Age Discrimination in Reverse as Hollywood Casting Directors Search Bali for Really Old Guy to Become Julia Robert’s Holy Man in ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’
World on the street is that casting directors are combing Indonesia in desperate search for a senior Indonesian actor or film newcomer to play the part of Ketut Liyer in the major Hollywood production “Eat, Pray, Love” starring Julia Roberts and now being shot in Bali. Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Way, one of the founders of The Bali Peace Park Association, told Beritabali.com that his group is raising funds from Australian diplomats, Australians citizens around the world and international companies in order to purchase the land and construct the proposed park.
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Trivia Question: Where was the very first inaugural ball for U.S. President Barack Obama held?
Answer: In Jakarta Indonesia on the evening of January 20, 2009, a full 12 hours before the “other” ball held in Washington, D.C..
Because of the special attachment felt for the then newly elected Preident who lived for five years as a young boy in Jakarta, the Jakarta Inaugural Ball was a gala affair of fine food and drink, music and fund raising for local charitable causes. Instrumental in organizing the Jakarta event were expatriates hailing from the State of Hawaii, the new President’s state of birth. Read the rest of this entry »

A small, dignified ceremony was held at the Australian Consulate in Denpasar on October 1 2009, to commemorate those who perished in terrorists attacks on that date at several locations in Bali in 2005.
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Westin Resorts Heavenly Bed are justifiably famous for the unequalled quality of sleep they provide guests staying at their resorts worldwide. Credited with creating the best reason yet to “sleep in,” the scientifically formulated and expertly engineered beds and accompanying linen leave guest refreshed and recharged to face the world’s challenges.

Today there are now more than 97,000 Heavenly Beds in over 65,000 Westin guestrooms worldwide. In response to popular demand from guests who “hate to get up in the morning,” Westin have sold more than 30,000 Heavenly Beds, 100,000 pillows, 32,000 sheets, and 13,000 shower heads to consumers hoping to bring home the Heavenly experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Rotary Club Seminyak is organizing a relaxing 25 kilometer downhill cycling tour from the Mount Batur volcano in Bali and ending in Ubud on Sunday, October 18, 2009.

Operated in cooperation with Sobek Bali Utama - one of Bali’s most experience adventure sports operations, the trip will cover the “Batur Trail” - the downhill trail from Mount Batur that leads through sleepy villages along little-used roads and tracks. Frequent stops along the way are included to give participants the opportunity to visit temples, plantations and villages along the way. Experience trained guides, employed from surrounding communities, will lead the group.

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Ubud Writers and Readers Festivals to Bring Range of Exciting Play Readings to Bali.

Part of the many exciting offerings during this year’s Ubud Writers and Readers Festival are a number of theatrical events. The works of world renowned visiting playwrights will be presented in dramatic readings by several actors, well-known to Australian audiences through their work in theater, film and television.

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Entire Island Plunged into Darkness on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, when Java-Bali Interconnection Fails. Consumer Bureau Threaten Class Action Suit for Damages against PLN.

A sub-sea interconnecting high-voltage cable carrying power from Java to Bali failed on Wednesday evening, September 15, 2009, plunging much of Bali into darkness starting from 7:05 p.m..

Frantic efforts to restore the peak demand capacity of 440 megawatt returned power in some areas within a half-hour, however, many consumers sat in the dark until late in the evening before power was fully restored.

The failure was traced to an interconnection circuit beneath the Java-Bali straits that officials claim was stuck by lightning resulting in the sudden loss of 100 megawatts of transmission power.

The head of the Bali Consumer’s Bureau, Putu Armaya, criticized the State Power Board (PLN) for their second major power outage to affect Bali since May 31, 2009, claiming the failures could form the basis for formal claims by consumers affected by the outage.

Armaya said that if PLN does not compensate consumers, his group could lead such a class action suite against the utility.

Benoa Hotels and Local Citizens Cooperate to Save Lives and Become ‘Tsunami Ready.’

September 10, 2009, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at the Ramada Benoa Hotel between the local community and Tanjung Benoa tourism industries to make the small peninsula just north of the Nusa Dua Complex “tsunami ready.”

An initiative of GTZ (German Technical Cooperation)-GITEWS (German-Indonesian Cooperation for Tsunami Early Warning System) and Bali Hotels Association [BHA] and assisted by the Indonesian Red Cross - the project has created a potentially life-saving framework for Tanjung Benoa in the event of a tsunami. A flat and very low-lying peninsula exposed directly to the Indian Ocean, the community of Tanjung Benoa could offer no “high ground” for local resident seeking safety if the tsunami siren sounded, warning of an imminent inbound wave.

The obvious solution close at hand was to devise a system that would provide immediate quick access to the multi-storied hotels built at Tanjung Benoa where, conceivably, people on the upper floors during a tsunami would be spared the fatal consequences of a tsunami attack.

The MoU just concluded provides for a joint evacuation plan, a evacuation trigger, evacuation procedures and codes of conduct. Commencing immediately, nine Tanjung Benoa hotels will open their doors to the community at risk in case of an official tsunami alarm being sounded.

The initiative is viewed as a good example on community cooperation in disaster risk reduction, serving as a template for future ‘tsunami ready’ plans in Indonesia.

The Tanjung Benoa Tsunami Preparedness team partners are the Bali Hotels Association [BHA] and The Segara Hotel, Benoa Rose Residence, Benoa Palm, Ramada Benoa Hotel, Rasa Sayang Hotel, The Bali Khama Hotel, Puri Panca Setia Hotel, Club Bali Mirage, Grand Bali Mirage Hotel , Kelurahan Tanjung Benoa, the Indonesian Red Cross, GTZ-GITEWS, and the Indonesian Department of Culture and Tourism.

(5/2/2009) Ayana Resort and Spa Bali won top honors at a prestigious national pastry competition, winning the Gold Medal in all four categories and qualifying for the next Asian Pastry Cup championship in Singapore next year.

Pastry Chef Made Sutisna joined forces with St Regis Bali Resort’s pastry sous chef Wayan Laspina in preparing a delectable array of desserts at the Asian Pastry Cup National Selection Competition held in Jakarta, April 15-18, 2009. A dessert prepared especially for the contest, Valrhona Equatorial Chocolate and Ginger-Blood Orange Mousse Cake with Peanut Croquant was determined by the panel of judges as the winner in ”The Best Chocolate Cake” category. Read the rest of this entry »