Since I moved to Bali, I don’t buy too many fancy electronic goods.  As much as I would love to have an iPhone, I kind of hate the thought of carrying around such an expensive gadget in my pocket.  I have one of the cheapest Nokia phones that you can own and it does the job.

Last year I was robbed and one of the things I lost was a little Canon IXY digital camera.  I have a DSLR but it is bulky to carry around, so I thought I would by something to replace my old little camera.

So while I was shopping Carrefour I saw a new Canon IXUS 105 for just over 2 million rupiah.  I thought it was a good buy for a 12.1 mega pixel camera and it has a sturdy silver metallic case.

I just wanted something to carry around with me and add some color to this blog and my flickr account.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take it with me outside today, so you will just have to wait to see how the camera performs.

It’s been a while since I posted to this blog.  I have been busy writing a guide to starting a business in Bali.  Before I launch the book, I wanted to give a new look to the site.

I am happy with the new look and for someone with no design skills, I think the logo looks reasonable.  I also changed hosts.  Moving the blog was easy enough, but I did a complete reinstall of Joomla which powers the front page of the site and the property section.

Unfortunately, for people who were already registered to the site to list their properties, they will need to do it again.

It is probably hard for people not living in Bali to believe, but sometimes life in Bali can actually be stressful. Not in the western 9-5 working week grind that most people are probably accustomed to, but trying to live in a different culture with a different language and values.

There is definitely a different perception of time. We ordered some custom furniture and it was only supposed to take one week, but we have been waiting now for more than one month for it to be delivered. I want to just cancel the order, but they stuff they make is really nice.

Earlier in the new year, we were robbed while we were sleeping. Fortunately not too much was taken, but the thought of having someone enter your home while you are asleep has been playing on my mind, even one month later. I tend to wake at the slightest sound.

I could go on, but if you are planning on moving to Bali and expecting it to be one long vacation, then think again. To be honest though dealing with these different kinds of “problems” is always a lesson in itself and you can always look back on the various experiences later and have a good laugh. Even when we were robbed, I was amazed at how the community and our friends came together to support us.

I love being able to take the dog for a walk in the cool, late afternoon, through the rice fields, along the beach, stopping every now and again having a chat to anyone who will talk to me and finally ending up in a restaurant to have a cold Bintang while watching the sun go down. Bali – the almost perfect paradise.

I have to apologize for the lack of updates on this blog. I meant to do a wrap for 2009 and never got around to doing that and now it is already February!

I remember back when I was working in a regular IT job how slow the week used to go as you looked forward to the weekend. Living in Bali (unless of course if you are working) is really one long weekend. I often lose track of the days. Balinese themselves follow their own calendar, so they don’t necessarily follow a regular Monday to Friday week. I think only government and bank employees have a regular working week.

So for having such a relaxed life here, time goes surprisingly fast. Even if you are retired here, or just taking an extended break from work, you will probably be surprised how active you will be. Of course I don’t mean in the usual busy western working lifestyle, but in socializing with other expats and your Balinese friends.

I have many plans and ideas for the year, but as anyone who has lived in Bali before knows, you often hit various hurdles that seem to block your every move.

If you don’t have any patience or can’t learn to be a patient person, living in Bali could be a nightmare!

I am living in the north of Bali, near Lovina. Lovina is quite dry compared with southern Bali and is described as a sub-tropical region.

The rainy season is supposedly late starting this year and for the past couple of days it has been raining quite a bit. It’s actually a bit of a new experience having to think about the weather when trying to make plans to go out.

Not that I am complaining though, the area badly needs water. For having so little rain, throughout most of the year, the vegetation is still fairly rich and with the extra water now, the landscape is a beautiful, lush green.

For the past couple of weeks, we have been without power once every four days, just for the evening. It was a little frustrating at the beginning. It seems to go off just as you are watching something good on television or working on something on the internet.

After a few blackouts though, you get used to it and it is actually a good chance to have a quiet candle lit dinner and just sit outside in the peace and quiet. As long as you don’t look at the clock, it somehow feels much later just using candles for light and it surprisingly easy having an early night.

Tune Hotels have opened a new hotel in Kuta. I go down to Kuta every so often for shopping and a change of scenery, so I might consider staying there some time in the future.

I am checking out their website now. The booking interface is similar to booking an airline ticket on a budget airline, where you choose from different options depending on your needs.

Here are some of the options you get and the prices. This is for a double room, where I selected it for two people.

Air Conditioning (12 hours credit) IDR 49,500
Air Conditioning (24 hours credit) IDR 82,500
Towel Rental + Free Essentials toiletries kit (additional IDR30,000 refundable deposit will be collected upon check-in) IDR 16,500
Wireless Internet Access (24 hour period) IDR 77,000

I could probably bring my own towels to save a bit of money, but I would prefer to have wireless internet. 12 hours credit for air conditioning is probably enough.

The total cost is 126,500 for one night on November 20, which is pretty cheap for hotels in the area. There is no pool however and it doesn’t include breakfast.

A Balinese bartender Nengah Mustika, has been sentenced to 6 months jail for his part in the death of killing New Zealand tourist Sean Headifen. The bartender threw a glass at the Kiwi tourist after an argument started at the Bounty nightclub in Kuta, Bali.

From the NZ Herald:

Mr Headifen’s girlfriend Sarah Whitburn, 19, labelled the six-month sentence “sickening”.

“For smuggling drugs into the country you get hung or shot or jailed for life.”

Mr Headifen’s mother, Merrill Headifen of Levin, said the sentence was unjust.

“We’re in shock, we’re disgusted, we’re devastated.

The nightclub’s security staff Nani Aplonius Efson Tafui and Indonesian boxer Andreas Seran are still waiting trial for their part in the death of the New Zealand tourist.

The following article is a guest post from Sarah from Damai Lovina Villas.

If someone were to put a pin in a map of Bali for each noteworthy attraction, you would quickly see a pattern very different from the spread of tourism on the island: most pins would be in North Bali, and it is indeed here, not in the south, that the traditional heart and mind of Bali lies. Just a few hours from the airport you feel light years away from the crowds and ready to experience the true Bali.

The main Northern city of Singaraja is a busy provincial town with 400.000 people going about their everyday life with hardly a thought to discoteques, hair beads, watersports or any tourist activities. It is a charming city, cleaner than most in Indonesia, and the wide, shady avenues lined with pretty white houses betray its colonial past. The city we see today was built by the Dutch as their government city, but already before their arrival, this was the island’s capital. The city’s name means ’The Lion King’ and once all of Bali’s kings paid tribute to the king in Singaraja. Today the powers of the kings are mostly ceremonial, but it is possible to get a glimpse into the world of the past. By special arrangement with the royal family in Singaraja, the small boutique hotel Damai Lovina Villas nestled in the jungle clad hills, can arrange special tours in the former royal palace, where members of the royal family will tell the stories of when the last kings ruled here.

Most people arrive to Singaraja by the winding road leading through Bedugul, Bali’s cool and fertile mountain highland. Vegetable, spice and flower farms line the road and in the busy market you can sample the produce and also get a taste of Balinese country living.

Temples and monasteries

The North is also where you find most of Bali’s most important temples. The most photographed of them all is probably Ulun Danu, the heartbreakingly beautiful water temple lying in serene splendor on Lake Bratan, one of the holy lakes of the Northern highlands. A visit here is surprisingly peaceful and uncrowded, despite the temple’s importance. The North is also the homeplace of Besakih, the Balinese Mother Temple on the slopes of Mount Agung, the largest of all Balinese temples. But most telling of the richness of history and culture in the northern region is perhaps an unassuming little clay monastery on the road leading up to hotel Damai in Lovina. No mention is made of it in any guidebook, most tourist pass it by, totally unaware of its existence, and even the immediate neighbours might have difficulty in explaining what the little temple with pretty clay domes actually is. In reality the building is a carefully made reconstruction of a small buddhist monastery built
by chinese traders in the exact same spot in the 7th century, perhaps as a small sister temple to the famous nearby temple in Banjar.

Villages and culture

Most hotels in the North are found in the area of Lovina, a stretch of small fishing villages and beaches along the North coast, mostly famous for their laid-back tropical charm and the dolphins that gather in the bay at sunrise. But just a few kilometers away the small village of Tigawasa harbours another cultural secret. The village is a ’Bali Aga’ village, the Aga people being ’Bali’s Aboriginals’, the people that was already inhabiting Bali when the hindu Majapahit culture, the present day Balinese culture, migrated here in the 15th century. The religion here is a mix of Balinese hinduism and animist beliefs which shows in the distinctly different carvings and offerings found here. The most prized secret here is the 1000-year-old stone sarcophagus from an ancient king, tiny because the king was tiny, hidden somewhere in the village’s hinterland.

A short drive from Tigawasa you experience the Balinese culture at its most charming. The small mountain village of Munduk grows some of the islands best coffee and only few tourists have discovered the joys of having a quiet cup while you enjoy views of amazingly beautiful rice terraces, perhaps with a traditional dance class for the village children just nearby.

Much more dramatic is the mountain village of Kintamani, balancing on the edge of a vast volcanic crater overlooking the stark beauty of Lake Batur. Her Bali’s volcaninc past and present is very obvious. Inside the volcanic crater a new volcano is slowly rising, literally a volcano within a volcano. And experiencing the mist-shrouded temple here will enrich any Balinese holiday.

Nature and landscape

North Bali is rightly famous for its natural beauty and varied landscapes. The region is home to the National Park, that sprawls over almost the entire north-western tip of the island. The park also extends beyond the island itself an includes the island of Menjangan which calm and crystal clear waters are recognized as the islands best dive and snorkeling site. The Botanical Gardens in Bedugul is a stunningly beautiful park, but in many ways the nature outside the park is just as beautiful. But like with the cultural attractions, many of North Bali’s finest natural sights are hidden gems, that still waits to be discovered. One example is the waterfall of Ambengan. It is just as tall, and perhaps even more beautiful, than its more famous cousin, the waterfall at Git-git. Hidden at the end of a winding jungle path, a 30-meter waterfall cascades into a cool mountain lake. On some mornings, monkeys come to play in vines around he lake. And unlike Git-git there will be no tour buses filling the parking lot in front. In fact there is no parking lot, only a local farmer, who is delighted to talk to people coming to visit him from far away and welcome them to the true heart of Bali.

It’s been a while since I wrote about the house which my friend is building here in Bali. Building stopped for a while for the Galungan holiday. The construction of the roof is now under away and the house finally has electricity connected.

One of the two bedrooms looking out onto the open ensuite bathroom

Looking out through the back of the house

Front of the house

Stone driveway is put in