YOUR GUIDE TO BALI’S BEST BEACHES

Whoever says the beaches of Bali is too touristy, too crowded and too busy can kiss my sun-tanned a*s through eternity. For all I know, they never been to Bali AT ALL! Ha!

And before we go on, one more thing – I have already told you the importance of knowing what kind of beach you are looking for before actually heading anywhere. This would ensure you’d enjoy it and won’t spoil somebody else’s holiday…

Anyways, enough of the bitchin’… here’s your guide to Bali’s best beaches according to 14 BISEANers. Let’s categorize it into 3:

[1] For watchin’ bronzed gods & goddesses / displaying yourself / Party Zone
[2] For the family oriented / Quiet solitude / Drama Queens (and kings!)
[3] For the rich & famous / nouveau riche / social climbers

Category 1

Kuta Beach – Absolutely the most popular beach on the island No shortage of beach babes and dudes, super party zone, Hard Rock. Kuta’s 5 km stretch is the longest beach in Bali. Even those who fancy Categories 2 & 3 comes here. Lots of surfing, water sports, activities and a beach culture of its own. Here is where the action you are looking for.

Dreamland Beach – Lots of action, very vibrant. 15 minutes from Kuta. Surfer dudes and babes galore. Lovely crowd.

Uluwatu & Padang Padang – Surfer god’s paradise + sunset parties + spectacular views + quiet lagoons.


Category 2

Sanur Beach – The center of it all; starting point to see the rest of the island, pale pink sands, white sands, fashion shops, boutique hotels, for thos who love culture.

Legian Beach – Comfy guest houses, boutique hotels, activities for the family, lots of kids, honeymooners, behaved but still has a wicked night life. A few minutes drive from Kuta.

Seminyak Beach - Very cosmopolitan but casual ambiance, classy restaurants, fine dining, local designer shops. Tanah Lot's is walking distance from here. Good for surfing in dramatic sunsets.

Candidasa – Well… not really the best. But what makes this special is the tranquility you’re looking for. For those who’d like to have some peace and quiet with the family. Or self-pity extravaganzas.

Category 3

Jimbaran Beach - Sterile, clean, organized and picturesque. Like the one’s on post cards. The Four Seasons, The Intercon and the Ritz Carlton dominate the beach.

Nusa Dua Beach - One word: Prestige. Another sterile beach where everything is in its proper place. International celebrities head here.

Bali’s 10 Best Beaches according to BISEAN.

2008 is Visit Indonesia Year. Come and visit.

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MOUNT AGUNG: The Seat of the Gods

When you’re in the beach and the lowlands, you would think Bali is not at all mountainous. Well, the island has more than 10 major mountains and the tallest of which is what the Balinese believe to be the seat of the gods and the center of the universe – Mount Agung.

Mount Agung (Gunung Agung) is one of the holiest mountains in Indonesia. All temples in Bali face this mystical mountain waiting for the gods to descend. It is also one of the most active volcanoes and the 10th tallest mountain in our region at 3142m (10,400 ft) high.

The largest temple in Bali is the Besakih Temple -- resting on the slopes of the volcano. Devotees attend ceremonies here for the gods visit this temple a couple of times a year. A Balinese year has 210 days.

The Balinese believes that their island belongs to the gods and they are custodians to look after it. Although most of the outside world would think this belief seem preposterous, we all can learn from it on how we treat our environment.

Mount Agung looks different in different direction. It looks perfect cone shape in the east and massive in other points.

The last time Mount Agung erupted was in 1963. Lava, fire and ash destroyed what it gave – water streams, fertile soil and bountiful harvest. The holy mountain is both the source of life and death. But the gods spared the Bersakih Temple as devotees hurried up the slopes to give offerings and restore the pact between the gods and man.

We were told that since Bali is one of the most visited places in the world, Mount Agung has to be the most climbed volcano as well. Visitors can go up hiking on 3 trails and one of which is the way to Bersakih Temple.

There are rules in climbing up this holy mountain (mostly religious) and don’t forget to ask your guide so not to be “playing with chance”. Respect local beliefs. There are many tourists who got lost, fell on crevices or simply met a lot of uncalled incident by walking about back and forth when a ceremony is in progress. Please remember that your presence might be a “disturbance” to people performing the rites.

Climbing Mount Agung would give you a peak on the colorful local culture that is distinctly Balinese. The rice terraces on it's slopes too! There is nothing like it in Southeast Asia and it could be a very good learning experience for visitors.

From the temple, you can go up farther up to the highest peak but it would be rare to see the entire island because this point is mostly covered or above the clouds. On a clear day, you can see the 7th Tallest Mountain in Southeast Asia – Mount Rinjani, on neighboring and equally fantastic island, Lombok.

Mount Agung -- treasure of Southeat Asia.

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EURASIAN BLOGGERS SUMMIT IN BALI!

16 November 07 – Today is the huge summit of Eurasians, Biracials, Mulattos, Blasians and Hapas. We made an announcement here last October.

Gorgeous babes & dudes from London, Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo, Honolulu, L.A., KL, Saigon, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta came! *mainly because it's free! lol* We'll thank our sponsors later, o'right? *I love you mom and dad! The best gift ever!*

For the ones coming from Bangkok, we took Thai Airways flight TG431 at 8:50am to Jakarta and met the people we invited to spend a week with us. From Jakarta, we took the connecting Garuda flight GA406 to Denpasar International Airport. Denpasar, for those of you who didn’t know, is the capital of the island province of Bali.

Half of Southeast Asia is represented + Japan and India. There are 25 of us altogether *5 promised to come, but didn’t make it...wasting the plane ticket! Ha!* and these are the people who belongs to 1 blog – BISEAN; all Eurasians, of course…

Pisanu *that’s me!*, Sofia, Sucre, Harry & Petey (Thailand), Morgan, Misha & Vinh (Vietnam), Toby, Francine & Michael (Philippines), Farah & Rhys (Malaysia) Xtian (Indonesia), Tommy & Akihiro (Japan). The rest of the 9 belongs to other blogs *which we don’t want to endorse (yet), ha!*

All of us are bloggers, although most are private. We came here to get together and exchange ideas, experiences and how we can better ourselves in blogging. OH C’MON! WHO AM I KIDDING?

We came here to party, booze up, booze down, and booze some more! This is a holiday in paradise for christssake! Beautiful people on a beautiful island living a beautiful life -- We didn’t come here to blog. Leave the serious stuff to the country leaders' summit in Singapore. We came here to partyyyyyyy!!! There. Take that!

And when we are drunk enough, we’ll post pictures of ourselves! Watch out!

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*Some gorgeous and nice fella forgot to post this last Friday -- that's me! =) Waaah!

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WHY NOTHING COMES CLOSE TO BALI

Most people would think Bali is just made up of beaches, sand and surf. Well, it is not. There’s more to this island than what the magazines and the “all-knowing” people say. Let me tell you why I said “nothing comes close” to Bali on my earlier post.

Bali has it all. It is almost as big as Brunei and it’s actually a province. There is more than 11,600 km of coastline in all sorts of color – white, pink, powder blue, beige, volcanic gray, jet black, you name it. All kinds of beaches, coves, rock formations, everything! It's like a one-stop island for everybody.


The center of the universe. I wasn’t kidding when I said that... “legend has it when the gods of the universe gather together for a summit, they come to Bali”. No, it wasn’t a joke. The world famous Mt. Agung is located here and Gunung Agung is long reputed to be the center of the universe.

A distinct civilization. There are 2.5 million people living here. As much as the beaches are the main attraction of Bali, so are the people living in it. Bali is the only predominantly Hindu county in the whole of Southeast Asia -- A distinction that makes it unique from the rest of Indonesia and our region. They have their own language, their own rich culture, their own art form, their own architecture, their own “civilization”. It’s like another country, really.

Bali as a world travel icon. While other countries are struggling to reach a million visitors a year – Bali can manage to lure a million tourists in 6 months even after the 2002 incident. Think the importance of this tiny island compared to one whole country dreaming of a million visitors.

Oh, c’mon! With a resume as loaded as this – nothing comes close to Bali.
*So, give it up dude!*

Paradise is not just about beaches.

No comparison at all.


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OUR CULINARY GEMS: Balinese Lawar

“Bani ngajeng lawar?" (“Are you brave enough to eat lawar?”)

Bali’s signature dish has to be the Lawar - made from pig’s blood, spices, fruits, veggies, meat and animal entrails mixed together like a wicked salad. Lawar can be found in every village in Bali and mostly served on special occasions and celebrations.

This delicacy is traditionally prepared by men. Only the eldest and the most experienced are allowed mixing a Lawar. Men of the village would gather together in a circle, with cutting knives and chopping boards on hand, sit down together and chop away.

This socializing “ceremony” is the most important part of making Lawar as it would make the villagers closer together. Catching up with each other's business, chatting, story-sharing and a lot of laughter! Nowadays, it is done by anybody who wants to participate.

Get a load of this. Lawar has many types and distinguish each other by meat used - chicken, duck, pork, beef, sea food, turtles (!) and dragonfly (!!!). The turtle is not famous anymore (obviously for conservation issues) and dragonflies are the most expensive. You have to gather hundreds of it to fill the casserole!

Don’t let the dish put you off. It may not serve us all but the social aspect of making this “unusual” dish makes it worthwhile to mention on this blog. To make it more “tolerating” to non-Balinese…Wayan from Bali made it a little cosmopolitan.


Here’s the recipe…


Preparation Time 30 mins
Cooking Time 30 mins
Serve 6

Ingredients 1

3 cups blanched string beans, cut by 1”
1 cup roasted coconut, grated
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled, sliced and fried
6 shallots, peeled, sliced and fried

2 large red chilies, cut in fine strips
6 bird's-eye chilies, finely chopped
3 teaspoons fried chilies
1 chicken broth cubes (Knorr)

Banana leaves, cut 12”x12” square

Ingredients 2

250 g chicken breasts, deboned and minced
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground


Directions

1. Mix together ingredients 1 (except banana leaves!) in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.

2. Combine ingredients 2 on a separate bowl and mix thoroughly.

3. Put the ingredients 2 mixture (chicken patties) lengthwise in centre of banana leaf and roll up very tightly. Cover it in aluminum foil and seal it tight.

4. Steam it for 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and banana leaf and break up meat with a fork to its original minced form.

5. Combine it with ingredients 1, season to taste with salt, pepper and lime juice.

*You can replace the chicken with other meats

Bon appetite!

*First photo from Hello Bali magazine.
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BALI: The Island of the Gods

Blogging from Bali, Indonesia
16-23 November 2007

Bali, Indonesia


Eleven-times larger than Phuket or Langkawi.
Five hundred forty five (545) times bigger than Boracay...
nothing comes close.

Legend has it that when the gods of the universe gather together
for a summit -- they come to Bali.

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--Pisanu, Sofia, Morgan,
Tommy, Sucre, Farah, Xtian,
Akihiro, Michael, Vinh, Toby, Francine,
Petey, Misha, Harry ...BISEAN Summit in Bali.

Related Articles:

Bali's 10 Best Beaches
Why Nothing Comes Close to Bali
Gunung Agung