Sentosa … it’s the Little Things

“I don’t believe that there has been a more photographed villa development in Asia than Sentosa”, says Steve Dawson, the new GM of Sentosa Private Villas and Spa. Harpers Bazaar, Vogue, FRV, Madison and a long list of etcetera’s have all been to stay, and it just takes one night here to see why the big boys and girls of lifes

Breathing a Fresh Breeze at the Samaya

The local hotel chain Santika Group has been working on renovations and improvements at The Samaya for some time, and finally they are really rolling up the curtains for those who are curious. Glimpses of it were already accessible with the opening of Breeze, the beach side bistro which quickly becomes the talk of the town. However, weekenders, travelers, and five-star junkies have been waiting patiently until everything was completely set-up.

The Other Side of Seminyak

While Seminyak is fast achieving international notoriety as one of the most desirable destinations of the world, its immediate neighbors Petitenget and Batubelig are less well known. Yet where Seminyak ends and Petitenget begins is a subject of dispute among ex pats and tourists alike.

In fact the villas, restaurants, spas, boutiques, and bars that have turned this section of south Bali into one of the most desirable destinations in the world tend to be a little vague in their boundary definitions. One of Seminyak’s most iconic residents, beachfront restaurant / club KuDeTa is actually located in Petitenget. One might say that for the jet setters, second-home owners and high season hoi polloi, Seminyak is more like a stretch of beach and a hedonistic state of mind. If that is the case, then Petitenget is where you will find many of its higher functions.

The Evolution of Villa Kubu

It was roughly a decade ago when Sydney native Dee Mytton broke ground on 90 are of Seminyak land surrounded by dried rice paddies and no major road access. Difficult to imagine, considering the exponential development the area has gone through since 1998. Whether it was clever foresight or just plain luck, as Dee puts it, Villa Kubu has grown from its initial incarnation as a single rented home to sprawling 14-villa compound situated in one of the most central locales in Bali. A small area that has fortuitously managed to retain its quietude and serenity despite the network of thoroughfares that now encompasses the vicinity.

Setting Sail in Seminyak

Few would argue that the most fundamental aspect of any human shelter is the roof, even walls come in a distant second, particularly in tropical climes, where pavilion style structures tend to be an integral part of traditional building design.

Pavilions are central to Balinese arcitecture, from the simples bale pagoda – typically a platform and pitched roof attached to four simple posts – to the wantilan, a much larger building wher it is customary to hold village meetings, cock fights, religious ceremonies, and cultural performances. For decades now, contemporary architects have eben elaborating on the Balinese approach to habitat, so effectively is it adapted to the local environment. Amongst the most elegant of these modern takes on tradition can be found in the work of Italian firm GM Arcitects. And as founder member Mauro admits, GM are all about the roof. “We do simple thing,” he explains. “We detach the roof from the buinding and this allows us to play with the volume underneath it.”

Bvlgari Claims Black Box for Bali

Earlier in the day both teams had arrived at the Nikko and had been presented with a black box of ingredients without any prior knowledge of what would be inside and were told simply to create a three-course dinner. Executive chef from Bvlgari and Shangri-La were permitted to create the dinner menus and brief their respective teams, however, as captains they were not allowed any involvement at all in the preparation process.

Eco Watch

Much ado about bamboo. On Bali, a humble harvest yield style and sustainability.

I am standing in what could well be the largest bamboo building in the world. More precisely, I am clinging to a flimsy scaffold 15 meters above the ground, enveloped by a web of crisscrossing bamboo struts that cascades down from one of three bamboo towers. This is the Three Mountains Factory, the latest low-impact structure to grace John Hardy’s base of operations in the village of Mambal, deep in the cultural heartland of Bali. To describe the Canadian-born jewelry designer’s HQ as whimsical would be an understatement: the ground boast cobblestone paths, patches of iridescent rice, arbors spilling passionflowers, a babbling brook, and a hodgepodge of buildings variously constructed from bamboo, mud, and thatch. You hold expect a hobbit to come ambling out of one of the little doorways.

The Aman

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the most quintessential resort brand in of Asia continues to put emphasis on pioneering locations, privacy without pomp, and above all, its people. “It’s the human touch”, Hing Kong businessman Robert fong tells me over tea. “That’s what Aman has perfected. That’s what keeps me coming back.”

In anticipation of Amanresorts’ 20th anniversary, I have been traveling to some of the Singapore-based group’s 18 properties, talking with longtime employees, the newest genration of managers, and regular guests like Fong – known mainly among themselves as Aman jungkies – in the hopes of understanding what makes this iconic brand stand out even after all these years. I almost drop my scone when Fong announce that an Aman vacation is “actually very good value,” before he adds that “Of course, even one night is expensive, and certainly there are now other beautiful hotels in asia. But when I go elsewhere, I miss Aman because the service is not as personal. Staying at an Aman resort enywhere in the world feels like coming home.”

Take The High Road

Beyond its impressive physical attributes – rice paddies, thundering surf, volcanoes, monsoon forests – Bali is famed for its multi-hued kaleidoscope of arts, culture, and religion.

The Balinese use the catchall term adat (in fact a word with Arabic root) to describe their densely layered religio-cultural life. It means something like tradition, but better captures the sinuous, celebratory interplay between sacred and secular that is the island’s social motor. If Bali is a kaleidoscope, then Ubud is geographically and metaphorically its central prism – the much touted “artistic and cultural hub” where Art (capital intended) collides with craft and all manner of bohemians, eccentrics, autocrats, altruists, hippies, and creatives form a cosmopolitan patchwork that is little more stitched to local culture than in resort enclaves elsewhere in Bali.

Uluwatu: The Political Punchball

Perched 100 meters above the Indian Ocean and clinging to limestone cliffs, Pura Uluwatu have graced millions of tourist snaps, postcards, and tourist based periodicals. Now it has become the focus of a far more contentious issue. Political posturing? The preservation of a scared religious site? Or a financial conflict?

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of written on Bali’s press concerning the debate over a 5 km exclusion zone for Bali villas and tourism based properties around the Uluwatu temple. There seem to be two main conflicting parties, those that wish to enforce the zone and preserve the sanctity of Bali’s most iconic temple and those who feel it is a dastardly plot to prevent the owners from realizing financial security by selling their land.