Conrad Bali is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Girard as the resort’s Director of Business Development. Prior to Conrad Bali, Kevin was Director of Operations in Conrad Brussels, Belgium.

Kevin started his career with Hilton Worldwide in 2000 through the Hilton Elevator Training Program. He has since worked in various management positions within the operations and business development areas in a number of Hilton Worldwide properties including the Hilton Montreal Airport, Hilton Toronto, Hilton Saint John in Canada, and Caribe Hilton San Juan in Puerto Rico.

In his new role, Kevin will oversee the entire business development department which includes sales, marketing, public relations, reservations, and revenue management.

Michael Burchett, General Manager of Conrad Bali commented, “With Kevin’s wealth of international experience and extensive Hilton Worldwide network, we are looking forward to expanding Conrad Bali’s market share while maintaining the fine balance between families, couples, and business established since our opening in March 2004.”

A Canadian national, Kevin moves to Bali with his wife and two children. In his spare time, he enjoys spending quality time with his family and entertaining with good food and wine.

Organic farming is all about not using pesticides and other chemicals to kill invading insects and to increase farming yields.

The move towards organic farming has taken off worldwide, but although it is well established in most western countries it has been slow in evolving in most parts of South East Asia.

This has been due to a number of factors including the hard work needed to control pests naturally, without the ease of using chemicals, plus other farming issues, such as the food industry not being able to deal with small farmers because of a long distribution chain and the fact that most of the profits go to the wholesaler and retailer and not the farmer.

Also, the health benefits for both farmers producing the food and the consumer from eating organic are not well known in most areas.

In Bali, where you would imagine organic farming was already well established due to the way the Balinese have preserved their culture and traditions, farmers, as so many others around the world, are still using chemical fetilisers on their rice fields and other crops despite the yearly costs and the fact that they need more chemicals to produce a certain amount of harvest each year.

It has to be said, in recent years with help and education from local NGO’s, farmers have been reducing the amount of agro-chemicals they use and instead have been using more organic fertislisers and natural pest control agents to increase their yields.

Slowly farmers are getting the message that organic farming is the way forward and many are returning to traditional farming methods that are not reliant on man made chemicals.

As farmers move towards organic systems they have come to realise the need to organize themselves and that working together to share the burden and profits is more beneficial to them than before when they worked alone.

However, whilst many farmers have switched to organic farming, marketing their produce has been a problem for most of them.

As a way of addressing this problem, one group of eleven small organic farmers got together and decided to set up an organic farmers' cooperative and a weekly farmers' market.

The farmers' market is in Ubud where they sell their produce direct to buyers and educate people about the health benefits of eating organic and supporting small local businesses, which they see as benefiting the whole community.

The market is held every Saturday morning in Pengasekan, just outside Ubud on a terrace provided free of charge by Pizza Bagus, who support the goals of Bali’s chemical-free farmers.

The small cost to farmers of the equivalent of 2 US Dollars a week covers the group’s overheads and provides a much needed outlet to sell their produce.

From 9:30 to 2pm you will see an abundance of fresh organic produce to buy, which includes vegetables, salads, herbs, local fruits, rice, soy milk, eggs, jams, virgin coconut oil, honey, bread and other homemade baked goods, essential oils and natural skin creams.

The market is so popular that locals, ex-pats and tourists queue to buy the fresh organic produce and even people from places such as Kuta, an hours drive away, travel to buy from this market.

While farmers and customers have been “going organic” the Indonesian government has no national policy, so farmers have been developing their own local policies, which include having a strict policy on the quality of foods sold at these markets.

Meanwhile, the government is taking a pragmatic approach by setting up standards and a certification board. However, small farmers are unable to afford such certification, so farmers’ markets are a way forward for most and consumers can go and see for themselves whether what they are selling is organic or not.

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — A powerful earthquake off Indonesia rattled the popular resort island of Bali early Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, officials said.

The U.S.Geological Survey said the 6.5-magnitude quake struck at 1:08 a.m. Friday (1708 GMT Thursday) and was centered 315 miles (508 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor.

It hit waters some 160 miles (259 kilometers) northeast of Denpasar, the main city on Bali; about 612 miles (986 kilometers) west of Dili, the capital of East Timor; and 686 miles (1,105 kilometers) east of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital.

Beni Hendrawanto, of the country's geological and meteorology department, said that while it could be felt on Bali, there were no initial reports of damage or injuries.

Indonesia :
Magnitude-6.5 gempa dekat Indonesia

BALI, Indonesia (AP) - Sebuah gempa kuat mengguncang lepas pantai Indonesia pulau resor populer dari Bali Jumat pagi, namun tidak ada laporan segera kerusakan atau cedera, kata para pejabat.

Survei USGeological mengatakan gempa 6,5 ​​skala Richter terjadi pada pukul 01:08 Jumat (1708 GMT Kamis) dan berpusat 315 mil (508 kilometer) di bawah dasar laut.

Ia memukul air sekitar 160 mil (259 kilometer) timur laut Denpasar, kota utama di Bali, sekitar 612 mil (986 kilometer) barat Dili, ibukota Timor Timur, dan 686 mil (1.105 kilometer) sebelah timur Jakarta, ibukota Indonesia .

Beni Hendrawanto, departemen negara geologi dan meteorologi, mengatakan bahwa sementara bisa dirasakan di Bali, tidak ada laporan awal kerusakan atau cedera.

Bromo mountain is located in Tengger, in East Java. It is one of the most famous and most beautiful volcanoes in Indonesia. Standing at a height of 2392 meters, Mount Bromo isn’t the tallest mountain in Java. That title goes to 3676 meter tall Mount Semeru, located to the south of Mount Bromo and within sight. Also called Mahameru, meaning “great mountain”, Mount Semeru is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia constantly belching steam from its peak.

Mount Bromo is one of two volcanoes that were created following a massive eruption which created an enormous caldera in which are the active Mount Bromo and the non-active Mount Batok.The caldera has seen been filled with grey sands, and is called Laut Pasir or Sand Sea. Trekkers walk through this expanse on their way to Mount Bromo.

The major access point is Cemoro Lawang at the northeastern edge of the caldera, but there are also trails from Tosari (northwest) and Ngadas (southwest). The village of Ngadisari, on the road from Probolinggo about 5.5 km before Cemoro Lawang, marks the entrance to the national park. Both Cemoro Lawang and Ngadisari are rather picturesque, with brightly-painted houses and flower beds outside. The nearest airport to Mount Bromo is Surabaya, about 3 hours away by bus. Most visitors to Mount Bromo access it from Cemoro Lawang, at the foot of the mountain.

How to go there ?
From Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport, take the Damri shuttle bus to the Bungurasih Bus Terminal. From there, take the Patas air-conditioned bus to Probolinggo. At Probolinggo, it is another one hour to Ngadisari, a town about 6km northeast of Mount Bromo and the base camp for Mount Bromo trips. Another base camp is Cemoro Lawang, about half an hour from Ngadisari. The foot of Mount Bromo is a 3-km hike from Cemoro Lawang.

Bali Theatre investment at safari park complex at Bypass Ida Bagus Mantra Km. 19.8 of Gianyar Regency is big enough, it reached tens of millions Rupiah, could not calculated it straightly in business point of view just like any other business.
“Even so, we still optimist with the existence of art and cultural performance facilities that in its initial phase raising sendratari – Balinese drama and dance – ‘Bali Agung’ will able to attract world tourist attention,” said General Manager Bali Safari & Marine Park (BSMP) Hans Manansang, on Wednesday.
He delivered that thing when explained the existence of Bali Theatre has capacity for 1.200 seats competed with air-conditioned. The explanation also delivered by the famous creative director, Peter J. Wilson, famous Balinese wayang puppeteer, I Made Sidia, performance technical team as well as Sales & Marketing Director for Bali Theater, John Sumampau.
in this occasion also will be introduced short episode for ‘Bali Agung’ performance involving 150 artisans, some animals such as elephant, tiger, cow, camel, snake and group of duck with Chinese sailing ship modification, almost all perform together on stage.
According to Hands Manansang, his party needs to introduce the short performance before Bali Theatre launching on Sunday (August 29th) and start to open for public viewers on Tuesday (August 31) with US$45 ticket tariff or 500 thousand Rupiah per person. Ticket order can be done through www.balitheatre.com or email it to info@balitheatre.com.
The performance also stand as an experiment to see the performance of all support device, dancer, traditional and modern music instrument players, harmony between the performance art with the artistic point of view.
Even though the big investment is not straightly calculated based on profit and losses as well as with capital return, but he feels with the existence of Bali Theatre and Bali Agung sendratari will give big part in the development of culture, art and tourism in Bali.
“At least we try to participate in preserving and developing art, culture and tourismin Bali, forget about profit or losses we would gain from here, we hope for facilities in this BSMP could support it. If we gains loss from it we would counted it as cross subsidy. I just could only hope that we could move forward,” he said.
Concerning the huge number of investment, Hans give one small example of lamp price on stage that worth 1.5 million Rupiah in regard to its number that reached 500 of lamps with limited useable time, actively used for three months only. “Experimental usable time almost three months already, make we have to re-new them before opened Bali Theatre for public,” he said whilst accompanied by Bali Theatre Marketing Manager, Ratna Soebrata.
Modern theatre of “Bali Agung” performing historical and legendary story of Sri Jaya Pangus from Balingkang Kingdom in 12th century who had romantic relationship with a woman until get her as his beloved wife, Kang Ching Wie, daughter of a noble from China.
The presence of that Chine noble daughter appeared with her riding a unique red sailboat on stage together with snake, tiger, camel and more. Meanwhile, at the background of the gigantic stage 80 meter x 40 meter performed group of male and female children, life full of activities of people fishing, carrying their ducks and lots that reflecting old Balinese way of life.
News by Antara Bali

There are 12 handicap people from Senang Hati Foundation who succeeded flagged merah-putih – Indonesian for national flag color of red and white – underwater on the Independent Day celebration of 65th Indonesian Republic on August 17th, Tuesday.
Those 12 handicap people were accompanied by tens divers as their companions. They succeeded flagged merah-putih at a depth around 7 meter in Tulamben Sea of Karangasem.
Although they have physical obstacle, those handicap people could give independent gift through showing their spirit and physical fighting spirit.
The team consists of four flag officers, Gusti Lanang Wirawan, Komang Astawa, Aris and Wayan Sugianto. Then are 2 flag carriers, Dayu Wiadnyani and Wayan Parwati.
The remaining members are Sang Ayu Nyoman Puspa, Kadek Candrawasih, Keutu Sudianti, Nyoman Rudiawan and Nyoman Budiarsa.
“Merdeka” screamed Aris – freedom – one of the member who looks so happy after conducted that ceremony underwater.
For several weeks they were trained under the guidance of Afandi Junaedi, dive master who helped them trained for the last three years.
Underwater flagged on the independent day was the second time conducted by Senang Hati. The first one was in 2008 at Sanur Beach, Denpasar.
News by Berita Bali

Head of Jakarta Transportation Office Udar Pristono urged Jakartans not to travel by motorcycles to their hometowns for Idul Fitri celebration because it endangers their lives.

“Please go by public transportation means,” Pristono said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Sunday.

Even though there is no written prohibition on the use of motorcycles, Pristono said that his office will cooperate with the police in maintaining order during the annual exodus in which most Jakartans usually return to their hometowns to ask for forgiveness from their parents and other elder relatives.

Many motorists have fatally fallen victims to traffic accidents during the exodus.

Pristono further said that in order to anticipate a surge in the number of passengers during the Ramadan fasting month and Idul Fitri, his office has prepared 6,114 inter-city/province buses.

“We have prepared all, including railway trains and airplanes,” he added.