantheistic God, the merging in One of all the energies and material elements that make up the world. It is a dynamic visualization of the cosmic wheel. It has therefore little to do with the Nazism. It expresses a theory of purity, not of evil.... i For a complete presentation of the Balinese notion of time, see”Time, Rites and Festivals”, by Jean Couteau and Georges Breguet (2014)
A second symbolism present in the swastika, already present in the tampak dara cross above, is that of the pangider-ider –the Balinese rose of the winds, which associates the directions of the compass not only gods, complete with their vehicles and weapons, as above, but also with colors, elementals, letters, sounds, plants –in fact all aspects of reality are thus classified. The swastika is in that sense a symbol of the world and all its interrelated elements. The lateral “wings”, at the same time as they turn the four directions system into a system of eight directions, are also symbolization of the eternal movement of the world. The swastika, thus, is the cosmic (cakra manggilingan) which turns indefinitely, creating origin and doom, life and death and reincarnation, end and rebirth of the world etc. UbudLife 53
UBUD’S TOP 10
by meliana salim • images rio helmi, meliana salim
Wake up to the rooster’s crow, catch the first rays of sunlight piercing through lush forests, caress the sparkling morning dews on the rice paddies, watch the town come alive and the locals go about their rituals…Ubud is a heaven on earth for travellers, a healing pit stop for wounded souls and a safe home to many hopeful dreamers. Let us take you to its heart; feel its pulsating core, leave a little love behind and take a piece of its magic with you.
1 The Early Bird Catches the Locals Tourists go to the Ubud Market to hunt for souvenirs. Travellers know better and wake up early to mingle and haggle with the natives for fresh produce and local treats. Head to the Market before 9 AM and embrace the hustle and bustle of an authentic Balinese bazaar. Don’t forget to bring your camera to capture those only-in-Bali moments.
2 Spice Up Your Morning Some Balinese breakfast dishes are not for the faint-hearted. The traditional ayam betutu–a generously seasoned and spiced 24-hour slow-roasted chicken dish–is a popular morning meal in Bali. The best in Ubud is at Betutu Ayam Pak Sanur tucked in the centre of town. Your stomach might resent you for the initial spicy shock but if you are lucky enough to meet Pak Sanur, the lovely man behind the one-and-only dish, allow him to charm you with his stories. Go before 10 AM to avoid disappointment; they cater to the royal families and are often sold out by late mornings. www.facebook.com/ BetutuAyamPakSanur 56 UbudLife
UBUD’S TOP 10
3 When in Ubud... Use your time in Ubud to gain an understanding of the Balinese culture, learn some basic Indonesian words or pick up a new artistic skill. With over 30.000 books in more than 10 languages, Pondok Pekak Library & Learning Centre is a non-profit sanctuary in the centre of Ubud that provides a comfortable, creative space to explore Indonesian and Balinese classes in language, dance, music and arts and crafts. www.pondokpekaklibrary.com
4 The Motorcycle Diaries Assuming you are an experienced rider with a valid license and a solid helmet, Ubud and its surroundings are best explored on a motorbike. Follow our scenic off-the-beaten-track road-trip routes: The north road towards the Elephant Safari Park in Taro is a long, beautiful stretch of endless rice fields and terraces, stunning mountain range and sweet little villages. Riding approximately 10 km north of Jalan Andong, you will be greeted with the jaw-dropping Tegallalang rice terraces (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). On your way back into town, be adventurous and explore the numerous winding side roads, passing through local artisans’ villages. Work up a little sweat and head north of Kedewatan, make a left at the sign for Black Penny Villas, park, follow the steep steps down leading to vast rice fields and join the locals for a cool dip in the Ayung River. Watch out for rafting traffic! UbudLife 57
5 The Green Guerrillas Support Bali’s green pioneers and initiatives through a unique half-day tour of Green Village, PT Bamboo Pure and Green School, located 30 minutes south of Ubud. See how humble blades of grass are transformed into bespoke bamboo homes at Green Village (www.greenvillagebali. com <http://www.greenvillagebali.com> ) and unconventional eco architecture and designs at the world-famous Green School (www.greenschool.org <http://www.greenschool.org> ), and learn about the whole process at PT Bamboo Pure (www.ibuku.com <http://www.ibuku.com> ). Check website (www.greenvillagebali.com <http://www.greenvillagebali.com> ) to book a tour.
6 For the Love of Bali Dog In Bali, you cannot cross the street without bumping into a street dog. As adorable as they are, the reproduction of these dogs is spiralling out of control. Many are destined to suffer from abuse, neglect, consumption diseases or euthanasia due to lack of a loving home. Help to improve the wellbeing of Bali’s animals by donating to Bali Pet Crusaders (www.balipetcrusaders.org)–a non-profit, locally run organization and a registered Australian charity on a noble mission to tackle the overpopulation of stray animals on the island through free sterilization of pets and strays and community education and engagement. A little donation goes a long way. For a more hands-on experience, visit Bali Dog Adoption and Rehabilitation Centre (www. balidogrefuge.com) and volunteer to play with or walk the dogs.
7A Cup of Java Rio Helmi Gallery & Café (www.riohelmi.com) is a roomy, lightfilled gallery-cum-café run by the eponymous Indonesian photographer, writer and one of Ubud’s iconic residents. Drop by for a stimulating conversation with Rio over his punchy coffee. Rio has spent almost four decades in Ubud and travelled extensively across Asia, capturing unique images that are now immortalized in his gallery. He also leads Ubud Now & Then (www.ubudnowandthen.com), an interesting website packed with the latest info on Ubud now and Ubud as it used to be. 58 UbudLife
8 Up the Lover’s Lane Imagine a traffic-free paved path with panoramic views of rolling hills, lush forests, rice fields, volcanoes and a river gorge. This is Campuhan Ridge, more commonly known among the locals as Bukit Cinta (Lovers’ Hill). Come for sunset and you’ll see why. Frisky Balinese teenagers stroll up and down the scenic path, dressed to impress in their heels and skinny jeans or doused in heavy cologne with a kretek in hand, giggling and flirting away or love-struck and cuddled up on the grassy hills. Ah, to be young again!
9 The Ubud Hipster and Twisters Get on the digital nomad bandwagon. Whether you like it or not, Ubud is changing and embracing a new generation of hipsters and twisters, creatives and techies, entrepreneurs and socialpreneurs–all buzzing, tapping and Bitcoining away at Hubud [Hub-in-Ubud], an über-popular collaborative working space with more than 200 members cramped into a hot and bothered (but sustainable) bamboo space. www.hubud.org
10 Monkey See, Monkey Do If you must see the notoriously cheeky monkeys of Ubud, we recommend skipping those lazy, obese macaques in the heart of town for a guided leisurely stroll in the serenity of Sangeh Holy Monkey Forest, a 30-minute drive from Ubud. The lesserknown haven is the biggest and the first monkey forest in Bali and home to 14 hectares of homogeneous pala (nutmeg) trees, three families of over 600 monkeys and the Pura Bukit Sari Sangeh—a mossy 17th-century Hindu temple from the Mengwi Kingdom. www.bukit-sari-sangeh.com UbudLife 59
damar
Ubudâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Kind of Place by francine p â&#x20AC;˘ images jill alexander
OPINION We also tried the seared scallops on their shell which I found to be a bit skimpy but the fresh salad and the Vegetarian tofu and vegetables more than compensated. The menu offers plenty of choices including the old favourite, Shrimp Cocktails, gourmet burgers, and the classic Tournados Rossini as well as a good sirloin steak. Both vegetarians and Indonesian food lovers are well catered to with a delicious Nasi Goreng, Cap Cai and more.
R
ight in the middle of Pengosekan Just a little south of that great landmark known as Coco, Damar offers a cool sophisticated dining ambience for a reasonable price. Ary the man up front has had a long and varied career in hospitality, after working on cruise ships and later, helming Double Six in Kuta. He speaks several languages and knows his food. Our delicious and not too sweet strawberry martinis got us laughing in no time and it was just the right time to settle down to a slightly late lunch. The martinis are just one of a wide range of cocktails, both classic and modern drinks on offer. There is also a range of several Scotch whiskies for dedicated Scotch drinkers. It was my second visit and I was keen to try the double boiled pork again. Well, it was as memorable as the first time - as soft and tender as only a slow cooked meat can be. Served with an excellent Balinese salad and a piquant sauce of Balinese spices, this dish alone is really worth a visit.
Desserts always make a sweet ending to a meal and these desserts were no exception as the waiter arrived with a long plate bearing sample sizes of a delicious Tiramisu, chocolate mousse and a crème caramel, along with a cup of espresso. What a nice way to end a meal. Other desserts include a crème caramel, caramelised banana split. It’s all good! Even dropping in for a espresso or a cool cocktail, in the afternoon makes plaeasant respite from too much shopping or yoga. Damar - Jl Pengosekan, Ubud
64 UbudLife Nacho Mama
Putri Bali Spa
Kopi Kat
Bintang Super Market
Wayan Karja
Terracota
Sri Ratih & Spa
Skin Spa
Villa Beji
Warung Merta Sari
Bali Healing Griya
Skin Fresh
Nomad
Dolce Arancia
BPD Biah Biah Soma
Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ar
Nani Gallery
Bambooku Rainbow Spirit Warung Sopa
Milano Spa Mani Silver Down To Earth
Sensatia
Happy
Ubud Sari Health Resort
Sang Spa
Red Lotus
White Box
Gunung Merta Bungalow
Om Ham Retreat
Bale Udang Bebek Tepi Sawah Tepi Sawah Resort N. Sumerta Gallery
WORLD MAP
THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Villa Beji Indah
Sisi
Garden Sopa
Pilar Batu
ISLAND OF BALI
Kafe Topi
Biah-Biah+ The Pond Damar
Sang Spa
Studio Perak
UBUD
UBUD LOCATION Ubud, lies in the heart of Bali, in the centre of the fertile southern rice growing plains. Fertility means much more than the simple sawah or rice fields, it refers to the huge flowering of the arts which happens all around this magical town. Ubud is the home to the arts. Painting, music, dance and gamelan as well as woodcarving, maskmaking and sculpture have attracted visitors for decades. Artists also apply their skills to making attractive things for visitors. Whole streets, like the Tegallalang Road are lined with crafts shop making clever knick knacks to tempt buyers. Out from Ubud are magnificent vistas to view and temples and wonderous sights to enjoy. Around Ubud there is plenty to keep a visitor busy for days. Enjoy!
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66 UbudLife
CULTURE
GERINGSING
the sacred cloth of Tenganan by stephanie m â&#x20AC;˘ images ayu sekar
J
ust north of Candidasa lies a traditional village that dates back to ancient times. It is steeped in mystery and the mystical. Tenganan is one of only a handful of Bali Aga villages where the inhabitants can trace their ancestry to the original Balinese who resided on the island long before the Hindu Majapahit migration. Here the people believe that they were chosen by the gods to be the custodians of their divine land, as well as their unique customs and culture.
Nobody really knows where the people of Tenganan originally came from, but regardless of where they came from, the villagers believe that the mighty god Bhatara Indra created Tenganan as a microcosm of the world and chose their ancestors to protect it and keep it spiritually pure. They also believe that Bhatara Indra taught their ancestors how to create the sacred geringsing cloths that Tenganan is famous for. According to the villagers, on a fine evening many millennia ago, Bhatara Indra was sitting in a tree admiring the stars and the moon. He was so taken with the incredible beauty of the celestial bodies that he decided to teach the women of the village how to tell the story of the stars and the gods in cloth. To this day, the unique double ikat method of weaving is passed down through generations of women in Tenganan. Geringsing plays an an integral part of every rite of passage and ceremony in the village, and they are highly valued by the Balinese from around the island for their magical properties. Many believe that the cloths have supernatural powers that protect the owners from malevolent spirits and black magic.
Textile collectors also seek out geringsing for their complexity and rarity. Tenganan is one of only three places in the world that produce double ikat cloth, the other two being small villages in Japan and Gujerat in India. The creation process involves dyeing the warp and weft threads to create a motif before weaving the cloth, and the end results are intricate patterns that represent the fine balance between humans and the gods, earth and the heavens. An authentic geringsing is made only from natural cotton fibres pigmented with natural dyes made from substances like charcoal, indigo, mengkudu roots, and barks. The main colours used are red, white and black to represent the gods Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu respectively. Before the cotton is dyed, elaborate ceremonies take place to ensure that the materials are pure, and additional rites take place every step of the way, including after the threads are processed, before the first weaving, and throughout the creation process. When the cloth is not being worked on, a white sheet is placed over the loom to protect the geringsing from evil forces. UbudLife 67
68 UbudLife
There are at least 12 traditional motifs used in geringsing cloths, including the Cakra knife of Vishnu for protection and the Wayang Putri Isi design that depicts male and female shadow puppets and indicates that the wearer has been divinely elected into the community. Newer designs are called yuda, and they are considered just as powerful as the ancient motifs. Every experienced weaver knows the 12 traditional designs by heart and is able to produce them from memory without the use of a pattern or guide. It can take a weaver anywhere from one month to several years to produce one piece of geringsing, which is a testament to how painstaking the process is. And this challenging and time-consuming process is also reflected in the prices. Small geringsing cloths start at around IDR 2 million, while the larger ones could run you anywhere from 10 million to 25 million IDR. A perfect older one could easily cost more. Tenganan native I Wayan Sukardana says, “We believe that geringsing is a gift for the gods, and every motif has a different meaning that strengthens our connection to the gods. Because of this, when a women begins to learn how to make geringsing, it takes her at least a year to learn how to do everything properly including the dyeing, tying and weaving. Men are too impatient and too fast, so they cannot produce the best quality patterns and cloths.”
Wayan also believes that this ancient tradition plays a huge role in preserving his culture and the continuity of the village. For centuries outsiders were forbidden from entering Tenganan, and any villager who married an outsider was banished beyond the village walls. This had the effect of keeping traditions solidly intact, but in recent years the village has opened up to tourists and the villagers are free to live and work in other areas of the island if they so desire. However, Wayan says, “Although we are more accepting of outside influences now, not many people leave the village. Our thinking is that if someone from the village gets a job in another town or city, they might only make one or two million rupiah a month and then have to spend it all on rent, food and living costs. Here we can sell just one geringsing cloth and make enough to get by for about a year, so many people like to stay here and carry on that tradition.” For now it seems that the ancient practice of weaving geringsing is alive and well and that the villagers have good reason to continue passing on the knowledge and techniques from grandmother to mother to daughter. Guests are welcome to visit Tenganan and see the weavers in action and purchase pieces straight from the source. Entrance to the village is by donation and guests must leave before sunset.
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LEGEND:
Provincial capital
Town
Places of interest
Village
Mountain
MENJANGAN ISLAND
BAL
Pemuteran Reef Building
Secret Bay
Gilimanuk Ja v a Fe rr y to Cekik
LETKOL WISNU AIRSTRIP Pulaki Banyupoh Kertakawat Pemuteran Gondol Melanting Penyabangan Musi
Sumberkelampok
Blimbingsari
Klatakan Sumbersari
Gerokgak
Mt. Musi 1224
Mt. Merbuk 1386
Antur
Lovina
Gobleg
Bestala Mayong Busungbiu
Tambling Mund
BA
Subuk
LI
Candikusuma
ST
Pupuan Pujungan Mt
Tegalasih
R
Airanakan
Pe
a B e a ch
Pancoran
Mt. Mesehe 1344
Pangkungdedari Melaya
vin
Kalibukbuk Labuhan Haji Kaliasem Pengastulan Temukus Kalisada Seririt Dencarik Tigawasa Bubunan Banjar Sidetapa Tegallenga Ringdikit Cempaga Asah Goble
Puri Jati [muck-diving]
Celukan Bawang
Taman Nasional Bali Barat (West Bali National Park)
Temple
A
E I S
Lo
Sumberkima Goris Banyuwedang Labuhan lalang
Lake
A
Banyubiru
IT
NEGARA
Cupel Munduk Perancak
Munduk Yehkuning
Batungsel
Tista
Batuagung
Sanda Mendoyo Yehbuah Delod Berawah
Bat
Manggissari Asahduren
Rambutsiwi Yehsumbul Yehembang Pesinggahan Mede wi B eac Medewi h
Belimbing
Ampadan
Balia
Balian Beach
Suraberata Selemad Antosari n B Lalanglinggah Bajera Ba ea ch Soka Soka Bea ch Kerambit Beraban
IN
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Tib
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Tanah
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Padang Sulub
Uluw
Airport/Airstrip
Air Sanih
Sangsit Kubutambahan Beji
Bungkulan
Banyuning
emaron
ran Panji
Bukti
Jagaraga Bila
SINGARAJA
Tamblang
Sukasada
Pacung
Pegayaman
Tejakula Les Tegal
Gitgit
Asahpanji Pancasari
Catur Mt. Catur
Tembok Muntidesa
Bantang Penulisan
Kintamani
Wongaya
Angantiga
Seribatu
Taro Sebatu
bubiyu
Gubug Kediri
Mengwi
Pandakgede Sempidi
h Lot
Mambal
Petak
Petulu
Sidemen Talibeng
Selat
UBUD
Akah
Bedulu
KLUNGKUNG
GIANYAR
Ubung Lumintang Tohpati Kerobokan DENPASAR B e Brawa Canggu Padanggalak h Sumerta a Muding Umalas Pengubengan Canggu Renon Sanur Batubelig Sanur Sindhu Legi Petitenget Sanglah an B e Seminyak Batujimbar Pegok Kut ac Legian Gelogorcarik Semawang aB e Kuta Pesanggaran Blanjong
Keramas
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Kuta SERANGAN ISLAND Tuban Serangan NGURAH RAI BENOA HARBOUR TERNATIONAL AIRPORT Tanjung Benoa Kedonganan Jimbaran Bay Jimbaran Bingin Mumbul g Padang Bualu Geger Kampial ban Nusa Dua Ungasan Sawangan watu N Pecatu h
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Asak Jasri Jasri Timbrah Bugbug Sensatia
Ashyana Buitan
Sengkidu
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IT
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SD Sental Blue Corner Buyuk Jungutbatu Kutampi Ped LEMBONGAN ISLAND Telaga Sampalan Lembongan Toyapakeh Sentalkangin CENINGAN ISLAND Pidada Gelagah Crystal Bay Metakih Ponjok Bayuh Suana Malibu Manta Point Semaya Batumandeg Pejukutan Ambengan Batukandik Pendem Tanglad Soyor Bungkit Anta Pelilit Manta Point Tabuanan Ramoan Sedihing Sekartaji
Lem bar (
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Batuabah
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Manggis Ulakan
Kusamba
A TR
Subagan
Padangbai A m u k B a n d i da
Batubulan Celuk
Canggu
Mt. Seraya 1175 Seraya
AMLAPURA
Tenganan
Silayukti Dawan Kamasan Goa Lawah Gelgel
Sidan Tihingan
Kutri
Mas
Kengetan Bone Sakah Silakarang Blahbatuh Sibang Angantaka Kemenuh Lebih Batuan Darmasaba Sukawati Singapadu
Bebandem Sibetan
Ferry to N usa Pe nida
Muncan
Yeh Gangga Beraban
Sibang Bongkasa
Blayu
TABANAN
Pejaten
Batusari
Blahkiuh Peliatan Denkayu Abiansemal
Alas Kedaton
Samsam tan
Tirta Gangga
Sulahan Singarata
Gili Selang Lempuyang
C
antas
Sangeh
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PURI WIRATA Dive Resort & Spa Mt. Agung 3142
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BALI MAP
Surfing spots
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Back to nature at Balila Beach with a clean eco-conscience
by jenny b • images ayu sekar
A
s the sun set in the west, Gunung Agung rose inky black, a sacred silhouette against an expanse of sky ablaze with a changing palette of crimson, fuschia and orange. To the east a double rainbow arced in a perfect semi-circle above the pink-hued horizon, its reflection rippling across the ocean right towards us.
We were four awe-struck friends faced with two spell-binding 180-degree vistas and a dilemma: Which jaw-dropping view to focus on?
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And the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end? Balila Beach, a new boutique eco resort on Bali’s northeast coast, halfway between Amed and Tulamben. This slice of paradise is set high on a bluff facing a crescent beach of volcanic black sand, under the protection of Bali’s most sacred mountain. It is an enchanting setting that, as we soon discovered, is unmatched elsewhere on the island. Here, you can immerse yourself in the Bali so many fell in love with in the 70s, long before strips of hotels and villas crept along the shoreline. Here, time settles into a slower, gentler rhythm unchanged over generations. As if to emphasise that, a Melasti ceremony coincided with our arrival, gamelan music drifting across our verandah perched 12 metres above the beach.
HIDEAWAYS verandah overlooking a private beach view. At the highest level is the volcano-view café, and a large pool – fabulous facilities for the up-to-six guests who currently have the place to themselves! Balila Beach has certainly earned its ecocredentials. Construction materials were mostly sourced from the area: rocks for foundations and walls came rom the land itself, black sand from a local beach, and coconut wood and neem wood from surrounding smallholdings.
Balila Beach started as a spark of inspiration on the other side of the world. Austrian architect and furniture designer Birci, whose passion for healthy food, alternative therapies and eco-smart living had been kindled by years of illness, first dreamed of creating a healing centre on a tropical island 25 years ago. A decade later she visited Bali for what was supposed to be a short holiday, met her husband Made… and never left. While visiting her husband’s family in a village nearby, she “saw Gunung Agung, sunrise over the ocean and a perfect beach all in one glance, and instantly fell in love!” After ten years researching and developing the concept and design, they started building in 2012 – and received their first guests on New Year’s Eve 2014.
Birci is respectful of this coastal area’s fragile environment, and her key concern is water. Her mission is to optimise the use of all water. “We have a huge rainwater catchment system; grey-water from showers is recycled for the edible garden, and the black water from toilets is filtered through waste-water gardens for fish ponds or non-edible plants.” The pool has same plant filter system that radically reduces the amount of chlorine required. She uses solar water heaters and solar-charged reading lamps. Garbage disposal has been refined organic waste is composted for the garden, and anything that can’t be reused goes to a local recycling initiative.
The eco-resort will eventually comprise seven guest suites and eight simpler rooms for workshop participants on a budget (a yoga shala is also planned). For now, there are three bedrooms – one occupies its own octagonal building, and two sharing an enormous UbudLife 75
A 20-minute stroll south along the beach is Amed and a strip of warungs…but we were never tempted that far. And we didn’t have to, for Balila Beach is aiming to be pretty selfsufficient. Already its eco-garden is supplying the superfood Meringa, papaya, pineapples, passion fruit, mangos and bananas. Fresh fish come from the morning catch, organic prawns, and sea salt are nearby. The on-site café will eventually serve a small menu of healthy Balinese dishes using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Recycling is the emphasis. Old timber from Phinisi boats is used for the verandah decking, and a patchwork of small window frames creates a feature wall in the cafe. Walls of rock and earth look fabulous while keeping the interiors cool. And the eclectic collection of furniture includes boat-wood chairs. Birci’s knowledge of energy flow shows in the round guest bedrooms. So that “energy doesn’t get stuck in corners, and you feel more embraced,” she says. The bedrooms feature sacred geometry-inspired lotus frescos. The pool features a vortex system that changes and energises the structure of the water. The retreat’s spiritual health is in the hands of her father-in-law, a respected Mangku (priest), who presides over ceremonies at the three house temples, keeping the land purified. We were among the first guests to stay at Balila Beach, and found it enchanting. We snoozed on hammocks lulled by the sound of gentle waves, wallowed in the shallows of the vortex pool, and explored the surrounding land – oval patches of maize and soft grass, and boulderstrewn hills. We marveled at sculptural black blooms that resembled birds of paradise – a rarity in Bali according to a noted etho-botanist friend, and passed stands of Lontar palms that yield tuak (palm wine) and arak (distilled tuak) whose leaves are used for weaving baskets and inscribing sacred texts. 76 UbudLife
Balila Beach induces total relaxation yet there’s plenty to do. Swimming in the sea (there’s a pearl farm just offshore), trekking the foothills of Gunung Agung, diving Tulumben’s Liberty wreck, and snorkeling i Amed’s coral gardens from a jukung fishing boat are just a few.. “ I think this land supports people who come with good intentions”, Birci mused while showing us the meditation cave concealed within the eco-retreat. We whole-heartedly concur.
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DIVING IN BALI Bali situated in the Indo-Pacific, the world richest marine biographic zone. The island, therefore, receives very plankton - rich waters and so contains a stunningly diverse underwater ecosysrem as well as many totally different physical environments. Baliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dive sites offer great diversity: vertical walls and slopes; shipwrecks, steel and wooden; limestone shorelines and balck, volcanic outcrops; peacefull bays and ripping currents; deep; coralcovered ridges, shallow sea grass beds and big bommies with both shore - and boat - diving..
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nEXT ISSUE image ayu sekar
Delicious food - is Ubud becoming the food capital of Bali? Tirtagangga - we explore the green beauty of Tirtagangga Hideaways - we take you to a gorgeous hideaway A day at the beach
RESTAURANTS Bale Udang Restaurant Jl. Raya Goa Gajah, Ubud Phone: 0361 978754 www.baleudang.com
ACCOMMODATION Arma Resort Jl. Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 0361 976659 www.armaresort.com Cendana Resort & Spa Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud Phone: 0361 973243 www.cendanaresort-spa.com
Lotus Lane Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud Phone: 0361 975357 www.lotus-restaurants.com
Biah Biah Jl. Goutama, Ubud Phone: 0361 978249
NOMAD Jl. Raya Ubud 35, Ubud Phone: 0361 977169 www.nomad-bali.com
Biah-Biah+ Jl. Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 0361 8015124 Bollero Bar & Resto Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud Phone: 0361 972872 www.bollerobali.com
Kupu Kupu Barong Jl. Kedewatan, Ubud Phone: 0361 975478 www.dewanggaubud.com
Cafe Des Artistes Jl. Bisma 9x, Ubud Phone: 0361 972706 www.cafedesartistesbali.com
Om Ham Retreat Jl. Tirta Tawar, Ubud Phone: 0361 9000352 www.omhamretreat .com
CP LOUNGE Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud Phone: 0361 978954 www.cp-lounge.com
Melati Cottages Jl. Raya Penestanan Kaja, Ubud Phone: 0361 974650 www.melati-cottages.com
Down To Earth Jl. Gootama Selatan, Ubud Phone: 03617835545
Sri Ratih Cottages Jl. Raya Campuhan 1, Ubud Phone: 0361 975638 www.sriratih.com
KAFE Jl. Raya Hanoman 48B, Ubud Phone: 0361 970992
Bridges Jl. Raya Campuan, Ubud Phone: 0361 970095 www.bridgesbali.com
Gunung Merta Bungalow Jl. Andong, Peliatan, Ubud Phone: 0361 975463
Ubud Sari Health Resort Jl. Kajeng, Ubud Phone: 0361 974393 www.ubudsari.com
Kebun Jl. Raya Hanoman 44B, Ubud www.kebunbistro.com
Damar Restaurant Jl. Raya Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 0361 978374 Dolce Arancia Restaurant Jl. Gotama 17, Ubud Phone: 0361 7802381
Sri Ratih Cafe & Jewelry Jl. Raya Campuhan 1, Ubud Phone: 0361 975638 www.sriratih.com Kafe Topi Jl. Nyuh Kuning No.2, Ubud Phone: 0361 8235151 Warung Sopa Garden Jl. Nyuh Kuning 2, Ubud Phone: 0361 2801340 Warung Alami Jl. Penestanan, Ubud Phone: 081 23913754 Warung Merta Sari Jl. Uma Suke Wayah, Ubud Phone: 0361 2021892 Warung Perancis Jl. Cok Rai 77, Teges, Mas, Ubud Phone: 0361 978109 White Box Jl. Raya Andong, Ubud Phone: 0361 979059 www.whiteboxbali.com
Griya Restaurant Jl. Raya Ubud, Ubud Phone: 0361 975428
NIGHT LIFE
Tepi Sawah Villas Jl. Goa Gajah, Peliatan, Ubud Phone: 0361 970388 www.tepisawahvillas.com
Gedong Sisi Jl. Raya Ubud, Ubud Phone: 0361 977276 www.gedongsisi.com
CP Lounge Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud Phone: 0361 978954 www.cp-lounge.com
Terrace Abing Resort Banjar Kebon, Tegallalang, Ubud Phone: 0361 980970 www.abingterrace.com
Ibu Rai Restaurant Jl. Monkey Forest 72, Ubud Phone: 973472 www.iburai.com
Cafe Havana Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud Phone: 0361 972973 www.cafehavanabali.com
Villa Beji Indah Banjar Nyuh Kuning, Ubud Phone: 0361 974168
Juice Ja Cafe Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud Phone: 0361 971056
Damar Restaurant, Bar & Lounge Jl. Raya Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 0361 978374 UbudLife 79
SPAS Aura Theraphy Spa Ubud Aura Retreat Center Jl. Hanoman 888, Ubud Phone: 0361 972956 www.ubudaura.com Bali Healing Spa Jl. Raya Ubud, Ubud Phone: 0361 27997658 www.balihealingspa.com Bali Botanical Day Spa Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud Phone: 0361 976739 FRESH Spa Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud Phone: 0361 8493677 KUSH Ayurvedic Rejuvenation Spa Yoga Barn - Jl. Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 0361 971236 www.yogabarn.com/kush Kayma Spa Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud Phone: 0361 9100017 www.karmaspaubud.com Milano Salon Jl. Monkey Forest Road, Ubud Phone: 0361 973488 prs_milano@yahoo.com Sang Spa Jl. Raya Jembawan 13B, Ubud Phone: 0361 9277222 www.sangspaubud.com Sang Spa Monkey Forest Road, Ubud Phone: 0361 9277333 www.sangspaubud.com Sedona Spa Jl. Raya Campuhan, Ubud Phone: 0361 975770 www.sedonaspa-ubud.com SKIN Organic Spa and Waxing Salon Jl. Gotama 24 & Jl. Sanggingan 36, Ubud Phone: 0361 975615 & 0361 975604 rsvp@ubudSkinOrganic.com Taksu Spa and Restaurant Jl. Gootama Selatan, Ubud Phone: 0361 971490 www.taksuspa.com
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SHOPS
GALLERIES
Bambooku Jl. Hanoman 32, Ubud Phone: 0361 7803119 www.bambooku.com
Pilar Batu Gallery Jl. Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 0361 978197 www.pilarbatu.com
Nirmala - Work On Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;shirt Jl. Hanoman 2, Ubud Phone: 0361 7475404
Sari Api Gallery Contemporary Handmade Ceramic Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud Phone: 082 3831 5697
Rainbow Spirit Jl. Hanoman 38, Ubud Phone: 0361 3699978 www.rainbowspiritbali.com Sensatia Botanicals Jl. Monkey Forest 64, Ubud Phone: 0361 3400011 www.sensatia.com Studio Perak Jl. Hanoman, Ubud Phone: 0361 974244 Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud Phone: 081 236 51809 www.dketut37@yahoo.com
Tanah Tho Gallery Jl. Raya Lodtunduh, Ubud Phone: 0361 981482 www.tanahtho.com
CERAMICS Sari Api Ceramics Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud Phone: 0361 971056
SISI Jl.Nyuh Kuning No.2, Ubud Phone: 0361 8235151 www.sisibag.com YIN Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud Phone: 0361 970718 Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud Phone: 7801879 www.yinjewelryforthesoul.com
ARTISTS Wayan Karja [Painter] Jl. Penestanan, Ubud Mobile: 081 23976419 Wayan Suarmadi [Painter] Jl. Raya Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 0361 978197 Wayan Sila [Owl House] Jl. Bisma, Ubud Phone: 977649 | Mobile: 081 8566861
PROPERTY Red Lotus Property Jl. Sukma, Br. Tebesaya, Ubud Phone: 970980 www.redlotusbaliproperty.com
YOGA CENTRE Yoga Barn Jl. Pengosekan, Ubud-Bali Phone: 971236 www.theyogabarn.com Intuitive Flow Jl. Penestanan, Ubud-Bali Phone: 977824 | Mobile: 081 23924649 www.intuitiveflow.com
SPORT/RECREATION
USEFUL NUMBERS Ambulance
Bali Wake Park Jl. Pelabuhan Benoa, Pesanggaran Phone: 0361 8468866 www.baliwakepark.com
Airport Authority
Bali Adventure Rafting Bypass Ngurah Rai, Pesanggaran Phone: 0361 721480 www.baliadventuretours.co SEPEDA BALI Green Adventure Cycling Jl. Nyuh Bojog, Ubud Phone: 0361 978631 www.sepedabali.com
EAST BALI SECTION Ashyana Candidasa Jl. Raya Candidasa, Karangasem Phone: 0363 41359 www.ashyanacandidasa.com Le-Zat Restaurant Jl. Raya Candidasa, Karangase Phone: 0363 41538, 41539 www.balicateringservices.com Le 48 Hotel & Restaurant Jl. Raya Candidasa 48, Karangasem Phone: 0363 41177 www.lezatbeachrestaurant.com Puri Wirata Dive Resort and Spa Jl. Raya Bunutan, Amed, Karangasem Phone: 0363 23523 www.puriwirata.com
Bali Police Department
227711
Directory Inquiries
108/112
Fire Brigade
113
Immigration
751038
International Red Cros
226465
Post Office Search and Rescue Tirta Ayu Hotel & Restaurant Jl.Tirta Gangga, Karangasem Phone: 0363 22503 www.hoteltirtagangga.com
118 751011
161 751111
Sanglah Public Hospital
227911
Tourist information Center
753540
Time Ubud Tourist Information
103 973286
Villarossa Candidasa Jl.Candidasa, Karangasem Phone: 0363 42062 www.villarossa.org Villa Sasoon Jl. Puri Bagus Candidasa, Karangasem Phone: 0363 41511 www.villasasoon.com Watergarden Hotel Restaurant & Spa Jl. Raya Candidasa, Karangasem Phone: 0363 41540 www.watergardenhotel.com
MUSEUMS
CONSULATES Australia
241118
ARMA ( Agung Rai Museum of Art ) Jl. Raya Pengosekan, Ubud Phone: 974228
Brazil
757775
Czech Republic
286465
Denmark & Norway
701070
Antonio Blanco Renaissance Museum Jl. Raya Campuhan, Ubud Phone: 975502
French
285485
Germany
288535
Museum Puri Lukisan Ubud Jl. Raya Ubud, Ubud, Gianyar Phone: 975136
Hungary
287701
Italy
701005
Japan
227628
Neka Art Museum Jl. Raya Sanggingan Phone: 975074
Mexico
223266
Netherlands
761502
Pendet Museum Jl. Nyuh Kuning, Ubud Phone: 971338
Spain/Portugal
769286
Sweden & Finland
288407
Rudana Museum Jl. Raya Cok Rai Pudak, Peliatan, Ubud Phone: 975779
Switzerland
751735
Unitedkingdom
270601
USA
233605 UbudLife 81
LAST WORD
Varitatem dies apetit (Time reveals the truth) Mark Ulyseas
The soothsayers of doom regurgitate ancient prophesies to remind us that we are witnessing the end times. But is this true? End times have come and gone with civilisations dying and others being born with a regularity like the bowel movement of one in good health. There is a growing acceptance and even rejoicing, in some quarters, of the impending doom. The expectation of everlasting life, of hanging out in heaven plucking fruits from trees and fornicating in the celestial streams of thought. It is this expectation that keeps many of us shackled to a truth that no one can prove or disapprove but only time can reveal. But as we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t live in time, unlike the trees, the truth will always elude us. And so the debate between believers and non-believers continues to rage while we live our sordid little lives obsessed with living as comfortable as possible amidst the crumbling edifice of a planet which we have vandalised, killing millions of its inhabitants and decimating vast stretches of its environs. We have fine-tuned the art of murder and embedded a pathological hatred in our children through our own versions of history replete with details of dismemberment of countries and peoples. Around 600 BCE Lord Buddha arrived followed closely by Lord Mahavira and later by Lord Jesus Christ. All three spoke of love, charity, forgiveness, living in harmony with all, respecting all life and so on. Apparently these messengers from the Universe have made only a dent in our consciousness. We continue to interpret truth subjectively and hence remain isolated in our endeavour towards enlightenment while busily slaughtering each other under one banner or another of self-deceit. But where does Time fit in, in this macabre shadow dance of life and death? Some say that Time is the pres-
ence of mind in eternity. If this is true then it could be assumed that this presence of mind encompasses everythingâ&#x20AC;Śthe planets, stars and stardustâ&#x20AC;Śand us. Perhaps that is why we are shackled by a time that can never reveal the truth because it is a time of our own making.
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Only the trees know the truth, for they live in a time, the time of the presence of mind. And they speak to us. But no one is listening for we are too busy cutting them down. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om But is this true? Is there a heaven? A place that is the personification of tranquillity? Ask the faithful who genuflect before the deities. Ask the wretched souls congregating during a festival who pray for money, good health and happiness. Ask the peddlers of salvation. Nearly everyone wants something from their Gods/ Goddesses. How many actually visit a place of worship to give instead of asking for things? How many understand.
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Mark Ulyseas Publisher/Editor, http://www.liveencounters.net Free online magazine from village earth.
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