Winter Vacation Information

Those of you who have frequented the Centro Discovery Mall in Tuban over the years will well remember the restoran Bali Colada that was located at the rear of the Mall opposite Black Canyon Café. The bad news is that Bali Colada is no longer there and in its place a new restoran; Coco Bistro. Coco

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I have been showing people around Bali for a long time now; taking them to those rarely seen places on the island; my treasured places. Inevitably, I take most people to the north-east coast and to experience one place that, as a resort, I find magical. This place is the Poinciana Resort located in the

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There is that certain something special about early morning and especially in the mountains of Bali. The soft light of early morning is excellent for photography especially for capturing images of flowers and the lush jungle growth. I particularly enjoy this time when the dew has fallen or even light rain. It affords some spectacular

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If there is one thing I enjoy in life it is coffee. I drink copious amounts of it and one of my favourites is Sumatran Mandehling. When I am at home in Yogyakarta, Candika and I frequent a delightful coffee shop in the Malioboro Mall called Excelso’s (pictured left). Excelso’s has a chain of coffee

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If you’re fed up with the weather around the Pittsburgh area and have begun dreaming of an escape, there’s good news. There are some great vacation deals out there right now and you may be able to get somewhere warm for less than you …

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Getting off the well-worn tourist tracks in Bali will afford some great surprises as well as some stunning scenery. The other delight is the adventure of driving on narrow, winding roads that at times seem to go around in circles. On a recent road trip to Danau Bratan with my brother I decided to take

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Today was one of those days when we felt like doing nothing but enjoy the best things in life; good friends, good food and relaxing by the pool. It was a hot day with a clear blue sky and not a cloud in sight. A bit different to last night when Mother Nature offered up

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Today is Saraswati in Bali. This is the special day of thanks for the gift of knowledge. The festive day is a time for making offerings to books and especially the sacred lontar palm leaf books. All books are subjects on this day. One is not supposed to read books, however schools have special ceremonies.

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Restorans, warungs and junk-food outlets abound in Bali and, depending on your tastes, one can virtually imbibe in the cuisine of the world; such is the variety. Of course we all have our own favourites and many we patronise on a regular basis. My personal tastes are strictly for the traditional foods of Indonesia. I am

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The diversity of the cultures across the archipelago has never ceased to amaze me. In Bali one can easily find cultural objects and the most popular amongst tourists seems to wayang kulit (leather puppets) and topeng (masks). I have a diverse collection of cultural objects from around Indonesia including around 70 topeng and over 40 kris.

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