Wallpaper of 1st Asian Beach Games 2008, 18th to 26th October
The 1st Asian Beach Games started on 18th October here on Bali.
During nine days 3000 athletes from 45 countries compete in 19 sports.
Nusa Dua is one of the four venues, here you can watch: Beach Basketball, Beach Kabaddi, Beach Pencak Silat, Water Polo, Beach Wrestling, Jetski, Paragliding and Woodball.
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Related links: Official Homepage of 1st Asian Beach Games | Medals Table
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Official poster of Nusa Dua Fiesta 2008
Since 1996, the Bali Tourism Development Corporation BTDC has held an annual festival supported by all components of the local community, called the Nusa Dua Festival. Since last year the name has been changed to the Nusa Dua Fiesta. The Nusa Dua Fiesta is also part of the government’s Visit Indonesia Year 2008 program.
Costing an estimated US$100.000 and supported by 20 stakeholders, 13 hotels and 7 tourism operations - the festival will once again feature cultural performances, live musical performance, sporting events, contests and product exhibitions:
A wood carving and painting exhibition, kid’s carnival and a family day, a golf tournament, a cabaret show and country Western music on stage, and there will be various competitions in karaoke, drawing, fruit and vegetable carving, sand sculpture, traditional food eating and Balinese costumes.
This years theme of the fiesta is Green Tourism, following the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Nusa Dua in December 2007. Therefore the Nusa Dua Fiesta will also conduct a series of environmental awareness programs
The event ends on 14 October with a great show attended by Bali’s governor Made Mangku Pastika, big fireworks and a Padma Nareswari performance by the Guruh Soekarno Putra Group.
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Nusa Dua Fiesta 2008
at Nusa Dua Resort, BTDC Complex
10-14 October, 8am-10pm
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Related links: Schedule of Nusa Dua Fiesta 2008 | Nusa Dua Resort Home Page | Photos on flickr of Nusa Dua Fiesta 2007
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Entrance of Museum Pasifika in Nusa Dua Resort
One of eleven exhibition rooms
Embedded in the beautiful gardens of Nusa Dua Resort, Museum Pasifika offers an interesting addition to sunbathing, dining and shopping in that area: a collection of Pacific premier art, mainly 300 paintings, a few sculptures and around 250 objects.
In the “artists in Bali and Indonesia” section you’ll find paintings from famous Balinese artists like Nyoman Gunarsa and also fine art of Europeans having lived in Bali like Rudolf Bonnet, Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur, Han Snel, Emilio Ambron, Theo Meier and Maria Hofker, only to name a few.
Furthermore Museum Pasifika put new accents by introducing art from the Pacific regions, namely Indochina, Polynesia, Melanesia and China, something unique to Balinese museums.
The exhibition is designed as a walk through eleven rooms, each dedicated to a certain topic:
Room I: Indonesian and Balinese artists
Room II: Italian artists in Bali
Room III: Dutch artists in Bali and Indonesia
Room IV: French artists in Bali and Indonesia
Room V: Indo-European artists in Bali and Indonesia
Room VI: Temporary exhibition of tapas from Oceania
Room VII: Indochina peninsula: French and Vietnamese artists on Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam
Room VIII:Polynesia and Tahiti artworks
Room IV: Premier art of Vanuatu and the Pacific Island
Room X: Journey in China
Room XI: Asia: several paintings of Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Philippines
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Museum Pasifika - Museum Pacific Asia
Nusa Dua Resort, BTDC Area, Block P
Admission fee IDR50.000 (less than US$6)
Open daily from 10am to 6pm
Ph 62-361 77 49 35 / 77 49 35
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Related links: Museum Pasifika on Facebook | Museum Rudana | Neka Art Museum | Museum Puri Lukisan | ARMA Museum
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The Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic, part of the Sony Ericsson-WTA tour, will run from September 7-14 at the Grand Hyatt Bali in Nusa Dua. With US$225,000 in prize money it is now considered the largest event of its kinds in Southeast Asia.
Among the world’s top players in the tournament:
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA
Reached her first Grand Slam semi-final, at the Australian Open.
FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE
Defeated world number one Justine Henin on her way to the Dubai semi-finals. Reached the French Open doubles final.
PATTY SCHNYDER
Reached the Bangalore final and the quarter-finals of the French Open.
LI NA
Won her second career title, on Australia’s Gold Coast, and beat two top-6 opponents in Doha.
PENG SHUAI
In doubles, defeated Australian Open champions the Bondarenko sisters in Miami and current Wimbledon champions the Williams sisters in Bangalore.
FLAVIA PENNETTA
Upset Venus Williams at the French Open, and won titles in Vina Del Mar and Acapulco.
TAMARINE TANASUGARN
Defeated world number three Jelena Jankovic to become the first Thai to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals. Beat world number nine Dinara Safina at s’Hertogenbosch to win her second career title.
Defending champion Lindsay Davenport could not return this year.
The tournament, a 2007 addition to the worldwide Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, will play its last old format as organizers look to upgrade the tournament level next year, event organizers announced Thursday. Next year will be hold a higher level competition called the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, which will offer more prize money.
Related links: Bali WTA Tour Site
Today, on 20 August, Bali celebrates Galungan. This festivity falls every six Balinese month or every 210 days and is marked with en masse worship on the victory of good qualities against the bad ones within each individual Hindu devotee. Balinese Hindus place offerings at the family temple at the house compound, at the village temple and other great temples around Bali.
Today, on 17 August, the Indonesians, including Balinese community, celebrate their Independence Day. Indonesia proclaimed its independence as a sovereign state on 17 August 1945.
On this occasion let’s make an excursion into history:
Beginning in the sixteenth century, successive waves of Europeans—the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British—sought to dominate the spice trade at its sources in India and the ‘Spice Islands’ (Maluku) of Indonesia.
The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over these territories was tenuous; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia’s current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule, and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president.
Related links: Republic Of Indonesia Home | wikipedia Indonesia
Newly released half-yearly results of 2008 compared with old heydays of 2001, the time before 9-11, Bali bombs, tsunami and other disasters. The 13 major markets above make up 85% of the total arrivals.
The number of guests from China (+5366%), Russia (+835%), Malaysia (+648%), South Korea (+451%) and Singapore (+250%) improved dramatically, while the number of travellers from UK (-35%), Taiwan (-14%) and The Americas (-14%) now lag behind the days of 2001.
Major markets Japan (+17%) and Australia (+12%) recovered totally, while France (+59%) and Netherlands (+31%) are the European countries with the highest rate of increase.
Related links: Central Bureau of Statistics Indonesia | Bali Tourism Board
These awesome photos from Bali could make you curious about the man behind the camera, an American guy makin his way from the exotic island of Java, who says: “Indonesia has been my home for many years. It is a land of exquisite beauty, exotic cultures, and fascinating people, all of which have been a continual source of inspiration for my photography.”
Discover more great photography from Indonesia by Brandon Hoover on his blog The JavaJive, or go directly to his archive of Bali photos.
Bali Art Festival in Denpasar
The Thirtieth Bali Art Festival 2008 is being held from 14 June until 12 July this year, theme as the cultural event overall is “Citta Wretti Nirodha—Self Restrain toward Balance and Harmony”.
The festival is a wonderful spectacle and a great introduction to Balinese artistic traditions and culture. Events take place throughout each day for an entire month and include handicraft exhibitions, cultural performances, music, classical palace dances and historical exhibitions.
It is the biggest event of its kind in the country and you really should try to attend at least one evening. Please don’t mind the long way to Denpasar and the sometimes poor organization of the event, the great performances will make up for that.
Related links: Complete schedule of Bali Art Festival 2008 | Festival Photos on Flickr
There are only few considerable pictures showing Nusa Dua area from the air. Here are the three finest for you. The first picture shows the Google earth satellite image, taken approx more than four years ago:
Nusa Dua By Satellite
Then the typical and beautiful post card image, you can see the two peninsulas that give the name to Nusa Dua - “two islands”:
Post Card Image
Finally the view from Tanjung Benoa, the spit of land east of Nusa Dua, you can see Benoa harbour and water sports areas. Located in the very back, left hand, is Nusa Dua:
View From Tanjung Benoa
Not really canned sweat…
Pocari Sweat is an ion supply drink now very trendy on Bali. You can find cans and bottles of Pocari Sweat in every supermarket and most local stores.
Already seven years in Indonesia now that drink found its way up to the best liked ones thanks to a strong marketing campaign started last year.
Manufactured under license on Java, the parent company is the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Group in Tokyo.
Tuesday, January 6, 13:44
